Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What really grinds your gears?

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • What really grinds your gears?

    Ahh. Regular customers. The blood line of the company. Those that come every other day and drive you crazy with their insane habits. For example, that seemingly polite gray haired lady who comes in and buys out every can of spaghetti Os and then insists on paying your in nothing but dimes and nickels. *twitch* Although nice at first, she will get upset halfway through and insist you counted wrong. You must recount. *Repeat four times*

    Another example? Hmm... how about the grumpy young guy who comes in and complaints about everything in the store....loudly. When checking out, he will throw money on the counter somewhere in between the groceries. Pay attention, he will demand a discount if his bills happen to get sucked under the conveyor belt. He cannot touch your hands. You're beneath him. Obviously.

    Okay, okay. One more example and then that's it. The blonde lady with two terrifying twin boys (12yo). They tried (and failed) to tear the plastic donation box mounted to the front of register 1. Yes. You heard right. They tried to steal donation money. They will stuff various candies in their pockets if not watched closely. They will also dilbertly pull EVERYTHING off of a shelf and leave it on the floor for you to pick later. You cannot confront Mother. She will insist you don't understand. They're just boys being boys. It's your job to clean the mess, blah, blah, blah. Oh. You think we can ban her? She's the sheriff's wife.....

    Now. I have a question....do you ever get those insane and irritating regulars?
    No ma'am. I'm sorry, I cannot control the temperature. We're in hell, that's why.

  • #2
    Oh yes. We have our own special ones.

    First one: customer who complains and nitpicks constantly about the quality, fit, fabric, etc. etc etc. of our clothing. And if you give her an inch, she will corner you, and talk your ear off about said subjects. I sooo want to ask her, if you are that unhappy with every blessed thing you buy here, then WHY do you keep shopping with us?

    Second one: comes in sporadically, and tries on a ton of stuff, and then buys one or two items, but only if they are on sale, she has a coupon, etc. I get a lot of folks do that, myself included, but she also makes a huge mess, and has us all running hither, thither and yon for stuff we KNOW she has no intention of buying.

    And the last one, comes in several times a week. And while she buys every time, she has a bit of an attitude that she is better than we are but she's nice on the surface. We think she has no life, which is why she comes and shops so often.

    Comment


    • #3
      I don't have to deal with many custy's directly here at the paper, but I get plenty by proxy, as I sit next to our AdLady (tm)...One recent advertiser is of the type who gives you vague instructions (in this case, gave us an ad from *another newspaper* and says to "make it like that one, but different" literally just that) and then gets mad after we've spent an hour making up a nice ad, saying that we did it wrong and it looks horrible because AdLady didn't follow instructions (WHAT INSTRUCTIONS?! o_O). It probably wouldn't be so bad if we charged for design services, as we do not do so...yet. We're considering it after stuff like this (as it takes AdLady's time away from other advertiser's stuff) and the guy this week who had us build an ad then decides -- ad unseen -- that he doesn't actually want to run an ad at all.

      Plankton -- Fixing any of those would require the assistance of a manager with a spine x.x got any of those?
      - Change lady - In most states, nobody is required to accept bulk coin. If you have a coinstar or similar machine, she really has no excuse
      - Bills-on-the belt guy - He puts them on the BELT instead of into your hand or on the little shelf? He knows better, that's his problem.
      - Sheriff's wife - ick. May not have a choice here...UNLESS her hubby doesn't know about this. Even then, it's touchy. If the kids come in and get caught swiping stuff without her present, maybe see if the management will let you call the cops on them and pretend you don't know "who they are" ...?
      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
      "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth Catwoman2965 View Post
        And the last one, comes in several times a week. And while she buys every time, she has a bit of an attitude that she is better than we are but she's nice on the surface. We think she has no life, which is why she comes and shops so often.
        I have one of those. He's got big fancy book learning skills and shiny papers to prove it! He will grammatical correct anything you say. He will also ignore you if you ask 'Can I help you?' because you're supposed to say 'May I help you?' If he asks you how you are doing, the correct answer is well not good.

        Quoth EricKei View Post

        Plankton -- Fixing any of those would require the assistance of a manager with a spine x.x got any of those?
        Nope!

        The change lady really doesn't so much bother me. If I get her and she makes me recount it.... . I make her do it. That way she knows it's right.
        The bills-on-the belt guy..... If I get stuck with him, I let the bills roll right under the conveyor belt. Sometimes I pretend I didn't even see them, others times I just apologize. It takes about a minute to take the conveyor belt apart and to get the bills. Not with him, darn machines! I waste twenty-thirty minutes of his time trying to get the belt apart to get his money. He he he. He still does it but with me, he waits til my belt stops first before putting money on it.
        He told my cashier T once that he couldn't hand her the money because he didn't want to touch the 'help.'

        Small town rule number one. Don't cause trouble by snitching on the higher ups. It hurts later.
        Last edited by EricKei; 08-15-2014, 06:53 PM. Reason: merged consecutive posts
        No ma'am. I'm sorry, I cannot control the temperature. We're in hell, that's why.

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth Plankton78 View Post
          I have one of those. He's got big fancy book learning skills and shiny papers to prove it! He will grammatical correct anything you say. He will also ignore you if you ask 'Can I help you?' because you're supposed to say 'May I help you?' If he asks you how you are doing, the correct answer is well not good.
          Unless your nickname for your significant other is Good - in which case, you ARE doing good, MWAHAHAHAHHAA
          The report button - not just for decoration

          Comment


          • #6
            Quoth Plankton78
            He told my cashier T once that he couldn't hand her the money because he didn't want to touch the 'help.'
            What, he's afraid of catching poor people germs?! What a stuck-up asshole.

            Would it be wrong to give him a great big friendly bear hug right after he says that?
            I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
            My LiveJournal
            A page we can all agree with!

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth XCashier View Post
              What, he's afraid of catching poor people germs?! What a stuck-up asshole.

              Would it be wrong to give him a great big friendly bear hug right after he says that?
              Exactly. My store manager dislikes him too and she won't admit to it, but I've seen her purposefully cough and "sneeze" around him just to freak him out.
              No ma'am. I'm sorry, I cannot control the temperature. We're in hell, that's why.

              Comment


              • #8
                I would say that both "Can" and "May" are correct -- in the first case, you're asking if it is *possible* to help them -- which it should be, but that really depends upon how much of an asshole the customer is; the second really sounds like you're asking for their permission -- which, by entering the store at all, they have already granted
                "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth Plankton78 View Post
                  Ahh. Regular customers. The blood line of the company. Those that come every other day and drive you crazy with their insane habits. For example, that seemingly polite gray haired lady who comes in and buys out every can of spaghetti Os and then insists on paying your in nothing but dimes and nickels.
                  They don't pay in small change, but we have a family that comes in once every 1-2 weeks or so and buys all the Imperial margarine on our shelf and nothing else. Keep in mind, that's about 16-17 cases of it. I don't know what they do with it, and we've tried to explain to them in the past they can put in a special order for it, but they don't speak very good English so it's hard to get them to understand.

                  It's especially aggravating because they have a habit of coming in and clearing off the shelf just after we finished stocking and facing that aisle at the end of the graveyard shift - meaning there's now a huge gaping hole in the shelf, and so we have to go back and fill it again before we can go home for the day.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Plankton78 View Post
                    Ahh. Regular customers. The blood line of the company. Those that come every other day and drive you crazy with their insane habits. For example, that seemingly polite gray haired lady who comes in and buys out every can of spaghetti Os and then insists on paying your in nothing but dimes and nickels. *twitch* Although nice at first, she will get upset halfway through and insist you counted wrong. You must recount. *Repeat four times*
                    This. Drove. Me. Bonkers.

                    Especially when they don't even begin to search for as much as their coinpurse until AFTER you give them the total. Throughout the whole ordeal, they'll say things like, "I'm so sorry! I just don't like coins!" and "Is that a nickel or a quarter?"

                    Same goes for the check writers. Nowadays most stores have it where all you have to do is sign the check and we'll do the rest, but back when I was working, checks were the bane of my existence. Again, they'll wait until AFTER you give them the total that they'll start fishing for their checkbook and pen, and then proceed to write so slowly you'd think they were writing with a 100-pound pen.

                    Bonus points for the ones who get the total wrong the first time and have to void that check and start all over again. I always had a smile on my face when I came across the savvy customer who would start writing the check's Payee, date, and signature during the scanning process so all they had to do in the end was write the amount when I finished. Those were far and few between, though.

                    I was lucky that I didn't get timed on the registers. I know in some places management will reprimand you for having a sale go on for too long, in which case you're really screwed if you come across a slow customer.
                    Fiancee: We're going to need to do laundry. I'm out of clean pants.
                    Me: Sounds like a job for Gravekeeper!
                    Fiancee: What?!
                    Me: Nevermind.

                    Comment


                    • #11


                      Co-workers who do NCNSs.

                      Slow-moving old people. I know they can't help it, but I naturally walk fast and my job is all about speed, so it's aggravating to try to stock a cart of stuff only to have the aisle be blocked by two people slowly shuffling down it.

                      People who need to tell me their life story before asking me where the ass pills are, or anything else.

                      People who get angry at me when I don't understand their made-up terms for stuff. ("where y'all game tapes at?" when they want video game cartridges)

                      People who won't tell me exactly what they want when I offer to help them find a specific item, and they only asked me where a certain department is. The item you want may not even be in that department!

                      The...thing today that left their baby in a hot car in the parking lot. Bet they wouldn't think of leaving a dog in a hot car; what makes them think it's okay to do the same with a child?
                      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth EricKei View Post
                        I would say that both "Can" and "May" are correct -- in the first case, you're asking if it is *possible* to help them -- which it should be, but that really depends upon how much of an asshole the customer is; the second really sounds like you're asking for their permission -- which, by entering the store at all, they have already granted
                        I like you; you're smart.
                        "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Food Lady View Post
                          I like you; you're smart.
                          *Takes a bow* thank you A lot of people tell me that...They usually add a few letters to the end of the word, though...
                          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                          "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                          "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth patiokitty View Post
                            When I am on chat I have found that we have one person who contacts us several times a day. Upon the chat connecting he will find out our first names, and invariably if it is a female's name he will drop the chat. On a team of four of us there is only one male, and we alternate our chat days so our male team member is not on chat every day. Good luck buddy.
                            Hm, Pat. Chris. Alex. Cash. Dale. Jess. Nat. Viv ..... Have a little extra fun
                            EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              We used to have a family whose returned items would often have to be deleted because they smelled so bad.......it wasn't cat piss, cigarette smoke, or anything like that, just a very strong BO/sweat type of smell. They gradually stopped coming in once the oldest son was caught having checked out items with someone else's library card, and that said person happened to be one of our library employees.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X