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Revenge is a dish best served unintentionally

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  • Revenge is a dish best served unintentionally

    At the dollar store, working another closing shift with just me and my good manager Friendly Friendlerson. With a little over a half our before closing, the store is pretty empty and I'm working on the many other little tasks that have to be done before we can go home.

    A group walks in and starts looking around. I'm logged out of my register and stocking the drink cooler so I can see them when they come up to pay. One of them comes up with an armload of goods and dumps them on the counter. I go back, log into my register, and start scanning as I do the usual ring-up chit chat (how are you, did you find what you were looking for, want to buy the product we're pushing?)

    Suddenly, she decides she's not done and goes off to look for more stuff. And, effectively, I'm trapped. See, I can't suspend the transaction, nor can I void everything to ring up again when she gets back (and it's already bagged.) Also, I can't leave the register as long as I'm logged in, I can't log out mid-transaction, and everything I need to do is away from the register.

    So I wait for what feels like ages, and finally the customers return with more stuff. I finish ringing them out and they step away, though some of them realize there are more things after the registers that they may wish to purchase.

    At this time, Friendly reappears from (either in the office or on a smoke break, I can't remember) and realizes he needs to do a pick-up on my register, but we aren't sure how much I have in there. Because of this he has to do it in the most round-about, and longest-taking way possible. And once you start the process, you can't stop it until you've put the money transaction through, and both of us have counted the money and signed for it.

    At what seems like the very SECOND we hit the Point of No Return on this, the merch ditchers come back with another armload of stuff to buy. "I'm sorry, this will just take a minute," I say politely, which is easy because I'm so pleased with this turn of events. "I'll right you up as soon as we finish this."

    So they wait through the longest register pick-up possible without slowing it down on purpose to spite them (Friendly wasn't there, so he doesn't know they were jerks.) Then I ring them out and they leave, and I log out and start putting stuff back in the aisles, because no one is currently in the store so I don't have to babysit the registers.

    It happens to me all the time that people put stuff on the counter, I start ringing them out, and then they need to run into the aisles for one more thing or to go out to the car for their wallet (?!?!) They think that just because it's a very small store, they won't be holding anyone up. Yes, even if there's a line behind them. It really ticks me off not just that they keep me waiting, but that they hold up the other customers. That's just super rude. After all, it's my job to sit here and wait for you to finish what you're doing and pay, but those other people have someplace to be.

    So I guess it isn't the perfect revenge, because the only person they held up was me, but I did like them getting a taste of their own medicine for once. And I would never have done this on purpose, but I'm not ashamed of getting enjoyment out of how it turned out.
    Each one of us has a special place just like the Evergreen Forest. Enchanting, sparkling, and perfect. And, like the flowers that bloom there... fragile.

  • #2
    I'm amused.

    I get that from some of my customers, but I do have a "suspend sale" option that apparently works better than yours does.
    "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

    "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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    • #3
      I get that all the time (for some reason it seems that all the indecisive idiots come to my lane...one of the reasons I hate ringing). There's no 'suspend sale' option on our registers that I know of, the only thing we can do to--allegedly--stop the timer is to subtotal it. Which can result in "I'm not done yet blargleeleventy!!!1111" fits. I've stopped even trying to explain it to them anymore.

      And of course when that happens, someone else will start shoving their crap across the scanner (as soon as an item is scanned it will reopen the order). I'm waiting for the day when an SC won't notice and end up paying for the indecisive one's shopping as well.
      Last edited by Dreamstalker; 09-08-2014, 01:40 PM.
      "I am quite confident that I do exist."
      "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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      • #4
        This kind of sad thing happens at Hellmart much more often than you'd expect. Usually it's because some SC forgot their money or their card in their CAR! Oh, and they don't really care that they're holding up the line either.

        I can suspend a transaction of course, but it takes waiting for a CSM to do a key flick so it pretty much takes just as long as it does to wait for the customer to come back.
        Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter.

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        • #5
          Haha that's awesome! I HATE it when customers do that. We didn't have a suspend transaction on the tills at Land of Quid either, and it sucked! Luckily, in my current job, we do have one, and it's really easy to do, takes seconds to suspend and bring back up. We have one at the charity shop I volunteer at but no one uses it because it's complicated!

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          • #6
            We have an option to store the transaction and then bring it back up at another register, only works the same day though

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            • #7
              At Voldemart we could bring up a suspend transaction ticket on our own, but I don't think they liked you to do that. Most of the time the person wasn't back in 15 minutes.
              My Guide to Oblivion

              "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

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              • #8
                We have a suspend button. Thank heavens.

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                • #9
                  the store i worked at had a suspend button but it was a one time deal and you couldn't do it if there was a partial payment already processed. Depending on the level of manager you were, there was a "pop" key on the key ring to get into the till to do a cash drop/pick-up whenever required (even in the middle of an order).

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                  • #10
                    Mine does require a lead or supervisor, but it's a pretty small store, so there usually isn't much of a wait to get someone with appropriate access to come punch their info in.
                    "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

                    "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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                    • #11
                      Suspending a transaction on SCO is far easier than on a register. Anyone who has the SCO card and knows what to do can suspend and retrieve something, but the only place you can retrieve it without a manager key is the paystation (although I've run into some instances where I do need the key).

                      A regular register needs the key for both actions, and in most cases unless the CDH is right there it's just easier to wait for the customer to come back.

                      We have so many policies that boil down to "call a CDH" yet following that policy takes longer than the workaround that we're not supposed to do (and pisses everyone off).
                      "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                      "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                      • #12
                        Especially when there's only one of them and they take 20 minutes and .....yeah....
                        My Guide to Oblivion

                        "I resent the implication that I've gone mad, Sprocket."

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