Ah, yes. Let me reach into the "Magical Closet of Safekeeping"

[Enigma]

And get those things we DON'T CARRY for you.

Why, oh why, dear GOD WHY do customers doubt me when I say "No, we're out" or better yet "No, we don't carry that"? I will never understand why they think I'm some great evil being out to cause misfortune grief in the free world. What jollys am I supposed to get by lying to you? If you are simply asking where to find an item (and not have me get it for you), what difference will it make in my life if I lie and say we don't have it?

But ALL Wal-Marts carry Jet!

I had a man come up to me a few days ago as I was closing down the service desk and sorting out my returns. He asked me if we carried the magazing "Jet". He said he had looked through our magazines and could find Ebony, but not Jet.

ME: I'm sorry to say, but if we don't have it over there then we don't carry it.
SC: Are you sure?
ME: Yessir.
SC: Can't you check?
ME: Without a UPC to look it up, I have no way of checking our system.
SC: But ALL Wal-Mart's carry Jet!? Why won't you check!?



NOT WITH THE CHICKEN!

So because corporate has decided that we are incapable of making our own schedules, we have been incredibly short handed on cashiers (thread in Morons In Management). This has caused most of our CSMs to act as cashiers, as well has forced any extra service desk workers to get in touch with our cashier roots. Today I was helping out with the lines, when I noticed a lady had literally sandwhiched her prepackaged lunch meat between two packages or raw chicken. Now I'm sure most people know, that raw chicken can be dangerous, and that most fresh raw chicken packages tend to leak a bit more than other meats. Some people care, some people don't. To be safe I always ask how they want their meat packed, so I don't get anyone mad at me. I asked the customer "Would you like your chicken seperate from your other meats?" and the customer said "No, that's fine" So I packed the chicken with her one package of turkey lunch meat. Upon loading her gorceries into her cart, she had an annuerism when finding that I had put the lunch meat with her chicken.

"DON'T YOU KNOW THE DISEASES I COULD GET?! THAT'S JUST UNHEALTHY! THEY SOULD NEVER TOUCH!"

Ignoring the fact she TOLD ME to pack it together, did she forget that not only whre they touching on the belt, but she had it sandwiched right in the middle!??!


Naw, I was just kidding!

I recieved a call today from a gentleman who claimed to work at another store in the area. First of all, I was a bit put off that he kept mentioning he worked at another store. Saying your an employee, especially one I've never met or heard of that works at a different store, doesn't open up some magical door of special favors. Anywho, apparently he had bought a firepit that was damaged and wanted to bring in and replace just the part that was damaged. Fine, okay, we can do that....if we have it in stock. I called our Garden Center associate (B, who is a good friend) and find we don't have any.

ME: I'm sorry sir, it looks like we don't have any of that model in stock.
SC: *Long Pause* Are you sure?
ME: Yessir.
SC: ... The gemini says you have 5.
ME: (I figured he meant our hand held inventory system, or the computer based inventory system, but we sure as hell don't call it Gemini) Well, we don't have any.
SC: You have 5.
ME: I'm sorry but we seem to be out.
SC: I'm looking at this right now, it says 5, are you sure?
ME: I'm sorry sir, but if you work with us, then you know as well as I do that our system is extremly slow to update inventory, ontop of that the last two days have seen a regional outtage with the host satelite (basically we lost connection for 3 hours today and yesterday, and could only process cc, debit and gift cert perchaces by calling them in) and are now running off dial up. I'm sorry the inventory isn't updated, but we don't have any.
SC: .... okay....

How would it benefit me to lie to you? And you pulled the magical "employee" card, remember? We're buddies! I wouldn't lie to you!


-.-'

[Bramblerose]

Why, oh why, dear GOD WHY do customers doubt me when I say "No, we're out" or better yet "No, we don't carry that"?
(and)

But ALL Wal-Marts carry Jet!

Your store must be new. Or your shoppers need to be Darwin'd out for stupidity-

1) Walmart has teh most erratic stock system I have ever ever dealt with (I want to go back to St. Louis so I can shop at Shop and Save, how I miss it). Never expect anything to be there.

2) ALl Walmarts carry.... Really? Across six states, let me tell you NO! they DON'T!

Yes, I live near the Heart of Evil. It's difficult to not shop at WM here because this is their strangle-hold zone.

[friendofjimmyk]

SC: But ALL Wal-Mart's carry Jet!? Why won't you check!?

"I'll tell you what, if ALL Wal-Marts carry it, then obviously we must be out of it. Why don't you go to the Wal-Mart next door and see if they have any in stock. If not, check the one on the next block. Or any other of the 5 in our 10 mile radius".

[Phantomgrift]

That's almost as bad as the infamous "In the back!"
Because, as we all know, we hide things from customers so they may find items after being challenged by the bridgekeeper!

[Peppergirl]

I've never understood that either, Enigma.

I apparently routinely lie to people about flights being sold out, hotels being booked and car rental agencies being out of a certain type of SUV.

"Are you sure?" They say.

Just once, I want to say "Why would I lie? What possible reason would I have for NOT wanting you on this flight? Or NOT wanting you to stay at this hotel. Or NOT wanting you to have your precious SUV with Avis?"

[air914]

I tried to be one of those "sample ladies" a few times at Wal-mart. Nope, I'm not blue-haired either.... but I was always amazed how they NEVER had the product I was supposed to be sampling in stock. Or they had so very little of it.... they were paying the company I worked for to have someone come and sample product.... at least that's how I understood it to work..... and I did pester the employees a few times b/c a couple times they did have a few more in the back..

Anyway end rant on wal-mart stocking.....

sorry for the crazies you had to deal with

[simplyanother]

(basically we lost connection for 3 hours today and yesterday, and could only process cc, debit and gift cert perchaces by calling them in)

Dude, us too. And I don't even work at walmart!

I did have a customer come in and say that she'd been to several places yesterday, and they were all having issues with their credit card things.

I blame her.

And I dunno, sunspots.


Our guns---which are so much nicer than our actual registers---will say we've got 300 of something in stock. Something I'm looking at that only has...say 1, and there is no over stock. I never have been able to get a real answer saying exactly how often they update. Apparently, not often enough.

Customers don't seem to understand that there is nothing to check, if they don't have a sample of the item or something. They'll come up to me "Can you order a product for me?" "Usually, we can, if it's an item we normally carry."Which seems to confuse them.

But everything confuses them.

[Samaliel]

See, they confuse order and custom order. it's an easy mistake to make, and it's understandable that their feeble minds have hard times figuring that out.

[Flood]

SC: ... The gemini says you have 5.

Well the Sagittarius you're on the phone with says we're out.

[AdminAssistant]

Yes, I live near the Heart of Evil. It's difficult to not shop at WM here because this is their strangle-hold zone.

I'm so sorry. I grew up just east of the Heart of Evil (Jonesboro).

Wanna start a support group?

[Enigma]

@Bramblerose- Sadly, new-er but not new. We've been open about 8 years now. I remember when it did open though, big event.

@simplyanother- How odd! We heard that our enitre town was down (the lowes next door, Target across the street) but how weird you had the same event o.o

@Peppergirl- Thank you! It just confuses me to know end, why would I want to lose a chance to sell you something!?

[Apathy]

How would it benefit me to lie to you?

You're probably benefiting the store somehow (by not making a sale). You know, because you're paid enough to really care about the store's profit margin and you work hard to swindle customers out of money you'll never see.

[bainsidhe]

NOT WITH THE CHICKEN!
So I packed the chicken with her one package of turkey lunch meat. Upon loading her gorceries into her cart, she had an annuerism when finding that I had put the lunch meat with her chicken.

"DON'T YOU KNOW THE DISEASES I COULD GET?! THAT'S JUST UNHEALTHY! THEY SOULD NEVER TOUCH!"

Ignoring the fact she TOLD ME to pack it together, did she forget that not only whre they touching on the belt, but she had it sandwiched right in the middle!??!

~sigh~ At the store I work, many cashiers can't seem to grasp the concept of raw meat with raw meat and chemicals with chemicals. I once got drano packed with my potatoes, now I try to be a little more observant when the cashier is bagging. The last time I shopped, I stopped the cashier and asked her to package the chicken by itself (as she was putting the BREAD in the bag). I get home and find she packaged my lunchmeat with the chicken, because apparently it was still meat and my asking that the chicken be packaged by ITSELF was such a difficult request.

So to those cashiers who use common sense and bag separately or ask, THANK YOU. And to the woman in the post, you're an idiot.

[radiocerk]

It's not just shelf items....

I swear, in the pharmacy, people think we don't want to give them their medications. They don't believe that the insurance won't pay for it, or that the doctor hasn't authorized it, it's just that the pharmacist doesn't feel like giving them their drugs today. Like I want to hear the same person call our store ten times a day to see if her Vicodin refill has been authorized.
Why? Oh, why, do people think we want to hoard this stuff? Why do people think the mythical "back" is full of everything they possible want? (Even if you don't sell it...)
Or to sum it up more bluntly, why are people so dumb?

[Snowbird]

I don't know if I'd be able to hold back the urge to tell the man wanting the Jet magazine that he should just get a subscription if he wants it that bad all of the time. But he's probably afraid that 'they' will be able to find him or something.