Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

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

  • Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

    Hi folks, another take-a-ticket rant. At Ye Olde fabric shop we use a take a number/ticket system at the fabric counter. Simple enough, yes? No! So today we weren't too backed up, there were maybe six people standing waiting. I call number 39. "Now helping number 39. Number 39? *time passes, four of the six women stare at me, the other two are having a conversation* Last call for number 39 at the cutting counter! Okay, now helping number 40."

    And all is well. Co-worker finishes with her customer and conversation lady comes up and says, "oh, I was 39." No explanation, nothing. Time goes by. I call another number, say 55. I go through the whole thing, and nobody comes so I go on. When I'm done with 56, 55 comes up and says "I was 55." I say "oh, okay, I did call it." (I don't say this to be mean, but because people often claim I skipped them) She replies with "I know, I was shopping."

    I couldn't even talk to her, I was so irritated. If I responded to that, I'd be fired for sure. "That's not how the take a number system works!" And she had no idea how much she wanted, kept asking me to show her sizes. "Can you show me what 1 yard looks like? What about 3/4? What about 1.5?" And she would seriously think about each size, for long periods of time. She also kept her hands on the fabric, which is a pet peeve of mine. Stop touching it and let me do my job. She had one bolt of fabric, and it took her about five minutes to figure out how much she wanted. (1 yard)

    Granted, some days we are understaffed. But today that was not the issue.
    Replace anger management with stupidity management.

  • #2
    Oh god, I hate that. And I don't even work with a ticket system!

    Look customers, this is a simple concept! You take a number, you wait to hear it called, you IMMEDIATELY step up and say "That's me!" Or you lose your turn!!
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

    Comment


    • #3
      "Number 42!...Number 42...going once...going twice.......aaaand it's gone!"
      "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 EricKei View Post
        "Number 42!...Number 42...going once...going twice.......aaaand it's gone!"
        Sounds like the local DMV office - they issue you a ticket at the desk that has a letter and 3 numbers. You then take a seat in the main area, and there is a screen over the flat screen tv that displays which numbers are being served at which station. There's also a neon sign over each station that shows which ticket is being currently served AS well as audio announcements, so there's no way you can miss your number.

        Or at least that's the theory. When I went in 3 weeks ago to get my permit renewed, the place was packed (Fridays usually are) and there was at least one ticket number called that nobody responded to. They'll call 3 times and then, if no one comes up, proceed to the next ticket number in sequence.

        They are constantly busy and don't have time to dick around.
        Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

        Comment


        • #5
          Same at the DMV back home ^_^ This was one of the things that Katrina *improved*, as the old facility was flooded out. It's now fast and efficient (they had 16 or so desks, and I don't recall ever seeing fewer than half of them staffed, in addition to the dedicated personnel who did driving tests, cashiering, and photos ) -- I've been there at times when the line just to get your number was 30-40 people long, the seating areas were almost full (one for driving tests, one for everything else), and I still got in and out in less than 45 minutes. Old DMV? 7 people ahead of you = minimum of an hour wait just to talk to a clerk.
          "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


          • #6
            Been there, done that. How do these flakes not know how the system works?! Take-a-ticket systems have been around for decades, the concept is extremely simple, and it works if everyone cooperates. Yet there's always someone who insists that the rules don't apply to them.
            I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
            My LiveJournal
            A page we can all agree with!

            Comment


            • #7
              Gonna get some cold cuts today!
              Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

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

              Comment


              • #8
                I'm going to play devil's advocate. I've been the "Oh, I have number 57" person.

                1. Place is horribly busy. I pull number 57; clerks are now on number 32. I guess I have time to duck down an aisle or two & pick up other things. I guess wrong.

                2. Place is horribly noisy. Clerk isn't able to bellow loudly enough. I flat out don't hear the clerk.

                3. I get to talking to some one and don't pay enough attention to where the numbers are. My fault.

                Comment


                • #9
                  My fabric store has a ticket system, but nobody uses it unless the counter starts getting backed up. Seriously, when everyone is grown up about it and takes a moment to look and ask "who was last in line?" then it's not needed.

                  I know, I know, if that was the way the world worked, then we wouldn't need this site, would we?

                  And I hate it when someone pulls a ticket and then leaves the area. They seem to think that because they had a number it means they can come reinsert themselves anywhere they want after that number is called. Uhm, NO. Go pull another number, asshat. And this time, stay in line.
                  Sorry, my cow died so I don't need your bull

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth nutraxfornerves View Post

                    1. Place is horribly busy. I pull number 57; clerks are now on number 32. I guess I have time to duck down an aisle or two & pick up other things. I guess wrong.

                    2. Place is horribly noisy. Clerk isn't able to bellow loudly enough. I flat out don't hear the clerk.

                    3. I get to talking to some one and don't pay enough attention to where the numbers are. My fault.
                    Fair enough, stuff happens. However that day:

                    1. Only about six people waiting.
                    2. Wasn't loud, and I was using the intercom system.
                    3. If people act in any way apologetic or generally treat me like a person I don't care. It's the nonchalant "whatever" attitude that gets to me.

                    XCashier: From your post "She struck up a conversation with my customer, bitching about the take-a-number system." Serious. As I was leaving today I walked past the line for the bathroom. Our store only has one one person at a time unisex bathroom. Do we need more? Yup. Cue the following, "They need more bathrooms. I mean, after the make us wait for our fabric, they could at least..." And when she saw me, she shut up and glared at me. Guess what? I have no control over the bathroom situation, hag.
                    Replace anger management with stupidity management.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth notalwaysright View Post
                      As I was leaving today I walked past the line for the bathroom. Our store only has one one person at a time unisex bathroom. Do we need more? Yup. Cue the following, "They need more bathrooms. I mean, after the make us wait for our fabric, they could at least..." And when she saw me, she shut up and glared at me. Guess what? I have no control over the bathroom situation, hag.
                      Yikes! Bad store design. Is your store due for a remodel or relocation?

                      Hag should be grateful; at our old store, we didn't have public restrooms at all. The only restrooms were employees only, as they were in the back room and our insurance didn't want any non-employees back there (theft, physical hazards, lawsuit bait, etc.) It was just the way the building was put together. And yes, I've been yelled at about it too, as if I were the builder and not just some front line cannon fodder.

                      Our new store has men's and women's two-seater models, so very little complaining about the restrooms, unless they're a mess.
                      I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                      My LiveJournal
                      A page we can all agree with!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth DGoddessChardonnay View Post
                        Sounds like the local DMV office - they issue you a ticket at the desk that has a letter and 3 numbers. You then take a seat in the main area, and there is a screen over the flat screen tv that displays which numbers are being served at which station. There's also a neon sign over each station that shows which ticket is being currently served AS well as audio announcements, so there's no way you can miss your number.
                        Our MVD has made even this simple process as Byzantine as possible.

                        For one thing, the number dispenser is hidden off around a corner. Then, when you do get your number and see how many is in front of you, you'd think you'd be able to sit and read for a bit, right? Nope. They call out the numbers all right, but not in any sort of order that I could ever figure out. Then, the last time I actually went to a field office, while I was waiting, they decided that everyone that was just renewing their registration, they were going to put in one big line and have 3 windows take care of that. That's what I was there to do, so I go get in the line. When I was about 6 back, my original number came up and it happened to be at the window right next to where I was standing in line.

                        Ever since that fiasco, I will now pay the small fee to renew my registration and my DL online.
                        It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth XCashier View Post
                          Yikes! Bad store design. Is your store due for a remodel or relocation?

                          Hag should be grateful; at our old store, we didn't have public restrooms at all.
                          Yeah, we're getting a remodel early next year. Our store is pretty sad. I've been saving up a post about it, but don't really know where to put it.

                          Our DOL is crazy. You wait in line to get a number, which is given to you by a person who has the actual job of asking you what you're there for and giving you a number. Then you wait for your number, and get confused because of the system, which seemingly goes backwards at times. If you want your enhanced license (to use to go to Canada), you wait more. I think I counted four times. One to get the number, one to renew the license, one to get the enhanced part, and last to get your photo taken. The number is called once. It is a recorded voice, they wait a bit, if no one moves, they go on. Boom. I'm seriously on the edge of my seat, too afraid even to mess with my phone in case they pass me.
                          Replace anger management with stupidity management.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I feel your pain. We just put the take-a-ticket system into our store when we remodeled this summer, so none of our customers are used to using it. We were super busy this past Thursday (I think I was cutting for almost two hours straight at one point, without every stopping between customers) and it was a disaster because half the people took tickets and came up when their number was called and half just stood there without a number and started bitching because they were waiting for ages and we never cut for them. Umm we're calling out every number, you're standing next to the dispenser, and you can see people handing us their ticket when their number is called. I have zero sympathy for you not getting with the game.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post
                              Gonna get some cold cuts today!
                              That made laugh so hard. I love that commercial!
                              Thank you for calling Card Services, how may I take your abuse today? ~Headset Hellion

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X