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  • Heeeere's your dictionary ...

    sam·ple
    /sampəl/
    noun
    1. a small part or quantity intended to show what the whole is like.

    ------------------------

    Dear Indulgent Mother:

    The operative word here is SMALL part or quantity. Your two older kids and you "sampled" all four of the drinks on the table inside our store (possibly more than once, I kinda lost track after a while, since the kiddies were just grabbing the pitchers as the whim took them). And then Older Son decided to go "sample" the drink at the front of our store ... which is fine ... but he downed three "samples" as if somebody was going to outlaw the stuff in the next half an hour.

    So when I step over and block access to the tap and tell him "That's enough; it's supposed to be one sample per person" don't tell me indignantly that "I buy a lot of tea here!" I have no idea whether you do, and frankly don't care. If your little cupcake likes our "samples" that much, then why aren't you BUYING some of it for him to make at home? Or at the very least, BUY him a cup of the stuff while you're here at the store.

    I left the boss an account of the incident just in case Indulgent Mom comes in at some point and complains.
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

  • #2
    But, but, but...he's just a kid.He's exploring and learning new things.

    Or...he's just a SC in the making.

    I vote for door 2 please.

    Comment


    • #3
      The usual attitude seems to be "But that's what it's there for!"

      Yeah, no. It's not meant to be a complete four course meal for people too stingy to feed their own kids. She's teaching them greed and rude, inconsiderate behavior.
      When you start at zero, everything's progress.

      Comment


      • #4
        Sadly, any kind of store that gives out free samples of ANYTHING will have vultures taking advantage and ruining it for everyone else.

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth Monterey Jack View Post
          Sadly, any kind of store that gives out free samples of ANYTHING will have vultures taking advantage and ruining it for everyone else.
          That is true. The grocery store I shop at has free samples out. When the nearby school lets out the kiddies come through and clean out the samples. I've frequently seen one kid take a dozen samples.
          "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

          Comment


          • #6
            I know it wouldn't happen, but it makes you wish there was some sort of system so that everyone only got one sample. Like, a token? Or like Fred Meyer does a coupon for some random item, and you get it for free, but it's one per loyalty card. Stores seem to think stopping selfish people from taking a zillion samples is... bad? Not worth it? Or something.

            I remember in my home town the grocery store actually did do something about sample hogs. I knew someone who worked there, and she said that a shuttle from one of the retirement homes came at a specific time, and they just camped out and took all the samples. They would literally take the entire tray of samples over to the small seating area near the deli. So management simply changed the times the sample people came on shift. She swore me to secrecy, though, just in case they heard and tried to make some claim.
            Replace anger management with stupidity management.

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth Monterey Jack View Post
              Sadly, any kind of store that gives out free samples of ANYTHING will have vultures taking advantage and ruining it for everyone else.
              This is true. Management makes a big deal out of always having somebody overseeing the sample tables ... seriously? There are two of 'em, and there are FOUR pitchers on the one table. You get six or eight people around that table and "overseeing' is all but impossible. Oh, and it's not unusual to have only two staff members in the store during the day ... so ... we're each busy with a customer, so who is there to "oversee" the sample tables? Nobody, of course.

              If I see blatant abuse I will step in, but otherwise management can just suck up the losses, unless they are willing to change the current setup so John and Jane Q. Public hasn't got unfettered access to the samples.
              Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
              ~ Mr Hero

              Comment


              • #8
                Back when I worked at a branch, we'd put out a huge bowl of Halloween candy at the reception deck (back when the branch had a reception desk instead of a sign in computer).

                I was working my turn at reception and a lady asks if she can take some candy home for her kids. I say sure, and she smiles and goes to do her banking without taking any.

                I go on break, then a co-worker comes to ask me about her because apparently, on the way out, she pours the entire bowl of candy into her purse and says I told her she could.

                See... she wanted to take our candy to give out to the kids that night....

                ...

                ...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Wow, that's some brass plated nerve!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth notalwaysright View Post
                    I know it wouldn't happen, but it makes you wish there was some sort of system so that everyone only got one sample. Like, a token? Or like Fred Meyer does a coupon for some random item, and you get it for free, but it's one per loyalty card. Stores seem to think stopping selfish people from taking a zillion samples is... bad? Not worth it? Or something.

                    *snip*
                    That would make sense (the idea of, say, a token or coupon) but it might involve bringing in an extra staff person ... you know, to handle the tokens and samples. It's easier just to tell the existing staff to "deal with it."

                    Also, management has gone kinda loopy (been that way for a while, actually) and the people walking into our store are not "clients" or "customers" ... they are now "guests." Management probably wouldn't like the idea of "guests" having to hand over tokens or coupons to get something ... you know, as if they were "customers."

                    Quoth bankworking View Post
                    Back when I worked at a branch, we'd put out a huge bowl of Halloween candy at the reception deck (back when the branch had a reception desk instead of a sign in computer).

                    I was working my turn at reception and a lady asks if she can take some candy home for her kids. I say sure, and she smiles and goes to do her banking without taking any.

                    I go on break, then a co-worker comes to ask me about her because apparently, on the way out, she pours the entire bowl of candy into her purse and says I told her she could.

                    See... she wanted to take our candy to give out to the kids that night....

                    ...

                    ...


                    That is just ... I have no words. I'd like to think that somebody in management stepped in and stopped her but ... probably not, eh?
                    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                    ~ Mr Hero

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      One local grocery store has been forced to stop doing samples the way they used to, thanks to this.

                      They were sampling whole meals, so they might hand you a little cup with, say, a bite of chicken, a teaspoon of rice and a dab of fancy slaw. These were often so dang tasty that I'd load up the ingredients right there (they had a little cooler and shelf space with everything you needed) and grab a recipe card - a few of those recipes are still in my rotation.

                      Unfortunately, the dedicated vultures finally crowded out anyone who might actually buy the stuff. Several months ago, I realized the dedicated space where the little cooking station had been set up was back to being a regular old end cap.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I used to work at a pretzel shop. The manager and I didn't get along, and we parted ways uncomfortably.

                        The pretzel shop gave out free samples. Pretty good product, too. I was in the Mall one day some years later, with an acquaintance who was a terrible mooch. (We stopped hanging out together when I stopped buying him lunch, reducing him to buying a single cheeseburger and a cup for water whenever we went to a fast-food place.) As we passed by the pretzel shop, he puts out a claw-like hand and scoops up the ENTIRE bowl of samples without even breaking stride. It was a pretty big handful of food - probably two pretzels' worth. He's ambling down the hall munching on his catch like it ain't no thing, and we hear the nasty manager behind us, "The next time I see you in here I'm calling the police!"

                        It was an empty threat, but I let the guy have it; the last thing I needed was to be turfed from the Mall because this ass couldn't stop eating other people's food. I kept wondering whether his parents fed him. (His parents didn't like me much either. Maybe because I stopped buying him food.) Like I said, we didn't hang out much longer.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Ironic, because today I had to warn off a couple of kids from our samples. They came in with two adult women -- the women are regulars (although the only buy drinks, AFAIK) -- and the two women, as they usually do, stood at the drinks bar chatting with the barista for what felt like forever ... while their kids practiced their long-jump in the store. Oh, and helped themselves to the samples. You won't be surprised to hear the women totally ignored the little darlings.

                          I finally walked over as they were grabbing yet more samples and said, "That's enough -- NO MORE." They took their samples and skittered off towards the adults (at one point the boy walked back towards the sample cart and I heard the girl say, "She said no more!!" But the boy was just throwing his cup out ...)

                          At one point they were apparenty practicing their long-jumps with partly-filled sampled cups in their hands ... leaving a lovely trail of small tea spills across the store. I think next time I see this I'm gonna send them out in the hallway to run around with full sample cups ...
                          Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                          ~ Mr Hero

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth Pixelated View Post
                            Also, management has gone kinda loopy (been that way for a while, actually) and the people walking into our store are not "clients" or "customers" ... they are now "guests."
                            That is nothing new. Years ago when I worked at Hasting's, all-of-a-sudden, it was decided that we would refer to customers as "guests". Most of us said that if we had guests act like our customers in our home, we'd be kicking their asses to the curb.
                            It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth Pagan View Post
                              That is nothing new. Years ago when I worked at Hasting's, all-of-a-sudden, it was decided that we would refer to customers as "guests". Most of us said that if we had guests act like our customers in our home, we'd be kicking their asses to the curb.
                              I would also point out that when I invite guests over, I don't try to sell them anything, or charge them to eat when I make dinner...

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