(I cuss a lot)Really, that's not an answer that helps, and other randomness

[simplyanother]

If the cashier asks you "Do you need a bag?"

Saying "I'm good" might seem like an acceptable response, but it's not, because sometimes it means YES, other times it means "fuck you".

Answering, "PLEASE!!" (followed by that huff), like I was thinking about not giving YOU a bag because I don't like YOU...also, not helpful. Really, you can have a bag.

Or, a favorite "uh...whatever is easiest for you". NO bag is easiest for me. But whenever I opt for that one, you want a bag. So I force you to make your own choice.

Oooh what about the "uh uh uh...uh... no" then as they are leaving...they reach over and grab one like I was withholding the damned thing from them.

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Yesterday, I got two snotty customers, right in a row, who were pissy as hell about the whole zip code thing.

First guy, bought one item, blah blah blah. I asked him for his zip and he gave me the evil eye and answered "NO!" (but it was more of a "no BITCH" tone).

Then the woman right after him was so very pleasant throughout her whole transaction, until we got to the stupid zipcode part. "Can I have your zip?"

"NO! I'm so damned tired of people asking me for my zip code, my area code..blah blah blah..." She kept bitching as she walked away. I really wanted to respond, but I had a line. Though what I really wanted to say was... "FINE! I don't want your stinking zip code anyway! ::footstomp::..." Just to be as ridiculous as she was being.


I'm not sure who I liked better, whiney woman, or bitchy man.
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We have no more coupon log!

It's awesome.

But apparently, customers have been taking the extra ads and hoarding them. Greedy bastards.

"Can I sign for a coupon?"

"Nope...we're not doing that anymore..."

"but I don't get an ad in my paper, i don't get a paper, I didn't get an ad this week...whine whine whine"

"Well, go and sign up for the email thing. You can print up like 50 of them (and still only use 1! ha!)."

"But I need one noooooooooow"

Blah.

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Occasionally we have the bag stuffer coupons. Customers try to take them by the handful too.

This week we have one that is a percent off your total purchase--it's valid next week--- They try to grab like 50 of them. But this one, it just has the percent off the total.

Which makes me laugh. Because, it's not like the %off one item things, which are usually nifty 50% offs. Which you'd need 50 to get a discount on 50 items.

But you don't need them for the % off the total purchase. You need one. Dumbasses.

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No, we still don't have any freakin tree bags.


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Yes, we're getting fall stuff in. Just wait, we'll have Christmas in a week. It's a craft store. Just be happy we're not playing Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.

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[ditchdj]

That's becoming a major peeve of mine when I purchase something at a retail store and the cashier begins interviewing me about where I live, my phone number and all that crap. I really got irritated about it when I read this piece.....

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/12/data-collection.html

I notice that the local Best Buy where I live stopped doing that so I'm guessing their corporate office has been getting a lot of complaints about it. In fact, it's even illegal in California for a cashier to request ID if a customer pays for a purchase with a signed credit card.

[ArcticChicken]

Answering, "PLEASE!!" (followed by that huff),

Or answering "Yes!" with a barely suppressed "you moron!" in their voice. It's not like I'd be asking that if it weren't easy to carry by itself.

[VenomX]

That's becoming a major peeve of mine when I purchase something at a retail store and the cashier begins interviewing me about where I live, my phone number and all that crap. I really got irritated about it when I read this piece.....

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/12/data-collection.html

I notice that the local Best Buy where I live stopped doing that so I'm guessing their corporate office has been getting a lot of complaints about it. In fact, it's even illegal in California for a cashier to request ID if a customer pays for a purchase with a signed credit card.

I am guessing you missed this part?

Note: A retail company can ask to see a photo ID card, but it cannot write down or store this information.

[Mordecai]

That's becoming a major peeve of mine when I purchase something at a retail store and the cashier begins interviewing me about where I live, my phone number and all that crap. I really got irritated about it when I read this piece.....

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/12/data-collection.html

I notice that the local Best Buy where I live stopped doing that so I'm guessing their corporate office has been getting a lot of complaints about it. In fact, it's even illegal in California for a cashier to request ID if a customer pays for a purchase with a signed credit card.

One problem with that law, though, is that it makes it easier for thieves to use your card if you manage to lose it, since they then don't have to worry about getting carded. If you're really that sick of being asked to take out your identification everytime you use your credit/debit card, then start carrying cash.

[BarbieGirl]

I have no problem with the zip code because I don't really see a way for them to bother me with that. I always just say no thank you to the phone number though.

When I was at Lowe's they instituted a stupid program that you had to ask for people's phone numbers. "To see where their market came from" Whatever, the screen said to just enter 999-999-9999 if the customer said no. BUT if you did that more than once or twice your name popped up on a stupid report that you didn't get 100% in the phone number collection. Eventually I stopped even asking and just randomly hit a bunch of numbers.

[Eben56]

When asked about a bag, I alsmost always say "yes please" or "no thanks". I just have to tell you though about an experience a couple days ago. I stopped into a little gas mart type store on the way back to the hotel. I loked around for a little basket or something but they didn't have them. I purchased: a 12 pack, 2 quarts of milk, a bottle of grape juice, a bottle of punch, a tube of tooth paste, a pack of cigs, 2 pastries, a box of tissues, and a cookie. I looked like some kind of circus act trying to balance everything as I looked around. I thought it would be CS to just pile some of it on the counter and get more.

The clerk rings it up (male, 16-17, clean cut). I pay. A few seconds go by. "Uh....... would you like a bag?" I just looked at the kid, then looked at the pile, then looked at kid. He looked up and blinked and said "kind of a dumb question huh?"

I just smiled.

[simplyanother]

Shit, my most common "ooh what a stupid question" thing is... "Is all of this together?"

When the customer has one item.


Another zip code thingy that I forgot about was the "I'm not from around here" one, which we get quite a lot. Like I care?

I got it from a guy who looked (and sounded) exactly like Dustin Hoffman, and it made me wonder just what the hell he was doing in this area shopping for ribbon. "I'm not from this area". But hey, he said it pleasantly. And I like Dustin Hoffman. So there is that.
+-

I don't CARE if people don't want to give me the zip. They don't have to. But lecturing me is just asinine. Call corporate. Tell them. Don't waste my freaking time.

When I go to a store that requires extra information, I say no. I'm not rude, I just say no. Because I know that the cashier doesn't care what my phone number is, what my zip is, or whether or not I like broccoli (I don't, btw).

[karma_gypsy]

Or, a favorite "uh...whatever is easiest for you". NO bag is easiest for me. But whenever I opt for that one, you want a bag. So I force you to make your own choice.

Hey now ... I say that, my husband says that and my mom says that. Nine times out of ten, the cashier just uses plastic and only a few use paper - they just use whatever is in front of them at the time ...

We've even gotten a couple of "thank you's" from the cashiers ...

[BookstoreEscapee]

They used to want us to get email addresses at the cashwrap. Before every transaction a box came up asking. Plus if someone actually gave it to you you had to type it twice. Yeah, sure, lets do that when there's 37 people in line. I got in the habit of just hitting the 'clear' button at the end of each transaction so I wouldn't even see the box. Then at Christmas they took it off because of course it's too busy to worry about that and we were all excited...until January 2nd, when it came back...

[sms001]

Or answering "Yes!" with a barely suppressed "you moron!" in their voice. It's not like I'd be asking that if it weren't easy to carry by itself.

And of course there's the ever popular reverse of the situation. Customer with a CANDY BAR for dog's sake:

"Thanks, have good day."

"Where's my bag at?!!!!"

I bag the candy bar, thinking maybe they've been at the wrong end of an LP scene at some point in their life. They walk four feet to an inside the store trash can, remove the candy bar from the bag, and throw the bag away.

It's like their brains are completely broken sometimes, I swear. How can you get through life when EVERY single interaction with another human being is adversarial?

[simplyanother]

Oh, my register doesn't have any letters on it. We'd all fall over and die if we had to input email addys too.

Then again, maybe we'd get new registers.

[Listerfiend]

I'm really surprised--only a few of us at my store have had any issues with the coupon change. I had my first one today, actually (which is fair, since I was off Monday and Tuesday). Customer returned something and she'd used a competitor coupon on it and wanted to know if she could use it on an item she was going to purchase. I said no, my boss said no. Previously they let me allow people to do that, but since we don't have the exception logs we don't even have a way of doing that. Customer freaked out, went on about how she came in earlier in the week at another store and they had coupons in the lobby and all that and that she should be allowed to have one, and I told her that we ran out of our coupons/ads on Monday (which is what I was told), and so no coupon = no discount. She told me it was "bad business" and that we were going to "lose customers." I told her it wasn't worth my job to have her save $2.00 (she wanted the discount for some beads).

As an aside to the coupon thing, everyone at my store has been excited to throwdown with customers, but everyone's been agreeable--I can't believe it. I actually wanted to piss people off because they had always pissed me off. Alas...

[SuperB]

If the cashier asks you "Do you need a bag?"

Saying "I'm good" might seem like an acceptable response, but it's not, because sometimes it means YES, other times it means "fuck you".

Answering, "PLEASE!!" (followed by that huff), like I was thinking about not giving YOU a bag because I don't like YOU...also, not helpful. Really, you can have a bag.

Or, a favorite "uh...whatever is easiest for you". NO bag is easiest for me. But whenever I opt for that one, you want a bag. So I force you to make your own choice.

Oooh what about the "uh uh uh...uh... no" then as they are leaving...they reach over and grab one like I was withholding the damned thing from them.

Bags, welcome to my little headache this summer. We have a lot more climbers this year and while it's never been an issue in the past for some reason this year it is.
We only have plastic bags, it's all we buy. People also bring us their large grocery bags for us to use. Quite a good way of recycling them if you ask me.
Any more though I'm afraid to ask if people want a bag or not because I'm damned either way. If they come in with backpacks and I assume they wont want one I get attitude. If I do ask if they want a bag I damned near get a lecture about the environment.

If you are unable to recycle the freakin bag yourself just say no! I'm not the antichrist for having (gasp) bags.

[Listerfiend]

...If I do ask if they want a bag I damned near get a lecture about the environment.

If you are unable to recycle the freakin bag yourself just say no! I'm not the antichrist for having (gasp) bags.

I get that all the time, too. I always respond with "well just so you know the Giant Eagle [grocery store] next door does plastic bag recycling" to get people off my back, as if *I'm* part of the problem for forcing people to take bags or whatever.