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Just had a massive rant written about an SC that nearly cost me my job after working 8 years in retail for a handful of big box stores and an occasional mom and pop shop, but Chrome picked that time to crap out. But hello all.
to make a long rant short, I have taken some of the worst crap from the worst SCs you can imagine (my retail stint includes some time in Loss Prevention at a big box store so in some cases the crap part is quite literal) and have never ever even come close to losing my cool with a customer, as I'm one of those who genuinely want to help, I actually enjoy having someone show up pissed but leave happy with what I was able to do for them, makes me feel like a freakin rockstar. I've had my share of frustrated moments but I dont let it show until afterwords, then I'll go smoke with the boss or just sit in her office for a few and bitch about it. But this B**** tonight showed up 15 minutes before closing, i've had a pretty G**D*** bad day to begin with, as I wasn't just passed up for an internal promotion, but wasn't even interviewed. So not only did they not consider me, but I wasn't even worth the time of following their own policy. The person they hired was perfect for the job, she used to be a lower level boss of mine, left to a competitor because she was tired of getting stepped on by the department boss, and everyone, incl. myself are ecstatic that she's now got the department boss job. I absolutely adore her, and am not pissed she got the job, I'm pissed that I wasn't even considered, and even she is calling BS on the whole process. But anyway SC showed up and wanted to buy a minifridge. Instantly this trips a warning bell. A minifridge is only worth $10 on a good day in commissions, I don't mind selling them at all, as $10 is $10, pays for lunch that day. BUT! This SC didn't just want a minifridge, she wanted to spend almost an hour talking about the differences between a $240 model and a $260 model. At 9:30 (store closed at 9, i was supposed to be off at 915 but since I'm the only closer....) I finally apologize, explain that I was off 15 minutes ago and the store closed half an hour ago, but we open at 10 tomorrow, here's the links for the .com page for these items, feel free to peruse them at home and stop by, or even just phone in your order and we'll get you set up just fine, etc etc, now mind you even if she purchased tonight she couldn't pick up until tomorrow because the back dock guys have already left for the day. The instant I finished speaking she just looks square at me and says "Well F*** you too A**hole" and proceeds to tell me why I'm a terrible person and she deserves better customer service than that and if it weren't for people like her I wouldn't have a job etc etc etc, just generally treating me like something that rates below whale shit.
For the first time in 8 years I lost it on a SC
When she finally took a breath I told her in my best "This conversation is over" voice, that I was not some G**D*** robot that is here to serve her every need, I'm a husband and a father with a 2 year old at home and a wife on bedrest, so instead of taking any more time away from them I'll be closing my registers immediately and while she was welcome to stay, there would be nobody to check her out if she finally decided on a fridge. At that point I did another thing I've never done, I ignored her and walked away. She tried to follow me to the first register I was going to close but my manager (bless her, I mean seriously, this women is a godsend to my department) had overheard it all, stopped her and told her that she didn't care if she was a $10/year customer or a $10,000/year customer, she was no longer welcome in our store. Escorted her out, and came back to me and told me to just go home and she'd close the department, on my ride home she called my cell and told me there was nothing to worry about and the only thing I did wrong was let her bitch at me for so long. Had my manager not stepped in I would more than likely have crossed the line from firm but polite into screaming match with a customer.
8 years and nobody got to me like this entitled condescending bitch did in 30 seconds flat.
Anyways, Hi
So that being the short version, imagine how long the long version was LOL
P.S. Due to the whole promotion thing I have since put out 3 applications to other places that offered me jobs in the past for marginally more money but i turned them down because I really enjoyed what I do. Big Box retailer I work for? Just wanted to let you know you're about to lose the #1 salesman in the northwest region because you have truly shown from the top levels down to local management how little you actually care. It's liberating to know my time in retail is damn close to being over. My degrees will be done in spring and there are other places that are non retail that will offer me schedule flexibility and comparable money to what you pay me (which is surprisingly well for retail due to the commission structure of my job)... BYE RETAIL! NICE KNOWING YA!
to make a long rant short, I have taken some of the worst crap from the worst SCs you can imagine (my retail stint includes some time in Loss Prevention at a big box store so in some cases the crap part is quite literal) and have never ever even come close to losing my cool with a customer, as I'm one of those who genuinely want to help, I actually enjoy having someone show up pissed but leave happy with what I was able to do for them, makes me feel like a freakin rockstar. I've had my share of frustrated moments but I dont let it show until afterwords, then I'll go smoke with the boss or just sit in her office for a few and bitch about it. But this B**** tonight showed up 15 minutes before closing, i've had a pretty G**D*** bad day to begin with, as I wasn't just passed up for an internal promotion, but wasn't even interviewed. So not only did they not consider me, but I wasn't even worth the time of following their own policy. The person they hired was perfect for the job, she used to be a lower level boss of mine, left to a competitor because she was tired of getting stepped on by the department boss, and everyone, incl. myself are ecstatic that she's now got the department boss job. I absolutely adore her, and am not pissed she got the job, I'm pissed that I wasn't even considered, and even she is calling BS on the whole process. But anyway SC showed up and wanted to buy a minifridge. Instantly this trips a warning bell. A minifridge is only worth $10 on a good day in commissions, I don't mind selling them at all, as $10 is $10, pays for lunch that day. BUT! This SC didn't just want a minifridge, she wanted to spend almost an hour talking about the differences between a $240 model and a $260 model. At 9:30 (store closed at 9, i was supposed to be off at 915 but since I'm the only closer....) I finally apologize, explain that I was off 15 minutes ago and the store closed half an hour ago, but we open at 10 tomorrow, here's the links for the .com page for these items, feel free to peruse them at home and stop by, or even just phone in your order and we'll get you set up just fine, etc etc, now mind you even if she purchased tonight she couldn't pick up until tomorrow because the back dock guys have already left for the day. The instant I finished speaking she just looks square at me and says "Well F*** you too A**hole" and proceeds to tell me why I'm a terrible person and she deserves better customer service than that and if it weren't for people like her I wouldn't have a job etc etc etc, just generally treating me like something that rates below whale shit.
For the first time in 8 years I lost it on a SC
When she finally took a breath I told her in my best "This conversation is over" voice, that I was not some G**D*** robot that is here to serve her every need, I'm a husband and a father with a 2 year old at home and a wife on bedrest, so instead of taking any more time away from them I'll be closing my registers immediately and while she was welcome to stay, there would be nobody to check her out if she finally decided on a fridge. At that point I did another thing I've never done, I ignored her and walked away. She tried to follow me to the first register I was going to close but my manager (bless her, I mean seriously, this women is a godsend to my department) had overheard it all, stopped her and told her that she didn't care if she was a $10/year customer or a $10,000/year customer, she was no longer welcome in our store. Escorted her out, and came back to me and told me to just go home and she'd close the department, on my ride home she called my cell and told me there was nothing to worry about and the only thing I did wrong was let her bitch at me for so long. Had my manager not stepped in I would more than likely have crossed the line from firm but polite into screaming match with a customer.
8 years and nobody got to me like this entitled condescending bitch did in 30 seconds flat.
Anyways, Hi
So that being the short version, imagine how long the long version was LOL
P.S. Due to the whole promotion thing I have since put out 3 applications to other places that offered me jobs in the past for marginally more money but i turned them down because I really enjoyed what I do. Big Box retailer I work for? Just wanted to let you know you're about to lose the #1 salesman in the northwest region because you have truly shown from the top levels down to local management how little you actually care. It's liberating to know my time in retail is damn close to being over. My degrees will be done in spring and there are other places that are non retail that will offer me schedule flexibility and comparable money to what you pay me (which is surprisingly well for retail due to the commission structure of my job)... BYE RETAIL! NICE KNOWING YA!
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