Look Before Asking

[Latekin]

Ok, so the most frequent irritation question I get at work only ever happens when I'm standing at the entrance being happy smiley door person.

Customer'll walk in, looking at their phone or something, and ask "where's the paint?"

It's right there dude. Right there in front of you. Look up and thou shalt see. It has three signs. The colour match charts are right in front of it. There are even marks from a bright blue paint spill on the floor and walls RIGHT THERE.

So, when I politely let them know that it's just over here, they usually look embarrassed and march off. It's not sucky, it's not rude, but...

..bleargh. The amount of times I have to point it out a day just makes me phenomenally tired. I have exhausted my pointing arm, my finding instincts are kaput. My politely state the obvious ability has run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. My non-eyerolling instinct is fighting the urge to jump out the window and flee screaming into traffic.

I'm tempted to send them to the garden next time that happens. I'm not mean enough to do it, but oh the temptation.

Someone save me from myself.

[EricKei]

I will admit that I've asked "Where is X" before, when the answer is "right next to you" >_< Though I always try to look for myself, first, and I admit my brain fart to whomever was helping me, when I do

[Latekin]

XD

Like I said, it's not rude or sucky, but I just get question fatigue.

[Ironclad Alibi]

You could just give them circuitous directions leading them around the store back to in front of the paint.

[MoonCat]

Send them a photo of it.

[XCashier]

I get this too. Sometimes it's something right in front of or right behind the customer, which makes me wonder if they bothered looking in the first place or just asked the first employee they saw.

Sometimes, it's something in another part of the store, and the customer says, "Oh, you don't have to show me, just point me in the direction!" Sorry, that's impossible with the way the store is laid out. It's a large store, there are no aisle numbers (the suits thought this was such a brilliant idea!), and if I just point in a specific direction, the customer will be wandering all day looking for the item. So yeah, I do have to show you where it is.

[Teefies2]

My favorite was the time I was in the dental (on one side) and laxatives (on the other side) aisle. Why corporate thought those two things would logically be in the same aisle, I don't know!

I was squatted down, putting some product on the bottom shelf. Customer comes up to me, bends down to get in my field of vision, and asks:

"Where would I find toothbrushes?"

Ok, I was wrong, but it had been a LONG day. I said "Turn around". Customer turned around .... 360 degrees! "Okay, but where are the toothbrushes?" I lost it! Stood up, took her by the arm, turned her around (to the other side of the aisle where the toothbrushes were) and said "I think you'll find them here"

ROFL ROFL ROFL

[dalesys]

... dental (on one side) and laxatives (on the other side) aisle. Why corporate thought ...

Obvious zek-think: I'm always chewing out ...

[greek_jester]

I get this too. Sometimes it's something right in front of or right behind the customer, which makes me wonder if they bothered looking in the first place or just asked the first employee they saw.

Sorry, this is probably me In my defence, I do try to look for things first; it's just that sometimes I can't see for looking. I do always start with "I'm sorry, I've probably walked past it 3 times already, but I can't find..."


I've also done the walk straight in and ask, but I've always started with "I'm sorry, I'm on my lunch hour and don't have time to walk in circles; could you tell me roughly where {item} is, please?"

[Evannah]

I can remember when I was a child and had gone shopping with my parents, this guy waltzed through the door, walked up to a worker and just said "Baked beans!" The worker pointed to her left and said "Just there." They were literally right next to him. I don't know what happened after that, because we were already starting to walk up the aisle. Some people are just so lazy and think they're entitled to ask the workers anything they want, regardless as to whether they are already busy or helping another customer.

[BrenDAnn]

This reminds me of the customers who walk in, look directly down the first aisle toward the ATM, then back at me, and ask where the ATM is. That happens far more often than I can even tell you. It's like... You just looked right at it! It's even got green on it! LOOK, people!

[notalwaysright]

Here's the thing... I don't normally mind when people ask, even if said item is right in front of them. The reason is that we don't have aisle numbers, and the store is crazy packed with stuff. Corporate refuses to put up any numbers or anything because they maintain that an employee should physically walk each customer to the item. There is no way to have enough employees to accomplish this, so it's pretty dumb.

Anyway, I don't really like when someone blows in the door, and RUNS around desperately searching for an employee to tell them where something cripplingly obvious is. Like quilting. It's a large section at the front of the store, how did you miss it? Oh, you weren't looking at all, were you? And even then, it's not actually sucky... It's when that person goes on to say, "you're store is SO confusing!" etc, etc. Do you think I personally decided how the store was designed? I actually agree with you, but I don't need to hear it a hundred times a day, you know?

[wolfie]

I'm tempted to send them to the garden next time that happens. I'm not mean enough to do it, but oh the temptation.

If something like this happens other than at your workplace (i.e. it's combined with "person having the aura of competence MUST be an employee"), give in to the temptation. After all, what can a store that's NOT your employer do - fire you?

[Mike Taylor]

In our case, we get variations of Latekin's question because corporate had the brilliant idea to remove ALL of the individual department signs.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

For some reason such as stupidity, corporate got the bright idea to take down all our aisle identifier signs years ago. Not smart when at least half our customers are seemingly blind and shop with tunnel vision.

And now my manager got the bright idea to have us work until 10 at night unloading trucks and returning at 6 to stock the freight. Store opens at 7 until Christmas Eve (extended holiday hours FTW).

And I have to work the back half of the store, which includes housewares, electronics and toys. The areas with the most customer traffic at the moment. The main aisle between the departments is a superhighway for lazy and oblivious shoppers.

Result: I deal with this multiple times each day. "Where are the Tracfones?" Right in front of you. "Where are the Monster High Dolls?" Walk down one more aisle and you'll find them. "Where are the coffeemakers?" In this aisle you walked through twice.

I know I can't hold it against people, but it's still annoying when I have to get all the freight filled and off the floor by 10 or so, or else I won't get off the floor at all, because then I'll just be helping people fill their Christmas lists.

And then, of course, my manager puts on our task list that we need to be helping out the salesfloor more. Like it was my decision to schedule only two openers during the last week before Christmas, lose 15 hours of payroll last night to call-outs, and possibly lose the same amount of hours if those people call out again today.