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I don't know if any of you have been in a Kmart lately or work in one (like I do), but damn! I don't think they're going to last another 10-15 years. They're all alike, by the way, and I think nearly all Kmarts have the same problems mine does. And I don't get how these corporate idiots can just sit there in their big padded chairs and NOT realize that their stores suck! Kmart is a name synonymous with "sucky retail store." Kmart is like the red-headed stepchild (no offense to redheads 
) of the retail giants. Okay, on to my rant:
Sometimes I just hate going into work, because the customers are usually quite grouchy from having to wait in line for eons with only two cash registers open (or only ONE if one of the cashiers has to go on break). Or from waiting for 15 minutes to get into the fitting rooms - they started actually locking the fitting rooms (WITHOUT an attendant) due to theft and they attached a doorbell (yes, an actual doorbell) that rings at the service desk when a customer pushes it and the service desk is supposed to page for a softlines associate to go unlock the fitting rooms.
And it can be stressful.. even cashiering, it feels like you're doing the work of 2-3 cashiers because you're under pressure to ring people up quickly and get them out of there because they've been waiting in line so long and you're the only register open, god forbid you have to call for a price check or something else goes wrong with a transaction. Sometimes departments can't call you back immediately after you page them because they're the only one on the floor and they're with another customer or whatever. And then all the customers in line are glaring at YOU because the line isn't moving.
The main reason for all of this is because they slash payroll SO horribly to save money. It's not the individual stores' fault (so I get annoyed when I hear customers bitching, "WHY DON'T THESE MANAGERS JUST HIRE MORE PEOPLE?!?") because if they go over on payroll they will receive a nice little conference call from our district manager to scream at them, who I think is probably a dickhead from personal experience and things I've heard about him through the grapevine.
Not only do they slash payroll to save money, but in the middle of high summer, they CUT OFF the air conditioning on the floor of the store (for some strange reason, the back office/cash office still had air conditioning). We'd have customers bitch constantly about it. I felt for them, but I also wanted to say to them, "Yeah, and try WORKING in it!" I'd have beads of sweat rolling down my face when working register - which was quite embarrassing seeing as I was working with customers. I felt so gross and sweaty. I'd come home SOAKED in sweat from working checkouts. And to make it worse, we can't have any sort of drinks at checkouts or on the sales floor, so we have to stand there dehydrated.
I think customers need to get more pro-active - if you have time to bitch about a corporation, you NEED to call and write the big boys up top and tell them the situation in the stores - how you're a longtime customer, how terrible the checkout lines are, how you can't get into the fitting rooms, how there's no help on the floor, etc. Because they're not going to listen to associates.
And for some reason, customers like to come up and complain to me about things, I don't know why - maybe I look easy to talk to (or bitch at).
A lady came up to me the other day when I was working checkouts. She asked me if I was a manager (I'm only 20, so.. not saying managers are old, but most managers are at LEAST 25-30 as it takes experience to get into management..) I giggled a little and told her no, I wasn't, but I could get her one if she wanted it. She said no, she didn't have time to talk to one but wanted me to relay a message to management. She said she had been waiting at the fitting rooms for 20 minutes (probably NOT 20 minutes..probably more like 3-5 minutes.. and why on Earth would someone wait there 20 minutes without trying to flag an associate down for help or going to the Service Desk..?). She also bitched because she couldn't even try on a coat because *gasp* we have no mirrors out on the floor (I later found out that this is for legal reasons, as they're afraid of young children pulling the mirrors down on themselves - a child was actually killed not too long ago from a folding mirror falling on them in a Sears fitting room).
I almost told her to call corporate.. but I thought the better of it.. because if she does, then my store manager will get in trouble. And no, I didn't relay the message to management. I'm not going to bug them with it, because they already KNOW and there's nothing they can do about it. I'm sure they'd find themselves without jobs if they spoke up to the bigwigs about it. Corporations want "YES" men, not revolutionaries. They want sheep to work for them.
Sorry this was so long, just had to rant! I hope to find another job after Xmas. I don't know why I've stayed with Kmart so long. I'm just a college student, but this still bugs me since I have a strong work ethic. It's like watching a sinking ship or something.
) of the retail giants. Okay, on to my rant:Sometimes I just hate going into work, because the customers are usually quite grouchy from having to wait in line for eons with only two cash registers open (or only ONE if one of the cashiers has to go on break). Or from waiting for 15 minutes to get into the fitting rooms - they started actually locking the fitting rooms (WITHOUT an attendant) due to theft and they attached a doorbell (yes, an actual doorbell) that rings at the service desk when a customer pushes it and the service desk is supposed to page for a softlines associate to go unlock the fitting rooms.
And it can be stressful.. even cashiering, it feels like you're doing the work of 2-3 cashiers because you're under pressure to ring people up quickly and get them out of there because they've been waiting in line so long and you're the only register open, god forbid you have to call for a price check or something else goes wrong with a transaction. Sometimes departments can't call you back immediately after you page them because they're the only one on the floor and they're with another customer or whatever. And then all the customers in line are glaring at YOU because the line isn't moving.
The main reason for all of this is because they slash payroll SO horribly to save money. It's not the individual stores' fault (so I get annoyed when I hear customers bitching, "WHY DON'T THESE MANAGERS JUST HIRE MORE PEOPLE?!?") because if they go over on payroll they will receive a nice little conference call from our district manager to scream at them, who I think is probably a dickhead from personal experience and things I've heard about him through the grapevine.
Not only do they slash payroll to save money, but in the middle of high summer, they CUT OFF the air conditioning on the floor of the store (for some strange reason, the back office/cash office still had air conditioning). We'd have customers bitch constantly about it. I felt for them, but I also wanted to say to them, "Yeah, and try WORKING in it!" I'd have beads of sweat rolling down my face when working register - which was quite embarrassing seeing as I was working with customers. I felt so gross and sweaty. I'd come home SOAKED in sweat from working checkouts. And to make it worse, we can't have any sort of drinks at checkouts or on the sales floor, so we have to stand there dehydrated.
I think customers need to get more pro-active - if you have time to bitch about a corporation, you NEED to call and write the big boys up top and tell them the situation in the stores - how you're a longtime customer, how terrible the checkout lines are, how you can't get into the fitting rooms, how there's no help on the floor, etc. Because they're not going to listen to associates.
And for some reason, customers like to come up and complain to me about things, I don't know why - maybe I look easy to talk to (or bitch at).
A lady came up to me the other day when I was working checkouts. She asked me if I was a manager (I'm only 20, so.. not saying managers are old, but most managers are at LEAST 25-30 as it takes experience to get into management..) I giggled a little and told her no, I wasn't, but I could get her one if she wanted it. She said no, she didn't have time to talk to one but wanted me to relay a message to management. She said she had been waiting at the fitting rooms for 20 minutes (probably NOT 20 minutes..probably more like 3-5 minutes.. and why on Earth would someone wait there 20 minutes without trying to flag an associate down for help or going to the Service Desk..?). She also bitched because she couldn't even try on a coat because *gasp* we have no mirrors out on the floor (I later found out that this is for legal reasons, as they're afraid of young children pulling the mirrors down on themselves - a child was actually killed not too long ago from a folding mirror falling on them in a Sears fitting room). I almost told her to call corporate.. but I thought the better of it.. because if she does, then my store manager will get in trouble. And no, I didn't relay the message to management. I'm not going to bug them with it, because they already KNOW and there's nothing they can do about it. I'm sure they'd find themselves without jobs if they spoke up to the bigwigs about it. Corporations want "YES" men, not revolutionaries. They want sheep to work for them.
Sorry this was so long, just had to rant! I hope to find another job after Xmas. I don't know why I've stayed with Kmart so long. I'm just a college student, but this still bugs me since I have a strong work ethic. It's like watching a sinking ship or something.
Isn't that a load of shit there?
Turns out there was a loophole in the borough's building code, that stated the store didn't have to have them, since it was built before the code was enacted. However, the borough had been after the building owners for *years* to not only install them, but fix the damn parking lot as well. There are craters large enough to swallow buses!
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