A customers view (pet peeves)

[rageaholic]

After the thread on suggestive selling, I thought of a few pet peeves I have as a customer. Now, before I get labled as an SC, I know that mistakes happen. If I order crab rangoon with my meal and get spring rolls, I really don't care. If a large part of my order is wrong, I will calmly say so and hope to get it changed (maybe they got them mixed up). No one is perfect, I don't expect perfection. I have never raised hell over small mistakes, expected to get something for free, or otherwise expect to be treated like a big shot. I like to say I am a pretty laid back customer. HOWEVER, that does not mean I am not without my pet peeves.

As I said in another thread, I HATE suggestive selling. Yes yes, I know the cashiers hate it too (one of corporates big ideas), but when I say no, leave it at that. Don't keep asking me if I want a rewards card, because I don't. I came to get one thing and leave, I do NOT want to hold up other customers while I fumble getting other information. A lot can happen in those few minutes I am giving out my email and all that. Oh, and yes, I have signed up for the cards. You know what happens? I forget to bring them with me, I am asked if I want the card, I say I left it at home, and then am asked if I want another. It's just more trouble than it's worth. Most of the time, a no or two will suffice, but I have had some pretty persistant cashiers who wouldn't take no for an answer. I believe that's a time when "The Customer is Always Right" comes into play. If I say I don't want something, it means I don't want it.

One last thing that bugs me is waiting forever for the check. I hate the whole process. First you ask for the check, then you wait, then they bring you the check, leave, and take the money, then you wait for the change. I have once waited 30 minutes just trying to leave because the wait staff was so slow. I like it when you can just bring your check up to the counter and pay (then leave your tip at the table). It's so much quicker that way. I don't mind waiting a few minutes, but when I have to ask again and again just to pay and leave, there's a problem. This is why part of me wishes there could be a law that would allow people to leave without paying after a certain amount of time, but unfortunately too many SCs would probably abuse it.

So in conclusion, I'm not going to get fussy over mistakes. I am usually pretty polite when it comes to that stuff, but being overly persistant or keeping me waiting for an unnecessarly long time does get on my nerves. Most places I've been to are cool about this stuff, but some places have crossed lines that irked me some.

[fireheart]

Regarding the suggestive selling thing...

If people say they left their card at home, I don't push the issue.

[rageaholic]

Regarding the suggestive selling thing...

If people say they left their card at home, I don't push the issue.

Thanks. I don't mind if they ask for a new one, but when they won't take no for an answer, I get PISSED.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

With my store's loyalty card, if you forget the card at home, you can give the cashier your phone number and still get the discount.

As for pushy employees--I blame management for that. Specifically, management that tells its employees "Either you get x credit cards/extended warranties/loyalty cards/add-ons/whatevers in such-and-such time period, or you're fired." Because this is what managers sometimes do when the suits above are laying the pressure on thick to increase conversion rates, and they can't think of anything else that would be more positively reinforcing and more effective.

Commissioned sales can result in pushiness also.

[rageaholic]

I figure it's a management thing, but I assumed that management actually insisted on them not taking no for an answer. As you can probably tell, I've never worked in retail, but have had friends who have and they gave me the lowdown (suprisingly, very few SCs).

GRR!! That kind of stuff pees me off. That management puts all this pressure on the poor clerks to get sales. It must be like being put between a rock and a hard place. I just hope when I get a job, management won't be pulling that crap on me.

[Chromatix]

The checkout staff over here are very straightforward. I don't have a loyalty card - though I might get one because it covers more than one store and gives a discount - so about half the time I get a simple "S-Etukorttilla?" (literally "On the promotion card?") and I simply shake my head in return. That's the end of it.

[otakuneko]

I once walked out of a restaurant without paying because it took so long to get the check.

One of the grocery stores around here used to keep a discount card at each register. People that forgot theirs could just say so and the cashier would scan the store's card, essentially letting the customer borrow it.

[fireheart]

With my store's loyalty card, if you forget the card at home, you can give the cashier your phone number and still get the discount.

As for pushy employees--I blame management for that. Specifically, management that tells its employees "Either you get x credit cards/extended warranties/loyalty cards/add-ons/whatevers in such-and-such time period, or you're fired."

I'll split this one into two parts: one's a story, one's experience.

1) I had a customer who forgot her card, but she handed me her receipt with a barcode number on it. (the loyalty cards have the barcode printed on the receipt once they're scanned...reason why would result in comprimising where I work) I asked my manager if we could do it. He said he wasn't sure if it would work. I tried it anyway (we have a prompt at the end to ask for the card which flat-out annoys me) and surprise, surprise, it worked! My manager was stunned when he discovered that it worked

2) From experience, as we all know, suggestive selling doesn't always work. And this is possibly one of the reasons why I'm planning on switching departments-AWAY from the sucky customers.

[infinitemonkies]

I don't like pickles.

If I order a burger, and ask for no pickles, I get it about 25% of the time. 50% of the time it has pickles anyway, and the remaining 25% it will have extra pickles.

Shrug, it's not that big a deal, I'll just pick them off. I know from years of working kitchens myself how habitual it is to garnish the same way every time. Even if you're consciously thinking about a special request, the food gets prepared the usual way just out of reflex and/or muscle memory.

Also, I find that whenever I order a bacon & egg bagel at mcdonalds, more often that not I'll be given a blt bagel. I don't take it personally or get upset, but I will ask them to replace it with what I actually ordered.

[rageaholic]

I once walked out of a restaurant without paying because it took so long to get the check.

One of the grocery stores around here used to keep a discount card at each register. People that forgot theirs could just say so and the cashier would scan the store's card, essentially letting the customer borrow it.

Believe me, I have been tempted to do that. I was about to add up the amount in my head and pay when the waitress finally came. It is one of the few things that would make me a justified SC.

Anyway, the one time I forgot the card, they ran it into their system only to tell me that I actually needed the card. This is why I don't even bother with those cards anymore. In my experience, it has proven to be more hassle than it's worth

[tinamarble88]

I hate doing suggestive selling too. I hate when workers suggestive sell to me too. I understand it's part of their job, but it does annoy me.

[Nohbody]

Stuff like managers pushing cards and such being offered by the sales floor employees is why I tend to call them (and I'm one of them, by the way) "peons"; not because I mean it in the insulting way, but because they get peed on by both customers and management.

[Imogene]

I don't like pickles.

One of the Hack in the Boxes near my house has an automated service machine, for placing orders, so they don't have to hire as many cashiers...
Anyway, I routinely order the Cheeseburger deluxe, but HATE the mayo they use, so, I order it minus the mayo. Roughly half the time, whoever makes my burger just assumes that means I want it dry. So, I'll eat it dry...
A quarter of the time, I forget to order it without mayo, so, I eat it with mayo... but the quarter of the time where it turns out right, it's fantastic.
I've also taken to ordering the burger minus mayo, extra ketchup... to the machine...

[ChaoKuang]

At my job we're required to get a certain number of "No"s from a customer before it's considered "ok" to stop. But you need to be nice about it and be more casual than pushy. Not always easy really, rofl.

[Nohbody]

At my job we're required to get a certain number of "No"s from a customer before it's considered "ok" to stop. But you need to be nice about it and be more casual than pushy. Not always easy really, rofl.

So, if we go there, does it speed things up if we just get the "no"s out of the way at the start?

"Before the sales pitch, let me get this out of the way: no, no, no, no, no, and no. Is that enough to bypass the suggestive selling?"

(Yes, I know that's kind of a sucky thing to do, but after the umpteen dozenth time of order takers asking if I want more, even after I finish my order with a clearly stated "and that will be all", it's awful tempting. )