Awful day at the K

[Rine]

And that's exactly why I don't ask people the "required" questions most of the time. I don't want them biting my head off for asking them to apply for a Sears card after they've been waiting in line for 10 minutes.

The reason I got out of cashiering at Sears is because I was tired of being harassed by upper management because of my lack of credit apps. The most I ever got for one month in my one year of cashiering was exactly five. I switched to store support and I am happy there. I hated having to push credit cards on my customers; most of the time I only asked the "may I" question to see if they were going to put it on their Sears card. After that, I didn't care and I think a lot of people appreciated that. I hated having to sell MRAs and PAs too.

But I think I'm going to get a new job soon after fourth quarter. Sears and Kmart are a sinking ships and it's just going to get worse.

Oh...and this is off topic, but I have a question for you RammsteinGirl:

What does K-mart temporary employee discount cards look like? Are they little and hand written? Does it really take six months to get a discount card? Today at Sears, I rang through a girl that had a funny K-mart employee discount card but she told me it was a temp. and well, I put the number in and it passed. It still seemed weird though.

[wanderingjoe72]

Heh. When I actually NEED help, all the employees seem to disappear. No wonder KMart is my third choice...and I've hated Target most of my life, to boot.

If that was the case, I'd be screwed. Target is the only place I really seem to be able to shop at.

I get a bad case of the Walmart effect . Kmart triggers it even worse.

I immediately get on edge when I walk into the place and feel like I could punch another shopper if they get too close. Wal mart and Kmart do this to me. I found a lot of other people get the same reaction. Does anyone know why? Have studies been done?

[queenbb]

The reason I got out of cashiering at Sears is because I was tired of being harassed by upper management because of my lack of credit apps. The most I ever got for one month in my one year of cashiering was exactly five. I switched to store support and I am happy there. I hated having to push credit cards on my customers; most of the time I only asked the "may I" question to see if they were going to put it on their Sears card. After that, I didn't care and I think a lot of people appreciated that. I hated having to sell MRAs and PAs too.

But I think I'm going to get a new job soon after fourth quarter. Sears and Kmart are a sinking ships and it's just going to get worse.

Oh...and this is off topic, but I have a question for you RammsteinGirl:

What does K-mart temporary employee discount cards look like? Are they little and hand written? Does it really take six months to get a discount card? Today at Sears, I rang through a girl that had a funny K-mart employee discount card but she told me it was a temp. and well, I put the number in and it passed. It still seemed weird though.

i dont even bother to ask them if they want a sears card, i never get dinged for it, none of us ask anyone if they want one unless the person is having a problem with payment.

as for the temp employee discount cards, at my store they are red stickers with barcodes on them. it only took a month or 2 for my card to come in. the bummer thing about the stickers is that you have to get a new one every day that you shop, so if you go to shop at a time when the hr office is closed and you dont have the card for what ever reason, your pretty much screwed.

it use to be years ago, (im actually a previous employee of that company) i worked there 14 years ago, i was a tech back then, and all we had to do to get our discount was to tell them our employee #. my dad was stoked about that because since i lived with my parents and they were "supporting me" they were elegible for the discount, my dad would run in to the hardwear section, im bb's dad i want the discount, normally i would have had to be with him but he came in so often that they just gave it to him, i think they gave it to him for a little while after i had to quit.

the guys talk about it all the time that they are trying to get rid of our shop, that if we ever see them comming in to do inventory then we need to start looking for another job. im alittle miffed at them right now because they forced one of the managers who has been there forever, and who actually hired me the first time i worked there, because of the whole 45 min take your lunch on time thing, he came in to the shop today to talk to our manager, he told me well thats what i get for standing up for one of my employees. i told him i was pissed about the whole thing and that it was way wrong that they would do that too him. he said hes ok with it, he already has another job (at a compeditor lol)

[Just Ace]

Ahhh K-mart.

Now please feel free to call me strange but i have a weird fetish when i go into my local k-mart and that is to - merchandise!

Yes why just last week i took my kids in to spend their christmas money on toys and i spent 15 minutes in the barbie isle merchandising the section according to the price tags. Now there wasn't a lot of stock (due to the after xmas sales) but the beauty of it was that i didn't look too strange cause because it looked like i was helping my little girl but in reality - i was fixing the shelves!!

When k-mart have their underwear sale on it's even better because
a) i can spend even more time doing it cause i have no family
b) the place is even messier then usual (joy to my eyes) and
c) i tend to find the best bras that some poor woman has tucked away hoping that someone (me!) doesn't find her find!

Call me weird, strange and just plain wrong but I can't help it. I will admit to not doing it as much as i used to (i now have my own big shop to merchandise) but it's just too much fun.

[IHateStupidCustomers]

I actually worked at Sears a few years ago, and I hated our reviews. You got graded on a 1-5 scale or something like that. I met my goal for credit apps, let's say, and I was told "well, you're going to get a 3, because you shouldn't be meeting your goal, you should be exceeding it." What the hell is the goal there for, then!? Then, I more than doubled my sales goals, and only got a 4 because "we don't give out 5's." Again....what the hell is the point!

[technical.angel]

Call me weird, strange and just plain wrong but I can't help it. I will admit to not doing it as much as i used to (i now have my own big shop to merchandise) but it's just too much fun.

After a vindictive manager and cow-irker that expected perfection from me with merchandising the store (after working by myself and viciously murdering both THEIR sales AND of every store in our district). ANYTHING that was in the wrong spot got put into one of the little shopping bags, and were left for me to put up. Even if it was like 5 or 6 of those shopping bags.

I was very happy when the manager was fired.

But, yeah, I have a habit of facing shelves and merchandising when I'm bored in a store. You're not alone.

[princess4life]

I agree with you on that; there's nothing i hate more than having to listen to an employee who is clearly using a script...just say hi, how are you, and that's it. I absolutely can't stand it when they follow you around, asking can i help you, do you need anything? Um, no, i JUST walked in, haven't had a chance to look around! I ususally will just say, no, but if I do, I'll let you know.

We have to do that in my store as well, but ive got it down where I will greet the customer, and then kind of watch. If they look like they need help, I will offer it, if not, I leave them alone, knowing they will come to me. But to ask the minute they set foot in the store is just silly - and half of them don't even bother to say hello back to you! Ok, whatever...

At Bathand Body works if you are positioned inthe front of the store you are suppoused to greet EVERY customer as they walk in the door. I got yelled at by managment because I was just saying hi to everyone and an occasional how are you? But they wanted me to ask EVERY SINGLE customer "What brings you in today?" and then when they tell me what they want point them to someone else to help them,

I told them I when I shop I like my shoping to be more personalized and not feel like the associate is only talking to me because they have to. And also point out more people asked for my help and took my suggestions when I was able to be myself then when I used there script.

[walking with scissors]

Oh man, flashback. Many, MANY years ago when I worked at Kmart, we had a blackout. Lights were out for hours. Did they tell the customers to leave and send everybody home? No! They gave us flashlights and we got to follow customers around in the dark to make sure they didn't steal anything. Yeah, okay. Seriously, what kind of moron shops in the dark when there isn't even any way to check out?

Kmart was the only job I ever quit outright.

[Javarod]

K-Mart is dying, and Sears will likely be right behind it. Not only do neither store have a brand identity any more, I remember after the merger, around 3 or so months later, the chairman announced that the company would not waste money investing money into underperforming stores. Umm, wouldn't some investment to say clean, modernize and staff the stores maybe help sales?

As to Wal*Mart, Wal*Mart is interesting, don't dismiss it too fast, it depends on the area and the manager, its incredible how different things can be, from quite good to incredibly sucky.

[LadyAndreca]

I immediately get on edge when I walk into the place and feel like I could punch another shopper if they get too close. Wal mart and Kmart do this to me. I found a lot of other people get the same reaction. Does anyone know why? Have studies been done?

I was actually talking with a friend of mine about this today. We have all three major chains in the area. I work at the Bullseye, I admit, but even before that I preferred it to the other two. For me, it comes down to two things, the lighting, and the attitude of the workers.

The wal-mart feels like a huge warehouse. The ceiling isn't finished and the lighting is harsh flourescent and just a touch too dim, I get eye strain if I have to be there long. The people on the sales floor are usually not too stressed, but there's never many of them. The poor cashier always looks stressed to tears. Yes, cashier. It's a Super Wal-Mart but I've only once seen more than one line open. I never go there unless I can't get what I want anywhere else, it's so irritating that it's a relief to leave.

The two K-marts both have lighting that put me on edge (my friend says it's the color scheme and not the lighting, but I disagree) and tend to have dirty floors. I also never see any associates that are not on register...it's like there's only one or two cashiers and one service desk person in the whole store most times. But it's overall less jarring than the Wal-mart.

The Target has warm lighting and is (usually) adequately staffed, 2-3 people per department. It's more comfortable and relaxed to me, and I preferred shopping there long before I started working there.

But then again, when I lived in Alabama, Wal-mart was great (except for one particular location), K-mart was decent, and there were no Targets. Near my parents in Minnesota, Target's best, Wal-mart is adequate (but further away), and K-mart stinks. So I don't distrust Wal-mart just because the one near me sucks or anything.

[Estil]

The reasons K-Mart and other retail chains push the credit cards and service plans is because it means pure profit for the company with minimal effort. It's just another way to separate the customers from their money.

They would just have to fire me if I worked for them. I absoultely will NOT with a clear conscience sell customers bad products like their credit card (NO benefits other than a super high interest rate) or those sucker plans (ALL the major consumer advocacy magazines say those extended warranty plans are mostly sucker's games). I mean, don't get me wrong, we occassionally do promos where we print out pre-approved applications for our store credit card, but at least its fully loaded and worth trying to sell.

They want customer service skills? Well a big part of that is not selling bad product. At this rate its a wonder Kmart is still in business...

[queenbb]

i agree the affect of lighting and colors have a huge impact on people. i know that they use to play music that had subliminal messages embedded in them to suggest to people not to shoplift. i dont know how long that went on or what stores did it but its an interesting theory about how music also effects shoppers.

take a huge store chain (target, walmart, sears, kmart pennys ect) they almost always have music in the background, usually something popular intermixed with older and newer songs.

if you go in to stores that specialize for age, preference, ect the music will reflect as such, so if you go in to lets say a hot topic there will be most likely punk playing and if you go in to against all odds (a store here thats new i dont know if it has more) which caters to hip hop and rap they also play such (its also very loud and they get djs to come in and play for them occasionally, it gets annoying cause they are right next to the store i work in and you can hear them a few stores away lol)

[RammsteinGirl]

What does K-mart temporary employee discount cards look like? Are they little and hand written? Does it really take six months to get a discount card? Today at Sears, I rang through a girl that had a funny K-mart employee discount card but she told me it was a temp. and well, I put the number in and it passed. It still seemed weird though.

Oh jeez, sorry I haven't responded to this thread in like 5 months, LOL.

Yes that's a legit discount card. The small paper ones with the discount # written on them are temporary ones. It takes about 90 days for someone to get the plastic card.. that is, if they stick around that long! I think the newer ones have "Sears Holdings Corporation" emblazoned on them rather than the Kmart logo.

Yes, I'm still at Kmart (unfortunately ) and things haven't changed much. The payroll hours were cut down INSANELY after Xmas. I've been getting 8-12 hours a week, that's it, no joke. I heard a rumor that they are closing the store early at 9 PM this Sunday 1/20, I guess because they can't afford to pay everyone the extra hour to stay there? Like I told one of my co-workers, it wouldn't surprise me if we went to work one day and the front doors were padlocked and we were out of a job! Although I just don't think that will happen to the Kmart I work with as it is one of the top stores in our district but ya never know.

[RammsteinGirl]

They would just have to fire me if I worked for them. I absoultely will NOT with a clear conscience sell customers bad products like their credit card (NO benefits other than a super high interest rate) or those sucker plans (ALL the major consumer advocacy magazines say those extended warranty plans are mostly sucker's games). I mean, don't get me wrong, we occassionally do promos where we print out pre-approved applications for our store credit card, but at least its fully loaded and worth trying to sell.

They want customer service skills? Well a big part of that is not selling bad product. At this rate its a wonder Kmart is still in business...

Well, like someone previously mentioned, it's the only way they can make pure profit.

Sears Holdings isn't interested in the long-term. The big guns up top just wanna make their money and bail before the ship finally sinks for good.

Most Kmart stores need a desperate overhaul. Most are 30+ years old and they look it too. It's like walking into a 1970's time warp lol. In fact, Kmart's whole image needs an overhaul. It feels like the store for the 50+ crowd to me. No offense to anyone 50+! I mean there's just no comparison to say, Target stores, which generally have a younger, hipper feel to them, better clothing lines, catchy commercials and a cute mascot (Bullseye the Target Dog!). I never buy clothes or much of anything besides cosmetics and toiletries from Kmart and that's usually just because it's easier for me to pick up essentials while I'm at work as opposed to having to go to another store. Even the "junior" clothing looks like crap to me and just desperate, failed attempts to copy the styles you see at Hot Topic and American Eagle, etc. I would not go out of my way to shop at Kmart and probably wouldn't even set foot into one if I didn't work there.

[smileyeagle1021]

I must admit that I shop at K-Mart... mainly because they are the cheapest when it comes to the brand of contact solution I use, as well as competitive prices on toiletries when I'm not smart enough to pick them up at sams club.

... as far as the clothing lines, I'm lucky enough that there is a Deseret Industries not far from me where people always donate the best clothes, only things that I need to buy new are socks and underwear (which actually kmart has a pretty good selection on).

oh yeah, back on topic, I hate scripts, they should be destroyed from all parts of our lives except movies and plays. And if you hate having to offer credit cards for nothing you should consider working for intercontinental, the only thing we have to offer is the priority club rewards (it's free to join, never has any charge, never expires, pretty good program actually) and you actually get rewarded for it ($25 gift card every quarter if you enroll at least 125 people and top 10 as calculated by enrollments per call handled get a additional prize, I got an iPod when I made top 10, and the number one gets a grand prize, last quarter it was a weekend at the valejio in vegas).