You were told...

[NateTheChops]

Do you ever get the feeling that you're expected to be responsible for something that every other employee said whether you were there or not?

"But the other girl who was working here told me this."

I don't care, I'm not the "other" girl, nor am I a "girl" in any sense of the word.

On to my day.

But the Girl Said you had it

Rainchecks. They are lovely things. But my manager clearly said that even if you get a rain check there is no guarantee that the product will come in. It's just the way the distribution process works.

A gentleman comes to the electronics department and shoves a receipt in my face while I'm ringing out another customer.

Old Guy
me:

OG: I'm here for that TV.

I look at the receipt and see that it was the same one I had printed out for him a few days earlier.

OG: The girl said you got a bunch of them in.
ME: Okay, let me check.

I find the model in question. Only the display is on the shelf and unless there's a clearence we can't sell displays. I get the price tag and do an on-hand inquiry and sure enough the only one we have is the display.

ME: I'm sorry sir, that one still hasn't come in.
OG: *Loudly* But the girl said you had them in!
ME: I'm sorry, sir, when was this?
OG: Yesterday, the girl said you got a bunch of TV's in.
ME: *Keeping my voice down* Okay, did she say it was this model that we got in?
OG: Yes.

I highly doubt he even told her which TV he was looking for. I'm fairly certain I know who it was yesterday as she took over for me and I know she knows how to look up the TV's if someone has it. I apologize to the man and he goes off on a tangent as he walks away.

I know I have enough money...The Check/Debit Card remix

1: A couple weeks ago.

A guy and his girlfriend come in and use a debit card to pay for a bunch of movies and a PSP. The card is declined. This only happens when the card has insufficient funds.

Guy: I know have enough money on that thing. I used it all day today.
Me: Okay, did you use it as a credit at all today?
Guy: What?
Me: Sometimes when you use your Debit card as a credit it doesn't show up till the next business day.
Guy: No, I always use it as a credit. I just but seven hundred dollars in my bank account.

Me: *thinking* And you're spending two hundred dollars right now which tells me you've overspent *outloud* Did you put cash or a check in?
Guy: A check.
Me: Well sir, some banks only give you a hundred dollars from the check and they don't release the funds until it clears the next business day. It's Friday today so-

Guy: *Say it with him folks* I know I have money on this thing. There's something wrong with your register.

Check Lady

A lady buys fifty dollars worth of stuff and has to pay with a check. She's been paying with checks all day. The first check is declined. I ask if she'd like to try again. It's decline a second time.

And when checks decline at my store information prints out on the back of the check letting the customer know where to call to find out why it was declined.

Check Lady = CL
Me = The Artist Suffering for his Craft

CL: I don't know why it's declined. I've been writing checks all day today and yesterday and there hasn't been a problem.

Me: I don't know ma'am. There's a number on the back that you can call, but I don't know what else to tell you.

CL: *Say it with me folks* I know I have enough money in the bank. I've been writing checks all day.

[Midorikawa]

On the check lady, I half expected a, "But there's still checks in my check book!"...yes, I have heard that one before, and about 30 too many times.

[Dips]

In my experience when SCs say "someone" or "the other girl" told them something they are lying through their teeth.

Either they never had the conversation or they completely making up what the co worker actually told them.

Never ever trust what "Someone" or "The Other Guy/Girl" tells a customer.

[EvilEmpryss]

The credit/debit card guy could have had a different problem: if he used it to purchase gas then the gas station may have put a hold on more than the amount of gas he purchased. It happens alot here in NC. You use your card to buy $26.53 in gas, but the station holds $75 as a pending purchase. It usually clears in a business day or so, but if you're not prepared for it, it can really screw up your bank account. He may have had enough in his account to pay for all the things he wanted to buy, but one thing like this can throw off a tight budget and embarass the hell out of one at the register.

[Retail Associate]

In my experience when SCs say "someone" or "the other girl" told them something they are lying through their teeth. Either they never had the conversation or they completely making up what the co worker actually told them.

Nine times out of ten I'd agree with this statement but when I worked in Pet & Garden there were two young co-workers (teenage guys) who constantly told customers we'd be getting the desired item in on Tuesday. These guys had no idea whether that item would be in on Tuesday or not because they never checked. They just told the customers that to get them out of their face.

Then, when Tuesday rolled around and the customer returned to get the desired item because they were told it would be there, either I or another co-worker had to endure the wrath of the customer.

Those young guys thought it was funny but it got very old, very quickly.

[Dips]

These guys had no idea whether that item would be in on Tuesday or not because they never checked. They just told the customers that to get them out of their face.

Good grief!

Lemme guess. Neither of those twerps worked on Tuesdays, right?

[Bliss]

Is it only me or are they backwards? My logical thinking is "I know there's money in there, I've NOT written a check in a few days"... if you have been "spending all day!" it probably means your balance got depleted!!!

[Andara Bledin]

You use your card to buy $26.53 in gas, but the station holds $75 as a pending purchase. It usually clears in a business day or so, but if you're not prepared for it, it can really screw up your bank account. He may have had enough in his account to pay for all the things he wanted to buy, but one thing like this can throw off a tight budget and embarass the hell out of one at the register.

Another issue is that debit cards have spending limits. Mine, for example, has a $300 per day limit.

If I do credit card purchases that get processed immediately (it's rare, but it does happen) or debit purchases, they go against my purchase limit for the day.

^-.-^

[Summerfly413]

The card can also decline if it's been cancelled I believe. It's happened to me twice, both people with stolen credit cards(neither got what they were trying to buy, and both times I didn't realize until during or after the transaction)
But they tried to use a card as credit and it got declined.

[jackfaire]

The credit/debit card guy could have had a different problem: if he used it to purchase gas then the gas station may have put a hold on more than the amount of gas he purchased. .

Around here any holds for more than the actual amount of money taken are done by the banks but the banks always try to blame everyone else.

For example we will ask only for 50 dollars the bank will hold 100 then tell the customer we asked for 100.

[Retail Associate]

Lemme guess. Neither of those twerps worked on Tuesdays, right?

You're so smart! How'd you ever guess that?

Back on topic...one time my debit card was rejected for lack of funds. I had deposited $250.00 worth in checks into my account the day before so I was sure the money was there. But when I got home and called the bank they still hadn't credited that $250.00 to my account because the checks were from out-of-state. They said it can take up to 5 days for those checks to clear!

I was extremely embarrassed at the checkout, though, so I always try to be as understanding as possible when something similar happens to customers when I'm running a lane.

[petshopboy]

I know at my work if you tell a SC that it should be in whenever or it usually takes one to two hours we will call you when it's ready.
They will forget that you said "should be in" or "usually takes"
SC says you told them "it will be in" or turn up on the hour and say "well is it ready you said it would only take one hour".

[MadMike]

Nine times out of ten I'd agree with this statement but when I worked in Pet & Garden there were two young co-workers (teenage guys) who constantly told customers we'd be getting the desired item in on Tuesday. These guys had no idea whether that item would be in on Tuesday or not because they never checked. They just told the customers that to get them out of their face.

My idiot coworker "James" would do something like that. He'd give out building advice when he knew nothing, or pulled some price out of his ass when he was asked how much something was.

The latter caused all kinds of headaches at the register ("It's that much? That funny-looking guy with the red hair said it was only this much!")

The former caused the company to get sued when the customer took his bad advice and his whole project collapsed.

[mikoyan29]

My idiot coworker "James" would do something like that. He'd give out building advice when he knew nothing, or pulled some price out of his ass when he was asked how much something was.

The latter caused all kinds of headaches at the register ("It's that much? That funny-looking guy with the red hair said it was only this much!")

The former caused the company to get sued when the customer took his bad advice and his whole project collapsed.

One the first one...It is always best to say, "I don't know". Granted that's not the answer the customer wants to hear but most sane people would rather have no advice than bad advice. On the second one, it's always better to under promise and over deliver. If under normal circumstances it takes two weeks to get something, it's better to tell the customer it takes 2 weeks. that way if it comes in one week, they are happier.

But then again, I'm a person that would rather be told what's really going to happen and not what I want to hear.

[NateTheChops]

Update on check lady.

She came in yesterday to try again and told me it was "my register" that was the problem. My register of course, being, me. I was the one who printed the checks out that said declined. (You know that look. The one that says you're responsible for everything that goes wrong in the customer's life. That's the one she gave me.)

Well, as luck would have it I did have one customer earlier get rejected with a check so I thought that maybe there was something wrong. While the woman went to get the things she was trying to buy yesterday (we have a policy against holding items for a customer, aside from that the space in my department is just to small to let crap clutter up) I called the front desk and told them I would send her their way if the check got declined again.

That woman never came back to my counter but another man wrote a check for some items in my department and his cleared without incident. Hm. Maybe my register just liked him better?