The Lumber Yard Stories Continued

[draftermatt]

And you're surprised?
The coworker I posted about here, under "lookout" lost his forklift operator's license. Ironically because of something stupid his spotter did. He's mad, most of us are relieved.

When did I start working at Petsmart?
At least once a week someone will come into the store with Rover in a cart. The other night someone brought 3 labs into the store.

Management sees this, but chooses not to say anything even though animals are not allowed in the store.

My bigger question is, who brings their dog into a home improvement store? I love my dogs, but I don't even take them into Petsmart!

How many cuts?
Customers often ask us to cut things with the saw, and since this is part of the job we do it.

Some customers abuse this though.

A customer came to me with two sheets of 4 foot by 8 foot "white hardboard" and asked to have it cut into 12 inch squares. My coworker agreed to do this.

Know what you want first, please
If you want me to cut something, know the dimensions before you get to me.

If you know specifically how you want it cut (i.e. which end, etc), let me know.

To be honest, I don't care what you're building. I really don't need to know to make a cut.

Does organic include 'rotting wood?'
Seen a lot of people this spring looking at non-treated lumber and tell me they're building a raised "organic garden" so they don't want the chemicals from the treated wood.

That's great, and when your wood rots away in a year or two will you blame me/the store for having "faulty wood"?

You on the other hand, really don't need treated
This guy wasn't sucky in the slightest, just kind of clueless.

He's finishing his basement and wanted to use treated studs.

Even though he'd never had a water problem in his basement
Even though it's more expensive
Even though he'd need more expensive/specialty hardware
Even though he didn't want the chemicals in his home

Talked him out of it at least.

Paranoid much?
I'm shocked how often I get asked if things contain carcinogens, asbestos, death causing agents, tiny ninja's that pop out of the grain, etc.

Or if it "came from China"

I really am here to help
You know how often I get turned down when I offer to help someone pick out wood? I'd say at least 80% of the time, from men. Women always say yes.

Even if they're loading boards that are 16 feet long, they've "got it"

Maybe it's a "manly man" thing, maybe it's because they feel I won't pick good lumber, I don't know.

But I ALWAYS ask for help with the 16 footers unless no one's around.

Please stop
If you don't like the piece, can you please throw it to the back? Putting it in another slot for us to find later is a PITA, so is throwing it to the floor.

The few of you who will put back what you moved away, thank-you! Even if I have to go back later and make it neater it's easier than having to find it!

Freaking Ow!
Almost broke my knuckle the other day.

An inexperienced (but claims he used to do it all the time) forklift operator, a lumber order, customer's trailer, and a push board all conspired to give me a very bruised knuckle that still hurts over a week later. Especially when a little old lady patted me on the hand while thanking me.

How hard is it to do your job?
Another "at least once a week" problem.

A co-worker or manager will take a large order, and either a) not pull it or b) not pull it, and not tell us about it.

I got into it a bit with a manager last week because an order of 320 deck boards wasn't pulled.

I told him it wasn't pulled because we knew nothing about it. And it turns out we only have 314 on hand. Checked the computer, -6. So yeah, someone sold them knowing we didn't have enough.

[QASlave]

I understand the China thing. If you got stuck with a house full of Chinese drywall, you'd be wary too.

[Exaspera]

Yeah, and those ninjas who pop out of the grain are kinda scary at first.

Good stories!

[draftermatt]

I understand the China thing. If you got stuck with a house full of Chinese drywall, you'd be wary too.

I get that one too, however I believe it wasn't a name brand drywall that our store sells.

Still an odd question to hear the first time.

[roguesqd]

And you're surprised?
When did I start working at Petsmart?
At least once a week someone will come into the store with Rover in a cart. The other night someone brought 3 labs into the store.

I sooooo hate all the people that bring their dogs everywhere, whether small ponies or small yappy things, they should not be in most stores at all, unless they are guide dogs

[Kristev]

Since I'm the janitor, I get stuck cleaning up the dog shit. People want to pretend Idaho is still the country, so far too many people bring their dogs shopping. It's shameful.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I'm shocked how often I get asked if things contain carcinogens, asbestos, death causing agents, tiny ninja's that pop out of the grain, etc.

Or if it "came from China"

In their defense, there has been several products that have come from China (ranging from Children's Toys to home improvement products...drywall most notably) that have cause health issues.

That being said however, rarely do you find people who will quietly ask the question and deal with the answer like a responsible and intelligent adult. Most degenerate into howler monkeys and start carrying on cranky, howl, gibber, and (figuratively speaking) start fling poo every where if you even have even so much as a nail in the store (on sale or not) that came from China.

[Mystic]

Does organic include 'rotting wood?'
Seen a lot of people this spring looking at non-treated lumber and tell me they're building a raised "organic garden" so they don't want the chemicals from the treated wood.

That's great, and when your wood rots away in a year or two will you blame me/the store for having "faulty wood"?

It makes much more sense than you think when working with organic gardens. The whole point of being organic is to do things chemical free, and with things like treated wood, the chemicals *can* go into the garden. People who do organic gardening see things like this as a needed expense. Yes, it gets replaced every two years, but it's what you have to do to go totally organic.

It may seem silly to a lot of people, but when you see what some of these chemicals can do to you, it makes you think twice about what you eat and how it's raised.

[ThirdGenRetail]

I think the company policy(Or at least at my store) is that for medium to small dogs, they must be in/on a cart(One couple comes in now and then with their two little... Mop dogs... LOTS of hair, I can't tell what kind they are... They sit perfectly on the standing lumber/door carts). Bigger dogs... As long as they don't make a mess, pick a fight, or otherwise cause problems, and are on a leash, we're okay. Especially in the summer, since the Virginia climate makes it a danger to leave Fido outside(And we may be the last of the stops pet parents make in their errands that were otherwise not stores or were drive-through things). Some of the dogs tend to be labs that are actually in-training to be therapy and guide dogs, so coming into someplace like a home improvement store is a good part of their training due to the sounds and smells. One lady had a Chin in a little carrier thing marked Service Animal... Dog was so well trained, because it was genuinely a service animal.

I think most of the management also likes meeting some of the dogs, and most of the cashiers love them. We're almost all pet parents at heart at my store...


You want paranoid? The first year and a half I was working for the company, the registers would ask for a 'customer code.' Management interpreted this as 'security code.' I had one guy VENOMOUSLY refuse to give that number 'because somebody would go into the computers in the back and steal his card number' Yeah, man, keep telling yourself that... There's also been people who won't give us their phone numbers for cash purchases(So that if they lose that receipt, and it's over $10... They can get their cash back. Who wants to pay $300 on a ceiling fan, lose/throw away the receipt, and find out it doesn't work... And then have to get a $300 Merchandise Credit card?), 'because we're going to sell it to telemarketers'. Yup... We're selling phone numbers, always have been, cashiers get a commission of $50 a phone number in your head there.

[Mango]

There's also been people who won't give us their phone numbers for cash purchases(So that if they lose that receipt, and it's over $10... They can get their cash back. [...] 'because we're going to sell it to telemarketers'. Yup... We're selling phone numbers, always have been, cashiers get a commission of $50 a phone number in your head there.

That's actually not particularly far-fetched. If your company doesn't sell phone numbers to telemarketers, you're sadly one of the minority. I once asked a telemarketer how his company got my number. He said, "Well, I don't know how we got your specific number. But when you enter contests, or sign up for a membership, or give your phone number to a cashier in a store, sometimes those companies sell the numbers to us."

m.

[protege]

That's actually not particularly far-fetched. If your company doesn't sell phone numbers to telemarketers, you're sadly one of the minority.

That's how I'd see it too. I mean really, unless you're signing up for a store credit card, or having something delivered, there's really no reason in asking for someone's phone number or other information. They're collecting it simply because they're going to use it themselves, or that a telemarketing or "research" company will gladly pay for it.

Some companies (like RadioShack) once demanded info from customers. Otherwise, at least locally, they'd actually *refuse* the sale. I always felt that on purchases like a 9v battery, it was none of their business. But, if they persisted, I simply gave them the address or phone number of the building my father's ad agency was in. No harm done, since that building been torn down, and the address was an empty lot.

[draftermatt]

It makes much more sense than you think when working with organic gardens. The whole point of being organic is to do things chemical free, and with things like treated wood, the chemicals *can* go into the garden.

I get that, but it doesn't change the fact that the wood will have to be replaced every year or two causing a total tear down of the raised garden.

Which I guess is part of the reason organic food costs more.

[Geek King]

I get that, but it doesn't change the fact that the wood will have to be replaced every year or two causing a total tear down of the raised garden.

For a job like that, you'd be better off just using logs to line the bed. It'll still rot out eventually, but it will last a lot longer than untreated cut wood if you leave the bark on it. Hell, if you could luck into finding some cut ironwood logs, I bet it would last longer than most landscaping stones.

[Andara Bledin]

Checked the computer, -6. So yeah, someone sold them knowing we didn't have enough.

I hate when people do that.

We have a problem order in house right now that has 3 separate problems going on, the last of which being a shortage on a line item. That should have been spotted when it was entered a month ago, but even though we've talked to the customer at least a dozen times, nobody thought to note that, "Oh, hey, we only have 1 of this piece you want 3 of and that you waited a month after the quote to order, which is why they got sold out from under you."

^-.-^