Holiday SC pet peeves

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I saw a post on another site asking commenters about what they hated to run into at retail stores during Christmas season.

I got to thinking about things from the other side of the coin and decided to start this thread. Here's a few to get going:

The "I'm in a hurry" folks

I understand people, during Christmas the guy behind the counter likely wants to get home as badly as you do but we are very busy and you are just going to have to wait. Negative points if you accuse me of having no Christmas spirit after shooting you down.

Bargain Bin Bandits

Unfortunately, clever SC, I know all the sale bins in our store and all the items they contain. Don't go trying to convince me that a brand new 360 controller was in the 50% off bin when I know damned well it wasn't.

The non-listeners

Our return policy is important, it explains what can and can't be returned and when. You should really listen when I tell you about it because it would save us both a lot of grief come Dec. 27th

"But you can't be sold out of <stupidly popular item>, Don't you have more in the back"

This is commonly heard from about Dec 15th on, commonly more prevalent between Dec 20th and 24th and no matter who is doing the asking, the answer never changes. Plan ahead SCs!

[zombiequeen]

But I dropped the controller really hard and ripped up the packaging, look it's damaged! GIMME THE DISCOUNT!

[Catwoman2965]

I hate the "I'm in a hurry" folks who, as you are ringing up their stuff, and wrapping it in tissue, et.c WANDER OFF to look at more merchandise! If you're in such a big hurry, then why do you have time to look at other stuff????

[ExRetailDrone]

The people who cannot wrap their head around the fact that they are not the only ones who are looking for Tickle Me Elmo / Zhu Zhu Pets / Wii / any other insanely sought after item and complain when they come in looking for it on December 23rd make me want to kick them in the shins.

I am so glad that I will not be working in a retail environment this holiday season... the first time in 9 years. I think I could dance a jig on top of the counter in either the motel or the video store, that's how happy I am about this fact

[Android Kaeli]

I really don't like the people who are in a hurry, especally if they're going to doctor's appointments, picking up the kids from school, etc. -- it's not my problem they didn't plan ahead. Bonus points if said customers have a cart FULL of different stems that need to be rung up seperately, all while their "sick" husband is in the car. >.>

[fireheart]

I've got a couple:

Meat Scammers: This is common with various meat products. People will frequently peel off the reduced stickers from other products, stick them onto various meat products (frozen turkeys, hams etc.) and pass them off as going for $1....

Petrol abusers: It's bad enough the other 11 months of the year, but when Christmas time comes around, it suddenly gets worse. People are wanting me to split their shopping up every <x> amount of dollars. I really wish I could put up a sign saying "I don't care if you are a cop, courier etc. 1 PETROL VOUCHER PER PAYING CUSTOMER!"

The "Do you have <fruit/vegetable/bread> in the back" customer: yes we do get these. Due to the size of our store, we do not sell stuff that is freshly made in the bakery i.e. muffins, cookies and so forth. So yes, we do run out of bread. A lot. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it.

[ravevolution]

Glad as well I don't have to deal with the holiday sc'ing soo much working in the auto center. Not like people buy tires for gifts for other people

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The people who dash into the swamp at 5:55, five minutes before close on Christmas Eve, and then grab a cart and leisurely do their Christmas shopping.

Christmas Eve was always the worst day for late-stayers. It could be anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour after close before you finally got to go home. Company policy is that you can't just boot these people out the door; all you can really do is ask them if you can help them find something like the exit over and over again in hopes that they take the hint.

Fortunately I don't have to close on Christmas Eve any more.

[draggar]

The "I'm in a hurry" folks

I understand people, during Christmas the guy behind the counter likely wants to get home as badly as you do but we are very busy and you are just going to have to wait. Negative points if you accuse me of having no Christmas spirit after shooting you down.

Yet they want to play 20-questions with every item they pick up. "Now, this pack of gum..."

"But you can't be sold out of <stupidly popular item>, Don't you have more in the back"

This is commonly heard from about Dec 15th on, commonly more prevalent between Dec 20th and 24th and no matter who is doing the asking, the answer never changes. Plan ahead SCs!

Or who they're asking. Maybe if I ask this person. Or that person. Or the cashier. Or the kid collecting carts. Or that person...

The "Do you have <fruit/vegetable/bread> in the back" customer: yes we do get these. Due to the size of our store, we do not sell stuff that is freshly made in the bakery i.e. muffins, cookies and so forth. So yes, we do run out of bread. A lot. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it.

MAKE MORE!!!!

The people who dash into the swamp at 5:55, five minutes before close on Christmas Eve, and then grab a cart and leisurely do their Christmas shopping.

When I worked at Staples we had an ast manager who was very good at dealing with this. She should start the announcements an hour before the store closes and would have the girl at the front desk tell the customers as they waltzed in - we're closing in XX minutes.

It was funny when you heard "The store is closing in 5 minutes - if you are not in line then you will NOT be able to make your purchases. The ast manager would work the aisles and tell the stragglers.

She would follow the customer around the store if they were still in the aisles after closing.

Usually these late shoppers are the ones looking for the discounted items / bargains and don't buy much anyway but as much as they complain as they need to get home for this and that, we (the workers) wanted to go home, too.

A few others:
I see you have (item) on sale, can I get (not item - but one more expensive) for the same sale price?

You don't have any in stock? I demand a rain check or the sale price on whatever I want!!

You're just going to discount this tomorrow, can I get the discount now??

[EricKei]

Christmas Eve was always the worst day for late-stayers. It could be anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour after close before you finally got to go home. Company policy is that you can't just boot these people out the door; all you can really do is ask them if you can help them find something like the exit over and over again in hopes that they take the hint.

We had a small number of regulars who would do this for their normal shopping back at TinyBoutiqueGroceryStore. They knew we were closing at, say, 8, so they would show up at quarter til 8 and stay past 9pm...Knowing full well that most of the workers were minors and not really supposed to even BE there that time of night o_O Management wouldn't let us even HINT that we were closing to them, they'd just make us do closing cleanup as they left each aisle. This often delayed close by TWO HOURS, keeping 4-8 people late, for the sake of ONE SC.

[Mondestrucken]

Fortunately, I only witnessed these:

The Fail To Think Ahead The woman in Meijers at 9 pm on the Wednesday who was shocked - SHOCKED - that they had run out of turkey gravy. (For the record, I was buying canned tomatoes, of which there were plenty).

Totally Insane Christmas Eve Shopper - I was told about this woman by a cashier at Meijers. Meijers is a 24 hour store, 364 days of the year. The one day they do close is on Christmas Eve at 7 pm, to reopen December 26 at 6 am.

One year, a lady was still shopping after 7 on Christmas Eve. At 8 pm, they turned out all the lights except for the emergency lights, while the manager begged for her to finish over the PA.

Finally at 9:30, she made her way to the cash register, dragging 2 carts. The cashier was so angry that her hands were shaking uncontrollably, making the check out even longer.

Her card was declined. She had nothing on her card. The cashier said she cried all the way home, she was so angry and frustrated.

[shadowpanda]

I probably would have cried too!

[Lace Neil Singer]

Here's a couple I have encountered:

You've Ruined My Christmas!

Usually, this SC says this either over some minor disaster, like the store running out of something perhaps; or cuz the nasty meanies on the door refuse to let them in after closing time. I first encountered this SC in the garden centre. With a sigh of relief, I had closed up the pet store and had been immediately put on door duty along with a collegue from the outside plant bit. Mr YRMC came along at about twenty minutes after closing time, when the two cashiers were cashing up, the manager was doing a sweep of the store to check that no customers were hiding anywhere, and the supervisor was tidying up. He argued for about ten minutes about our decision to not let him in; eventually, he finally left, screaming, "I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY! YOU'VE JUST RUINED MY CHRISTMAS!!"

The Wander Woman (Or Man)

This SC is particularly irritating on Christmas Eve; they tend to go up to your checkout dragging a trolley piled to the ceiling, leave the trolley by your checkout, then wander off to get more. My only defence against this SC was to serve other customers who came to my till in the often vain hope that it would make the WW go away. I say "woman" for a reason; in my experience on the checkout in the supermarket, it was always a woman who did this. I never once saw a man. Anyway, a few times my desperate tactic worked; other times, the WW just planted herself on the end of the queue, muttering under her breath. -.-

[computeraide]

Her card was declined. She had nothing on her card. The cashier said she cried all the way home, she was so angry and frustrated.

OMG that is such a case for justifiable homicide. I think I would have called the police after the first 45 minutes and reported her as a trespasser.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Totally Insane Christmas Eve Shopper - I was told about this woman by a cashier at Meijers. Meijers is a 24 hour store, 364 days of the year. The one day they do close is on Christmas Eve at 7 pm, to reopen December 26 at 6 am.

One year, a lady was still shopping after 7 on Christmas Eve. At 8 pm, they turned out all the lights except for the emergency lights, while the manager begged for her to finish over the PA.

Finally at 9:30, she made her way to the cash register, dragging 2 carts. The cashier was so angry that her hands were shaking uncontrollably, making the check out even longer.

Her card was declined. She had nothing on her card. The cashier said she cried all the way home, she was so angry and frustrated.

Any store that would allow such a thing to fly is too stupid to exist. They had to pay that cashier and how many other people two and a half hours extra wages, and got no sale in return. Brilliant.