Anyone here ever work in retail?

[Clintmax]

Who was your WORST customer ever?
Mine was a lady who wanted to return some Microsoft Office software after using it for two months, and when I told her that opened software is non-returnable (copyright laws don't you know), she got so mad she spit on me! I promptly escorted that bitch out the door and told her to never come into my store again!

Can you top THAT one?

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Can't top it, but I can come close for rudeness

How about being stuck working graveyard at a convenience store for over 30 straight nights, and being sick with bronchitis on top of it, having some hick come in and want a couple scratch off lottery tickets and then holding them two inches from your face and repeatedly asking "Did you smoke your breakfast?" when you accidentally give him the wrong ones? When there was a line of 6 people behind him? Or the asshole who came in every morning for weeks and stuffed a couple of the most expensive donuts in a sack, wrapping it up tightly and then telling me they were the cheap ones? I would believe him because it was a well-to-do area and I didn't want to manhandle the guy's food. One morning I happened to glance over and saw what he was taking and when he came up I took the bag and opened it. When his total came out to be almost $1.50 more he started giving me all kinds of shit, saying that "I had always charged a lower price. I want the same price today". I told him he could either pay the correct amount or simply leave and never come in on my shift again. He paid and walked out after informing me that the extra body mass I had was called "fat" and that was it. He almost got a tire iron in the back of the head. :grr:

[Clintmax]

3. Working in a convienence store has got to be tough!

It amazes me how people want to dictate to you what they are going to pay instead of what the tag says! I deal with THAT every day too!

[SoCalDem]

2. When I was a kid, I worked in my Aunt's Boutique

We had a "customer" (a hoity-toity woman)who would special order expensive dresses for special occasions at the Country Club, and a few days after the "event" she would usually return them, saying she had "changed her mind".. Sometimes she would forget to UN-PIN the price hang-tag from where she had tucked it inside the dress..

<y aunt bit her tongue, and would usually take them back, because word of mouth trashing from this woman would have hurt her business from the other ladies this woman knew..but one day she did confront her, when she tried to return a velvet & satin evening dress with a BURN HOLE in the skirt.. The lady said her MAID must have been smoking while she cleaned..but the society page had a picture of her and her husband at the party..IN THE DRESS..

BUSTED..

[Clintmax]

4. I am the KING of returns!

Our return policy states 30 days. If you try to bring in something you've had for 31...I'll turn you away ever time! A month is PLENTY of time to decide you don't want something. And if you have something that is non-returnable, you may as well not even TRY. Like software. NO retail store refunds open software. With the CD burners out there, people could just rip a copy, return it for a full refund, and still have the software for their use.

I would think clothing would be the same. Once you wear it or wash it, it voids your ability to return it. Who'd want to buy a piece of clothing you've sweated in? Eeewww!

[SoCalDem]

5. In the olden days, tags were attached by little safety pins

in a seam on the sleeve..so people who wanted to scam you, would just re-pin the tags..and if they were careful they could get away with it,.Most did NOT do this..My Aunt would always check for obvious stains, but if the dress was in pristine condition, had the tags, and they had their receipt, it's hard to call a customer a cheating liar, and expect them to continue to shoip there..and they would probably spread shit to their friends who did NOT return stuff.

[Clintmax]

7. Yeah, that's true.

Though there are times I'd LIKE to call someone a cheating liar. You just can't DO that and expect to stay in business ro at the very least keep your job.

[tjwmason]

6. Sort of retail

I worked in an opticians on Saturday when I was at school.

Most customers who started to get grumpy could just be bamboozled by talking in optical jargon.

I remember one woman who wanted to get varifocals in the tiniest frames imagineable. Varis need to have a reasonable amount of vertical height to the lens to allow for the reading section, the distance section and the transition between the two. She wouldn't accept this despite my telling her, and the dispensing optician telling her.

She insisted on having them made - they didn't work (duh), and so she started to bitch and complain even more. I believe that she contacted national customer services (it was a large chain) who gave her a full refund.

Apart from that, we had tons of folk turning up on the wrong day/wrong time claiming it was what they had been told - and insisting on getting a sight test.

Nothing quite as much 'fun' though.

[Clintmax]

8. Oh it wasn't fun, TJ...

I'd never had anyone spit on me before or since. I didn't quite know WHAT to do! So I just escorted her out. I love working in retail and most all my guests are wonderful. But every once in a while you get that one person who thinks what they want is the only thing that matters and looks down on you simply BECAUSE you work in retail.

I hate those people. The kicker is...every time, recently, that I've carried something out for someone who has been like that, has had a big "W '04" sticker planted on their bumper.

[tjwmason]

13. I couldn't work in retail long-term

Or even anything with much customer relations stuff - I'm far too arrogant and impatient. I'd be close to hitting a customer everyday.

I saw a little of what you get about the looking down - though this was far less in the opticians (as there are professionals around).

What I really don't get is the notion that because somebody is paid to serve you that decency vanishes. I'm shocked by the number of people who don't say thank-you whilst speaking to shop-workers.

It's just a pity that you couldn't prosecute the spitter for assault or affray - that's absolutely disgusting. (I'm sure you don't need me to say that calling it fun was pure sarcasm.)

[Clintmax]

14. Oh I know it was...

And I've had several people tell me I should have pressed assult charges against her.

[progmom]

9. mine was the guy who kept loudly requesting "the jazz expert"

I was working at an indie record store known for its selection and customer service. This middle-aged guy came in and asked for "the jazz expert". I said, "you're looking at her!" He looked over my shoulder...laughed, and said, "right....uh...can you get me the person who knows a lot about jazz. I'm looking for an obscure Dutch jazz musician."
I explained that I was indeed the jazz expert, and not only that...would you believe I am Dutch??
He wasn't impressed. "Listen...is your jazz guy here or what?"

So, I grabbed a male staff member, told him there was a guy in the other room with a question, and sent him on his way. I watched them interact...male staff member shrugs repeatedly, points over at me, asshole customer keeps shaking his head.

Male staff member finally gives up and starts looking through the Schwann catalog. I ask him what he's looking for. "Guy keeps telling me that he's looking for someone named Michellin Bird, and says you won't know what it is."

So yeah. I walked over to the M section, grabbed the latest Misha Mengelberg CD, and cornered the asshole customer. "Here's the latest by Dutch jazz pianist and improviser Misha Mengelberg. It's delightful. If you like him, you should also be aware that he leads an ensemble called the ICP orchestra. If you have any questions about this or any other CD in this section, you can feel free to ask me. Because, sir, I am the jazz expert here. :)"

Asshole. :grr:

[Clintmax]

12. I have associates who come find me because a guest...

doesn't believe them about one thing or another and wants to talk to the manager. I always reiterate what the associate told them and walk away.
Burns me up too!
:grr:

[tjwmason]

15. What a fool

We all know that progmom is THE jazz expert.

[sundog]

31. that must have been hard on you

[progmom]

32. it certainly made an impression on me

i remember it in vivid detail, 13 years later.

[China_cat]

10. I didn't work in retail but I owned a small business

in the hobby/recreation field. As bad as some customers were, they were nothing when compared to 'friends' who believed that knowing you entitled them to have you open up early/late/on days that you were normally closed; that you should give them supplies...not at cost, just GIVE them. And get upset when you refuse to do it.

The worst, a 'friend' who special ordered a large, expensive piece in the middle of December. When told that they couldn't get it till the first of January, I was told 'no, no, you can get it done and I'll pick it up CHRISTMAS DAY...it's a present'.

Open your own business and see how many friends you lose. Maybe I ought to say 'see how many people you know weren't really friends to begin with'.

[Clintmax]

11. I've been in stores and heard people tell the staff...

they know the owner and he/she would just give them what they wanted. I hate it when people do that! If it were me, I'd say something like; "That's nice! Sorry I can't give you that item for free. It's $149. Do you still want it?"
:rofl:

[ahem]

16. I was hit several times by an elderly man with a metal cane.

It was Christmas Eve, this was 14 years ago (I was 20 at the time.) I had about 15 customers around my jewelry counter and I was doing my damnedest to see them all in order of arrival--while letting them know I would be with them as soon as possible. I had one very impatient and somewhat senile man go ballistic after he waited about 7 minutes without being served (though I politely let him know how many were ahead of him a couple of times.) He broke the glass out of one of the cases and then hit me few times.

That was the worst from a physical standpoint, but there was always weird stuff going on there. I worked in the high-end store of a low-end mall and there were always purse snatchings, rack robbers, and plenty of oddballs. While I hated retail in general, for some reason I liked that blasted place :)

[seemunkee]

17. Weird customers

I worked at a small backpacking/outfitters back in HS and college. Most of the customers were into the outdoors and pretty normal. We did get a call one time asking if we carried pack mules and dynamite.
After about 10 years we had our first sale ever and the store was mobbed. At 9:30, half hour after we were supposed to close one guy was frantically trying to find a bargain. He was picking up anything with a sale price and asking what it was for. Finally he picked up a gear rack for climbing it was old and the last of its kind. I had to after explaining what it was he says "I'll take it" and walked out happy.

[peacefreak]

18. Still in the trenches.

The most recent was a woman who took me to task for my phone etiquette (which meant she had been eavesdropping on the call). She then reached over the counter & grabbed my necklace & asked what it was. I told her it was amber. She then asked me if it was real! So, it was fine that she critiqued my manners & OK that she touched my person & belittled a dear possession, but I was the one at fault. OKAY.....

[kick-ass-bob]

19. A couple comes in and buys 2 quarts of oil

and hands me an already filled out check for $40. I say we cannot accept a check for over the price of the purchase. They leave and return, this time "buying" much more stuff with another already made out check (different check) and so I say, may I see some ID?

Them: "Well, it grandma's account ans shes in the car - she has trouble walking."

Me: :eyes: in secret "OK, where is the car, I'll go see her"

Them: "Oh, its way across the parking lot."

Me: "That's OK, where is she?"

Them: "Nevermind"

:D

How dumb do they think I am?

[Rich Hunt]

20. my mom worked in a store

Someone tried to return used underwear to her.

[nookiemonster]

22. Ewwwwwwwww.

This probably also explains why adult "toy" shops have non-return policies.

:scared:

[nookiemonster]

23. Or

"I'm not leaving until you take this underwear back." "The stain was on it when I bought it."

:scared:

[Kathleen04]

21. One day it was

very busy..so I was ringing up customers..we finally got the line down and there were only 2 customers left..the one that my coworker was almost done ringing and this other woman. Typically, if there aren't alot of people in line, having only one person at the register is fine.

So, another customer comes up to me with a question about where to find a particular blouse (I didn't see where she came from, I thought she might have been from the line?..I just looked up and there she was witha question), so seeing that my coworker is almost done with the customer she is on and there is only one more person in line, I go to help this customer.

When I come back, my coworker is now helping this last woman in line, who had said NOTHING to me as I was walking away to help the other customer but when I came back to the register, I flashed her a smile and she said back to me "I ain't smilin at you!!" :wtf: Then, she proceeded to go on about how ANGRY she was that I helped someone else before her and then she wrote my name down and threatened to report me to management. I had to keep apologizing to her and by the end of the transaction, she was considerably less angry because I had to do some things on the register that my new coworker hadn't learned yet. So, nothing ever came of it..

And actually, this woman probably wasn't the most difficult customer, just the angriest/rudest. I still work in retail right now, so more to come probably!

[noonwitch]

24. I worked retail while ago

I never really dealt with customers behaving badly. Returns were usually handled by supervisors (especially at K-Mart). At K-Mart, we were instructed to always be polite and call management when a customer acted up.

[izzie]

25. Yar a man asked to use the phone and peed all over the place.

I could not get him out of the store and had to hand a lady a note to get me the police as he still had the phone.The police could not do a thing once he walked out on to public land but then he finally went into the police station and went for the women who worked in the station and they took him to jail. To top it off the police said I had made the complaint and the lawyer told the men it was me and he ended up in the store to find out why I had done it. I had to tell him he was in the police station when they got him and I called the police and told them they had some balls doing that to me.The lawyer even gave him my name when I had not had the man sent to jail just had him pushed out of the building

[Saphire]

26. I was robbed...I worked in a shoe store..one day I was alone and

a man and woman came into the store, picked up about 10 pair of shoes and walked past me at the register...the man showed me a gun he had under his coat and smiled at me. I just smiled back as they left the store, the shoes not being anywhere near as important as my life. I quit right after that.

[nookiemonster]

29. Good thing for you that they were picked up shortly afterward.

:silly:

[Saphire]

30. LOL

[displacedtexan]

27. I loved working in retail!

Of course, when you're the pointe shoe expert, you don't get hassled by ignorant stage mothers.

The real problem was spending 90 minutes on a pointe shoe fitting (sometimes as many as 15 pairs of shoes and various types of toe pads) and then being told they would "think about it."

That meant they were going to order the chosen shoes from an online discount house.

We instituted a non-refundable $20 fee for fittings if they didn't buy from us.

That stopped that crap!

[lildreamer316]

28. Can't top it

but I worked at Hecht's in the moderate sportswear dept.for 3 years.That's all I have to say about that.
Now I just sell a fantasy. The stories from my current job are a bit too much for here.

[Mutley]

33. A woman tried to return a pair of $25 pants she had purchased

18 months before, and the current price was $2. I told her that the return limit is 90 days and I could only return them to her for the current price She got pissed. We argued over it for a few minutes until she demanded that I call the manager over. He let her return the pants for full price because he was on the way out of the company and wanted to screw them over. Made me look like an ass. :mad:

Dumbest customer:
When I worked at Toys R Us someone called and asked to speak to an associate in the toy section. :silly:

[WeRQ4U]

34. I sold cell phones in a mall kiosk while in college....

I was assisting a guy who's phone had fallen on the ground or fell into a lake or something, and it didn't work anymore. He was demanding a new phone for free. I told him that his phone's warranty was expired and that even if it were not, it was highly unlikely that Nokia would replace his phone free of charge when the phone was not defective.

He started to get really mad, but under his breath. He told me that he wasn't going to make a scene at all since it was the mall. But then he grabbed the kiosk telephone and threw it at me. When I told him that he was being a jackass, he just stared at me wide eyed and pointed at me as he backed away. Then he mouthed something without speaking it like "You're so dead" or something insane like that.

So as soon as he was out of sight, I called the Mall security and described him to them.

About 10 minutes later, I saw him being escorted out of the mall by security. And this is the kicker.............his kids were with him.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. I don't know which customer it was, but years ago, when I

worked for a major department store chain during the holiday period, we had a customer who pooped in one of the fitting rooms.

Most of the customers were either neutral or amusing, like the men who never knew what sizes their wife wore. (The women always knew what sizes the men in their famiy wore.) Not only that--they had no idea of how women's sizes run.

If a man came to the cash register with a Small women's garment, I'd say, "Is this for your wife or girlfriend?"

Yes, it usually was.

"Could you point out someone in the crowd who has about the same figure as her?"

Sometimes he'd point to a slender woman for whom a size Small would be perfectly appropriate. Sometimes, though, he'd point to someone who was nearly spherical.

"Uh, sir, I think you need an Extra Large at least."

Come to find out that some of them thought that women's clothes were sized by height. If the woman in their life was short, she must need a size Small.

[skygazer]

36. I've never been spit on

You've got me beat there (and I don't mind a bit).

I work retail - grocery store, liquor department. I've had people tell me I'm stupid (that happened at the checkout - some fucking assclown lady was on her cellphone, not paying attention, hadn't put up a divider and when I rang up an item that wasn't hers, told me I was stupid. I'm not. I stopped what I was doing, leaned over the counter right into her face and told her, "I don't care who you think you are, you have no business speaking to me like that, however I WILL accept an apology" and just stayed like that until she stammered one out, explaining that she was in a hurry and didn't mean to be rude. Yeah, okay).

I had another lady get all bent out of shape because our store was not well stocked - our drivers were on strike and it was difficult to get product in. I calmly explained this to her and apologised for the inconvenience but she wasn't having any of it - "YOU need to do something about it!" she said, poking her finger into my chest. Instead of belting her, I calmly (and patronizingly) put my hand on her shoulder and told her, "Well, I'm sure the companies are looking for drivers - if you'd like a job, I can direct you to their main office." She got the point.

[Taverner]

37. The guy who stabbed his friend inside of Tower Records

where I worked in college...