We Know Some Retail Workers Are Dead Inside, But This Is Ridiculous
I had just gotten off of work and had met up with my brother to do some shopping. We had gone into a popular retail chain and had been randomly looking through the shelves when I noticed that two women were headed my way. They completely took up the whole lane and I didn’t want to back all the way just to get past. I spotted a break between two shelves, so I quickly darted to the spot, and straightened up to try and make myself as inobstructive as possible.
The ladies slowly started to pass, randomly looking at the clothes on the shelves, and then stopped right in front of me. They started admiring my outfit (I was in a three-piece suit) and at first I thought they were going to compliment it.
However, they started opening up my jacket and feeling the lining, pulling at my belt buckle, and before they could start taking a closer look at my pants, I managed to come out of my shock enough to clear my throat.
Both women froze, and slowly looked up at my face for the first time in this interaction.
Me: “Hello… I’m not a mannequin.”
Both women turned bright red, turned, and quickly left the shop. I know on this site there have been plenty of people who have been mistaken for workers, but this is the first time I had had it happen to me… And a worker who’s not alive at that.
Easiest order ever. I give it to him, and he goes to the cream counter, puts cream in his coffee, then comes back.
Customer: “My coffee isn’t black.”
Me: “You just put cream in it.”
Customer: “When I order black coffee, I expect it to stay black.”
Me: “Then don’t add cream to it.”
Customer: “The cream isn’t the issue. You didn’t make true black coffee! If you did it would stay black!”
Me: “Cream will always lighten a coffee. I can’t change that.”
Customer: “I’ve had it here before! I had black coffee with cream! You’re not making it right!”
Me: “Black coffee is just coffee in water. There’s nothing special about it; it is chemically impossible to put cream in black coffee and keep it black.”
Customer: “This is what I get for coming to a donut place for coffee! I’m going to a real coffee place next time where they don’t need no chemicalists!” Storms out.
It’s A Smart Move Not Arguing With The Smart Mouth
When I was younger, we lived with my grandparents. I was the first and only grandchild at the time, so I was spoiled, as you’d imagine. I also had what my grandmother lovingly referred to as a “smart mouth”.
I was probably about six or seven at the time of this story. I can’t remember if it was a school holiday or I was sick or what, but everyone was at work, and it was just my grandma and me. The phone rang, and she answered, but it wasn’t very long before she wandered into the living room with the phone.
Grandma: “[My Name], can you help Grandma out and figure out what this man wants? I’m having trouble understanding him.”
Me: “Sure, Grandma!” Takes the telephone “Hello, sir. What can I tell Grandma for you?”
Man: “Hello, dear. I was just explaining how lovely your house was. My clients were interested in putting in an offer?”
Me: “An offer for want?”
Man: “They’d like to offer to buy your house. They’re willing to pay top dollar.”
Me: “But we’re still living here.”
Man: Groans “Can you hand me back to your grandma?”
Me: “Sure!”
Grandma smiled and took the phone back.
Grandma: “Hello?” Pauses “Well, what did she say?” Pauses “Well, if she says we’re still living here, then we must be! She’s the only grandchild; she runs this place! Have a good day!”
My grandma then hung up and gave me a cookie.
For anyone curious, she still lives in that home. The home was her grandmother’s first and was passed down to her mother and then to her. It was even rebuilt after a fire back in the 1960s using the original blueprints. She was born in that house, raised her family in it, and plans to die in it, too.
His Lack Of Understanding Will Result In Underbaking
I’m a manager passing through the store when I see an older gentleman looking at all the sodas and getting frustrated. When he’s still there a few minutes later I ask if he needs any help.
Customer: “Yes! Where the f*** is your baking soda?”
Me: “Baking soda? As in for baking? Baking supplies are in aisle fourteen.”
Customer: “No! My wife told me to get baking soda! So… da! It will be here.”
Me: “Sir, I can see the confusion.” Actually, I couldn’t. “But baking soda isn’t a soda you drink. It’s a baking ingredient and I promise you it can be found in aisle fourteen.”
Customer: “But it’s soda!”
Me: “It’s more like a baking powder.”
Customer: “If she wanted baking powder, she would have asked for baking powder!”
Not getting anywhere, I walk over to the baking aisle, pick up the store-brand baking soda, and bring it back to him.
Me: “Here, sir, this is what she wants.”
Customer: Reading the word ‘soda’ over and over. “Is this a trick?”
Me: “If it is you can bring it back for a refund. Ask for [My Name].”
He leaves with the baking soda, and I don’t see him again that day.
The next day I am covering coworkers at the checkouts, and I see this gentleman again, this time with his wife. It seems they’re bickering over something and I overhear her say:
Customer’s Wife: “You’re the one that thought I could pour Dr. Pepper into my dough to make soda bread, so I’ll not be taking your advice on this matter, thank you.”
I’m currently job hunting. While out with family, I spot a tutoring centre that I’ve not seen before, with a poster saying they’re hiring with a QR code for more details. I scan it and then catch up with my family.
That evening, I check out the page, but they don’t have any openings for that location, and the only two they have evenly remotely nearby are not a viable commute. So, when I’m in that town a couple of days later, I decide to pop my head in and ask about it.
Me: “Hi. I saw your hiring poster and checked the QR, but I couldn’t see any openings in this particular store. Is that up to date?”
Staff: Extremely cheerfully “Oh, yes, we’re currently full. But turnover is so high that we’ll probably have openings next month!”
Ahh, red flag. And she seems completely oblivious to what she’s just told me.
Me: “That’s a shame. Sorry to bother you.”
Staff: Still smiling from ear to ear “No worries! Check for [Nearby Town with decent commute] and [Town I’ve never heard of]. I know they still have openings!”
Yeah, no. Out of curiosity, I did check, and the nearby town does NOT have openings anyway.
My Actual Job Is Hard Enough Without An Inside Job
I work at a retail store that’s frequently stolen from. I’ve been told explicitly by corporate that we are not to approach anyone suspected of shoplifting, chase after them, or the like, just to report them and give a description.
I’m ringing out a customer when someone walks right out the door with a cart full of stuff. I shake my head and keep ringing my customer out, since I can’t call the corporate theft line with a customer at my register.
Customer: “You should go after them!”
Me: “Ma’am, I can’t.”
Customer: “But they just stole a bunch of stuff! Are you an accomplice? Do you not care?”
Me: “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s—”
Customer: “You could at least go get their license plate number!”
Me: “Ma’am I—”
Customer: “Why don’t you do anything?!”
The person behind her speaks up.
Other Guy: “Ma’am, he is doing his job. After he rings you up, I’m assuming he’ll call to report it. That’s all he can do.”
Customer: “And who the h*** are you?!”
Other Guy: “I’m his district manager.”
My customer didn’t talk for the rest of the transaction. My DM thanked me for following procedure and sent me to break after reporting the incident.
Years ago, I worked for a small company doing telecommunication sales to businesses. We basically resold services we bought in bulk (minutes, bandwidth, etc) at rates that fit in with what a lot of smaller businesses could afford at the time.
The owners were a couple of typical bros, but always had their employees’ backs and told us to never take unreasonable crap from angry customers. If they were upset due to an outage or service problem, it was okay to let them vent but as soon as it got too heated or turned personal, we had their permission to end the call.
One time a client who had a notorious bully for an owner was having repeated problems with their internet service. We kept sending out the local carrier, who told the client that their lines would continue to have problems because their location abutted some wetlands, so lines would short out periodically if it had rained a lot.
The owner called in after his IT manager didn’t get the answer from us that he wanted after yet another tech visit due to the ongoing problems, and demanded to speak with me. I knew from past dealings that he’d immediately go right to ten, and I wasn’t surprised with how the call went.
Caller: “This is [Name] from [Company].” I didn’t even get a “hello”.
Me: “Hello, [Name], how are you?”
Caller: “Don’t you f****** ask me how I am!”
Me: “I’m just trying to be polite and professional.”
Caller: “I’ll tell you how you’re going to f****** be!”
Me: “Okay, so this call can go one of two ways. Professionally, or not at all. Your choice.”
Caller: “Don’t you f****** tell me how to…”
Me: “Ah I see you picked choice #2! Unfortunately, due to company policy, I must terminate this call now. Additional concerns should be addressed to us via email. Thank you!” Click.
There are a lot of stupid questions, ask your professor in a 701 physics course can the empire state building skip rope? or how many of Santa’s elves can dance on a head of a pin
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
We Know Some Retail Workers Are Dead Inside, But This Is Ridiculous
I had just gotten off of work and had met up with my brother to do some shopping. We had gone into a popular retail chain and had been randomly looking through the shelves when I noticed that two women were headed my way. They completely took up the whole lane and I didn’t want to back all the way just to get past. I spotted a break between two shelves, so I quickly darted to the spot, and straightened up to try and make myself as inobstructive as possible.
The ladies slowly started to pass, randomly looking at the clothes on the shelves, and then stopped right in front of me. They started admiring my outfit (I was in a three-piece suit) and at first I thought they were going to compliment it.
However, they started opening up my jacket and feeling the lining, pulling at my belt buckle, and before they could start taking a closer look at my pants, I managed to come out of my shock enough to clear my throat.
Both women froze, and slowly looked up at my face for the first time in this interaction.
Me: “Hello… I’m not a mannequin.”
Both women turned bright red, turned, and quickly left the shop. I know on this site there have been plenty of people who have been mistaken for workers, but this is the first time I had had it happen to me… And a worker who’s not alive at that.
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
Not Quite The Cream Of The Crop, Part 8
I work at a fast-food donut place.
Customer: “Black coffee.”
Easiest order ever. I give it to him, and he goes to the cream counter, puts cream in his coffee, then comes back.
Customer: “My coffee isn’t black.”
Me: “You just put cream in it.”
Customer: “When I order black coffee, I expect it to stay black.”
Me: “Then don’t add cream to it.”
Customer: “The cream isn’t the issue. You didn’t make true black coffee! If you did it would stay black!”
Me: “Cream will always lighten a coffee. I can’t change that.”
Customer: “I’ve had it here before! I had black coffee with cream! You’re not making it right!”
Me: “Black coffee is just coffee in water. There’s nothing special about it; it is chemically impossible to put cream in black coffee and keep it black.”
Customer: “This is what I get for coming to a donut place for coffee! I’m going to a real coffee place next time where they don’t need no chemicalists!” Storms out.
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
It’s A Smart Move Not Arguing With The Smart Mouth
When I was younger, we lived with my grandparents. I was the first and only grandchild at the time, so I was spoiled, as you’d imagine. I also had what my grandmother lovingly referred to as a “smart mouth”.
I was probably about six or seven at the time of this story. I can’t remember if it was a school holiday or I was sick or what, but everyone was at work, and it was just my grandma and me. The phone rang, and she answered, but it wasn’t very long before she wandered into the living room with the phone.
Grandma: “[My Name], can you help Grandma out and figure out what this man wants? I’m having trouble understanding him.”
Me: “Sure, Grandma!” Takes the telephone “Hello, sir. What can I tell Grandma for you?”
Man: “Hello, dear. I was just explaining how lovely your house was. My clients were interested in putting in an offer?”
Me: “An offer for want?”
Man: “They’d like to offer to buy your house. They’re willing to pay top dollar.”
Me: “But we’re still living here.”
Man: Groans “Can you hand me back to your grandma?”
Me: “Sure!”
Grandma smiled and took the phone back.
Grandma: “Hello?” Pauses “Well, what did she say?” Pauses “Well, if she says we’re still living here, then we must be! She’s the only grandchild; she runs this place! Have a good day!”
My grandma then hung up and gave me a cookie.
For anyone curious, she still lives in that home. The home was her grandmother’s first and was passed down to her mother and then to her. It was even rebuilt after a fire back in the 1960s using the original blueprints. She was born in that house, raised her family in it, and plans to die in it, too.
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
His Lack Of Understanding Will Result In Underbaking
I’m a manager passing through the store when I see an older gentleman looking at all the sodas and getting frustrated. When he’s still there a few minutes later I ask if he needs any help.
Customer: “Yes! Where the f*** is your baking soda?”
Me: “Baking soda? As in for baking? Baking supplies are in aisle fourteen.”
Customer: “No! My wife told me to get baking soda! So… da! It will be here.”
Me: “Sir, I can see the confusion.” Actually, I couldn’t. “But baking soda isn’t a soda you drink. It’s a baking ingredient and I promise you it can be found in aisle fourteen.”
Customer: “But it’s soda!”
Me: “It’s more like a baking powder.”
Customer: “If she wanted baking powder, she would have asked for baking powder!”
Not getting anywhere, I walk over to the baking aisle, pick up the store-brand baking soda, and bring it back to him.
Me: “Here, sir, this is what she wants.”
Customer: Reading the word ‘soda’ over and over. “Is this a trick?”
Me: “If it is you can bring it back for a refund. Ask for [My Name].”
He leaves with the baking soda, and I don’t see him again that day.
The next day I am covering coworkers at the checkouts, and I see this gentleman again, this time with his wife. It seems they’re bickering over something and I overhear her say:
Customer’s Wife: “You’re the one that thought I could pour Dr. Pepper into my dough to make soda bread, so I’ll not be taking your advice on this matter, thank you.”
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
Might As Well Have Painted The Whole Place Red
I’m currently job hunting. While out with family, I spot a tutoring centre that I’ve not seen before, with a poster saying they’re hiring with a QR code for more details. I scan it and then catch up with my family.
That evening, I check out the page, but they don’t have any openings for that location, and the only two they have evenly remotely nearby are not a viable commute. So, when I’m in that town a couple of days later, I decide to pop my head in and ask about it.
Me: “Hi. I saw your hiring poster and checked the QR, but I couldn’t see any openings in this particular store. Is that up to date?”
Staff: Extremely cheerfully “Oh, yes, we’re currently full. But turnover is so high that we’ll probably have openings next month!”
Ahh, red flag. And she seems completely oblivious to what she’s just told me.
Me: “That’s a shame. Sorry to bother you.”
Staff: Still smiling from ear to ear “No worries! Check for [Nearby Town with decent commute] and [Town I’ve never heard of]. I know they still have openings!”
Yeah, no. Out of curiosity, I did check, and the nearby town does NOT have openings anyway.
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
Welcome To Retail, Part 12
I’m learning how to use our inventory system at a service desk in a large department store I just worked at.
Manager: “You picked that up really quick! I think you’ll be fine.”
Me: “Thank you! Is that everything I need to do at this desk?”
Manager: “Everything outside dealing with questions from customers, but you can send those to me for now. You’re not ready for our customers.”
Me: “That sounds ominous.”
With perfect timing, a coworker walks over to us and says to the manager:
Coworker: “I need you to deal with a customer return at desk nine. They’re complaining because their Roomba doesn’t clean the walls or ceiling.”
Me: To my manager. “Never mind… you were right.”
seanfear 5 days ago
YES!!!!!
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
My Actual Job Is Hard Enough Without An Inside Job
I work at a retail store that’s frequently stolen from. I’ve been told explicitly by corporate that we are not to approach anyone suspected of shoplifting, chase after them, or the like, just to report them and give a description.
I’m ringing out a customer when someone walks right out the door with a cart full of stuff. I shake my head and keep ringing my customer out, since I can’t call the corporate theft line with a customer at my register.
Customer: “You should go after them!”
Me: “Ma’am, I can’t.”
Customer: “But they just stole a bunch of stuff! Are you an accomplice? Do you not care?”
Me: “It’s not that I don’t care, it’s—”
Customer: “You could at least go get their license plate number!”
Me: “Ma’am I—”
Customer: “Why don’t you do anything?!”
The person behind her speaks up.
Other Guy: “Ma’am, he is doing his job. After he rings you up, I’m assuming he’ll call to report it. That’s all he can do.”
Customer: “And who the h*** are you?!”
Other Guy: “I’m his district manager.”
My customer didn’t talk for the rest of the transaction. My DM thanked me for following procedure and sent me to break after reporting the incident.
Yakety Sax 5 days ago
Their Professionalism Gets An Eff Grade
Years ago, I worked for a small company doing telecommunication sales to businesses. We basically resold services we bought in bulk (minutes, bandwidth, etc) at rates that fit in with what a lot of smaller businesses could afford at the time.
The owners were a couple of typical bros, but always had their employees’ backs and told us to never take unreasonable crap from angry customers. If they were upset due to an outage or service problem, it was okay to let them vent but as soon as it got too heated or turned personal, we had their permission to end the call.
One time a client who had a notorious bully for an owner was having repeated problems with their internet service. We kept sending out the local carrier, who told the client that their lines would continue to have problems because their location abutted some wetlands, so lines would short out periodically if it had rained a lot.
The owner called in after his IT manager didn’t get the answer from us that he wanted after yet another tech visit due to the ongoing problems, and demanded to speak with me. I knew from past dealings that he’d immediately go right to ten, and I wasn’t surprised with how the call went.
Caller: “This is [Name] from [Company].” I didn’t even get a “hello”.
Me: “Hello, [Name], how are you?”
Caller: “Don’t you f****** ask me how I am!”
Me: “I’m just trying to be polite and professional.”
Caller: “I’ll tell you how you’re going to f****** be!”
Me: “Okay, so this call can go one of two ways. Professionally, or not at all. Your choice.”
Caller: “Don’t you f****** tell me how to…”
Me: “Ah I see you picked choice #2! Unfortunately, due to company policy, I must terminate this call now. Additional concerns should be addressed to us via email. Thank you!” Click.
(Contd)
FreyjaRN Premium Member 5 days ago
Tell me about it.
PraiseofFolly 4 days ago
So should so-called stupid people shut up and stay stupid? Aunty is often annoyingly supercilious … or is it ‘super-silly-ious’?
CorkLock 4 days ago
And stupid people making stupid remarks.
dflak 4 days ago
If you don’t know the answer, then calling it a “stupid question” saves face.
flying spaghetti monster 4 days ago
There are a lot of stupid questions, ask your professor in a 701 physics course can the empire state building skip rope? or how many of Santa’s elves can dance on a head of a pin
ObiJoan 4 days ago
And, which is worse, answering questions
jango 4 days ago
“Don’t ax me no questions…I won’t tell you no lies”
rockyridge1977 4 days ago
’’’’’’finally got to the “crux” of the problem!!!!
pheets 4 days ago
If one does not ask, one STAYS stupid.
oakie9531 4 days ago
and many answering the questions
ladykat 4 days ago
I 100% agree, Aunty!
perryed 4 days ago
And with stupid people you get stupid answers
dbrucepm 4 days ago
most stupid questions are not asked by stupid people but by people who are too lazy to look it up or think for themselves
[Unnamed Reader - 288232] 4 days ago
Ignorance can be cured by education.Stupidity just goes on forever.Stupidity runs rampant on Quora.
cuzinron47 4 days ago
You have to consider the source.
Daltongang Premium Member 4 days ago
Aunty, anyone who says that there are no stupid questions, is too stupid to recognize a stupid question.
Smeagol 4 days ago
There’s a reason I worked night crew AM shift for nearly half of my working life, no customers.