Retail rant thread for those working in retail!

[pud333]

I figured we could have a thread for those collectors who work in the service industry or in retail who want to rail against stupid customers or coworkers.

Of course, let's try to keep this thread as clean as possible and also not reveal any names in order to avoid having the mods shut it down. Also, if you feel a rant has no merit, that's fine, but no personal attacks please. And for obvious reasons, let's leave the sponsors out of this. This is a general retail rant thread strictly for fun and to vent a bit.

I'll go first: Dude came into the bank today to get 30 business deposit bags and books. Now, our institution gives these out for free to our members (a service most banks charge for), but most people only ever ask for a few at a time. He was pissed that we wouldn't give him 30. Our rational was we only have a limited number, so we have to make sure there is enough for our other clients. His argument was that we were a bank, and it's our business, so we should always have enough. No, buddy, not so fast. We told him we would happily accomodate him if he called in advance to let us know he needs that many. It's the same if someone wanted $10,000 in US dollars. We don't have it on hand. You have to request in advance so we can prep it for you.

Anyway, he left really angry, yelling at everyone. I have half a mind to get the branch manager to close his account down. We've done it to others for less. You cannot abuse the employees like that. Sheesh. Imagine if I went into his business and behaved that way!

[Mumps]

I was a Janitor at a major department store, and one of the tasks is to take the 4foot broom, and sweep down the aisles every few hours. The aisles are wide enough that a broom can foot down one side, and people and their carts can fit on the other side. So I get to this one aisle, and I politely say to the guy in front of me "Excuse me sir," When he turns around and goes "F*ck off". Now, I could have done one of 2 things. What I did, was leave. My shift was OVER at that point. My other option would have been to shove that 4 foot broom up his a$$, which believe me, was tempting!

Oh, and I won't tell you what i've seen in the washrooms... Womans washrooms are a place of EVIL! So evil, Satan wouldn't even enter.

Oh, and this other time, this lady wanted me to do a price check on some stupid little christmas ornament. The price on the shelf said $1.00, so I told her "It's $1.00" and pointed to the sign. She began exclaiming how that couldn't be the price, it must be cheaper than that! Now, the ornament was a piece of crap, definately not worth a dollar, but come on! The price was right there, so she insisted I go into the back of the store, and do a price check. So... I went into the back of the store with the item, tossed it into the bin of items to be returned to the shelf, and went about doing my backroom stuff. *is an ass*

[Terminal Hipster]

Oh the stories I could tell y'all about working at HMV... but I'm not sure I can make myself relive some of that.

[pud333]

Originally Posted by Terminal Hipster

Oh the stories I could tell y'all about working at HMV... but I'm not sure I can make myself relive some of that.

I know what you mean. I used to work for a cd/electronics shop years ago as the warranty coordinator. I once had a guy threaten to stab me because his amp was out for servicing longer than expected. He later apologized.

[Aernaroth]

Hey, uh, do you have this thread in blue? Could you, like, check in the back?


I did my stint in retail at a Walmart. In the toy department. At Christmas. I loved it, but I could very well understand that feeling changing to loathing in a short while.

[Magnus]

yeah, the idea is good for this thread, but I get the impression it will get out of hand real quick. Working in IT, I'll refrain from participating here since I could singlehandedly have this thread closed.

Enjoy the ranting!

[Mumps]

Originally Posted by Magnus

yeah, the idea is good for this thread, but I get the impression it will get out of hand real quick. Working in IT, I'll refrain from participating here since I could singlehandedly have this thread closed.

Enjoy the ranting!

Oh you poor bastard... How do you IT people NOT go postal before the end of each shift?

[BadJeff]

About 10 years ago as a service writer for a car dealership i had a customer that got so pissed about the quote i gave him that he stepped about 10 feet back from the counter, turned around, pulled his pants down, grabbed his butt and screamed as loud as he could something along the likes of "why don't you just *^%& me in the ass" and a few other colorful things. This was in front of at least a dozen customer & staff...
I've had people come unglued on me a few times over the years but never like this.

[Dark Rage]

At my old retail job, one lady gave me a list of heavy textbooks and expected me to find each and every book and carry it back to her while she waited at the cash register.

Don't forget the incompetent co-workers too. A seasonal employee saw me struggling lifting like a stack of ~25 books and hurrily "helped" me by grabbing only 2 or 3 books. If my hands weren't tied, I would have whipped something at her.

[Shepp]

I used to work in retail. And I used to do what I could to help customers and other employees.

Unfortunately it was a losing battle.

I received an award from a customer; as I was handed it, I was reprimanded for my actions that got me the award. Sure, I can understand that, but the thing that boggles my mind was that I was simply following store policies.

I was reprimanded for following store policies. Actually, that wasn't the first or last time. Pretty much anything managers had a problem with revolved around me following store policy. Including safety policies and events where if I hadn't acted, there would have been some serious injuries or a whole lot of property damage.

Eventually after a year I got sick of it and quit. Screw Wal-Mart.