Retailers !! VENT/RANT Here.... we are human !!
- Thread starter herewegoagain.
- Start date
- Original Poster
- #2
Let's start the ball rolling !!
I have just had a corker in my shop.... A potential customer asks 'do you have any tubes of refreshers? yes, I replied, showing him... he said 'oh, they are square shaped, I only like the round ones !' Mental note to self... it is the same bloody sweet.... I GIVE UP !!!!!!
I have just had a corker in my shop.... A potential customer asks 'do you have any tubes of refreshers? yes, I replied, showing him... he said 'oh, they are square shaped, I only like the round ones !' Mental note to self... it is the same bloody sweet.... I GIVE UP !!!!!!
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Classic. You should add that to the notalwaysright.com site.A customer yesterday took this a bit too literally...
She took one FOR NOTHING.
THEN....
She proceeded to tell me how "I always like to wear one of these to support them".
Thanks a lot, btw, whoever put that link in one of the other posts - I've wasted so much time on there over the last week reading all those crazy stories. It's quite scary just how many totally insane / angry / stupid people there are out there walking the streets...
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Just had a guy go a bit mental at me because I suggested he had half a dozen eggs when he said "and I'll have 4 eggs please". He told me that it's never been a problem before when other people have served him. I explained that it wasn't a problem it's just the first time I've been asked for 4 eggs instead of the usual 6 and I said I'd sort it out and work out a price for him. He told me he didn't like my tone and wanted to speak to the lady who owned the shop. I explained that while I'm only 27 I own the shop and the lady in question is one of my staff. After calming him down and serving him with his 4 eggs I phoned my staff and no one can recall ever serving anyone with 4 eggs haha.
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F
fairdealworld
Mild but heartfelt vent here. I have a retail apprentice, a very good retail apprentice too. She's a nice girl with very good manners and genuinely enjoys retail. Most of my customers really like her and really appreciate her help so I shouldn't get so mad about the rest but nevertheless...
There was the obnoxious man who I was serving who turned to her and said 'On work experience?' - it wasn't so much that he said it but the way he said it implying she was a school kid and also that she was doing nothing of value. She's quite young looking (but not young acting) for 19 but no one in their right mind could take her for 14 or 15. Fortunately she replied politely but very firmly that she was NOT on work experience and I was able to turn it into a joke by remarking after he'd left 'he certainly knows how to make friends and influence people', which she appreciated.
But today (some months on) I really was SO mad and hardly knew how to be polite. A woman came into the shop, greeted immediately by apprentice and myself, apprentice was up to her ears in goods from a delivery she was unpacking and pricing. The customer picked up a silver chain and asked how long it was, I was just turning to pick up a tape measure when my apprentice said 'It is x cms' (she'd unpacked and priced it about a week ago but given the variety of stock we have into the shop it was remarkable, though good obviously, that she could quote the length on the spot). The customer responded with 'In English please' (i.e. inches) and it wasn't said as a joke.
I'm staggered by those people who think it is okay to be rude/ill-mannered for no reason at all when speaking to someone younger than themselves. I got out a tape measure and 'interpreted' and passed it all off pleasantly but I was really mad and I still am. Thing is I'm 63 and I can deal with metric so I don't quite see why people younger than me can't. Plus, of course, another customer who didn't have the metric concept would simply have said pleasantly to my apprentice something along the lines of 'Can you tell me what that would be in inches?'.
There was the obnoxious man who I was serving who turned to her and said 'On work experience?' - it wasn't so much that he said it but the way he said it implying she was a school kid and also that she was doing nothing of value. She's quite young looking (but not young acting) for 19 but no one in their right mind could take her for 14 or 15. Fortunately she replied politely but very firmly that she was NOT on work experience and I was able to turn it into a joke by remarking after he'd left 'he certainly knows how to make friends and influence people', which she appreciated.
But today (some months on) I really was SO mad and hardly knew how to be polite. A woman came into the shop, greeted immediately by apprentice and myself, apprentice was up to her ears in goods from a delivery she was unpacking and pricing. The customer picked up a silver chain and asked how long it was, I was just turning to pick up a tape measure when my apprentice said 'It is x cms' (she'd unpacked and priced it about a week ago but given the variety of stock we have into the shop it was remarkable, though good obviously, that she could quote the length on the spot). The customer responded with 'In English please' (i.e. inches) and it wasn't said as a joke.
I'm staggered by those people who think it is okay to be rude/ill-mannered for no reason at all when speaking to someone younger than themselves. I got out a tape measure and 'interpreted' and passed it all off pleasantly but I was really mad and I still am. Thing is I'm 63 and I can deal with metric so I don't quite see why people younger than me can't. Plus, of course, another customer who didn't have the metric concept would simply have said pleasantly to my apprentice something along the lines of 'Can you tell me what that would be in inches?'.
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We have had this in Wales for a while now and I have yet to see a single problem with it.
It's a completely wasteful nonsense to grab handfuls of plastic bags at each visit to supermarkets when you can reuse a sturdy shopping bag time and again, something which always happened years ago.
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You miss my point, it is not about saving the planet, and never has been, we are being brainwashed:
Take the delightful Tesco:
1. They currently give out 2 BILLION carrier bags a year.
2 Lets assume they currently cost Tesco 2p each - that is a COST to Tesco of £40 Million a year. (the actual cost doesn't matter much, the numbers are so big, it's the principle I am tallking about)
3. From Autumn next year Tesco will charge 5p a bag - just as M&S do now (who used to give away 400,000,000 a year)
4. As the law is suggested at the moment - Tesco will have to give the PROFIT they make on the bags to charity - £60,000,000 - look at the wording on the M&S bags
5. So Tesco give away £60,000,000 of OUR money to charity - making themselves look brilliant BUT
SAVING THEMSELVES £20,000,000
(and notice how much better qualitythe 5p M&S bags are now? - doesn't matter when you are not paying for them anymore)
and if the bag useage goes down, they don't care, the only people to lose out will be the charity.
NO WONDER TESCO and M&S SUPPORT IT, WHY WOULDN'T THEY?, they get to be the good guys while saving themselves a fortune.
(and I'm ignoring the fact that most people use the bags for rubbish and will now be buying bin liners, so the overall impact on the environment will be tiny)
and, as a kick in the teeth to the small guys who are "exempt" (how kind!) - that actually means that WE still have to pay for our bags and don't get to take part in this fantastic example of marketing whitewash.
...well it is the rant thread !
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Groan
My whole point is that the big boys no longer pay for the bags - they don't care if there are zero charitable donations - they win either way.
This is not about the bags, the economy or the planet, It's about the big boys playing games and manipulating the public perception so they can save money.
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K
kelvin1950
Rubbish, tosh, and complete and utter nonsense.
If this is true then who's stealing my carrier bags?
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OK then, if you are determined to be obtuse.
Once the charges come in people will adapt to using their own "bags for life" rather than pay. It works perfectly in Wales and you hardly ever see anyone buy a bag. It's actually now quite weird to be given a bag when over the border.
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R
Root 66 Woodshop
That's the thing though isn't it... You're in Cardiff, therefore what your stating only refers to your city and surrounding areas. What everyone else is seeing is in their towns and cities... not in Cardiff.
Therefore, it is rubbish, tosh and utter nonsense to those that don't have the "plastic bag rule" in there hometowns, once it comes into effect then what you're saying will possibly be correct... but until then, he's hardly being obtuse.
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Had my regular 5.28pm "customer" in. Regular as clockwork, lots of inane questions about items he seems to have no intention of buying, lots of picking things up and asking technical questions, asking about prices for items I don't stock etc. Seems oblivious to the fact that I let all the staff go home, and most of the lights are turned off, and I am standing there with my jacket on. Finally asked him today how he finds himself in my place at 5.25pm on Fridays. "oh, I pick my daughter who works in the charity shop up the road, and she doesn't get out until gone half past, as they have to cash up and tidy up, and I don't want to get in the way."
If he's here next Friday, he's going up the hoover, I swear.
If he's here next Friday, he's going up the hoover, I swear.
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Customer comes to buy a special occasion garment costing £100.
Customer then says they could not find it anywhere else within a 30 mile radius in an actual shop where it could be tried on although they could find it easily on the internet. They are very happy that they could come and try it on.
I explain that:
a. undercutting on the internet or ecommerce per se has meant that real shops stocking this kind of thing are no longer viable, as shops have staff, rent and other overheads to pay
b. although it might be shown as for sale on the internet, many sellers are unlikely to have the actual product in stock and when they go to order they may well be disappointed.
Customer looks appreciative.
I ring it into the till.
Customer then has the cheek to ask for a discount - as they have found it cheaper online! Aaaaaaagh!
What I really wanted to do is to tell them to buy it online then and leave my shop. I gritted my teeth and gave them a 5% discount. I am still fuming though!
Thanks for letting me rant.
Customer then says they could not find it anywhere else within a 30 mile radius in an actual shop where it could be tried on although they could find it easily on the internet. They are very happy that they could come and try it on.
I explain that:
a. undercutting on the internet or ecommerce per se has meant that real shops stocking this kind of thing are no longer viable, as shops have staff, rent and other overheads to pay
b. although it might be shown as for sale on the internet, many sellers are unlikely to have the actual product in stock and when they go to order they may well be disappointed.
Customer looks appreciative.
I ring it into the till.
Customer then has the cheek to ask for a discount - as they have found it cheaper online! Aaaaaaagh!
What I really wanted to do is to tell them to buy it online then and leave my shop. I gritted my teeth and gave them a 5% discount. I am still fuming though!
Thanks for letting me rant.
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Deniser, the cheek !!
Last week I had a scrummy mummy come in my shop with 3 brats in tow, all badly behaved, running around the shop, picking up stock. She nagged them without intent and they took no notice. I eventually had enough when 2 of them got into the window, displaying halloween spookiness and began pulling the cobweb stuff about and throwing it around. I kid you not. I sidled up to ring leader and told him , under my breath , to 'leave my window display alone, thank you'! He, rather disgruntled told his sibling that 'she told me off!!' like it had never happened in his life ! Then, and this finished me for the day... mummy 'dahlings you've been so well behaved , here are your chocolate lollies'. they then ran around the shop leaving a trail of chocolate chunks. I have never been so happy to see a customer leave!!
Last week I had a scrummy mummy come in my shop with 3 brats in tow, all badly behaved, running around the shop, picking up stock. She nagged them without intent and they took no notice. I eventually had enough when 2 of them got into the window, displaying halloween spookiness and began pulling the cobweb stuff about and throwing it around. I kid you not. I sidled up to ring leader and told him , under my breath , to 'leave my window display alone, thank you'! He, rather disgruntled told his sibling that 'she told me off!!' like it had never happened in his life ! Then, and this finished me for the day... mummy 'dahlings you've been so well behaved , here are your chocolate lollies'. they then ran around the shop leaving a trail of chocolate chunks. I have never been so happy to see a customer leave!!
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Oh thank you for this thread!! It's going to be my new home
I love my job but sometimes people leave you speechless. I will be logging on here the next time someone makes me scream at them in my head :redface:
This one made me giggle more than be annoyed. It was a busy Saturday afternoon and the shop was full of customers. A man and his family were outside and decided to come in. The man pulls the door really hard, making it smash off the top of the shutter. Everyone in the shop turned to look at him. He tried again. Same thing happened. He then stood there looking rather puzzled as to how all the other customers got into the shop.
Only when I mouthed "PUSH" and did my best demonstration of pushing opening a door (from behind the till :redface: ) did he finally work out it is a push door - despite there being two "push" signs on the door itself.
Dear oh dear
I love my job but sometimes people leave you speechless. I will be logging on here the next time someone makes me scream at them in my head :redface:
This one made me giggle more than be annoyed. It was a busy Saturday afternoon and the shop was full of customers. A man and his family were outside and decided to come in. The man pulls the door really hard, making it smash off the top of the shutter. Everyone in the shop turned to look at him. He tried again. Same thing happened. He then stood there looking rather puzzled as to how all the other customers got into the shop.
Only when I mouthed "PUSH" and did my best demonstration of pushing opening a door (from behind the till :redface: ) did he finally work out it is a push door - despite there being two "push" signs on the door itself.
Dear oh dear
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R
Root 66 Woodshop
[RANT]
Oh my giddy ant... Some people really make my blood boil!!!
Two weeks, TWO WEEKS!! ARGHHH!!!
I received a call from a customer wanting us to attend one of his care homes wanting new locks as his old "Weiser Locks" are causing issues where specific keys are opening doors that they shouldn't be... a simple wear and tear issue really.
I provided a quotation TWO WEEKS AGO stating new products on restricted keys to be installed, he gave us the go ahead TWO WEEKS AGO...
We were on site yesterday and again today, the one site grew into three sites to be Master Keyed under one MASTER KEY... as per HIS instructions - and that he already had a key system at another site and wanted that one to be integrated, as of which I was more than happy to build the system for him.
Turns out, he went to site yesterday evening to inspect our work, which is grand, lovely, no issue at all... HE rang my engineer kicking off that his key wouldn't work! My engineer drove down to meet him on site out of hours and without charge... only to get there to find that he'd left site and would speak to us tomorrow!
He arrived on site today, presented his old WEISER KEY!!! And said it doesn't work!!!
Of course it doesn't work you ****ing inbred! You told us you wanted it on a NEW SYSTEM!!! we've done exactly what you've asked so why the hell are you trying to get in with your old ****ing key?!!?!!?!!!?!!!!! Not only inconveniencing our engineer the night before, but NOW... NOW he wants us to change the whole suite around because HE doesn't want the OTHER key to be integrated into the system...
IT WAS YOUR SUGGESTION FFS!!!!
[/RANT]
Oh my giddy ant... Some people really make my blood boil!!!
Two weeks, TWO WEEKS!! ARGHHH!!!
I received a call from a customer wanting us to attend one of his care homes wanting new locks as his old "Weiser Locks" are causing issues where specific keys are opening doors that they shouldn't be... a simple wear and tear issue really.
I provided a quotation TWO WEEKS AGO stating new products on restricted keys to be installed, he gave us the go ahead TWO WEEKS AGO...
We were on site yesterday and again today, the one site grew into three sites to be Master Keyed under one MASTER KEY... as per HIS instructions - and that he already had a key system at another site and wanted that one to be integrated, as of which I was more than happy to build the system for him.
Turns out, he went to site yesterday evening to inspect our work, which is grand, lovely, no issue at all... HE rang my engineer kicking off that his key wouldn't work! My engineer drove down to meet him on site out of hours and without charge... only to get there to find that he'd left site and would speak to us tomorrow!
He arrived on site today, presented his old WEISER KEY!!! And said it doesn't work!!!
Of course it doesn't work you ****ing inbred! You told us you wanted it on a NEW SYSTEM!!! we've done exactly what you've asked so why the hell are you trying to get in with your old ****ing key?!!?!!?!!!?!!!!! Not only inconveniencing our engineer the night before, but NOW... NOW he wants us to change the whole suite around because HE doesn't want the OTHER key to be integrated into the system...
IT WAS YOUR SUGGESTION FFS!!!!
[/RANT]
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P
pen2670
Just had a customer in, been in a few times before, bought a couple of things, more often comes in for advice and a look around, only ever buys when with her husband, was on her own today.
Bad start, interrupted my conversation (phone) with another customer, started before she came in the shop. Then accidentally knocked a child over. Wanted to know prices of lots of items, they have price labels on them. Wanted discounts, no. Wanted box opening to see product - big picture on box, standard item, glued tight so less saleable if I had, so no. As predicted bought nothing. Sigh. Did same thing with another item last week, opened it up, had a good luck, yes exactly what I wanted, then put it back... luckily that one was easy to open.
As a note for any non b&m retailers dont mind opening things up for customers IF they are ready and prepared to buy there and then if it's what they want and cant tell without looking, but not for a vague might buy in the future especially when I'd then most likely have to mark it down for having a damaged box.
Also do price match or do package deals for big purchases, but not for anything and everything for no reason.
Bad start, interrupted my conversation (phone) with another customer, started before she came in the shop. Then accidentally knocked a child over. Wanted to know prices of lots of items, they have price labels on them. Wanted discounts, no. Wanted box opening to see product - big picture on box, standard item, glued tight so less saleable if I had, so no. As predicted bought nothing. Sigh. Did same thing with another item last week, opened it up, had a good luck, yes exactly what I wanted, then put it back... luckily that one was easy to open.
As a note for any non b&m retailers dont mind opening things up for customers IF they are ready and prepared to buy there and then if it's what they want and cant tell without looking, but not for a vague might buy in the future especially when I'd then most likely have to mark it down for having a damaged box.
Also do price match or do package deals for big purchases, but not for anything and everything for no reason.
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- Original Poster
- #39
Saturday seemed to be a day of "how many teenagers can you fit in a tiny shop".
Do people have no common sense? Why do ten of them need to come in if only 2 of them are buying something?! Then they stand in front of the door so no one else can get in or out
I know where you are coming from Jo, my shop is 15ft x 5ft ! I work on two in, one out ! lol
hope youre ok
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