- Author
- 01/16/2021
- 1,554 Words
- 1,219 Views
- 11 Comments
Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
Dear, Grocery Shoppers - 6. You're Joking, Right?
Hey, it’s Noah again!
Previously when we last chatted, I mentioned one of the positions of my staff, as well as their responsibilities. You also learned my patience when dealing with a Karen who had a complaint. Well, more of a vent really. I was having such a good time that day. No negative energy could phase through me. But that isn’t always the case. For instance, this story I have for you is going to be a real treat, let me tell you!
Today, I’m gonna tell you about what just recently happened to me. For the rest of my life, I still won’t be able to comprehend the thoughts involved. So lately, I’ve been trying to give my staff a chance to really show me they have common sense and don’t have to depend on me, or another manager, every second of their shift. Yes, I signed up for this the moment I took these keys, and yes, I’m always here for my team. But damn! Some of them really make me wonder. Like, how do you function as an adult? How do you keep your kids? Oh, did I forget to mention the fact that I’m 28 and the majority of my staff are older than me? Hell, there’s a few that could be my parent when I think about it. It’s mind blowing! When we have to micromanage in such a way that they might as well not even be there is when I get really annoyed. Sometimes, they won’t even get scheduled hours half the time because we can’t get them to understand the point of working. I know this isn’t the proper way to discipline an employee, but I work for a crappy company that doesn’t want to see write-ups, for some reason.
This puts us in a cycle where nobody seems to have a work ethic. They want the hours, but when they get them, it’s always, “I can’t show up today,” or, “I don’t want to work on the register,” or, “Can I straighten the racks instead?” No one gets to pick and choose what they want to work on. Not even me! Now, this isn’t all of my staff doing this. I’d say, realistically, there’s about one out of every five people that comes to work and kill it. This is all a long-winded way of saying my staff is definitely interesting, to say the least.
But it’s not all them. Sometimes, there’s a customer that also feels entitled to whatever they think would be best for them. And again, this isn’t every shopper that comes in my store. I’ve had some customers that were pretty chill and just does their thing: browse, pick out stuff, and check-out with no issues. Unfortunately, the customer starring in today’s story was not chill at all.
So, when a cashier calls for a manager, we are running right up there to solve the problem. This problem can be anything from a customer needing to ask a question or go on a rant over something stupid, or it can be simple, like needing change made for a hundred dollar bill or a price override for a damaged/final sale. But I can’t tell you how many times I went up to the register and it turned out to be nothing but bull. “Can I take my break?” Little girl. I’ve called my staff this, even if they were older than me. Can’t you just ask that over the walkie? You had to drag me out of the manager’s meeting to ask me if you can go to break? There’s three cashiers up here at two in the afternoon with no customers in line!
Now, when a customer needs the cashier to call the manager, it usually means that the cashier simply does not have the answer. That’s where the manager comes in, obviously. I completely understand this. What I don’t understand is saying you need a manager when you feel entitled for having to deal with life.
Just last Friday, I was the closing manager, and oddly enough, it wasn't as chaotic as weekends normally are. So my naivety (look at me using fancy-schmancy private school words!) was thinking, “Damn, this is amazing!” My staff is handling their stuff and customers are acting like they have common sense as well. I might just have a full peaceful day! Hell, even the registers were working right the whole time. So of course I’m gonna have a peaceful day right? Uh-nope!
It’s me, another manager (who has the same title as me: Senior Fashion Coordinator), along with two of our department leads, who hold the title ‘Fashion Coordinator.’ We’re going over the weekly plan on how the store should be set up for the coming week. Ideally, things get changed around in the store once a week to keep things fresh and whatnot. Me and the three others are talking about how to execute the layout of the plan for the store. A cashier calls for a manager. My cashier explained that her customer wanted to talk to a manager, but wouldn’t say why. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, since she probably didn’t feel comfortable saying it over the walkie. So I thought it was kinda serious. I went up there and just simply asked what the problem was.
At this point, the customer begins to explain the situation and she has given me way too much information when she could’ve just asked her question. It was explained she was buying two different types of pants, which neither of them had a tag.
This is where my floor person comes in handy. You see, when a piece of merchandise doesn’t have a tag and a customer wants to purchase it, someone on the sales floor tries to find that exact item, or at least as close as they can (staying within the brand etc). My floor person did his job and got the item numbers for both items and relayed them over the walkie. Then the transaction gets finished up, the customer goes on with their day, and the cashier goes on to the next customer.
Sadly that isn’t what happened.
“Hey, what’s going on? How can I help?” The lady begins to explain the whole problem, in every tiny detail. “Okay, but I’m not understanding the problem. Is there a question?” To me, if you don’t want the pants because of the price we found, then just say so and hand the product to the cashier.
She finally gets to her big point. Please insert a very rude and sarcastic tone. “Here’s the thing! I waited over ten minutes to get that price for the pants, and I want a discount for waiting.”
“Ma’am, look. I’m sorry about your wait, but I can’t give you a discount because you waited. If I did that for you, then I would have to start doing it for everybody. Everyone behind you would be asking for a discount. The only way I can give a discount is if the product you’re buying is damaged, and it is in very good condition. We have lost managers for giving discounts that aren’t supposed to happen, and I sure won’t let that happen to me.” Fun fact for y’all! Aaron and I started at this store when it was first built, and that’s how he got canned. It was even his first offense and he got fired nonetheless. If I’m gonna get fired, it better be over some real shit, let me tell ya!
The lady’s tone gets even more uppity. “Well, fuck it! Let me finish up and get the Hell out of here! This is ridiculous! I’m not asking for much, jeez!”
That was the summary, but she just kept trying to get that discount. I even had to explain the fact that every time we get a truck shipment, there’s nothing going on the floor without a tag. It’s customers and their children who keep ripping off tags. I also re-explained when there’s a price check, we try to find the exact item first, then we find something as close as we can, we even try to stay within that brand. Going in further, I stated that there are even times where we get stopped by other customers while we’re working on getting a price for a cashier.
So let that sink in for just a moment. An impatient woman waited for an amount of time on a price check and asked to speak with a manager only to ask for a discount for the wait. And then because of her desire for money off her order, I had to hop on an open register and knock out the large line that had formed! C’mon, lady! This was thirty minutes before we closed! Who goes shopping for clothes at 8:30 in the evening?
If you, or anyone you know has gotten a discount for waiting in line like we do literally everywhere else in life, please let me know. I’d love to try it out! I wish I could give you guys a virtual tour so you can see what Aaron and I deal with, but it looks like writing will have to do.
Until next time. Noah out
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Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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