I work in retail, and I must say that the general public is a rude and spoiled bunch of individuals. When did we as consumers get so spoiled? When did we come to a point where we started to insist that salespeople make decisions for us? I know that as a salesman, I'm supposed to sell you on things but, what happened to the day when you did your own research and made your decision based on that research. It's cool to have a few basic questions or to want a few things cleared up that you may not have understood but, I'm not supposed to feel like I'm teaching a class every time I'm approached to assist someone. Then, if the customer heard something they don't like, here comes the rudeness. Honestly, why are people so rude? We're salespeople...we're only doing our jobs, but if the little spoiled customer doesn't get his or her way, here comes the tantrum, and here comes the requests to speak with a manager.
Let me tell you how retail works. A person is hired, usually based on his or her experience, and or his or her likability. After that, there is a training process. In that training process, all the rules, all the do's and don'ts are presented. You are told what to tell people in certain situations, and how to properly handle yourself. Most importantly, you're told to always smile because it makes them feel welcome. With that said, if you're looking for something, and I tell you that there are no more, don't get mad at me because you missed it. If I tell you that there are more on order, then that's what it is. Don't ask me for the display because I've already told you that we have some on order. When I tell you that per store policy we cannot discount the display then that's what it is. We do not make up rules as we go. If you do request a manager, you're going to get the same answer so why waste the time?
Now, everybody knows the retail busy seasons. Don't come in with an attitude because you had to wait 3 minutes for service. Look around you, it's busy..it's common sense. You are not the only person shopping and the ratio of customers to salespersons is usually pretty low. If you came in yesterday and there were 20 or 30 of something, don't be shocked because it's sold out. It kills me when people say...well I was just here the other day and there were plenty of them...guess what? You're not the only person shopping for this item. There have been hundreds of people in here before you, while you were here and after you left.
Every retail store I've been in has departments. If you're looking for something in a particular, seek as employee that works in that section. if you don't see one, ask for one. Stop asking random people where things are, and stop getting angry with them if they say that they don't know. You can't expect the guy that works in produce to know about a pressure washer, and you can't expect the electronics guy to know where something is in the grocery department. That brings me to another point. Did people forget what the customer service area is and what it's for? If you ask me something and I don't know and I direct you to customer service, don't stand there and look at me like I just gave you a jigsaw puzzle. Generally, the customer service area is located somewhere at the from of the store. This has been the case for years, yet people still look lost when you ask them to go there.
My last point is this....READ. If you see an item and you see a sign for the item read the sign. If the item doesn't match what the sign says then odds are, that's not that item. I admit that in some stores where they have multi level shelves and signs everywhere it can be a little confusing but, that goes back to what I said before...READ!!!!!!! People kill me getting all the way to the front of the store at the checkout and saying..oh, that was supposed to be 5 dollars but it's ringing up 10. Now...on occasion we do mess up...but if you read the sign in most cases you'll see that it was 5 dollar for the pop tarts and 10 for the case of peanut butter that you picked up. Speaking of reading. Most stores have signs on the end of each aisle letting you know what's generally on that aisle. If you read these...you'll more than likely find what you are looking for because to be honest with you, if you ask me where something is...I'm going to tell you...I don't know exactly which aisle but the sign on the end of it should tell you.
That's my rant for today..thank you for reading. I've got to go to work now...
Hold on, I forgot one.. If you bring 3 big burly dudes with you and you're buying a shop crane or anything heavy, bulky, whatever...don't stand by and watch that one associate load it all by himself.
Bottom line is...we don't get paid to be abused. Be nice to your associate and he or she will be certain to be nice to you and everybody will end up having a nice day.
Until next time....
