Retail Workers Union

Fabio he was trying to catch the fish in the fish tank! He deserved to get kicked out!

Also dumb customers are definitely the worst.

Haha I can imagine you just going... *facepalm* you're kidding right?

Haha classic fabio classic!
Retail sucks :S

Welcome to errybody who's come to play since I last posted! XD

Izanagi. said:

I have a funny story to kick things off. I work at Meijer, which has cart pushers that work out in the parking lot. I happen to know some of them, and one told me a particularly humorous story about his day. So he was out in the parking lot and he sees 2 men making out by a truck. Now none of us are bothered by this besides the fact that you shouldn't do things like that in the parking lot of a family friendly store. Well he turns his back to get some carts and when he looks back one of the men is gone. He thought he had climbed in the truck, but he slowly rises from the ground. Now we're unclear as to what he was doing, but I think you can guess what we were thinking. Just some of the things we experience. xD

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Bahaha - I love those guys, that is so amazing. I love it when people just don't give a crap in public - I applaud those two men for saying "screw you, family values! Now, screw me!"

Jorah said:

I still remember when I said "hi" to someone and he and the girl he was with started talking about why cashiers bother to talk. I could've punched them

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I would have punched them! How dare they talk about you like that right in front of you? I've been working in retail for just on three years now and I've never once had anybody look down on me for that - but I guess when you're working in a liquor store and you get the same customers every single day they're really not in any position to judge anybody :P

Harlequin said:

I can't count how many times I've had to smile and wave as an idiotic customer launched multiple verbal assaults at me for things that were completely out of my control. How was I supposed to know, Lil' Miss Cranky-Lobster-Faced-Divorcee (the divorce you were quite happy to tell me about at the counter even though I would've rather stood on rusty nails than hear you say another word about your husbands secretary), that months after you bought the shirt, you were too big to fit it? Maybe you should've eaten less or at least have tried on the shirt ONCE before that particular morning? I hate people sometimes.

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What strikes me about this story is that they actually had the confidence to come back into the store and say "this doesn't fit me". If something like that ever happened to me I'd just die from the embarrassment of having gotten so fat, burned the shirt and moved on with my life.

---

This is what happened to me today:

I got called in to work (thereby ending the lovely notion I had of having three days off in a row for the first time ever) for a crappy 4-9 shift. It really bugs me that my manager did that because she wasn't allowed to; I have to have a certain amount of days off each fortnight and that cuts into it, but she just adds the hours onto the other days I did work so it was like I was never there.

ANYWAY that's not the point. What happened to me was: a woman coughed into her hand, then reached into her wallet and pulled a $50 note out of it and handed it to me.

I ****ing hate people that do that.

If you are coughing, I don't want you anywhere near me, and I certainly don't want to be touching anything you have been touching. As I see it, if you cough once in my vicinity at work, you forfeit the right to pay cash. You get your card out and you swipe it in the goddamn machine so that we do not touch any of the same things. Filthy disease-ridden pigs.

Shining Raichu said:

ANYWAY that's not the point. What happened to me was: a woman coughed into her hand, then reached into her wallet and pulled a $50 note out of it and handed it to me.

I ****ing hate people that do that.

If you are coughing, I don't want you anywhere near me, and I certainly don't want to be touching anything you have been touching. As I see it, if you cough once in my vicinity at work, you forfeit the right to pay cash. You get your card out and you swipe it in the goddamn machine so that we do not touch any of the same things. Filthy disease-ridden pigs.

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Hahahahaha.
This made me laugh so much because whenever someone did it, I refused to take the money. Luckily, they mainly paid with card where I was, so it was avoided.​

Perhaps retail is making me bitter and providing me with Overlord potential?

Shining Raichu said:

Perhaps retail is making me bitter and providing me with Overlord potential?

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Retail does tend to make people cynical.. But when you see sick people coughing in their hands and they then go to give you money you definitely think.. "Wtf? You're not about to give me that are you? Are you selfish enough to contaminant my whole till/register with your diseases and infect other unlucky customers later? FOR SHAME ON YOU!"

Hate people like that.

Also people that want to have a long conversation with you while theirs people waiting behind them yet you dont want to be rude so you just try and end the conversation but they keep going? Ugh hate those people!

Shining Raichu said:

Perhaps retail is making me bitter and providing me with Overlord potential?

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It certainly made me pretty annoyed at the worst of times, that is for sure! XD​

Shining Raichu said:

ANYWAY that's not the point. What happened to me was: a woman coughed into her hand, then reached into her wallet and pulled a $50 note out of it and handed it to me.

I ****ing hate people that do that.

If you are coughing, I don't want you anywhere near me, and I certainly don't want to be touching anything you have been touching. As I see it, if you cough once in my vicinity at work, you forfeit the right to pay cash. You get your card out and you swipe it in the goddamn machine so that we do not touch any of the same things. Filthy disease-ridden pigs.

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Oh yes, that is completely disgusting. I have people who put their loyalty card in their mouth, then hand it to me. Wtf, that is absolutely disgusting, I give them a revolted look when they do that, but I can't refuse them.

One thing that really annoys me about my job is how customers misread or ignore the small print and then complain and claim that we're a bunch of tricky crooks, out to get their money when it is their fault for not being able to read it in the first place. Also when they say they're going to report us for false advertising because something mis-scans or a sign fell down...

CarefulWetPaint said:

Also people that want to have a long conversation with you while theirs people waiting behind them yet you dont want to be rude so you just try and end the conversation but they keep going? Ugh hate those people!

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Yes! I hate those people too, but at the very least you can say they're being friendly, which kind of cancels out the annoyance a little bit. The ones that annoy me more than that are the ones that stand there sorting themselves out at the counter while there are a line of people behind them. They stand there, putting their coins and notes in the separate compartments of their wallets, putting their wallets in their handbags, picking up their items - every so often putting them in the backpacks they bring - before they finally shuffle off, leaving you and the next customer feeling a little frustrated.

vaporeon7 said:

One thing that really annoys me about my job is how customers misread or ignore the small print and then complain and claim that we're a bunch of tricky crooks, out to get their money when it is their fault for not being able to read it in the first place. Also when they say they're going to report us for false advertising because something mis-scans or a sign fell down...

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I had one of these just last week. He brought a case of beer to the counter that was $45, but it had been on special for $34 the previous week. When I said it was $45, he gave me this affronted look and said, "No, it's $34!" then pointed to the one sign that nobody ever looks at, which was coincidentally the one sign we had forgotten to change back to the regular price.

So because he saw that, we had to give it to him for $34, which is fine. But then he kept going on about it, seeming to think that we the staff were conspiring to rip him off. He asked me, "how many people have you gotten with that one today?" I laughed, figuring he was joking, but he was deadly serious and made that incredibly clear until he left.

He didn't seem to understand the reality of what was going on; so once I'd had enough with the happy pretense I dropped my voice and said "The actual price is $45. We forgot to change one of the signs and you noticed it, so you get it cheaper. Congratulations."

I'm still not sure the deluded prick believed me.

Hello! Joining! Also, curious as to whether we count as a real union yet - can we call a strike if we feel like it? (Not a namby-pamby Aussie strike, Andy, a proper British right-hook to the teeth. That kind of strike. That gets people's attention.) I have a feeling we could improve lives the world over, and Mr Google has just informed me very kindly that not only is our right to form protected by federal law, but that all we need in order to do so is a Union Authorisation Card. So if someone could Photoshop one of those toot-sweet, it'd be much appreciated. >:)

And my do I have stories to share with you all. Somehow, using the skinniest skin of my teeth, I managed to claw my way out of retail a while back, but my time there left deep scars I doubt will ever properly heal. Like the purple vomit, for one thing. In a food shop. Purple vomit. Properly genuinely. Here's how the conversation went:

ME: Um. Uh. I don't want to - could you - seriously, what is that?
BOSSMAN: *grunting* WHAT?
ME: That. That purplish stuff. The stuff that looks like the accidental progeny of a disgruntled tub of couscous and a suicidal beetroot. What is it?
BOSSMAN: WHAT? *grunts heavily* ME NEVER NOTICED. ME NOT CARE. NOW GO IN FRIDGE.
ME: The fridge?! Oh, sir, please. I'll do anything. I'll navigate the heinous delivery backlog or lick the greasy hair out of your face. I'll even get those Christmas wrapping paper tubes out of the staff toilet where, as you so wisely reasoned at the time, 'THEY NOT MIND COS IN PLASTIC'. Just not the fridge. Not the fridge.
BOSSMAN: *booms* FRIDGE!!!
ME: *scurries* Yessirofcoursesirwhurreveryousaysir!

And then of course I have to go and lock myself in the vile contraption. I felt like a bullied polar bear. Surrounded by yoghurt - hateful, sickly, beige, out-of-date yoghurt. I still shiver reflexively whenever this advert comes on. (But that advert's terrifying enough anyway, I suppose.)

...That's just the tip of the iceberg, so I won't inflict any more on you, despite the wonderful feeling of relief that's just swept over me. Oh, it's good to emote. My system feels cleaner already.

I work at Kohl's. At the return desk.

Says enough, eh?


(I am also a manager-in-training in Barnes & Noble.)

FML

aRedMoon said:

I work at Kohl's. At the return desk.

Says enough, eh?


(I am also a manager-in-training in Barnes & Noble.)

FML

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Returns desk? Oh how I pity you. People coming in to return things are the worst. They always argue about something irrelevant to the item they bring in and say its your fault it broke/didn't work/ was to small/ was to big. UGH those people suck. Or the, "Actually the person didn't like this one can I change it for a different one.". *Shakes fist angrily*

Welcome Barrels, Sector Revenge and aRedMoon :D

Barrels said:

Hello! Joining! Also, curious as to whether we count as a real union yet - can we call a strike if we feel like it? (Not a namby-pamby Aussie strike, Andy, a proper British right-hook to the teeth. That kind of strike. That gets people's attention.) I have a feeling we could improve lives the world over, and Mr Google has just informed me very kindly that not only is our right to form protected by federal law, but that all we need in order to do so is a Union Authorisation Card. So if someone could Photoshop one of those toot-sweet, it'd be much appreciated. >:)

And my do I have stories to share with you all. Somehow, using the skinniest skin of my teeth, I managed to claw my way out of retail a while back, but my time there left deep scars I doubt will ever properly heal. Like the purple vomit, for one thing. In a food shop. Purple vomit. Properly genuinely. Here's how the conversation went:

ME: Um. Uh. I don't want to - could you - seriously, what is that?
BOSSMAN: *grunting* WHAT?
ME: That. That purplish stuff. The stuff that looks like the accidental progeny of a disgruntled tub of couscous and a suicidal beetroot. What is it?
BOSSMAN: WHAT? *grunts heavily* ME NEVER NOTICED. ME NOT CARE. NOW GO IN FRIDGE.
ME: The fridge?! Oh, sir, please. I'll do anything. I'll navigate the heinous delivery backlog or lick the greasy hair out of your face. I'll even get those Christmas wrapping paper tubes out of the staff toilet where, as you so wisely reasoned at the time, 'THEY NOT MIND COS IN PLASTIC'. Just not the fridge. Not the fridge.
BOSSMAN: *booms* FRIDGE!!!
ME: *scurries* Yessirofcoursesirwhurreveryousaysir!

And then of course I have to go and lock myself in the vile contraption. I felt like a bullied polar bear. Surrounded by yoghurt - hateful, sickly, beige, out-of-date yoghurt. I still shiver reflexively whenever this advert comes on. (But that advert's terrifying enough anyway, I suppose.)

...That's just the tip of the iceberg, so I won't inflict any more on you, despite the wonderful feeling of relief that's just swept over me. Oh, it's good to emote. My system feels cleaner already.

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LMAO. Dude, I wasn't kidding, not even in the slightest, when I told you you had to be a writer or I'd smash your kneecaps so that you'd have no other option. Legit, you are the funniest person I have ever met and I don't think even a case of life in a wheelchair would put an end to your out-of-this-world levels of humour.

Also, what is a namby-pamby Aussie strike? I've never come across an Australian strike so I have no idea how they compare to the British ones :P

Sector Revenge said:

My mom always get called her, just like her last job, to replace the sick cashiers. But want to know something? My mom is friends with most of them on Facebook, and when she gets home later that night or the day after, she sees them posting status about "Fun day at Kalahari(Indoor Water Park), Cedar Point(Amusement Park) today was amazing, etc" And they aren't even 10 minutes from Meijers either!

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This happens to me too. Where I work there are only five people, and since I have the least contracted hours I'm always the one called to do extra shifts if somebody has taken the day off for 'sickness'. Usually I don't care in the slightest because I am three years into a passionate love affair with money and I love the euphoric feeling when my paycheck is larger than anticipated, but every so often it annoys the crap out of me when I have to work a Friday night where I had plans just because someone is "sick" only to find out later that they had so much fun with their plans. It's so damn selfish.

I used to work at CVS for about six months back from October 2009 to April 2010. I left because my boss was a dick and only gave me four hours every other week. I start retail work again next Saturday at RiteAid. I don't have any stories or anything like that about the horrors of working retail, because I generally found working in retail to be somewhat enjoyable and where I live most people who go there are pretty polite and patient people. Though there was a cranky old bat that came in one day asking me for medicine (because as a store clerk in the front of the store, pharmacy is something I am expected to know a thing or two about with what the pharmacy being a different part of the store and all) most appropriate for whatever problem she was having (I forget what it was).

Patchisou Yutohru said:

I used to work at CVS for about six months back from October 2009 to April 2010. I left because my boss was a dick and only gave me four hours every other week. I start retail work again next Saturday at RiteAid. I don't have any stories or anything like that about the horrors of working retail, because I generally found working in retail to be somewhat enjoyable and where I live most people who go there are pretty polite and patient people. Though there was a cranky old bat that came in one day asking me for medicine (because as a store clerk in the front of the store, pharmacy is something I am expected to know a thing or two about with what the pharmacy being a different part of the store and all) most appropriate for whatever problem she was having (I forget what it was).

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Sorry this is a rant about stupid customers/experience club only you cant join..

Just kidding! Welcome! I hope you have some terrible experiences soon that you can tell us about so we can all share the pain. xD
Its funny how people think because you're behind a desk or in front of a cash register you know everything about everything in the store. (stupid people -.-')

Another one from me:

A lady came in a bought something for 12 dollars and gave me a 20 dollar note. I give her back 8 dollars change and she just stands there and looks at me. After 10 seconds she asks me wheres the rest of her change and Im like.. "I gave you all your change?"
She replies with "No, I gave you a 50$ note. Wheres the rest of my change?"
"No lady.. you gave me a 20$ note.. you gave me this note right here, I only have one fifty in the register and that's from the person before you."
"NO I GAVE YOU A 50$ NOTE WHERES THE REST OF MY CHANGE. I KNOW I DID!"
"You still have a fifty dollar note in your wallet ma'am, you went to give it to me then put it back and gave me a 20$ instead."
"Thats just not true stop trying to steal my money I gave you 50$"

This went on for a few more minutes until I got the shits and told her I'll count the till if you want and prove to you that you gave me a 20$ note.
After that she just made a few noise and said "Don't worry about it but I did give you a 50$ note." Then she left as I repeated, no you didnt.

Ugh that was a frustrating experience.

Sector Revenge said:

Another is- Fake ill days. My mom always get called in, just like her last job, to replace the sick cashiers. But want to know something? My mom is friends with most of them on Facebook, and when she gets home later that night or the day after, she sees them posting status about "Fun day at Kalahari(Indoor Water Park), Cedar Point(Amusement Park) today was amazing, etc" And they aren't even 10 minutes from Meijers either! My mom gets really irritated that it always happen to her, all the time. But it does seem sickening to see that people call in fake sick to get their vacation days instead, literally, like 3 times a month and my mom has to work in their place everytime. Why not spend your vacation days on the days off?? I don't get people. My mom doesn't even take days off like that for her grand kid's birthday parties!

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Wow, this could pretty much not happen in British supermarkets because they're so strict everytime you call in sick they don't believe you :/ We have to have meetings with managers just for taking one day off, second time in a year you get "counselling" from them, third time in a year you get a disciplinary. This means that people often go in sick handling food...