A Few Rules for Retail Customers
This is the first of what may become a recurring post. Now that I've been in retail for a collective (at least) two years, I have something to say about the behavior of the customers I serve. This is prompted partly by an article in the Sun-Times yesterday about overcharges at local stores and partly by comments on other blogs about bad service, inane cashiers, and other customer complaints. My own pet peeves also play a part.
First, please don't lick your fingers to better your grip on bills, credit cards, etc. It's gross to look at, and no one wants to come in contact with your saliva in their monetary transactions. Besides, your money is hardly clean. Do you know everywhere it's been? No? Then don't give yourself or anyone else a disease, especially at this time of year.
Second, don't get excited with the cashier if the price doesn't come out right at the register. It may be a huge conspiracy to get more of your money, but trust me, we cashiers are not part of it. We're hourly employees, and our pay is not predicated on how much money we pry out of your greasy little hands. It is predicated on how little money the company can pay us without being in violation of state and federal laws. Anyway, the price the register rings up is the correct one. Some overworked schlub probably forgot to take down the sale sign or put it up too early. This is not to say you shouldn't get the price you expect, but please consider. If the price is dramatically (say, 40% or more) different, please entertain the idea that you you may have the wrong brand or product and/or the item has been misplaced on the rack. Either way, a tantrum is not going to help. Finding the sale sign and bringing it to the register or waiting for a floor associate to check the price will work much better.
This brings me to my next rule. Generally, the cashier cannot leave the register. We cannot go with you to inspect the sale sign in question, get an item off of a high rack, or carry your packages out to your car, especially if there is a line behind you. We are under orders not to leave our registers, and get reprimanded for doing so. We will, whenever possible, call an associate designated to float thoughout a department to assist you in these tasks. It may take a few minutes to locate one and if you think it takes too long, you should probably ask the management on why they can't staff more abundantly.
Read the fine print. When it says "final price given at register," that's what it means. The price listed in large print is probably the lowest possible price on the least valuable item. It borders on crooked, but that's the fault of the advertising and sign departments at the corporate level, not cashiers or other low-level employees. Pease don't take it out on us, for reasons listed above in my rule on tantrums about prices at the register. Fine print may be written by lawyers for lawyers, but you can avoid needing a lawyer if you read some of it before going off on us wage slaves. Usually, the dates of a sale and the brand of an item are printed large enough for you to read with your reading glasses. Many problems in the modern world, from traffic accidents to IRS audits, can be avoided if people only pay attention.
Do not become agitated if an advertised item is out of stock. In a world of just-in-time inventories (whose boneheaded idea was that?), often an item is sold out before many people get there, often before it goes on sale. Since many chain stores do national flyers, there is no guarantee that a particular piece of merchandise is at a selected store. Also, the executives get sneaky and don't send stores nearly enough stock to meet demand, just to get you in the store and maximize their profits. It's not ethical, but it's not the fault of the floor staff or the cashiers. I'm not sure it's even the fault of store-level management, and I blame them for a lot. The thing you have to remember is that generally the stupider and more rapacious you are, combined with however much education you are able to buy determines how high up the corporate ladder you climb. I can speak to this, as I interned at a library that catered in part to students of a prestigious graduate business program. Dumb as rocks, most of them, spoiled, and filled with an all-consuming passion for the dollar. Yup, the captains of industry, and increasingly our goverment.
That about covers it for the moment. Remember, there is an idiot in every argument. Don't be that idiot.
First, please don't lick your fingers to better your grip on bills, credit cards, etc. It's gross to look at, and no one wants to come in contact with your saliva in their monetary transactions. Besides, your money is hardly clean. Do you know everywhere it's been? No? Then don't give yourself or anyone else a disease, especially at this time of year.
Second, don't get excited with the cashier if the price doesn't come out right at the register. It may be a huge conspiracy to get more of your money, but trust me, we cashiers are not part of it. We're hourly employees, and our pay is not predicated on how much money we pry out of your greasy little hands. It is predicated on how little money the company can pay us without being in violation of state and federal laws. Anyway, the price the register rings up is the correct one. Some overworked schlub probably forgot to take down the sale sign or put it up too early. This is not to say you shouldn't get the price you expect, but please consider. If the price is dramatically (say, 40% or more) different, please entertain the idea that you you may have the wrong brand or product and/or the item has been misplaced on the rack. Either way, a tantrum is not going to help. Finding the sale sign and bringing it to the register or waiting for a floor associate to check the price will work much better.
This brings me to my next rule. Generally, the cashier cannot leave the register. We cannot go with you to inspect the sale sign in question, get an item off of a high rack, or carry your packages out to your car, especially if there is a line behind you. We are under orders not to leave our registers, and get reprimanded for doing so. We will, whenever possible, call an associate designated to float thoughout a department to assist you in these tasks. It may take a few minutes to locate one and if you think it takes too long, you should probably ask the management on why they can't staff more abundantly.
Read the fine print. When it says "final price given at register," that's what it means. The price listed in large print is probably the lowest possible price on the least valuable item. It borders on crooked, but that's the fault of the advertising and sign departments at the corporate level, not cashiers or other low-level employees. Pease don't take it out on us, for reasons listed above in my rule on tantrums about prices at the register. Fine print may be written by lawyers for lawyers, but you can avoid needing a lawyer if you read some of it before going off on us wage slaves. Usually, the dates of a sale and the brand of an item are printed large enough for you to read with your reading glasses. Many problems in the modern world, from traffic accidents to IRS audits, can be avoided if people only pay attention.
Do not become agitated if an advertised item is out of stock. In a world of just-in-time inventories (whose boneheaded idea was that?), often an item is sold out before many people get there, often before it goes on sale. Since many chain stores do national flyers, there is no guarantee that a particular piece of merchandise is at a selected store. Also, the executives get sneaky and don't send stores nearly enough stock to meet demand, just to get you in the store and maximize their profits. It's not ethical, but it's not the fault of the floor staff or the cashiers. I'm not sure it's even the fault of store-level management, and I blame them for a lot. The thing you have to remember is that generally the stupider and more rapacious you are, combined with however much education you are able to buy determines how high up the corporate ladder you climb. I can speak to this, as I interned at a library that catered in part to students of a prestigious graduate business program. Dumb as rocks, most of them, spoiled, and filled with an all-consuming passion for the dollar. Yup, the captains of industry, and increasingly our goverment.
That about covers it for the moment. Remember, there is an idiot in every argument. Don't be that idiot.
posted by S. M. Frances at 9:49 PM
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