Random things you hate

[9unfold]

I can't speak of Target. But I have worked in a high street department store and witnessed stealing, and people demanding the ridiculous.

I have heard people I know thinking that a service provider or retailer should acquiesce to their ridiculous notions about what they believe that they are entitled to.

Every time I asked if they have read the business' T&C or trading standards the answer is no! When I point out that the nomenclature of the business might differ from their understanding!

What a customer considers a long queue for checking out is probably different to what the retailer considers a long queue. If they are to divert staff from other duties there is probably a protocol to adhere to.

Working retail or any customer facing (the public) role is challenging.

 

[DallasFanForever]

If you've ever worked in retail you will appreciate and relate to this video:

“I’d like to speak to ur manager”

No, I’d like to speak to ur mother.”

That line almost made me fall down!

 

[Daniel Avery]

Cynical as it sounds, let's face facts: that store isn't going to hire more cashiers just because they have lines occasionally. Installing the self-check registers gives the customers another option to pay and get out. It's a nice thing to do, since otherwise, they're just going to leave you standing in line longer. The managers get rewarded (bonuses) for keeping labor dollars below the projections of the corporation's bean-counters, and get fired for going over them. Blowing up the labor budget is probably the easiest way to get fired in retail---and the most frequent reason they do.

Why can't they just open more registers? Because only certain employees know how to operate them, and if they're not scheduled to be there operating them already, they're at home. You'll have to page much louder. There's an old joke about WalMart having 25 registers but only having three of them open at any given time. That's because the 25 registers is the projection of what that store needs for the very busiest days of the year (day before Thanksgiving, day before Christmas), not everyday business. The other registers are there all year even when they only need them a few days per year. They would never schedule 25 cashiers at the same time on any other days since 1) they likely don't have 25 cashiers hired in total, and 2) the whole "you're fired for blowing up the labor budget" thing hangs over their heads daily.

So the old boilerplate about "I don't use the self-checks because they take away jobs from cashiers" represents a lack of understanding about how stores are scheduled these days. No cashiers were fired to make way for a self-check...the turnover is so frequent in these jobs that they only have to wait for someone to quit or be fired for any number of reasons unrelated to the arrival of new technology. They might cut hours at the slowest times (opening/closing hours) but usually those workers are simply shifted to the busier hours of mid-day, and the self-check registers are the main option for the early/late customers.

 

[Willie Oleson]

So the old boilerplate about "I don't use the self-checks because they take away jobs from cashiers" represents a lack of understanding about how stores are scheduled these days. No cashiers were fired to make way for a self-check

That wasn't my point at all. I'm just saying that it isn't my job to scan groceries. I already have a job (space travel technology).

“I’d like to speak to ur manager”

No, I’d like to speak to ur mother.”

You can speak to my mother and the manager.

Good luck, DFF!

 

[Biggie]

People are getting paid to scan my items, I'm not going to do it myself.
Besides, I think there's something sad and depressing about plucking everything out of a wall or to scan away your life from the cradle to the grave.
Grocery shopping during the first half of the pandemic emphasized that feeling of robotic loneliness.
I kinda like the interaction with people behind the counter, especially when they're friendly and smiling.
That's why I never go to the other supermarket in my village, because they're rude and they're import-people from other towns or, God forbid, other provinces. They should go back to where they came from. Get the hell out of my office town!

I was going to excoriate you but I know that it's a futile action.

The beaucoup knowledge you are pontificating is the same cry as the Luddites.

If you don't like a business model don't use the service they offer.

One day you'll have everyone shouting "free sacks o' for er'one".

 

[DallasFanForever]

You can speak to my mother and the manager.

That’s quite alright Willie. I don’t need to see the manager anymore. I think I’m good!

 

[Willie Oleson]

If you don't like a business model don't use the service they offer.

Well, I guess the point of these rants is that not every business model performs the service they promise to offer.
But I don't recall ranting about that myself - I only mentioned the attitude of certain personnel in a certain supermarket which has nothing to do with business model because it's a supermarket like every other supermarket.
And like I said I don't use their service anymore so you're preaching to the choir.

The beaucoup knowledge you are pontificating is the same cry as the Luddites.

That sounds very smart! Should I feel flattered?

 

[darkshadows38]

1. my brother used to work at a store i forget the name of it at our local Mall that's pretty much a ghost town i think? and the one he worked at was the 1st store that the company had opened way back in (1966) when the mall opened. anyways it had the most theft out of any of their stores all across the country he told me. the really didn't a damn if people stole from them or not and they only even kept it open cause it was their 1st store that they'd say they'd never close.

i get why they don't want to close it i do but if it's got that much theft.... 2. than he worked at a video store Suncoast which sadly is now out of business anyways, he would see people put shit in their bags and than try and walk away with it. when they were caught they'd deny it and all that BS.

but there are stores where you do wonder i know i do how in the hell do they even carry this or that out? i know someone who claims that while in his teens he stole a VCR and not at same time a tv as well he's in his early 40's now so i dunno. having a big ass coat was he said how he did it. he doesn't do that shit anymore but he got away with it back than.

 

[DallasFanForever]

but there are stores where you do wonder i know i do how in the hell do they even carry this or that out?

You’d be surprised! I worked in a lot of retail stores when I was younger and they would steal just about anything. The key was they would come in when the store was it’s busiest and wait to see when most of the associates were distracted. Then they would just pick out what they liked and walk right out. It happened quite often. And yes we had loss prevention people walking around and we had alarms at the front of the store and sensors on the items but that only helped so much. Trust me, if they want to steal it, they’ll find a way to.

 

[Biggie]

Well, I guess the point of these rants is that not every business model performs the service they promise to offer.
But I don't recall ranting about that myself - I only mentioned the attitude of certain personnel in a certain supermarket which has nothing to do with business model because it's a supermarket like every other supermarket.
And like I said I don't use their service anymore so you're preaching to the choir.

That sounds very smart! Should I feel flattered?

The quip was kinda smart, right. Hopefully you feel flattered.

Speaking from experience, the Big 4 supermarkets in the UK have their own unique characteristics and identity. There is overlap between them but dismissing them as clones ubiquitous in nature is not something I recognize.

I know from personal experience in retail and hospitality that some customers are abhorrent in every way conceivable and expect the ridiculous!

I have refused to serve pain in the arse customers. Laughed as they spun out "the customer is always right". Adulterated their order et cetera.

I'd rather use the human operated check out, just so I can exchange pleasantries. I have actually intervened on a number of occasions when someone was belittling the store worker.

 

[Daniel Avery]

WalMart used to have the area with the self-check registers walled off and have the machines close together so the supervisor could make sure everyone was playing by the rules (not 'tricking' the machine or failing to scan all their items, the usual shoplifting stuff). You knew you were under video surveillance and it was all "tight", security-wise. At some point they seem to have adopted an "Ehhh, close enough" policy, where the supervisor of the area doesn't wander around checking to see if you ring up the organic tomato as a conventional tomato, or if you "forget" that bag of chips on the bottom of the cart. Keeping the line moving and getting the most people through seems more important than losing a few stray items to intentional or unintentional losses, what some call "shrink". Frankly I can't recall the last time I heard that announcement about the "unexpected object in the bagging area" in WalMart, though I'm sure it will sound if the 'mistake' is costly enough. But if the overall shrink due to the "relaxed" self-checks reaches a certain level, someone higher-up might decide the human cashiers are financially viable again.

 

[Sarah]

The advertising of Christmas from mid year but particularly from September onwards. It’s a very hard time of year for me and for lots of others and I don’t want it arriving sooner than December. Plus I love Halloween and I’m sick to death of the Irish stance on it because it’s seen as ‘pagan’. I’m moving to the US.

 

[DallasFanForever]

The advertising of Christmas from mid year but particularly from September onwards. It’s a very hard time of year for me and for lots of others and I don’t want it arriving sooner than December.

Is it normal that I stand there and contemplate ripping down all the holiday displays when I’m in the stores?

 

[Sarah]

Is it normal that I stand there and contemplate ripping down all the holiday displays when I’m in the stores?

Yes. I complained about a giant Santa being in Yankee Candle last year at the start of September.

 

[Grant Jennings]

• White plastic that turns yellow with age.
• Glossy black finishes (often called "Piano Black") that show every smudge and speck of dust.

 

[Daniel Avery]

We may end up with a Christmas situation somewhat akin to The Grinch Who Stole Christmas this year.

In Grinch, he decided the best way to stop the village from having their happy, sappy holiday celebration would be to steal all their decorations, their presents, and seasonal foods when they were all asleep. This year, much of the decorations, presents, and seasonal food are either trapped on container ships parked off coastal cities waiting to be unloaded due to labor shortages in the ports, or were never produced in the first place due to labor shortages and oppressive Covid regulations in the manufacturing sector. So it appears there's a bit of Grinchy activity lurking in the shadows as we enter October. The question I guess is whether we will react as the citizens of Whoville and celebrate the holiday for what it really is, or if we just hear endless social media carping about how "Christmas is ruined because my game console wasn't delivered on time."

So I guess my "random thing I hate" in this case is that we all know which reaction we will get.

 

[DallasFanForever]

"Christmas is ruined because my game console wasn't delivered on time."

I would put the money on this one

 

[Daniel Avery]

Layaway money, I would assume.

Remember layaway?

[/crickets]

 

[Sarah]

I find it really really sad that so many millions of people are currently in distress because Facebook What’s app and Instagram aren’t working.

 

[Grant Jennings]

Layaway money, I would assume.

Remember layaway?

[/crickets]

Walmart still has layaway, but I think they only have it during the holiday season. T.J. Maxx was on the verge of eliminating it in the 2000s but then the economy collapsed and they kept it; they've dropped it from a lot of stores since then. In my experience, layaway doesn't seem to be a productive use of payroll: a lot of the product that goes on layaway isn't purchased by the person who put it on layaway. Meanwhile, those items haven't been available for sale to other customers and may have missed a clearance markdown. When the layaway is eventually pulled and put back in inventory it may be out of season for that item.