holiday retail madness

[Kteacher]

So tired of getting yelled at by customers because they had to wait in line. It's two weeks before Christmas, on a Saturday, with a sales associate at every register in the store ringing, and people are still complaining that they have to wait. One woman actually yelled this at me- " Doesn't anyone WORK at this store!"-this was while I was literally waiting on three customers at the same time ( jewelry counter ). So much for "Good will towards men"

 

[akhenaten]

My DD21 works retail and was yelled at multiple times so far. One man was quite aggressive!

She does not work a register and was straightening the floor near the lines end.....

crazy and sad....

 

[snoopybabe]

So sorry you are getting yelled at. Some people just don't think.Lines are to be expected this time of year. Hope it gets better the next 2 weeks.

 

[N&B'smom]

This is why I do all my shopping at amazon.com, I have no desire to deal with crowds, lines and impatient people!!

 

[akhenaten]

OP I just realized you worked Jewelry.... that is a really tough area!!
just kill 'em with kindness!!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

I work in retail too, and can totally commiserate.
Working in Jewelry, you probably get more customers who feel they can talk down to you because they are paying a lot for what they are buying. I'm in the supermarket, and I find alot of the passive-aggressive types, who will never address us directly, but will stand within 10 feet and do their yelling in general.... that way, if we try to respond, they go off screaming about how we should mind our business because they were not talking to us... we also get a lot of "where's the manager?"
Man, I hate the holiday season in retail.

OP, it's just 13 more days, then it's all over, hang in there.

 

[dollydell]

I don't work retail anymore but used to. What I hate are the people who start their complaint with, I don't usually complain but..

You can tell that they do by the things they say, but they want to seem nicer, I don't care, just tell me your problem and be done with it.

 

[golfgal]

I don't get why people are so rude. I was watching a woman shopping the other day, taking the top shirt/sweater/pants off the shelf, opening it up, looking at it, and then rolling every one of them into a ball and shoving it back on the shelf. Can't you even make and attempt to TRY to fold it again-rude, rude, rude people out there.

 

[luvmy3]

to you OP.
When I was a manager of a retail store this was the only time of year that I hated my job, actually it wasn't my job I hated it was the majority of my customers

 

[RitaE]

it is truly a miserable time of year to work retail sales.

 

[LindaR]

OMG! My sister JUST quit her part-time job this past week at Macy's. Same stuff PLUS even though this has been her evening job (she has a full time job in a doctor's office) and clearly explained her scheduling needs/requirements, which they initially followed, this past week they started extending her hours AND having her work solo in her department. She would get home after midnight and then have to be up at 4:30 the next day.

The commercialism has turned everyone into wild critters!!! The businesses AND the customers!

 

[diz8297]

The same people who scream in a store two weeks before Christmas are the same ones who don't expect crowds in the Magic Kingdom on the 4th of July. Hang in there Dissers in retail. It's almost over!!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Just smile, say Merry Christmas, and be happy that your life isn't like hers. Imagine going through life as a narcissistic person? How much joy do they miss out on because of their world view?

 

[Carly_Roach]

I went shopping in a department store for the first time in years yesterday and I was appalled at the length of the lines at each register scattered around the store. I went to three registers before I finally settled on one where there were only four people ahead of me. As I stood there and tried to decide if the bargains were worth my setting the whole mess down and starting over somewhere else like Target or (gulp) Wal-Mart, I pondered the situation and tried to talk myself out of my burgeoning bad mood.

The solution I finally arrived at was this: I have been spoiled by online shopping and U-Scan registers. I'm USED to being able to find, click, pay and I'm done. I'm USED to being able to walk in, get my stuff, check myself out and walk out. I've become accustomed to shopping being a quick task because I can make it a quick task. I'm in control.

When I go somewhere like Macy's, Sears or Younkers, I'm NOT in control. I HAVE to wait. And wait. And wait. And, rightly or not, that peeves me because I've become accustomed to not waiting. Especially since the store I was in didn't have shopping carts and my load was heavy.

That peevish feeling doesn't excuse me from unloading on the poor cashier who was only doing her job and I didn't unload on her. What I did instead was use the time to figure out why I was suddenly crabby and to make a decision for myself not to ever go back to a department store unless the deals are so good or the item I want is so scarce that it's worth waiting in line for.

While my time is precious to me, my well-being is even more precious. If shopping and waiting is going to put me into a bad mood, then I need to find another way of getting the goods I need in a way that won't spoil my Christmas spirit.

 

[wdwmom2]

Just smile, say Merry Christmas, and be happy that your life isn't like hers. Imagine going through life as a narcissistic person? How much joy do they miss out on because of their world view?

So true!!

That peevish feeling doesn't excuse me from unloading on the poor cashier who was only doing her job and I didn't unload on her.

I am sure that anyone that works in retail wish more people would handle the Christmas madness in this manner. Good for you.

 

[agnes!]

I went shopping in a department store for the first time in years yesterday and I was appalled at the length of the lines at each register scattered around the store. I went to three registers before I finally settled on one where there were only four people ahead of me. As I stood there and tried to decide if the bargains were worth my setting the whole mess down and starting over somewhere else like Target or (gulp) Wal-Mart, I pondered the situation and tried to talk myself out of my burgeoning bad mood.

The solution I finally arrived at was this: I have been spoiled by online shopping and U-Scan registers. I'm USED to being able to find, click, pay and I'm done. I'm USED to being able to walk in, get my stuff, check myself out and walk out. I've become accustomed to shopping being a quick task because I can make it a quick task. I'm in control.

When I go somewhere like Macy's, Sears or Younkers, I'm NOT in control. I HAVE to wait. And wait. And wait. And, rightly or not, that peeves me because I've become accustomed to not waiting. Especially since the store I was in didn't have shopping carts and my load was heavy.

That peevish feeling doesn't excuse me from unloading on the poor cashier who was only doing her job and I didn't unload on her. What I did instead was use the time to figure out why I was suddenly crabby and to make a decision for myself not to ever go back to a department store unless the deals are so good or the item I want is so scarce that it's worth waiting in line for.

While my time is precious to me, my well-being is even more precious. If shopping and waiting is going to put me into a bad mood, then I need to find another way of getting the goods I need in a way that won't spoil my Christmas spirit.

What's funny is that department stores used to be the ultimate in a shopping experience - best merchandise, best customer-service. Now?...I go out of my way to shop in the Tommy Hilfiger Outlet in Potomac Mills Mall and I will NEVER EVER go back to the Pentagon City Nordstrom's. The outlet treats me like a queen and like I'm the only person in the store, even when they are crowded and the Nordstrom's?...well, after being treated like a pariah a couple of times in a row, I'm NEVER going back.

OP - I used to work in retail and I always try to treat clerks and cashiers with dignity & respect, I'm sorry the jackwagons of the world are getting you down. I wish I could come in your store and wish you Happy Holidays .

agnes!

 

[Carly_Roach]

I am sure that anyone that works in retail wish more people would handle the Christmas madness in this manner. Good for you.

I think I had the benefit of hardly ever doing it anymore (shopping in a Department store) coupled with the fact that Christmas Shopping was the only thing on my to-do list yesterday. IOW, I had the luxury of time to be able to stop myself in my tracks and honestly assess why my mood had suddenly changed and what I could do, within myself, to change that mood.

I would hope that I wouldn't ever behave badly to another person because MY mood had changed, however I realize that if I had umpteen million other things on my list to do that day, I may have chosen to drop my purchases where I stood and go somewhere else. Yes, that would have been another bad behavior because someone would have had to put those items back on the shelves. But it would have been a better choice to leave rather than lose my temper and create a scene.

However, my behavior is unusual in a world where people expect others to behave in particular ways in order to make you happy. How many times have we read here that the customer is always right no matter how nasty that customer behaves? How many vents have we seen here about how the poster is going to contact the owner of the business and the home office of a company as well because they walked into a fast-food restaurant near closing time and the server, who was working alone, didn't smile or make their visit WDW perfect?

 

[Disney Doll]

What's funny is that department stores used to be the ultimate in a shopping experience - best merchandise, best customer-service. Now?...I go out of my way to shop in the Tommy Hilfiger Outlet in Potomac Mills Mall and I will NEVER EVER go back to the Pentagon City Nordstrom's. The outlet treats me like a queen and like I'm the only person in the store, even when they are crowded and the Nordstrom's?...well, after being treated like a pariah a couple of times in a row, I'm NEVER going back.

OP - I used to work in retail and I always try to treat clerks and cashiers with dignity & respect, I'm sorry the jackwagons of the world are getting you down. I wish I could come in your store and wish you Happy Holidays .

agnes!

My niece got married 2 days after Christmas last year, so her mother & I had the distinct advantage of having to shop for a dressy dress during the holiday shopping season. We were in Nordstroms in White Plains NY. Apparently the saleslady thought that we were going to shoplift or something, because she followed us around, staying about 3 feet from my right elbow until I said "Please allow us some time and space to shop. If we need you we will call you". She retreated to about 10 feet away, still watching us like hawks. We did find a few dressy dresses, which we proceeded to try on. Again, she was in the dressing room watching us like a hawk...apparently she thought that somehow I was going to be able to stuff a fuill length beaded gown into my little 6" x 6" shopping purse that I carry, which is large enough to hold my wallet and cell phone.

Well, nothing we tried on was to our liking, so we asked her if there were any other dressy dresses elsewhere in the store...she sniffed, looked us up and down and said "Well, there's the "Better Dresses" department upstairs, but some of those dresses run into the hundreds of dollars and some even into the thousands". well,OK, while neither myself not my sister-in-law were probably willing to pay $1000 for a dress, I would have paid $300-$400 for the right dress. I am sure that my SisIL, being mother of the bride, felt the same. But you know, the saleslady's whole superior attitude kind of aggravated me at that point and I looked at her and said "You do realize that we are the customers and that you are the sales clerk don't you? Because your condescending attitude leads me to think that you have forgotten that and that our money would be better spent elsewhere".

And we left, so she lost a sale.

Now, that's one bad experience I had with a snooty Nordstrom's lady. I generally find that most retail folks are great and helpful, and I always feel badly for them at this time of year and try my best to commisserate when I reach them in line.

Thanks retail people!!!!!! I appreciate you!

 

[PrincesCJM]

I work part time at Target and I can echo the OP - especially on Black Friday. The line to check out was weaving all around the store and people were mad at this. Hello?!?!?! you waited in line to get in the store at 4am, obviously you will have to wait to check out. I was at the pharmacy selling iPods (yes iPods at the pharmacy) and people were mad that they couldn't check out with me. If they had purchased an iPod, they could have. I was "yelled" at by a manager because I sold someone some cold medicine. Sorry but I wasn't going to make them waiting in the hour long line to buy cold meds.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

Christmas may be two weeks away, but it ain't over. You have to deal with returns/exchanges on Dec. 26. which may be just as bad. And then, there's the after Christmas sales.