Kohl's Vent but Manager did the "right" thing.

[yeartolate]

Well, look at the bright side. They are probably out of jobs but you got your gift card.

Doubt it really makes much difference. THey probably were seasonal employees, and you will see them at Macy's next.

 

[DawnCt1]

Doubt it really makes much difference. THey probably were seasonal employees, and you will see them at Macy's next.

Speaking of Macy's; I have seen some incredible employees at Macy's this year. It was clear that one woman was ready to go home when an elderly lady was having trouble with her purchases, etc. She wanted to go back and find another article to make the "coupon quota". She couldn't have been more patient nor kinder. Employees were coming from other registers taking customers to their registers, etc. I haven't seen a single thing that wasn't top notch this season....except for the coupon policy that excludes almost everything, but that is another thread.

 

[eclectics]

You are missing the point. I don't care if the OP cussed them up and down. They should have took it, then found a manager to deal with her rudeness. Sales associates are NOT allowed to loose their cool, or speak badly, to a customer! Period. No excuse!

While I agree with you, that shouldn't give the customer carte blanche to treat sales people any way they darn please. Yes, sales people have become less and less helpful and polite, but on the other hand I believe we as a people, in general, have become ruder and ruder and less patient to people we think we will never have to encounter again. Both sides are guilty to some extent, imho.

 

[yeartolate]

Speaking of Macy's; I have seen some incredible employees at Macy's this year. It was clear that one woman was ready to go home when an elderly lady was having trouble with her purchases, etc. She wanted to go back and find another article to make the "coupon quota". She couldn't have been more patient nor kinder. Employees were coming from other registers taking customers to their registers, etc. I haven't seen a single thing that wasn't top notch this season....except for the coupon policy that excludes almost everything, but that is another thread.

Glad to hear they are not locking you out anymore.

 

[Kath2003]

I just wanted to add a positive thing that happened to me this week. I was at Walmart to pick up a site-to-store item. I asked at the customer service desk where the pick up location is. Before I asked I heard a male employee say he was taking his break. Well, this employee hears me ask the question and he says, "Follow me. I'll show you where it is." Then he tells the supervisor at the pick up desk that he wants to learn how to do the site-to-store process. I thanked him repeatedly because he didn't have to do that, especially since he was supposed to be on his break. What a contrast to the employees that the OP encountered!

That is good - you won't believe the number of places I've worked which have been really mean with employee breaks, though. They're like, "Your break is from 3pm to 3.15pm". If you're serving a customer, tough, either take your break then or it's gone forever. The problem is that the managers are often stuck - they can't afford to employ any more staff, they have to give people breaks but they can't have more than a certain number of people off the shop floor at any one time - so either everyone runs breaks on time or people simply don't get them. What's worth more: happy customers or happy employees?

I used to do the rota at work and it used to really frustrate me when people were even 5 minutes late back from their break, because I always had to take the last break - my lunch slot was 3pm. If the 6 people before me took 5 minutes extra each, it meant I was at least half an hour late for my lunch, even though I started earlier than everyone else

 

[profdsny]

I don't think anyone is bashing Dawn. People are allowed to disagree on this subject or any subject on the Dis. Why do you think people are bashing her?

I think there is an awful lot of criticism about her, questioning her words, or her supposed tone. That seems like bashing to me, not reasonable discussion.

 

[DumboPrincess]

When you said "in a very nice tone" that why weren't there more registers when there are 20 people in line-- it probably was taken as an accusation or a dig at the employees. Those employees do not control the schedule, or zoning of employees. It can be very overwelming to seasonal or even seasoned employees this time of year. You never know what has gone on in someone's day before you talk to them--maybe his girlfriend broke up with him, his mom yelled at him or he failed his final exam. Who knows. Maybe he is just a rude kid. I always assume positive intent--that the employee "just standing around" IS on his break and I just ask nicely where is customer service or a manager. You "commenting" on the situation to a random employee will not get what you want. You need to speak to a manager. However, don't expect the manager to acquiesce to one person. S/he is probably well aware of the situation but may not have the people or the hours to schedule or zone that many cashiers. Writing a schedule is like balancing your checkbook--you only have so many hours to play with per week and you can't go negative (schedule more than you're given). Different companies all allott hours differently but it breaks down according to store annual volume, time of day and time of year. Often, the size of the store does not play into account. Spoken as a store manager in her 10th year of retail...

 

[kylara]

Maybe she was hoping that one of them would get their lazy duff to the register and help? Or find a manager so they could get help? At Kohls, the floor people ARE register trained. They ARE the back-up register operators!

The OP did nothing wrong, and many of you are making her out to be some villan. Even if the bobsy twins were on break, they should NEVER speak to a customer that way. I don't care how tired they were, or if their feet hurt, or if they just found out Santa is skipping them this year. You NEVER talk to a customer that way! It is inexcusable!

Actually not all floor staff are registered trained. My sister is working as holiday help (and she is no teen) and everyone that was hired with her is floor only. They have not even been shown the register.

But honestly, even without knowing that, I would not have guessed that all regular employees are register trained. I would figure it was like Target where they don't do that kind of cross training with many of their employees.

 

[bluesaturn]

Btw, for those who are bashing Dawn, she and I are certainly not kindred spirits on most things. If I'm sticking up for her, she certainly was in the right. There is not much we see eye to eye on, but this is one for sure. Again, good for you Dawn.

I don't understand why she must be right, if you say so? I think everyone is discussing their own opinion of the situation. People post on this message board because they want others to comment on their postings. If they didn't want to hear what others thought, they wouldn't post.

I don't understand why people are so angry that not everyone agrees? We only know one side of the situation, I think it's wise for some people to play devil's advocate. This really doesn't seem like a "the sky is blue" situation to me. It seems to be a discussion of socially acceptable behavior and norms.

Maybe I'm wrong, what do I know, only my opinion. Maybe the benefit of this circumstance was the discussion it sparked.

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't understand why she must be right, if you say so?

.

I actually have tangible evidence that I was right! I have a $25 gift card. She could have said, "thank you, I will look into it". I actually tried to refuse the card but she insisted I take it. Sounds like I was right to me!

 

[robertsmom]

Or maybe she was just trying to placate a complainer. I am willing to bet that the manager didn't get the "whole" story. I bet the employees had a very different version of events. Just sayin....

 

[Tomader]

I worked for Kohl's for sixteen years. I just quit there a month ago. I could not be happier getting out of the retail world! Christmas is the worst. That said we do get our share of some bad help. I know if you put two of the younger ones together not much gets done. But it can also apply to older ones. I now work in a hospital. I will say I have really noticed some LAZY workers. We have a housekeeping staff that is horrible. They come in with the first words out of their mouths,"I'm so tired." They just started? Bad workers are across the board. I sometimes want to tell people how lucky they are to have a job.I just want to add a side note on Kohls. They run their stores with as little help as they can. They have one person sometimes running three departments and then expected to work the register. It's all about greed. They want to run a store with the smallest amount of workers so they won't have to pay out as much thus keeping their profits up. I'm sure all retail stores are the same but things have gotten bad. Remember the days when they wrapped your purchases in tissue paper? The sales people wanted to help you? They actually had a product in stock?

 

[Mickeyistheman]

To the OP, you kept saying that you didn't want to take that $25 Gift card, then why did you?

You said the Manager insisted you take it. Well if you really didn't want it and didn't want to get anything out of complaining to the manager about not enough registers open or how rude the employees were to you. I would have went over to someone who had been waiting on those lines and said Merry Chirstmas. Isn't that more of the Christmas Spirit?

Then you patting yourself on the back for getting those kids in trouble AND getting a gift card........

Like I said they should have held their tongue but I really think that you had no reason to speak to them at all and make a comment to them.

Again JMHO

 

[Missy Mouse]

I'm not surprised this whole scenario went down. What I don't understand is why Dawn's threads always get so much attention. She is constantly seeking attention and people always give her just what she wants. I don't believe trouble follows people around, I believe people create trouble. This latest thread is no different.

Waving a $25 gift card around doesn't make you right, it means you caused enough commotion that they needed to quiet you in a hurry.

 

[Momof4gr8boys]

It amazes me that a particular poster can post about a retail vent and get slammed by other dis-er's! Dawn, I've said it before, you could post that the "sky is blue" and be told 90 ways to Sunday that you're just wrong!

I can see being aggravated, and just randomly make a statement like Dawn did.

The employees were jerks - and their boss already knew who they were - that tells me something about their work reputations!

I was going to say just about the same thing. WOW!

 

[Tomader]

I'm not surprised this whole scenario went down. What I don't understand is why Dawn's threads always get so much attention. She is constantly seeking attention and people always give her just what she wants. I don't believe trouble follows people around, I believe people create trouble. This latest thread is no different.

Waving a $25 gift card around doesn't make you right, it means you caused enough commotion that they needed to quiet you in a hurry.

Incidents like the one that happened are sometimes common. I have given many, many, 15% coupons out to customers with my apology. It does not hurt the store when they do. I always like to make sure the customer left happy. I also have seen younger hires not always doing what they should be. If Dawn felt she needed to report this behavior to the manager, good! They need to be made aware of the slackers. Too many of the good workers are having to make up for the less productive ones. This goes for all the hard workers out there. It seems that bad behavior gets excused to often. I'm glad she did what she did.

 

[bluesaturn]

I actually have tangible evidence that I was right! I have a $25 gift card. She could have said, "thank you, I will look into it". I actually tried to refuse the card but she insisted I take it. Sounds like I was right to me!

One manager thought you were right. She might not have even agreed, but she was trying to make you happy to retain a customer. Lots of posters on this thread agreed with you, but many did not. What makes the opinion of those who agreed more "right" than those who didn't?

I think the employees were very rude. But I don't understand why posters are being condemned for pointing out that the OP may have sparked this reaction. They are just providing more insight. When you post on here you are opening yourself up to hear others' views.

 

[profdsny]

We only know one side of the situation, I think it's wise for some people to play devil's advocate. This really doesn't seem like a "the sky is blue" situation to me. It seems to be a discussion of socially acceptable behavior and norms.

Maybe I'm wrong, what do I know, only my opinion. Maybe the benefit of this circumstance was the discussion it sparked.

Okay, we only know her side of the story, granted. But how can you put a positive spin on the employees' version? Regardless if she was trying to pick a fight, or simply being an upset customer, I don't see any way at all that the workers were right and she was wrong. There used to be an adage that the customer is always right. What happened to that?
I think if anyone has been into a Kohls you know it is close to impossible to find help on the floor any time of the year. The register lines are always long, and understaffed. That's how they keep having everything in the store 50% off 4 times a week. They are working on volume, not customer service. Still, that is no excuse for employees to be rude to anyone, whether they were on their break or not.
I'm glad she called them on it. It needs to be done more, at any place where someone encounters rude service, whether it be Wal-Mart or Tiffany's.

 

[txSleepingBeauty]

While I agree with you, that shouldn't give the customer carte blanche to treat sales people any way they darn please. Yes, sales people have become less and less helpful and polite, but on the other hand I believe we as a people, in general, have become ruder and ruder and less patient to people we think we will never have to encounter again. Both sides are guilty to some extent, imho.

EXACTLY. Just because I happen to work behind the counter doesn't mean I'm an idiot, it doesn't mean it's my fault that we don't have wahtever it is you want and it certinly isn't my fault that there may not be enough employees working. I can only do what I can do. It just seems that people think that they can say whatever they please to me and I'm supposed to take it. No, I deserve the same courtesy that customers do.

Dawn you have no idea what was going on in those kids days that might have caused them to react like that.

And to the poster that said she hopes they got fired--nice Christmas spirit there.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Okay, we only know her side of the story, granted. But how can you put a positive spin on the employees' version? Regardless if she was trying to pick a fight, or simply being an upset customer, I don't see any way at all that the workers were right and she was wrong. There used to be an adage that the customer is always right. What happened to that?
I think if anyone has been into a Kohls you know it is close to impossible to find help on the floor any time of the year. The register lines are always long, and understaffed. That's how they keep having everything in the store 50% off 4 times a week. They are working on volume, not customer service. Still, that is no excuse for employees to be rude to anyone, whether they were on their break or not.
I'm glad she called them on it. It needs to be done more, at any place where someone encounters rude service, whether it be Wal-Mart or Tiffany's.

I am glad that someone here on the Dis has the ability to still see reason and has the logic to form an educated opinion based on the sequence of the stated events.

Some of these posts sound downright ridiculous and some of the posters would be insulted or hurt if others treated them the same way.