OT-Stupid Babies-R-Us moment

[kevschickee]

she asked,we told!! (we tell it like it is around here...)

thats how it should be lol I just noticed you are on etsy I LOVE that site

 

[CJ's Mommy]

That is absolutely awful! You have way too much time on your hands to stir up trouble like that. Good Lord!

 

[surfergirl602]

thats how it should be lol I just noticed you are on etsy I LOVE that site

I do too! I seriously need to replenish my stock though. I don't have much left on there. Having the kids home on summer break really takes up my time!

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

I was a Store Director for BRU once upon a time and I would have wanted to know to just coach the associate on customer interaction. The one thing BRU strives for is their team to have excellent product knowledge. At one year she should have been offering you several toys to help develop motor skills. No matter what, everyone is going to buy their kids toys for their 1st Birthday and her dismissing your need to do this was poor service, it sounded like she thought it was stupid.

good point.

 

[aubriee]

I can't believe you reported her! Would you had rather she walked you over to the most expensive toys in the store and told you that all the cool one year olds were getting them for their birthdays? You reported her for having an honest conversation with you and not treating you like a walking dollar bill. Shameful!

I agree! I can't believe someone would report an employee for just trying to help. That seems very mean spirited.

I'm not in retail, but am a supervisor. If we get any complaints from our consumers (no matter how petty), a written report must be made and no matter the outcome it still goes in the employee's file.

 

[Carriemel]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Thank you, MamaBear, for your comment...

 

[allison443]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Thank you, MamaBear, for your comment...

So did you change your mind and not buy your baby toys because of what she said? I would have just ignored her "advice".

 

[kevschickee]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Thank you, MamaBear, for your comment...

you were still wrong and no matter how much you try and justify it my oppinion and I am guessing most others in this thread will not change.

 

[disneygoof]

And you sound like someone who has never worked in a customer service position, retail or otherwise.

Your description of the employee's body language and tone seem exaggerated now to defend your actions. She treated you like a human being, and you treated her like dirt.

Reporting her is outrageous. You should be ashamed.

 

[srferson]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Well, I'm glad to hear it was relevant information to give to the manager. But, you know, it would have been extremely helpful if you gave the details about the employee's attitude right from the start. If she has such a bad attitude toward the customers, that is a completely different issue than a store employee telling you not to buy something, which is what you stated was the issue in your first post. I asked very early on if she gave you attitude. It would have been smart to respond and let us know if that was the issue. Don't you think? :

Unfortunately, this version of the story comes after an entire day of people criticizing your actions, so frankly, one can't be sure if it's the truth or if you are being defensive. If you "don't feel guilty about this at all," then why did you ask whether you did the right thing?

It comes down to this, you wanted opinions. In my opinion, if you reported the employee because she made a silly comment encouraging you not to spend your hard-earned money, then you over-reacted. You made the wrong decision. And if the employee really gave you serious attitude and the "whatever hand" and walked away, then I think you made the right call. Only you know what actually happened.

 

[Minnesota!]

And you sound like someone who has never worked in a customer service position, retail or otherwise.

Your description of the employee's body language and tone seem exaggerated now to defend your actions. She treated you like a human being, and you treated her like dirt.

Reporting her is outrageous. You should be ashamed.

Isn't it amazing how there is always SO much more info to back up the poster once people start disagreeing with him/her?

I think what you did is petty and mean spirited. You need to learn to thicken your skin and let stuff roll off you. Letting such innocent comments get to you so easily is going to age you real quick and turn you into a bitter person..

 

[kevschickee]

She is totally back tracking and I can not see managment sharing that info with anyone who complains. I worked retail for so long I just can't see anyone doing that.

 

[bookgirl]

Point is, I can't believe that in this day and age, when stores are closing on a daily basis because of NO sales, that a salesperson would suggest not to buy something. And I thought the manager might like to know that's why people aren't buying much, because their employees are encouraging people not to buy.

I doubt one employee making an offhand comment is going to effect their sales. Maybe she hurt your feelings or something but it just seems like a petty complaint for the sake of hurting an employee to me. If she had insulted your kid, or called you a name or just been rude then complain away, but not for that.

Would what she said be worth her losing her job over? Or losing out on a pay raise? That may be the end result of any complaint a customer makes. I always try to weigh out my complaints with those consequences before I open my mouth.

 

[kimnvbva]

You obviously never worked in retail before. I am sure the employee was giving you an opinion seeing that she sees lots of parents coming in buying toys for babies who would rather play with a plastic bottle. I have two kids and both were much more inclined to play with other things than what we gave them. But, that is not the point. I am sure she was trying to help you and in many of the previous posts, in this economy I am sure she thought in her mind she was giving you a bit of advice. Working in retail, I see and help many customers. Some ask for my opinion and I give it to them. I am sure they take it with a grain of salt. If someone walked out of the fitting room with a hideous outfit on I will give her my honest opinion. I am not going to lie to the person! I think people read too much into what people say to them. I don't think someone losing their job is going to help the issue.

 

[disneynewbee]

Wow I can't believe you actually reported this woman. Sorry but if anyone was rude , IMOP I feel it was you.

Yes, I can't believe in this day and age with so many people losing their jobs, you would deliberately try and get someone in trouble who in turn might be reprimanded for being nice and making light conversation.

All I could say is Wow.

Ditto. The woman was talking to you as a person and not as a sale. Instead of finding offense in that I would have been happy to see it. I certainly would not have taken my precious time to report it even if I did find it offensive. That just seems wrong in so many ways. And I still would have bought what I came for just as I suppose everyone else would if she said the same thing to everyone walking in the store which I suspect she does not.

 

[taitai]

What do you do in other retail situations? I tried on a bathing suit the other day and the salesgirl told me, correctly, that the suit make my butt look big and my ****s look small and suggested I go with a different, less expensive suit. Should I have reported her for not directing me to the more expensive option? What if I had purchased nothing?

I think what you did was wrong, mean spirited and unkind.

 

[HGD24]

Op - I think it was wrong for you to report the employee. It's your decision to buy an item or not and a store employee making a comment like that should not sway your decision or upset you. Just go about your day doing what you were there to do...buy gifts for your DD's birthday.

No matter what, everyone is going to buy their kids toys for their 1st Birthday

We didn't buy our DD any toys for her 1st birthday. We knew she would get plenty of toys & books from friends and family. In fact, we ended up buying a toy box about a month later to put them all in.

 

[kevschickee]

I was a Store Director for BRU once upon a time and I would have wanted to know to just coach the associate on customer interaction. The one thing BRU strives for is their team to have excellent product knowledge. At one year she should have been offering you several toys to help develop motor skills. No matter what, everyone is going to buy their kids toys for their 1st Birthday and her dismissing your need to do this was poor service, it sounded like she thought it was stupid.

You can add me to the list that didn't buy their kids toys on their 1st birthday. I got my DD a toybox but no toys. I also havent bought toys for there following birthdays

 

[Scurvy]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Thank you, MamaBear, for your comment...

Who tried to tell you what your baby "can and can't have"? Certainly not the person in your Babies R Us story.

Regardless, I'm not sure why you asked on here if you did the right thing if you weren't willing to entertain the thought that you might have been wrong. Maybe you expected everyone to applaud you for putting that worker in her place?

Add me to the list of those who find it ridiculous that you would report someone for trying to help you save money. It's stories like this that make me glad I don't work retail. I can totally see this story showing up on the "Not Always Right" site, which is all about bad customers.

 

[Broadway Duchess]

The manager said that the employee has done this QUITE a few times. She's not a "people person" and probably should be moved to a stock-type position, not one on the floor.

I'm sorry, Carriemel, but this I just don't buy. I worked as a retail manager years ago and as a few have pointed out, there is a bond between employees and supervisors. There is NO WAY that a manager would have disclosed that type of information to a customer. For one thing, making that type of statement gives legs to something which was no big deal in the first place, and it also gives the customer room to take his complaint further up the chain. Managers a trained to diffuse volatile situations: listen to complaints, offer apologies, and possibly tangible restitution for real problems. Then it becomes a training issue for the employee.

I do NOT feel guilty about this at all. If someone's going to tell me what I do or do not NEED to do for MY child, I'm going to get a manager involved. Nobody can tell me what my baby can or can't have.

You say you don't feel guilty? You should. It sounds to me like you got defensive over an innocuous comment and acted without thinking. Let me ask -- is this your first child? A lot of first-time parents can be very resistant to any advice given about their child. And as far as telling you what your baby can/cannot have, did she specifically forbid you from purchasing anything? If she had, would you have listened? This boggles the mind.

No, the employee did not sound like she was trying to be helpful. She was snippy when she said what she did.

I'm not calling you a liar, but it's possible that you attached some tone to this encounter which really wasn't there. Sometimes when relating a story we embellish without meaning to in order to make our position more relatable. Since none of us were there, we can only go on your word, but this sounds like a direct response to some earlier criticisms made regarding your disproportionate response to her comment.

I did tell her "Thank you for your advice", she gave me a "whatever" hand wave and disappeared behind a door.

Again, this strikes me as a detail added in order to make your position more sympathetic. Did it happen? Only you know, but it doesn't fit in with your original post.

I think what's really happening here is that you're embarrassed by the responses you've gotten here. It seems that you expected a "hero's welcome," to borrow a phrase from Disney's Hercules, and you didn't get that. Very rightly, and at your prompting, you were told the truth. I hope nothing comes of your complaint, but more than that, I hope you learned a lesson about letting things roll off you back. Good Luck...