shop assistants….

Afternoon chaps and chapettes,

I must admit i’m a little annoyed at the second having read this thread. I have a degree from the best new University in the country, gotten through hard work and a rediculous amount of personal debt. Due to neccessity, and the current financial climate, I am working full time in a bookshop on minimum wage. I am the only employee (other than my General Manager) who is full time. Therefore when she’s on lunch, or away, or ill, I am the unpaid acting manager. In this role I have no distinguishing marks to denote me as a full-timer, as the store is pretty inflexible when it comes to uniform, nor do I don the sacred ‘Manager’ tag- as my name’s not Sandy- not even on weekends.

So, when Old Shape says that he’ll immediately bypass me to go to my General manager because he’s pre-determined his problem to be above my paygrade it irks me somewhat. I work exceptionally hard to provide a good customer service as I know that’s the way we get sales, which is what pays my meager wages.

I think that it should be mandatory for everyone to work in a customer-facing situation for one day every year to really undderstand what it’s like to be told that you’re an idiot for not knowing immediately that you wanted the economics book by Begg, and not by Griffiths. Or being told that you’re a “cretin” for serving someone before you when after waiting at the bar for 10 minutes you respond to the question: “What can I get you, mate?” by turning around to ask everyone in your party what they want. It’s genuinely infuriating to be talked down to by a bloke in a suit as if he’s worth more than me because he flashes one of many notes under my nose. What do I get for that abuse night after night? £5.72 an hour and a bad back.

So it must be noted that whilst there are many delightful people I serve on a regular basis, there are also some customers who are morons. Below are some tips for customers, arisen from my own personal experience:

1) Never open a conversation with the phrase “Do you have…” A “Good Morning”, “Hi”, or even an apologetic look will do wonders to my attitude towards you, just as it will the other way around.

2) If you’re listening to music through headphones, turn it off. Take the damned thing out of your lugholes before you even think of asking me a question. You may be a phenomenal lip-reader, but if I will not serve you if you have them in.

3) If you do require assistance finding a title, as is your right, we are there to help. However, we can only help within certain parameters. If we can get it for you from another branch it will take a few days. I will not drive to Liverpool and get it for you for before your exam tomorrow morning. Similarly, we will not package books bought at our store over a year ago and send them on our DHL account to your new home in India.

4) Prices are non-negotiable. We are not in a barter economy (yet, anyway). £39.99 means you pay £39.99, not with a bookmark thrown in, and not with a special discount because it had been filed incorrectly. If you think you saw it cheaper in another store, sod off and get it there.

5) We are NOT a library. You can’t buy a book, use it for three days and then return it. If you DO try it- don’t ask before hand, I’ll just make a note of your intentions on your reciept and refuse return. Similarly, whilst we do take back old books as second-hand on occasion, we’re a business, not a charity. 30% are our terms, like ’em or lump ’em.

6) We are obligated by our superiors to ask if you have or want a reward/dicount/club card. A simple “no, thank you” will sufice. We don’t want to say the speel any more than you want to hear it.

However soon hopefully i’ll be in a much better paid job, but will never forget how to treat the poor guys and girls on minimum wage in order to get the best service.

Stupid conversations I have had with Shop Assistants

Here are some stupid conversations I have had with shop assistants

Me (in C***t): I was wondering whether you could help me. Do you have the latest MP3 player in stock?

Sales Assistant: I’m sorry sir, I can’t help you. I’m in customer service.

Me (in B***s some time ago): I would like to use your one hour photo processing service.

SA: That’s no problem. What time will you be back?

And various others which I can’t remember. To show it’s not just sales assistants, here are some stupid conversations reported to me by a friend of mine:

Customer (WHS****): I am looking for an out-of-print book. Do you have any in stock?

Customer: How big is a 21-inch TV screen.

:):):)

You must be a tight a*se Yorkie or a Scotsman then!!!

Scot? They are just Geordies with their heads kicked in.
Yorkie? Wrong colour Rose!

I just don’t like spending money.

Slaters menswear

Just got back from one of these – have to add to the post to say it was excellent. Trying to find some trousers, salesguy spends 10 mins checking “out back” to find my size, then goes back to see if there is another pair as I wanted two (gym/diet thing, lost a few inches off the beer belly!)

Excellent place to shop !

Spending money is always a pain.:eek:

You must be a tight a*se Yorkie or a Scotsman then!!!

Still…..

Must be a pain ;).

Spending money is always a pain.:eek:
Our “Food” shop takes 25 minutes per week. The top-ups are done in my Lunch break, from the local place.

Yes but in those tourist regions the service staff rely on gratuities to supplement their poor wages …so they have to kiss your b*m!!!

Actually it’s my fault that you missed the point there Steve. I should have pointed out that it’s not just the touristy areas where the shops are like that. Mind you I also missed out saying that most of Europe are better at customer service than Britain as well and I say that as one who lived aas an attached part of the local community on and off for 14 years.

I think you’ll find that’s the stereotype we are trying to get rid of, we are surprisingly competitive against the likes of Tesco/Sainsburys etc ;).

Stereotype? But Waitrose are proud to be measured in the same league as Snobburys.
I am occasionally forced to go into Sainses as they are the only UK outlet for Root beer. McShyte used to sell it, but I was the only purchaser.
I used to go into Waitrose at Christmas because they do nice bread rolls and such. No Waitrose where I live now, they were going to move in but have since lost the bottle.

I (We) could not afford to shop in Sbobs/Waits/M&S for the weekly grub. Some of the prices are more offensive than child porn. That’s the way it is, Snobs and Waits are very proud to be aloof from Aldi/Lidl/Netto/ASDA etc.

As for judging people on appearance….we all do it, and we should all hone it. Because our true feelings are usually not wrong. It isn’t just clothes, any tramp can throw on a decent suit……it’s poise/gait/facial expressions/presence.
People who say “F off” a lot have a mouth shaped to do so. Look at the pikey chavs on such as J Kyle show or Trippa, or any of the brain dead shows on daytime TV. A chav dressed up is still a chav and they stand out like a runway beacon.
If I don’t like someone initially, I am not likely to like them ever. Tolerate of course, but not seek to broaden the friendship.

For some stupid unfathomable reason most shop staff pay more attention to a woman.
It really is time that shop assistants were reminded of what customer service is all about. I suggest they are made to study/visit shops in the Jasper or Banff areas of Canada for a reminder.

Yes but in those tourist regions the service staff rely on gratuities to supplement their poor wages …so they have to kiss your b*m!!!

Or, in a lot of shops around here, the inability to communicate at all

For some stupid unfathomable reason most shop staff pay more attention to a woman.
It really is time that shop assistants were reminded of what customer service is all about. I suggest they are made to study/visit shops in the Jasper or Banff areas of Canada for a reminder.

Yes across the pond they cannot do enough to help brilliant. CS here is not good normally communication breakdown.:D

I never have these problems!;):D

For some stupid unfathomable reason most shop staff pay more attention to a woman.
It really is time that shop assistants were reminded of what customer service is all about. I suggest they are made to study/visit shops in the Jasper or Banff areas of Canada for a reminder.

Even my accent varies depending on who I am with.

A bit like Kylie and her proper English accent…she steps of the plane here when she comes home and it’s back to her broad (G’Day mate) Aussie accent…i call her plastic Kylie!!!

I never ask for help in stores, ill walk that supermarket for 30 min but ill find the damned thing on my own. Just the way i like it.

My only problem with service/sales people is when they wont leave me alone… clothing stores in particular.. if i tell you once “No im fine thanks”… then that still applies 5 minutes from now.. and no I do not care if you think that would look good on me.

Few times Ive had few funny questions, but ive never got mean or angry.. i try to make a joke out of it.

Im buying some apples, in my jeans t-shirt and ive just pulled cash out my front pocket… i clearly have no bags container or even deep pockets…
Q: Would you like a bag for these…
A: Well, i might try juggling them home…

Last week I was grabbing lunch on the go & spent $7.08, I hand the drone a $20.. & the 8cents.. so she just has to give me $13 change
Look of complete mental shutdown appears on face of drone & she went off to ask for help.
2 day later, same store, same drone.. Bill comes to $8.92.. I hand over $20

Now came the pay back! I asked her if she wanted the 8cents to make it $9.00 :diablo::diablo::diablo::diablo:She just about had a breakdown trying to figure that out..:cool:

And ya wouldnt need to take out a second mortgage to pay off the bill of shopping at waitrose now you? 😉

I think you’ll find that’s the stereotype we are trying to get rid of, we are surprisingly competitive against the likes of Tesco/Sainsburys etc ;).

Gosh, summing up people on appearance in a few seconds, wow thats amazing? !! But surely you cannot judge by appearance, it is actions , words that matter. Ok i know in some cases a uniform is worn but that actually just adds to the problem.

My own experience is that appearance is misleading. many well educated folks dress down when out and about and they can also be scruffy and loaded with disposable income, And check out how easily con men fool people by acting out an expected appearance.
My own appearance varies according to where I am going and what i am planning to do.Even my accent varies depending on who I am with.

Probably spend half your bloody money on petrol driving to these different places :D.

And ya wouldnt need to take out a second mortgage to pay off the bill of shopping at waitrose now you? 😉

I spent 5 and a half years working for one of the nation’s biggest fashion retailers and was a customer service manager for more than four of those. Based on my experiences, the more intelligent staff were those that worked part-time hours. The majority of those part-time staff were students of some sort, studying for qualifications other than the mandatory GCSEs e.g. A-Levels, Degrees etc. Qualifications that the full-time staff had probably never heard of!

The long hours, low pay and abuse that shop staff put up with make retail a tough industry to be in. I lost count of the number of times I was verbally abused by customers but often got my own back by simply throwing their insults back at them and then asking them to leave the store. One man had joined a rather long queue one busy Saturday, got to the till, gave the cashier some grief because he had waited 20 minutes in the queue, and when I approached to see what the problem was, he told me I was a w****r. With that, I told him we wouldn’t be serving him today and asked that he leave the store. Like so many whiney customers, he insisted on seeing the store manager, who took 10 minutes to appear, only to then be told that a decision had been made and that we were not going to be serving him.

Any other shop workers who put up with similar grief, my advice would be to fight back! 🙂

Lidl is walking distance from Morrisons, in our nearest town which is 5 miles away. Tesco is 12 miles away, out in “Gimme 6” country.
Somerfield is walkable from home.

Still…..

Must be a pain ;).