TBers who work/have worked in retail

[KsToaDangr]

I've been wondering about something for a while. Every single day I'm at work, at least 10 people spend half of the time they are in my store complaining about the prices. I try to explain that we price things based on what it costs us to carry them. The normal response to that is "can't you cut me a little deal?" People I've never seen before asking me to jeopardize my job because they don't want to pay $30 for a 2-DVD adult video. I've worked for this company for 4 1/2 years, in Tampa, Pittsburgh, Myrtle Beach, and here. I've been here in Columbia for the last 3 years, and it only happens here. Is it just Columbia that this happens in, or is it normal?

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by KsToaDangr

People I've never seen before asking me to jeopardize my job because they don't want to pay $30 for a 2-DVD adult video.

Can't you direct them to the internet?

[hbarcat]

Welcome to retail and the parade of whiny customers that goes with it.

Just smile politely, make a non-committal statement and then ignore it.

[Lady Kayri]

No, you're not alone. And when you say you can't cut them a deal, only the owner (and/or manager) has the authority, their noses get all out of joint...

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Without a doubt the area you're in matters.

Without considering competition from other retailers that location may have a different demographic.

I once worked in an aftermarket parts store which was largely wholesale based. They had a chain of stores throughout the state. Some stores did much better than others. Of course there are more than one factor to measure, but some locations did very well simply because the area they were in. The people dropping off their cars at a repair shop didn't haggle as much so the owners of repair shop didn't seek out lower prices from the competition. As long as the service was good the business was good.

[santucci218]

I work in retail in pittsburgh and people ask me for discounts daily too, lol.

[warwick.hoy]

Everyone wants something for nothing; happens in the Food Service/Hospitality industry too my friend.

[KsToaDangr]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Can't you direct them to the internet?

great idea...drive even more of my customer base out of the store.

Originally Posted by Chunk-O-Funk

Without a doubt the area you're in matters.

Without considering competition from other retailers that location may have a different demographic.

It's pretty funny you mention competition. Within a mile from my store, there's 3 other adult video stores. Just about everytime someone complains about my prices, I've sent them to the closest store(less than a block away) to check their prices. Generally, they charge $5 - $10 more per DVD than we do, and the complaining people become customers of my store.

Originally Posted by santucci218

I work in retail in pittsburgh and people ask me for discounts daily too, lol.

what part of pittsburgh?

[hbarcat]

If you work the cash register at the Big Box store or the Big Grocery store, you don't see people ask for a discount after you've rung up all their items and given them the total. Why do some people think they can get a discount at some other retail store? Do they think it's like a car dealership?

Haggling is for ox-cart societies.

[warwick.hoy]

Well pron is expensive. I just don't think anyone should be haggling over it. You want check out the neckid chicks getting boned by the shaved apes; then you should prolly be willing to pay the price asked for. Besides; cheap pron is usually nasty crack ho pron.

[Jiggybass]

Ugh, I worked retail at a musical instrument store. I loved the place, but some customers really don't understand anything at all. Example. Selling a yamaha acoustic to a lady. The guitar is 259$ with a case, extra strings, a strap, and I threw in a patch cord (semi-electric) for no additional charge to boost the sale (sales were really slacking). She demands that she gets a 15% discount on it because her friend knows someone that works there. As if. She told me the price was outrageous, even though that anywhere else it would've cost 259$ without the case, and 299$ with it.

And that's just that one time. I have plenty others, including a guy who felt that since he bought a guitar there before, he should be able to grab free picks from the bin when he felt like it, and calling us penny pinching artards when we pointed him to the price tag, a whopping 25 cents a pick, or 5 for a buck.

Some people.

[KsToaDangr]

Originally Posted by warwick.hoy

Well pron is expensive. I just don't think anyone should be haggling over it. You want check out the neckid chicks getting boned by the shaved apes; then you should prolly be willing to pay the price asked for. Besides; cheap pron is usually nasty crack ho pron.

spoken as if by someone who is either a regular customer or one of my employees...


so, slightly off topic of my original post, but anyone with any good stories of stupid people they've dealt with?

my favorite so far is the guy that came in drunk and tried to make out with one of my mannequins

[jokn388]

My first job was at Best Buy. My second job was at Bed Bath and Beyond. Retail is hell. Not once did I enjoy it. The worst is when you get yelled at for not carrying some arbitrary item.

The only nice customers were the ones that were stealing. My last day on the job at Best Buy I was talking to a young couple. They were very friendly and very polite. The girl was wearing one of those huge hand bags (that can hold a lot of merchandise). Upon checkout she was digging through her purse, on the counter, to find her wallet. I noticed she had about 4-5 packaged items (ranging from telephone chord extenders, to cd's). She put the bag on the counter so the magnet would disable the security devices. Good times...

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by KsToaDangr

spoken as if by someone who is either a regular customer or one of my employees...

[hbarcat]

Stupid customers? Sure.

When I worked in photography retail, a woman came in complaining about the "point and shoot" camera she had bought from us a few months before. She had two complaints:

1) none of the pictures ever came out

2) the camera was burning her forehead

OK.


I took the camera and ran a dummy roll of film through it to check all of its functions and it seemed to be performing fine. I then asked her to take the camera and show me how she was using it. She held the camera up to her eye, looked through the viewfinder and pressed the shutter release. The flash went off right into the middle of her forehead because she was holding the camera backwards.

[XtreO]

So you work with selling adult DvDs, eh?

[santucci218]

Shaler, North Hills area. By Mcknight road and Ross Park Mall and all that jazz. Brighton Music Center is the store.

[DigMe]

With the economy being down lately I've seen more than one article or financial guru type advising consumers to try haggling even in chain stores. The thing is that they're not telling people to haggle over small crap like DVDs but big purchases like refrigerators. Sometimes even chain stores will cut deals. That's a fact. Personally I wouldn't be insulted by someone haggling. They're just trying to do what's best for themselves...so what. Say no..big deal.

bc

[Chunk-O-Funk]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

Stupid customers? Sure.

When I worked in photography retail, a woman came in complaining about the "point and shoot" camera she had bought from us a few months before. She had two complaints:

1) none of the pictures ever came out

2) the camera was burning her forehead

OK.


I took the camera and ran a dummy roll of film through it to check all of its functions and it seemed to be performing fine. I then asked her to take the camera and show me how she was using it. She held the camera up to her eye, looked through the viewfinder and pressed the shutter release. The flash went off right into the middle of her forehead because she was holding the camera backwards.

Oh,....why can't I witness stuff like that.
Maybe it's a good thing. I'm not sure I could retain my composure.

[KsToaDangr]

Originally Posted by XtreO

So you work with selling adult DvDs, eh?

how'd you ever figure that one out?
my technical job title is Weekend Manager at This Is I. T. Video, but I sometimes claim that I'm the weekend manager of a store that sells relationship enhancing tools, techniques, and video representations. Or, other times, I tell people that I peddle smut.

Originally Posted by santucci218

Shaler, North Hills area. By Mcknight road and Ross Park Mall and all that jazz. Brighton Music Center is the store.

the store I worked at up there was on Walnut street, where the Chico's dress shop is now. I probably stopped into Brighton at least once while I was in town.

a stupid customer story from that store: a white lesbian couple came in to buy some toys, asked me about our return/exchange policy, which is no refunds or exchanges on toys-exchanges only on movies, and ended up buying a black toy, then came back a week later trying to exchange it because it was "the wrong shade of black".