Disgusting!!!!

Today, I went into our ladies' room to change the light bulb. I happened to look at the top of the little closet that we have in there. We keep all our bathroom supplies in there. It doesn't go all the way to the ceiling, so there was a little air freshener and toilet paper roll on top of it. I happened to look up and notice something in the corner...

Can you say EWWWW!!!!!!???? I don't even want to know who it belonged to or how long that had been up there.

Catalogs vs. Store

Right before I left work tonight, an elderly lady came in (we'll call her Jane for the sake of the post). I don't know how old Jane is, but she used a walker. She wanted to see one of our catalogs because she wanted to know if we had something that was in it. She got frustrated with me because I told her we didn't have any extra catalogs but I would check the back. I told her we had the current ones in folders. She said she just wanted to see a catalog and would give it back. I was going to the back and get her one, but my AManager found some behind the cashwrap. Neither of them were what Jane was looking for. So, AManager went to get the ones we had in folders, which somehow frustated Jane. I explained to Jane that AManager was going to get the catalog so she could see.

Here's where it gets fun. Jane says she was looking for a scarf that we had on display. It was blue. I pointed to the only blue scarf we had on display, and she said that wasn't the scarf she was looking for. She finds it in the catalog, and tell her we didn't carry it in our store. It may be catalog only. She gets upset at the word "catalog". She believes firmly that if it's in the "catalog" then it should be in the store. Which, as AManager said, it is physically impossible for our store to carry everything that is in the catalog. Yet, Jane was adamant about this. If it's in the catalog, it must be in the store. Well, I found a nearby store that carries the scarf she wanted. She didn't want to pick it up over there. No, she wanted them to send it to her. And of course, she found it infuriating that they would charge her to send it to her. Why should they charge her for something that our store did not carry? She said that they wouldn't charge her. They couldn't charge her.

Repeat that a few times with each item she selects out of the catalog. Naturally, we didn't carry any of it in our store. It was "catalog" only, which is "ridiculous" (her words!) . She was very adamant about "they won't charge me to send it. They can't charge me. It's ridiculous". She was quite adamant and irritated over it all. Mind you, we can't physically carry the stuff they send us anyway. How are we supposed to carry everything in the catalog? And not everything in the catalog will sell! Seriously now. It's not that big of a deal. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't act like such a ... snob the whole time. I can't think of the right word to describe how she was behaving ... but that'll have to be it for now.

"I cannot open? I cannot open??"

Last winter, I was folding these V-neck sweaters in our store. This customer (for the sake of the post, we'll call her Nena) comes up to me and asked me what style they were. I said, just a V-neck. She gets mad at me, really mad too, and says "JUST A V-NECK? I CANNOT OPEN? I CANNOT OPEN??" and then storms out of the store. I am not kidding. She got all upset and offended. Where in my answer did I tell her that she couldn't open one? Where in her question did she ask me if she could? Did I not answer her question? After all, she just asked me what style they were. She didn't ask me anything about opening one or anything else. I answered her question. She asked me what the style was, I told her. If she hadn't been such a drama queen, I would've told her all the colors that we carried and asked her if she would like to see a size. Because that's what I do. I tell them all the available colors and pull out the right size for them so they don't have to search for it. Of course, she had to throw a hissy fit and storm out of the store before I could.

Why you gotta bother the lady with a ladder?

Honest to goodness. No matter what I'm doing, I always get stopped. Sure, I know I'm supposed to be helping customers. But there are other associates in the store who can help you too. Why do you got to stop the lady who's carrying a ten-foot ladder? Why do you got to stop the lady carry two or three mannequins? Why do you got to stop the lady surrounded with mannequins, steamer, and clothes that need to go on the mannequins? I can't tell you how annoying it is when I am dressing the windows on the floor. I have all the outfits steamed and lined up on the rolling rack... and then someone comes and pulls one of the items out! When that same item is available on the floor. No, they have to take the one that is part of an outfit I pulled to put in the windows.

Tell me, when you go shopping, if you see a little 5'4" sales associate carrying a ladder that is twice her size, do you stop her to ask her where the bathroom is? Do you stop her to ask her where the fitting room is? Come on now. Use some common sense.

Learn how to read

We opened a new store at the beginning of the month. And to promote the opening, the company sent out special discount cards to customers for the opening of that store. Do you know how many people come into our store with the discount card for the NEW s tore and try to get the discount? Learn how to read people! It says on the card to specifically go to the NEW store opening and get X % off your purchase. And it's not just about the new store opening discount. It happens with EVERY discount. We get people who come in with discount cards and other offers that expired MONTHS ago. Or them come in with their birthday discount and their birthday passed MONTHS ago. Don't even get me started how how they don't know how to read banners or sale signs!

Maids....

I certainly hope that some of our customers employ maids to pick up after them, because that's certainly how they walk around our store. They pick up one thing, toss it back onto the stack and then move onto the next thing. It doesn't matter what they touch. Everything they touch is left back in a mess. That's what I spent the last half hour of my shift doing. I followed these two ladies around, cleaning up after them. First of all, it was half an hour till closing. There was NO way I was going to spend any time after the doors were shut cleaning after their mess. Why do it later when I could do it now? All I had to do was stay a step or two behind this lady (who didn't look like she could fit our clothes in the first place). Of course, once she went over to the other side, I stopped following her. I was only going to take care of my side of the store. Everything had to be in it's place. Of course, she didn't care. Boy was I glad when she headed out of the store. Too bad she had to stop and look at some stuff on her way out. More things for me to fix.

Personal Hygiene

And please, let's put the emphasis on personal here. The other day, I walked into the fitting room and there was a lady in there cutting her nails. It wouldn't have bugged me, except she was dropping the clippings onto our floor. This is a public place and I thought it was gross. And then the following day, I noticed there was something on our sales floor by the entrance of the store. Guess what? More nail clippings. Okay, I understand the importance of personal hygiene ... but like I said, can we emphasize the word "personal" here. If you need to cut your nails, please do so at home. I understand if you break a nail, sure, go ahead, take care of it. But don't sit in our store, cut all your nails, and then leave the clippings on our sales floor. You never know if someone will walk around barefooted in the store and step on your clippings. Okay, so it's less likely to happen on the sales floor. But people do walk around without shoes on in the fitting room.

This reminds me of another customer who came in. I think she came in to make a return. As she was leaving, she stopped to look in the mirror. She asked my manager if she had rubber band. My manager said no. Then she asked, "Don't you get rubber bands in your shipment?" Moral of the story? If you need a hair-tie, supply your own. Don't expect the store to have extra "rubber bands."

Gold fishes and shoes

Not real gold fishes. Gold fish crackers. You know ... those orange crackers shaped like gold fishes. What do they have to do with shoes? A customer was trying on a shoe but it was missing it's other shoe. Then there was another shoe she wanted to try on, but the box was empty. So it was on display in one of the windows. So, I started to look in our window displays and wall displays for the shoe. I noticed in one pair there was some orange stuff in the shoe. I thought it was odd. When I got a closer look, I noticed there was a bunch of gold fish crackers in the shoe. I thought it was hilarious. So did the other associate and manager on duty. However, my boss didn't think so. She didn't like the lack of awareness and how no one noticed a kid went into our display window. It had to have been today because I found another gold fish cracker on the sales floor. However, we just don't know when it happened.

Merchandise and bath rooms

It has been awhile since I put something up here. I doubt anyone reads this anyway. Here' some random things that have been going on. First of all, there has been an unusual number of customers who are taking or trying to take merchandise into the bathroom. First of all, on what planet are you allowed to take unpaid merchandise into the bathroom??? "Merchandise" and "bath room" should not even belong in the same sentence. Hello??? Shouldn't it be common knowledge or common sense that you do not taking unpaid merchandise into the bathroom? Of course, unless you are trying to steal the merchandise in question.

Incident number one: I was in the front when I notice an older lady with some younger girls who probably were her granddaughters. The older lady took a jacket and went into the bathroom. She came out to show her granddaughters. I went to the younger ladies and told them that there is a fitting room where she can try things on.

Incident number two: I noticed a lady go towards our office. This happens all the time when customers are trying to look for the bathroom. They mistake the office for the bathroom all the time. As I'm about to point her towards the bathroom, another sales associate came up and said something to her. The customer didn't seem to understand, but I did. The jacket she had on was ours and she hadn't paid for it yet. So I told her quite pointedly that we didn't allow merchandise in the fitting room. She handed me the jacket and told me to hold it for her.

Well, actually incident number two should have been number three. But I wasn't there for the second one. My boss actually told me about the second one.

Interesting lady...

This lady came in and the outfit she was wearing... either her pants were too low or her top was too high. Because, there was a good two to three inches of her belly sticking out in between. Okay, so sticking out may not be the appropriate word. More like hanging out. Ewwww. Best part? She wanted to apply for a job. Hopefully she dresses better for work than she does for applying.

As for dressing, two ladies came to our store the other day. One of them asked us why our store was so cold. She complained that our store was too cold. Well, it might help if she actually wore something! She came in, wearing a sleeveless top and cropped bottoms and complains that the store is too cold. WELL maybe she wore something with sleeves she wouldn't be cold!

Odd customers

People are weird.

One guy was walking by our store with a female companion. They point at this huge poster we have in our display window and criticize it. He was making fun of the size of the model's hands and her foot. He was saying how big they looked. Excuse me???

Today, a lady came into our store and says the same thing lots of ladies say. We have beautiful things. But they're too expensive.

These two ladies, one was a large lady, came into our store. She rifled through a pile of shells for a twin set that doesn't stay neat at all. It's very easy to mess up the pile. I asked her if I could help her look for a size. She said no, she already got it, apologized, and said she'd fix the pile. Well, of course, her "fixing" wasn't that great, so I had to fix it anyway. Turns out, the four things her friend took into the fitting room ... one was a size small sweater, two were larges (another sweater and the mentioned shell), and the third was an XL sweater. Go figure. Apparently her lady friend was very confused.

Right before closing, this lady walked in and went straight to our bathroom. So... I was fixing the clothes in that area so as soon as she came out, I could greet her. She went to the bay right next to me and "looked" at the clothes there. She asked me if we had anything with long sleeves and silk. I told her she was in the wrong season for silk. Seriously. We get silk and long sleeves mostly in the fall or winter. NOT in spring or sumer. This is when we get linen. Funny thing is... come November, there will probably be some lady asking me for linen. It's like coming in right now and asking for corduroy. Wait a couple more months. Then you can start asking. What did she do after I told her we didn't have any silk? She left. Naturally. She came in just to use our bathroom, ten minutes before the mall closed. Naturally.

Kids ... they don't listen

Today, this little boy was playing with our doors. He pushed down the door stop, then push both doors open, and see which one closed first. I told him, "no, don't do that because you can squish your hands. The doors are really heavy." He doesn't listen, continue to do what he was doing. His mom is a couple feet away, shopping. Again, I tell the kid to stop. He stops for a second before continuing. His mom finally notices I'm talking to her son, and speaks to him in their language. He finally stops, because I guess his mom told him to go with her. I don't know what she said. But that's what he did. After she finished in the fitting room, she asked me for the number to customer service. I thought she was going to "report" me. Turns out, she had a crediting question. Hmm.

Can you have the decency to fess up?

Apparently, in this day and age, no one likes to take responsibility. No one wants to accept the blame. For example, the customer who spilled her coffee on our carpet. She didn't want to tell us she spilled it. When my manager asked her if she did, she ignored her and didn't want to accept the responsibility.

Last night, I was emptying the trash from all the fitting rooms. We have these nice little containers that we line with plastic bags. Good thing, too, because I found some more unknown liquid in one of the bags. If that was just someone pouring soda out, why not use the bathroom? Or, toss your soda in the trash can OUTSIDE the store. They have big ones for that. And if it was the OTHER kind ... again, that's why we have bathrooms for customer's use. And, please, why didn't you tell us that you did? Who knows how long that was sitting in there.

I'm telling you. No one likes to take responsibility for their actions these days. It reminded me of something that happened last year. I went in to check on my customer in the fitting rooms. Just as I got to her room, guess what? Her pad fell out and landed on the floor. She picked it up and put it right back on, because I certainly didn't find it in the trash can. Guess what? When I went back to check on her, she handed me a pair of pants and said "someone" else left a stain in the crotch. Guess what kind of stain it was? A nice, big, red stain. Fresh. It wasn't faded. You KNOW what kind of stain it was. But did she fess up and take responsibility? No. Even though I knew it was her and I saw her pad fall on the floor.

Working with the public is no easy job. Especially when the public has gone insane and their morality needle is off-kilter.

We are not baby-sitters

Do not send your kids or elderly parents into our store just to sit in our chairs. That's what benches in the mall are for. We are not your baby-sitters. We are not here to watch your kids or your elderly parents while you shop at ANOTHER store. Even when you are in your store, if you're leaving your kids in one area of our store while shopping in another area, your kids better be well-behaved. Or we will take them by the hand, ask them who they are with, and look for you. Because if they are not behaving, you better believe it's YOUR job to make sure YOUR kids are behaving in public.

A while back, this group of teens came into our store and sat in our chairs in the front. There were four teens, two chairs. I watched them to see if they were with anyone. Good thing my manager wasn't around because she certainly would've said something to them, and then to me. Because they certainly weren't in our store to shop and they certainly weren't with anyone shopping in our store. Finally they left on their own. Again. There are benches outside our store where they can sit and hang out. NOT in our store.

Today, this old lady comes in and sits in our chair in the front. I look around the store and five minutes later, I KNOW that she didn't come in with someone else. In fact, I saw her walk in after talking to a lady who was probably her daughter, who was headed to Macy's. The lady sits there for a good fifteen, twenty minutes before her daughter comes back for her. They browse for a little bit before leaving. I can sympathize with the old lady, but come on.

And tell me ... what is the purpose of looking into our store from the entrance, stepping one foot inside, and then leaving? Or better, you stand in our entrance way long enough for our very sensitive sensor to beep several times. OR you walk in and as soon as you do, you walk back out? Did you realize you walked into the wrong store? What? Come on. Don't you have more sense than that? You can see what kind of clothes we carry from our window displays. That should give you more than enough insight to what kind of clothes we carry.

How many times do I have to repeat this? I AM NOT A HUMAN DIRECTORY. This one lady walked in asking me if there was toy store in this end of the mall. She mentioned FAO Schwartz, which I can tell you has been gone for a LONG time. In fact, I think we were standing where FAO Schwartz used to be. Then there was that person who walked in through our back entrances, asked me where a store was (which was located right above us) and then walked out the front entrance. She could've done the same thing. Walk in through the mall entrance, looked at the directory, and walked to the escalator to take her to the store. She could've saved herself the time it took to go to our store, ask me for directions, and walk out of our store. Unless she didn't know how to read a directory. Don't people know how to read a directory anymore? Or are they just plain lazy?

If you want good customer service...

... trying being a good customer.

Has everyone ever thought of that? You come across as rude and bossy, you may not get a very good response. Perhaps if you're polite and nice, you may find yourself getting even better customer service than the customer with the attitude. For example, this one customer was asking the associate about something on a skirt I think. I was in the front, so I didn't hear much. Except for the customer saying "but what if it doesn't come off?" with a very big attitude. I was in the front and heard her loud and clear. A customer in the front commented to me, "someone's got an attitude." The "someone" had already been in our store once today and was in during her second trip. I already dealt with her and now it as the other associate's turn.

Hehe another point... a lady walked in through our back door, asked me where a store was, and walked out the front door. My manager asked me (while the lady was making her way across the store) where the entrance to the mall was. I told her, not too far... about five feet or so away from our entrance. And that there was a mall directory right in front of that too. Two birds with one stone, right? We talked about the laziness of people these days.

Those picky ladies

So this lady comes in, picks up a tank in green. She was wearing it already in yellow. That means she already knew which size she needed. She asks me to bring her one in white. I bring her the first white one I find. She tells me, it's already been worn, she needed another one. I tell her, no, it's just wrinkled because it's been folded and sitting in the stock room. She insists that it's been worn and I bring her another one. Well, what do I do? Go back, bring her another one that is just as wrinkled. She takes it. Comes back a couple hours later without her purchase. She must've left it in the car or something.

Another customer doesn't know how to read the card the company sent her for a 15% promotion... that ended on May 5th ... five days ago. She said she called customer service and they told her she could use it anytime. I call customer service. Apparently, customer service had told her the that the 15% off could be used anytime ... up till May 5th. The customer first thought she could only use it on May 5th, and called customer service to find out she could "use it anytime." UNTIL MAY 5th! I told her, the promotion already ended. But she kept fighting me about it. Well, my boss said if the customer fights you on it, call customer service because they may still honor it. That is why there are DEADLINES people. If you had milk and it said it expired on May 5th, and you haven't tossed it out yet, and you're really wanting cereal five days later, would you use it?

I had a customer in the first fitting room on the left. She brought two things out to purchase, left three things in the fitting room. As I go in to start another room and clear hers out, I opened the door to her room and hear a "hello!" I'm like, "excuse me." I totally didn't expect a customer to be in a fitting room that MY customer just LEFT. There she was, another customer in the fitting room. I said, "excuse me, let me clear out the things my customer left in here." Now... explain to me this ... there are TWELVE EMPTY FITTING ROOMS and this lady takes the one room that has clothes left over. WHY?????

Randy Wolf look alike

This guy came in with two girls (wife? sister? family member) and I thought ... he reminds me of Randy Wolf For those of you going, huh? Randy Wolf is on the current LA Dodgers pitching roster. Hehe. If I had the nerve, I wouldn't said something to the guy. Randy's family actually lives in Southern California. I forgot where. But, Randy went to college at Pepperdine, and I do know he has one brother who is a Major League umpire.

Five different sizes?!?!?

How do you go into a fitting room with fifty units of clothing ranging from a size six to a six fourteen? And then ask if there is a size sixteen? THEN only put one item on hold to purchase, which ended up being a size ten.

That's exactly what happened today. There was a customer with her daughter in the fitting room. I didn't start the room for her, but I certainly finished it. She was there when I came back from my break and they hung SEVERAL units on another fitting room door to go back. But, there were SEVERAL units hanging on the door outside their room. I asked if those were go backs, and they said no. They had so many things inside, they couldn't bring anymore in. So, every couple minutes, I'd go back in and there would be more things hanging across their room that needed to be put back. By then, I already had several units needed to be put back. Already I knew. Either they weren't going to buy anything at all, or have a huge purchase. They had so many things. That ranged from a lot of different sizes. She had sizes six, eight, ten, twelve, and fourteen in the fitting room. Okay, I can understand having two or three sizes. BUT that many? And then she asked for the largest size too. So, I hope maybe the daughter was trying things on too. But, I doubt it. I'm pretty sure it was only the mom trying things on.

Also ... the other day, LS2 was taking a return and she made a comment to one of the associates that she liked what the return item was and was going to purchase it. In front of the customer returning it. When the customer found out how much it was being marked down to, she wanted to repurchase it at the reduced price. Store policy doesn't allow repurchasing. Mistake number one was LS2 made the comment in front of the customer. Here comes the next mistake. She told the customer she couldn't because LS2 was going to buy it. They go back and forth. Customer wants to return and repurchase. LS2 says store policy won't allow it. Customer decides to keep it. GOOD FOR HER!

Potluck of things

There were different things I wanted to blog about. So I didn't know what to title today's entry. Let's start with today.

This customer came up to the register and wanted to know how much this sale item was. I told her. It was 29 something with the additional 25% off. She goes, "I don't speak English very much." She motions for me to write it down. Me? I don't understand what's the difference, but okay. So I wrote it down "29.15 + tax". Apparently she didn't understand the "+ tax" part, because when the total came up to 31 something, she decided she didn't want it. Once I already started the transaction on the register, meaning I had to call my ASM3 over to cancel it. Grrrr. Wait! I haven't mentioned the best part yet! I started the transaction once, but then she pulled out something to return. GREAT. Just what we needed right? Well, guess what? It was wrapped in Ann Taylor tissue coming out of an Ann Taylor bag and I didn't recognize it as our merchandise. Guess what? It was from Ann Taylor. So I told her, "That's Ann Taylor." I told her the name of OUR store. She didn't look like she understood me. So I repeated myself. "THIS IS NOT ANN TAYLOR. ANN TAYLOR IS OVER THERE." Goodness. She points out the store and asks where. Good riddance.

Before her, there was this other customer who was in the fitting room forever trying on this twin set that was in sale. She took in like six different pieces. Naturally, she didn't buy any of them and left a mess in the fitting room. Anyway, she was in the fitting room a good half hour. Okay, more than that! Because she was in there before I went on my lunch break and didn't leave till a good while after I got back from my lunch break. Anyway, she left the store and came back and said she had put a blue sweater on hold. ASM4 holds up a blue sweater she has on her go-back rack and customer says, "no, it looks like that one, but that isn't it." She goes to the sale rack and pulls out the EXACT SAME SWEATER and says, "this is it." Buys it. Leaves the store. And comes back again to make an order on the red line. GOOD GRIEF.

And then there was this lady... at the end of my lunch break had a return. It was a gift, so she only had a gift receipt. Well, it was a sale item and she needed it in another size. Mind you. It was something that we didn't have much of anyway when the sale started and now that the sale is almost over, we definitely didn't have it. What did she have me do? Call three stores to get it for her. On top of that, I had located it at the second store I called. She then comes up, while I'm with this other customer who I was helping, and asks me to search for a pair of sales pants. So I wouldn't have to charge her twice for shipping or ask one store not to charge for shipping, I called one more store that listed both items. After waiting a long while, the store did have both items and we got the send sale done. Long while after she left, I called the second store back to let them know that I didn't need the shirt after all. All that for a twenty dollar shirt. Not even too. Man. Tonight was supposed to be a slow night, too. Actually, it was. But I had some customers who needed extra attention.

On top of that, we received a box that nobody bothered to put in the stock room. Instead, they put in the little hallway area, right behind the stock room door. So every time you opened the door, it would hit the box. Me? Whenever I came out of the stock room, the door would hit the box and then hit me back. Finally, I got tired of it after the handle caught me on the inside of my arm right behind the elbow. It hurt. In fact, the only reason I remembered to put that in the blog was that I accidentally touched the spot and went "ouch!" cuz it still hurts hours later.

The other day, LS was in petite and I was in front. And ASM2 kept switching us back and forth. After LS finished fixing the back, she got switched to the front. When ASM2 told her to stay up there, she goes, "No! That's not fair." She complained about how it isn't fair that she recovered the entire back area and now has to do the front. Then she says she wasn't complaining about me. She was just saying how it wasn't fair in general. Excuse me. But I have been there many times where I keep my area clean and then get switched to the back, where the rolling rack is full of go-backs and the entire back area is beyond repair and I'm expected to clear the rack and make the back look perfect. And it usually happens when SHE is supposed to be back there, but she spends all her time at the cash wrap, regardless of the fact that there is no one needing to be rung at the moment.

There are too many stories to tell and I always forget three-quarters of them. Wish I could carry something around to record them all. Seriously. Imagine the book I could write with all these stories.

Wrong store

Oh yeah, and yesterday, LS signed for a package. She didn't look at it. She just set it on the counter. Our DHL guy came to drop off and pick up, as he usually does. LS was on her break, so I paged her. When she didn't come out, I had SallyR go in and get her. Okay LS, you have to understand something. The DHL and UPS guys have jobs to do. They can't just stand around and wait for you to come sign something. Well, today, there was a note on the package that LS signed for, in ASM2's writing. The note said, "who signed for this? Look at package." It wasn't meant for us. It was meant for another store. I told ASM2 who signed for it, because, hello, I was there when she did. ASM2 mentioned this to LS, and what did she say? "I didn't sign for it." I was there and I was like, yes you did and this is how it went down. She gets so defensive about everything. She never takes the blame for anything. Whenever you say something to her, she gets defensive. Like the man who brought his little girl in to use our rest room. She got into a huge confrontation about it. And then again with my first store manager. My manage brought up something that someone said about LS, and LS got all confrontational about it. Remind me to blog about that later. Then again, no one has yet to leave me a comment, so I do wonder if anyone does read this. LOL. Oh well. At least, it's a great way to vent my frustrations about work. Besides, it helps me organize my thoughts before I put this all together into a book! Don't anyone dare steal my idea.

No thank you ladies

Please... when trying on clothes in a fitting room, leave your door closed!

Also... if you need me to help unbutton something, please hand it through the door or over it. I do not need to go into your room and see you dressed only in your undies. Understandably, if you're a certain age, yes, you will need help. But I don't mind doing it while standing OUTSIDE the dressing room. I don't need to see you in your undies. Same goes for ANYONE. Ugh.

This happened to me twice today. One, was an elderly lady needed help unbuttoning a blouse, unbuttoning and unzipping two pairs of pants. She wanted me to go in the room, while she just sat there. Naturally, I understand that because of her age, it's more difficult. So, I sympathize there. But... couldn't I do it without seeing her in her undies??? The other one happened to be while I was walking into the fitting rooms to check on the ladies, one lady was trying on some clothes in the first fitting room... with the door open. My eyes, my eyes!

Does it really matter...

... what race I am?

The other associates don't ever get asked what race they are. So, why does it matter what race I am? Sure, half our staff is one ethnicity and it's obvious. The other half... still pretty obvious for the most part. I get asked at least a couple times a week if I am a certain race by women of said race. It doesn't irritate me until it continuously happens. Then there's that one customer who assumed I wasn't born here and asked me what ethnicity I am. What does it matter? Our staff is a very ethnically diverse staff. As it should be! Do they think that I'll give them a discount if we're the same race? Or a better deal? Sorry, but no bargaining allowed ladies. One lady even tried last week! She was like, fifteen? fifteen? My manager told her, we can't bargain. What kind of business do you think we're running?

Ready to off someone

Preferably my LS.

She comes in and is supposed to be in the front. ASM2 is in the back and so am I. LS is supposed to be greeting the customers as they walk in, and fails to do so. I'm in back, busy helping my ASM2 with merchandising the wall. I notice there are two ladies at the cash wrap and ask the first one, "ma'am, are you ready?" She looks at me and goes, "I need to be helped." So, I ask her, what can I help you with? She has two items in hand, one pair of pants, and a white denim skirt. She asks if there is a smaller size in the pants to try on. I punch the numbers in the computer, and tell her we don't have it in our store, but two other stores may have it. I tell her what her options are, we can call and have it put on hold over there, or we can have it sent to her or the store, but there is a six dollar shipping charge. She gets upset, "are you kidding me? You're going to charge me six dollars to try on a pair of pants."

Whoops. Didn't mean for it to go that way.

She continues, visibly upset (practically on the verge of tears, me thinks). She tells me no one said hi to her in the store, no one helped her with the fitting room, she's been around the store twice and still no one greeted her, or asked her if she needed help. One person, presumably my LS because she looked at her when she said this, almost made eye contact with her but then she looked away.

What did I do? The same thing I did with the customer over the telephone. Have I mentioned that one yet? I'll tell later.

I apologized for our actions, or lack thereof. I explained that we try to greet every customer in the store, but apparently we dropped the ball. Very apologetically, I apologized that she wasn't helped and no one greeted her. She asked if I was the manager, and I said no, my manager wasn't there. She asked for a card, so I gave her one.

We called the next store, located the pant, and placed that one on hold. I felt so bad for her because the first time I called, no one picked up. I explained to her that in the other store, they have to transfer me to the right department. The second time, I called, they looked for the pant, got the wrong one, then got the right one. C asked me to search for the white skirt as well. She was very hesitant to "shop" in our store, and told me so. Again, I apologized for our lack of service. Our store is supposed to be all about servicing the customer. Unfortunately, they didn't have the skirt, which was what I had told her. But she asked me to ask anyway, in case the computer was wrong. Normally, the computer is wrong about having things, not, not having them. We got the pant put on hold and then I rang up the skirt. Again, I apologized for today's bad shopping experience, wished her a better shopping experience next time, and told her to have a good day.

After she left, LS still wasn't greeting people. I had to greet customers from the cash wrap because she wasn't. I went to lunch next. When I came back, LS was at the cashwrap instead of being in front. ASM2 told me later that LS asked her to go in front so LS could ring. ASM2 told her, no, I'm back here. I can ring. Ooooh. SallyS came in later and we both do not like LS at all. On a brighter note, ASM1 called us. She's now at another store. It was good to hear from her!

Bathrobe lady came back!!!!

This time, she wasn't wearing a bath robe. She (BRC) wore this sleeveless top that showed her belly, which was hanging out between the top of her skirt and the top. She came in, asked me to show her a black suit with skirt. While I was talking to BRC, my assistant manager (ASM2) walked by, whispering to herself. For some reason, that offended BRC. ASM2 and I told her that she was just talking to herself, trying to figure out what she was going to do with the petite wall. Well, whatever it was, BRC got offended. I got her a jacket, skirt, and pants to try on. While in the room, she asked me if ASM2's name was ASM2, and I said yes. She said she didn't like ASM2, that she was under-rate, and the customer shopped in Beverly Hills and ASM2 was lucky that BRC even stepped foot in our store. BRC started with sizes 8 & 10 skirts. I should've known better from our previous experience and brought her a 4 & 6. She thought the six was still too loose, so I had to bring her a four. She paid for the four and wanted to wear it out. She kept unzipping it, first for me to take it so she could pay for it, and again to show another customer what size it was. From what little was shown ... you could only hope she was wearing a thong or something. BRC said she wasn't going to call in on ASM2. She asked for a business card with my name on it so she can ask for me whenever she comes in. She's one weird lady.

Luann

DUDE! That is so true!!!! I brought this comic in to show my boss and I knew she'd get a good laugh at it. On top of that, I'm printing it out so she can send it to the other managers. They'll get a good laught out if it too. This is so true. The sales lady ... that's me!

EEEWWWWW!!!!

I walked into the fitting room to start a room for a customer and happened to look down into the trash can that we have in every fitting room. Lo and behold, I find what I usually find. A ticket. But wait ... this wasn't a "usual" find. It was sitting in a pool of yellow liquid. YELLOW! I took the trash can (it's more like a basket) out, showed my assistant manager, showed my manager, and then she showed it to our district manager, who happened to be in our store day. Since I had my camera with me, I suggested that we send a picture in with the incident report. Both my manager and district manager liked the idea. Done. My assistant manager said this was the second time it happened. I'm glad we have plastic liners in the waste baskets. And hello. We do have a restroom for customers. Don't use our fitting rooms! The other day I found a diaper in the waste basket. I don't want to know how long that was sitting in there. My manager was the one who tossed it, and she said it even smelled like urine. I didn't even want to know what it was. I was going to give the person a benefit of the doubt that perhaps it was ... something else. So much for that. I left the memory card somewhere (that happens when you have like four of them). The picture will be added later.

Human directory

Sometimes it really annoys me when a customer walks into our store just to ask me where something is. Do they not realize there is a MALL DIRECTORY outside of our store? Do they not realize that there are people whose JOB it is to know where all the stores are? Do they not realize that I AM NOT A HUMAN MALL DIRECTORY??? When my current store manager transferred to our store, she really didn't like being asked where a store in the mall was. She wasn't familiar with our mall, and therefore wasn't able to answer the customer. Once, a customer gave her an attitude, and I think she even said that she should know where the stores are.

Again, sometimes I don't mind being asked. If they're shopping in our store, then it's not a problem. But when it's just a mall shopper, then it's annoying. I don't like being treated like I should know where there's a music store or a book store or a kids' store or a toys store. Again. That's what mall directories are for. That's what INFORMATION is for. And there is one located in the mall.

Once, the store next to us temporarily relocated. So, guess who kept getting asked where they were. At first, I had no clue where they had relocated to. There was a sign that said where, but even then I wasn't sure. THEN when they were moving back, neither locations were open, and people were still coming in to ask us where it was. I DO NOT WORK FOR THE STORE NEXT DOOR. AND I DO NOT WORK FOR MALL MANAGEMENT OR INFORMATION. They do have employees who do that job. Not me. I just work in my store.

Buttons and zippers and denial

This drives me absolutely nuts. Is it too much to ask that you either a) don't unbutton something completely or b) button it back up if you do. Please don't completely unbutton something if you don't intend to at least button half of them back up. For instance, we have this linen dress (see picture) that has lots of buttons. This lady came in, pulled out the size 16, unbuttoned every button so she could try the dress on, on top of her clothes, in front of a mirror, on the sales floor. She takes it off, puts it back on the hanger, and talks to her friend. I come over, take the dress, and proceed to button every button. I didn't care if she was offended. Too lazy to go into a dressing room to try it on and too lazy to button it up again. Is it really necessary to unbutton everything? When I try on blouses and cardigans, I usually slip them over my head without unbuttoning them if I could. But, seriously! Ooh I was not too happy with this lady. She says nothing in our store fits her and she's too big. Well, then why do you come to our store if you know that? Go to Pasadena! They have a plus-size store.

Oooh... and this happens all the time. If you usually wear an XL or a 16... what makes you think you'll fit into a medium???? A customer recently, like the other day, tried on an XL in one sweater and commented that it didn't fit, it was too small. She continues to try things on, even though they DON'T FIT! She takes a XL jacket into the fitting room, asks our new assistant manager to bring her a MEDIUM. A MEDIUM GUYS!!!! Well, I was heading into the rooms anyway and so she asked me to bring it to her. I gave her a look that said, is this woman insane? Does she not realize that she doesn't fit into an extra large and therefore cannot possibly fit in a MEDIUM???

Okay ladies ... it's time that you stop swimming around in the River of the Nile... you know what I mean ... DENIAL! Just face it. I'm borderline, where I can fit into our stuff, but also in the woman's stuff. And that's fine by me. It means, more for me to choose from. But when the day comes that I will have to start shopping in the plus sizes, I won't try to squeeze into a medium.

Weird customers

Customer #1 - this lady came in looking for a new suit. She wore only her underwear and a bathrobe. She said she always went out in a bathrobe when she was trying on new clothes. Now, who in the world walks around in the public with just a bathrobe on over your undies? As for the suit, she put it on hold and never came back for it. I saw her in the mall the next day. She was walking with a guy and she was wearing actual clothes.

Customer #2 - seen her twice so far. She has short hair. The bottom part is brown/black. The top part, blonde. Like bleached blonde. It looks ridiculous, by the way!

Customer #3 - has been in our store at least twice. Terribly rude both times. Asked my assistant manager what her ethnic background was and assumed that I wasn't raised her. The second time she came in, I had to deal with her. She came in to return something and nearly bit my head off for it! The way she talked to me and treated me, it was like she held me responsible for the jean skirt she bought wrinkling (after she wore and washed it), that a shoe she bought didn't fit, and the other shoe she had to pay $40 to get repaired. If she didn't like our stuff so much, then why does she buy it? I have never had anyone complain so much about our quality, which is usually very good. And I have never had someone be as abrasive as she was. She walked into the store, took the jean skirt out of the bag, and dropped it on my side of the cash wrap. Practically threw the thing at me. Proceeded to do the same with the receipt, tag, and extra buttons. She says very hostilely what she didn't like about the skirt in a voice loud enough for both my managers to hear (one was in petite, the other up front in missy). My store manager almost stepped in, but she saw that I was handling it well enough on my own. Though I cast furtive glances at my assistant manager in the back, thinking "Help? Is this lady for real? I can't believe this woman." After I finished doing the return, she wanted to check the receipt to make sure I did it correctly. She complained about Gap and another store how they charge you something when you make a return. oh and get this. She comments on my English. She told me I speak English very well. Me thinking: yeah, I should, after twenty years of schooling (well, not quite twenty, but you get the point). She asks me if I was born here. Later my boss said to me in private, those kind of questions are unnecessary and that kind of information is none on her business.

Customer #4 - has been to our store several times. One of the times, she had to be escorted out by security. My assistant manager absolutely doesn't like her. One time she came in, and my assistant manager decided to take her break and hide in the stock room. One time, I heard she came in and she had something in her mouth bleeding. EW. I've only had to deal with her once. She was talking to customer service on the phone we have that connects customers to the catalog and customer service. She said I wasn't cooperating.

Customer #5 - customer said there was something wrong with me. Excuse me? Since she came in the store, and I supposedly "put her things in a fitting room," I had not gone in the fitting room at all to clear the room. I went on my fifteen minute break and when I came back, she asked me where her things were. Someone (another associate) had taken them out of the room and put them on the rolling rack. We found her things, brought them back into the room. I get stuck behind the cash wrap ringing people up. She comes back out and says I did it again. She had stuff in her room and they weren't there anymore. I'm bewildered because I haven't stepped foot away from the cashwrap. How could I have cleared her room? She told my assistant manager that she thought there was something wrong with me. Both my assistant managers told me not to worry about her and that they saw that I haven't been in the fitting room because I had just gotten off my fifteen minute break and was at the cash wrap.

Customer #6 - works at the department store next to our store. She comes in and tries on our larges and extra larges, when she looks more like a 1x or 2x. She'll put things on hold, but then doesn't come back for them. And she'll hold them up to a week too! She hardly buys anything. But comes in on a weekly basis, at least a couple times a week. And sometimes, she'll come in a couple times in a day. I've been there when she came in three times. Plus, after she wears (and stretches out our clothes), they smell afterwards.

Is it just plain laziness?

Our store happens to have two entrances. One from the mall and one from the outside. This happens on many occasions that people come in through our store, walk straight through it, and go in to the mall. Now ... there is a mall entrance pretty much right next to our store entrance.

SO SOMEBODY TELL ME WHY THEY CAN'T JUST WALK THROUGH THE MALL ENTRANCE INSTEAD OF USING OURS?

During my first year, with my first store manager, we were both in the front of the store. One lady walked in through the back, I said hello to her three times as she walked through our store, only to exit to the mall. This does happen more often than not. And vice versa too. Where people will walk in our store from the mall and leave through the street exit. When they could just walk a little bit further (not much) to use the mall exit.

Okay, so maybe this isn't a big a deal. It's just annoying. Like the bathrooms. We are not a department store! We don't have a separate cleaning crew to clean up after messy people who misuse our store. Once, during the holiday season, the mall entrances weren't even open yet, but we were. So we were having lots of people walking through our store at 7 AM. Actually, not too many. Who in the world goes to the mall at 7 AM? Even our stock associate commented on a customer walking through our store just to use the exit.

Now, if there wasn't a mall entrance so close by, then I could maybe understand using our store as a shortcut to the mall. BUT THERE IS AN ENTRANCE RIGHT NEXT TO OUR STORE!!!

Belligerent customers

The other day, we had a customer nearly be escorted out by security. I don't know what the case was. I was in the front of the store and from the way this customer was acting, I stayed there! She was very upset with my manager and called customer service on her cell phone. Then she had my manager talk with customer service on the same cell phone. My manager relayed what was said and the customer yelled at her. My manager then asked the LS to call security, and the lady was like "why are you calling security?" My manager said something about she couldn't be having her yelling in the store and behaving the way she was. I didn't hear much of what was going on since I was in the front. She was causing a disturbance and the other customers were staring at her warily. All the associates in the store certainly were.

Anyway, the customer also accused my manager of being racist. Which, if you knew my manager, is an outrageous accusation. And if you knew our clientèle, same difference. We deal with a lot of customers just like her, in attitude and race. In fact, where we are located, her ethnicity is the majority there. So, if we (the associates or the store) are racist towards her race... then we are in the wrong location.

Goodness, there are a lot of "special" people out there. Let me tell you! I can probably come up with half a dozen stories but none come to mind right now. All the time at work, I'm like, ooh I need to remember to put this in my blog. Then when I get home, I completely forget about it!

Kids ... watch them or leave them at home

Oh boy. This may take more than one blog entry. Where do I start? Windows? Noise? Toys?

First of all, when I see any kid between the ages of, say, four, to high school at the mall on a weekday before three o'clock, I wonder: why is this kid not in school? Ooh. How about the mom in the minivan who was at the mall before it even opened. At SIX O'CLOCK in the MORNING! Our SM asked SallyS and I to come in at 6 to help her change the mannequins in the window. So, SallyS and I got our coffees and sat in the parking lot waiting for SM to arrive. Since it was 6AM, none of the mall entrances was going to be open. We get there, and there's this minivan sitting on the roof of the parking structure where all mall employees are supposed to park. She gets out, pulls out one of the wheely contraptions that people use to drag things around and a lawn chair. What in the world is she doing with those things and at SIX IN THE MORNING. When she gets back in the minivan, we see she has a little girl sitting in the vehicle. She had to be about four or five, and she still had her blankie. SallyS and I asked each other and ourselves, why in the world is this woman at the mall at SIX when it didn't open till TEN? And why in the world is that little girl not in bed? Or getting ready for school? Turns out, they didn't leave the mall till about two. We weren't stalking them. SallyS saw them when she was going back to work.

Secondly, ladies, keep your children out of our display windows. Mannequins are heavy and will hurt if fallen on top of children. Don't you know how to keep an eye on your kids? I don't know how many times my SM or myself has had to tell a kid not to go into our windows, to get out of our windows, or to tell a parent to keep their child out of our windows. One day, when I was coming into work. I was walking past another store and some kid was bawling his eyes out. Do you know why? He tried to climb into another store's display window, fell down, and got hurt? first of all, what business does your child have in our window? Second of all, why aren't you watching your kid? Third of all, do you care if something heavy falls on your child?

Let's see... some examples, you want? These two ladies come in with two girls, probably around three/four and five/six. The older one starts to go into the first window, and I tell her she needs to stay out of our windows. The mom is on a cell phone, not paying any attention to either girl. They go down a little further, where I can't keep an eye on them anymore. The younger one goes into our window, and my SM tells her she needs to come out. She proceeds to tell her NO. Mom, on a cell phone still, has to go down and get her. They go down to the petite part of the store. Mom still on a cell phone. Both girls itching to get into the windows. But they see my SM watching them.

Moving on... here's a short one. Lady, if your kid/baby is crying bloody murder... don't you think it's wise to take care of the kid and see what they want? Get them out of the store, and out of the mall, and back home. Especially the wee little ones. Subjecting them to "hazardous materials that may cause cancer, birth defects, etc." There's a sign at every mall entrance with that warning. I see mothers bringing their newborns to the mall all the time. What are they thinking? Shouldn't they be at home? Okay, I have to admit I like seeing babies all the time. But that's only when they're behaving because that's when they're being taken care of. I have a regular customer who comes in all the time with her grandson. Adorable little thing. One time they came in and I was behind the cash register so he couldn't see me. I said hi to them and his head perked up and he looked around for me. Oh, but is he mischievous! At least he stays in his stroller and doesn't do a lot of crying. One time, this little girl (had to be about three) knocked off all the socks on the lower sock rack. What a mess! Actually, she was two! I remember asked her mom if she was two years old. Her mom was like, how did you know? They don't call them the terrible twos for nothing.

Bathrooms

We have a continuous problem with mall shoppers treating our bathrooms as public bathrooms. They are for customers. One time, some kid came in wanting to know where a bathroom was. Told him there was Macy's and the food court. The mall has three public bathrooms. One in the food court, another one a floor above that, and another one in the other food court. Now, most department store associates do not have to clean their own bathrooms. As far as we know. We do. We like to keep our bathrooms clean, since we use them more than anyone else.

Another time, a older man came in wanting to know where there was a public bathroom. My boss directed him to the mall's public bathrooms because it was obvious he didn't need to use one. He already had. He needed to clean up. If you know what I mean.

Then, last year, this guy comes in with his little girl who apparently really needed to go. My LA makes a comment that our bathrooms are not for public use, but for customers. He gets all offended and they got back and forth in this heated dispute. My SM at the time had to come out and calm them down. He says he and his wife do shop at Talbots and they were here just the other day and spent a lot of money. His daughter should be able to use our restroom. He, too, is a business owner. When the LA said the restroom was for customers, he pulled out his wallet and said, "fine, you pick something out and I'll buy it." He was really mad. Personally, she handled the situation the wrong way.

My current SM says if the person wanting to use the restroom is a shopper at our store, fine. It's a judgment call. If it's obviously just someone looking for a public restroom, point them to one. Because I have done that to teenagers and people who are obviously not going to shop in our store. If they come in looking for a public restroom, I'll send them on their way. Just this week, someone asked me if they could use our restroom. I responded that, it was for customers. She turned around and walked out. Now, if she went in, used it, and shopped around, fine. No big deal. But obviously, she just wanted to run in, use our "facilities", and run back out.

We have a big problem with people treating our restrooms like public restrooms. Leaving messes, plugging up the toilets... and when I mean messes, I mean MESSES. I don't think I need to get into detail here, do I? I think you get my point. Does anyone have anything to say? Anyone know if department stores have their associates clean the bathrooms or do they have cleaning crews?

Now, personally, yes, I do run into bookstores, Old Navy, and coffee places to use their restroom. But what do I do usually after I'm done? I do some shopping there. Personally, I feel guilty running into Starbucks, Borders, Old Navy, Michaels, or Barnes & Nobles JUST to use their restroom. The least they deserve is that I browse their store. Most of the time, with the exception probably of Old Navy, I do end up buying something. Old Navy... just don't always find anything there. Borders and Barnes & Nobles - there's always a book I can buy. Starbucks. Come on. Can you really walk in and use their restroom and walk back out? How do you not feel guilty about that? At least buy a drink. It doesn't even have to be that expensive. They've got stuff that costs around a dollar.

Topic of the next post: kids in the store.