True Stories: My Life in Retail

[formerlyfreedom]

Many posters have talked about their own experiences in the retail field (three months stocking the shelves at the local "Bullseye" here! I ended in the hole because of the damn pittance of an employee discount).

Share yours here - the good, the bad, the ugly, the hysterical. Change identities as necessary, and enjoy!

[MaryHedwig]

I gift-wrapped presents at a super store the Christmas season of my 17th year. I listened to the same Christmas carol loop every day for three weeks. The first song on the loop was "Good King Wenceslas". It was time to punch out when I heard that song for the 31st time. I kept track of each repeat with a Sharpie on the back of my hand. My head still bobs when I hear "on the feast of Stephen".

Edited November 18, 2016 by MaryHedwig

[Fostersmom]

Yes! One year if I worked a closing shift, 2-close, when I walked in "Christmas in Kilarney" would be playing every single day. I also worked at a chain of stores aimed at tweens and teens and the music matched. When we first opened the music was a lot of Disney stars singing Disney music. One of the more annoying ones was a version of "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid and it sounded like they were singing under water, had this weird bubbly noise. One of the male cashiers particularly hated that song. I would just wait for the call from him… Please, please make it stop! I couldn't change the channel, but I could skip to the next song. It almost became a game, how long would he hold out before calling. 

[MaryHedwig]

Continuing with music theme, I worked at a coffee house that catered to college students. This was the 60's so we were to play mellow acoustic folk music: Joan Baez; Donovan; Chad and Jeremy. We had one rough bluegrass album that everyone, staff and customers, hated except for me. I would play it when I was alone and doing prep.

Closing time was midnight but we weren't supposed to rush customers out; however, we did not get paid for overtime  We each had our ways of moving the customers out the door: "Martha" would vacuum under the tables, asking the customers to lift up their legs; Irene would water the hanging fern plants above their tables, dripping water onto their heads; Rod would turn the florescent lights and turn the music off; I would repeatedly ask them if I could get them anything else. Our boss caught on and wrote a memo nixing all this behavior. The next night, those working put on my bluegrass album and turned the volume up to 10. They linked arms and started dancing around the tables the most obnoxious line on the album, "Once I had a Daddy, and he worked down in a hole-hole-hole-hole-hole..." (It was a coal mining song.)

The boss got many complaints. My co-worker/"friends" try to blame me but fortunately I was cleared as I was not working that night. I was ordered to take the album home the next time I showed up for work.

[memememe76]

I worked in a photo lab of a big box grocery store, back in the 35mm days. A customer complained to me that all of her photos turned out blurry. She was screaming her head out, insisting that it was our fault. Yes, I was literally shaking the machine while her photos were being developed. 

[Fostersmom]

Once you work retail, it stays with you, especially if you worked it as long as I did. I totally busted a scam artist at the grocery store the other night. I instantly knew the scam he was trying to pull. I heard some guy telling another guy that "my grandma sends them to me all the time" not knowing what the conversation was about or if they knew each other or not. I walked on past and a few aisles later, I heard the same story again and instantly knew what he was trying to do. The guy was trying to sell a sure to be bogus gift card to other customers in the middle of the store. Sure enough, I turned the corner and he was trying to get some older lady to give him cash for a card, claiming that he's sell it to her for less than the face value and "save" her $15. My ass you will. I knew that he had pulled a card off the backer and there would be nothing on the card. I loudly told him to stop trying to scam people and he acted all offended. I again told him to knock it off. I went and grabbed the last thing I was looking for and basically followed him up to the registers where he tried it again and I got the head cashier and she got the manager. He ran out when he saw the two of them step towards him. There's pretty much no scam I've never seen and this wasn't a particularly good one. 

[topanga]

On 11/18/2016 at 5:25 PM, memememe76 said:

I worked in a photo lab of a big box grocery store, back in the 35mm days. A customer complained to me that all of her photos turned out blurry. She was screaming her head out, insisting that it was our fault. Yes, I was literally shaking the machine while her photos were being developed. 

Was your photo lab the banging room?

[methodwriter85]

I'm a guy with a college degree in the wrong major who ended up working retail. Bath and Body, Victoria Secret's, and Williams and Sonoma as seasonal stock boy, and currently working at a large movie theater chain for the last 18 months. I swear, so much of this show rings true.

Recently, there was a manager at our theater that got fired, and one member of the team just quit in protest, because said manager was getting piled on by the general manager.

And because of my time with the Limited Brands companies, I can't hear "Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber without grimacing. Oh my god, their music mixes just never changed.

[questionfear]

Oh I have so many stories.

A few favorites/disturbing and funny moments:

1) Walking the aisles at Borders one evening, find a guy in the spirituality/religion section. I ask if he needs anything; he says he's looking for books on ghosts, because he's being haunted by "a woman about 5ft tall, standing over here [gestures next to him]". I assigned the biggest guy we had in the store to stay near the guy until he left, and somewhere along the way he started shaking his leg and yelling "GET OFF ME". 

2) My boss had to fire someone once, and as her right hand I had to witness it. We had written the guy up a number of times, but what sealed his fate was telling a customer "I don't have time for your shit"...directly in front of our regional manager. The guy was REALLY bitter about being fired, and halfway through our legally mandated explanation of why he was being fired, he looked over at my boss and in a deadpan voice declared "Everyone hates you. You're terrible at your job. Everyone's leaving because you're so awful. You should be fired, not me." I was very impressed that she didn't skip a beat, just kept going and then immediately had all the door codes changed and mall security alerted the second he left the store.

3) It's never, ever, ever helpful to ask for a book by saying you want the "blue" book. Lots of books are blue. We cannot search by cover color. No, I don't know what book you saw on a table in our cafe last week. 

4) During the 2004 election, a small publisher rushed out a book discrediting John Kerry's war record. It was in very high demand (probably because we were in MA, where Kerry was senator). The publisher clearly didn't expect the demand, and had trouble getting enough copies to the stores. We were consistently getting accused of "hiding" the book from people who wanted it, even though we would politely explain that's why we had cash registers, and that we didn't judge your reading choices but would love to sell you things. One guy tried to pull that on us, telling us he'd heard the bookstores were "too goddamn liberal" to carry the title. He came back a week later and happened to grab our last copy. He saw me (I had helped him last time) and he comes over waving the book. I was very polite, and congratulated him on snagging our last copy. He gets right up in my face and says "Have. You. Read. This. Book?" I dodged it with "No, it's been selling so quickly I've been concerned with making sure our customers get their hands on it." Mr Crazypants then goes into a very loud, very extended rant against Kerry, ending with "I HAVE SCARS FROM THAT WAR, THIS ASSHOLE HAS BANDAIDS", and violently slamming the book down in front of me. We sent him to the registers, practically pushed him out the door, and I told our shocked cashier that if he had taken off his shirt to show me any scars, I would have quit on the spot. 

[topanga]

I was in WalMart the other day, making a return. Which meant that I stood in a long line for 15-20 minutes. During that time, I saw several employees wander aimlessly around the customer service department, and a few of them were hacking and coughing, or sneezing, without covering their mouths or using hand sanitizer. Then I saw that the employees at the registers were making faces and shaking their heads. Or sighing. Which made me laugh and had me wondering if the cashiers in front were the regular employees and the sickly, clueless employees were seasonal help. 

[joanne3482]

On 12/12/2016 at 4:02 PM, questionfear said:

3) It's never, ever, ever helpful to ask for a book by saying you want the "blue" book. Lots of books are blue. We cannot search by cover color. No, I don't know what book you saw on a table in our cafe last week. 

I worked in a Waldenbooks back in the day and this was a common issue. No I don't know the book with the person on the cover. There are LOTS of books with people on the cover. 

We had a $50 wrapped coffee table book of Michael Jordan. We had tons of them and there was one sample that was open so people could see the book before purchasing. It had a slightly torn cover.  We kept getting this one guy who wanted to buy that book (the one with the torn cover) and wanted a discount because it was torn.  He did not like it when we kept telling him that since there were a good 15 - 20 of them still wrapped we couldn't sell the "floor" model for the discount. 

We had these two guys who would shoplift books and then bring them back as a return for store credit wherein they would pick up more books and then return those for store credit like we were the library. 

It was back in 1996 when I worked there so the internet was still kind of fledgling. We had at least one customer a week come in and ask when the next Jean Auel book would be coming out.  At that point there was NOTHING about her latest book, but dang if everyone didn't want that book right now. 

[methodwriter85]

More memories:

I pulled a double-shift at Bath and Body Works and Williams and Sonoma on Black Friday 2014. I worked 12 to 8 at the first, then a 4 to 10 shift at the second. I literally went to sleep after Thanksgiving dinner, then came to B&B. There was a potluck set up in the back- we didn't have a breakroom, just a table and a fridge in the back with the storage, which was just packed with inventory. I just remember a blur of hurriedly getting stuff and getting bitched at by a manager because I went into the back to look for a pocket bac for a little girl and it was a waste of time, apparently. Because we were doing this from midnight to 8 a.m., I just remember having out-of-body experience where everything was surreal. At one point, me, this girl, and another guy were wheeling around the lifts to off-site, she decided to go on the lift and we wheeled her for a bit. Then we started singing Christmas songs to each other, with the girl reacting hysterically to my horrible singing voice. After the shift, when I got home and went to sleep, it turned out that I had left with the off-site key, and I had to go back to the mall and bring it back, cutting into my nap time.

The second one wasn't quite so crazy because W&S is high-end so they don't need as much volume. I didn't like working there because they expect their employees to forgo using ladders and instead climb up shelves monkey-style to get stuff. And their storage shelves are super-high.

[topanga]

14 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

More memories:

I pulled a double-shift at Bath and Body Works and Williams and Sonoma on Black Friday 2014. I worked 12 to 8 at the first, then a 4 to 10 shift at the second. I literally went to sleep after Thanksgiving dinner, then came to B&B. There was a potluck set up in the back- we didn't have a breakroom, just a table and a fridge in the back with the storage, which was just packed with inventory. I just remember a blur of hurriedly getting stuff and getting bitched at by a manager because I went into the back to look for a pocket bac for a little girl and it was a waste of time, apparently. Because we were doing this from midnight to 8 a.m., I just remember having out-of-body experience where everything was surreal. At one point, me, this girl, and another guy were wheeling around the lifts to off-site, she decided to go on the lift and we wheeled her for a bit. Then we started singing Christmas songs to each other, with the girl reacting hysterically to my horrible singing voice. After the shift, when I got home and went to sleep, it turned out that I had left with the off-site key, and I had to go back to the mall and bring it back, cutting into my nap time.

The second one wasn't quite so crazy because W&S is high-end so they don't need as much volume. I didn't like working there because they expect their employees to forgo using ladders and instead climb up shelves monkey-style to get stuff. And their storage shelves are super-high.

I hope no one got food poisoning from the potluck dinner! 

[Keener]

On 11/18/2016 at 0:19 AM, MaryHedwig said:

I gift-wrapped presents at a super store the Christmas season of my 17th year. I listened to the same Christmas carol loop every day for three weeks. The first song on the loop was "Good King Wenceslas". It was time to punch out when I heard that song for the 31st time. I kept track of each repeat with a Sharpie on the back of my hand. My head still bobs when I hear "on the feast of Stephen".

I've worked two big box stores while in university, but one of them used to play the same songs on timed rotation. So if Song X was playing you knew it was 8pm. I was literally telling time by the song playing on the overhead. 

I have so many stories, where to start?! Honestly sometimes I feel like the writers of Superstore just go to their local Wal-Mart and hang out. Cause the stuff that happens in the show? HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. 

Children would wind up "lost" only to sit in our customer service area for a good hour. We couldn't believe the parents hadn't come looking for the kid.  This sort of thing happened so frequently that we were convinced that parents would "lose" the kid on purpose so they could shop in peace. 

Not once, but TWICE we had kids (not toddlers, but KIDS old enough to know better) drop trow and go #2 right on the floor. Once was in jewellery and once in the toy section. 

The internal theft alone could fill a whole season of this show. I'm surprised that they haven't touched on that yet (I'm looking at you, Sandra!) We had an associate manager steal a whole skid of playstations out the McDonald's receiving door. We had a shift manager steal cash right from cashiers' tills. We had cashiers strike deals with customers to "sweetheart" items for them. I still remember setting up for our Christmas party in the lumber run (yes, big box hardware stores have their holiday parties on buckets using plywood as tables-- I wish I was kidding) and watching a cashier get escorted out by police handcuffed. 

And work flirts? Totally a thing. That's probably what I miss most about the retail existence. 

[Fostersmom]

Yeah, that's kind of the only thing they've got slightly wrong. Store security is there more to catch employees rather than customers. Most lost prevention people considered it a bonus if they got a legit customer and not just an employee. I've seen everything from cashier to store manger get caught stealing cash and merchandise, in every way humanly conceivable. 

Edited January 6, 2017 by Fostersmom

[Gyproselee]

I have worked in retail for 16 years . When I get home from work my grandchildren ask what is your story of the day.

Once I had a guy steal a razor as he walked out the door, after he put in a job application.

I worked night shift for a while and people would call at 3 AM asking about their applications.

Had a manger once who was making money orders and cashing them himself.

Had a manager leave his wife for an eighteen year old cashier.He was later terminated for stealing cartoons of cigarettes and cashing his own paychecks.

Once had a guy and his wife come in <night-shift again> with a blow up doll he got for his birthday. While she went to wait on someone to get her a patio set he left in a Camero with two teenage girls and the doll.<awkward when she came back and asked me where he was>

Had a customer ask me if the stuff in the store was for sale.

A very clever fellow came in dressed like a woman and steal Fitbits, then he went out dressed like a man again and try to return them.

The lady who called the police saying someone stole her car from the parking lot. They found it at the other door while she still insisted someone moved it to prank her.

[bonniejmac]

On 1/6/2017 at 10:15 AM, Keener said:

Children would wind up "lost" only to sit in our customer service area for a good hour. We couldn't believe the parents hadn't come looking for the kid.  This sort of thing happened so frequently that we were convinced that parents would "lose" the kid on purpose so they could shop in peace. 

Once, back in the early 2000's when one of the more recent Star Wars movies was out on DVD, they played it all day on all the TVs in our electronics department. One of the associates noticed 3 kids sitting on a stack base watching the movie - oldest probably about 10, the other two maybe 4 or 5 and 6 or 7. She asked if their mom knew where they were and the oldest replied, "Yeah, she went to the laundromat. She'll be back in a little while." In retrospect, she probably should have called the police or DSS, but I think the associate just kinda shrugged and went on with her business.

[MaryHedwig]

Quote

Yeah, that's kind of the only thing they've got slightly wrong. Store security is there more to catch employees rather than customers.

A coworker would steal tampons from the store. Only tampons. She said it wasn't really stealing because the stress of working there was causing her heavy periods so her need for extra ones was really the job's fault.

Edited January 9, 2017 by MaryHedwig

[fishcakes]

On 1/7/2017 at 9:30 AM, Keener said:

Can't speak for what they do *now* but back in the day? We didn't have a lost and found. Most everything ended up in the trash, I guess. I was at front end, and the lost and found was a small shelf under the cash register. It wouldn't be able to hold too many things. Anything lost at front end or deemed somewhat important (ie. a necklace, stuffed animal) went there.  After a while, it was trashed, I assume. Although I think it was trashed simply to get back space.

I will say that I found an envelope of cash once while working! No joke. It had about $200, I think. I remember there being several $50s and I wondered what to do about it. I didn't feel right keeping it, but I didn't know how someone could claim it was theirs.  Eventually after some hmm'ing and haa'ing I turned it into the cash office.  I think I'd decided that if no one had claimed it I would petition for it to go to the store's children's charity. Interestingly, someone did come back for it. Or at least that's the story the cash office lady told me-- who knows?-- Apparently she asked the person how much was in there and in what denominations. Since the person correctly identified the amount, they got the envelope. But looking back it's entirely possible she just stole it for herself. But that's on her. My conscience was clean. 

I worked retail for two years when I was in high school and once I found a twenty dollar bill on the floor near the register. I didn't know if a customer dropped it or if I dropped it out of the register when I was making change, so I called Personnel and asked them what to do. The personnel woman kept saying, "oh are you sure it isn't yours? It's probably yours, you should just keep it," and when I insisted it wasn't mine, she got pretty annoyed and said to turn it in with the register cash at the end of the night and they'd figure out if it belonged to the store. I checked with the cash office the next day and they said the money didn't come from the register so a customer must have dropped it and I could have it if no one claimed it at the end of 30 days, which is what happened. Much later, after I no longer worked there, I ran into a different person who worked in Personnel and he told me that I'd been set up because one of the security guards didn't like my looks and was convinced I was a thief but hadn't been able to catch me at anything, so the guard dropped the money, expecting me to pocket it. Apparently, the guard was pretty pissed off that I turned out to be honest and that I ended up with her $20.

[methodwriter85]

When we did our Shrink lesson at Victoria's Secret, we were told that it is against store policy to accuse people of shoplifting. Here is what we were told to do according to the video:

*Spying on someone taking stuff, First, you go to the security guard or another employee and let them know you see somebody stealing stuff. Then you calmly approach the *

You: Hi, how's it going?

Shoplifter: It's okay.

You: I see that you're enjoying our newest [underwear, bra, panty, etc]. Would you like a bag for that?

Shoplifter: Oh, nevermind. (Ashamed, the shoplifter puts back their item.)

I did get to use it. I saw this young guy (decently built) stealing thong panties and putting them into the pockets of his black Northface fleece. I tried this on him, but instead of stopping him, all it did was get him to wait a little more until I went away so he could keep on stealing. I can't tell if the guy was stealing them for a girlfriend or himself. LOL.

[Fostersmom]

It's a TOTAL PITA to catch a real shoplifter. The chains that I worked for that had store security had to see the person take the stuff, had to keep them in their sight the entire time they were in the store, then let them leave the building, and then haul them back inside. Then, depending on the local police department, they would either call the police or issue them a civil demand. One city would only come if they stole $500 or more or if they were minors and we literally couldn't find an adult willing to come get the kid. Parent, family member, neighbor, any adult would do. That was back before kids had cell phones and most could barely tell us their parents phone numbers other than the home number. If they were an adult then the store had to basically put $10,000 aside on the PNL (profit and loss) statement for legal fees.

Employees are way easier, most often they would just get fired and just sometimes were charges pressed. Twice I saw older men get fired for stealing and it was practically heartbreaking to everyone when they got fired. One guy had retired and took a part time job since his adult son had pretty severe autism, he was verbal and  about 25  but mentally about 3, and he was stocking away for future care. He worked in the hardware and electronics area. He was caught ringing up sales, giving people their change, and then voiding the sale, but pocketing the money. The other one was also retired and also had a handicapped son. He was in his late 60s and the son was in his 30s with pretty severe cerebral palsy and he also worked at the store. Both were maintenance guys. Every time reviews rolled around, dad always had them give his to his son and they pretty much worked the same shifts. This was back in the 90s and there was a collectable Barbie craze. The store would get a limited amount and we kept them in the back in a secure area. It turned out he had been stealing one of every style each time a new one was released for his wife. He got fired and then not long after, his son basically quit due to embarrassment. That one was just horrible. 

[methodwriter85]

One of the managers at a store I worked with got fired for stealing, but that was after I left.

[Fostersmom]

I saw a few managers get fired for stealing various things, usually not direct merchandise, but resources. One got fired after he marked down a fan for himself, of all stupid things. He was already on the LP person's radar, she didn't like him and he thought nothing of taking a handful of popcorn from the snack bar, right out of the machine (gross and technically stealing food). She was all but giddy when she caught him with the fan. Another one got fired when it turned out her roommate, her sister, and just about everyone she ever met were all using her employee discount. I also knew 2 managers who got fired at 2 different chains for playing with payroll. Both chains were of the dollar store type and payroll is ridiculously low. Like one chain used to give me 120 hours a week to run the store, and I got 45, so 165 total. More often than not I was there myself 8-1:30, then an assistant would come in 1:30-10, a cashier would come in at 5-10 and I would leave about 6. One day a week I had enough payroll to have a second person in the morning to help me stock, one day a second person to help unload the truck, and a second cashier on Friday night, and on Saturdays I could usually have a cashier and manager all day. And that was if we were making sales as a district, if we weren't we were all expected to cut payroll, regardless if your sales were good or not. The other chain was only slightly better, but barely. Managers from both of those chains got caught having employees work and not clock in, and then either pay them in cash from their own pocket or accounting for the hours the following week when payroll was hopefully slightly less tight, or would pay them out of their pocket. Another got fired when he called another manager and asked her to take cash out of the safe and go bail him out of jail, uh..no. With him it was pretty common knowledge he and another assistant were having sex in the loss prevention office during shifts they worked together, and he only got the job because his father was pretty high up in the company, so it was time for him to go anyway. 

[Keener]

This recent episode reminded me of the power outages we'd have on occasion at the big-box hardware store I worked at. They had a tool box called a "crash kit" and if the power went down, you had to manually record everything on these invoices. So you had to write down the sku and the price, tally it up, then if they paid by cash (awesome!), if hey paid by card you did that old 1980s system of rolling the card through the carbon paper. It was so tedious and only the most desperate contractors would stick it through. 

Back when there was the Great Black Out of North America, we had generator power (thankfully), but everyone in the community wanted/needed: a) generators b) batteries c) water d) propane. The batteries generally were really a product that never moved off the shelf. Most people just get batteries at Wal-Mart, not at a hardware store. So they were dust covered. That day, we basically cleared the skid. They pulled a second dust covered skid from storage and that too was just cleared within minutes. It made me laugh that all that was left was AAA batteries on this shelf. 

[questionfear]

Just weighing in on the shoplifting discussion: 

Agreed that it's really hard to catch a customer shoplifting. One of the big reasons they didn't want us confronting shoplifters was safety, and in fact at another store in our district someone got maced while following a shoplifter. (We were being hit by a very professional shoplifting ring that was stealing DVD sets).

My favorite shoplifting story is from when I worked at Best Buy. I was in college and worked the 6am-10am shift on days I didn't have class, and it was almost all inventory work-tagging things with price tags, changing prices on the displays, unpacking and shelving the shipments, etc. So I didn't ever deal with customers, and in fact wasn't even trained on how to use the registers or help people in any departments. Therefore, it was really odd when even I got dragged into a morning meeting where loss prevention was losing their shit at all of us. It turns out someone had walked into the store wearing a trench coat (in July), gone over to the flatscreen tv display (it was 2003 so this was still kind of new), removed a small flat screen, stuffed it in his pants, wrapped his coat around it, and walked out. Security was apoplectic that no one thought to flag a dude in a trench coat in summer with a goddamn TV in his pants.

[DB in CMH]

Scammy thing a cashier at my store got fired for: Sobeys in Canada (grocery store) uses Air Miles as its frequent shopper program. At the time you couldn't get any sale items without AirMiles, so the overnight cashier would key in her account number for customers without cards. She walked away with thousands of AirMiles (1 mile per $20 spent) before she was caught and fired.

[Keener]

In light of the Valentine's Day episode, i will share that I was a matchmaker at my store. I was a mid-level manager (I guess equal to Amy's position in the show) and I thought that one of the cashiers (who was in 12th grade at the time) and this kid in the cleaning department (same age as her) would be sooooo cute together. I sussed out their interest and both were game, so I conveniently would schedule the cashier's breaks to allow her to go on break with the boy from cleaning.  They eventually started to date... and then got married years later!  I was proud of myself for that one! 

[Fostersmom]

On February 4, 2017 at 9:51 AM, Keener said:

Back when there was the Great Black Out of North America, we had generator power (thankfully), but everyone in the community wanted/needed: a) generators b) batteries c) water d) propane. The batteries generally were really a product that never moved off the shelf. Most people just get batteries at Wal-Mart, not at a hardware store. So they were dust covered. That day, we basically cleared the skid. They pulled a second dust covered skid from storage and that too was just cleared within minutes. It made me laugh that all that was left was AAA batteries on this shelf. 

I was managing a dollar store at that time, our neighbors were a buffet restaurant. Their manager came over and asked if I could let them have some flashlights and batteries and ring them up later when we got power back. I started a list for him and the next thing I knew, I had a list for his employees too. He wouldn't give any their pay check until he knew we had been paid! LOL! I was still living at home back then and I remember getting home and my mom was serving pork chops she had grilled with a side of ice-cream for dinner! That was a first.

[BusyOctober]

Last nights episode gave me awful flashbacks for sure...

Many moons ago I worked as a retail store manager. We were a small staff, so everyone was responsible for unloading trucks on delivery day. The store was in an historic block of a busy city, so no remodeling or improvements could be made to the building. It tucked away on a small side street; no "shipping and receiving" dock, no parking lot, no unloading zone. The delivery trucks had to back down the one way alley and park 100 feet away from our back door.  We didn't have a fancy roller conveyor belt, and only one of those hand truck 2-wheeler things - it always had a busted wheel. We had to take stuff off the truck,  walk down the sidewalk, down a flight of narrow steps and into the basement stock room. Repeat hundreds of times until truck was empty.  Trying to remember which I hated more - the 100 degree days in August (no AC in the stockroom) or the snow & ice covered walkway in February (the landlord never shoveled or salted even though it was his responsibility).  When it was time for seasonal shipments for Back to School (June) or Christmas (September), we would get 2 deliveries a week.

Once I finally got out of retail, I was amazed that I could wake up on Wednesdays without back pain. Plus, I discovered the joys of "weekends".  I had 2 full days off...in a row!

[Fostersmom]

On February 17, 2017 at 8:09 AM, BusyOctober said:

Once I finally got out of retail, I was amazed that I could wake up on Wednesdays without back pain. Plus, I discovered the joys of "weekends".  I had 2 full days off...in a row!

The job I have now is literally the first Monday thru Friday 8:30-5 job I've had in my life. I've been there 2 and a half years and I'm 40. The concept was just so odd for me having worked retail since I was in high school, except for a college job in the office of admissions, but even there I had to take a Saturday shift every couple of weeks and would work retail when I came home for breaks. The idea of every weekend off was even more of an oddity. Who knew a real life could be had!?

[EarlGreyTea]

I have no interesting stories to add except to say I was a royal bitch after having to stand for 8 hours a day. I bought expensive nursing shoes and was still in major pain most of the time. Anyone who can do it with a smile gets my admiration.

I would also add that it was kind of depressing when I left my retail job and found out all the coworkers I talked to constantly were people I had absolutely nothing in common with. Without complaining about customers, the job, or other coworkers, we really had nothing to talk about, which bummed me out. Having said that, there's something really beautiful in working alongside people from all walks of life whom you would never have hung out with otherwise.

[Utpe]

In 2008, I worked for Circuit City until they bit the dust.  My job was primarily stocking shelves and such.  Other than the occasional riff-raff trying to steal expensive electronic equipment, it was relatively peaceful.  Towards the end, the store looked like a ghost town.  Everybody's job at that point was to load whatever wasn't sold into the trucks so they could be sent back to the corporate warehouse.  We received our final paycheck and that was that.

I was also employed by Best Buy from 2004 - 2006 shortly after I had graduated college working for the Geek Squad.  It only lasted a few years until I decided to move on.  I didn't like the policies they had established.  They made us push unnecessary products and plans in order to dupe the customers into thinking they needed something when they actually didn't.

There were times when customers had such minor PC problems (disconnected cords and such) that I would fix it right there on the spot and not charge them for it.  The manager found out and I was told to stop or otherwise risk being fired.  That was around the time when I decided to give them my two weeks notice.

Superstore reminds me so much of the employees that I used to work with.  Granted, we really had nothing in common, but I always manage to get a laugh out of the ridiculous scenarios that take place.

[methodwriter85]

I recently found out that one of the cashiers at the theater I work for had been basically stealing about 150 dollars every time he worked, for the  past 2 years. It explains why we've been short on inventory for so long and so often. Apparently, he would "ring" people up for their transactions that would wind up an even total. Only he didn't, and he pocketed the money. Pretty brazen shit. He's a juvenile but he's looking at some deep trouble because of the amount he stoles, and because he's already in trouble with the law. We're talking like an estimate of 30k.

[Keener]

On 10/20/2017 at 1:42 AM, DrScottie said:

I found an interesting article about loss prevention at WalMart. 

[bringing this over from Workplace Bully thread]

As a former employee/manager, that article was entirely accurate. Although we called our in store person "Mr. Brooks" (not his real name) and he was super obvious if you ask me. I remember specifically one time watching him pretend shop in the women's clothing racks. Somehow though, he would always manage to sneak up on a thief. It would make my night to see him ditch some item he was pretending to shop with at the cash next to the sliding doors and dash out after someone. 

And yes, *everyone* caught had the cops called on them. Back when I worked there it was the Pokemon card fad and kids were constantly caught trying to steal them. They'd call the cops to make a point of teaching them a lesson. 

But employee theft was by far the worst. We had a manager steal like $20k during cash pick ups. And another manager load a skid of Playstations on to a waiting vehicle via the McDonald's service exit. They were always the most brazen. And it made for the best gossip. 

Actually that would make for a good running gag. Like every episode you see a background employee stealing something while the main cast is talking and not noticing. Then a few episodes later he/she is caught by their theft prevention (is that Dina? lol)

Edited October 27, 2017 by Keener

[Tdoc72]

Retail music:  I worked in a now-defunct pharmacy (was like a CVS or Walgreens) and we had about 6 general mix cassette tapes to rotate. We'd usually make it about 2 weeks before we asked for it to be switched. But come early November came our one Xmas mix. After three weeks, we would beg our manager to change it. He give us the 'corporate says we have to run the Xmas tape' speech. One year, he did relent for an hour. We were so happy even though it was one of the other mixes we'd heard a gazillion times. 

Bunch of 'character' customers but here's two:

the bag lady--always requested each item to be in a separate bag so they wouldn't get heavy. But then she'd gather them all around one wrist and tote them out. 

The roach lady--always bought a lot of stuff including a can of bug spray. A few days later, she'd return it saying the sprayer didn't work (aka she used it all and it was empty) Boss would always refund her $4. After seeing this a bunch of times, I asked him why he didn't tell her no. He said she always bought a lot of stuff and it wasn't worth losing the customer. 

[wendyg]

The bag lady was probably afraid the bags would break, not that they'd be too heavy for her to carry. I have a friend who always requests a lot of bags for that reason. I would love to see an episode where everyone's trying to stop/steal the Christmas tapes.

[fishcakes]

15 minutes ago, wendyg said:

The bag lady was probably afraid the bags would break, not that they'd be too heavy for her to carry.

I've always wondered if checkers and baggers get penalized in some way for giving out too many bags because if you ask them to double-bag or not stuff them so full, they often seem to take personal offense. Either just a long, "you're kidding me," stare or sometimes an eyeroll. One time a bagger did double bag after I asked but kept up a steady stream of "these are really strong bags. You don't need them to be double. What are you going to do with all these bags?" while she did it. Then a few years ago, my city outlawed plastic bags and made stores charge for paper bags, so now most people just carry their own bags, which I thought was going to be a pain, but it turned out not to be.

[neuromom]

3 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I've always wondered if checkers and baggers get penalized in some way for giving out too many bags because if you ask them to double-bag or not stuff them so full, they often seem to take personal offense. Either just a long, "you're kidding me," stare or sometimes an eyeroll. One time a bagger did double bag after I asked but kept up a steady stream of "these are really strong bags. You don't need them to be double. What are you going to do with all these bags?" while she did it. Then a few years ago, my city outlawed plastic bags and made stores charge for paper bags, so now most people just carry their own bags, which I thought was going to be a pain, but it turned out not to be.

I’m in CA where they charge for bags. But it’s only 10 cents a bag (people spend more on the impulse buys near the register). But, it HAS made more people think a little bit more and more people tend to bring their own bags, so that’s a good thing.

[bonniejmac]

On 10/28/2017 at 11:08 AM, fishcakes said:

I've always wondered if checkers and baggers get penalized in some way for giving out too many bags because if you ask them to double-bag or not stuff them so full, they often seem to take personal offense. Either just a long, "you're kidding me," stare or sometimes an eyeroll. One time a bagger did double bag after I asked but kept up a steady stream of "these are really strong bags. You don't need them to be double. What are you going to do with all these bags?" while she did it. Then a few years ago, my city outlawed plastic bags and made stores charge for paper bags, so now most people just carry their own bags, which I thought was going to be a pain, but it turned out not to be.

When I was at Walmart, about once or twice a year they'd go on a kick of reminding us to be careful about not 'wasting' bags - usually near the end of the fiscal year, now that I think about it. It was because, a) we often weren't allowed to make supply orders in the last month or so of the FY, to try to conserve the budget, so we often ran out of bags completely and someone would have to go over to the Sam's club and buy bags from there, and b) because the less spent on bags and other supplies, the more we would allegedly get in our annual bonus. (Back when it was annual. Now it's quarterly. And ours was never that great. You'd hear about stores that got like, $1200 and ours were always like, $250 if we were lucky.) So anyway, some associates certainly took that as 'make them beg for bags!'

[scowl]

On 10/27/2017 at 6:40 AM, Tdoc72 said:

Retail music:  I worked in a now-defunct pharmacy (was like a CVS or Walgreens) and we had about 6 general mix cassette tapes to rotate. We'd usually make it about 2 weeks before we asked for it to be switched. But come early November came our one Xmas mix. After three weeks, we would beg our manager to change it. He give us the 'corporate says we have to run the Xmas tape' speech. One year, he did relent for an hour. We were so happy even though it was one of the other mixes we'd heard a gazillion times. 

This is a classic psychological experiment. Ask someone what food they like the most and what food they hate the most. If you feed them nothing but the one food they said they liked, eventually they'll beg you for the food they said they hated.

[saylubee]

On 10/28/2017 at 10:08 AM, fishcakes said:

I've always wondered if checkers and baggers get penalized in some way for giving out too many bags because if you ask them to double-bag or not stuff them so full, they often seem to take personal offense. Either just a long, "you're kidding me," stare or sometimes an eyeroll. One time a bagger did double bag after I asked but kept up a steady stream of "these are really strong bags. You don't need them to be double. What are you going to do with all these bags?" while she did it. Then a few years ago, my city outlawed plastic bags and made stores charge for paper bags, so now most people just carry their own bags, which I thought was going to be a pain, but it turned out not to be.

Some grocery stores do have minimums.  I had a roommate in college that worked for HEB.  They had to bag 4 items/bag or more.  The computer system would keep track of it and they had a sign in the break room that showed where they were on items sold/bags used.  

Edited November 3, 2017 by saylubee

[methodwriter85]

Debating over which of the seasonal hires are going to last really does seem to happen across all parts of retail/service jobs.

[janie jones]

On 11/3/2017 at 11:06 AM, saylubee said:

Some grocery stores do have minimums.  I had a roommate in college that worked for HEB.  They had to bag 4 items/bag or more.  The computer system would keep track of it and they had a sign in the break room that showed where they were on items sold/bags used.  

I wish more stores had this policy.  I find that people often double bag unnecessarily or don't put enough items in a bag.  I used to shop at a Ralph's where I hated how the employees bagged.  The last straw was when someone put a magazine in a bag alone.  I started using the U-Scan after that, but it was a hassle because they didn't keep paper bags there so I had to ask every time.

[methodwriter85]

I work at a movie theater that plays ads on t.v. screens. I currently have to listen to an ad where an African woman is being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or something like that, but then she admits that this is all just a fantasy because she died at the age of 8 due to starving. She goes, "But there is no breakthrough. There is no discovery. I did not go to medical school. I did not get an education. I died of huunnngggeeer at the age of 8." (changes to little girl voice, then we see her standing forlornly alone on a stage as the press around her disappears.) It's an ad for saving the starving children of Africa. It's been running since at least September. Like I get that it's a sad issue but I'm really tired of having to watch it.

The other really depressing ad I had to listen to before that was a truncated version of this one:

 

On the flip side, this was a really fun ad my theater chain used to run:

Coca Cola: Taste the Feeling

Such fun. Of course, the funny thing is that Connections is basically being absorbed into Cinemark's new Movie Club program.

We also ran the ads for Cher's Abba cover album, which was fun.

Edited November 20, 2018 by methodwriter85

[SmithW6079]

On 11/20/2018 at 3:51 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I work at a movie theater that plays ads on t.v. screens. I currently have to listen to an ad where an African woman is being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize or something like that, but then she admits that this is all just a fantasy because she died at the age of 8 due to starving. She goes, "But there is no breakthrough. There is no discovery. I did not go to medical school. I did not get an education. I died of huunnngggeeer at the age of 8." (changes to little girl voice, then we see her standing forlornly alone on a stage as the press around her disappears.) It's an ad for saving the starving children of Africa. It's been running since at least September. Like I get that it's a sad issue but I'm really tired of having to watch it.

No sense of irony on the part of the theater that a PSA about hunger airs in a place that sells ginormous-sized portions of junk food?

[methodwriter85]

6 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

No sense of irony on the part of the theater that a PSA about hunger airs in a place that sells ginormous-sized portions of junk food?

Wow, I never thought about it that way but you're right. LOL.

I just kept side-eying the ad for perpetuating the "starving children in Africa" stereotype. Non-black kids starve, too.

You're seriously right, though. It feels like bad taste to educate about hunger while selling "medium" popcorns that weigh about 130 ounces.

Edited November 23, 2018 by methodwriter85

[bonniejmac]

On 11/20/2018 at 1:36 PM, janie jones said:

I wish more stores had this policy.  I find that people often double bag unnecessarily or don't put enough items in a bag.  I used to shop at a Ralph's where I hated how the employees bagged.  The last straw was when someone put a magazine in a bag alone.  I started using the U-Scan after that, but it was a hassle because they didn't keep paper bags there so I had to ask every time.

I think the ‘under bagging’ is probably due to the fact that people who are particular about bagging are a lot more vocal (and nasty) about how they like their stuff bagged. So I think a lot of cashiers just start bagging everything based on what they’ve been yelled at about previously. (I’m not sure why it’s so hard to just ASK a customer ‘hey, is it okay if I bag these together?’ or whatever, but it seems to be. And forget using common sense.) (I used to get frequent compliments on my bagging skills. Four years out of the business and I’m still inordinately proud of this.)

[methodwriter85]

I fell in love with this song when it played on the Holiday music mix at the store I worked at during the 2012 Christmas season:

[WAnglais1]

I worked in a record store in the mid-90s. My favorite was when a customer would come in looking for, "That song, it's kinda slow and has 'I love you' in the lyrics." That narrows it down. Or the woman who came in one day and asked for the new Paul Simon CD. I handed her a copy of "The Rhythm of the Saints" and she said, "No. The new one." "This one came out Tuesday." "Well, there's been one since that!" she replied and stormed out of the store. It was Thursday. 

We got hit by counterfeiters once. They bought one cassette tape right after we opened and paid with a $100 bill. The other clerk rang it up and gave all the register change out to them. He brought the fake bill back to the office and asked for more change. On the bill, Ben Franklin was cross-eyed and it felt like copier paper. The ring hit the other record store in the mall and a few other places about the same time. 

 

In college I worked as a stock boy in a variety store chain, Super D. They have since gone out of business. This was in the mountains of NC, and in the summer it was typically pleasant. This one summer was very hot. We had gotten a ton of box fans in to sell and had them stacked in one area. 

One day a lovely young woman came in to the store. She walked back to the fans and asked if a man could come back and help her get one. Our manager yelled, "We don't have a man. How about WAnglais1?" I gave him the side eye and started back to her. I was terribly shy and never dated. (Plus, being quite physically unattractive didn't help.) I got about halfway back to her when I tripped over my feet and hit the floor like a sack of flour. I stood up and walked calmly the rest of the way, trying to laugh it off. She asked I get a fan from the stack for her. As I did, it was like the losing move on Jenga. The entire stack of box fans turned over on me and I was down again. I got back up, pick up one of the boxes and calmly asked, "Would you like me to carry this up front for you?" She yelled, "NO!" grabbed the box and ran to the check out. 

I was a screenwriting major in college and for a class one year I wrote a few scripts of a sitcom set in a store like the one where I worked. However, like Jonah, I had no ambition or knowledge as to how to go about to try and sell them. 

Edited December 28, 2018 by WAnglais1

[kelslamu]

Worked third shift at 24 hour retail store (not walmart lol) .  Had a guy ask me at 2am for the location of the baby aisle.  This grown man had a pacifier on a ribbon around his neck and was wearing shorts.  You could see part of a diaper he was wearing hanging out of the shorts.  He told me he was on his way to a baby shower and forgot the gift.  I simply had no words for that one.  The music loop sucked soooo much.  If I ever hear Simple Man by Shinedown again it will be entirely too soon.

Edited December 30, 2018 by kelslamu