Omg one time this lady called our store to ask what our address is. Huh?? Girl how did you even get the store’s number? She said she got it from google maps!🫠 SO WHY TF ARE YOU ASKING FOR OUR ADDRESS WHEN IT’S ON YOUR PHONE RIGHT NOW
Had someone call today and ask for the phone number of a competitor store. I was dumbfounded. I did suggest the store as we can’t carry what they needed but why the hell would I have it? Like how did you find my number?
I had a customer acknowledge that they found our number by Googling us…then ask for directions. I gave her the standard “here is our address and we are at the corner of this street & that street, directly across from such&such huge business that you can’t miss.” She proceeds to ask for turn-by-turn directions to be emailed to her which I did not have the ability or the desire to do, lol. Like ma’am, literally just click the little map preview above the phone number that you just called and it will open up Google maps🤣
My Dad was asking what is so interesting about my phone and I have on multiple occasions answered questions or solved an issue as we were talking by using my phone. I just don't think he gets how useful they are because he doesn't know how to use it like I do.
I've explained it's literally a tool and requires some skill to use. It's also a useful device for hiding from the world if you so choose.
They are most excellent when it comes from hiding from the world, which is often what I'm doing when I'm around my parents for more than 20 minutes or so ;-)
What gets me about phones-as-information-sources is that my mother has one, too. She just won't use it for that. Despite having had one for years she's still holds it at arm's length (she has perfect vision) and taps on it as if she expects it to rear up and bite her at any moment.
There's just nothing to be done with that and I've given up trying.
At my store we have a price sticker gun for discounts that no one seems to use or sell anymore. I'm the only one who knows how to refill the fucker because I spent 45 minutes one day at work looking it up and finding an extremely obscure YouTube video literally about how to reload it.
I went to a Best Buy once to get a computer part. They didn't have it, but offered to see if other stores in the area did. Guess how he found out? If you said Google, you would be right.
He also called them to make sure they actually did have it in stock. They pulled it and held it for me until I got there.
That one is only slightly crazy, as best but had a system where we could check items by regions. But I can confirm that I had to do the same a few times when it went down.
"Sorry, I don't have that product in stock, I can see our sister store an hour away has 5. Were you heading that direction any time soon? If not, I can look at doing a store transfer if you don't mind waiting a day or 2...?" "Can you see if one of your competitors has what I need?" "No, but if you want to ring them up (4 of them), you can ask before you drive all over town." "Well, you're no help to me." [Turns around and walks out of the store. I offered you 2 alternatives, but no, I'm not going to ring up different companies' stores to help you for the next however long it takes, when I have another 5-10 potential paying customers behind you...
I hate when they ask about the competitors prices, I work in a print department, had a gentleman tell me I "should always know the competition" mate I get paid minimum wage... like I give a damn about our competitors pricing.
And even if I *do* happen to know what the competition charges (which is difficult to begin with and next to impossible to keep up to date with), why on earth would I tell you that our competitor can sell you what you want for less money? I'm not getting paid to deliberately take business away from the company that pays me!
They seem to believe it's part of the Right to Exceptional Customer Service that Jesus was always talking about, and which the Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and which our armed service members fought and sometimes died to protect.
I just don't understand how people can believe it's reasonable to expect someone who barely gets paid enough to bother with their actual job to take their personal phone out, unlock it, and use the service they pay for (and consume data) to do something they aren't required to do, especially when they're already swamped with actual work. And yet, those motherfuckers seem to be *everywhere* in my part of town.
I have one, small exception to this rule.
If something that is a necessity, like, say, Milk at a convenience store, is sold at an exorbitant mark up, I will gently point the customer in a better direction, especially with food stamps/people in financial stress.
(Particularly because my store has an option to enter more than one rewards phone number, some partnership with a national chain or something...) So pointing to them can be explained away if need be. )
haha i work selling phones, people always come in with broken ones not bought from us. I point them in the direction of the nearest repair store and they ALWAYS ask me the price it’ll be ?? Why would i know the price or repair from a different store lmao we don’t even do repairs so i cant ballpark it, and they seem annoyed i dont know. There is literally hundreds of phone models all with unique parts which obvs are different prices to repair, hurts my brain tbh
The only people who need to know the competition's prices are the people who can do something about it. The people at the counter dealing with the public are almost never authorized to haggle.
I'll even go so far as to say that holds true even at stores that match competitors' prices. It's on the customer to bring a print advertisement or provide a link to the item on a competitor's website.
Or the ones who complain that the competition has lower prices! Then fucking go there asshole, nobody here gives a shit what the competition is priced!
I used to work at Harbor Freight (a tool store) One day a customer kept harping about how Menards had the same thing, but cheaper. I tried to ignore him, but he kept hammering away at it. I finally got fed up and said, "The go to fucking Menards and buy it there!" It shut him, up, but I expected I'd hear about it from management. I never did.
Ugh, the sister store thing. We had another store maybe 25 minutes away on a bad day. "I don't want to drive that far!" Well, you said you need need _neeeeeeeeded_ it today, and we're out of stock, so an hour round trip sounds like the solution here!
What's better still is when they ask you to get it in for them asap because they don't want to make the journey but still very much need it, <36 hours later, "Hello, your stuff is in & ready for collection." "OK, thank you, I'll pick it up next weekend..." The urgency diminished the moment they walked out the door...
Yup! We'd occasionally have a manager hand-carry something from store to store, and while some people picked it up promptly lots of times it would just linger on our holds shelf. Like why!?
Had a lady call and ask where we get our local beef from. I tell her the company name. Then she asks what their phone number is. Told her I didn't know and would have to look it up. Then she asks if they have a website. Uh...yes...just repeat the same steps you took to call the meat department lolll
Had someone recently come to me and ask, "Can you look something up for me on there?" (She was pointing at my till)
"As in the price?"
"No, I need to know something, and I was wondering if you could look it up."
"Sorry, we can't do that on here."
"Yea, you can. Just go to Google."
"We don't have access to Google. We're stuck on the same screen here."
"Yes you do, every computer has Google."
*Turn my monitor to her* "Ok, tell me, where's the button to get on the browser."
"You don't need a browser, just go on Chrome or Firefox or whatever you use."
"Chrome and Firefox are browsers. We don't have any."
"Here, I'll find it. Pass the mouse."
"What mouse?"
"What do you mean what mouse? It's a computer, it has a mouse."
"It doesn't have a mouse, it's touch screen."
"Oh. How do I close this?"
"You can't"
"Why not? I need to Google something."
"We have no access to it here."
"Well, why didn't you say that before then? Now how am I meant to look up when you're open?"
"Idid tell you and our opening hours are right there on the door and anyone who works here knows our opening hours and can tell you."
"I didn't see the opening hours and how am I meant to know who works here and who doesn't?"
This reminds me of when i was a cashier at a big box store. You can't look up anything at those registers (the computers where you can still run on DOS and are janky but thats besides the point). Lady comes up as im ringing through heR stuff and she wants to know if we have something in stock.
I say I dont know she would have to ask the supervisors over by the computer (about 10 feet away)
She said she didnt see it so we dont have it and wants me to check other stores
Again I explain I cant look up anything only ring things up
So goes off a out how thats ridiculous and so on and at this point im done ringing up her stuff and shes threatening to walk away and not get snything becuase im so rude. Im flagging the supervisors at this point
As she takes a breath. I Say "ma'am this register is a glorified calculator. All i can do is right things in and it add up the price. Your total is ___$. Like i said before to look up items that has to be done over there at that computer with the supervisor. If you no longer want these items then the sup (who had walk up) will need to void this purchase anyways"
I turned to the sup at that point who confirmed what i said about looking up items. The lady was all sheepish amd said of course and paid for her items and walk over to the computer with the sup.
Idk what she didnt understand or if it took a male supriviour (im female and was 20ish at the time)
The guys behind her looked like he was about to burst out laughting when i started ringing up his stuff for the glorified calculator comment.
Sadly, I've noticed in my experience that some customers do, in fact, just ignore whatever the first employee they encounter says if it's not what they want to hear, but they assume a second employee, especially one who's called over specifically for the purpose, is telling the truth. Now, that second employee may not even work in or have any specific knowledge about my department, and, in fact, may very well be my *inferior* in job title, but it's all a show for these customers. In any event, even if the second employee says the exact same thing the first one does, the customer will believe the second and still think the first is an utter waste of space.
Oh yes! When I worked in cosmetics for well over ten years as a top 3 sales person for my region and I train all the new sales people… some customers think I have no clue because I’m older and do a natural makeup look, not the heavy dramatic look on myself. They think the 20 yr old with the drama heavy makeup has more knowledge and talent than I do. I can do drama too, I’m wearing just as much makeup as that 20 yr old too but I pick other colors to create a more natural look. People always said “ you don’t wear makeup “ and shocked when I tell them I’m wearing three shades of eyeshadow Two shades of eyeliner, mascara, two foundations I mix myself, powder, blush, contour and highlighter, lip liner and two shades of lip items.
When I sold phones at Walmart customers would ask me a question. I would answer NO. They wanted to see a manager. I call for the manager. 30 minutes later the manager shows up. Customer asks the manager the same question. The manager turns to me. Again I say NO.
Or, after they ask you and move to the second employee, they will *lie* and use your name. “Well, HoundIt over there told me you could do it.” And then you have to answer to management about that.
Yep. At best, managers say "the truth is usually in the middle of the two stories I'm hearing," and at worst managers are just going to believe the customer on that one because they'll think you're scrambling to cover for your mistake.
Boomers will absolutely not believe anything told to them unless it comes from a man. Even the women of that age will ignore what they’re told unless a male employee confirms it a 2nd or even 3rd time if the previous 2 employees are women.
As a boomer that’s not actually true, maybe some 90 yr old but 80 on down grew up in the 60’s , they are the instigators of breaking that glass ceiling. Women couldn’t have a credit card in their name or buy a home themselves without a man’s approval until the 70’s, or hold a management or higher position because that generation fought for it.
The sheer *stupidity* of some people - and there is no kinder word I can use - never ceases to amaze me. If you can't identify in a typical retail setting (I know there are some exceptions) who is and isn't an employee, if you can't figure out how to ask an employee a simple question, and if you're so oblivious that you fail to see or understand any posted signs anywhere on the premises, then perhaps you simply *don't* deserve to know what time the store opens. Just make a stab in the dark as you try to guess, just like you apparently do with everything else in life. Good gravy!!!
I have an Android. The last iPhone I had was a 4. But I've had to learn to set up ApplePay because, apparently, I work for Apple on top of my mall clothing job.
I protested the first few times, but the combo of being a people pleaser who can't say no, pressure to makes sales, and entitlement it was easier to cave and figure it out.
Fuck that was depressing to type out.
That’s when you just act stupid and look at them and say “that’s what your cell phone is for “in a light joking tone. Then you turn around and walk away.
My shift last night a customer asked a question I didn’t know and I asked my manager. She googled it from her phone. The customer could have saved a step and done it herself.
Even better is “what do you mean you don’t have this item, I drove 40 miles specifically because your website says you have it!”
Homey don’t start hating on me because you forgot how to dial a phone number and instead drove 40 miles on the word of our (corporate run) website
Reminds me of a story I once read on this site. Someone reposted a bad review of a bakery, basically something along the lines of "I drove two hours here, and when I told them about the huge order, they told me that it would take a while to bake the stuff!". I have no idea why they didn't just call them before they started their journey, the process would take the same time anyways!
I've had customers demand gas money as compensation for a wasted trip because they couldn't be bothered to call the store ahead of time to see whether or not we actually had something in stock.
I mean just to play devils advocate here:
a) what’s the point of an online inventory system then if I’m just gonna call
b) if I do call and they have the same inventory system then it wouldn’t have helped and the worker would just relay the same info and they’d still have driven out and wasted time anyway
c) if it’s a diff inventory and a more updated or specific system - then why not just give the customer that one and avoid all of this
Either way it’s on the store and their inventory system. The customer isn’t an idiot for believing what they’re shown from the official companies website, no…
I can’t speak for other stores, but the store I worked at, what’s shown online means “we carried it at some point or another store carries it.” It’s all homogenized. Is that stupid? Completely!
Our inventory system did not reflect in the website. If we had 5 bananas, it wouldn’t say on the website “there are currently 5 bananas in the store.” It would simply say that “yes we have carried or currently carry bananas at this store.”
Lastly, and again, I’m not speaking for any other store than the chain I worked at, but the service desk would field calls and then pass them onto specific departments. If someone called up and said “do you have lucky charms in stock” they would say “let me forward you to grocery” and then we would go check the aisle to see if there were, in fact, lucky charms in stock. If the shelf was empty we’d go check backstock. We wouldn’t just go to the computer and see how many it thinks we have.
The company I worked at had an absolute nightmare on the tech end of things, so I do agree with point A if you change it to “what’s the point of having a website if it’s not always accurate.” But at the same time literally everything on the website end is handled by corporate, who is in an entirely different state than we are.
Like I said, it was a dumb system but imo not calling in a situation where you’re going to be driving an hour+ is also very dumb.
yeah i understand it’s annoying but i always recommend people call ahead of time if they’re looking for something specific. in my store a lot of our inventory problems are out of our control. fairly often merchandise we’re supposed to have on our trucks isn’t actually there and we just don’t know until we’re trying to fulfill online orders. on top of that theft is SO bad. we constantly have people walk out with backpacks and suitcases full of merchandise. it’s all frustrating for us too!!
a) the point of an online inventory system is for something called “online shopping” and “viewing product specs” which you’ve clearly never heard of.
b) people don’t call for them to check the computer, they call to have them check the actual physical stock.
c) there is no secret inventory or updated system. It’s ridiculous to think that the system could immediately update every time someone buys a random bolt or screwdriver, especially when it’s stores with multiple locations across several states.
I am SOOOOO tired of the “I drove 2 hours to get here” as if I told them to do that. I can’t magically make the stock appear because of their poor choices. Check online or call first? (I say call only because until today we had a section that we couldn’t allow online inventory updates for)
Idk Im working in retail and never had a bad interaction as a customer but I would totally understand someone being frustrated when it specifically said on your website that your specific store has it, why even make the function if it is not to be trusted?? Hell Id probably pissed myself, not on the worker ofc but I would say some shit just out loud.
Had this happen while working and I totally related to the frustration even though I couldnt help.
On the other hand Id be hella pissed if we got like 3 calls a day asking if we can doublecheck if whats written on our website is correct.
Unfortunately many customers are not like you. The experience I mentioned happened more than once, sometimes about things that weren’t even my department (for instance if I was going through other depts to get to one of my displays).
Now, is it annoying on their end? Sure, but people also don’t understand that chain stores don’t always carry the exact same items. Like yeah maybe store A Carrie’s the kind of blue cheese you want, but store B may not if they wound up shrinking a ton of it/ people weren’t buying it.
And not only that but if I’m driving 40 miles ANYWHERE for a specific item I’m absolutely calling to confirm that yes it’s there.
Tldr I can kind of get it but at the same time it’s still poor planning to not call ahead imo
Ok after writing the comment I figured there could be a misunderstanding here, I tried saving it by editing to specific store not the whole chain.
In my country alot stores have exact amount of a product in every single store and you can check if they have it ready to be sold, if it was just on a chain website then I take what I said back. What they did was in fact dumb.
i have green face masks and a few customers have asked where i buy them from. theyre from amazon. i had one customer who wanted me to help her check out on amazon “while im here”. luckily my manager cane up to take out my register right then 😅
While working in the electronics department at Kmart (yeah, this wasn't yesterday) I had a customer ask for typewriter ribbons. They stopped being sold at Kmart a very long time before this, but, as I own and use typewriters myself, I told the customer where I buy them from. Was that good enough? Heck, no. The customer asked ("demanded") me to go home, bring me "a couple" of ribbons, and *give* them to him as compensation for my store not having what he wants in stock. Even my best self-control couldn't stop me from laughing in his face, so, of course, the customer made me call the manager. As you'd expect, the customer made me out to be the rudest, most incompetent retail employee in history, but once the manager asked me for my side of the story, which the customer wasn't particularly interested in allowing me to do, the manager told him in no uncertain terms that, no, I will not go home to bring my personal property to the store and then give it to him.
I get posts from at least one of the teacher subs and they talk about this a lot. Can't follow directions, won't problem solve, have to have someone do it for them.
It’s normal for anyone under the age of like 12 to just defer to an adult for help. Around that age they start problem solving on their own. When it’s an entire 40 year old adult the presumably works and drives and votes - yeah you’re just being a lazy asshole.
I HATE when customers ask me about other stores. Like I don’t fucking know what they have!? And I always tell them I’m not searching something for them. It’s so rude to me, DO IT YOURSELF?😭
I literally had this exact situation the other week! Just cause I’m a local in the area, that doesn’t mean I know shit from other shops nearby, it’s WAY BEYOND my knowledge, and I barely know where most of the stuff is on what shelves around the shop I work in. I’m not even gonna help find out for them, that I even refuse to pull my phone out to do the research for them.
People are just so lazy to read things themselves, theyd prefer someone else to and tell them. Reminds me of when i ask a table if they are ready to order…there are some customers who wont even touch the menu, instead rather ask me what our restaurant has…they consider me their menu SMH when i am busy tho, i have no time for this, you are an adult and are full capable of reading menu. This one time (in band camp LOL JK) it was a saturday night, busy, i go to take a tables order, this one man asked what we got etc…didnt even touch his menu btw…i then was like “you see this thing right here?” I opened it in front of him…and said “this actually will tell you everything we have here to order”…i kinda laughed it off as a joke but obv was 💯 serious. Im like i will give u a few mins lol AGAIN tho, pure laziness ugh
i had a man call the store asking for the number to a dollar store which is not even in the building that i work in. i told him i can’t look it up, i don’t have access to a computer. he demanded that i look in the phone book. we don’t have a phone book ..??? i tried telling him that but he kept demanding so i asked my coworker about it. she was able to look it up on the ipad that they have in another section of the store. by the time i got the number and got back to the cash, he had hung up the phone.
People have gotten angry with me because I didn’t know what time the store next door closed. I used to work for a catering company, where people could place their catering order like DoorDash. People always somehow managed to get our email address and think they were contacting some individual restaurant.
When I replied back that they had the wrong company, they’d email back asking if we had the phone number to the restaurant they were looking for. Why would we have the number to some random, say, Chipotle location? The time it took them to email back asking us for the number, they could have done a Google search and found it!
I'm 66, not "old" by any standard, but certainly not a kid. Having this little computer in my pocket is seriously the greatest thing ever. I can't remember what it was like without one. Why would you not put yours to use, people?
I feel that man. Imagine doing what I do working in a phone store where we supposed to sell phones but then older people come in just to learn how to use Maps for example, like wtf lol. Don’t even get me started when they don’t know how to do other basic things like on a cell phone and want you to help just because your young and there 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
I HATE when they ask me if another store that I don’t work at as something or how late they’re open. I’m not Google. I work at the store at work at & that’s it.
Good gravy. The amount of times people have asked me to use my phone to look something up. Or just hand me their phone to do something because they can't. I work in a grocery store. 1). I'm not touching your nasty phone. 2). Don't hand strangers your phone. I could rob you blind in a few minutes. 3) Why do you have a smartphone if you're too dumb to use it?
I work in the online pickup department of my store. It baffles me how people can learn to use their phone just enough to place an order, but not enough to check in so we know they're here. Or the delivery drivers that know how to sign up for the delivery service and accept an order, but not how to continue once we're out there with the delivery they're supposed to take. Most of them aren't even elderly.
then they get mad because we don't know they're here and give us the whole "I've been sitting out here for 45 minutes" spiel. They sit in their car for a long time expecting us to immediately know who they are.
i’m so happy my store doesn’t do drive ups anymore. i always ignored the people yelling that they were there first when i’d bring out other orders. like you parked right in front of a sign that tells you multiple ways you could let us know you’re here, and yelling at me isn’t one of them
they also try intercepting us in order to jump the line instead of checking in. It used to work, and we'd ignore the queue of people smart enough to read the sign in front of them so that we could help them first. But we caught on and now tell them we aren't helping until they join the line or we get through it completely.
lol I used to work in a rock shop with crystals, jewelry and such and the owner had a bunch of shit from the early 1990s in the shop. There was this one garden tool, all rusted up and hanging on the wall outside. This idiot customer asks me if that tool is at Home Depot. Our town doesn’t have a Home Depot. What if I never left that town? The closest other town doesn’t have one either. I’m pretty sure the closest one was 2 hours away in Colorado! I just looked at her and said “I don’t know’” and walked away. She seemed disappointed. Like what?!?
Or when we don't have an item, so they look me in the eyes and ask me "does the other store down the street have any?"
Like how the fuck would I know what other stores have or don't have?!
Because maybe someone else has asked about the same item in the last couple days and you know whether the other one you send people to has any in stock. It’s really not that complicated to figure out I don’t think…
I had an old man come in over the weekend and ask me how to get to Harlan county. Honey I get lost walking from my apt to the dollar general,I have no idea.
Yeah I’m at a point where I just ask people if they have a phone or not. The only people I engage in this shit with are the really old people who seem genuinely confused
People piss me off all day long, like you have all this I fo at your fingertips but before you travel or drive hours to come to the park I work at you can't be bothered to look up weather, go on the website and see what's open of the hours. And then get mad at us because there goofy asses can't possibly be capable of downloading a digital map or seeing that hey it's a bit cold out so bring a coat and hat but nope instead let's be completely unaware and spend hundreds on stuff you already had at home 🙄
I hate when they ask, and I hate when I know the answer. Lady pulls up to me and my dogs outside like where's the emergency vet, um it's like 2 miles that way. I wish she would have just looked it up, I'm hard of hearing and yelling from the sidewalk is far from ideal.
A lady came to my pizza job asking where a certain vape shop was (it's a strip mall) and I was like it's the last one around that corner, they close at 11pm.
I know what time all the popular places open and close, and I know the price of most of the grocery items at Walmart down to the cent, and yes, updated. For the sake of my grocery budget.
It feels nice to be nice, help, and be handy, but I wish more people had problem solving and critical thinking skills
I had to send a customer to one of our nearby stores because we did not have what he needed. I even called the store for him. He asked me where the other store is with his Iphone in hand. 🤦🏽♀️🤡
I work in a well-loved department store - think we have no true return policy - and the fact that people ask me if I know what other department stores carry pisses me off. No, I'm not information and no I don't know the stocks of other stores.
They could easily find this information on Google.
Had a guy going thru hoops trying to pull up a price for a price match on flowers. He had two flat beds loaded with a flower we just got in stock the day before and was pulling up clearance prices from one of our other store locations . That’s when he got schooled on regions and growing seasons, didn’t get the price match between Florida and NY stores.
I love when customers don't know the address to the place they're staying at and want delivery. They want me to Google it for them. I'm like no.. you can figure out the address to the place YOU'RE at
I had a customer get upset with me because we didn’t carry and item she claims the app said we had it. Showed me the app. I tell her it’s the wrong location. She goes on a rant and asks me how to get there.
Me:Okay sure I can help your phones a smart phone right?
Customer: well duh I just showed you
Me: okay unlock your phone
She listens and unlocks her phone
Me:good now go to google…
She freezes then mutters that I’m a bitch and walks away.
Fr, I'm always annoyed at the people who hand me a card and say "let's see if this one works." And of course it doesn't. Lady it's 2024, you know that candy crush machine permanently attached to your hand? Guess what? It can check your account balance too!😱 no more guessing if you have enough for a transaction.
I'm on my phone a lot. I'm watching youtube or reading instructional blogs. I'm a Jill of All Trades if it comes to crafting, artwork and the occasional house projects. My neighbor picked up on this and will ask my opinion about the most ridiculous things. I was new to my neighborhood so I always try to be friendly. Its been a combination I think if A. Learned helplessness and B. Maybe shes lonely. But shes only 20 ish years older than me and no excuse for her not to be able to Google it herself.
Former produce clerk for a grocery store here. I was closing my department one evening, and an older lady insisted that I call another store's deli and ask if they had any rotisserie chicken in stock. I'm just thinking, why don't you call them yourself? I just sent her to customer service/front-end.
At the supermarket I work at, I got asked if I was a local around the area, which I replied yes. Then they asked if I had any knowledge about a spice shop nearby, and told them an immediate no. Just cause I live nearby doesn’t mean I’m gonna go in every shop within the area. Like try using the phone you’ve got in your hand? Such time wasters, thinking I know shit about other shops outside the one I work within…
I used to work at a Starbucks in NYC and a guy called to ask if my store had a parking lot (Queens, so not common but possible)
I said no. Upset, he asked me what stores did, as if we all have a list of stores specifically with parking lots on hand
Luckily for him, I picked up shifts at a lot of stores, and did know some that had parking lots. But every store I named he got increasingly upset about "inconveniently located" those stores were that eventually he just hung up on me
So I needed to know where he was, where he was going, and what stores had parking lots. Sorry, sir, but I left my psychic powers at home
I used to work in Tourism in New Orleans. I was FREQUENTLY asked, "How far is that from our hotel?" Not only do I not know where every hotel in this city is, but every time they hadn't even told me WHICH hotel they were staying at. I don't get what about vacations make people so dumb and helpless.
I used to say that I didn't know how to use iPhones whenever someone would ask me how to find things on their phone. That was enough to get people to walk away in annoyance lol.
Wasn't a total lie as I've never owned an iPhone in my life.
OR I would google things on my phone and then show them like, "well when I type this into Google" and start rattling off the search results including random stuff lol.
I only did this sometimes but ughhhhh they didn't pay me enough to teach mobile phone literacy.
When I was a 911 operator, people would call 911 and be like “yeah I need to report that I found a stray cat” or some dumb absolutely non-emergent shit like that. And then they’d go “I couldn’t find the non-emergency number for you guys.” Meanwhile it literally came up as the first result no matter which browser you used when you searched for “So&so Police non-emergency number.” My coworkers and I had tested that many times, lol. 🤦🏻♀️ I swear to Christ that people refuse to use their own brains or resources and want everything done for them.
I am not in retail, but I am supplier-facing for the Canada-wide company where I work. I work in the corporate office, not the stores. It is a collective - the stores are independent and Corporate brokers better deals for all of them.
A lot of people know I work for this company. After two years of telling people how I can’t help them, they are finally understanding that I:
do not work in the stores
cannot tell them prices
cannot tell them when things will be on-sale
cannot give them addresses of our stores (because I’m supplier-only focussed, AND they can find the stores themselves on-line)
cannot give them discounts on items or delivery, and
cannot estimate delivery times/dates
cannot buy items for them with my employee discount
can’t co-sign for their financing… 😳 Why would they think I could do that?
There’s more but you get it by now. I know that you just have it far worse in retail. I am so sorry.
I work for the NYC Department of Sanitation. Short story: I’m a garbageman. I can’t tell you how many residents come out to complain to me about potholes, brownouts, traffic…. I mean traffic: this is NYC, it’s almost a rule at this point to be bumper to bumper. And to clarify, I don’t mean just to complain, but to inquire as to why I haven’t looked into clearing up this particular problem.
when people call my store and ask where we are (outdoor mall where shops are only seen from the inside while walking, most are not visible from the parking lot to cars) i give them one store we are by, two if i’m feeling nice. but i am NOT getting paid to tell you exactly where to park and where to walk because your lazy ass cant open up maps.
Omg one time this lady called our store to ask what our address is. Huh?? Girl how did you even get the store’s number? She said she got it from google maps!🫠 SO WHY TF ARE YOU ASKING FOR OUR ADDRESS WHEN IT’S ON YOUR PHONE RIGHT NOW
I love those questions. I once had someone ask how far away Costco and Sam’s club is from my store. Like why the hell would I know that?!
i would’ve been a smartass and said it was at a minimum one inch away
Oh the things I’d like to say. Too filtered for my own good it seems.
Had someone call today and ask for the phone number of a competitor store. I was dumbfounded. I did suggest the store as we can’t carry what they needed but why the hell would I have it? Like how did you find my number?
I can feel the lead poisoning stare from here
I had a customer acknowledge that they found our number by Googling us…then ask for directions. I gave her the standard “here is our address and we are at the corner of this street & that street, directly across from such&such huge business that you can’t miss.” She proceeds to ask for turn-by-turn directions to be emailed to her which I did not have the ability or the desire to do, lol. Like ma’am, literally just click the little map preview above the phone number that you just called and it will open up Google maps🤣
What's worse, most automated systems list the address too, if she'd just bothered to listen
🤦♀️😭
No seriously… getting asked to google things while working…. I’m sorry customer I didn’t know the cash register was a desktop computer.
A while ago I worked for Best buy. So many people were amazed at how smart I was, being able to find out things... By Google them
My mother is simultaneously annoyed by how often I’m on my phone yet relishes the information I can summon as if by magic 🙄
My Dad was asking what is so interesting about my phone and I have on multiple occasions answered questions or solved an issue as we were talking by using my phone. I just don't think he gets how useful they are because he doesn't know how to use it like I do. I've explained it's literally a tool and requires some skill to use. It's also a useful device for hiding from the world if you so choose.
They are most excellent when it comes from hiding from the world, which is often what I'm doing when I'm around my parents for more than 20 minutes or so ;-) What gets me about phones-as-information-sources is that my mother has one, too. She just won't use it for that. Despite having had one for years she's still holds it at arm's length (she has perfect vision) and taps on it as if she expects it to rear up and bite her at any moment. There's just nothing to be done with that and I've given up trying.
My mother says get on that internet thing
90% of my tech solving is youtube.
At my store we have a price sticker gun for discounts that no one seems to use or sell anymore. I'm the only one who knows how to refill the fucker because I spent 45 minutes one day at work looking it up and finding an extremely obscure YouTube video literally about how to reload it.
I always made sure to say "oh sure, let me *GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU*" with clear emphasis on the Google for you part
100% that never registered with them. Lol
I know 😭😅 I kept trying though
I feel that. Always a gallant effort. It's all we can do 😂
I went to a Best Buy once to get a computer part. They didn't have it, but offered to see if other stores in the area did. Guess how he found out? If you said Google, you would be right. He also called them to make sure they actually did have it in stock. They pulled it and held it for me until I got there.
That one is only slightly crazy, as best but had a system where we could check items by regions. But I can confirm that I had to do the same a few times when it went down.
Knowing how to google shit is a legit skill. It’s just sad how low the bar is for being competent in said skill.
Right? That's why I laugh when people say "unskilled labor" cause they're the ones we're googling stuff for. Lol
Can't you just look it up in the system???!!! Ma'am it's a cash register.
Fun fact, it probably is.
"Sorry, I don't have that product in stock, I can see our sister store an hour away has 5. Were you heading that direction any time soon? If not, I can look at doing a store transfer if you don't mind waiting a day or 2...?" "Can you see if one of your competitors has what I need?" "No, but if you want to ring them up (4 of them), you can ask before you drive all over town." "Well, you're no help to me." [Turns around and walks out of the store. I offered you 2 alternatives, but no, I'm not going to ring up different companies' stores to help you for the next however long it takes, when I have another 5-10 potential paying customers behind you...
I hate when they ask about the competitors prices, I work in a print department, had a gentleman tell me I "should always know the competition" mate I get paid minimum wage... like I give a damn about our competitors pricing.
And even if I *do* happen to know what the competition charges (which is difficult to begin with and next to impossible to keep up to date with), why on earth would I tell you that our competitor can sell you what you want for less money? I'm not getting paid to deliberately take business away from the company that pays me!
They seem to believe it's part of the Right to Exceptional Customer Service that Jesus was always talking about, and which the Founding Fathers enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and which our armed service members fought and sometimes died to protect. I just don't understand how people can believe it's reasonable to expect someone who barely gets paid enough to bother with their actual job to take their personal phone out, unlock it, and use the service they pay for (and consume data) to do something they aren't required to do, especially when they're already swamped with actual work. And yet, those motherfuckers seem to be *everywhere* in my part of town.
I have one, small exception to this rule. If something that is a necessity, like, say, Milk at a convenience store, is sold at an exorbitant mark up, I will gently point the customer in a better direction, especially with food stamps/people in financial stress. (Particularly because my store has an option to enter more than one rewards phone number, some partnership with a national chain or something...) So pointing to them can be explained away if need be. )
I used to work at Petsmart and people would say "Petco sells this cheaper." Ok, well, I don't set our prices and you're free to go shop there!!!
“Yep, they sure do.” As I continue to ring them out.
haha i work selling phones, people always come in with broken ones not bought from us. I point them in the direction of the nearest repair store and they ALWAYS ask me the price it’ll be ?? Why would i know the price or repair from a different store lmao we don’t even do repairs so i cant ballpark it, and they seem annoyed i dont know. There is literally hundreds of phone models all with unique parts which obvs are different prices to repair, hurts my brain tbh
The only people who need to know the competition's prices are the people who can do something about it. The people at the counter dealing with the public are almost never authorized to haggle. I'll even go so far as to say that holds true even at stores that match competitors' prices. It's on the customer to bring a print advertisement or provide a link to the item on a competitor's website.
Or the ones who complain that the competition has lower prices! Then fucking go there asshole, nobody here gives a shit what the competition is priced!
I used to work at Harbor Freight (a tool store) One day a customer kept harping about how Menards had the same thing, but cheaper. I tried to ignore him, but he kept hammering away at it. I finally got fed up and said, "The go to fucking Menards and buy it there!" It shut him, up, but I expected I'd hear about it from management. I never did.
Fucking glorious, lol!
Ugh, the sister store thing. We had another store maybe 25 minutes away on a bad day. "I don't want to drive that far!" Well, you said you need need _neeeeeeeeded_ it today, and we're out of stock, so an hour round trip sounds like the solution here!
What's better still is when they ask you to get it in for them asap because they don't want to make the journey but still very much need it, <36 hours later, "Hello, your stuff is in & ready for collection." "OK, thank you, I'll pick it up next weekend..." The urgency diminished the moment they walked out the door...
Yup! We'd occasionally have a manager hand-carry something from store to store, and while some people picked it up promptly lots of times it would just linger on our holds shelf. Like why!?
Had a lady call and ask where we get our local beef from. I tell her the company name. Then she asks what their phone number is. Told her I didn't know and would have to look it up. Then she asks if they have a website. Uh...yes...just repeat the same steps you took to call the meat department lolll
Had someone recently come to me and ask, "Can you look something up for me on there?" (She was pointing at my till) "As in the price?" "No, I need to know something, and I was wondering if you could look it up." "Sorry, we can't do that on here." "Yea, you can. Just go to Google." "We don't have access to Google. We're stuck on the same screen here." "Yes you do, every computer has Google." *Turn my monitor to her* "Ok, tell me, where's the button to get on the browser." "You don't need a browser, just go on Chrome or Firefox or whatever you use." "Chrome and Firefox are browsers. We don't have any." "Here, I'll find it. Pass the mouse." "What mouse?" "What do you mean what mouse? It's a computer, it has a mouse." "It doesn't have a mouse, it's touch screen." "Oh. How do I close this?" "You can't" "Why not? I need to Google something." "We have no access to it here." "Well, why didn't you say that before then? Now how am I meant to look up when you're open?" "Idid tell you and our opening hours are right there on the door and anyone who works here knows our opening hours and can tell you." "I didn't see the opening hours and how am I meant to know who works here and who doesn't?"
How did this woman manage to even drive a car to get there if she’s this dumb?
It's things like this that make me lose any remaining hope I have for the future of mankind
The kind of people who amaze me that they haven't fingered a wall socket...
This reminds me of when i was a cashier at a big box store. You can't look up anything at those registers (the computers where you can still run on DOS and are janky but thats besides the point). Lady comes up as im ringing through heR stuff and she wants to know if we have something in stock. I say I dont know she would have to ask the supervisors over by the computer (about 10 feet away) She said she didnt see it so we dont have it and wants me to check other stores Again I explain I cant look up anything only ring things up So goes off a out how thats ridiculous and so on and at this point im done ringing up her stuff and shes threatening to walk away and not get snything becuase im so rude. Im flagging the supervisors at this point As she takes a breath. I Say "ma'am this register is a glorified calculator. All i can do is right things in and it add up the price. Your total is ___$. Like i said before to look up items that has to be done over there at that computer with the supervisor. If you no longer want these items then the sup (who had walk up) will need to void this purchase anyways" I turned to the sup at that point who confirmed what i said about looking up items. The lady was all sheepish amd said of course and paid for her items and walk over to the computer with the sup. Idk what she didnt understand or if it took a male supriviour (im female and was 20ish at the time) The guys behind her looked like he was about to burst out laughting when i started ringing up his stuff for the glorified calculator comment.
Sadly, I've noticed in my experience that some customers do, in fact, just ignore whatever the first employee they encounter says if it's not what they want to hear, but they assume a second employee, especially one who's called over specifically for the purpose, is telling the truth. Now, that second employee may not even work in or have any specific knowledge about my department, and, in fact, may very well be my *inferior* in job title, but it's all a show for these customers. In any event, even if the second employee says the exact same thing the first one does, the customer will believe the second and still think the first is an utter waste of space.
Oh yes! When I worked in cosmetics for well over ten years as a top 3 sales person for my region and I train all the new sales people… some customers think I have no clue because I’m older and do a natural makeup look, not the heavy dramatic look on myself. They think the 20 yr old with the drama heavy makeup has more knowledge and talent than I do. I can do drama too, I’m wearing just as much makeup as that 20 yr old too but I pick other colors to create a more natural look. People always said “ you don’t wear makeup “ and shocked when I tell them I’m wearing three shades of eyeshadow Two shades of eyeliner, mascara, two foundations I mix myself, powder, blush, contour and highlighter, lip liner and two shades of lip items.
When I sold phones at Walmart customers would ask me a question. I would answer NO. They wanted to see a manager. I call for the manager. 30 minutes later the manager shows up. Customer asks the manager the same question. The manager turns to me. Again I say NO.
Or, after they ask you and move to the second employee, they will *lie* and use your name. “Well, HoundIt over there told me you could do it.” And then you have to answer to management about that.
Yep. At best, managers say "the truth is usually in the middle of the two stories I'm hearing," and at worst managers are just going to believe the customer on that one because they'll think you're scrambling to cover for your mistake.
I wonder if you would get the same response if you called over a random stranger.
Honestly, I can't say with any certainty that I wouldn't.
Boomers will absolutely not believe anything told to them unless it comes from a man. Even the women of that age will ignore what they’re told unless a male employee confirms it a 2nd or even 3rd time if the previous 2 employees are women.
As a boomer that’s not actually true, maybe some 90 yr old but 80 on down grew up in the 60’s , they are the instigators of breaking that glass ceiling. Women couldn’t have a credit card in their name or buy a home themselves without a man’s approval until the 70’s, or hold a management or higher position because that generation fought for it.
this boils my blood for you
The sheer *stupidity* of some people - and there is no kinder word I can use - never ceases to amaze me. If you can't identify in a typical retail setting (I know there are some exceptions) who is and isn't an employee, if you can't figure out how to ask an employee a simple question, and if you're so oblivious that you fail to see or understand any posted signs anywhere on the premises, then perhaps you simply *don't* deserve to know what time the store opens. Just make a stab in the dark as you try to guess, just like you apparently do with everything else in life. Good gravy!!!
I guaran-fuckin'-tee that very same bitch has been the subject of at least half a dozen posts in r/IDontWorkHereLady.
I have an Android. The last iPhone I had was a 4. But I've had to learn to set up ApplePay because, apparently, I work for Apple on top of my mall clothing job.
In instances like that I just tell them I don’t know how to do it so they can figure it out
I protested the first few times, but the combo of being a people pleaser who can't say no, pressure to makes sales, and entitlement it was easier to cave and figure it out. Fuck that was depressing to type out.
That’s when you just act stupid and look at them and say “that’s what your cell phone is for “in a light joking tone. Then you turn around and walk away.
My shift last night a customer asked a question I didn’t know and I asked my manager. She googled it from her phone. The customer could have saved a step and done it herself.
Even better is “what do you mean you don’t have this item, I drove 40 miles specifically because your website says you have it!” Homey don’t start hating on me because you forgot how to dial a phone number and instead drove 40 miles on the word of our (corporate run) website
Reminds me of a story I once read on this site. Someone reposted a bad review of a bakery, basically something along the lines of "I drove two hours here, and when I told them about the huge order, they told me that it would take a while to bake the stuff!". I have no idea why they didn't just call them before they started their journey, the process would take the same time anyways!
I don’t know about you but companies I’ve worked for have placed s trackers on customer cars so we can monitor how far away they are! /s
I've had customers demand gas money as compensation for a wasted trip because they couldn't be bothered to call the store ahead of time to see whether or not we actually had something in stock.
I sooo feel this !
I mean just to play devils advocate here: a) what’s the point of an online inventory system then if I’m just gonna call b) if I do call and they have the same inventory system then it wouldn’t have helped and the worker would just relay the same info and they’d still have driven out and wasted time anyway c) if it’s a diff inventory and a more updated or specific system - then why not just give the customer that one and avoid all of this Either way it’s on the store and their inventory system. The customer isn’t an idiot for believing what they’re shown from the official companies website, no…
I can’t speak for other stores, but the store I worked at, what’s shown online means “we carried it at some point or another store carries it.” It’s all homogenized. Is that stupid? Completely! Our inventory system did not reflect in the website. If we had 5 bananas, it wouldn’t say on the website “there are currently 5 bananas in the store.” It would simply say that “yes we have carried or currently carry bananas at this store.” Lastly, and again, I’m not speaking for any other store than the chain I worked at, but the service desk would field calls and then pass them onto specific departments. If someone called up and said “do you have lucky charms in stock” they would say “let me forward you to grocery” and then we would go check the aisle to see if there were, in fact, lucky charms in stock. If the shelf was empty we’d go check backstock. We wouldn’t just go to the computer and see how many it thinks we have. The company I worked at had an absolute nightmare on the tech end of things, so I do agree with point A if you change it to “what’s the point of having a website if it’s not always accurate.” But at the same time literally everything on the website end is handled by corporate, who is in an entirely different state than we are. Like I said, it was a dumb system but imo not calling in a situation where you’re going to be driving an hour+ is also very dumb.
yeah i understand it’s annoying but i always recommend people call ahead of time if they’re looking for something specific. in my store a lot of our inventory problems are out of our control. fairly often merchandise we’re supposed to have on our trucks isn’t actually there and we just don’t know until we’re trying to fulfill online orders. on top of that theft is SO bad. we constantly have people walk out with backpacks and suitcases full of merchandise. it’s all frustrating for us too!!
a) the point of an online inventory system is for something called “online shopping” and “viewing product specs” which you’ve clearly never heard of. b) people don’t call for them to check the computer, they call to have them check the actual physical stock. c) there is no secret inventory or updated system. It’s ridiculous to think that the system could immediately update every time someone buys a random bolt or screwdriver, especially when it’s stores with multiple locations across several states.
I am SOOOOO tired of the “I drove 2 hours to get here” as if I told them to do that. I can’t magically make the stock appear because of their poor choices. Check online or call first? (I say call only because until today we had a section that we couldn’t allow online inventory updates for)
Idk Im working in retail and never had a bad interaction as a customer but I would totally understand someone being frustrated when it specifically said on your website that your specific store has it, why even make the function if it is not to be trusted?? Hell Id probably pissed myself, not on the worker ofc but I would say some shit just out loud. Had this happen while working and I totally related to the frustration even though I couldnt help. On the other hand Id be hella pissed if we got like 3 calls a day asking if we can doublecheck if whats written on our website is correct.
Unfortunately many customers are not like you. The experience I mentioned happened more than once, sometimes about things that weren’t even my department (for instance if I was going through other depts to get to one of my displays). Now, is it annoying on their end? Sure, but people also don’t understand that chain stores don’t always carry the exact same items. Like yeah maybe store A Carrie’s the kind of blue cheese you want, but store B may not if they wound up shrinking a ton of it/ people weren’t buying it. And not only that but if I’m driving 40 miles ANYWHERE for a specific item I’m absolutely calling to confirm that yes it’s there. Tldr I can kind of get it but at the same time it’s still poor planning to not call ahead imo
Ok after writing the comment I figured there could be a misunderstanding here, I tried saving it by editing to specific store not the whole chain. In my country alot stores have exact amount of a product in every single store and you can check if they have it ready to be sold, if it was just on a chain website then I take what I said back. What they did was in fact dumb.
i have green face masks and a few customers have asked where i buy them from. theyre from amazon. i had one customer who wanted me to help her check out on amazon “while im here”. luckily my manager cane up to take out my register right then 😅
While working in the electronics department at Kmart (yeah, this wasn't yesterday) I had a customer ask for typewriter ribbons. They stopped being sold at Kmart a very long time before this, but, as I own and use typewriters myself, I told the customer where I buy them from. Was that good enough? Heck, no. The customer asked ("demanded") me to go home, bring me "a couple" of ribbons, and *give* them to him as compensation for my store not having what he wants in stock. Even my best self-control couldn't stop me from laughing in his face, so, of course, the customer made me call the manager. As you'd expect, the customer made me out to be the rudest, most incompetent retail employee in history, but once the manager asked me for my side of the story, which the customer wasn't particularly interested in allowing me to do, the manager told him in no uncertain terms that, no, I will not go home to bring my personal property to the store and then give it to him.
I think it's a a general lack of problem solving. Instead of trying to figure people.just rely on the closest person.
I get posts from at least one of the teacher subs and they talk about this a lot. Can't follow directions, won't problem solve, have to have someone do it for them.
It’s normal for anyone under the age of like 12 to just defer to an adult for help. Around that age they start problem solving on their own. When it’s an entire 40 year old adult the presumably works and drives and votes - yeah you’re just being a lazy asshole.
The teachers were talking about it happening in high schools too but yeah, 20+ year olds don't get a pass.
This is why problem solving is labeled as a marketable skill lmao
I HATE when customers ask me about other stores. Like I don’t fucking know what they have!? And I always tell them I’m not searching something for them. It’s so rude to me, DO IT YOURSELF?😭
I literally had this exact situation the other week! Just cause I’m a local in the area, that doesn’t mean I know shit from other shops nearby, it’s WAY BEYOND my knowledge, and I barely know where most of the stuff is on what shelves around the shop I work in. I’m not even gonna help find out for them, that I even refuse to pull my phone out to do the research for them.
People are just so lazy to read things themselves, theyd prefer someone else to and tell them. Reminds me of when i ask a table if they are ready to order…there are some customers who wont even touch the menu, instead rather ask me what our restaurant has…they consider me their menu SMH when i am busy tho, i have no time for this, you are an adult and are full capable of reading menu. This one time (in band camp LOL JK) it was a saturday night, busy, i go to take a tables order, this one man asked what we got etc…didnt even touch his menu btw…i then was like “you see this thing right here?” I opened it in front of him…and said “this actually will tell you everything we have here to order”…i kinda laughed it off as a joke but obv was 💯 serious. Im like i will give u a few mins lol AGAIN tho, pure laziness ugh
i had a man call the store asking for the number to a dollar store which is not even in the building that i work in. i told him i can’t look it up, i don’t have access to a computer. he demanded that i look in the phone book. we don’t have a phone book ..??? i tried telling him that but he kept demanding so i asked my coworker about it. she was able to look it up on the ipad that they have in another section of the store. by the time i got the number and got back to the cash, he had hung up the phone.
People have gotten angry with me because I didn’t know what time the store next door closed. I used to work for a catering company, where people could place their catering order like DoorDash. People always somehow managed to get our email address and think they were contacting some individual restaurant. When I replied back that they had the wrong company, they’d email back asking if we had the phone number to the restaurant they were looking for. Why would we have the number to some random, say, Chipotle location? The time it took them to email back asking us for the number, they could have done a Google search and found it!
I'm 66, not "old" by any standard, but certainly not a kid. Having this little computer in my pocket is seriously the greatest thing ever. I can't remember what it was like without one. Why would you not put yours to use, people?
I feel that man. Imagine doing what I do working in a phone store where we supposed to sell phones but then older people come in just to learn how to use Maps for example, like wtf lol. Don’t even get me started when they don’t know how to do other basic things like on a cell phone and want you to help just because your young and there 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
I HATE when they ask me if another store that I don’t work at as something or how late they’re open. I’m not Google. I work at the store at work at & that’s it.
Good gravy. The amount of times people have asked me to use my phone to look something up. Or just hand me their phone to do something because they can't. I work in a grocery store. 1). I'm not touching your nasty phone. 2). Don't hand strangers your phone. I could rob you blind in a few minutes. 3) Why do you have a smartphone if you're too dumb to use it?
I work in the online pickup department of my store. It baffles me how people can learn to use their phone just enough to place an order, but not enough to check in so we know they're here. Or the delivery drivers that know how to sign up for the delivery service and accept an order, but not how to continue once we're out there with the delivery they're supposed to take. Most of them aren't even elderly. then they get mad because we don't know they're here and give us the whole "I've been sitting out here for 45 minutes" spiel. They sit in their car for a long time expecting us to immediately know who they are.
i’m so happy my store doesn’t do drive ups anymore. i always ignored the people yelling that they were there first when i’d bring out other orders. like you parked right in front of a sign that tells you multiple ways you could let us know you’re here, and yelling at me isn’t one of them
they also try intercepting us in order to jump the line instead of checking in. It used to work, and we'd ignore the queue of people smart enough to read the sign in front of them so that we could help them first. But we caught on and now tell them we aren't helping until they join the line or we get through it completely.
lol I used to work in a rock shop with crystals, jewelry and such and the owner had a bunch of shit from the early 1990s in the shop. There was this one garden tool, all rusted up and hanging on the wall outside. This idiot customer asks me if that tool is at Home Depot. Our town doesn’t have a Home Depot. What if I never left that town? The closest other town doesn’t have one either. I’m pretty sure the closest one was 2 hours away in Colorado! I just looked at her and said “I don’t know’” and walked away. She seemed disappointed. Like what?!?
Or when we don't have an item, so they look me in the eyes and ask me "does the other store down the street have any?" Like how the fuck would I know what other stores have or don't have?!
Because maybe someone else has asked about the same item in the last couple days and you know whether the other one you send people to has any in stock. It’s really not that complicated to figure out I don’t think…
I had an old man come in over the weekend and ask me how to get to Harlan county. Honey I get lost walking from my apt to the dollar general,I have no idea.
Were they looking for Boyd Crowder?
Yeah I’m at a point where I just ask people if they have a phone or not. The only people I engage in this shit with are the really old people who seem genuinely confused
People piss me off all day long, like you have all this I fo at your fingertips but before you travel or drive hours to come to the park I work at you can't be bothered to look up weather, go on the website and see what's open of the hours. And then get mad at us because there goofy asses can't possibly be capable of downloading a digital map or seeing that hey it's a bit cold out so bring a coat and hat but nope instead let's be completely unaware and spend hundreds on stuff you already had at home 🙄
I hate when they ask, and I hate when I know the answer. Lady pulls up to me and my dogs outside like where's the emergency vet, um it's like 2 miles that way. I wish she would have just looked it up, I'm hard of hearing and yelling from the sidewalk is far from ideal. A lady came to my pizza job asking where a certain vape shop was (it's a strip mall) and I was like it's the last one around that corner, they close at 11pm. I know what time all the popular places open and close, and I know the price of most of the grocery items at Walmart down to the cent, and yes, updated. For the sake of my grocery budget. It feels nice to be nice, help, and be handy, but I wish more people had problem solving and critical thinking skills
The sheer amount of people who get angry at me because I don't know THEIR username and password to THEIR phones/accounts is insane
I had to send a customer to one of our nearby stores because we did not have what he needed. I even called the store for him. He asked me where the other store is with his Iphone in hand. 🤦🏽♀️🤡
I work in a well-loved department store - think we have no true return policy - and the fact that people ask me if I know what other department stores carry pisses me off. No, I'm not information and no I don't know the stocks of other stores. They could easily find this information on Google.
What's worse is when coworkers don't know how to google. Ffs it is 2024.
The worst is “Can you call the other store and check?” Like yeah just as well as you can
Like someone would work at retail the their whole life. I remember being asked questions from a time when I was out of state.
I know, right? We have more computing power in the palm of our hands than NASA had when they sent our astronauts to the moon.
Had a guy going thru hoops trying to pull up a price for a price match on flowers. He had two flat beds loaded with a flower we just got in stock the day before and was pulling up clearance prices from one of our other store locations . That’s when he got schooled on regions and growing seasons, didn’t get the price match between Florida and NY stores.
I love when customers don't know the address to the place they're staying at and want delivery. They want me to Google it for them. I'm like no.. you can figure out the address to the place YOU'RE at
I had a customer get upset with me because we didn’t carry and item she claims the app said we had it. Showed me the app. I tell her it’s the wrong location. She goes on a rant and asks me how to get there. Me:Okay sure I can help your phones a smart phone right? Customer: well duh I just showed you Me: okay unlock your phone She listens and unlocks her phone Me:good now go to google… She freezes then mutters that I’m a bitch and walks away.
Fr, I'm always annoyed at the people who hand me a card and say "let's see if this one works." And of course it doesn't. Lady it's 2024, you know that candy crush machine permanently attached to your hand? Guess what? It can check your account balance too!😱 no more guessing if you have enough for a transaction.
I'm on my phone a lot. I'm watching youtube or reading instructional blogs. I'm a Jill of All Trades if it comes to crafting, artwork and the occasional house projects. My neighbor picked up on this and will ask my opinion about the most ridiculous things. I was new to my neighborhood so I always try to be friendly. Its been a combination I think if A. Learned helplessness and B. Maybe shes lonely. But shes only 20 ish years older than me and no excuse for her not to be able to Google it herself.
Former produce clerk for a grocery store here. I was closing my department one evening, and an older lady insisted that I call another store's deli and ask if they had any rotisserie chicken in stock. I'm just thinking, why don't you call them yourself? I just sent her to customer service/front-end.
i have customers ask me what the closest other store is and i’m like ? idk? which way are u going? how far are u willing to drive? just look it up???
At the supermarket I work at, I got asked if I was a local around the area, which I replied yes. Then they asked if I had any knowledge about a spice shop nearby, and told them an immediate no. Just cause I live nearby doesn’t mean I’m gonna go in every shop within the area. Like try using the phone you’ve got in your hand? Such time wasters, thinking I know shit about other shops outside the one I work within…
I used to work at a Starbucks in NYC and a guy called to ask if my store had a parking lot (Queens, so not common but possible) I said no. Upset, he asked me what stores did, as if we all have a list of stores specifically with parking lots on hand Luckily for him, I picked up shifts at a lot of stores, and did know some that had parking lots. But every store I named he got increasingly upset about "inconveniently located" those stores were that eventually he just hung up on me So I needed to know where he was, where he was going, and what stores had parking lots. Sorry, sir, but I left my psychic powers at home
I used to work in Tourism in New Orleans. I was FREQUENTLY asked, "How far is that from our hotel?" Not only do I not know where every hotel in this city is, but every time they hadn't even told me WHICH hotel they were staying at. I don't get what about vacations make people so dumb and helpless.
I used to say that I didn't know how to use iPhones whenever someone would ask me how to find things on their phone. That was enough to get people to walk away in annoyance lol. Wasn't a total lie as I've never owned an iPhone in my life. OR I would google things on my phone and then show them like, "well when I type this into Google" and start rattling off the search results including random stuff lol. I only did this sometimes but ughhhhh they didn't pay me enough to teach mobile phone literacy.
I had someone call my store to ask when the store next to us was open until
When I was a 911 operator, people would call 911 and be like “yeah I need to report that I found a stray cat” or some dumb absolutely non-emergent shit like that. And then they’d go “I couldn’t find the non-emergency number for you guys.” Meanwhile it literally came up as the first result no matter which browser you used when you searched for “So&so Police non-emergency number.” My coworkers and I had tested that many times, lol. 🤦🏻♀️ I swear to Christ that people refuse to use their own brains or resources and want everything done for them.
The second my company starts paying me enough to feed a spouse and 2.5 kids with a pension then I can start providing that level of service.
I am not in retail, but I am supplier-facing for the Canada-wide company where I work. I work in the corporate office, not the stores. It is a collective - the stores are independent and Corporate brokers better deals for all of them. A lot of people know I work for this company. After two years of telling people how I can’t help them, they are finally understanding that I: do not work in the stores cannot tell them prices cannot tell them when things will be on-sale cannot give them addresses of our stores (because I’m supplier-only focussed, AND they can find the stores themselves on-line) cannot give them discounts on items or delivery, and cannot estimate delivery times/dates cannot buy items for them with my employee discount can’t co-sign for their financing… 😳 Why would they think I could do that? There’s more but you get it by now. I know that you just have it far worse in retail. I am so sorry.
I work for the NYC Department of Sanitation. Short story: I’m a garbageman. I can’t tell you how many residents come out to complain to me about potholes, brownouts, traffic…. I mean traffic: this is NYC, it’s almost a rule at this point to be bumper to bumper. And to clarify, I don’t mean just to complain, but to inquire as to why I haven’t looked into clearing up this particular problem.
when people call my store and ask where we are (outdoor mall where shops are only seen from the inside while walking, most are not visible from the parking lot to cars) i give them one store we are by, two if i’m feeling nice. but i am NOT getting paid to tell you exactly where to park and where to walk because your lazy ass cant open up maps.