The Complaints Notebook

Ever wonder what the cashiers at supermarkets do when they have nothing to do at the checkout counter? When they can’t leave their post? Twiddle their thumbs? Play Sudoku? Doodle? Take a nap?

Pretty much all of the above apply, except for the taking a nap, cuz that would be a bad idea. Oh the countless times I’ve longed to take a nap at work… In addition to the above, at least one supermarket I’ve worked at had a great little timewaster set up for ve cashiers: the Complaints Notebook.

Although the name might imply that this particular notebook serves as a place to write down customer complaints, so the store might improve upon these areas, that’s not the case. It’s something much much better than that.

This notebook is meant solely for the cashiers, for amusement. Management rarely see them, if they even know about them. Instead of writing down complaints that customers have directed at the cashier, the notebook serves as a place for the cashier to write down their complaints about the customers.

Now before you customers start to cry out Bloody Mary and Joseph, read on.

It takes months to fill in this little notebook. Having read many of them, I can tell you that they’re solely for the sake of amusement. No particular customer is singled out by name.

Only about a quarter of the contents of these notebooks are actually complaints about customers, and in those cases they’re very general. As an example, these complaints are typically in the form of “Don’t you hate it when customers…” or “Just had another customer who…”.

The majority of the entries into these notebooks are along the lines of “Boring…”, “Been sitting here for 45 minutes and hadn’t had a single customer in that time…”, “Two hours to go, before I get to party!”, “Register 12 again, the quietest register! Yay?”, and “I need coffee…”. You’ll also find such jewels as “I’ve had it with these f@%§ing christmas carols and it’s only November!” and “Here again, been a while since I last wrote something in this here notebook. How’s everyone doing?”. Must not forget about the doodles, either.

The point I’m trying to make is that not all “bad” customers end up in these notebooks for the amusement of the cashiers. Some of you do though.

So what kind of behavior will grant you a starring role? Read this blog and you’ll get an idea. And it’s not only the notebook you’ll end up in, as the staff love to talk shit about those who made their day sour. It’s a form of therapy to prevent cashiers and clerks from burning out on the job.

To everyone else in the field, how do you vent your frustrations about bad customers? You have a notebook at your checkout counter? Plenty of gossip and such in the breakroom? Need a drink after every shift? Or do you have a blog about it, as I’ve done. What’s your form of therapy?

If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, let’s hear it!

The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at The Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!

Temporary Workers Explained

Ever get the feeling that the clerk that served you didn’t seem like they really knew what they were doing? Maybe they’re new, you though to yourself. Maybe. Or maybe that clerk was a temporary worker.

I’ve worked as a temp practically full-time for the past 2.5 years, the first six months in the restaurant industry, and the past two years in retail. I just got a part-time job at a retail store that I’ve been working for as a temp, but I’m also continuing to work as a temp, just to make a little more money.

Temporary workers (or temps, or extras) are pretty much everywhere nowadays. Due to the trend of cutting costs, all the while ensuring that enough workers are present to serve customers, many stores rely on temp agencies for extra workers. Especially to cover for people who are sick, and during busy seasons, such as Christmas.

Temp agencies will hire pretty much anyone. The more workers they have, the higher their profits. Although anyone can get a job, it’s up to the worker to keep the job. If the worker can’t pull their weight, be diligent, basically a good worker, they’ll find themselves out of a job. It’s a cruel world.

So what kind of people work for a temp agency?

• Young adults who want working experience from many different fields of work, or are trying to figure out what exactly they want to do for work.
• Students who can’t accommodate a predefined work schedule with their studies, opting instead only to work when they have the time.
• Older people who are experiencing difficulties in getting hired.

That’s a generalization of the temp industry.

Temps are by no means lesser than the regular workers. They’re typically just a bit disoriented at first. Regular workers have the upper hand by knowing their coworkers and the store they work at pretty much like the back of their hand. Temps, on the other hand, generally work at many different locations. I’ve had weeks when in 5 days I’ve worked in 5 different stores in 3 different retail chains. Thus far, in two and a half years, I’ve managed to work in some 25 different stores.

Time for a little math lesson then. (try to keep up with this…)
25 stores
6 different cash register systems, or variations of such
25 different layouts of stores
25 times the coworkers (between 3 and 100+)
25 different sets of regular customers
25 first days at work
25 times having to prove that I’m a good worker
Get the picture? Temps don’t have it that easy, what with the added stress. That’s what we pay for the freedom to pick and choose our shifts.

Now for the critical part of this post. Many customers are unaware of the whole existence of temps. This is where the problem pops it’s butt-ugly head out from the bushes.

Temps are very often thought of as either inexperienced workers or bad workers. True, some are bad workers, but everyone’s inexperienced at first, right? Stores have their own policies for the hired help, basically putting temps in a position where they must act and behave as if they were part of the regular staff, when the whole store is alien to them. (can’t say: “I don’t know because I don’t really work here”, or so on.)
Pretend that you’re a regular worker at the store, but get treated as outside help. What to do, oh what to do…?

If a clerk doesn’t know something, let it slip. It might be their first day at that store. If you’re a regular who’s used to a little more, possibly a little discount or favor, a temp will not know that, unless they’ve been specifically told that. If you don’t recognize the person at the checkout counter, don’t assume you’ll receive that discount automatically. If you don’t get it, don’t press for it. The temp has no way of knowing who you are and about that special way to treat you. No screaming, please. Best just to forget about your special status for one day, instead of putting the temp in a really uncomfortable situation. Seek out a regular worker.
(What not to say: “Don’t you know who I am? I shop here everyday, and I always get a discount. Always. So you give it to me, now.”)

Temps are not anal about the rules of the store. They just can’t bend them a little, like the regular clerks can. Golden rule for all temps: do as you were taught by the manual or your trainer. Can’t go wrong by following the rules!

Customers: assume nothing about new faces in your store. They’re still wiping the sand out of their eyes. Not everyone’s a miracle worker from the getgo.

Most crucially though, there is one thing every customer should know. If any clerk ever treats you wrongly or is a horribly useless at what they do, feel free to inform management about it. (That’s right, you heard me right. You have my permission to complain in these situations.) Doesn’t matter if they’re a regular or a temp, feedback in these situations benefits everyone. Honestly. You could end up costing that temp their job in the long run, but hey, if they don’t know how to do their job, they shouldn’t do it then, right?

Positive feedback about a temp can also have a tremendous effect. What it boils down to is that the more positive feedback a temp gets, the more shifts they get offered. Always helps to know one’s doing a good job!

And finally, a short list of the pros and cons of being a temp:
Pros

• No long-term commitment (unless you choose to do so when the opportunity arises
• Ability to pick and choose shifts
• No need to beg for holidays
• Get a feel of many different working locations and environments
• Paycheck comes more frequently (I get paid every Monday)
• Work only as much as you feel like
• Easier to plan your social life
• If you get tired of one place, you don’t have to go back
• Possibly an easier way to get a full-time job where you want, without applying to many different places.
• No managerial work if you don’t want to do it
• Less responsibility
• Great for students

Cons

• No overtime pay (but you don’t have to work overtime)
• No health benefits (depending on country)
• No/little sense of belonging
• Less pay/minimum wage (depending on country and job)
• Don’t get to really know your coworkers
• No/little responsibility
• No set monthly salary
• When shifts are in short supply (e.g. between busy seasons), paycheck may be very thin
• No retirement plan/fund
• Can’t afford to be late or miss a shift, at all
• Having to prove that you’re a good worker every single day at work

Working as a temp isn’t for everyone. Being “new” somewhere all the time typically results in frowns and such reactions from customers who might view a temp as inexperienced or so on. So please, if the clerk serving you seems like they could be a temp, as I’ve outlined above, give them a little breathing room.

If you have any further questions about temps and working as one, I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Just leave your possible comments or questions in the comments section below this post.

If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, let’s hear it!

The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at the Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!

“We Don’t Do Refunds? Could’ve Told Me A Little Earlier…”

I’ve been working for the same store on and off for the last two years through a temp agency and I learn something new every day. Today’s lesson was that we don’t accept any refunds. Oh dear, this’ll be fun to explain to the customers.

We get a lot of refunds. Mostly it’s because the Chinese made crap broke in an instant. Ok, fine, we’ll accept those goods and either give you a new one or refund your money. I think. Gotta make sure I’m right on that one too.

Where the problem lies is that if you purchase something and then decide you don’t want it, we’ll exchange it for other items of the same value. Your money is now the company’s money.

Makes sense, right? Not for our customers. We get a lot of people buying things just to see if they fit. Such as picture frames. Most people don’t have a blue as to what size their picture is, so they’ll buy 9 of one size of frame. Just to return it the next day, because they weren’t the right size. I’ve never had any objections to this. Good customer service in my book. Take it home, try it out, if it’s not right for you, bring it back and we’ll refund you. It’s so common of a practice that this “new” guideline, which has been in place for years, will be a problem.

As far as refunds go, every store has their own guidelines to deal with them. Typically items of normal price, as to say not on sale, are refundable within 14 days from the time of purchase, in it’s original packaging with the tags still attached. With a receipt, of course.

Here’s a question to other retail clerks: what’s the refund policy at your store? I’ll try to gather up as many replies as I hopefully can to give consumers a good idea of what’s the norm with refunds. Might send out a few emails to companies, inquiring about their refund policies, if I can find the time.

So, today’s etiquette lessons on refunds, yes, that’s what I was supposed to talk about. Um, let’s see…:
Clerk: Find out what your store’s policy on refunds is.
As you could tell from above, I’ve just spent the last two years following what I’ve been told, and not the official guidelines. So find out what the policy is in your store (and let me know in the comments section below this post so I can make an average estimate about them.).

Consumers: If there’s the slightest chance that you might return any of the items you are purchasing, ask what the policy is.
For some reason, it’s not always visibly posted in stores. (Guess that’s management’s way of telling you that they don’t like it when people return stuff.)

If there’s a chance you might return something, DON’T THROW AWAY THE RECEIPT!
That receipt is pretty much the only way you can prove that you actually bought that item at that particular store. Doesn’t matter if you bought a candy bar or a hottub, just cram that receipt in you wallet for at least two weeks. You might need it. No receipt, no return. Capiche?

Rules change all the time.
If you managed to return something once, that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to return something every time you do so. Sorry… The clerk doesn’t make up the rules.

Be reasonable with what you return.
Half-eaten candy bar? Um, no.
TV that doesn’t work? Sure.
Underwear that you’ve worn for a day but got a rash from? Get outta here!
A pair of galoshes that were on sale when you bought them? No dice.
The latest Britney Spears album because it sucked? You already tormented yourself by listening to it, it’s your problem now.
A Barbie PS3 game you bought for your grandson? Only if it was bought in a sealed package which is still intact.
A tub of ice cream that melted on the way home? Should’ve hurried home…
Get the idea? (If you’ve ever had any customer return something completely ridiculous, please, please write your story in the comments section below this post. I love to read that kind of things!)

Which brings me to a really entertaining blog from inside the walls of Walmart which you might find interesting. I find myself laughing out loud at some of the stories posted there. Go check it out: Behind The Counter.

If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, let’s hear it!

The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at the Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!

Is It Wrong To Help A Customer Who Is Permanently or Temporarily Disabled?

We were just discussing disabilities in relation to shopping, and a question popped into my head. Is it wrong to help a customer who is permanently or temporarily disabled?

There seems to be a very similar breakdown of percentages of physically disabled customers, both temporarily and permanently, who either gladly accept the help offered to them, or blow off the clerk who’s offering help by saying something along the line of: “Do I look like I need your help!?” (um, yes you do…) or “I can manage by myself!”, in a snappy tone of voice. Sure, many customers refuse the help politely, but mainly it’s “thank you so much”, or “go away, I don’t need you help”. It’s because of the angry customers with disabilities why I’ve asked this question.

Any clerk SHOULD ALWAYS atleast offer assistance to a disabled customer, regardless whether they’re in a wheelchair, on crutches, or have their arm in a cast.

The topic of this post would be a non-issue, were it not for several personality quirks which some disabled, or “physically challenged” customers possess. (I don’t know which term is politically correct, the one that would not offend, so I’ll just use whatever pops into my mind. I apologize.) [edit: 23.10.07]
Back to the quirks. Regardless of whether you’re in a wheelchair or just have a cast on a few of your fingers, if a clerk offers you help, either accept it thankfully, or reject it politely. It’s that simple.

I realize that not all people are the same. There are multitudes of varying levels of physical disabilities, and rarely are clerks taught how exactly to respond to each such situation. This is where we, the clerks, need your help, to make your shopping experience pleasant and effective. That’s really what this thing is all about.

If you, the consumer, are physically disabled in a way which diminishes your ability to shop efficiently, don’t hesitate to ask for help from the clerks, if you need help. That’s what the clerks are there for.

If you don’t need help when it is offered, it is perfectly ok to politely turn down the offer. The keyword here is POLITELY. No screaming, no snapping, no crankiness. The clerk, when offering assistance, is NOT looking down at you for your disability, thinking you’re any lesser of a person. It’s either store policy to offer help, or the clerk is doing it to be NICE.

Oh, and to all you customers who aren’t disabled: you’re going to have to wait your turn patiently if the only clerk in the store is helping a disabled customer. Every customer is to be treated equally, it’s just that some customers really do need extra assistance. If you were in that wheelchair, you’d appreciate the help, wouldn’t you?

If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, let’s hear it!

The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at the Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!