I've been in retail 24 years and I really enjoy reading the horror stories of other retail slaves. One of my favorite sites is Not Always Right. This was their lead story today:
(While
I’m working, I see this teenage girl pull up in an really nice car.
With her orange spray tan and expensive clothing, I could tell it would
be interesting.)
Me: “Hey, what could I get for you today?”
Customer: “You’re going to make me a non-fat shake with non-fat mix, non-fat milk and non-fat chocolate.
Me: “Oh, Ok…I’ll have that done for you in just a second.”
(Right before I start to blend the shake, she speaks up:)
Customer: “So since you work here, do you eat a lot of ice cream?”
Me: “Well, I suppose I eat enough to be able to recommend stuff to customers….”
Customer: “Well, you just look like you eat a lot of ice cream. You might want to quit your job before you get too fat.”
Me: “Thanks for that advice.”
(While my coworker rings her up, I proceed to add 5 pumps of
chocolate syrup, extra chocolate chips, and tons of extra ingredients
to her shake, putting it up to a total of about 4,000 calories.)
Customer: *taking a drink* “At least you can make a decent shake.”
The other story comes from The Consumerist. This is an amazing site full of tips to help you save money, watch out for scams and shows you how to fight back when you've been overcharged, scammed, etc.
By
Chris Walters,
1:33 PM on Tue Jan 13 2009,
22,499 views
When
26-year-old Edward Pluhar Jr. decided to walk past the people waiting
in line at Walmart's customer service desk over the weekend, he
probably didn't expect one of the men he dissed to confront him over
it. What he and his father really didn't expect, however, was for the guy to be an off-duty police officer who doesn't appreciate being threatened.
From the Star Press in Indiana:
The police officer [Chris Kirby] told Pluhar Jr. he needed to wait his turn, but the Frankfort man purportedly refused.
[His father, 61-year-old Edward R. Pluhar Sr.,] then allegedly
approached the off-duty officer, told him to mind his own business and
asked whether Kirby wanted to take the dispute outside.
When Kirby asked Pluhar Sr. what his intentions were, the Frankfort
man purportedly said he would kick Kirby's posterior and also suggested
he might shoot him.
Kirby then informed the father and son that he was a police officer
and called emergency dispatchers to send an on-duty officer to the
scene.
According to the article, the Pluhar family then left the store and
the off-duty cop followed them and stood behind their van until the
police arrived. Pluhar Sr. backed into Kirby's leg with the van, and
Pluhar Jr. got out of the van and physically fought Kirby. Then the
police showed up and arrested the Pluhars.
We feel there should be a jug of moonshine somewhere in this story. It was probably in the van.
The moral of these stories- be rude at your own peril! I also want to thank our wonderful, never-rude customers! Our customers are all so nice, it's hard to believe I still work in retail!
