Working Retail: Stories of the Underpaid - General

Not quite black Friday, but we had a $1k snow blower today $250 off, every one was claimed within two minutes of opening the store. Not that I'm all that surprised, but fuck that's the busiest I've ever seen it at 7am.

Well guys I survived And let me say this FUCK THAT SHIT Oddly it wasn't as bad as I thought but it still sucked pretty bad. Turns out most people need to go back to fucking first grade and be taught how to wait in lines and skip and such. Also don't lie to me. I saw you walk down the aisle past all the barricades and such. Lastly, yes it's Black Friday. The lines are gonna be long and its gonna feel like a lifetime. Get over it. If you honestly thought you'd get in and out you're an idiot. [editline]26th November 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Sharkface;33438167]"Just store policy; how old is the person you're gifting this game to?" "He'll be 14 by Christmas." "Alright, I just wanted to let you know that this game is rated M and is in no fashion appropriate for kids." "He's played the game with the assassins and something about stealing cars." "Don't get me wrong, there are some games that have a good story or all-around fun to play in general, but... uh, this one has you beating people with adult novelty items." The woman's eyes grew big in either interest or disgust and she leaned in to whisper. "Like what?" "Giant purple dildo bats." "You're shitting me." One of the highlights of my day. After convincing her that I was in fact telling her the truth, I managed to direct her towards buying both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Soon to be 14 year old is probably going to hate me come Christmas, but I feel like I did a decent thing. Particularly since she looked like one of the hags who would come back and yell about not being warned of it later.[/QUOTE] Moralfag

[QUOTE=InsanePyro;33439357] Moralfag[/QUOTE] For real man. Sure its your job to tell parents about the ESRB ratings, but cmon man. I've been playing M rated games and watching R rated movies my whole life and I turned out pretty normal oh god mommy why is that man putting that other man in the wood chipper

I worked from 6:30am to 4pm. Gotta say, it sucked big time. Worked from 6:30 straight to 1 and got an hour break. Sold about 88 pairs of shoes, which made my total day sale up to $3500. This shit sucked....Black Friday is just a retail nightmare.

[QUOTE=hobblinharry;33439532]For real man. Sure its your job to tell parents about the ESRB ratings, but cmon man. I've been playing M rated games and watching R rated movies my whole life and I turned out pretty normal oh god mommy why is that man putting that other man in the wood chipper[/QUOTE] It's more or less to cover my own ass. I've had a furious mother come in and demand straight up I do a game for game exchange because she didn't like the fact I didn't explain to her that Red Dead Redemption had prostitutes - despite saying that "Sexual Themes" was part of the reason it was rated M. Shit's not fun to be written up for when they complain to management about me not "doing my job".

[QUOTE=InsanePyro;33439357]Moralfag[/quote] Since when is doing the ethically responsible thing something to be frowned upon? Even beyond that, it's our job to inform parents/relatives/friends of the game's content in order for THEM to determine whether or not it's appropriate for their child. If the parent tells me that they are okay with their child playing the game, then I (usually) have no issue with them buying it. What I have a problem with are the parents who buy their 5-12 year old children the most violent and sex-filled titles without even bothering to inform themselves or even caring what their child sees and does. I have had no less than three children, ages 5-7, have their parents pick up Grand Theft Auto 4 for them, despite my description of the content within. Hell, I started playing M-rated games when I was 4 (Doom 2), but only because my father was there to show me the difference between the game and real life, and also because the game looked like a fuckin' cartoon. Games today are getting closer and closer to superbly realistic visuals, and some parents don't seem to realize what's going on. Now, the 14 year old in question is likely able to handle the content of Saints Row the Third, but if it was a 10 year old? That's (arguably) irresponsible. Like I said, if the parent is fully informed on what their child is playing and they are okay with it, I'm fine with them buying it. If they say "No, I'm not okay with it. I don't care though, he can have it/his friends all have it," then you can bet your ass I'm going to be a little pissed off. Parents need to show some fucking backbone and be responsible. [editline]26th November 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Sykez;33440052]I worked from 6:30am to 4pm. Gotta say, it sucked big time. Worked from 6:30 straight to 1 and got an hour break. Sold about 88 pairs of shoes, which made my total day sale up to $3500. This shit sucked....Black Friday is just a retail nightmare.[/QUOTE] And that's an easier shift. All the keyholders in our store, myself included, worked 12 hour shifts. Mine was from 11pm last night until 11am this morning, with a single 1 hour break. For better or worse, we weren't busy at all, making the night a huge waste.

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;33440626] "No, I'm not okay with it. I don't care though, he can have it/his friends all have it," then you can bet your ass I'm going to be a little pissed off. Parents need to show some fucking backbone and be responsible. [/QUOTE] I've been seeing this a lot lately with Modern Warfare 3 in particular - surprisesurprise, huge release of a popular series. We explain that hey, it's not really suitable for the younger crowd because scenes like such and such happen. "Oh, we mute the TV when they're playing the game because I have no problem with the violence, but can't stand the cussing." A lot of the mothers we inform have no idea that the games have online play and it shouldn't surprise me still, but after working there 9 months, it still blows me away how little parents look into the games they're going to buy their kids. Kids infuriate me with how often they come up with the excuse, "But I play Grand Theft Auto all the time!" or "So and so has it!" and the parent caves; or the parent says "Eh, nothing they haven't seen/heard at school." Not my place to tell someone how to raise their kid - but I will explain game content to make them more aware of what they're getting because some people honestly don't want to expose their children to that. [My favorite "I don't want to expose my kid to that" story is the one who didn't want his kid to have Alan Wake because it was "fucking fantasy bullshit" and wanted Battlefield: BC2 instead. There are times keeping a straight face is almost not worth it.]

Got in at 4:30am, no line. Up until 5:15am, no line. 5:25, 10 people. Sold 3 Xbox 360's, 2 laptops, 3 cameras, and some other shit within the first half hour. It's weird. It wasn't super busy in the morning like I was expecting but it would intermittently get VERY busy. All in all I sold 3 cell phones 2 xbox 360's, 3 laptops, 2 tablets, 1 camera, and a bunch of other shit. Fucking 17.5 hour shift. Two lunch breaks. I have 55 hours this week including 4 hours of time and a half for thanksgiving (Didn't work, but it was given to me as a bonus). So 15 hours of Time and a Half (10.95/hr) and 75 of regular (two weeks). Including commission I'm looking at 700+ paycheck on Dec 1. Yay.

Hopefully in the future as years pass on Black Friday will fade in popularity and Cyber Monday will be the big thing.

[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;33441128]Hopefully in the future as years pass on Black Friday will fade in popularity and Cyber Monday will be the big thing.[/QUOTE] But this would require the general masses to do the [I]intelligent[/I] thing. That said, I was actually impressed with just how few people participated in Black Friday in the plaza where I work (I'm at Gamestop, we have a Walmart right next to us). We had less than 70 customers in the 12 hours I worked, and Walmart wasn't busy at all. Maybe some people ARE realizing that standing in line for 6 hours and trampling people to death for $100 off an Xbox 360 is fucking stupid. Especially when Amazon has the same deal and free shipping.

[QUOTE=Moreto;33426608]Speaking of music, my store started with the Christmas music already, thankfully it's so quiet nobody can hear it. Last year it was horrible, our loop was so short that you would hear the same song twice in one eight hour shift.[/QUOTE] We've had it going since the start of November where I work (Walmart) and it's easy to hear. I wish I knew where the music player was so I could add my collection of Mannheim Steamroller christmas CDs and my TSO CD to the collection so I don't have to hear kids' tunes as much. Nothing wrong with hearing Wizards in Winter more often, anyways. I worked today (I'm a cart pusher) and it wasn't too bad until the pace started picking up.

As an ex-employee of sears I went there today and filled out Credit card apps for the cashiers that i worked with when i was there. Two credit apps help them out alot and I'm guarenteed not to get them due to minor status (17). If your at sears fill out the apps and put your income as 1$ or 0$, You get declined instantly most likely and you help the cashier out by earning them 2-4$ depending on the area and store and holidays and boost there Credit ratio

What if I don't want to help the Sears employees :v:

I don't really have any stories too add,I just wanted today that whenever a store has a review thing for their employees, I always go and give them the highest rating possible. Honestly, after reading the shit you guys go through, it feels like the least I can do.

Speaking of shit we go through. This morning at 7am some guy comes in wanting an Xbox 360 Kinect bundle. We had them for $199.99. Our store had ONE in stock and we sold the rest through Direct 2 U (free shipping from our warehouse to your home, paid for in store). So by the time this guy comes in at 7, we're all sold out of those Xbox 360's. Everywhere. All the stores and in the warehouse (Mind you we opened at 5:30am). This asshole will not go away until I've called all 16 stores in my district even though there are other customers to help. He just fucking stared at me expectantly when I told him the other stores wouldn't have any and said "I have time". I wanted to fucking grab his head and turn it to the other customers in the store "You may have time, but I and they do not. We don't have it, get the fuck out." But I didn't. I called all 16 stores for this fuckhead and got the same answer "Out of Stock". So what do I get? Nothing. "I'm sorry sir. I've called all the stores in our district. We're all sold out." 'Ok' Then he walked out mumbling something about a waste of time and driving all the way from Miami (This was in Orlando area). No thanks, nothing. Twat.

[QUOTE=Sixer;33419755]I've never worked retail, but I have worked fast food. For anyone who lives in Ottawa or has visited, I used to work at the A&W at the Rideau Centre for a year and a half. When I first started, I was a total shit and started hitting on one of my co-workers; I was very public about it and didn't give a fuck. Well as it turned out not only did she not like me, but turned into a raging bitch towards me. We had OK periods together, but all in all her behaviour towards me was childish and incredibly rude. I really have nothing but comtempt for her, esspecially since I got over the crush and tried to be polite with her, in spite of her. So finally comes the day when I'm fed up with my job and decide to quit. So I'm on my last shift, and she's about to leave for the day. We're both on cash, and it's kind of busy but we don't give a fuck. "So -girl-, today's my last shift. Have anything left to say?" I ask her. "Our time together has been... interesting," she says. I think to myself, [I]how gracious of her to say so. Maybe she's changed. Nah.[/I] She asks, "You?" I follow her to the door between the front and back, she's in the doorway; a beautiful twilight zone where no one on either side can hear you talk. I say, "-girl-, even when I did have a crush on you," she laughs, I think this may have been the only point when I knew her when I admitted it outloud. She bats her eyelashes, and looks away. I lean into her, so that only she can hear as she looks back to me, "I always thought you were a cunt." Her jaw drops. I wink. She storms off. I go back to my cash and take an order. Not a single fuck given.[/QUOTE] Damn, that A&W is raunchy. Bayshore's is better. Awesome story bud

I went to Walmart last night, since they started at 10pm. [b]Oh my god so many people.[/b] I went in for Batman: Arkham City and Forza 4 ($28 each), and one of those $12 3-month XBL cards. Managed to get the games and the card, but the card wouldn't activate. Oh well. The only terrible part was waiting 2.5 hours to [I]check out[/I]. And my phone was dead, so I couldn't fuck around on Facebook. First world problems. On the plus side, Batman: Arkham City is [B][I][U]fucking awesome.[/U][/I][/B]

I apologize for buying my DS a few years back with a bag of coins and bills.

[QUOTE=CubeManv2;33441601]As an ex-employee of sears I went there today and filled out Credit card apps for the cashiers that i worked with when i was there. Two credit apps help them out alot and I'm guarenteed not to get them due to minor status (17). If your at sears fill out the apps and put your income as 1$ or 0$, You get declined instantly most likely and you help the cashier out by earning them 2-4$ depending on the area and store and holidays and boost there Credit ratio[/QUOTE] Wait, wait wait what? I don't think it even counts as a processed credit application if they cant run a credit check on you. And if those applications did actually go through, you know you ruin your credit when you get declined for a credit card right? [QUOTE=Ven Kaeo;33441075]Got in at 4:30am, no line. Up until 5:15am, no line. 5:25, 10 people. Sold 3 Xbox 360's, 2 laptops, 3 cameras, and some other shit within the first half hour. It's weird. It wasn't super busy in the morning like I was expecting but it would intermittently get VERY busy. All in all I sold 3 cell phones 2 xbox 360's, 3 laptops, 2 tablets, 1 camera, and a bunch of other shit. Fucking 17.5 hour shift. Two lunch breaks. I have 55 hours this week including 4 hours of time and a half for thanksgiving (Didn't work, but it was given to me as a bonus). So 15 hours of Time and a Half (10.95/hr) and 75 of regular (two weeks). Including commission I'm looking at 700+ paycheck on Dec 1. Yay.[/QUOTE] I want your job gimme it

Worked 8pm Thursday to 6am black Friday, was pretty good, I was the one managing the lines, so I just chatted up all the cute chicks for like 3 hours, wasn't even planning on being the one managing the line, so I didnt bring a coat and for like an hour I was in a tshirt until a dude in line gave me his, what a cool dude. After the line was over I was going from the back to get more stock and put it on the floor, and bringing the carts in. Good day overall. BTW i work at toys r' us, was really surprised with how long the line was. It wrapped around the store, then around the parking lot and down the street, counted about 2000 people in line, letting them in in groups of 50 up to the stores maximum capacity of 1000

I work in a certain Mc fast food chain, and recently had someone ask for a three course meal without even a hint of sarcasm.

[QUOTE=hobblinharry;33445630] I want your job gimme it[/QUOTE] Haha fuck no you don't. It's hard for me to get more than 30 hours a week here. The only reason I got 55 this week was because my manager quit on Monday and gave me the majority of his hours.

[QUOTE=Prez;33442550]Damn, that A&W is raunchy. Bayshore's is better. Awesome story bud[/QUOTE] Thanks! I can only speak to it when I worked there, but the Rideau Centre A&W was the second busiest in the city (next to the stand-alone on Merivale), and actually the busiest mall A&W in Canada; busier than the Eaton Centre somehow. We were actually pretty clean... when I was working. Because I gave a fuck about food safety. Other employees not so much. As for Bayshore, I actually know the guy who manages it 'cause he used to work at Rideau. Good guy, intelligent and way under-employed. Raunchiest A&Ws in Ottawa Gloucester Centre and (seriously) Carleton U. food court. I got food poisoning form a Mozza Burger from Carleton. I can never eat them again after that.

[QUOTE=Ven Kaeo;33442278]Speaking of shit we go through. This morning at 7am some guy comes in wanting an Xbox 360 Kinect bundle. We had them for $199.99. Our store had ONE in stock and we sold the rest through Direct 2 U (free shipping from our warehouse to your home, paid for in store). So by the time this guy comes in at 7, we're all sold out of those Xbox 360's. Everywhere. All the stores and in the warehouse (Mind you we opened at 5:30am). This asshole will not go away until I've called all 16 stores in my district even though there are other customers to help. He just fucking stared at me expectantly when I told him the other stores wouldn't have any and said "I have time". I wanted to fucking grab his head and turn it to the other customers in the store "You may have time, but I and they do not. We don't have it, get the fuck out." But I didn't. I called all 16 stores for this fuckhead and got the same answer "Out of Stock". So what do I get? Nothing. "I'm sorry sir. I've called all the stores in our district. We're all sold out." 'Ok' Then he walked out mumbling something about a waste of time and driving all the way from Miami (This was in Orlando area). No thanks, nothing. Twat.[/QUOTE] Why dont you just say you dont have the time for that? Your manager must be aware then 10 people waiting for you causes more annoyance then one guy not getting his xbox.

Just had a nice little phone call with my boss. Turns out corporate decided [B]tonight[/B] that instead of our normal hours of 11am-6pm on a Sunday, we're suddenly going to be open 10am-9pm. No warning, no indication, suddenly we're open an extra 4 hours. So my boss calls me and tells me that they need me to work an 8 hour shift instead of a 4 hour shift. I flat-out said no; I have homework to do, I had planned it for tomorrow, and like hell is my part-time job going to take priority over my homework. And now, even though I have come in for every single shift they've asked me to take (even once requiring that I skip a class to cover for a sick coworker), my boss is now pissed off at me for not accepting such an extreme change in shift hours tomorrow. I swear, they SAY they understand, but I don't think they do.

so talk to them about it

[QUOTE=DOG-GY;33452451]so talk to them about it[/QUOTE] Already taken care of. My boss is nice enough as a general rule, but I've had more than enough of last-minute schedule changes that I'm expected to be okay with.

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;33452504]Already taken care of. My boss is nice enough as a general rule, but I've had more than enough of last-minute schedule changes that I'm expected to be okay with.[/QUOTE] So he shouldn't be a little bitch when you can't do one of them.

Welp, I was sitting at the front desk filing invoices for new inventory. A women walks in, I stand up and say hello, she looks at me for an entire minute then asks me if we are open. I'm unsure how she came to the conclusion that we were closed when the door was unlocked, I was at the desk, and the neon OPEN signs were turned on. Then later on this evening some guy whom I rather dislike walked in, immediately asks if the Bud 8 packs are still on sale for $13.29. I say no, $13.29 is their normal price. And the conversation pretty much goes as follows: him: But they've always been on sale! me: No, they've always been $13.29, they were never on sale. We said they were a deal compared to 6 packs. him: But everytime I've come in here they've been on sale for $13.29. me: Yes, we sell them for $13.29. Hence why the machine says "Sale: $13.29" when we ring it in. him: Well if they aren't on sale I'm going to get them from the store across the road! And so he goes across the road and pays $13.75 for a Bud 6 pack. I was very confused at this point.

[QUOTE=hobblinharry;33445630]Wait, wait wait what? I don't think it even counts as a processed credit application if they cant run a credit check on you. And if those applications did actually go through, you know you ruin your credit when you get declined for a credit card right? I want your job gimme it[/QUOTE] All you need to get the "credit" is to have the machine print out the number on the credit app the person signed. The system labels oh hes a minor ending it now after i already signed. It prints a number on the credit app then the manager collects it and brings it to the main office.