So How long will I be up working tonight?

So tonight is allocated to preparing for my performance review. After a long 10 hour shift, I anticipate that I will get my head down around 2am.  My performance review will be around 2 hours long, and will probably take the route of what I haven’t done, whilst completely ignoring all of the good things.   This year I will be expecting nothing more than  ‘Meeting Expectations’ . Hence my blog.  For all of the hours myself and my colleagues put it in, is it really worth it?  do the 70-80 hours a week justify no or little pay rise? does the commitment we put in as retailers really make it acceptable to put your life on hold and be punished for the poor turnover/running of your company?  I hope tomorrow goes as expected. Nothing More!!!!!

So how long is the average shift for a retail manager?

As a store manager for a large european company I am regularly required to do 70-80 hours some weeks due to a massive workload and the inevitable shortage of staff.  I was wondering what other people work in a typical week?

The Type of Customer that Really Winds Me Up

In all of my years as a retailer I have seen and served 10,000’s of customers, most of these customers were unmemorable and don’t impact on my life in any way.  But there are certain types of customers that I cant help but stereotype.  I have put these into categories.

” I KNOW MY CONSUMER RIGHTS”
These are the people that have spent there life trawling the Internet believing they know how to bully people into getting there own way without actually knowing what they are talking about.  These are generally the people who will argue with you for the sake of it, and will be the first to complain to your head office and the last to say thank you.  They genuinely come as a pair and try to play the good cop bad cop routine on you. They normally have the social skills of a house brick, and react best in a crowd of people to get maximum effect
ABILITY TO WIND ME UP    8/10

THE CARRIER BAG PATROL
I refer to one of my previous blogger posts.  These are the customers that will walk into your store looking like they have been dragged arse backwards through a hedge,  They will have a carrier bag in their hand from a company that went out of business 10 years ago, and will normally adopt the stereotypical nerd/geek look.  Inside this back will be a product that they bought 11 months and 29 days ago (Just inside the refund/exchange period) and will normally be covered in dog hair and skin fragments.  The reason for the refund will be varied, however it will centre around something they have done as a result of stupidity. (i.e i dropped my electric razor in my cat litter tray whilst shaving and cooking my lunch). To the unsuspecting retailer it is easy to feel sorry for them, however, they are calculated wind up artists and could seriously increase your alcohol intake during the night
ABILITY TO WIND ME UP  7/10

THE SILENT ASSASSIN
These are the customers that really really wind me up.  The ones you bend over backwards to help but complain for the most trivial issues to your head office. ( The temperature in the store was a full 1 degree too hot)  They are almost always middle aged, exceptionally timid and will normally where matching jumpers/waterproof jackets.  They don’t have the confidence to complain to your face, but seek solice in writing a strongly worded letter with their concerns.  They will completely rip you apart in there letter but somehow apologise at the end sentence in order to gain some compensation.  They will then walk into the store a week later with a beeming smile of their face knowing that they have contributed to a job well done and the reason that store is so good is solely down to them! they are the backbone of that store. if it wasn’t for them the store wouldn’t even be hear.
ABILITY TO WIND ME UP 10/10

These are my pet hates!  if there are any others please add your comments