September 2014 - Page 12 of 18 - I Hate Working In Retail

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26 things only people working in retail will understand

If you’ve worked in retail for any amount of time you’ve probably developed a smoking habit, cynical attitude and lost hope in humanity.

Dealing with rude customers, annoying managers, and endless shifts all for minimum wage should be recognised as a crime.

These are the things that every retail worker has had to endure in their time.

1. Being expected to stop thieves
You work on the register or in the stock room, but somehow you’re also expected to tackle a 6″5′ fleeing thief. Hire a security guard for Christ’s sake, that’s not in your job description.

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2. Customers throwing money on the counter rather than placing it in your outstretched hand.
There is nothing more infuriating than this ignorant a**hole! Clearly seeing your hand waiting to accept the money, they drop their change on the counter and expect you to pick it up, one coin at a time.

f3. When you have to tell a customer their card is declined
The awkward face EVERY retail worker makes at this moment.

468750664. Customers making a mess
You sometimes feel like they are doing this purely to piss you off!

giphy5. Rude customers
There is nothing worse than having to deal with an ignorant customer, struggling maintain that fake smile on your face.

22jCQ276. Customers letting their kids run wild and free
If you must go shopping with your complete family, for the love of God, please don’t bring them all up to the register to pay. Believe it or not, only one person is needed for this mighty task.

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7. Dealing with “cute” couple fights over who is paying.
Just give me the money. Go enact your strange financial foreplay somewhere else.

giphy8. Wandering off in the middle of a transaction
Someone sees cousin Mary enter the store and leaves during the transaction to catch up on the last thirty years.

giphy9. Customers blaming you for stuff out of your control
Someone freaks out at you because the price isn’t what it says on the label. They seem to feel like your job is also to MAKE the prices, but this is actually not the case. Find someone else to take out your frustration of being overcharged €2 on.

544239_348765011900240_436290346_n10. The fake laugh and smile you’ve mastered
Everybody has their fake retail smile. It gets harder and harder to maintain the longer you work there!

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11. People paying you with a mountain of change
Yes, we don’t mind taking your change but within bloody reason. We don’t want to count 2000 1c coins when there’s a queue of 10 people behind you!

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12. The Customer is almost NEVER right!
Vehemently arguing that a product is overpriced, only for us to show you that you were actually looking at the completely wrong label, or you hadn’t realised that the price was in EURO, not pound sterling!

giphy13. You and your friends work completely different shifts
The little fun you used to have in work has been taken away from you by your manager. Now you’re stuck working with the employees your least compatible with, in order to ensure you’re never happy at work.

giphy14. “Can I pay part card/part cash?”
WHY do you have to be so awkward? You really shouldn’t have to divide up a subtotal of €15 by cash and card.

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15. Customers who move at an obnoxiously slow pace when there is a massive queue behind them
Anybody who moves THAT slow clearly is doing it on purpose. I don’t care how old you are. Shift it sister!

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16. A half hour break is simply not enough for the hell you have to put up with each day
Time doesn’t seem to apply during working hours. 30 minutes break is a totally different amount of time than 30 minutes on the register.

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17. You agree to cover someone’s shift and immediately wish you could go back in time to change your decision
“Why did I just do that?” The worst part is that the other person never returns the favour.

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18. A customer has mistaken you for a qualified therapist
We don’t want to hear about your life struggles at 5pm on a Tuesday evening. Just take your purchases and head for the exit please.

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19. People entering the shop and meandering around the store at closing time!
Are these people actually serious? Despite what they might think, we actually do have other things to do and would like to leave when our shift ends. If you want to wander aimlessly around the store at closing time, please pay me extra for allowing you to do do.

tumblr_mmwl07l8gx1rt9ukxo1_50020. Trying to text without your boss seeing you
Texting your friends under the register that you’ll need them to pick you up a copious amount of alcohol to forget about your job for the briefest of moments, without your boss catching you.

anigif_enhanced-buzz-11572-1381172380-921. Having to deal with drunk or high customers
The worst of the worst. Slurring their words and gazing hopelessly into your eyes. The stink of alcohol pouring into your nostrils as you try your best to deal with their dire antics.

giphy22. Telling a customer that there is in fact a queue in your store
Yes, there is actually a line that you must enter, not just burst your way to the head of the register. And then they get pissy with you for telling them nicely.

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23. The terribly annoying retail jokes that we hear ALL the time
You’ll immediately recognise these. “Do you take cash?” Haha good one! Yes, we do actually accept cash… Now hand it over.

giphy24. Infuriating “witty” retorts from customers
when an item doesn’t scan: “It must be free.” Or even worse. You’ve endured a 3 hour blitz of customers and are enjoying your first sip of water and the temporary silence, when you here: “Oh you must need something to do?!”

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25. You’re not above breaking your phone in order to avoid being called into work on your day off
You’ve thought about it. Either turning your phone off or pinging it off a wall because you just give up. Nothing is worse than going into that place on your day off.

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26. Your outlook on life has completely changed after working in retail
You’ve developed a cynical attitude and your hope for humanity is completely drained.

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Sourced from shemazing.com

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The Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Workers

1. Guessing your clothes size instead of saying you don’t know

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

There is nothing wrong with not being sure of what size you are in shirts, dresses and any other number of clothes. The human body is always changing. We as fashion stylists and human beings understand this. What we don’t understand is why you would have us grab seven different sizes of jeans when we are the ones who will have to put them all back at the end of the day. Not cute.

2. Bad hygeine

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

One time a gentlemen with horrible dandruff asked to try on several hats. I could not refuse him. We had to damage every single one out. Also, bathing and wearing deodorant is essential in any situation, especially if you are trying on clothes you may not purchase. No one should have to smell your naked B.O. from the fitting room halfway across the store. It is not fair to the employees or your fellow customers.

3. Making a mess of things for no apparent reason

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

Remember every shirt you just “want to see” must be refolded by another employee, whose manager has to check them out at the end of the night. It’s fine if you take things off the racks or take a sweater off the table, just please put it back.

Adding to that – Ruining a whole stack of folds

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

Folding clothes is the most time consuming task in keeping the floor up to corporate standards. The edges of every pair of folded shirts and pants need to be exactly even. If you know you can’t fold clothes well, instead of ruining a whole stack of to find your size, feel free to ask an associate for assistance. That’s what they are there for and they would be more than happy to help you. They would also appreciate that you asked.

4. Trying to haggle. Everything.

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

You’re broke. We get it. We most likely are too, depending on which store we work at. But we can’t change the price for you. In rare cases, a manager might be able to. But the bottom line is, if you can’t afford it, ask us for an alternative. If we don’t have it, we can probably direct you to another brand that does.

5. Staying too long after the store closes

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

We have friends, lovers, children, siblings, errands, plans and LIVES. It is understandable if you need an extra ten minutes after we close to make your final decisions and get to the register. But when you’re pushing it longer, that’s just inconsiderate. Especially if you know we can’t and wont ask you to leave. Unlike Nicki.

6. Not believing us

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

If we don’t have your size in that shoe, we don’t have it. Why would we lie? We want you to have the shoe too (especially if we are working on commission). Yes we can check other stores for you, we we might have it online. But please don’t ask another associate to go look for you. If anything, just ask a manager if you don’t believe us.

7. Hearing what you want to hear instead of what was actually said to you

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

I would never tell you an item that is marked 15% off is actually 50% off. Hunny, don’t even try causing a scene. I won’t fall for it, my boss won’t fall for it and the other customers watching you probably won’t even fall for it. Getting that worked up isn’t a good look on you. Just don’t.
Also, a sign that says “SALE – up to 70% off!” means exactly that – UP TO. Not every item will be discounted that high or discounted at all.

8. Trying to make us join you in putting yourself down

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

No one looks like a super model. No one looks like Tyson Beckford and Naomi Campbell in the magazines. Even the real Tyson Beckford and Naomi Campbell don’t look like the Tyson and Naomi in the magazines. We are all beautiful in our own unique ways. There is nothing wrong with you. Please, don’t ask us to laugh along with you about your looks. Read Beyonce’s lips, hotness.

9. Trying on half the store and taking slim to nothing

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

We are thrilled that you love our line of clothes and you look great in them! But if you are going to try on more than ten items, please take at least a couple home with you. After all, we will have to put all the clothes away you decided against.

10. Lying

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

Yes, when you put several items on hold and promise us you will “come back for them in a hour,” we know just as well as you do that you won’t be back on 5th Avenue until Earth’s next celestial cycle. And you will probably still want that same handbag from four seasons ago. But we put your things on hold anyway. Just be real with us, it won’t hurt our feelings.

11. Thinking “Hi!” means “Give me your money and leave”

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

We get paid to greet you. Believe me, we don’t want to do it either. But we are expected to greet any customer the first time we see them. Don’t think that means we are trying to push clothes in your hand and money out of your Chanel handbag. And please, don’t shoo us away when we greet you by waving your hand and saying “I’m just looking.” That’s just sassy with a side of rude.

12. Insisting to try something on a mannequin and then not buying it

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

Dressing mannequins is an acquired art, a very difficult one. It can take several minutes, if not close to a half hour to put clothes on/pull them off a mannequin,especially if they are wearing skinny jeans. A lot of care goes into it and those stiff parts do not move. We understand if the last pair of something in your size is on the mannequin but if we pull it off, please take it home with you.

Let’s hear it

12 Things That Will Enrage Fashion Retail Personnel

Sourced from Buzzfeed.com

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Chipotle Workers Shut Down Store Over ‘Borderline Sweatshop Conditions’

A Chipotle near Pennsylvania State University shut down on Wednesday after managers reportedly quit over brutal work hours and understaffing.

A sign posted on the door to the eatery said that most employees resigned in protest of their “borderline sweatshop conditions.” Below the message read: “People > profits.”

“Ask our corporate offices why their employees are forced to work in borderline sweatshop conditions,” the sign read. “Almost the entire management and crew have resigned.”

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“Our Penn State restaurant was closed when a few employees quit, locking out a majority of others who are enthusiastic to return to work,” Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, told The Huffington Post in an email.

Arnold told HuffPost the store re-opened at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The managers who quit held the keys to open the restaurant, Arnold said. He did not immediately respond to a question about the number of workers that left, or how many remain.

A regional manager arrived early on Wednesday afternoon to observe the situation and request that the managers remove the sign from the door, according to Penn State’s student newspaper the Daily Collegian.

HuffPost called the State College, Penn. location of Chipotle around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. When asked if the store had re-opened, a man who identified himself as “Eric” over the phone referred HuffPost to corporate public relations and hung up the phone.

Brian Healy, a former manager at the eatery, told the student-run news site Onward State that the restaurant was understaffed, forcing employees to work 10-12 hour shifts without breaks.

“Working conditions are heinous,” he told Onward State. “I’m not trying to take down the Chipotle corporation, I just want to see people treated better.”

The walkout comes just a week after fast-food workers across the country protested for higher wages. Hundreds were arrested. Chipotle pays workers higher wages than many of its corporate competitors, and it remains unclear whether the mass resignation at the Penn State location was related to the strikes.

This post has been updated to reflect that the store has re-opened.

 

Sourced from huffingtonpost.com