February 2015 - Page 2 of 35 - I Hate Working In Retail

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Cop rushed to hospital after drinking McDonald’s iced tea laced with heavy duty CLEANING FLUID

An Indianapolis cop stopped at a local McDonald’s to grab an iced tea before going on shift

After taking a big gulp his throat started to burn down into his chest and he spit out the tea 

He became violently ill and was taken to hospital where he stayed overnight before having an endoscopy the next day

Poison control determined the tea contained a heavy duty degreaser

The owner of the McDonald’s restaurant has said ‘We take this claim very seriously and are looking into the matter’

On the night of the incident the manager offered him another tea

A clean-living Indianapolis cop wound up in hospital after taking a gulp of iced tea that turned out to be contaminated with cleaning chemicals.

Before going on shift on Saturday night at about 10pm, Reserve Officer Paul Watkins stopped at an Indianapolis McDonald’s for a self-serve tea.

As usual he filled his cup half with unsweetened tea, but before filling the rest with sweet tea he noticed the tea looked dark.

He took the lid off the dispenser but decided that all seemed OK.

‘He filled his cup and took a big gulp and immediately his throat started burning down into his chest,’ his wife Jerilyn told ABC News.

Before going on shift on Saturday night, Reserve Officer Paul Watkins, pictured with his wife Jerilyn, stopped at a West Indianapolis McDonald’s for a self-serve tea, and ended up becoming violently ill

After he spit out the tea and told staff, the manager explained that employees had put cleaning liquid into the dispenser but had forgotten to put a cup over the nozzle

Watkins spit out the tea and immediately told staff at the counter that something was wrong.

The manager explained that employees had put cleaning liquid into the dispenser but had forgotten to put a cup over the nozzle, according to Jerilyn.

Jerilyn was not with him at the time but he called her from his police car, told her the story, and said he felt as though he just drank bleach.

Officer Watkins then became violently ill.

He called the police station and poison control, who determined that the tea dispenser was filled with a heavy duty degreasing chemical, according to the police report.

Watkins spent the night at IU Health Methodist Hospital and underwent an endoscopy the next day.

He still has problems swallowing, experiences a burning sensation in his throat, and is concerned about the long-term effects of having ingested chemicals.

‘My husband has never drank, never smoked, never done drugs,’ said Jerilyn. ‘This is just insane.’

Officer Watkins is concerned about the long term effects of ingesting the chemicals. ‘My husband has never drank, never smoked, never done drugs,’ said his wife Jerilyn

Poison Control determined that the tea dispenser was filled with a heavy duty degreasing chemical, according to the police report of the incident

McDonald’s has its own brand of degreaser solution for cleaning its restaurants

Elizabeth Henry, the owner of the McDonald’s on 38th Street where Watkins was served, issued a statement: ‘Serving my customers safe, high quality food and beverages is a top priority at our restaurants. We take this claim very seriously and are looking into the matter.’

A similar incident occurred at a McDonald’s in Muncie, Indiana, in 2013. A teenager has since filed a law suit, to which McDonald’s must respond by the end of March.

Sam Jacobs, Watkins’ lawyer, has said that he has not yet filed a law suit on his client’s behalf and hopes that he is able to work out something with McDonald’s before doing so.

‘He never wants this to happen to anybody else,’ Jacobs said.

Referring to the night of the incident, Jacobs said: ‘The irony of this all was that manager asked Paul if he wanted another cup or glass of tea and told one of the employees, “Hey, get this guy another tea”.’

Sourced fromm dailymail.co.uk

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5 Things You Learn About People When You Work In Retail

Employee Of The Month
Employee Of The Month

I like to think I’ve had my fair share of retail hell. Over the years I’ve worked in quite the spectrum of retail environments and I can safely say that each one is as traumatic as the next. Earning minimum wage and working long hours spending all day on your feet is taxing enough but without a shadow of a doubt it’s the customers that make it particularly soul-sucking.

Despite years of enduring the special kind of day-to-day aggravation that only working with the general public can give you, I did learn a lot of valuable lessons about people.

1. People TURN, I tell you. And they turn fast.

One minute you’re talking to the sweetest 40 year old woman about her mid-morning pilates class; you scan her can of baked beans; the next minute she’s demanding you haul ass back over to the shop floor to make sure the price on the till matches the price on the shop floor. If she’s right and there is a price difference, be prepared to expect comments such as: “it’s just as well ONE OF US was paying attention, wasn’t it?”, “this ALWAYS happens when I shop in this store! It’s not good enough.” or perhaps just a back-handed “see! I knew I was right.” Even if she’s wrong and there is no price difference you’ll more often than not get a snooty “well. It doesn’t hurt to double check DOES IT.” Either way you’ve become the enemy and if you think you’re going to continue your pleasant small talk …HA…think again. At best, expect a frosty yet sharp “thanks” as you hand them their receipt.

2. People are obnoxious when it isn’t their problem.

Oh, your kid just knocked over and smashed a £30 bottle of wine to pieces? That’s fine. Just walk away. Leave it to another customer to revel in complaining to me about the Pinot Grigiot polluting the floor of aisle 7. It’s not like people can cut themselves on glass anyway. Or take a nasty fall slipping on it.

Oh, you picked up a product that you’ve suddenly decided you don’t want anymore? I mean, you could put it back where it came from. BUT WHY DO THAT when there’s staff here paid to do that crap. Just chuck it on the nearest shelf. Or one better, why not just dump it on the floor?

3. Free stuff makes people incapable of common sense.

Holy hell. People get an astounding amount of satisfaction from gaining and spending points on their loyalty card. Fair enough. We all like free shit. HOWEVER. If you have a voucher for double points which is OUT OF DATE, then sorry I cannot help you.  But wait, what’s this? You were out of town and couldn’t come into the store? That changes things! Here, let me just pop over to head office right now and ask them to OVERRIDE THE SYSTEM so you can get your 20p worth of points. No problem.

Fun fact: to get 3 for 2 or Buy One Get One Free offers, You. Have. To. Buy. The. Stuff. Stated. In. The. Promotion. IT DOESN’T APPLY TO ANY PRODUCT YOU CHOOSE. Oh this information wasn’t clear? Not even in the giant display posters and clearly labelled shelves?! How weird.

4.  People have a disjointed view of how retail works.

This has been said countless time before and it’ll be said countless times again: SHOP ASSISTANTS DO NOT DECIDE THE PRICES. Complaining to me about it is just about the most counter-productive thing you could do. If you insist you can get something “cheaper in Tesco”. Then PLEASE, jog on to Tesco right now.

If something in the shop has been moved somewhere else…chances are it’s because a higher managerial body wanted it moved. Why? I don’t know. Maybe to add a bit of excitement and mystery to this dull and monotonous hell hole. Can I redirect you to the bread? Yes. Can I reshuffle the entirety of the shop because it’s not to your taste? No. Why? I’ll probably lose my job.

It’s as if people legitimately think that YOU, as a sales assistant on £5 an hour, make every managerial decision in the place and thus, should be made accountable.

5. People have no consideration for your time.

Okay. This one gets me the most. I went into work each day knowing full well that I’d be spending 8 hours of my day giving the best customer service I could physically and mentally muster. From 9 til 5 I’d be the nicest, smiliest (albeit fakest) customer assistant I could be. But when that clock hit 17:01. That was it. I was so done. So you can understand my issue with people coming in TWO MINUTES BEFORE CLOSING TIME and proceeding to take their sweet time to browse the shop. Hell. Nawh. Not on my clock. I have yet to manage to repress the memories of standing by my till past 5:30pm in a boiling rage waiting for one specific customer to decide what variety of potato to have with their Sunday roast.

In all fairness, 90% of all the customers I had were lovely. But my God, that other 10% have left me scarred for life.

Sourced from thoughtcatalog.com

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4 Types Of Customers That Really Ruin The Cashier’s Day

i hate working in retail

1. Coupon users who do not read.

“Why didn’t my free coupon go through? I have a Low Carb Thomas English Muffin”

“Ma’am that coupon is for the Original Thomas English Muffin”

*Awkward silence*

Customers please read your coupons correctly. We know, you probably had a “long and stressful day,” but just because your bad day is an everyday thing does not mean you have to put that bad attitude of yours onto everyone else. If it is not the correct coupon we cannot discount it for you. Coupons are specific because it is a form of advertisement for you to try new things. So those Original Thomas English Muffins might be your new favorite breakfast item.

2. Senior Citizens who play the “I’m old” card.

Here’s the thing about senior citizens, they can be our sweetest customers ever, or our worst nightmares. Yes you still have to pay for your eggs; no we cannot make exceptions because you are old. Some stores actually provide a senior citizen day, which allow up to a 5% discount on your groceries. Take advantage of it! You do not need to remind us of your age to make us feel guilty. We already feel enough guilt…for doing this cashier job.

3. Cell phone users who do not stop talking in line.

This type of customer has their ups and downs. The up side is that they are more than likely to not pay attention to their groceries, so they are not fickle about the prices of every item. The down side is that is just plain rude. Is it absolutely necessary to talk to your friend about the big party you had last night? Or how wasted you got and cannot remember what you did? We’re not asking you to give us all of your attention, but when we ask how you would like to pay for your order and you are busy off in your own world it gets to be annoying.

4. Entire families who do not bag a single thing.

Although it is not required of the customer to bag their own groceries, we sometimes question why your perfectly capable family of six cannot help us bag YOUR groceries. Bagging your order of $300 worth of items for you while you sit there stagnant is not a simpler feat. It’s apparent that you want to be home on the couch watching cable television, why not make it quicker by helping a fellow human out? Oh you had a long and stressful day? That’s too bad.

It’s obvious that not every cashier is cheerful or bubbly, we get that, but if you can at least gain our perspective from this, maybe then you’ll understand too that we ALL have had a long and stressful day.

 

Sourced from thoughtcatalog.com