Poll: Working in Retail/Customer Service

[Phasmal]

Factory work?

I'm pretty lucky in that I don't get many asshole customers. I've only ever had one where I argued with the guy and I was right so I went for it. I know "the customer is always right" but fuck that, the guy had to wait his turn.

Because we are in a quote chain at the moment I may as well ask you. Was there a weird gender split in your job? Most of the guys worked on the floor and most of the girls were on the tills/customer services.

I'm not annoyed/jealous/anything like that. I'm just wondering if it happened in other shops too.

Yep, I worked in a factory packing and assembling boxes. Worst job I ever had.
The pace they expect you to go at is so unrelenting it wasn't uncommon to slice your hand on the cardboard. Someone shouting at you all day in a language you don't know is not fun.

Well, like I said, our shop was not particularly a busy one (it was a large hardware shop), so everybody did everything, but most of the guys were in the warehouse and most of the ladies were on tills or working the shop floor.

 

[Techsmart07]

I much prefer being behind a register

Oh, you're one of those retail workers. That's nothing like working on the shop floor.

I hated being at the register. At our store, you got more angry people running a register than being at the returns counter. Also, being 6'4" while working on a register designed for someone 5'6" with a bad back just made every working day suck. If I went back to retail, I would flat out refuse cashier training.
The people I worked WITH were good people when I worked retail. The people I worked FOR deserved treatment that cannot be considered decent to even speak about in a public setting. By the way, if anyone says working at Target is better than Wal-mart, laugh at them and walk out the room.
so, to OT - I hate retail. I was about ready to quit working at my retail store and be willing to go hungry than stay there. Luckilly, right about when I hit wit's end, I got a better job.
to Poll - Whether or not I wore a namebadge, people tended to treat me the same regardless (After working for 3 years, I stopped wearing my namebadge for the next 2). So, I think it can be annoying (every angry customer knows you by name), but doesn't make you less of a person.
Now, if we wanna trade stories about how much retail sucks, I got plenty of those.

 

[Iron Criterion]

I'm sick of people thinking I work where I do because I failed at school and obviously have no qualifications (I have GCSE's, A-levels, NVQs and health training certificates so they can suck my balls). Some of them talk to me really slowly and act like I don't have a clue how stuff works. They're usually stupider than me which bugs me the most.

This. I'm tired of people coming into the store where I work and explaining what they want in simple terms; as though I wouldn't understand the services of the place I've worked at for two years. Some are just downright rude and to them you are not a person but part of the service itself. You learn pretty fast the customer is rarely right and as long as you are confident in what you do it is pretty satisfying being able to hand a rude customer's ass back to them, and know you were in the right.

But like others have said, you get to learn how to deal with horrible, tough situations and understand how to treat other people better (for example I treat customers how I want to be treated and I do the same for workers in other shops). For these lessons I will always be grateful of my employer.

 

[Iron Criterion]

I much prefer being behind a register

Oh, you're one of those retail workers. That's nothing like working on the shop floor.

I find it odd you assume because I worked on the register I did not work on the shop floor.
Maybe the company I worked for was just cheap, but everybody did everything.
Still, register was probably my favourite part of that job.

Where I work (Argos) each employee is required to be trained in every area; and because we are always grossly understaffed you'll often be required to do everything yourself (serve the customer, collect their order and give the order out, rinse and repeat).

 

[Slayer_2]

I voted yes, because people treat you like less of a person. Of course you actually aren't, but you might as well be. We once had some dumbass drive his Hummer H2 back at 4am (from Langford, a trip that takes about 20 minutes, even at such an hour) to ***** about his bill being 3 cents over.

I gleefully pointed out his math error to him, but took a dime out of my wallet and handed it to him with a casual "Here, don't spend it all on gas, you're welcome". That was one of the worst, but it was rare to have a week without encountering some kind of dumbass cheapskate who thinks the world is out to steal from them pennies at a time, but also owns a car with 8 cylinders or more. I worked nights, I fear what the day people had to put up with.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I don't hate my job nor do I love it (I'm content working at the retail I'm). I know for one thing I am grateful that the customers (mostly local or tourists) are friendly compared to some people experiences I've read about their customers encounter (the lazy and jerk kind).

 

[Imthatguy]

I appreciate bad customer service. If your happy and helpful after working a low paying thankless job all day you either a liar or a moron and I dislike both more than I dislike jerkwads.

 

[The White Hunter]

Hate retail. Hate it hate it hate it.

Know whats worse? Go deliver linen rentals to hotels that want their shit on the third floor and don't has freight elevator.

 

[lacktheknack]

Maybe I'm in a calmer part of Canada, but in hindsight, my years of retail weren't near as bad as people tell me it's supposed to be.

It sure helps if you like people, though.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I was thinking of working retail but I can't balance work and school

 

[miketehmage]

The poll and the question you ask in your post are different. Or at least I think they are.

No working in retail doesn't make you less of a person.

Do I like it? Do. I. Fuck. Customers are assholes, and you know what's worse? They prey on the weak. When I first started my job I was 16, young and eager to give the best service I could. I was always polite and I always did the best I could at my job. I received complaints. Alot.

Now I'm 19, cynical, far from eager and I don't take shit from idiots anymore. How many complaints? None. And it is not due to my service improving with experience. It's due to my blatant disregard to their shit.

Another example is a girl who has worked there for longer than me, she does her job very well and is extremely polite. She has anxiety issues and it's like customers can smell it and just give her endless streams of bullshit.

TL;DR : I hate my job and people suck.

 

[Greni]

I do feel that everyone should work in retail at least once in their live, if only that they might learn to obey Wheaton's Law.

I will have to be one of those guys and just say "this".

It's healthy for your social growth to learn how it is to be the person who has to, every single day, act like they give a shit about you and your measly little problems.
Also there are people out there who use retail workers as mental punching bags.

It always amused me that during the summer, I was the sweaty cashier trying to do twenty things at once but still happy and smiling, while the people who were supposed to be enjoying their holiday were grumpy, pissed and generally unhappy.

Captcha: love you. Aw, love you too, but let's stay friends.

 

[Blunderboy]

I do feel that everyone should work in retail at least once in their live, if only that they might learn to obey Wheaton's Law.

I will have to be one of those guys and just say "this".

It's healthy for your social growth to learn how it is to be the person who has to, every single day, act like they give a shit about you and your measly little problems.
Also there are people out there who use retail workers as mental punching bags.

It always amused me that during the summer, I was the sweaty cashier trying to do twenty things at once but still happy and smiling, while the people who were supposed to be enjoying their holiday were grumpy, pissed and generally unhappy.

Captcha: love you. Aw, love you too, but let's stay friends.

EDIT - Nevermind you were agreeing with me. I misread that somehow. I blame the heat in here tonight.

 

[AngloDoom]

I have worked a nine-to-nine job in an office dealing with angry people by day, and angry managers in the evening.

I have worked on a farm, spending hours literally shovelling pig shit. Baked-on, clay-hard, pig shit.

I still prefer both to my experiences in retail.

 

[Sassafrass]

Ha, all these people complaining about retail.
Do a weekend shift, 6am til 2pm in a factory, cleaning up other peoples mess all day with only a 30 minute lunch break over the course of 8 hours. No taking breaks, no sitting down for just a second, none of that. Oh, and be one of only three people who have to clean up a huge fucking factory on the morning weekend shift.

Do that for a while then see if you want to complain about retail after that.
Fuck, I even did 5 months volunteer work in a small but busy charity shop, Monday to Saturday. I'd rather do that again instead of my current job.

 

[suitepee7]

your poll is awful...

but retail is terrible, one of the worst jobs going. the customers treat you like shit the majority of the time. that being said, it makes you grow as a person i think. you develop a pretty thick skin and deal with a lot of shit that comes your way. it also makes you appreciate how bad the job is, and you tend to treat others in retail better than you did before.

 

[jklinders]

Customer at retail and restaurants have a habit of treating staff like they are lower forms of life. I think everyone should work a month or 2 in these "menial" jobs so that they can have a grasp of what they put people through day in and day out.

I am not customer facing thank god. I have no patience for people's shit. I'll never be a front of house manager where I work as a result but I know there are abusive guests coming in our doors because I hear about it whenever the servers gather. It may be character building but I simply want to place a beatdown on the worst of these pricks whenever they darken my door just to put them in their places.