Retail Hell Underground

Caught On Cell Phone: Senior Walmart Worker Racial Profiling On 6 Customers!? (Manager Puts Her In Place)

6 Black customers in Walmart late night were first approached by a manager saying that they couldn't have backpacks or satchels. They complied, and two went back to the car to put the bags up while the other 4 stayed in the store shopping. Then another Walmart worker approached the other four and rudely asked could she help them. They asked to speak to a manager, and the worker flips out.

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Hang on here, let me wrap my head around this.

1) The custys were fully well behaved, and even the manager freely admits that they had been polite and respectful when the request was made.

2) A retail slave completely new to the situation picks a fight.

3) The custys legitimately request a manager in light of her attitude

4) The retail slave pitches a fit forcing...

5) The manager to get involved yet again

6) The retail slave gets MOUTHY ON FUCKING CAMERA to her MANAGER

7) and threatening to go above the manager's head to get the manager in trouble!

8) What the fuck is wrong with you lady?! You don't take your bad day out on people who weren't causing problems!

Hoarders And The OCD Custy

A memory sprang to mind about one of the custys I frequently helped way back in my Hoarder days. This isn't a complaint so much as a memory.

She was a very nice lady, but incredibly OCD. As a regular, the managers all knew her by sight and instructed all us Cashiers to call for assistance whenever she came to the front of the store. And, of all things, the only custy who got rather special treatment when it came to assisting her.

Unlike many OCD folks I have seen; she wasn't as obsessed with clean hands and sanitizer as she was with certain rituals. I suspect these rituals shaved off the compulsion to wash.

1. When she bought a book, she would find the cleanest, crisp-ist one. Sometimes a manager would rummage for the nicest one they could dig up if we had overstock, especially for her.
2. She would put her (huge) purse on the counter and do her utmost to pay in exact change, and/or, with the best bill she could find that covered her total.
3. She would request the cleanest, "shiniest" change we could find in our drawer. She was also the only customer we would permit to select it herself. She was also quite honest; selecting her exact change and completely ignoring any of the others we made available for her to select from.
4. She would request a "small" Hoarder's bag. These things had no handles and could barely contain your standard novel. We would bring up a stack for her and let her choose the one that was the least wrinkled/snagged etc. This would be dutifully folded in half and very carefully added to a small collection in her purse. We never asked why, but she did seem to use them, since her collection would vary in size.
5. This process could take anywhere from 10-15 minutes as she peered over her glasses and carefully counted out the bills she wished to part with, slid her purchase into a clean bag (other than the one she tucked into her purse), situated everything back into her purse and went on her way.

She was also the sweetest lady we ever had to deal with, for all the time it took her to be happy with every little thing in its place. She was polite, honest, and always thanked us. It was easy for us to be patient with her because it was obvious she wasn't stalling or taking up time deliberately; heck if the line looked long, she would scoot to an unmanned register to put all of her stuff away.

It's funny, she's one of only two customers that I miss from my Hoarders days.

May all your customers be nice,

A Drug Hunting Hag, And An Awesome Custy Bearing Tasty Herbs!

Hey y'all, it's Evie again! I've actually got two stories today; one scary, and one sweet.

Story number one:

We started a new program at our business for people who want to lose weight. Unlike some fly-by-night clinics, our program is very strict and requires tests and a physical. For people that are used to places that just hand you a prescription, this can get... annoying, I guess.

One particular client came in, got checked out, and started the program. She apparently had some "red-flag" issues that made the doctor want to be cautious. Doc put her on a trial med and asked her to come in bi-monthly to check-in. Cue nutso behavior: the lady called every 3-4 days saying she needed her dosage increased and trying to bully the front desk into getting her way (to no avail, obviously). Finally, it was time for her first check up.

She showed up half an hour early, got pissed that the provider was busy, and started laying in to my secretary. She obviously knew how to be as nasty as possible without actually violating any policies (no cussing, no physical intimidation), but even so she was so hostile that I almost kicked her out. Before I could, the provider came up and collected her, presumably calming her down.

Unfortunately, her progress did not merit an increase in dosage. When she found out she was still on the same dose, she LOST HER SHIT. Showed up at the clinic and drove around the parking lot threateningly, not letting any employees leave and making obscene gestures through her windows until the cops showed up.

We promptly banned her and sent a note to her insurance company, but jeez.

On a happier note, Story number two:

We have this one guy who's been coming here forever, and he LOVES to talk. Just chats nonstop every time he comes in, but he's adorable so it's cool. A lot of time he brings his "friend" (code word for boyfriend) with him. The boyfriend is an old-school hippy with tons of anecdotes about herbal medicine and holistic lifestyles, which is pretty sweet. I'll call boyfriend RM (for Reiki Master).

Anyways RM comes in by himself the other day, apropos of nothing, with a massive flat of herbs from his garden and tons of glass bottles full of seeds. Apparently he was harvesting last week and thought of us.

We're always tickled when patients bring us presents, but this was above and beyond. There was enough stuff for every employee to get seed packets and plants.

Thanks, RM. Next time a hosebeast comes in and makes our lives hell, we can go home to our gardens and make ourselves some herbal tea. You're the best!

May all your custies be sweeties!

Love, Evie.

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Fast Food Worker Dances With Girl Who Was Rejected On Prom

A teen reddit user who works at a burger place posted this: 

"She came into my work crying because her prom date stood her up the night of. She left smiling because I had another customer play music while I asked her to dance in front of everyone."

After commenters accused him of trying to pick her up, he wrote: "Dude, I did it because it was the right thing to do. Not because I'm trying to get into a high school freshman's pants."

RHU Salutes you dude! Kudos!

via www.reddit.com

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Dry Cleaner Assists The Unemployed

 

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Ramen Tatsu-ya Custy Leaves Sweet Note

Reddit user Kitchen Confidential posted this pic of an amazing note that a custy left! They said, "We got this today. Gratitude is flowing both ways."

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Walmart Works Finds Custy's Envelope with $20,000 In Cash and Gives It Back

From Huff Po: What would you do if you stumbled upon $20,000 in cash? One Walmart worker, who did exactly just that, never even thought about keeping the money.

“My conscience wouldn’t allow it," Bismark Mensah, the employee, who makes about $9 per hour at a Seattle-area Walmart, told the Seattle Times. "I couldn’t even drive home if I did that."

Mensah found the $20,000 stashed in an envelope after it fell out of a customer’s purse. He ran after her car and returned the money, the Seattle Times reports. Thanks to his good deed, Mensah, a recent immigrant from Ghana, is now the recipient of Walmart’s “Integrity In Action” award.

More people than you might suppose have made the same decision as Mensah in similar circumstances. In the wake of a devastating 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan, residents turned over more than $48 million in lost cash to the authorities, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.

Then there are the good samaritans turning in newly discovered cash on a smaller scale. An airport worker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., earlier this year returned an iPad he found with $13,000 worth of cash stashed inside it, the Florida Sun Sentinel reported at the time. The airport honored him with a plaque for his good deed.

Such decisions appear to be the gifts that keep on giving. A 2010 Harvard study found that those who perform good deeds are more likely to have better physical endurance. Multiple studies have found it leads to a more satisfying life in various other ways too.

Still, not everyone is so willing to be a do-gooder. An Arkansas woman who found a lottery ticket in the trash turned it in and claimed a $1 million prize, only to have a judge later rule that the original purchaser of the ticket was entitled to the winnings.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Custy Proposes To His Girlfriend and Krispy Kreme Workers Give Them a Thousand Free Doughnuts

From Huff Po: Krispy Kreme has made one couple's special day even sweeter.

On Sunday, 25-year-old David Lewis of Centennial, Colo., proposed to his girlfriend of three and a half years, Elly Steinmetz, 24. The pair started dating in 2009. One memorable day together, they ate Krispy Kreme donuts at a scenic overlook near Denver, Steinmetz told The Huffington Post.

The proposal took place at the same spot, so when Steinmetz said "yes," Krispy Kreme seemed like a fitting place to celebrate. The couple asked an employee to take a photo and ordered five donuts. But workers behind the counter surprised them with more -- way more.

"Krispy Kreme gave us a THOUSAND doughnuts for getting engaged and coming here!" Steinmetz wrote on Facebook Sunday.

On Monday, Steinmetz told The Huffington Post that she doesn't know exactly how many donuts they received, but it was more than she's ever seen at one time.

"They came with just bags and bags. And these boxes and boxes of donuts," Steinmetz said.

At the time, employees were cleaning up for the night, she said. Still, they stopped to personally offer their congratulations.

"It was really cool to see how happy they were for us," she said.

The couple posed for a few more photos and stopped by Steinmetz's parents' home in Littleton, where they ate what they could, drank champagne and brainstormed ways to get rid of the remaining donuts. Steinmetz joked that her father ate an entire box.

The others would go to coworkers, friends and lucky neighbors.

“I was going up and down my street giving donuts away,” Steinmetz said.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Evie Encounters An Asshat Regular, Awesome Manager Defends Her

From: Evie

Hey guys! Happy Wino's story about wine retail hell made me think of this little gem from when I worked at a large wine and beer store.

A little back-story: I came in to that job as a cashier, but after making friends with the store manager and the wine manager, I got really interested in the culture. Since wine and beer were their passion, they taught me anything I wanted to know. After about a year I got promoted to the wine department.

Every two weeks the wine manager (let's call him Marcelle) would teach a master class in another town. He'd prep amazing gourmet food (he used to be a sommelier and a chef), and he and the manager of another store would choose a "theme" and an array of wines for customers to try out and learn about. They would provide amazing amounts of information about the individual wines, the regions they came from, who produced them, how they were grown, etc. I asked Marcelle how much it would be for me to come take the classes, and he told me he'd let me in for free as long as I helped him prepare.

So every other Saturday he'd come pick me up an hour or so before the class, I'd help him set out and arrange the menu, put out glasses and spit buckets and staple educational materials and decant and so forth, and then when the customers came I'd stand by and pour the wine. In return I got to listen to the class and taste the wines myself. As a poor student who could never have afforded Caymus or Dom on my own, I thought it was a great trade.

Anyways, one regular was particularly obnoxious. He never used the spit buckets, always asked for seconds, and gobbled down as much food as he could possibly fit in his gullet. One night when he was feeling particularly buzzed, he grabbed my wrist as I was pouring and tried to correct me.

"Sorry," he laughed loudly, "you just pour like you're at a movie theater and you've got a two liter bottle of soda."

I stared at him, a little shocked, and said, "Uh.. I'm sorry," in the most neutral tone I could muster, even though the SOB made my skin crawl.

I went back to empty a spit bucket, and one of the other employees, a sweet little old lady I'll call Doris, came back with me into the sink room. She turned me around and looked me in the eye and said, "Honey... fuck him. Seriously. What the hell?" That made me laugh, and I was able to go back out without feeling completely mortified.

After the class I came up to Marcelle and asked, "Hey, can you teach me to pour wine more prettily?"

So he throws a napkin over his arm and starts showing me how people in fancy restaurants do it. Lo and behold, SOB comes up during this transaction and starts laughing again.

"Thank God," he tells Marcelle, "she needs it."

Marcelle turns around and looks at SOB like he's a bug. "Just for your information, Evie comes in as a volunteer and gives up her Saturdays so she can learn more about wine; she's not getting paid for this. At this point I'd really just let her sit in for free, but she helps because she wants to. I've never had a problem with how she handles things."

SOB sobered up after that and muttered some kind of apology before slinking off. Then Marcelle handed me a half-bottle of blanc-de-noirs and a box of homemade lobster dip and told me to have a good weekend.

Speaking of Marcelle -- that guy really was the bomb.

Happy belated Easter!

--Evie

Random Act of Retail Kindness: Chili's Custys Show Appreciation With Loving Note and Tip

Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture

[This article is from back in 2006, but I about cried and thanked the heavens that such a person still exists in the world when I saw it. It's very much worth the read!

--Ilia]

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Every time I promise myself that I will work on controlling my temper, I always end up making a scene.

This time, it wasn’t my fault. All I wanted was a bagel. A bagel, a cup of coffee, and perhaps a spot near a window where I could idly watch the traffic go by as I browsed through the newspaper and licked cream cheese from my fingers. But apparently the Gods were not on my side.

Today I got in line behind a middle aged woman in a fur coat who was barking orders at the poor bagel girl like she was a dumb misbehaving dog. Fur Coat was ordering multiple bagel sandwiches from a list, but instead of ordering them in such a way that would make sense, she was attempting to order them all at the same time. The Bagel Girl was obviously confused and you could tell by her shaking hands that Fur Coat’s harsh tone was intimidating her.

Finally, Fur Coat snapped, “I said light butter on that bagel! Light butter! Jesus!”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I cut in, “You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

Fur Coat glared daggers at me and stated, “I’m not.”

“Well, I beg to differ.”

With a disgusted ‘Hrmph,’ Fur Coat went back to her overly complicated order, but she did so quietly and even managed to begrudge the poor girl a ‘Thank you’ after she was finished.

I have a theory about asshole customers: I think they only act that way because no one ever calls them on their bullshit. The poor kids behind the counter can’t stand up for themselves lest they lose their jobs and other patrons look the other way claiming ‘it’s none of my business.’

Fuck that. When I see some self important asshole verbally degrading a teenaged kid with dead eyes behind a counter, it ruins my day. So, I say some shit. Besides, I feel that if I stay silent, I am almost giving an abuser permission to act like a raging asshole. Ignoring their behavior suggests to them on some sick level that what they’re doing is Ok.

It’s not OK.

The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self absorbed little children.

Speaking of respect, another idea that has ruined American culture is the one that states, ‘I don’t give respect freely. You have to earn my respect.’ This one is most often uttered by punk kids with bad attitudes and black fingernail polish.

Fucking gag me.

I mean, how egotistical does one have to be to automatically assume that their respect is so fucking important that one must jump through multiples hoops in order to earn it? How about we give people respect because they are humans with lives and feelings just as important as our own? Why not give people a default level of respect and more or less can either be won or lost based on the behavior of the individual? The loss of respect is something that should be based on actions. The idea that that one must win basic respect in the first place is incredibly belittling. How narcissistic can you be to embrace that ideology?

A few Sundays ago, my husband and I went out to breakfast. If anyone has ever attempted to go out to breakfast on a Sunday morning, they know that restaurants are usually packed around then. We were finally seated and our server was not only very busy, but also a new employee according to her ‘Hi! I’m new!’ nametag.

I’d like to say that everyone in her section was very understanding. The place was a madhouse and she was obviously out of her element. I wish I could say that the patrons in that restaurant were mannerly and polite and treated her with even an ounce of dignity and consideration. But, if I did, I’d be fucking lying.

Nearly everyone yelled at her or condescended to her like she was a stupid little child. One guy ordered a side of ‘home fries’ and reamed her ass when she brought him French fries. Had he looked at the menu a little closer, he would have seen that ‘home fries’ weren’t listed. This particular restaurant only served French fries or hash browns. Her mistake was understandable and he was basically yelling at her because she didn’t read his mind accurately enough.

But let’s all forget about that for just a moment. Instead, I want to point out that there are a multitude of things that can go wrong in one’s life. Death, illness, and poverty just to name a few. Yet, here I was watching a grown man lose his fucking shit because he was going to have to wait 5 minutes for a side of hash browns. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.

At this point, the angry little man demanded to speak to a manager and a kowtowing corporate whore scuttled over with free coupons and many apologies. The angry man furiously demanded that his waitress be fired right that instant. Over hash browns.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned over and interrupted, “When you’re finished talking to this man, I’d like to speak to you. I have the same server.”

The angry man smiled smugly, no doubt convinced that I was going to back him up on his quest to get a new girl fired because he had to wait 5 fucking minutes.

The manager finished with him and moped over to my table ready for his second tongue lashing of the day. I surprised him by loudly saying, “I just want you to know that our server is doing the best that she can. She’s been trying very hard and has been very sweet to us even though that asshole has treated her so poorly.”

The manager suddenly looked panicked and started shooting terrified looks at the table that just finished reaming him out. “I know,” he whispered fearfully, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to fire her.”

And while I was pleased to learn that this particular manager wasn’t going to fire the new girl based on the whim of some fat ass piece of trailer trash, I was disappointed that he rewarded said trash’s temper tantrum with free food. I long for the day a manager walks up to a table and says, “How dare you treat my employee this way. Get out now.”

I’m sure they want to, but that ridiculous policy ‘The Customer is Always Right’ silences them. So until we banish that phrase from American culture forever, I suggest we quit looking the other way when people behave like scumbags.

After all, technicalities may suggest that they are always right, but that doesn’t make them any less an asshole.

via www.violentacres.com

A Heavenspawn Warms Science Ninja's Heart

I am afraid I once again have the RHU submitting bug and remembered this story from a while ago, which I thought you may like. Here it is:

So, it's Science Ninja back with another tale to warm even the iciest of slaves hearts.

This happened a couple of months ago. I was working fitting room when a father and daughter (about 7) came up, with 4 baskets full of I swear every item of kids clothing in the store. I braced myself for impact, but they were very polite and accepted when I told them they were only allowed 9 items at a time, and that unfortunately the father wasn't allowed in the fitting room (the Kid's and Women's fitting rooms are the same, and we get complaints when fathers, or even young boys, go in).

So this girl tries on clothes, and skips out to show her dad while I chat along with both of them. This goes along until she is about half way through, when this happens:

Science Ninja: So, where are you going that warrants such a big shopping trip?

Little Girl: My Mummy's coming back from Afghanistan this Wednesday. I used to wear a soldiers uniform but now I am a big girl I need to wear something proper.

Science Ninja: Oh, what's she doing in Afghanistan?

Little Girl: She is a doctor with the Soldiers. I miss her sometimes but then I remember that she is keeping us all safe, and I am happy again.

She then skips back into the fitting room to change her outfit, and I am left biting back tears.

She eventually chose some Khaki Leggings, a khaki jacket and a white blouse, laughing and telling me she was dressing up as a shoulder after all.

Before she left, I wished her a good day back with her mother, and she came to give me a hug! Her Dad shook my hand, and the next day I got a 100% survey handed in.

Just thought that something like would make you smile :3

Hope all your Customers are as sweet as candy,

--The Science Ninja

Three Heavenspawn And Awesome News For Screaming Off Key!

Hey RHU! It's Screaming Off Key here with some stories of heaven spawn, and some epic news which will come at the end.

There are three stories and the first one starts in the drive thru, I had school that day, so I had done my make up really nicely: black cat eye liner, mascara and a beautiful deep red lipstick. I was taking orders in back cash and one vehicle in particular I'll always remember.

A woman was having problems with the debit machine, she was getting frazzled and she started blaming me because I was the worker so it was obviously my fault. Suddenly, the little girl in the back rolls down her window and asks this beautiful question: "Mommy? Why is the lady so pretty?"

The lady completely deflated from her annoyed attitude, looked at her daughter and said "She's just pretty like that." The rest of the transaction went smoothly and I smiled the rest of my shift.

The next story is a little boy, three years old and wow could he talk! I took his happy meal order, and this was at the time we had just gotten transformer toys. His mom took him aside and I started taking her order next. I guess he'd been trying to get my attention for a while, but he finally just said really loudly, "Hey lady! I want that one please." While pointing to the transformer he'd rather have. The kid was three years old. He made my entire night.

And finally, a cute child who had a Power Rangers gun from his happy meal. I wasn't on a counter, but I was stocking it. I had just come up from taking an order in back cash and I began to stock up coffee cups. Suddenly from behind me I hear in a tiny, high pitched voice, "Freeze!"

I turned to look and here was the kid, holding his little gun up to me. I quickly put my hands in the air and acted surprised. "Oh no! You've caught me! Please don't kill me, I have so much to do!"

The little boy relaxed and smiled. "I'll let you live this time, but if I catch you stealing again you're outta here!" He was so cute I just had to laugh.

Now for some awesome news! I've been slaving away in McHells for almost a year now, and the only reason I was able to make a wage that matched other retail establishments was due to the minimum wage going up again. I've been dealing with bullshit managers, creepy coworkers and the blatant racism of being one of five workers who is not Filipino. And the racism isn't coming from the Filipinos.

I've been overworked, short changed and had to scramble for rent because they would refuse to give me enough hours to make it. I am finally on my way out of McHells and into a different job. Here in my spot of Canada the minimum wage is $10. If you work a job in my province that gets tips, you still get the $10 plus tips.

Remember Kawaii-chan? The awesome waitress who dealt with my cataplexy without batting an eye? Well her restaurant was hiring so I took my chances and dropped off a resume. Before I even managed to leave the building from dropping it off, she stopped me and offered me the job. I start tomorrow and I am so excited!

Out of one purgatory and into the next, although I think I'll like this one.

--Screaming Off Key

LL Bean Awards Lucky Custy 1 Million Dollars

From Huff Po: FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — L.L. Bean and Barclaycard U.S. are awarding $1 million to a customer as part of the Maine-based retailer's centennial celebration.

Chris McCormick, L.L. Bean's CEO, says the L.L. Bean Visa Centennial Sweepstakes was a fun way to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. The winner is Marjorie Thompson of Cumberland, who used her L.L. Bean Visa to make a purchase at the Kimball Shop in Northeast Harbor, Maine.

Officials expressed surprise that the winner was from Maine, given that there were 220 million entries. There was also was an option for people to mail in entry forms.

All told, there were 38 winners of gifts that also included $500 gift cards, camping gear and outdoors discovery school packages.

 

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Burger Restaurant Gives Discounts for Being Nice, Great Smiles, Best Butt, and Best Looking

NY Doctor Writes Touching Letter To Patient's Husband

From Huff Po: True love and compassion aren't easy to ignore.

This week, a 24-year-old Redditor shared a letter received just after the death of his mother. The event, despite being difficult, brought an unexpected source of condolence -- a personal note from a physician who had never contacted a patient's family before.

"The letter was written for my father," he told The Huffington Post on Friday. "He stayed by her side until the very end."

According to the Redditor, his mother had breast cancer. A month ago, breathing difficulties landed her in the hospital, and 16 hours later, she passed away.

Surprisingly, the doctor who wrote the letter had never met or treated his mother until that day.

"If my mother were alive to see this, she would want readers to reflect on the power of showing compassion towards a total stranger," he told HuffPost.

"The support I got from Reddit was amazing -- doctors, nurses and other Redditors who have lost their mothers to cancer were all shocked and amazed that the doctor took the time to write such a heartfelt, meaningful letter," he added.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Random Act of Winter Storm Kindness The Day After Christmas

From Terah:

Little bit of Christmas goodwill for you all.

It snowed yesterday, and down here that means ICE on the roads. I grew up taught to be terrified of ice on the roads so I don’t drive on ice. Problem is, I was at work by the time the roads iced over. Mom decided to pick me up and take me home and we’d get my car today.

One of the cart drivers had come in while I was at work and asked if I’d like a ride out to my car, because they’d seen I was parked a good ways off. I explained my problem and that I’d be by to get it tomorrow. I even joked that they should keep an eye out on my car and went about my business.

Earlier today, mom drove me back to the Casino to pick my car up and we fully expected to have to scrape off snow and ice. I got out here and my car was drivable. There was no snow OR ice on the windows. As I was getting the car warmed up, one of the cart drivers drove by and said ‘Have a late Merry Christmas!’ and took off.

They actually scraped the snow and ice off my car for me! Nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a long time.

--Terah

 

Two Tales: A Good Custy, And Slaves Acting Badly

As university has been pressing me in the last months, I haven´t got around to writing down these two gems.

The first one is a nice story about a sweet move by a student.

I have been tutoring programming classes for a year now, and one student couldn´t even download our statistics program. There were compatibility problems and she came to me several times, about twice a week, for three weeks. Since I am no Windows expert I could not really help and frankly it felt like she was pestering me, what with the whining and telling me about her software problems that I could not solve.

As she was really down, I couldn´t bear up the courage to ask her to leave me alone since this was not my responsbility, but rather tried to help, unsuccessfully.

Last week, however, the problem magically dissolved after a Windows update, and I tell you, she was SO SHINY-HAPPY! She not only told me about it, but even bought me coffee and a cupcake, just because I had tried to help her! She told me that because of my trying to help she never lost hope that the problem would be solved and that she hoped she did not annoy me too much.

She really made my day :)

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The second one is a not so nice story from the other side of the counter, which happened two weeks ago but still upsets me.

It was early in the morning and I was on my way home from a sleepover. I decided to buy some food and went to a supermarket.

Everything went well, I bought stuff, paid for it and went to leave. But as I wanted to go through the door, mall security stopped me and asked if they could take a look into my backpack.

Me: Um, why?

Security Guy: We just want to check your bag, it´s a security measure.

I was not having that, because first of all, I don´t want you to see the stinky, dirty socks and underwear I had in my bag, and second of all, I don´t like being treated like a thief.

Me: Sorry, but I am not opening my bag for you.

Security Guy: I want to see if you have goods from the store in it.

Me: Yes, I just shopped here.

Security Guy: Do you have a receipt?

Me: Incidentally, yes, and if you want to see it, fine, but you are not looking into my bag.

Security Guy *into his walkie-talkie*: We have a problem here.

The manager comes over and the Security Guy explains the situation, and that he thinks I stole something.

Manager: Either you open the bag or you are banned from the store!

Me: Ok, if you think that I stole something, feel free to call the police. Either that or you let me walk out.

Security Guy: I am not letting you walk out!

Me: Then I will call the police for holding me here. And if you just ban me, this story will go to the local newspaper.

Security Guy: Ok, I will call the police.

Manager: No, wait. Can I see your receipt?

Me: As I told your coworker, you can, but without looking into my bag.

Manager: Ok, show it to me.

I did, and after looking at it sternly for about 3 minutes (I had just 5 or so items!), he told me I was free to go.

After that, I didn´t even know what to say. They treated me like a thief, threatened to ban me, and then just let me go! What the fuck?

--Soft Ice Girl

Selfless Saturday Appreciation For Ralphs Grocery Manager

How can you not love that smile! Danicka is one of the managers of my neighborhood Ralphs Grocery Store. Besides giving outstanding service, she never fails to brighten my day and make me laugh. And she is a huge fan of Retail Hell <3 The custys in the neighborhood love her as well! She makes you want to go grocery shopping just to stop in and say hey!

As mentioned in a previous post I love everyone at this store and the intro of Return To The Big Fancy takes place there. On Selfless Saturday I brought many of the workers there a preview of the book to show them my appreciation for taking such great care of me as a custy. Whether it was Store Manger Shelley getting the vitamin water I like, Danicka making me Laugh, produce guy Johnny giving me melon advice, or Manny in Dairy getting me the last carton of almond milk from the back, they have made my day more than once!

Do you have a favorite grocery store team? Even though Selfless Saturday is over, it's never too late to show them you appreciate what they do.

 

 

Selfless Saturday Story of Customer Kindness: Caring Custy Leaves $20 Tip To Help Pay For Better Cough Medicine

From BookAce:

Long time no see, guys! I'm so behind on submitting stories. I've got some, I just need to type them up! But in honor of Selfless Saturday, I'm saving those for another time and am here to share a nice custy tale. =)

Every year as soon as it begins to get cold, I get a cough. Not a cold or the flu or anything, just a stubborn, annoying cough. General consensus is that it's allergy related and I've tried various generic allergy meds, but most of them make me feel all blah, which isn't any better. People have recommended certain name-brand ones, but hey, I'm a retail slave with a car payment and insurance and I enjoy having food and interwebs, I can't justify shelling out twenty bucks for 10 pills or whatever! Especially without a guarantee that they'd actually work!

About a week ago I was at work, and my cough was particularly horrible that day, to the point where it was starting to hurt whenever I coughed..which was every few minutes. I kept apologizing to customers, swearing it was nothing contagious and feeling bad for looking like a poster child for the black death. An older man came in to ship out a package, and commented that my cough was exactly like HIS allergy cough. He told me a name-brand allergy drug that he said was the only thing that worked for his. He told me that when the season starts, he does a regimen of these pills, and that it really makes the rest of the season easier.

I smiled and apologetically told him that generics hadn't done much and I couldn't really afford to go trying a name-brand drug since chances were it wouldn't help either, but that I really appreciated the advice. And anyway it's just a cough. He nodded, agreeing that yeah, he could understand it's tough to spend money in this situation.

I finished up his shipping transaction. I felt bad for the guy because the computer had gotten confused, and caused us to quote him a shipping price way less than that it ended up having to be. He paid the higher price and said he knew it wasn't our fault that the computer gave us the wrong quote, but he still seemed miffed, (for a good reason) and as I was ringing him up I was being very quiet, afraid that he might still get mad.

Then, as he took his paperwork to leave, he suddenly reached into his wallet and pulled out $20, set it on the counter in front of me, and said: "Here, take this and buy some [brand name] allergy medicine. It'll help."

Me: *completely stunned* "S-sir...thank you, but you really don't--"

Him: "You shouldn't have to go through this. Take this, you'll feel a lot better." Then he told me exactly when and how often to take the pills and for how many days, and left before I could do much more than stammer out a "thank you, you're too kind, I don't know what to say."

I used the money to buy the brand he suggested, and you know what? It HAS helped. A lot! I'm not coughing to the point of aching or feeling like I'm choking anymore. In fact, I'd say it curbed my cough by like 80% at least. Whether it's because the medicine worked or maybe just the placebo effect of wanting it to work, I feel better. All because of a stranger's kindness, made even more incredible by the fact that just five minutes before, he'd found out he was going to have to pay a lot more than he'd thought for his shipping! He had every reason to not want to spend any more money at that point, yet he still chose to help me.

To quote a certain book series I've gotten re-hooked on recently: as a whole, people suck. But a person can be extraordinary.

Thank you, random person, for caring about the well-being of a clerk who many customers think nothing of.

You're awesome.

--BookAce