Bitch Encounters At Pet Store
Hey RHUers! Long time reader,
first time poster, and so on.
I live in Pasadena, California and have been a Retail Slave since I was 15. My retail experience spans many many years. From Hollyweird Video to Noah's BagHELLs to some roofing company to all things under the goddamn sun.
Anyway, now I am a slave at a petstore that sounds like PetShart. My tale of woe is but a small sampling of what I have to deal with in this "upscale" neighborhood with its rich bitchy customers.
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand spoiling your pet and the fact that they're like your children (especially to the ladies that come through the line with 637 cans of individual cat food that I have to scan...individually) but really...sometimes it just goes too far.
Let me set the scene for you.
It's my first day on the registers...second day in the company. My manager just trained me on the registers (which, after so many retail jobs...and not being an idiot...takes me like 3 seconds to learn) then left to do something else.
The first lady I help on my own is paying with a check...and he didn't train me on how to do checks yet, of course...
It's suddenly
gotten busy (as we all know customers see one person in line and decide
that THIS is the time to swarm to the registers like the infestation
they are).
There are TWO registers open, but the lady behind the lady I am helping, who is being very sweet about the whole thing, decides that I and ONLY I am going to check her out with the aforementioned amount of cat food cans.
My coworker for some reason refuses to call my manager over (only she had a phone that could page on the overhead). I obviously can't just leave the register to wander the store looking for him so I'm stuck begging her to call him over while the whole time this lady who's next in line keeps repeating, "What am I waiting for? Can you tell me what i'm waiting for???" while I AND the lady I'm helping keep repeating something along the lines of, "I'm just waiting for the manager."
Of course I wanted to say something much, MUCH different.
THEN this self-entitled Rich Bitch comes in telling me that her dog "will only sleep on sheepskin blankets" and how she "has much nicer stuff and can afford better than what we have in here, but she needs something to take to her boyfriend's penthouse when she visits" and whatnot.
I show her all of the beds we have and she proceeds to pull every one of them off the shelves and have her dog "try them out."
I FINALLY get her to the register carrying not only her new dog bed, (Yeah, Spike eventually "dug one"), but also a bag of food, some treats, and HER DOG.
I get no kudos for selling stuff to her, no commission, no "Hey, good job!"...NOTHING. ...Except a "why did you spend so long on one customer, we have other people to help in here!"
BLARGH!!!
Anyway, that's a minor annoyance compared to everything else I've suffered, as I am also a bather in the grooming department, reception for the grooming department, cashier, and the Doggie Day Camp area.
-- PetShart Stevie
I really hate that. If you don't like the store and all you're going to do from beginning to end is bitch about the selection, the prices, and everything else, then GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!
Especially with all those rich, spoiled customers. They're the worst. o.O
Posted by: Kunoichi Cook | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 09:09 AM
Gee, what helpful coworkers you have. *break sarcasm meter* What higher-up complains about you spending time helping a customer?? (Not that she was particularly worth it, but still.)
Posted by: Magical Shrimp | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 12:39 PM
Yipe. For what it's worth, at least one person appreciates the employees at one particular branch of that store. I ended up there as a confused new cat owner, trying to figure out how to take care of this stray that had (literally) just walked into my house, and somebody took at least twenty minutes to explain things to me. I guess maybe they wouldn't have had the time if it had been busy; but all the same, I'm very grateful (and my healthy, happy cat is, too).
Posted by: Michelle | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 07:13 PM
*Facepalm* "How dare you spend more than five minutes trying to give the customer the best service this store has to offer! We should really fire you for this!"
*headdesk*
Posted by: Jit | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 07:26 PM
I once spent a half hour helping this clueless family get everything they could possibly need for their new puppy - several hundred dollars worth of merchandise. When I finished, I got harassed for doing putting together a fuckin bird cage!
Posted by: Anna | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 08:30 PM
Sorry, that should read "for not putting together."
Posted by: Anna | Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 08:31 PM
Wow, I'm so glad my tale of woe was published here, I love this site! Also, I think this is the only website where someone can air out their grievances and not get a bunch of backlash. Love you guys!!!
Posted by: Stevie | Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 11:23 AM
Speaking as a former Crazy Cat Lady, let me offer my thanks to Stephanie, wherever she may be now, one of the nicest retail slaves I've ever met at a pet store. Always had a smile and always asked how my cats were doing. I hope she went on to something bigger and better, but I miss seeing her at the store.
Just curious, does every can really have to be rung up separately? Won't they let you count them, scan one and then multiply it by whatever the count was? Or were they all different brands?
Posted by: mimi | Monday, March 22, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Having worked in pet stores, I know the pet store sagas, OH SO WELL! *sigh*
@mimi: Depending on the cash register system and inventory system and how they are linked, it may require that you scan each individual can. Some older registers do not scan quantities. When I worked at the two pet stores, they didn't scan quantities, but they did track inventory. HIGHLY annoying!
I have sold entire tank set-ups for iguanas, fish, cage set-ups for birds, and new puppy and kitten set-ups and never gotten yelled at because my boss knew the value of a sale. Some of the cashiers used to get upset when they'd get a little swamped at the register though, but the manager would get on and help ring up if she knew I was busy with a bug-buying client and couldn't break away. We didn't sell on commission, just total sales. Generally, I really liked working at the pet stores. I was in my element.
Posted by: Pharmacy_psycho | Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 10:42 AM
If they are loose--unwrapped cans, then they have to be scanned separately...cuz they may look the same but have different sku #s...
"Spending too much time with a customer"...Well, if you were the only cashier backup and didn't answer pages to the register--then yes, I see how they might have gotten upset. Otherwise, as far as I know, that company pays a great deal of attention to customer service
Posted by: Misty | Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 07:30 PM