As someone who has worked in retail over the past couple of years, there are some things that I have realized are very common between different jobs. Here are 11 things that people who work in retail know too well.
1. People think that they know how to do your job.
Just because you've shopped here before and are a valued customer does not mean that you can criticize us for doing something that you don't like. We have policies that we have to follow, there are no shortcuts to doing things here.
2. People think they can return things after the return period.
A 30 day return period means a 30 day return period. You cannot return something that has been sitting in your basement for two years and expect to get a refund.
3. When we go into the back room to look for something, unless we know we have it, we use this chance to take a water break.
If we say we don't have something in the system this means that it's not in the stockroom. If you insist on us looking back there for it, we will use it as a chance to go to the bathroom or take a drink of water.
4. We do not know everything about the company.
Just because we work here does not mean that we know everything about the company. Often times decisions on when we have the sales are not determined by the individual store. They are decided by corporate and therefore, we have no control over it.
5. We know asking you to open a credit card with us is annoying, but it often means getting a raise or not.
We always ask if you want to open a credit card with us not because we love to, but because our salary may depend on how many cards we sell in a given period.
6. Often times we get jealous of the customers because they get better deals than we do.
You may think we get great deals on clothes. This is not true because often the customers get an additional discount while we get none.
7. The moment after you refold a pile only to have someone mess it up again seconds later.
This is our worst nightmare. We could have been working on that pile forever and it only takes that one person to mess it up.
8. The clients who come into the store when there is five minutes before closing.
We are often annoyed by customers who think they can come in five minutes before the store closes. We have had a hard day and do not want to clean up anyone else's mess.
9. The clients who get mad that they see you in the store but you are not open for another 15 minutes.
Just because you show up before I open and I am in there does not mean that I will let you in. Rules are rules and you do not get special treatment.
10. Shyness doesn't look well on us.
The reason we are often so happy is because many of us are shy and have no idea how to be friendly so, we overdo it.
11. We are there to help you, not hinder you.
Do not take your frustrations out on us. We understand you may have had a hard day, but we only want to help make your shopping experience better.
