Retail Problems

Between the stress of being able to find the perfect present, the insane queues and the fellow grumpy shoppers I can safely say that anyone who went shopping over the last few months and remained sane and filled with festive joy must be a mutant of some sort.

this was me.

After a whole festive season working in retail and dealing with everything from stressed mothers, boyfriends and Grandmothers, people attempting to stealthily skip the queue and the real sneaky customer snaring you to do all of their Christmas shopping for them while they complain about being in “the busiest store in town” (I’m not sure if they ever fully grasped that we COULDN’T just leave when we’d found what we wanted) I can safely say that despite all of the complaints I hear about us retail staff being rude and uncooperative I think there are many a thing some customers could learn from our store-etiquette.

and this was the store!

As an avid reader of many magazines I quite frequently see many “letters to the editor” complaining about staff in various stores at various levels but after a year of working in the midst of the public I feel a response is well overdue.

Let’s start nice and simple; “HEY!! YOU!! You work here.” This is in no way an acceptable way to speak to ANYONE, not even the minions that are serving you in a shop. It’s rude and wouldn’t entice anyone to be courteous and helpful, despite their job description.

seriously

If you ask a member of staff to get you another size blazer, be patient, you’re more than likely the fourth in a long line of people they’re currently trying to source sizes for. The nicer you are the faster you’ll get it, trust me. If the employee comes back and unfortunately, there is no size the polite thing to do is thank them and walk away. If you turn around and demand one of their colleagues attempt to find it I can guarantee you said colleague will walk into the back of the store and not even attempt to look.

in the nicest way possible

I can tell you now that any frantic, rushing customers or long, winding queues are, in no way, the fault of the poor Retail Assistants and I can also tell you that aggressively complaining to them about how hectic the shop is will ensure you get a frosty encounter. No matter how busy it is always remember, you get to leave once you get through that queue. We don’t.

Now, to the pinnacle of my irritation, the bane of my life, sitting on registers watching other people spend money we don’t have on clothes we wouldn’t mind having in our wardrobes is not how we all imagined our Saturdays would be when we were younger, believe it or not, so when customers come up and are so irritatingly rude it could push you over the edge it breaks my heart and has been known to make one or two of my colleagues have to take a break.

.

When you approach the till TAKE OFF YOUR SUNGLASSES!!! There’s no need. None. It’s rude. It gives the impression that you deem us so far below you that you don’t even need to take your glasses off to greet us.

We understand that sometimes you forget a size or pick the wrong one up and we’re more than happy to go and find the right one for you if you’re POLITE. If you come up and demand we find a size for you with no apology or humility in your voice I can, again, guarantee you will not be getting that size.

please

Finally, there’s no need to start a long conversation, although sometimes it’s nice and can be the only thing that keeps your day going, but say hello, goodbye and thank you, it’s common courtesy, and if you’re not gonna talk to us do not be surprised when we turn and talk to our neighbours to avoid the awkwardness.

In essence, if you maintain your common decency and respect for people when you enter a retail store I assure you that both you and the Retail Assistant will have a much nicer shopping experience and believe me, you’ll come out of the store with everything you requested if you smile and say please.

We’re not so hard to please!