Every now and then we get a truly crazy person who takes up a ton of our time and in the end doesn't get anything. Today's crazy is particularly insane.
So I guess somehow this guy got the phone number of the person who runs the brand in this country and contacted them saying he was unhappy with his product. The country manager told him no problem and to speak to the district manager. So he began calling the district manager leaving messages saying, "You don't know my phone number so I'm going to need you to pick up the phone now." and then he would wait...ah I'm not sure if you know this but people haven't had answering machines for years now, he's not going to pick up.
After trying to get ahold of the district manager for a while he decided to come into our store and drop off the clothes he was unhappy with. He left no explanation as to what his issue was or what he wanted us to do for him. In fact when I asked he said he wouldn't discuss it with me, only the district manager.
Fine. So I pull the product out of the bag and look at it. First of all there's nothing wrong with any of the pieces. They've obviously been worn but aren't damaged or faded. I don't recognize the pieces so I look inside at the tag that tells you when it was made. January 2002. 2002! The clothes are literally over 10 years old! To be honest I'm impressed with how well they've lasted for 10 years.
The guy calls back to ask if the district manager looked at them yet. I tell him yes the two of us looked at them, which is true, but there is nothing wrong with the items and they're TEN YEARS OLD. He tells me he doesn't want to talk to me and that the country manager said we'd help. Really? Sure we'll help if you bought it in the last year but did you tell the manager they're 10 years old? "Well no but I assumed she knew" !?
Crazy. Crazy!
I think he won't leave his phone number because he's homeless and calling from a pay phone. Probably bought the clothes from the Salvation Army and now wants to "return" them.
Sometimes I feel like a babysitter for the insane.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Promotion vs Sale vs Markdown
Okay it's time you learned some retail lingo because it always amazes me how many people don't know the difference between a promotion, a sale, and a markdown. So here it is:
When something is marked down that means that the price has permanently been lowered. A sale sticker will be placed on it or the price will be crossed out and the lower price written on. This product has gone down in price because it has been in the store for a while and a new collection is probably on its way and the store needs more space. First markdowns are usually about 20%, second markdown 40%, and then what they call "kill price", which will be 50-75% off. Usually the company is still making money on the product until it hits kill price. At that point they are breaking even.
Where I work when it hits kill price it becomes final sale. This means no returns and no exchanges. It's final sale. F-I-N-A-L sale. I can't tell you how often I tell somebody it's final sale and then they ask if they can exchange it, NO! You cannot return it! It's kill price because we want to get rid of it, we never want to see it again. You are getting it at a great price so that we can make space so take it or leave it!
Promotions are regular priced items that are on a special discount for a limited time. These items will usually have a sign near them saying they are a certain percent or dollar value off. Sometimes it is a store wide blanket discount (eg 20% off your purchase) and sometimes it's specific items (eg $10 off shorts). These discounts won't be seen on the price tag because the item is going to go back to regular price at some point. Stores have promotions on holiday weekends, or at specific times to move items they bought heavy in, ie they bought a lot of a certain item knowing that they planned to have the promotion. The idea of a promotion is to give you a deal on one item with the hopes that once you're in the store you'll buy more items that will equal more than the original price of the discounted item.
Finally, sale. Sale is the overall name used to say that "we have markdowns". If something is "on sale" it has been marked down and therefore follows the same rules as markdowns. Sometimes at my store we will have an additional percentage off of sale. You have probably seen these types of signs "take an additional 30% off of sale" This means any item you see marked down (new price sticker over original price) will have another 30% off of the lowest price. The discount will come off at cash.
Sometimes I will tell people this and they say, "oh 30% off of everything? Because everything is FOR sale." No, this is not the same thing. Everything is FOR sale but only items marked down are ON sale.
Got it?
When something is marked down that means that the price has permanently been lowered. A sale sticker will be placed on it or the price will be crossed out and the lower price written on. This product has gone down in price because it has been in the store for a while and a new collection is probably on its way and the store needs more space. First markdowns are usually about 20%, second markdown 40%, and then what they call "kill price", which will be 50-75% off. Usually the company is still making money on the product until it hits kill price. At that point they are breaking even.
Where I work when it hits kill price it becomes final sale. This means no returns and no exchanges. It's final sale. F-I-N-A-L sale. I can't tell you how often I tell somebody it's final sale and then they ask if they can exchange it, NO! You cannot return it! It's kill price because we want to get rid of it, we never want to see it again. You are getting it at a great price so that we can make space so take it or leave it!
Promotions are regular priced items that are on a special discount for a limited time. These items will usually have a sign near them saying they are a certain percent or dollar value off. Sometimes it is a store wide blanket discount (eg 20% off your purchase) and sometimes it's specific items (eg $10 off shorts). These discounts won't be seen on the price tag because the item is going to go back to regular price at some point. Stores have promotions on holiday weekends, or at specific times to move items they bought heavy in, ie they bought a lot of a certain item knowing that they planned to have the promotion. The idea of a promotion is to give you a deal on one item with the hopes that once you're in the store you'll buy more items that will equal more than the original price of the discounted item.
Finally, sale. Sale is the overall name used to say that "we have markdowns". If something is "on sale" it has been marked down and therefore follows the same rules as markdowns. Sometimes at my store we will have an additional percentage off of sale. You have probably seen these types of signs "take an additional 30% off of sale" This means any item you see marked down (new price sticker over original price) will have another 30% off of the lowest price. The discount will come off at cash.
Sometimes I will tell people this and they say, "oh 30% off of everything? Because everything is FOR sale." No, this is not the same thing. Everything is FOR sale but only items marked down are ON sale.
Got it?
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
More Payroll
When you come to me and say, "I got good service but you need more people working." What do you expect me to say back?
"Oh, you don't think having one person working when we expect over 1000 people to walk through the door today is enough!? Wow, that's great feedback. I'm not very smart so I totally thought it was fine but thank you for letting me know, you clearly know how to do my job better than me."
Do you think that we only have one person working because we think it's enough? Because we scheduled everyone to work Monday morning at 8am and now don't have any more hours? Because we don't have staff who are desperate for more hours?
We only have one person working on the floor because corporate has decided that's enough. Somebody in an office on the other side of the country decides how many hours a week our store is allowed to use (payroll). How much payroll we can use is based on how much we sell:
for every $1000 we sell we get 3 hours of payroll. Our shifts are 4.5 hours long so each person who works has to sell $1500 to pay for themselves.
Doesn't seem so bad, right? Well keep in mind that we have to schedule people outside of store hours to receive shipment and replenish the floor. We have to do markdowns and make moves to allow for new product, put up signage for promotions and sales, change mannequins outfits, change windows, make schedules, hire people and train them, vaccuum, clean toilets, and dust, fold and size everything perfectly, open and close cash, among many other things that don't happen on a weekly basis. When you add all of these items in it works out to be more like $5000 a person.
My store gets about 900 hours of payroll a week. To truly run our store properly (ie to be able to have enough cashiers, enough sales associates, enough fitting room/runners, enough managers working just while we're open) we would need about 1400 a week. I only get 1400 a week at Christmas when I'm also making $400 000 a week and in fact need 2000 hours!
When the recession hit payroll was one of the first things to go. We were expected to do more with less, to help five customers at once while folding down the store and ringing people out. When the economy got better the company said, "hey, look at how well they coped with no payroll, we don't need to give it back."
So don't insult a retail employee by telling them the store needs more people working. We know we need more people and we want there to be more people way more than you do. If you actually want it to change you need to call the customer service number or email the company directly. If enough people do this they may start investing in the stores again. Telling us is pointless. Corporate doesn't listen to what we have to say and considers it all just whining. You need to give the feedback directly and you need to give it often.
And when you are in the store, instead of telling us we need more people, why not instead say, "wow, it must be really hard to work somewhere that's clearly underfunded but man do you guys work hard and do the best you can."
"Oh, you don't think having one person working when we expect over 1000 people to walk through the door today is enough!? Wow, that's great feedback. I'm not very smart so I totally thought it was fine but thank you for letting me know, you clearly know how to do my job better than me."
Do you think that we only have one person working because we think it's enough? Because we scheduled everyone to work Monday morning at 8am and now don't have any more hours? Because we don't have staff who are desperate for more hours?
We only have one person working on the floor because corporate has decided that's enough. Somebody in an office on the other side of the country decides how many hours a week our store is allowed to use (payroll). How much payroll we can use is based on how much we sell:
for every $1000 we sell we get 3 hours of payroll. Our shifts are 4.5 hours long so each person who works has to sell $1500 to pay for themselves.
Doesn't seem so bad, right? Well keep in mind that we have to schedule people outside of store hours to receive shipment and replenish the floor. We have to do markdowns and make moves to allow for new product, put up signage for promotions and sales, change mannequins outfits, change windows, make schedules, hire people and train them, vaccuum, clean toilets, and dust, fold and size everything perfectly, open and close cash, among many other things that don't happen on a weekly basis. When you add all of these items in it works out to be more like $5000 a person.
My store gets about 900 hours of payroll a week. To truly run our store properly (ie to be able to have enough cashiers, enough sales associates, enough fitting room/runners, enough managers working just while we're open) we would need about 1400 a week. I only get 1400 a week at Christmas when I'm also making $400 000 a week and in fact need 2000 hours!
When the recession hit payroll was one of the first things to go. We were expected to do more with less, to help five customers at once while folding down the store and ringing people out. When the economy got better the company said, "hey, look at how well they coped with no payroll, we don't need to give it back."
So don't insult a retail employee by telling them the store needs more people working. We know we need more people and we want there to be more people way more than you do. If you actually want it to change you need to call the customer service number or email the company directly. If enough people do this they may start investing in the stores again. Telling us is pointless. Corporate doesn't listen to what we have to say and considers it all just whining. You need to give the feedback directly and you need to give it often.
And when you are in the store, instead of telling us we need more people, why not instead say, "wow, it must be really hard to work somewhere that's clearly underfunded but man do you guys work hard and do the best you can."
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Shoplifter
People who don't work in retail always seem to be shocked by how rampant shoplifting is. On average my store has 25 items stolen a day. A lot of time they pick items without security tags and put them on under their own clothes, other people have security tag removers with them and take them off and hide the items in a bag. In the winter it's hard to catch people because they just stick the clothes in a puffy coat, others work in teams and fill large gift bags with whole stacks of clothes. Often you can tell who's going to shoplift because they look homeless or are acting sketchy but the ones who get away with it the most are the middle aged housewives who don't need to steal but are bored so do it for kicks. They probably steal more than anybody else. They are the hardest to catch but the first to get nervous and run if they think you suspect them.
But the best, or worst, are the ones who come up with elaborate stories to try and get you to give them cash for the items they have no receipt for. I had a guy today:
Guy: I'm a D&D with the first squadron in the military out of Trenton and I called the other day and spoke to a manager who said I could return this bag and these shoes.
Me: Okay, that's no problem.
Guy: Ya we bought them for a soldier in England but he was killed last week so now I need to return them.
Me: Oh I didn't know the military bought soldiers random shoes and bags from a retailer, was it his birthday?
Guy: Yes.
Me: Oh well that's horrible he died on his birthday.
Guy: Ya it was bad timing. So you'll do the return?
Me: Ya I'll just need the receipt.
Guy: Well that's why I called before because I'm with the D&D and I work undercover a lot and I bought the stuff but the receipt is at the Trenton air base and I paid cash.
Me: Okay well then I'm going to need to see a piece of photo id.
Guy: Well I'm with the D&D and I work undercover a lot so I don't like to give out my information.
Me: But it's okay for you to go around openly saying you work undercover?
Guy: ...I'll go get my partner Lisa, I'll be right back.
He never came back and when I checked the cameras he had walked in empty handed.
But the best, or worst, are the ones who come up with elaborate stories to try and get you to give them cash for the items they have no receipt for. I had a guy today:
Guy: I'm a D&D with the first squadron in the military out of Trenton and I called the other day and spoke to a manager who said I could return this bag and these shoes.
Me: Okay, that's no problem.
Guy: Ya we bought them for a soldier in England but he was killed last week so now I need to return them.
Me: Oh I didn't know the military bought soldiers random shoes and bags from a retailer, was it his birthday?
Guy: Yes.
Me: Oh well that's horrible he died on his birthday.
Guy: Ya it was bad timing. So you'll do the return?
Me: Ya I'll just need the receipt.
Guy: Well that's why I called before because I'm with the D&D and I work undercover a lot and I bought the stuff but the receipt is at the Trenton air base and I paid cash.
Me: Okay well then I'm going to need to see a piece of photo id.
Guy: Well I'm with the D&D and I work undercover a lot so I don't like to give out my information.
Me: But it's okay for you to go around openly saying you work undercover?
Guy: ...I'll go get my partner Lisa, I'll be right back.
He never came back and when I checked the cameras he had walked in empty handed.
Monday, May 14, 2012
I have a question but I won't believe your answer
Okay so I understand customers not trusting that sales associates know what they're talking about because the truth is that 90% of people who work in retail are only in the store 4-8 hours a week. Stores get new product all the time and constantly have to move the already existing product to make space for the new stuff and to consolidate the items that have sold through. It's hard to stay on top of what and where over 2000 styles of items are all the time. We try to know all the colours that each item comes in, where it's made, and what it's made of, but come on, it's unrealistic to expect even the person who's in the store 40 hours a week, even the person who places all the product to remember exactly what we have and where it is.
This being said, if you ask us a question and we give you an answer we will either tell you:
a) I don't know the answer let me find out.
b) I'm pretty sure what you want is over here but let me just make sure I'm right.
c) Yes, what you're looking for is right here and it also comes in x y z colours.
Now A and B show that the person is trying to help you to the best of their ability but if they don't fully answer your question, have a look around yourself.
If you get answer C then this person knows what they are talking about and is completely answering your question. They are either a super genius or have been asked the same question enough times to know the answer off the top of their head.
Regardless of what answer you get, I never understand when I'm asked a question and I give one of these responses and the response I get from the customer is, "no you're wrong." If you aren't going to trust the answer I give you then why did you ask me? I had two such customers today.
Customer one: She asked me where the shirt I was wearomg was in the store. I walked her over to the table and said:
Me: Here.
Her: No it's not.
Me: Um, ya that's the shirt I'm wearing.
Her: No it's not, I looked at that one and it's not what you have on.
Me: Well I literally just bought this shirt ten minutes ago and that's the pile I took it from.
She picks up the shirt.
Her: Oh, ya.
No "sorry" no "thank you" or "my bad" just took her size and left.
Second customer called the store:
Her: Hi I was just wondering when your next sale is.
Me: Well we have shorts on sale for $30, t-shirts on sale for $15, bathingsuits for $20 and all sale is an extra 20% off.
Her: Ya, that's not what I'm looking for.
Me: What are you looking for?
Her: I don't really know...um, sweatpants?
Me: Okay well sweatpants were on sale a couple of months ago so it might be a while again.
Her: No I get your emails, you have sales all the time.
Me: Yup we have sales on specific items all the time and sometimes online gives blanket discounts but we rarely do that in store.
Her: No I get your emails for deals.
Me: Yup I get the emails too and three times a year we have friends and family for 30% off but otherwise it's usually only online that gives those kinds of deals 'cause it's cheaper to run an online store when you don't have to pay for people like me.
Her: Ya I don't want to say you're wrong but I get the emails. I just want to know when the next one is.
Me: I don't know.
Her: Okay well I guess you don't know anything then. You can't help me.
Me: You're right, I clearly don't know anything...
This being said, if you ask us a question and we give you an answer we will either tell you:
a) I don't know the answer let me find out.
b) I'm pretty sure what you want is over here but let me just make sure I'm right.
c) Yes, what you're looking for is right here and it also comes in x y z colours.
Now A and B show that the person is trying to help you to the best of their ability but if they don't fully answer your question, have a look around yourself.
If you get answer C then this person knows what they are talking about and is completely answering your question. They are either a super genius or have been asked the same question enough times to know the answer off the top of their head.
Regardless of what answer you get, I never understand when I'm asked a question and I give one of these responses and the response I get from the customer is, "no you're wrong." If you aren't going to trust the answer I give you then why did you ask me? I had two such customers today.
Customer one: She asked me where the shirt I was wearomg was in the store. I walked her over to the table and said:
Me: Here.
Her: No it's not.
Me: Um, ya that's the shirt I'm wearing.
Her: No it's not, I looked at that one and it's not what you have on.
Me: Well I literally just bought this shirt ten minutes ago and that's the pile I took it from.
She picks up the shirt.
Her: Oh, ya.
No "sorry" no "thank you" or "my bad" just took her size and left.
Second customer called the store:
Her: Hi I was just wondering when your next sale is.
Me: Well we have shorts on sale for $30, t-shirts on sale for $15, bathingsuits for $20 and all sale is an extra 20% off.
Her: Ya, that's not what I'm looking for.
Me: What are you looking for?
Her: I don't really know...um, sweatpants?
Me: Okay well sweatpants were on sale a couple of months ago so it might be a while again.
Her: No I get your emails, you have sales all the time.
Me: Yup we have sales on specific items all the time and sometimes online gives blanket discounts but we rarely do that in store.
Her: No I get your emails for deals.
Me: Yup I get the emails too and three times a year we have friends and family for 30% off but otherwise it's usually only online that gives those kinds of deals 'cause it's cheaper to run an online store when you don't have to pay for people like me.
Her: Ya I don't want to say you're wrong but I get the emails. I just want to know when the next one is.
Me: I don't know.
Her: Okay well I guess you don't know anything then. You can't help me.
Me: You're right, I clearly don't know anything...
Friday, May 11, 2012
How 5 cents ruined my life
Where I live it costs five cents for a plastic bag. Paper bags are still free but we have to charge five cents for plastic. Apparently cutting down trees isn't bad for the environment?! So needless to say people only want the paper bags, or should it be needless? We're talking five cents for a bag that most of the time is the best size for the items they're buying and you can reuse as a garbage bag. Believe it or not charging five cents per bag is the biggest issue I deal with on a daily basis. I have had people walk out without buying the $200 worth of items they wanted because I wasn't willing to give them a plastic bag for free (it's a by-law, not a rule I made up). I have had people walk out with armloads of underwear, pants in their coat pockets, and one guy who wore three t-shirts at once just so he wouldn't need a bag. We ask every customer if they want a bag so they can tell us before we charge them and 90% of the time they say no "on principle" but come on, we know it's because you're cheap. You're buying clothes that were made in sweatshops, do your principles not cover human rights? Oh wait, if you stand up and say you don't want your clothes made in sweatshops then the price of the clothes will go up and if you aren't willing to pay five cents to save the environment then you definitely aren't willing to pay an extra dollar so factory employees can have better working conditions.
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