What I sent to Rite Aid

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I think your pollicy of forcing your poor employees to harass me to get a loyalty card stinks. I will tolerate being asked once, but I do not want or need a hardsell, I don't need to be asked why I don't want something, and I don't want to keep repeating myself.

There is a Walgreens and a CVS just further on up the street and neither have of yet pulled this on me at the register. I am just saying.

Nobody likes being harassed while they are a captive audience. Your policy sucks.

Went in there yesterday and I am surprised I didn't get handcuffed to a chair under an interrogation light. Geeze.

Clerk: Do you have a store card?

Me: No.

Clerk: Would you like to sign up for one?

Me: No thank you.

Clerk: It's free, and will save you...

Me: No thank you, I prefer not to sign up for things like that.

Clerk: You don't have to put your phone number...

Me: NO THANK YOU. Okay?

Clerk.: Okay.

pause

Clerk: Can I ask you why...

Me: Because. I. Don't. Want It.

Clerk: Okay.

(me thinking I was in such a good mood when I came in here, too)

Clerk: (handing me the receipt) You can go online and leave feedback on your shopping experience today. (pointing at the web address.)

Me: (taking the receipt...I think...I cant find it now) and leaving, at that point, seeing red.

Actually, when I cooled off, I realized the clerk was basically saying "I don't want to say it, you don't want to hear it, please tell corporate to stop making us do this shit to you."

So I did. Here's to you, annoying clerk.

[jjllbb]

They do the same thing at my store. Opening store cards and such determine how many hours you get to work the next week.

And in my store we're forced to highlight the receipts for surveys and the managers spot check them.

[Depot Denizen]

I'm glad I don't work in retail anymore. That really, really sucks.

[alogram]

Something similar happened to me at Kohl's.

The cashier was an older lady, who was perfectly friendly...until I told her I didn't want to apply for a credit card. I tried to ask her a question, which she ignored...and then asked me again about the credit card. I DON'T WANT IT. I knew she was just doing her job, and I was nice about it...

THEN she threw the bag at me. OH HELLLL NO.

Totally spoke to a manager, who knew right away who I was referring to.

[fireheart]

No matter what corporate tells me, given that my managers know how much of a PITA that can be, I just ask if they have the loyalty card. If they don't and mention that their SO has the card, I'll offer them one themselves. If they say no to any of my questions, I don't push it further.

[Dips]

I hate that hard-sell crap as a customer and, reading stories here, I know employees hate it even more. It's hard enough getting through a day dealing with the public without being forced by policy to piss them off on purpose.

I really like how the employee subtly gave you the tools to tell corporate to jump in a lake.

And you for following through and doing it? That was awesome.

[Magpie]

I'm with Dips. for writing a complaint to corporate.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Thanks, and I hope it goes to the right place. Like I said, by the time I had cooled off enough to think straight, I had either failed to get or misplaced the receipt. So I went on line and found a feedback form.

[infinitemonkies]

When I worked at blockbuster, we were required to ask every single person who entered the store if they were interested in signing up for a rewards membership, even though over 70% of our customers were already members.

Example: Regular customer comes in, he's been in 4 times already this same week, I know he has a membership, he's been a member for over 6 years, management informs me I will ask him every time he walks through the door or I will get fired.

Corporate policy: Spend tens of millions of dollars annually on market research to treat your customers and your staff like they're completely incompetent morons. Lose money anyway, wonder why, blame front-line grunts.

[PepperElf]

any replies?


and hmm is the lady who threw the bag still there?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

No, not yet. This was like two am when I did this.

[Dips]

Like I said, by the time I had cooled off enough to think straight, I had either failed to get or misplaced the receipt. So I went on line and found a feedback form.

Probably just as well that you didn't have the receipt. I bet there's a code on there that would identify the employee. Knowing how their minds work, it wouldn't shock me if corporate tried to spin it into being the employee's fault that their policy is annoying the crap out of customers.

The way you did it, they'll have no idea who the employee is. Can't get her in trouble or blame her if they can't find her.

[sarasquirrel]

recently rite aid started airing commercials for their new savings card. and it sounds like the employees are being pushy. maybe theyre all worried about going under

i suppose they want us at BVS to ask customers to sign up for one, but ive never once asked a customer if they were interested. its bad enough they get all pissy when i ask for their card.

though i heard my manager say they they plan on getting rid of the universal card, so we may have to push the card more to the customers. which...i will not do. then again, the manager has been wrong before

[evillebee]

Thank you for complaining. I understand they are forced by corporate to ask, but the "so you're not interested in saving 10% today?" that I heard from a Kohl's clerk in a condesending tone was not going to get me to change my mind about applying for thier high interest card. I was there spending my giftcard, or I would have walked out. I have heard the same from Target cashiers. (Love my Target anyway!)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

RK, just thank your lucky stars you don't have any clearance swamps near you.

Not only are our cashiers pressured to hassle people into signing up for the loyalty card, but we also have extended protection plans on all electronic items (including small appliances and fans), all furniture, all infant furniture, and all jewelry we have to pressure people into selling.

I can't think of another retailer that has embraced the extended warranty concept as much as we have, and I think it sucks rocks through a straw.

Plus if you're buying furniture or TVs or video game systems, we're supposed to offer Zip assembly, delivery and/or setup, but I haven't seen people doing this and management doesn't seem to care.

Every day management prints out a report with our conversion percentage for the day and the week thus far, and always writes in semi-desperate comments like "Only 7% We can do better than this! Take advantage of the opportunities! We are going to resume role-playing and monitoring your EPP presentations until we start getting our numbers up" and so on.

Normally I think people should generally be left free to spend their money and screw up their lives as they see fit, but I'd love to see these damn extended warranties made illegal, if for no other reason than we can stop bothering people about them that don't want to hear it anyway. I mean, it's getting to the point where I'm wondering if people are going to start being fired over lousy conversion rates.