No, you cannot have BOTH deals.

[Horsetuna]

So a lady bought some stockings from my not-as-new-as-me coworker, I'm calling She-ra (She's nothing like the He-Man partner though, but a really sweet girl). She had three stockings, which were something like 8 dollars each, 3 for 15.50.

I was at another till helping another customer when I overheard it. I usually step over to see, but I didnt want to feel like I was poking my nose in it, so I waited till she called me over. Apparently, the lady didnt like how it was rung up. I /did/ get called over at first cause She-ra couldnt' get the 3 for 15.50 code to work. That's because the socks were already 30 percent off - so they were already less than 3 for 15.50 each individually.

But this lady wanted 30 percent off the 15.50.

I had to repeatdly tell her no, she couldnt' have both. The computer wouldnt LET us. Finally she went away but wasn't happy. Oy.

I notice how often people act like my word is law, even if I am not a supervisor (and I keep misplacing my name badge. Grr. I picked it up one day, put it down on my desk to put my shirt on, then could not FIND it again. I still havent' found it, four days later!). I think its either because A) I'm white, and She-ra is not (She's egyptian with an accent, but a really intelligent woman. We're good friends) or B) When I step up and say something, they presume I'm a Supervisor taking charge.

I'm not sure which. I did find out something though;

People seem to take your word if you say 'I'm afraid WE can't help you', making it sound like its the Company, not us individually, instead of "I'm afraid /I/ can't help you" But it may just be me.

Anyways, what a SC. Luckily it was slow and she was the worse.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I think just the fact that someone else steps in and seems to know what they are talking about makes the difference. If one employee is having trouble, they likely will just ask the nearest coworker first, but if that person at least sounds like they know what they're doing, the customers will /usually/ take the answer from that person.

[Horsetuna]

could be. Reguardless, She-Ra is grateful for me being there. I'm a little more 'stand up' when dealing with someone ELSES customers than I am my own *L*

That and one of the Leads, I'll call her Xena, suggests I should apply for a Lead position when I'm done my three months. Not sure about that - sure, it'll mean a raise. And IC an handle the customers and stuff. Its mostly the Schedule that terrifies me.

[BookstoreEscapee]

What's so scary about the schedule? I wish being a lead when I was in the store got me a better schedule. The only consistency I was (almost) guaranteed was that I worked Tuesday mornings when I did new releases (that and Sundays off, because I made myself unavailable on Sundays). I pretty much had a set schedule, but I still closed 2-3 nights a week, which sucks. At the same time, it could change any time so I couldn't totally count on it.

[Horsetuna]

Eh, bad hours doesnt bother me.

Its MAKING The schedule.

I easily overlook/forget things when reading and I would hate to schedule someone wrong.

[JustaCashier]

I'm a little more 'stand up' when dealing with someone ELSES customers than I am my own.....

I, too, find it easier to step in when another cashier has a customer disputing store policy, than when it's happening with one of my own customers.

I still tend to take it personally when a customer of mine gets upset about something, even after all the years I've worked various jobs dealing with the public.

Maybe it's just the fact of stepping in from the sidelines, and not being the target of the "attack".

I easily overlook/forget things when reading and I would hate to schedule someone wrong.

Do you have anyone you trust that could take a moment to look over the schedule each time you create it, before it is printed/posted?

As a Lead Cashier, I've been making up our schedule for over a year now, and I still have our bookkeeper look it over each week, because of the same reasons you mention, and I'll especially miss something when putting a schedule back to normal, after putting one, or more, people back to their normal schedule after there have been vacation(s) on the previous week's. Plus, she was a cashier there before my time, and still acts as backup, so she has a good feel for the coverage needs.

Mike

[Horsetuna]

I can probably get one of the other Leads to... Well, I still have two + months to decide, and the position may fill in that time.

[dispatch]

I think it's something about hearing it from someone else, there's been a few time when I had a question about something I couldn't find or a sale and if the cashier simply turns and asks a co-worker that's enough to satisfy me. Maybe it's because you can assume that if they're asking someone or someone's stepping in it's because they would know or are better equipped to handle the inquiry.

[TNT]

I think just the fact that someone else steps in and seems to know what they are talking about makes the difference. If one employee is having trouble, they likely will just ask the nearest coworker first, but if that person at least sounds like they know what they're doing, the customers will /usually/ take the answer from that person.

My theory... and experience bears this out... it's better to sound right than it is to be right.

We have agents who can go into the exquisite details of why the internet is running slow, and they just get into long arguments because they don't sound sure of themselves. Meanwhile, I swear others could say, "Yeah, it's because Mars and Jupiter are in a reverse upside retrograde... give it a few hours," and the customer would say, "Finally! Someone who knows what they're talking about. Thank you."

[BusyBee]

I think just the fact that someone else steps in...

I'd have to agree. I have always gotten people fighting me tooth and nail about late fees, but the moment the other person on shift with me (either the taaaaaaall male or one of the senior staff) steps in and quietly agrees with me, they back down and either calmly pay or calmly say they can't afford it and leave. It's happened the same when I've been training one of the new casuals, just keeping an eye on things, and I'm the one to come over and say "you'll have to pay it."

Maybe it's just that most customers are bright enough to realise that they won't win when it becomes 2 vs 1.

[Horsetuna]

My bad. She's NEWER Than me too. Doh.

[Seshat]

I easily overlook/forget things when reading and I would hate to schedule someone wrong.

The measure of a man is not whether he makes mistakes, but how graciously he handles his mistakes. Same applies for a woman.

You WILL make scheduling mistakes. It's just the way of the world. What matters more is how you respond when someone says 'um, Horsetuna? I'll be on holidays on Monday.'

You can reduce the chances of scheduling mishaps by having tools like a big whiteboard calendar with everyone's holidays on it, and a week-at-a-glance whiteboard with regular availabilities on it, and the like. Go into your Huge Office Superstore and look at the tools on hand.

As long as you react to scheduling mistakes* with grace, you'll do better than far too many managers.


* Not all these mistakes will be yours, remember.
Some will be some other member of management forgetting to pass on information, and you'll want to find out a reliable way of getting scheduling information.
Some will be sucky co-workers trying to get out of an undesirable shift. 'Grace' in that situation may mean being a tough manager.