Please know what you want!

[VenomX]

I work in a tobacco store.

We sell cigarettes, cigars, roll your own tobacco, pop, candy, chips, and little odds and ends.

How can people smoke something for YEARS yet forget what it is as soon as they enter the store?

I am so freaking tired of people coming in and asking for a pack of smokes. Then when I ask what kind it takes them 10 minutes to remember or say the blue pack, the red pack, etc... I just started handing them one of the brands that costs $8.18 and watch their eyes open wide. Then they quickly remember.

Or they want a bag of tobacco and a box of tubes.
I ask what kind and they say REGULAR!
Ok... One bag of tobacco for $26.19 plus tax and a box of tubes for $3.16 plus tax.
Their eyes go wide and they yell NO! The bag for $3.70 plus tax and the $1.66 tubes!

Then there is the snuff guys... I need a can of snuff!
Ok... One can of Hawkin. That will be $3.70...
Nooo! I wanted a can of Kayak! ($1.05)
Ok what flavor or do I grab what I reach for?

All get told next time tell me what exactly they want or they can buy what I grab or leave.

I smoke Eagle 20's Menthol 100's because they are our cheapest at the moment and I waste too many trying to smoke between customers. I have NEVER waked in and forgot what brand I smoke. Never. How can others? You look at the pack, bag, can every time you go for a cigarette, to roll a cigarette, or put a rub in....

Was even more fun when we use to have a bag of tobacco that costs $45.96 plus tax... LMAO!!

[XCashier]

Ah, the Cigarette Game. Ask Blas about that. Or anyone who's ever sold cigarettes.

SC: Gimme mah smokes!
EMP: What brand, sir?
SC: MARB'RO!
EMP: *grabs Marlboro Reds*
SC: NO! 100s!
EMP: *puts Reds back, grabs 100s*
SC: NO, DAMMIT, MENTHOL! YOU STUPID OR SOMETHIN'?!
EMP:

Repeat ad nauseum. Some people get their jollies off of barking orders at store employees and love to play The Cigarette Game, instead of stating clearly what they want at the first. Assholes.

[bainsidhe]

LOL, your customers would've hated me. When I worked at *big box retail*, I would occasionally work the cigarette lane. Problem is, I wasn't familiar with the layout and it would take me a minute to find the right brand. I'd have to ask the customer to point out WHERE on the massive wall I could find their smokey treats. Fortunately, most customers were pretty patient with me. Guess that's a big difference between *big box retail* and a C-store.

[DeltaSierra]

My friend used to lament about this to no end. She worked at a gas station and inevitiably she'd get

SC: "I want a pack of smokes"
Friend:" What brand?"
SC: "The brand I always buy!"
Friend: "What brand?"
SC: "Dammit I come in every day don't you know what brand I smoke?"

If you can't remember your own brand, how do you expect an employee who probably sees 100 other people and sells them cigs to remember your specific choice?

[Dentarthurdent]

*Shrug* When I buy pipe tobacco (less than once a year; I smoke about two pipes a year on average and a bag is at least 20 pipes' worth), I ask them if they have Cherry Cavendish pipe tobacco, preferably the bargain stuff (and if I were going to go buy this tomorrow, I'd either write down the name of it or take the damn bag with me). But...these people presumably look at the pack of cigarettes every day. Don't get why it's hard to remember what you smoke.

[Marmalady]

SC: NO, DAMMIT, MENTHOL! YOU STUPID OR SOMETHIN'?!

EMP *thinks* Well, one of us is.

[blas]

Aw, thanks ya'll for remembering my special game!

I haven't worked at a C store in years, but as a smoker I deal with it being behind people in line at stores.

Damn if they don't say "Marbsinabox!" then snap at the poor cashier who gave them Marlboro reds because "I wanted LIGHTS!"

[OfficeSlug]

I work at a grocery store.

I hate when I greet someone with "Morning!" and am met with a surly, "And a pack of 305s!" That's 1.) NOT a greeting and 2.) Which ones, you twit?

Why do smokers insist on barking their orders??

[Firecrackers Not Included]

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Here's a twist of a problem:
I am a veteran of selling smokes. I know the smokes by Reg/Medium/Light/UltraLight and the same for all of the menthol varieties as well as the newer format of Red/Orange/Blue/Gold/Silver/Black or Whatever....
I have recently been having a huge problem about customers who treat me like I am one of the revolving door employees and request something like:

"Give me a pack of Mar-bro 100 Mediums, they're the red label, red and white, talls, look like this (holds out an open pack)"

And the worst is when this happens with the same customer... again.

Ugh, yes, and the ones who bark cig orders before even having approached the counter.

[HawaiianShirts]

Ok... One bag of tobacco for $26.19 plus tax and a box of tubes for $3.16 plus tax.
Their eyes go wide and they yell NO! The bag for $3.70 plus tax and the $1.66 tubes!

I'm surprised how often this tactic works without having the customer scream for a manager because you were "rude" or something.

I used to do this in computer sales.
SC: "I want to buy a computer."
Me: "Sure! Which one?"
SC: "The one that's on sale."
Me: "We've got at least ten of those. Which one?"
SC: "The one in your ad."
Me: "That would be all of the sale computers. Which one do you want?"
SC: "The one that's ON SALE!"
Me: "Oh, right! The $2,149 Gaming Rig with Blu-Ray burner! Right this way."
SC: "No! No, the... uh... the $399 Glorified Typewriter."

[EricKei]

SC: "Dammit I come in every day..."

You and three hundred other people, buddy. On a slow day.

[VenomX]

I totally ignore the ones who yell out what they want before they get to the counter.

They will be at the ATM getting cash since we do not accept cards, and will yell NEWPORT 100s!
They get the money and walk over and I look at them and ask what they need then take my time.

And the ones that are yelling MARLBOROS! as they enter the building get told, I am not a dog or slave. Wait until you get to the counter or go someplace else.

I work 61 hours a week.
My uncle works 50 some hours a week.
A part timer works a few hours a week and the boss fills in the rest.

I am needed now more than ever. So I don't take their shit.

[cindybubbles]

Once you forget what brand you smoke, it's time to stop smoking.

[Jay 2K Winger]

There was this lady who used to shop at the wholesale club who bought her cigarettes there. Either she passed away (she was an older woman) or moved or stopped shopping at our store, but every. single. time. she came in, you could never get her cigarettes right.

She never raised her voice or got angry, but it was impossible to get it right. She'd ask, in this really soft, quiet voice, "I need Benson & Hedges in the green box."

Right. B&H menthols. We carried them in regular menthol, light, and ultra light. All three boxes are different shades of green. And no matter what, it'd be the wrong one. Even if you remembered what she'd gotten the previous visit and tried to grab that first, nope, she'd be getting one of the other ones instead.

So annoying.

[MadonnaC]

ummm... Then I apologise for what I used to do (back when I smoked)

I used to ask for 20 cheapest (and got some blank looks, and had to explain all I wanted was the cheapest cancer sticks they sold)