Reopening Weekend Suck

[Willowe]

The fabric/craft store where I work just finished a massive remodel (We were open the entire time. It was awful.) and we had our "grand reopening" this past weekend, so I have some assorted tales of suckiness from the past few days.

Coupon Hell
If I have to argue with one more customer about coupons I am going to scream.

Last week we gave out a set of 3 coupons to customers, each coupon good for one specific day. The number of people who have tried to use Thursday's coupon on Friday, Friday's on Saturday, etc. is astronomical. Look, I know you probably thought they were all good for the entire weekend but they aren't so I don't know what to tell you. My computer will not let me scan them in and like hell am I manually adjusting the price for you.

The worst were the people who got four or five of these fliers, got pissed off when I told them they couldn't use all five coupons at once (the coupon codes are identical so the computer will only accept 1 per transaction) and then demanded that I do five separate transactions for them. How about no.

Jump through hoops for me... so I can then not buy anything

Had a lady come in, wanted two or three different fabrics plus boning and some trim, so probably 5-6 items specially cut all told. And she wanted us to basically hold her hand while she found everything, give us her opinion on every thing she picked up, etc.

Then she realized that her coupon was expired, demanded one from us (we typically don't have any in store), and then wanted all of her items put on hold for a week (!!!) so she could come back when a new coupon kicked in. Thanks for wasting all of our time.

A charitable donation

Woman came in, obviously in a hurry, wants a ton of tulle cut, gets pissy when they're ringing up at different prices because she bought more expensive tulle than she thought she did but she's in too much of a rush to go get something cheaper. Ends up throwing money at me, storming out with her fabric before I've even bagged it, and yells at me to keep the change she doesn't want it.

So my manager had me add the about $8 to the little donation containers we keep near the registers

Misc. minor sucks
-I hate clearance fabric. It's a nightmare to keep it organized and people rip tags off all the time. If it's not on a bolt and doesn't have a tag we can't ring you up for it because we don't know how much it is, don't yell at us or we'll arbitrarily charge you $15/yard for it.

-Read. The goddamn. Sale signs. Only one type of fleece is 70% off, don't scream at us because you picked up a different type and aren't getting the sale price.

-The free bags were for the first 50 customers. It is now 4pm. You don't seriously think you're getting one, do you?

...of course you do. Why am I not surprised? And bracing myself for more screaming now...

[Evannah]

We had coupons at Land of Quid. Luckily, we rarely had sucky customers over them. People who get mad over coupons are speshul snowflakes who think it's their God given right to get free/reduced stuff and also think that the rules and policies don't apply to them.

Wow at the Charitable Donation Lady! That was just incredibly rude! I used to hate it when people would throw their money at me. I also hate it when they put their money onto the counter. When they do that, I'll put the money onto the counter for them too. Had one customer do that, so I did the same to him. He called me rude because I didn't put the money into his palm. But he did the same to me! So why am *I* the rude one?!

[Sapphire Silk]

Big Ship Tools has really great coupons and fliers. It's one of the few places I'll actually bother with coupons.

They've been running a promotion (pretty common for them) where you can get one of several specific items for free, with purchase.

One lady had coupons for five of the same item, and tried to get them free without making a purchase at all.

[XCashier]

Ugh, what an awful weekend. And people are just so greedy about discounts / coupons / freebies / etc. Yep, like a retail store is in the business of giving stuff away for free. I'm sure you were glad the remodel is over, but all the Gimme Pigs and Speshul Snowflakes are enough to drive a person to drink.

I took my vacation (more of a staycation, but I digress) last week, and I think I chose the right weekend to take off. Today is my first day back, and a new sale is starting. And I had a workmare this morning; not a good sign. The loony bin awaits...

[Catwoman2965]

I hate sales. my store had 50% off markdowns. then they added/changed the promo to 50% off the entire store, full price and sale. which meant, of course, all they really did was add the FP stuff to the mix.

But no, you KNOW there were some who thought it mean they got the current 50% off markdowns, and then ANOTHER 50% off that. um no. sorry, doens'twork that way.

[notalwaysright]

We just learned that we are getting a 5-week remodel early next year. I'm not looking forward to it. I mean, it would be great if I didn't have to listen to people use the bathroom while on break, but the process will be unpleasant.

I wish we could have a limit on bolts, though the quilters would kill us. We have some customers who do what patiokitty said, except instead of wanting us to cut the fabric (which we won't normally) they ask to measure a bolt. They are making the same thing (Indian Saris) and need a lot. Then they say they aren't sure if it's enough, can you measure this other one? And basically this goes on for many bolts, until there's a giant pile. And then they just want one or two. I feel uncomfortable because they tend to speak to each other in their language for long periods of time while I'm just standing there waiting.

I believe our cashiers are supposed to count and shake the fabric. People hate this, but it catches a lot of stuff. "Oh, how did that thread get there?!" Yeah, right.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Coupon Hell
If I have to argue with one more customer about coupons I am going to scream.

Last week we gave out a set of 3 coupons to customers, each coupon good for one specific day. The number of people who have tried to use Thursday's coupon on Friday, Friday's on Saturday, etc. is astronomical. Look, I know you probably thought they were all good for the entire weekend but they aren't so I don't know what to tell you. My computer will not let me scan them in and like hell am I manually adjusting the price for you.

The worst were the people who got four or five of these fliers, got pissed off when I told them they couldn't use all five coupons at once (the coupon codes are identical so the computer will only accept 1 per transaction) and then demanded that I do five separate transactions for them. How about no.

Ugggh. Coupons piss me off and I don't even run a register.

All they ever seem to do is pit the LP people against the customer service people and result in inconsistent policies among stores.

Store A will cheerfully allow customers to break up their orders into several separate transactions, take expired coupons, and take coupons for stuff that's totally different than what the customer is buying but ring up anyway, all in the name of providing outstanding customer service. Store B will check expiration dates, forbid coupon decoding, and forbid multiple transactions so they don't lose money on fraudulent coupons.

Then corporate sends a memo to store A telling them to reduce shortage from fraudulent coupons, and a memo to store B telling them to improve their customer service scores and surveys and eliminate complaints. And then both stores will be doing things completely different from how they did them last week.

[XCashier]

We just learned that we are getting a 5-week remodel early next year. I'm not looking forward to it.

If it's early in the year, it shouldn't affect work too badly. As long as it's done before the end of August (i.e., the start of the busy Halloween-Christmas season) things should be fine.

Still, trying to remember where they moved stuff to and tripping over fixtures that weren't in that spot before is not fun. Nor is having idiot customers yelling at you because they can't find stuff (how do they not see that the store is being remodeled?! Yet it goes right over their heads...)

I will say one thing, those suits are soooo comfy!

They look very comfortable. And quite beautiful, as well. Pity that Western fashion designers can't make clothes that are both beautiful and comfortable.

[Willowe]

And then there was the shrinkage problem we had with our notions - discovered that people were tucking them into the folds of the fabric after watching one family do exactly that. They didn't realize they had been caught until they came up to the till and I pulled everything out of the folds of fabric. They tried to play stupid and say that they had no idea the stuff was in there, but that didn't fly with me at all. So a nice big note was posted where the customers could see it, advising staff to go through any fabric that was brought up to the till to 'ensure that customers had not forgotten where they tucked their notions.

My first day on the job I had to practice checking someone out with my CW and she did this exact same thing. Tucked notions inside remnants, knitting needles inside yarn skeins, etc. to get me used to checking everything that people brought up. My manager actually made me do this test "twice" because I didn't catch everything she had hidden the first time, and she wanted to make sure that I knew all the places customers could hide things to try to steal them.

[fireheart]

My first day on the job I had to practice checking someone out with my CW and she did this exact same thing. Tucked notions inside remnants, knitting needles inside yarn skeins, etc. to get me used to checking everything that people brought up. My manager actually made me do this test "twice" because I didn't catch everything she had hidden the first time, and she wanted to make sure that I knew all the places customers could hide things to try to steal them.

No offence to you guys, but from my understanding, most yarn skeins are fairly "plushy" in that if you squeeze them, they feel like a plush animal. A knitting needle should be easily picked up...

[XCashier]

No offence to you guys, but from my understanding, most yarn skeins are fairly "plushy" in that if you squeeze them, they feel like a plush animal. A knitting needle should be easily picked up...

Not always. Some are fairly solidly wound. And simply handling a skein of yarn to scan it, you won't always notice something hidden right in the middle, surrounded by a two inch thick layer of yarn all around. Plus, if you've got a massive line, you're the only cashier, your pleas for a second cashier go unheard and the other customers are giving you the Evil Eye, you tend to want to rush things. So yeah, you still have to be thorough.

[morgana]

Pity that Western fashion designers can't won't make clothes that are both beautiful and comfortable.

Fixed that for you.

[Firecrackers Not Included]

All [coupons] ever seem to do is pit the LP people against the customer service people and result in inconsistent policies among stores.

Please allow me to revive this seemingly missed important post.
Thank you.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Apparently the new trick the coupon scammers use is buying a bunch of HBA items using coupons, and then requesting a gift receipt for the purchase.

That way, when they turn around and haul all that shit back a couple days later for the full value of the items in cash, we can't tell that they used coupons and thus have no real reason to deny the return.

I'm all for saving money, but then I hear the stories the cashiers and service desk people tell in the breakroom (coming in at 15 minutes to closing and then arguing over every fraudulent/expired coupon hoping we'll just take it so we can get out on time, always heading for the n00bie cashiers, presenting fake coupons) and I think "99% of couponers give the rest a bad name."

[Nemesis44UK]

Gimme Pigs

That is awesome and I'm stealing it.