if you want help....ASK ME!

[Lulu]

Do not wander around the shop listlessly picking things up and putting them down again, talking to your child and saying things like "Oh THAT's what I want...oh wait...no it's on cd...I wanted it on tape...do you think they have it on tape Isaac?...Perhaps we could find something else instead...I think what I'll do is go to Amazon and see if I can find it there cos it doesn't look like they have it here does it Isaac...yes, let's do that, come along Isaac..."

If you want to know if we have something or could get it for you, ASK ME! If you're not looking at me and half way down the shop speaking to your child, do not expect me to magically divine that you need assistance. Where I come from, eavesdropping is considered to be extremely rude, therefore, I do my best to ignore conversations not directly addressed to me.

I hate when they do that, it's like a kind of passive-SC'ism and it HACKS me off no end! and actually, while we're on it...CONTROL YOUR KID! I'm not a free babysitter, so whilst you're wandering about talking to that spawn of yours, I'm NOT getting paid to make sure he doesn't get his fingers caught in the door he's currently slamming repeatedly because he "likes the noise".

Oh...todays good so far...can you tell ?!

[Ree]

Have you ever considering actually approaching the customer anyway and offering your help first, before they have a chance to passively hint that they could use help, but don't actually ask for it?

That's usually a key selling tool for most salesclerks.

Upside is, the customers are free to decline the help and go on with their shopping, you then get some money in your register, (the reason the store is open in the first place), the annoying person doesn't get a chance to annoy you, and you can get on with whatever it is that you are doing.


Oh, and by the way, we prefer that our members don't refer to chidlren as "spawn".

[Lulu]

Actually, since I was busy with the queue of other customers, it wasn't an option and the customer could see that perfectly well, and since the customer himself was referring to the child as "you little brat" intermittantly, I don't think i was out of line there either.

[kelly]

Annoying

I used to be a cashier in a supermarket until recently and it really used to annoy me when people would talk to their small kids and babies, when really they wanted to ask me something, e.g. "do you think the lady has any more carrier bags?". Just ask me!!

One lady did it several times and one day she was chatting to the baby about something like, "Do you suppose they have any more of this bread out the back, baby? That would be nice, wouldn't it?" After a minute she looked up at me expectantly and said, "Well, do you?" I looked at her blankly and said, "Do I what? I'm sorry- I thought you were talking to the baby."

Mean, but funny.

[lordlundar]

Have you ever considering actually approaching the customer anyway and offering your help first, before they have a chance to passively hint that they could use help, but don't actually ask for it?

In my case yes. I ask them if I can help them with anything, and they say "no, just looking", after they've been specifically trying to find something.

[Jester]

Oh, and by the way, we prefer that our members don't refer to chidlren as "spawn".

Okay...would you prefer "Satan's seed"?

"Brat"?

"Wailing monster"?

"Miniature sign of the impending Apocalypse"?

"Semi-trained monkey"?

"Evil offspring"?

"Demon issue"?

Let us know. Most of us have no problem using different phrases!

[Canadian In Maine]

As a customer, I would rather try and find an item myself before I bother the store staff for help. I guess it's because of having worked in retail and dealing with idiots.

On the flip side of that, of course, are some stores that hit on you the minute you walk in the door and keep doing it until you tell them, "If I need help I'll ask."

Yes, I realize that they are doing their job (and probably work on comission) but to keep asking me if I need help (several times in the space of a few minutes) becomes annoying and will only make me leave the store.

As an employee, I would much rather acknowledge the customers presence and then move on but not hide so that they can't find me if they do have a question.

Oh, and my pet peeve as a customer? If I walk into a store with my husband or a girlfriend to be greeted with: "Hey guys, how are you?"

Looking down at bumps on chest: Do I look like a guy?

[Rapscallion]

Let us know. Most of us have no problem using different phrases!

'Child' works for me. I'm not keen on 'kid', but that's a modern thing, and I'm old-fashioned.

Take this as a hint.

Rapscallion

[Ree]

Okay...would you prefer "Satan's seed"?

"Brat"?

"Wailing monster"?

"Miniature sign of the impending Apocalypse"?

"Semi-trained monkey"?

"Evil offspring"?

"Demon issue"?

Let us know. Most of us have no problem using different phrases!

Just pick the one that people used to describe you when you were a young spawn.

*Which is my way of remindning people that you were all once children, and just because you may have been hellspawn, or demonic brats, does not mean all children are.

[April]

I think I was called "demon Spawn" (that's what I call my kids too LOL)

[Primer]

Just pick the one that people used to describe you when you were a young spawn.

Personally, I was a little brat at times.

Most of the time I knew better than to even think about acting up!

[Ree]

Actually, since I was busy with the queue of other customers, it wasn't an option and the customer could see that perfectly well

Fair enough.
I wasn't trying to be critical, (other than asking you to use a different word to describe children), but by your response, it seems you took it as criticism.

It just seemed to me, based on your description of things, that the person was in the store for quite a long time, wandering around making passive comments to the child.
I just felt, if someone is in there that long, and it's bugging me, then I'm probably going to do what I can to get rid of them quickly.

I hate pressure from sales staff as well, but I also am one of those people who, based on what I read here, at CS, not necessarily in this thread , is always hesitant to ask for help. I have been in situations where that was greeted with a huge sigh, as if I have just intruded on their whole day.
I am always afraid as coming off as sucky. I hate walking around, trying to find stuff, and having several people shuffle past not making eye contact so it doesn't even give me a chance to get help.

As an employee, I always speak up first, give the customer the option of declining help, then go on with my other duties or customers.

[Lulu]

If I offended anyone with the "spawn" comment, then I'm sorry. It's never been a big deal to me or anyone I know to use that term, but I'll refrain in future.

As for the SC I actually posted about, well, yeah, he was annoying, he was in the shop for long enough to see I had a queue of people and was busy, and yet clearly didn't want to wait his turn (god forbid they should WAIT! ) and get the help he needed, therefore, since I was dealing with the ones with enough of a grain of patience to wait to be served, he lost out. I'm not going to put a line of 5 or 6 people on hold just because he can't be bothered to wait, regardless of how long he stands about talking to his child.

My shop has a policy of not approaching browsers, it's a book shop and amongst our trade it's considered to be a no no anyway purely because most people don't want to be interrupted whilst they're wandering about looking at the shelves. Perhaps we work in a slightly different way to other retail outlets on that front.

Either way, it irritated on a busy day when I could have done without it, I ranted, and now rather wish I hadn't since I seem to have unwittingly stirred a pot. Oh well, live and learn.

[Ree]

Either way, it irritated on a busy day when I could have done without it, I ranted, and now rather wish I hadn't since I seem to have unwittingly stirred a pot.

Again, I'm sorry if it seemed that way.

Venting is what the site is about, but we also support and offer advice to each other, or discuss issues from our point of view, or what works for us.

That's all I was doing, and I apologize if you felt any differently.

[batmoody]

Okay...would you prefer "Satan's seed"?

"Brat"?

"Wailing monster"?

"Miniature sign of the impending Apocalypse"?

"Semi-trained monkey"?

"Evil offspring"?

"Demon issue"?

Let us know. Most of us have no problem using different phrases!

I prefer Incubus.....
Why is spawn so bad? I mean, we all rant and call sustomers every name in the book but we shouldn't say spawn?
Websters defines spawn as: 1. The eggs of fishes etc 2. Offspring, to produce offspring. I think kids are covered by #2. Or maybe we are calling them fish eggs. In any case, I have seen kids called worse here.