STAY THE @#$%! OUT OF MY STOCKROOM!

[Mike Taylor]

As I was wrapping up the evening shift tonight, I went into the stockroom where we keep games & movies and put away some fixtures. Lo and behold, sitting there amidst the DVDs, is an opened MP3 player package. The very same MP3 player package spotted by security in the hands of two small boys, one twelve and the other around eight, earlier that evening. They had been wandering "stealthfully" (and sending up a HUGE red flag by doing so).

I only hope the stockroom security camera caught them on tape.

Stupid idiots... AND they were with their parents, too.

[justZu]

At the store my son manages, their stock room has only a set of swinging doors separating it from the sales floor. However, the doors are marked in large black letters "Employees Only". So, of course, he is constantly having to shoo customers out when they wander into the back area like simple-minded sheep.

[Rine]

I was going to post this in a new thread...but this thread I think is better for it. This story actually deals with a co-worker and I was only involved at the beginning.

Customer comes up to me and wants to buy some ready to assemble furniture. No prob. I get him a merchandise associate to help him out because I was off the clock. Coworker comes and takes over.

We were out of stock of the table he wanted; my co-worker knew this without having to look because she had another customer earlier wanting the same thing. But the man asks her again to look so she heads off to back stock room adjacent to the RTA furniture department and prods around for a bit, comes back out, and says we don't have any.

Man bids her good day and apparently leaves. Five minutes later, co-worker goes into stock room to continue whatever she was doing and sees the customer from earlier inside! She freaks out and demands to know what he's doing and he angrily responds that she "didn't look hard enough b/c he could see her through the door, etc." She calls security and has him escorted off the premises and he is asked never to come back, because you just don't do things like that, you know? What a weirdo.

[mattm04]

Man bids her good day and apparently leaves. Five minutes later, co-worker goes into stock room to continue whatever she was doing and sees the customer from earlier inside! She freaks out and demands to know what he's doing and he angrily responds that she "didn't look hard enough b/c he could see her through the door, etc." She calls security and has him escorted off the premises and he is asked never to come back, because you just don't do things like that, you know? What a weirdo.

I had one customer follow me into the backroom once. The custoemr went about 50 feet down a hallway and waked into our receiving/frozen dept freezer.

SC: standing in door way "sir, could..."
Me: quickly truning around, sees cust. "GET OUT OF THE BACKROOM NOW!"
SC: "But I just have a quick question
Me: "Get the fuck out of my backroom, NOW!"
SC: "I'm the customer"
Me: grabs frozen turkey "Get out NOW!"
The SC runs off, and I call LP. LP confronts guy, SC is told to leave or we call the police. SC leave store but stands outside harassing customers. Police are called, SC takes a little trip to a nice holding cell.

[marty]

I have people all the time try to wander behind the counter. No one's ever tried to go into the backroom that I know of, but you'd think the waist-high swinging door would clue them in that maybe they're not supposed to be behind the registers.

It particularly annoys me when small children run behind the counter and their parents follow them. The kids I can understand, it's always children below the age of 5 and they don't know any better, but when I'm already guiding your child back around and they take off running back out from behind the counter, there's no reason for you to walk behind the counter, look around, then follow your kid back out.

[gunsage]

Oh if only I ruled the world...

Me: "Oi, stealing, eh? That's a punchable offense!"
Parents: "But...they're just children!"
Me: "I know! Isn't it great?! And I wonder worry about THEM, but rather, I'd worry about what I have in store for YOU!"

[Plaidman]

I was ringing up customers, while the manager was putting away beer in the cooler. She turns to see a customer coming in.

My manager told me she didn't know who was more surprised, her, or the customer who wandering into the cooler. (Which is no easy feat, seeing as you have to do lots of twists and turns, in areas that scream employees only).

Apperently we were out of the wine she wanted, and she didn't want to bother me, so she just helped herself.

[PepperElf]

i did that kinda at the Mac store in Ginza...

Just walking around browsing.... I look at one of the pretty macs, wiggle the nice looking mouse... only to have one of the workers come up and direct me away from the computer. I was confused at first until I realized my mistake: it was one of the register comptuers.

(BLUSH).

I apologized and bowed (probably still blushing) and the issue was over... except being teased by the BF a little (lol).

[RetailWorkhorse]

At my Dollar Tree (I really should stop calling it MINE since I don't work there anymore, ne?) we had an employees only bathroom that Management had allowed customers to use. Someone messed up the bathroom and Debs (2nd Assistant Manager and the one who worked Sundays with me) got sick and tired of cleaning up the mess. She she told the others that she wasn't going to do it anymore if we continued to allow customers in the bathroom. Suffice to say; no customers are allowed to use our bathroom anymore.

The customers I knew fairly well (READ: I knew their names and they tended to really like me for some reason) would sometimes follow me into the backroom if they were hunting for something I knew we hadn't put out yet. I used to keep inventory notes in my head so I pretty much knew everything we had and where it was.

Only time someone got beligerant with me was my first Christmas there (the reason I had been hired in the first place) and some high-and-mighty dickweed was digging though the Toys For Tots. He yelled at me and a customer because we were tring to tell him he couldn't do that while he was "talking" to yet another customer (he was hitting on the woman pretty bad and she didn't look interested not one bit). He paid for his merchandice and I told him to drive safely since the roads were icy.

He GLARED at me.

I hoped Karma did something to him for being so rude.

Eep! Sorry for the thread-jack!

[justZu]

I just remembered something from my old job at a seasonal craft show. Its pretty much the opposite of what we mostly have to put up with.

The Craft Show was located in an old Victorian House. All three floors were open to customers, with the attic closed off for storage. I cannot remember anyone ever attempting to go up in the attic and usually they were reluctant to leave the first floor. They would timidly ask if it was ok to go up or downstairs. Which is kind of ironic, considering how they act in other stores.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I just remembered something from my old job at a seasonal craft show. Its pretty much the opposite of what we mostly have to put up with.

The Craft Show was located in an old Victorian House. All three floors were open to customers, with the attic closed off for storage. I cannot remember anyone ever attempting to go up in the attic and usually they were reluctant to leave the first floor. They would timidly ask if it was ok to go up or downstairs. Which is kind of ironic, considering how they act in other stores.

Likely because they felt that the Victorian (<3) was someone's home and didn't want to disturb the residence. Which only tells me they've been watching WAY too much Gilmore Girls (Lain[?] lived in an Antique Store, I believe). Nice of them to repect the house, though.

[Imogene]

Lain[?]

According to IMDB, it's Lane, and yes, her mother's antique store was also her house.

[RetailWorkhorse]

According to IMDB, it's Lane, and yes, her mother's antique store was also her house.

Thank you, thank you.

[retailwrkralum]

I once had a lady who insisted she go back to the stock room with me when I told her we didn't have the piece of luggage she was looking for. She of course had come in like a minute before closing so she didn't believe me when I told her that. I refused to let her in though, I said I would call security if she tried to force her way in ! The nerve of some people!

[MadMike]

The Craft Show was located in an old Victorian House. All three floors were open to customers, with the attic closed off for storage.

OT, but my oldest friend, who I've known since we were both 5 years old, recently had her wedding at one of those, and it was the same deal -- explore all you want, but the attic was closed off.

Back on topic, I once got ambushed by some jackass customer who wandered into the back room because he was ringing the bell for the produce person, and no one was answering. It really pissed me off, because I didn't even work that department, and I had just arrived there, and hadn't even clocked in yet.

He needed something weighed, and I knew how to work the scale, but he acted like such an asshole (practically jumped down my throat as soon as he saw me), that I should have told him that I didn't work in that department (true), and didn't know how to work the scale (not true.) But I helped him despite everything.

I found the produce person in the break room having a smoke (this was over 20 years ago, I'm sure that's not allowed anymore), and I was so pissed that she apparently didn't bother telling anyone she was going on break or asking them to cover the bell for her, and that I got yelled at for it. I am so glad to be out of that place.