The OMG!Magic Back Room

[Lace Neil Singer]

You know, the one that all stores, no matter how small, have that are filled with everything that a customer could possibly want. XD SCs never seem to understand that firstly, anything that can be is already on the shelves and second, stores do actually run out of stock occasionally. I've had SCs barking at me, "Can't you go and look in the back room?" and not believing me when I said we had nothing there. So, instead, the following exchange would happen:

SC: You don't have any *insert wanted item here*! Do you have any round the back?
Me: Just one minute, I'll go and look. (Goes out back, spends a couple of minutes chilling, returns) Nope, we don't have any, sorry.

I found that telling SCs the truth was always met with scathing disbelief, often coupled with a demand to see the manager, so lying was easier. -.- Anyone got any SC/OMG!Magic Back Room stories?

[ArcticChicken]

I once actually found something in the back. I'm still in shock.

At the begging of September we some note books that were 6/$1.00. For some reason the bin they were originally in was filled is another notebook of the same brand. Of course, I would have just pretended to look if that hadn't been a day were we trying to clear the back-stock and I'd noticed them already. (We'd gotten about fifteen boxes of the other note book, which was about $3.50 or $4 for one single subject notebook, and only two boxes of the 6/$1.00 ones.)

[Jack Doe]

Shoot, usually I'd do the same thing as you, go out back, have a smoke, go back, tell 'em "Naw, sorry. Can we order one for you?"

[Lady_Foxfire]

It's not an entirely stupid request; Sometimes stores really do have the item in stock in the back, but the employees haven't gotten around to restocking it for whatever reason. It's only really sucky if the customer won't take "No" for an answer.

[Blade_Raver]

"Sir, we're out of stock. It even shows in the system. You really want me to waste your time and go in the back to make sure?"

Go in the back.. pull something that's about 50% similar... and tell the customer, "As said before, we're out of stock.. but I found this between the nuclear generator and the time machine in back."

[Hyndis]

I don't mind checking the backroom, but as the backroom contains a massive amount of inventory, if I don't know where it is or if I don't see it on a quick walkthrough, then no luck. It would take hours upon hours to properly search the backroom and I'm not about to spend all that time digging through boxes, pallets, and shelves to find an item that costs a few bucks.

[BethB]

In the last store I worked at, I usually checked the back to humor them and waste 20 min of their time. I get paid to "check" the stock one...shelf...at....a...tiiiiiiiimmmmme. There was one time that I really should have "checked" the back and taken my break. these girls were asking if we had The O.C. on DVD cuz "it's, like, the most popular show on tv"(even though it had been cancelled for months at the time). Instead, I told them if it wasn't on the shelf it wasn't in stock....TWICE!!!!....IN 3 MINUTES!!!!! Then they had to get a coworker to ask me for them. Shoulda just taken a break and said it's not in stock. Learned a few days later that they were taken off the shelves a week earlier and the next week were placed as a feature item...most likely to get rid of the darn things.

[ADoyle90815]

I've had a few of those myself, but not only would I say that we don't have it in stock, I have no idea when we're getting a new shipment of the particular item. For seasonal things like metal ornament hooks in December, once those were sold out, that was it until the following year. The backroom was mostly full of boxes that were meant to be opened by the night crew when they arrived for restocking.

[Beisbolica]

I do this all the time at the shoe store I work in. You pretty much have to humor the customers. I don't mind going back there and getting a quick drink/muffin.

[Jadedcarguy]

My computer system at work tells me what's in stock, all of which is "in the back".

We keep nothing other than few t-shirts, hats, service manuals and shiny bits up front. Thus, the exchange usually goes something like this:

Me: Sorry, I'm out of stock on that.

SC: You don't have any in the back?

Me: No sir. Out of stock means none in the building.

SC: Could you at least look?

Me: Sure. <goes and flirts with cute receptionist> Sorry, all out. Want me to order it for you?

SC: No, I'll keep looking.


Never mind that I already checked the dealer locator, and all in the area are out.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I can find out if an item is in backstock just by scanning it or typing in the UPC or SKU.

So if my scanner says we do not have the item in backstock, it most likely means we do not have the item in backstock. Is everybody with me so far?

Now, it is possible that the item may actually be in the backroom, what with my gifted and talented co-irkers "forgetting" to locate items, or locating them under the wrong SKU, but it would be more of a wild goose chase than I'm willing to undertake to find it.

So if the scanner says we don't have the item, I tell you we don't have the item, but you insist I go back there and look anyway, I'll waste 10 minutes getting drinks of water, BSing with co-workers, and so forth, and emerge without your item. Capeche?

[Jadedcarguy]

I'll waste 10 minutes getting drinks of water, BSing with co-workers, and so forth, and emerge without your item.

10 minutes well spent on your part that SC doesn't get back.

[Fro]

See, when you work shoes, you actually have to check the stockroom.

I like checking the stockroom though. It gives me a few moments to relax, mutter ridiculous things, and dance to the bad music playing.

[nomorecarts]

I don't mind checking the backroom, but as the backroom contains a massive amount of inventory, if I don't know where it is or if I don't see it on a quick walkthrough, then no luck. It would take hours upon hours to properly search the backroom and I'm not about to spend all that time digging through boxes, pallets, and shelves to find an item that costs a few bucks.

ditto, when i was a cart pusher I would check for furniture, and a few items from elsewhere, mostly baby furniture from infants. Most things come in brown boxes with the department in big letters and the contents in little letters, I'm not searching through those.

one customer came up to me when I was on self check and asked me to look in the back for a specific type of personal lubricant . they asked me to do it myself, not even find someone, while I was trying to run a self check

[Lace Neil Singer]

In the petrol station, we generally know what's out back, and car related products go straight out on the shelves; so if someone stands there insisting that whatever's run out is out back, it's pretty ridiculous. XD If the oil or air freshener you want is not in the shop, then we don't have any.

The only exception to this rule is at times when we're short staffed and busy and haven't yet had a chance to put out the cigarettes. The bag of fags, as it is referred to, is kept in the office. So, if someone comes in and asks for a brand that isn't up, I don't mind running out back to get them. It's only a problem when people come in and ask for grocery items that we haven't got on the shelves, and never have had. -.- Especially since there's the supermarket over the road where they could go to get said grocery items.

At the garden centre, the back room consisted of junk, like broken fish tanks, water bottles, the extra big water bottle I used for filling up the animals' water, two sinks, usually bits of water weed and sand deposited in the fish section and pet section sinks respectively, and various metal implements. When the stock used to arrive every Wednesday, I'd check it off on my sheet and put it right on the shelves. When I worked at Pets that's when I always used to do the ruse I mentioned earlier, cuz of SCs just not being able to grasp the fact that all that the back room contained was junk. XD