You can't please anyone these days

[Mnemjian]

I try to be nice to people who come in to our store and I almost always smile or say hello to them when I can. When I go into a store I really like when they greet me. So why do so many people just stare back at you when you greet them like you are the craziest person ever? A lot of people will look away from you immediately, as if instead of saying "hello" you are screaming the bible at them or something. Often they just completely ignore you, which is equally puzzling. I must be thin-skinned because it kind of hurts my feelings. What's really strange, though, is that a percentage of our Yelp.com reviews have something or other about the staff "not being friendly" and last year I actually got a complaint (!) from a lady that I did not welcome her. (Also, where are all the reviews from people who i _know_ had a pleasant experience here? ) So I'm torn between continuing to try and find a shred of humanity in our customers or just being a flat out b*tch to everybody and stop wasting my time and sanity. Does anybody else have this problem?

[Despina83]

People are just friggin' rude. I know I always make a point to return a greeting to a store greeter, and respond with a "You too" when they say have a nice day. Espescially after I started working in retail, I always make sure to do so. Everyone needs to work retail at one point to see what it's like to be totally ignored. I'm a cashier and I can't believe how many people I get who just ignore me when I greet them. And sometimes they just stare at you. Seriously, what the hell? And a lot of times they won't return the greeting they'll just say "I want these rung up seperately" or "I decided to wait on this one." How hard is it to return the greeting before shooting your mouth off about your purchases? And then when I say "Thanks, have a good day", they think the proper response is either "Yep", "mm hm", or just total silence.

[Hobbs]

I don't like people greeting me. I think the concept of greeters is annoying. That said, I won't be a jerk to a greeter, but sometimes, their cheeriness and friendliness disturb me. Perhaps it's because I think people are being insinscere, or because I don't think someone should be nice because it's their job.

I'm basically that jerk sergeant from We Were Soldiers...

[mattm04]

I've got a COMPLAINT because i greeted someone. I have given up trying to please our customers.

[bainsidhe]

It's funny, when I'm working retail I have no trouble being friendly to customers. Yet when I'm a customer, somehow I find interaction completely unexpected and I switch to my introverted tendencies. I'm not rude, I just suddenly act surprised and am like "Oh, you too" when someone wishes me a pleasant day. When the door greeters say hello, I tend to respond in kind, but divert my eyes as if I'm embarressed or something. I know it's a bad habit, I'm not very social unless I put on my "social retail face". Still, I do respond and I'm not rude. Fortunately my store has some pretty terrific customers. Lots of jerks and cheapskates, but also some good ones. Always a mix

[Snowbird]

I have never, ever once in my life marched into a store and bought anything within the first 5 minutes, EVEN IF the whole purpose of the visit was a planned purchase. Although.. this only seems to happen to me in the expensive furniture stores around here -- which is why we went to IKEA instead for all the furniture purchases since we relocated to the other side of the country.

There's a furniture store near me that must have a stalking clause written into their associate's contracts. Twice, I felt so hunted down by the fact that I was literally being followed through the store with only around fifteen feet of distance between us, that the first time I left and the second time I hurried up, turned a sharp corner and doubled back through another entry way to lose the guy. It's a lot funnier now than it was then!

The last time I went there, the person I was shopping with finally rolled their eyes and dared me to roll around on the bed I was nearest to, while making inappropriate sounds. And no, I didn't do it. I was very tempted though.

Back to the topic though, I think it's easier to greet people than it is to be greeted because employees begin to feel comfortable in their surroundings, it's 'their' place and that makes it easier to speak up. Being greeted by a random stranger, usually when one's mind is on what shopping needs to be done, is probably a jump off the tracks for one thing, and can be invasive if the greeting is asked in a certain way, i.e. asking how they are.

Unfortunately, when people are greeters, they generally have no choice in what they say as people enter and it isn't really fair to get upset with them over it. It'd be better if they were allowed to say something general like "Welcome to TheStore" with a smile and leave it at that.

[Gravekeeper]

Hate the concept of greeters, but I won't be rude to them or anything. It does sometimes startle me because I'm not expecting it and I'm in Retail Raid Mode ( Just want to get in and get out ) or Browse Mode ( Leave me alone )

On the topic of stalking. Futureshop. You cannot even glance at something in there without being assailed by their staff. Which drives me crazy because I like to browse. I always keep a mental tally of how many times I'm asked if I need help, etc etc.

Last time I was there it was 4 times, by 4 different employees, in the same section, in the same aisle in under 3 minutes. They watched each other do it. I finally just said "Well I was going to buy new speakers." than walked away.

It took 3 passes to get my mom's Christmas gift. Once to enter the aisle and get intercepted. A second try because I touched the box. Than the 3rd time to sneak in, get the box, than run to the front really quick with it before I was spotted.

[prb]

Last time I was there it was 4 times, by 4 different employees, in the same section, in the same aisle in under 3 minutes. They watched each other do it. I finally just said "Well I was going to buy new speakers." than walked away.

Which is why I like a) my local store having only one employee in Movies/Games/Music. And he's usually helping someone, so I get what I want, pay, leave. b) knowing people in TVs, computers and mobile audio in the same store, so when they try to grab my sale, I say "oh, I'm just looking for now, _ will be selling to me" (and I usually get than the employee price or better without asking), can you say $500 TV stand at cost ($185)?

Although, I prefer best buy for low priced items and items with a low mark-up.

[vloglady]

Sometimes it's because the first one to speak to you and ask if you need help gets the comission for your sale.

I remember years ago in NYC I was in a ladie's clothing store, bringing in a couple of nice suits to the fitting room. I too always ignore the "can I help you?" barrage of salespeople. I just took my items into the fitting room.

I was standing there in my underwear when the door burst open "hi, can I help you?" and a woman standing there. I SCREAMED NO>>> close the door!

When I went to the cashier to check out with my 2 very nice suits, the woman came up and claimed her sale. I emphatically stated she did NOT help me and I don't want her. I guess I scared her because a manager came up and I told her she burst in on me in the dressing room and I don't want to have anything to do with her.

I always remember that day whenever I see those suits in my closet.

Susan

[orcprincess]

I work at a clothing retailer right now, and I have a hard time with the whole greeting thing.

As an employee, I know it is my job to go through the whole spiel, and when my store manager is within ear shot, I'll do it, but otherwise, I have tried to tailor my greeting to be polite, and available if necessary, but I try not to jump on my guests the second the stupid door bell goes off, I feel so uncomfortable. I have walked up to guests before and I've only gotten a "hello" out of my mouth, and the next thing you know, they are foaming at the mouth, and cussing at me, and saying "leave me alone, I just want to look around, or I'll tell your manager I am being harrassed"

One SC I had did just that. I welcomed her, and told her my name and that I would be available for help, and she puts her hand up in that talk to the hand gesture, and then says "shut the fuck up!, I don't want to be bothered, I am just looking" I said "I'm sorry ma'am" Then she started to turn red, and stomped up to my manager, and told her what I had done, and my manager was like So, the lady got our corporate number, because she wouldn't shut up, and she was cussing the whole time about how she was going to have my job, and I should be fired, she was just nasty.


As a customer, since I know it's their job, but I have learned to just smile and nod my head, I just kinda tune them out. Working in retail, I have learned how to read the signs they have on the windows and things unlike SC's who can't read.

[Kirkygirl]

Sometimes it's because the first one to speak to you and ask if you need help gets the comission for your sale.
<snip>

I was standing there in my underwear when the door burst open "hi, can I help you?" and a woman standing there. I SCREAMED NO>>> close the door!

Susan

Holy smokes, would it kill ya to knock first??!?! Very good way to avoid a lawsuit you know....

I know what you guys mean about friendliness. I'm usually the most cheerful and welcoming cashier at the store (or so I'm told by others) and I still get people who don't even bother to answer me. Or when I greet them at my till, they just rattle off their phone number for their savings card and tend to forget their manners. Geeze Louise, for people who grew up when "people actually minded their manners", they sure can be rude! (There are a lot of senior citizens/retirees where I live.)

Buuut whatever. They're not going to spoil my day just because I can't please them, because I'm doing this for me. Take that you miserable !

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

WARNING: Long, but all about customers and retail workers' behaviuors, trust me.

I have to be honest here. I do not greet people, smile and act friendly because I want to. I do it because it's my job.

The honest part here is that it's not me. I'm not really being the one who is friendly. Target is. That's just how I feel.

No, I don't hate them at all. I just don't like them for real. And why should I? Normal people don't genuinely like people they don't know. So, you could say you "Target like them" or you "church like them," like Rod and Todd say on the Simpsons.

So, when people are being friendly/aka doing their job well, you're playing
"Merchant and customer." But we're really not all merchants, though, are we?

(That's why I like the idea of collective-run companies, where the "associates" actually own parts of the company, and some--believe me--some of these companies they are all co-managers--for example the Erzgebirge wood toy collectives in Germany, which have been going on since the war). And in that case, you have a vested interest in knowing and being friends with people who patronize your business. It's more of a win-win situation. Heck, even a little stock option that goes beyond a 401 K helps, a tiny bit.)

If you're part of a big Corp, honesty has very little to do with it, and it becomes a condition of your mood--how well you play the game, or how full of spirit you are, how social you feel, or how well-conditioned-trained you are.

So, I don't think it's particularly "rude" on every customers' part when they don't respond in kind. It's because it's not natural. It's like saying "you're welcome" to one of those machines in Tokyo that's always thanking you for patronizing him, whether "he's" a door, or a bidet.

The game's artifical, and I fully acknowledge it. I say "Yahtzee" because that's what you say when you play the game. I don't care how people feel about the game, whether it's a good, wonderful thing, or a sad, empty thing--it's still a game. You choose to play, and there are rational reasons on both sides whether or not to participate.

I do speak only for myself, and my husband (yeah, he'd agree, and we'd talk for two hours about it and write blog entries about it). We both work for big corps, and we've both worked for non-profits and other kinds of companies, and sometimes, it's better for one's sanity and happiness to just accept reality and not have to be confused about why people don't react honestly, as themselves, in a, well, sort of a Disneyworld.

[Despina83]

There's just no excuse for someone completely ignoring a person who is greeting them. None whatsoever. And to leave without either a "thanks" or a "you too" is also unacceptable. It's called basic manners. If you totally ignore my every attempt to speak to you, I'm going to assume you're a snooty bitch.

[Meegz]

I have to say, because I work retail, when I DO walk in a store, I don't EXPECT it but when it does happen, I flip into 'know-how-it-is' mode' and step outside of buyer-seller thinking and actually reply to them because most of them really are just genuinely nice people.

Thats how I try to do my job. Normally I'm doing a project up front, and a customer will see me drop what I'm doing, raise my head, smile, and ask "how ya doin'?" Most people are generous, and thats how I can tell if they come in for something specific.

I can't just quite grasp how people who work with customers go into stores and are stunned by the fact that they are greeted. I'm sorry, it seems to come from some people who complain about customers who won't return the favor. Sorry if I offend

The one that sorta grinds my gears are the people that come in groups, laughing and having a jolly time, so I smile and really try to keep up their mood with a hearty 'hello, how are ya'll!' and they get real quiet and treat me like crap for the rest of the experience. Always I just really enjoy making the best I can out of every situation

[Mnemjian]

It's really interesting to read all of these responses. Definitely a lot of places require that you say hello to people, so maybe that's why customers get uncomfortable: they think it's fake. I'm not required to greet anybody (luckily!) but I've found older and especially elderly people really dig it. They see it as an opening to ask you a question about something or other, or even to just talk to somebody... But I'll try harder not to take it personally one way or the other

The one that sorta grinds my gears are the people that come in groups, laughing and having a jolly time, so I smile and really try to keep up their mood with a hearty 'hello, how are ya'll!' and they get real quiet and treat me like crap for the rest of the experience. Always I just really enjoy making the best I can out of every situation

I've got to agree. That's probably one of the most awkward situations I can think of as far as greeting people...