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Read The Sign, PLEASE! (3 Stories, Kinda Long)
Hello Everyone! It's been a while since I posted, but my brother has motivated me to post again...
Okay, so in my store we have posted signs near our fitting rooms that remind our customers that Shopping Bags and Backpacks are NOT allowed in the fitting rooms. We have highlighted this section of the policy to make sure it is extra bright and attractive, however, many customers don't read it, and we've come to understand and the associate in the back will ask the customers for their bags.
I decided to post the stories from the fitting rooms together.
SC= Sucky Customer (I still don't know why I keep putting this on here, but you never know, LOL)
Me=Me (Store Manager)
Fitting Room 1
Me: Hello Ma'am, how many items do you have? (standard question which usually helps us weed out the shoplifters cause they will usually lie; even though we can obviously see how many items they have)
SC: 4
Me: Thanks, you can use this room, and we will hold your shopping bags at the cashier station.
SC: Why?
Me: We don't allow shopping bags in the fitting rooms for security reasons.
SC: I'm not giving you my bag, I have some expensive clothes in there.
Me: Well ma'am, if you would like to leave it with someone who's with you, that'll be ok.
SC: No, I'm not leaving my bag with you.
Me: Ok, then unfortunately I won't be able to let you in the fitting room. (I proceed to explain our return/exchange policy to offer an option...part of my mgmt training, always offer options, no matter how weak they may be)
SC: Fine, I'll give them to you, but I want to make sure you don't steal them.
Ok this is where it gets funny, I'm a guy, and the bag is from Victoria Secret,
am I gonna do w/ women's lingerie...and to those perverts out there...I may be gay, but I don't give a flyin flip for women's lingerie...which I'm sure the customer isn't aware of, but still makes me laugh to think bout it.
Me: Ok ma'am. (I proceed to the cash register and have the female associate there look into the bag...not search it...but just open it to look in...and we agree to stay together with it until she comes out)
SC: (After exiting the fitting room) Can I have my bag back, please?
Me: Of course, here it is, my cashier and I both watched it so that no one would take anything from it.
SC: Sure (walks away)
Now comes the weird part...
SC: (About 15 mins later) Can I talk to your store manager?
Me: Yes ma'am, that would be me, how can I help you?
SC: Oh, great. Well nevermind, can I have the number to your supervisor?
Me: Yes ma'am, may I ask what this is in reference to so I can make sure you get the correct number?
SC: Yes, you STOLE a pair of my lingerie from my bag!
Me: Oh, well, I disagree with you on that because my cashier and I stayed here with the bag the whole time, and since I feared you might say this I put my cell phone camera on the bag the whole time.
She decided to walk away w/out the number and as I called after her, she completely ignored me. My associate at the front of the store told me that her face was beet red. Haha...again...wtf am I gonna do w/ women's lingerie.
Fitting Room 2
This is more recent and made me realize that a lot of people are paranoid or have a guilty conscience.
Me: (Calling after the SC) Ma'am, I need to see your bag please.
Ugh, she ignored me...
Me: Ma'am, shopping bags are not allowed in the fitting room, I need you to please bring it out to me.
SC: I'm not dressed anymore, you're going to have to wait.
She's been in there for about 10 seconds; last I heard only drunk prom dates undress THAT quickly, but ok, I'll wait)
Me: (As customer approaches the registers to pay) Hello, (and all the other niceties) Is that all for you?
The SC ignores me and proceeds to talk with her friend.
Me: Ok, I'll need to see inside your bag now please.
SC: Why?
Me: Because I asked you to check it before you went in but you wouldn't allow me to, since it's about to leave my store I need to check it.
SC: Oh, so I look like a shoplifter?
Me: No, I didn't say that ma'am, but ANYONE who walks in with a bag is subject to inspection upon exiting the fitting rooms.
SC: Fine (and then talking to her friends daughter) You need to show this fool your bag because obviously he thinks we're shoplifters, even though I make more money in one month than he does.
Ok, not sure about everyone else here, but I HATE customers that assume that I'm jealous because of how much money they make. Like I knew that when I asked to see inside the bag, right? NEWHO, I digress.
Me: Thank you, but that won't be necessary since that bag didn't enter the fitting room.
Her friend then apologizes to me and makes a joke to calm the friend down. The friends transaction is routine, and they head to walk out my store. YAY!
Fitting Room 3
SC decides to walk in the fitting room and decides to not show her bag, now this one was an SC that we had already suspected of attempting to steal some small items, so I wasn't about to let her get away with taking a bag in there.
Me: (Shouting into the fitting room area) I'm sorry but shopping bags are not allowed in the fitting room, please bring it out now.
Pause, silence.
Me: Ma'am I saw you take a shopping bag into the fitting rooms, please bring it out now.
Pause, more silence.
Me: Ok, I know there's a shopping bag in here, and if no one brings it out to me right now, I'm going to have to ask EVERYONE to step out in the clothes they are wearing so security can clear these rooms.
Pause, finally the SC decides to hold the bag out the door of her room. I ask her to bring it out to me, and (this is where I was probably a little out of line) snatch it from her.
Me: Ma'am, I'll hold this at the cashier station until you're done shopping.
SC then proceeds to speak to me in Spanish, and I get totally embarrassed that she just didn't understand me; so I explain to her (in Spanish) that I'll hold it for her.
THEN!!!
She comes out of the room and starts talking to her friends in CLEAR English! That just pissed me off completely, and I lost it. She had not complied with our policy AND was attempting to shoplift. I walked up to her, and
Me: Ma'am, I know that you can understand me, and that you were trying to walk into that fitting room with your shopping bag on purpose. (She opens her mouth to respond, but I keep going) You have already concealed merchandise outside the fitting room, and it's my belief that is why you didn't want to surrender your bag. (Again, she opens her mouth, but I just keep on talking) According to a County Sheriff's Deputy, you can be cited just for concealing it, even though we already recovered it from the fitting room. (She looks down, then just stares at me) Get out of my store, and if I see you in here again, we will not leave you alone, you will be followed by an associate and security will be here in a heartbeat, along with the Police.
At that last part her eyes got HUGE
and she grabbed her bag from me and proceeded rather quickly to the front door.
Ok, now that being said, thanks for takin the time to read all of this, and if you would like to comment I am always interested in hearing what people have to say. If you have specific questions regarding the officer who told me this, I'm sorry but I cannot divulge that information, however you are more than welcome to look up the Texas Penal Code, and if he lied to me, well, then I lied to a customer, and am truly sorry if this customer just happens to be you. Other than that, again, thanks for taking the time to read, and let me know what you think.
Until next time
Okay, so in my store we have posted signs near our fitting rooms that remind our customers that Shopping Bags and Backpacks are NOT allowed in the fitting rooms. We have highlighted this section of the policy to make sure it is extra bright and attractive, however, many customers don't read it, and we've come to understand and the associate in the back will ask the customers for their bags.
I decided to post the stories from the fitting rooms together.
SC= Sucky Customer (I still don't know why I keep putting this on here, but you never know, LOL)
Me=Me (Store Manager)
Fitting Room 1
Me: Hello Ma'am, how many items do you have? (standard question which usually helps us weed out the shoplifters cause they will usually lie; even though we can obviously see how many items they have)
SC: 4
Me: Thanks, you can use this room, and we will hold your shopping bags at the cashier station.
SC: Why?
Me: We don't allow shopping bags in the fitting rooms for security reasons.
SC: I'm not giving you my bag, I have some expensive clothes in there.
Me: Well ma'am, if you would like to leave it with someone who's with you, that'll be ok.
SC: No, I'm not leaving my bag with you.
Me: Ok, then unfortunately I won't be able to let you in the fitting room. (I proceed to explain our return/exchange policy to offer an option...part of my mgmt training, always offer options, no matter how weak they may be)
SC: Fine, I'll give them to you, but I want to make sure you don't steal them.
Ok this is where it gets funny, I'm a guy, and the bag is from Victoria Secret,
am I gonna do w/ women's lingerie...and to those perverts out there...I may be gay, but I don't give a flyin flip for women's lingerie...which I'm sure the customer isn't aware of, but still makes me laugh to think bout it.Me: Ok ma'am. (I proceed to the cash register and have the female associate there look into the bag...not search it...but just open it to look in...and we agree to stay together with it until she comes out)
SC: (After exiting the fitting room) Can I have my bag back, please?
Me: Of course, here it is, my cashier and I both watched it so that no one would take anything from it.
SC: Sure (walks away)
Now comes the weird part...
SC: (About 15 mins later) Can I talk to your store manager?
Me: Yes ma'am, that would be me, how can I help you?
SC: Oh, great. Well nevermind, can I have the number to your supervisor?
Me: Yes ma'am, may I ask what this is in reference to so I can make sure you get the correct number?
SC: Yes, you STOLE a pair of my lingerie from my bag!
Me: Oh, well, I disagree with you on that because my cashier and I stayed here with the bag the whole time, and since I feared you might say this I put my cell phone camera on the bag the whole time.
She decided to walk away w/out the number and as I called after her, she completely ignored me. My associate at the front of the store told me that her face was beet red. Haha...again...wtf am I gonna do w/ women's lingerie.
Fitting Room 2
This is more recent and made me realize that a lot of people are paranoid or have a guilty conscience.
Me: (Calling after the SC) Ma'am, I need to see your bag please.
Ugh, she ignored me...
Me: Ma'am, shopping bags are not allowed in the fitting room, I need you to please bring it out to me.
SC: I'm not dressed anymore, you're going to have to wait.
She's been in there for about 10 seconds; last I heard only drunk prom dates undress THAT quickly, but ok, I'll wait)
Me: (As customer approaches the registers to pay) Hello, (and all the other niceties) Is that all for you?
The SC ignores me and proceeds to talk with her friend.
Me: Ok, I'll need to see inside your bag now please.
SC: Why?
Me: Because I asked you to check it before you went in but you wouldn't allow me to, since it's about to leave my store I need to check it.
SC: Oh, so I look like a shoplifter?
Me: No, I didn't say that ma'am, but ANYONE who walks in with a bag is subject to inspection upon exiting the fitting rooms.
SC: Fine (and then talking to her friends daughter) You need to show this fool your bag because obviously he thinks we're shoplifters, even though I make more money in one month than he does.
Ok, not sure about everyone else here, but I HATE customers that assume that I'm jealous because of how much money they make. Like I knew that when I asked to see inside the bag, right? NEWHO, I digress.
Me: Thank you, but that won't be necessary since that bag didn't enter the fitting room.
Her friend then apologizes to me and makes a joke to calm the friend down. The friends transaction is routine, and they head to walk out my store. YAY!
Fitting Room 3
SC decides to walk in the fitting room and decides to not show her bag, now this one was an SC that we had already suspected of attempting to steal some small items, so I wasn't about to let her get away with taking a bag in there.
Me: (Shouting into the fitting room area) I'm sorry but shopping bags are not allowed in the fitting room, please bring it out now.
Pause, silence.
Me: Ma'am I saw you take a shopping bag into the fitting rooms, please bring it out now.
Pause, more silence.
Me: Ok, I know there's a shopping bag in here, and if no one brings it out to me right now, I'm going to have to ask EVERYONE to step out in the clothes they are wearing so security can clear these rooms.
Pause, finally the SC decides to hold the bag out the door of her room. I ask her to bring it out to me, and (this is where I was probably a little out of line) snatch it from her.
Me: Ma'am, I'll hold this at the cashier station until you're done shopping.
SC then proceeds to speak to me in Spanish, and I get totally embarrassed that she just didn't understand me; so I explain to her (in Spanish) that I'll hold it for her.
THEN!!!
She comes out of the room and starts talking to her friends in CLEAR English! That just pissed me off completely, and I lost it. She had not complied with our policy AND was attempting to shoplift. I walked up to her, and
Me: Ma'am, I know that you can understand me, and that you were trying to walk into that fitting room with your shopping bag on purpose. (She opens her mouth to respond, but I keep going) You have already concealed merchandise outside the fitting room, and it's my belief that is why you didn't want to surrender your bag. (Again, she opens her mouth, but I just keep on talking) According to a County Sheriff's Deputy, you can be cited just for concealing it, even though we already recovered it from the fitting room. (She looks down, then just stares at me) Get out of my store, and if I see you in here again, we will not leave you alone, you will be followed by an associate and security will be here in a heartbeat, along with the Police.
At that last part her eyes got HUGE
and she grabbed her bag from me and proceeded rather quickly to the front door.Ok, now that being said, thanks for takin the time to read all of this, and if you would like to comment I am always interested in hearing what people have to say. If you have specific questions regarding the officer who told me this, I'm sorry but I cannot divulge that information, however you are more than welcome to look up the Texas Penal Code, and if he lied to me, well, then I lied to a customer, and am truly sorry if this customer just happens to be you. Other than that, again, thanks for taking the time to read, and let me know what you think.
Until next time
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