I like to keep my job, thanks

[Android Kaeli]

Bit of Background: Any item that rings up as a penny can NOT be sold or given away to customers or employees for various reasons ( recalls, no longer being sold, seasonal items, etc ). Not only will the employee run the HIGH risk of possibly being fired for selling penny items, the SM/ASM will have corporate breathing down their backs faster than one could blink.


Had a customer bring up assorted items to buy, three of which were frames. Two of these frames were penny items, one was regular clearance. Told the customer I couldn't sell the two frames to her because they were a penny and were a possible recall/item we no longer sold and didn't pick up on them right away. She didn't like that very much so she asked for a manager, of whom I paged the ASM to the front. Customer then told me she worked in retail and that the only things that could be recalled was medicine and that I had to sell her the frames. Yea, sure -- whatever you say Miss. O.o

ASM comes to the front, tells customer the same spiel I told her, customer STILL didn't like that and asked for the corporate number. I gladly gave it to her, the ASM looking at the woman like she was one of those nuts that just wanted to complain for the hell of it. He and I shared a look and everyone went their separate ways.

[aurelemsrealm]

Yeah, I feel your pain. I always love those people who try to tell me I HAVE TO do anything they request. My company's policy is that the clerk does reserve the right to refuse service for any reason, but it would be wise to make sure it is a reason worth refusing service -- following company policy, abusive customer, etc. Telling me that I HAVE TO is not a good idea. It's almost guaranteed to backfire for them.

[bainsidhe]

We get some odd things recalled. I've seen soccer balls, shirts, shoes and even pet food (which is one I understand). The one customer I had get really upset was over eye solution. The eye solution was recalled and she wanted me to call a manager over to sell it to her. Eye solution. It goes in your EYE. And certain eye-care companies had recently been in the news about problems with their contact lenses. That's just silly, too bad my clue-by-four was in the shop.

[Vickitoria]

I hate when they argue about recalled items. There is no possible way for me to process this sale in any way. It was recalled, I need it, you can't have it. No, bringing me another of the same thing won't help.

I actually felt really bad about it once because it was a foam bat and ball and the little kid looked so sad about it when I told him I couldn't sell it, but he handed it over without a fuss. He had been good in the store the entire time I saw him, and the parents were nice so I helped the father look for one that hadn't been recalled.

On the flip side, I have had people flip out when I tell them I can't sell them penny items or recalled things. "Well if it's a penny I definitely want it!" Yes, but you can not have it and I know that's just chaffing your ass, you bargain hunter, you.

[simplyanother]

Gah, I hate that we can't sell people the penny items. Or GIVE people the penny items. Since they're just going to be destroyed anyway. Corporate also won't let the stores "as is" the penny items. Gah. No, they'd rather throw away perfectly good crap, than make money from it. I get that there are probably very valid reasons for doing that, but meh. It just irritates me.

Granted, a lot of the crap tends to have Hannah Montana plastered all over it, so that's no big loss. But it seems to create extra pointless workload, like--every so often we have to go through the entire clearence section scanning each item to see if it's gone to a penny. It's stupid. Corporate already doesn't let management have enough hours to do stuff that actually makes sense (like uh, check people out)...but hey, we gotta spend time going through the clearence crap to make sure it's not a penny.

Recalled items don't tend to ring up a penny. If we can't sell it, it will say something like item can't be purchased, or something, on the register. (I wish I could remember the exact wording. There was an item that was in the Stocking Stuffer side counter that was recalled--and I had customers bring them up--and the register flagged it--as unsaleable, and said something like remove from floor, gah can't remember.)

I haven't witnessed a person go off on me about the recalled stuff. Because, most people aren't THAT stupid, but the penny stuff? Yup, they get pissy about that. Only thing I can do is say I can't sell it, and they either deal with it, or not. If they don't like it, they can talk to a manager. Who are paid to deal with them.

Though, sometimes, the penny items make us happy, especially when doing go backs. Scan the item... "no planogram found"... gah. Is it clearence? What's the price..oooh one cent! YAY TRASH! When it's been a long long day, and you're trying to finish the go backs that have piled up and up because no one could do them (because hours were cut)...and you just wanna go home... a penny item rules.

All other times they irritate me.

[Andara Bledin]

I suspect that the stuff that's marked for destruction has been essentially remaindered.

But instead of the supplier having the stuff sent back to sit in their warehouses where they have to deal with it, they have their customers deal with it themselves and save on moving it anywhere.

^-.-^

[VComps]

Customer then told me she worked in retail and that the only things that could be recalled was medicine and that I had to sell her the frames. Yea, sure -- whatever you say Miss. O.o

...Does that mean I don't have to do the huuuuuuuuge DVD recall waiting for me when I get to work today?

[Becks]

I'm just wondering why something that can't be sold to anyone is on the salesfloor in the first place...and with a price tag/sticker on it.

[HawaiianShirts]

The one customer I had get really upset was over eye solution. The eye solution was recalled and she wanted me to call a manager over to sell it to her. Eye solution. It goes in your EYE.

I work in a microbiology lab now. If a company is recalling its eye care solution, it's probably because they discovered that a batch was contaminated with something and perhaps mistakenly released before the test results came in or something like that. I don't want to put drops in my eye that might be harboring bacterial spores! I don't care how much money I could get if I got an infection and sued the company--I'd be risking my vision!

If I were helping that woman, I'd probably explain that to her, and then start going into explicit detail of what can happen when a person's eye gets a bacterial or fungal infection.

[sirwired]

Silly question... why not just have the items ring up for a Bazillion dollars? That would certainly prevent anybody from feeling tempted to actually argue about purchasing them.

SirWired

[Megg]

Because, SirWired, that might make sense - we are talking about corporate, here.

[Automan Empire]

What SirWired said.

One of my suppliers (B2B wholesale) sets prices to $999 for NLA items.

[Dave1982]

At Staples, recall items are usually repriced in the system to $9999.99 to ensure they won't be accidentally sold.

Items marked down to a penny are usually outdated software titles (for instance, Norton 2008), which is intended to cut down on returns of those items, especially non-receipted returns.

Now, one reason why some items are changed to a penny is to prevent fraud. Often, promotional/seasonal goods are sold on a consignment basis, and once the item is discontinued it's repriced to a penny and the stores are instructed to dispose of the item. This way, there's no incentive for the company to continue selling the item at full price (at which point the manufacturer is no longer getting paid).

This also sometimes occur with annual goods (again, such as Norton software) which isn't sold on consignment, but for which retailers are credited for when the new versions come out. If the retailer then sells the stuff anyway, they are defrauding the manufacturer. Sometimes, for items that require registration, this is when the manufacturer discovers that the stores are screwing them. This would subject the stores to possible contract penalties, legal action, or loss of the right to sell those goods in the future.

[Android Kaeli]

I'm just wondering why something that can't be sold to anyone is on the salesfloor in the first place...and with a price tag/sticker on it.

I agree with you on that because there's a LOT of penny items that I wouldn't mind taking off of the hands of the store. Unfortunately because there's nearly no one working in the store, things can't be pulled off the shelf when they go a penny as soon as possible

That, and there's a SEVERE lack of communication between upper management and us peons and the person that's supposed to be keeping an eye on that stuff doesn't do her job half of the time.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Only medicine can be recalled? Guess I'll have to tell my parents that vacuum they sent back to be replaced was a scam...

too bad my clue-by-four was in the shop.

You probably shouldn't swing quite so hard...

No, bringing me another of the same thing won't help.

Well, it does save you the trouble of having to go find it...