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Hello people, Im new around here so hey y'all. 
Righty, Ive been working at argos for about 2 1/2 years now. Which means I have plenty of stories stashed in the dark dank depths of my memory 
. So, I wont put them all up here at once, but Ill start off with a couple of more memorable ones.
"I no give you my details!"
Right, those of you who live in the UK know the dealie with Tv licencing. For those of you that dont, I shall explain. In the UK you need a licence to purchase a new TV and recieve a signal. The money goes to the BBC that allows them to broadcast without adverts on their main two channels. Shops are legally required to take down a customers details so the people who monitor this thing can ensure they have a licence. At Argos its done during the transaction process, we take their name, house number and postcode and it finds it automatically. Now this applies for any appliance that can recieve a TV signal, namely TVs, digiboxes, VCRs, DVD recorders, PC TV cards, etc. Sounds simple and easy to understand yes? Well, maybe not for some.
SC1: Sucky Customer the first
SC2: Sucky Customer the second
J: Yours truly
H: Sales manager
M: Another sales assistant
So they come up with their selection form and I punch the number in. Its a VCR, I ask them if they want the 3 year extended warranty, they say no, so fair enough, I punch 1 in for the quantity and it prompts me for the licence details. I should point out they were both foreign, so there was some difficulty understanding each other.
J: Ok, I just need to take down some details of yours to check you have a tv licence, can I take your first initial please?
SC1: Why you need my details?
J: I need your details because you are buying a product that requires you to hold a tv licence, its wont take long.
SC1: This is not a tv.
J: I know, but its still capable of recieving a tv signal, so you need a licence. So can I check your details please?
SC1: I no give you my details!
J: If you dont give me your details, I cant sell you this item.
SC2: Why not?!
J: You need a licence.
SC2: We have a licence.
J: Ok, thats great, just give me your name, postcode and house number and the sale can go through.
SC2: I dont have to give you my details!
J (fast losing my patience): Right, it goes like this, if you want to buy anything like this, you need a TV licence. If you dont have one, you cant buy it. If you dont give me your details so I can check, you cant have the item.
SC1: You sell me this VCR!
J: Then give me your details.
SC1: No!
J: Then Im not selling it to you.
SC2: I want to see a manager.
So my sales manager comes over, and she talks to them whilst I stand next to her.
H: Hello, Im the sales manager. What can I do for you?
SC2 (gesturing to me): He wont sell me VCR.
H: Ok, what reason did he give for refusing?
SC1: He wants me to give details.
H: Yes, he was probably referring to the TV licence notification check we have to do to make sure all customers have licences. If you give him the details he needs he will be more than happy to sell it to you.
SC1: Im not giving my details.
H: Then Im sorry, we cant sell this item to you. Is there anything else we can help you with?
SC2: I want to see the legal documents.
H: We are not required to show you any such documents, if you wish to wait at customer services to see if they can find what you want to see, then feel free. Otherwise, theres nothing more at the tills we can do for you.
So they wander off. The end of this little tale you think? Not so lucky.
M (comes walking over to the tills with annoyed look on her face): [Sales manager], I need you for something.
J: Lemme guess, two guys want to dispute a tv licence check?
M: How did you know?
H: *sigh* Send them over here.
So the two men come back.
H: Ok, its like this. You have two choices. One, you give us your details and purchase your VCR. Two, you dont give us your details, and dont purchase your VCR. If you dont want to hand over your details, stop wasting the store staff's time, and leave, because pestering us is not going to make us break the law for you.
She walks off, and the two men are left standing there looking flustered, and finall y leave the store. God I love that woman. Sorry if that was a bit long, but perhaps you can understand the frustration I experienced.
If you already know, why are you asking me?
Ok, Im generally considered the techie employee at my workplace. If it involves digital cameras, mobile phones, computers, mp3 players, game consoles and alike, chances are I know what the customer needs to know. Now Im more than happy to lend my time to someone who is going to listen to what I tell them and use the information wisely. Hell Ive had a couple of customers request to speak to the manager for the sheer purpose of telling them what such good service and advice they got from me. Gives me a nice tingly feeling that does. What I dont like are people who ask for such information, and dispute it when they have no basis to.
SC1: Sucky Father
SC2: Sucky Daughter
J: Moi
J: Hello there, how may I help you?
SC1: Hi, we're waiting to view this iPod mini..
J: Ok, was it the actual item you wanted to see, stuff in its box, or just the detailed specs on the side?
SC1: Well your friend over on the tills told us it was no longer came with the power charger.
*Argos uses a catalogue system, and some products change well after the catalogue has gone to print, or half way through its life cycle. Those of you who remember the iPod Mini will know that the first generation came with the firewire and plug adaptor to charge off the mains, and the second generation only came with the USB cable. To compensate and avoid misleading the customer, we have bulletins that come up onto the tills that we read before they buy it so they know*
SC2: What I wanna know is why it says it does in your catalogue?
J: Well you see they changed that after the catalogue came out. Theyve lowered the price though, its only £139.99 now, rather than £179.99, so you are paying less to compensate.
SC1: Thats rediculous, those things arent worth 40 quid!
J: They cost around £30 on the Apple website.
SC2: Nah they dont.
J: The firewire and plug socket adaptor are going for that price on their website.
SC1: And what exactly is that you just described?
J: The power adaptor.
SC2: Oh.
*iPod is brought out onto the shelf behind me*
SC1: How long does the battery last?
J: Usually between 8 and 12 hours. Depends on the usage.
SC2: What so you cant give us an exact estimate?
J: Well, no I cant. It depends on how old the battery is, how often you change tracks, what volume you have it on etc.
SC2: Why would changing tracks decrease battery life?
J: Because to change a track it has to spin up the hard drive and seek the location of the new data.
SC1: What, these have hard drives in em?
J: Yes, they do. *annoyance creeping into voice by this point* There is nothing else that can store that amount of data around at this time. (bear in mind at this point in time solid state 4gb mp3 players and bigger were not on the market).
Eventually sold them the damn thing. God I swear, some people and technology do not mix.
"Look mummy! Im pimpin' my hoes!"
We sell lots of video games at our stores. Some of these happen to have age restrictions. Under british law we cannot sell a game to someone if they are suspected of being below the required age. Of course, half the time its parents buying games for their kids who are totally clueless about the content. Most of these arent unpleasant customers, just dumb/clueless.
CC: Clueless customer
J: Me
J *hands over several items, the last of which is a copy of Grand Theft Auto Vice City*: And lastly, heres vice city. There you go, all yours.
CC: Oh! I didnt realise this was an 18, will my son be able to play it?
J: Well, um, Im not sure. How old is your son?
CC: Five.
J: Five!? (quickly hid my horror) Well, in that case I would say a definite no.
CC: Is it hard?
J: Well its probably too complex for your average five year old, but its the content that dictates this one.
CC: What is in it?
J: Oh you know, your usual, sex drugs mugging extortion mob wars torture spying pornography theft murder rape, etc etc.
CC: Ok, well, we'll see how it goes. Thanks!
J: Thank you, take care. *shakes head in disbelief*
Hope you enjoyed reading
Righty, Ive been working at argos for about 2 1/2 years now. Which means I have plenty of stories stashed in the dark dank depths of my memory . So, I wont put them all up here at once, but Ill start off with a couple of more memorable ones."I no give you my details!"
Right, those of you who live in the UK know the dealie with Tv licencing. For those of you that dont, I shall explain. In the UK you need a licence to purchase a new TV and recieve a signal. The money goes to the BBC that allows them to broadcast without adverts on their main two channels. Shops are legally required to take down a customers details so the people who monitor this thing can ensure they have a licence. At Argos its done during the transaction process, we take their name, house number and postcode and it finds it automatically. Now this applies for any appliance that can recieve a TV signal, namely TVs, digiboxes, VCRs, DVD recorders, PC TV cards, etc. Sounds simple and easy to understand yes? Well, maybe not for some.
SC1: Sucky Customer the first
SC2: Sucky Customer the second
J: Yours truly
H: Sales manager
M: Another sales assistant
So they come up with their selection form and I punch the number in. Its a VCR, I ask them if they want the 3 year extended warranty, they say no, so fair enough, I punch 1 in for the quantity and it prompts me for the licence details. I should point out they were both foreign, so there was some difficulty understanding each other.
J: Ok, I just need to take down some details of yours to check you have a tv licence, can I take your first initial please?
SC1: Why you need my details?
J: I need your details because you are buying a product that requires you to hold a tv licence, its wont take long.
SC1: This is not a tv.
J: I know, but its still capable of recieving a tv signal, so you need a licence. So can I check your details please?
SC1: I no give you my details!
J: If you dont give me your details, I cant sell you this item.
SC2: Why not?!
J: You need a licence.
SC2: We have a licence.
J: Ok, thats great, just give me your name, postcode and house number and the sale can go through.
SC2: I dont have to give you my details!
J (fast losing my patience): Right, it goes like this, if you want to buy anything like this, you need a TV licence. If you dont have one, you cant buy it. If you dont give me your details so I can check, you cant have the item.
SC1: You sell me this VCR!
J: Then give me your details.
SC1: No!
J: Then Im not selling it to you.
SC2: I want to see a manager.
So my sales manager comes over, and she talks to them whilst I stand next to her.
H: Hello, Im the sales manager. What can I do for you?
SC2 (gesturing to me): He wont sell me VCR.
H: Ok, what reason did he give for refusing?
SC1: He wants me to give details.
H: Yes, he was probably referring to the TV licence notification check we have to do to make sure all customers have licences. If you give him the details he needs he will be more than happy to sell it to you.
SC1: Im not giving my details.
H: Then Im sorry, we cant sell this item to you. Is there anything else we can help you with?
SC2: I want to see the legal documents.
H: We are not required to show you any such documents, if you wish to wait at customer services to see if they can find what you want to see, then feel free. Otherwise, theres nothing more at the tills we can do for you.
So they wander off. The end of this little tale you think? Not so lucky.
M (comes walking over to the tills with annoyed look on her face): [Sales manager], I need you for something.
J: Lemme guess, two guys want to dispute a tv licence check?
M: How did you know?
H: *sigh* Send them over here.
So the two men come back.
H: Ok, its like this. You have two choices. One, you give us your details and purchase your VCR. Two, you dont give us your details, and dont purchase your VCR. If you dont want to hand over your details, stop wasting the store staff's time, and leave, because pestering us is not going to make us break the law for you.
She walks off, and the two men are left standing there looking flustered, and finall y leave the store. God I love that woman. Sorry if that was a bit long, but perhaps you can understand the frustration I experienced.
If you already know, why are you asking me?
Ok, Im generally considered the techie employee at my workplace. If it involves digital cameras, mobile phones, computers, mp3 players, game consoles and alike, chances are I know what the customer needs to know. Now Im more than happy to lend my time to someone who is going to listen to what I tell them and use the information wisely. Hell Ive had a couple of customers request to speak to the manager for the sheer purpose of telling them what such good service and advice they got from me. Gives me a nice tingly feeling that does. What I dont like are people who ask for such information, and dispute it when they have no basis to.
SC1: Sucky Father
SC2: Sucky Daughter
J: Moi
J: Hello there, how may I help you?
SC1: Hi, we're waiting to view this iPod mini..
J: Ok, was it the actual item you wanted to see, stuff in its box, or just the detailed specs on the side?
SC1: Well your friend over on the tills told us it was no longer came with the power charger.
*Argos uses a catalogue system, and some products change well after the catalogue has gone to print, or half way through its life cycle. Those of you who remember the iPod Mini will know that the first generation came with the firewire and plug adaptor to charge off the mains, and the second generation only came with the USB cable. To compensate and avoid misleading the customer, we have bulletins that come up onto the tills that we read before they buy it so they know*
SC2: What I wanna know is why it says it does in your catalogue?
J: Well you see they changed that after the catalogue came out. Theyve lowered the price though, its only £139.99 now, rather than £179.99, so you are paying less to compensate.
SC1: Thats rediculous, those things arent worth 40 quid!
J: They cost around £30 on the Apple website.
SC2: Nah they dont.
J: The firewire and plug socket adaptor are going for that price on their website.
SC1: And what exactly is that you just described?
J: The power adaptor.
SC2: Oh.
*iPod is brought out onto the shelf behind me*
SC1: How long does the battery last?
J: Usually between 8 and 12 hours. Depends on the usage.
SC2: What so you cant give us an exact estimate?
J: Well, no I cant. It depends on how old the battery is, how often you change tracks, what volume you have it on etc.
SC2: Why would changing tracks decrease battery life?
J: Because to change a track it has to spin up the hard drive and seek the location of the new data.
SC1: What, these have hard drives in em?
J: Yes, they do. *annoyance creeping into voice by this point* There is nothing else that can store that amount of data around at this time. (bear in mind at this point in time solid state 4gb mp3 players and bigger were not on the market).
Eventually sold them the damn thing. God I swear, some people and technology do not mix.
"Look mummy! Im pimpin' my hoes!"
We sell lots of video games at our stores. Some of these happen to have age restrictions. Under british law we cannot sell a game to someone if they are suspected of being below the required age. Of course, half the time its parents buying games for their kids who are totally clueless about the content. Most of these arent unpleasant customers, just dumb/clueless.
CC: Clueless customer
J: Me
J *hands over several items, the last of which is a copy of Grand Theft Auto Vice City*: And lastly, heres vice city. There you go, all yours.
CC: Oh! I didnt realise this was an 18, will my son be able to play it?
J: Well, um, Im not sure. How old is your son?
CC: Five.
J: Five!? (quickly hid my horror) Well, in that case I would say a definite no.
CC: Is it hard?
J: Well its probably too complex for your average five year old, but its the content that dictates this one.
CC: What is in it?
J: Oh you know, your usual, sex drugs mugging extortion mob wars torture spying pornography theft murder rape, etc etc.
CC: Ok, well, we'll see how it goes. Thanks!
J: Thank you, take care. *shakes head in disbelief*
Hope you enjoyed reading
you're joking, right? You told the lady it has all that stuff...and she STILL bought it for a 5 YEAR OLD??? 
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