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I work in a craft store. I've worked in a craft store for a few years. I've bitched about the same things over and over again.
Our sale signs are sometimes confusing, but most of the time, they're not.
Yesterday, literally 5 minutes before the end of my shift I had a customer want to debate with me the wording of a sale sign.
Scrapbook storage goes on sale fairly frequently, and the signs will say something like: 40% off All Scrapbook Storage. This week, it's only plastic storage. So, the sign says something like : 40% off Plastic Scrapbook Storage & Jars.
I had a customer bring up some of the MDF storage (and last I checked MDF is not plastic), and it rang up regular price (on account of it being...regular price). Customer remembered a sign being back there, saying "all scrapbook storage", so, you know, I had someone go check it. That someone verified that there was a sign there, but it did not say "all", it said "plastic". The customer was annoyed, but just asked me to void the item off. Her husband then took the thing back to the aisle.
We finished ringing up all her crap, and she pays. As we're finishing up the transaction her husband comes back all pissed off, wanting to argue with me about the wording of the sign. Apparently--Plastic, Scrapbook Storage, & Jars, are all on different lines, therefore--it was misleading and and and... blah blah blah. I mean, he was hot (as in pissed). He kept on arguing with me, "it's not on the same line! they're different lines! it obviously means that we were right, you were wrong!...."
I don't know exactly what he expected "oh! You caught us! that sign was only for stupid people! You get the sale!"
I did point out the manager for him, and um, promptly logged out of the register and went to clock out.
Because, dude, wtf am I supposed to do about the wording of the sale sign? And you know what? I do work the ad on occasion. And when I come across a sign that is worded ambiguously, I mark it and you know, make it so that there is no "oh, but I thought it meant...". If I had come across that sign, I might have written "excludes all other storage", but dude, it was freakin obvious that it was ONLY plastic scrapbooking crap.
I'm beyond over our signage and the customers reading only half of the sign. Which, I know, is normal for retail. But it's getting to me right now. Like, stickers. Stickers go on sale fairly frequently. But lots of times, it's only certain brands of sticker. There's 3 aisles of stickers and EVERY single section of the aisle has every brand of sticker in it. Which means we have to put up the signs on every section. The signs, which--say things like "40% off Specific Brand of Sticker", and not say "40% off ALL the stickers, cause you totally want a sale".
My favorite are the customers who somehow see the sign and then manage to only get the brands that aren't on sale. "I spent 45 minutes picking out these stickers because of the sign!" "WHY? The sign didn't say those brands, Was there a special sign back there just for you? Seriously? Wtf? Do you think that just because you read incorrectly that we're going to over-ride all of your stuff? I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. And shit, you spent 45 minutes on that aisle, you think you could have...I don't know READ THE SIGN BETTER" (Note: in case it's not obvious, that's my inner monologue, since I'm not..you know, unemployed).
Same rants, different days. They never change. And you know, in THIS economy, blah blah blah, who the hell cares.
Other signs, clearance tags:
You know what? I know that that item you have was on a shelf marked 1.99 clearance. But, um, that ONE that you have...verses the 15 that were right beside it, in the correct spot? Marked the correct price? Did you think that that one was somehow special? No, you don't get it for 1.99. Because they're not 1.99. They're 11.99. Which the tag says. The 1.99? That's for something else. WHY was your item stuck there, two inches to the left of it's home? I don't know, lazy customers? There's reasonable doubt, and then there is just people trying to get you.
And for fucks sake: Just because something is on clearance doesn't mean it's going to be any cheaper than it was when it was not on clearance. It means that the product in that version is NOT being carried anymore. No, you can't use a coupon on it. Why? I don't know. Let me give you the number to corporate, you can ask them their reasoning. It doesn't say "clearance sale" it says "clearance". So don't argue with me about the damned discount you're not getting.
Other store things: It's HOT in our store. There is air conditioning. We know this because it is slightly cooler in the store than it is outside. But it is uncomfortably hot. The customers, in flip flops and tee-shirts are complaining about the heat. Imagine what fun it is to work at in black and khaki. Looking online, it appears that this isn't something specific to our location, but is an attempt by corporate to save money, by keeping the thermostat on hell. Because there's nothing more conducive to shopping than hot, sweaty associates and cranky customers.
Our sale signs are sometimes confusing, but most of the time, they're not.
Yesterday, literally 5 minutes before the end of my shift I had a customer want to debate with me the wording of a sale sign.
Scrapbook storage goes on sale fairly frequently, and the signs will say something like: 40% off All Scrapbook Storage. This week, it's only plastic storage. So, the sign says something like : 40% off Plastic Scrapbook Storage & Jars.
I had a customer bring up some of the MDF storage (and last I checked MDF is not plastic), and it rang up regular price (on account of it being...regular price). Customer remembered a sign being back there, saying "all scrapbook storage", so, you know, I had someone go check it. That someone verified that there was a sign there, but it did not say "all", it said "plastic". The customer was annoyed, but just asked me to void the item off. Her husband then took the thing back to the aisle.
We finished ringing up all her crap, and she pays. As we're finishing up the transaction her husband comes back all pissed off, wanting to argue with me about the wording of the sign. Apparently--Plastic, Scrapbook Storage, & Jars, are all on different lines, therefore--it was misleading and and and... blah blah blah. I mean, he was hot (as in pissed). He kept on arguing with me, "it's not on the same line! they're different lines! it obviously means that we were right, you were wrong!...."
I don't know exactly what he expected "oh! You caught us! that sign was only for stupid people! You get the sale!"
I did point out the manager for him, and um, promptly logged out of the register and went to clock out.
Because, dude, wtf am I supposed to do about the wording of the sale sign? And you know what? I do work the ad on occasion. And when I come across a sign that is worded ambiguously, I mark it and you know, make it so that there is no "oh, but I thought it meant...". If I had come across that sign, I might have written "excludes all other storage", but dude, it was freakin obvious that it was ONLY plastic scrapbooking crap.
I'm beyond over our signage and the customers reading only half of the sign. Which, I know, is normal for retail. But it's getting to me right now. Like, stickers. Stickers go on sale fairly frequently. But lots of times, it's only certain brands of sticker. There's 3 aisles of stickers and EVERY single section of the aisle has every brand of sticker in it. Which means we have to put up the signs on every section. The signs, which--say things like "40% off Specific Brand of Sticker", and not say "40% off ALL the stickers, cause you totally want a sale".
My favorite are the customers who somehow see the sign and then manage to only get the brands that aren't on sale. "I spent 45 minutes picking out these stickers because of the sign!" "WHY? The sign didn't say those brands, Was there a special sign back there just for you? Seriously? Wtf? Do you think that just because you read incorrectly that we're going to over-ride all of your stuff? I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. And shit, you spent 45 minutes on that aisle, you think you could have...I don't know READ THE SIGN BETTER" (Note: in case it's not obvious, that's my inner monologue, since I'm not..you know, unemployed).
Same rants, different days. They never change. And you know, in THIS economy, blah blah blah, who the hell cares.
Other signs, clearance tags:
You know what? I know that that item you have was on a shelf marked 1.99 clearance. But, um, that ONE that you have...verses the 15 that were right beside it, in the correct spot? Marked the correct price? Did you think that that one was somehow special? No, you don't get it for 1.99. Because they're not 1.99. They're 11.99. Which the tag says. The 1.99? That's for something else. WHY was your item stuck there, two inches to the left of it's home? I don't know, lazy customers? There's reasonable doubt, and then there is just people trying to get you.
And for fucks sake: Just because something is on clearance doesn't mean it's going to be any cheaper than it was when it was not on clearance. It means that the product in that version is NOT being carried anymore. No, you can't use a coupon on it. Why? I don't know. Let me give you the number to corporate, you can ask them their reasoning. It doesn't say "clearance sale" it says "clearance". So don't argue with me about the damned discount you're not getting.
Other store things: It's HOT in our store. There is air conditioning. We know this because it is slightly cooler in the store than it is outside. But it is uncomfortably hot. The customers, in flip flops and tee-shirts are complaining about the heat. Imagine what fun it is to work at in black and khaki. Looking online, it appears that this isn't something specific to our location, but is an attempt by corporate to save money, by keeping the thermostat on hell. Because there's nothing more conducive to shopping than hot, sweaty associates and cranky customers.
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