Out-Of-Work Borders Employees Deliver an Honest Farewell

[Epona]

"It never bothered us when you threatened to shop at Barnes & Noble. We'd rather you do if you're putting up a stink."

...and apparently that is exactly what they did and why you are now unemployed and the company you worked for is out of business.

This is the result of viewing customers as the enemy. Customers pay the bills of your employer and are the reason you get a paycheck.

I worked in retail and in fast food, customers can be demanding but in the end, they are the only reason the store opens every day. It isn't to give the employees a place to hang out.

Ever wonder why customer service sucks these days? It's this anti-customer attitude that shows through no matter how hard the clerks try to hide it.

Oh and about the kids running around, yeah it's annoying and yeah kids are a bit out of control these days (that another topic) but that huge kids section is there because kids make alot of money for the store. You think Wal Mart has a huge toy section to brighten up the store? You think McDonalds has the Happy Meal for diversity? No, it's because kids products bring in alot of money. It sucks to have to pick the books up and rearrange them again no doubt but then again, would you be at work at all if you could just wish away all that sucks in life?

 

[THEoriginalBRIEN]

that picture came out over a week ago.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I mean, ok, the customer is ripping off borders, and borders will fire you if you moan, so just... let them??

Part of it is jealousy, I'll admit that. But a lot of us work in book stores because we like books, we like people who read books, we like recommending and reading books.

When you work in a book store, you are given books to like weekly, you are told to be nice to the people who buy books that you wouldn't use for toilet paper, you are told to be pleasant and polite to the crabby old shites that casually knock books off shelves and walk over them, and only to recommend the ones that are on offer that week, that you know wouldn't sell otherwise.

You have to nail that smile to your face as you rack up another of Katie Price's ghostwritten piles of shite while you have to explain that we can't magic more out of thin air, you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a book you're reading is not one of the companies for fear of loss, but minimise all returns and maximise all sales on a rainy day where there is no-one to be seen.

You have to pick the remnants of chewing gum out from inside the books, the half-eaten sausage rolls from the floor, the bogies wiped under the shelves and the occasional pool of piss from the floor because "You don't have toilets".

You get to see some of the great works of the Twentieth Century hidden behind "What your breakfast cereal says about you?" and you have to engage each and every customer about their choice of books, without ever mentioning that you don't find that sort of book even remotely tolerable.

But you do it. Why? Because you need money, you have pride in your job, and, occasionally, just occasionally, you'll pass someone a book that you once loved and they'll come to love it as well.

That's why we do it.

That and the fact that as soon as the doors are closed, we can swear a blue streak at you.

Next time you're in a bookshop: Smile at the person serving you. You've no idea what they've already been through.

And before you ask - I have 100% in my customer service every time I've been secretly checked. I just store it away as material for later.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I dunno most of my regulars were great actually,

I'm not talking about regulars. I'm talking about the ones who SAID they were regulars. The two groups I find have absolutely no overlap.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

I worked at a grocery store for a couple years - absolutely refused to work in anything like that again after that - nothing makes me hate life and the world more than retail work.

It wouldn't be so bad if people didn't think that they were entitled to the fucking world just because they happened to have chosen to shop at your store. Really, whoever thought up the whole "The Customer is always right" thing should be beaten.

 

[Viral_Lola]

So honest and so true. Working retail sucks.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

I've seen that list before. But yeah, shame Borders went out of business, I used to go there ever since I was a kid.

 

[Eveonline100]

*Reads the list*

Yup. This shows quite a lot of restraint on their part.

Now, for me to do one about McDonald's...

i don't work in retail and don't work at all (still in high school) but i would love read you list.

 

[Eekaida]

HA, this definitly applies to all retail work, not just book shops. I'm sure people I work with could have added a few more.

 

[Epona]

I worked at a grocery store for a couple years - absolutely refused to work in anything like that again after that - nothing makes me hate life and the world more than retail work.

It wouldn't be so bad if people didn't think that they were entitled to the fucking world just because they happened to have chosen to shop at your store. Really, whoever thought up the whole "The Customer is always right" thing should be beaten.

When you are the customer, just think about what those "friendly" clerks have to say about you once you've left the store. You know who is entitled? Clerks who want to get paid but can't stand being friendly to customers who provide that money in the first place.

Everyone who has worked in retail or fast food knows that there are bad customers but it's foolish to label all customers as bad.

 

[Agayek]

"Retail workers bitter about their jobs" Film at 11. Not that it mattered but if that was their attitude they should get jobs where they don't have to deal with the public.

It doesn't matter what your job is, it doesn't matter if you like it. What matters is that you do the best you can to make the lives of your customers better.

Something tells me you've never worked in any sort of customer-support job. People are stupid. Don't debate it, don't call it into question. It's a verifiable fact that the vast majority of humanity is stupid, ignorant, arrogant and self-absorbed. The only difference is the degree to which each individual reaches.

Almost anyone who works with these people on a daily basis despises these people. It's not a matter of attitude. When you're regularly given unreasonable demands, with no respect and expected to fulfill them, you tend to dislike customers on principle.

Now, most retail employees are smart enough to act pleasant with their customers. The ones that don't generally don't keep their jobs for very long. That doesn't make it any less of a nightmare or pain to have to deal with these people though.

I personally have never worked in a retail job, but I am a trainer for a relatively technical field, and about 60% of my job is acting as tech support. Approximately 1/3 of that time is spent repeating instructions and finding ways to dumb down "click on this particular button and tell me what it says" so that people can actually understand it. It's maddening. Simple, basic principles are just beyond some people's grasp, and having to teach these people is roughly akin to teaching an angry bear to do the can-can. I can fully understand the... frustration... these people were going through.

 

[Andaxay]

Ever wonder why customer service sucks these days? It's this anti-customer attitude that shows through no matter how hard the clerks try to hide it.

And it usually shows through after someone yells at me until I do them a favour by returning something for a full refund against the company's policy, only to have them queue up for 20 minutes purely to tell me that I must've processed their refund incorrectly because the money wasn't straight into the bank at 5pm on a Saturday. We're not robots; abusive customers get to us.

I used to love my job. I loved waking up knowing I was going to work alongside some of the best people I've met. Helping customers out gave me a buzz, and if I knew they went away happy with the service I gave them, I was genuinely happy too. Unfortunately the bad ones have worn me down, though, and lately I've been wondering why I bother trying to help out someone who comes back in the next day and throws it all back in my face. I like most customers, and I'm glad they don't brush my advice and opinions away. But there's only so much crap from nasty ones I can take before I snap.

 

[Flight]

I have to say, it looks like they're holding back quite a lot. Having worked in retail for quite some time, I can say with absolute certainty I wouldn't be nearly that polite.

 

[Count Igor]

But you do it. Why? Because you need money, you have pride in your job, and, occasionally, just occasionally, you'll pass someone a book that you once loved and they'll come to love it as well.

That's why we do it.

And that's one of the reasons I always go to a bookshop, and never online.
Waterstone's Employees got me into The Magician's Guild a long time ago. The KingKiller trilogy more recently and the bartimaeus trilogy god knows how long ago - All three of which are now my favourite series ^-^

That and I just like interacting with people.

(More)OT: As a bit of a note, I've always said the "I'd like you to find a book for me", even though I always look first. I get mixed reactions. Some find it funny, and others stare at me as if I've walked in with my shirt off. (You know, drooling and the like. :3 )

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I've never worked retail, but I did work at an amusement park. And this list made me laugh my ass off, because it reminded me of that experience. I understand how hellish jobs that require you to deal with people can be. It's a shame most people either don't understand, or don't care.

agreed.

jesus some of the comments on here are the customers that i fucking HATED dealing with. I have no problem doing my job, but when you have to be a total asshat and treat me like a piece of shti, it makes life much more hellish.

these people had some pretty good restraint and did it in a fashionable way.

 

[Susurrus]

I mean, ok, the customer is ripping off borders, and borders will fire you if you moan, so just... let them??

Part of it is jealousy, I'll admit that. But a lot of us work in book stores because we like books, we like people who read books, we like recommending and reading books.

When you work in a book store, you are given books to like weekly, you are told to be nice to the people who buy books that you wouldn't use for toilet paper, you are told to be pleasant and polite to the crabby old shites that casually knock books off shelves and walk over them, and only to recommend the ones that are on offer that week, that you know wouldn't sell otherwise.

You have to nail that smile to your face as you rack up another of Katie Price's ghostwritten piles of shite while you have to explain that we can't magic more out of thin air, you have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a book you're reading is not one of the companies for fear of loss, but minimise all returns and maximise all sales on a rainy day where there is no-one to be seen.

You have to pick the remnants of chewing gum out from inside the books, the half-eaten sausage rolls from the floor, the bogies wiped under the shelves and the occasional pool of piss from the floor because "You don't have toilets".

You get to see some of the great works of the Twentieth Century hidden behind "What your breakfast cereal says about you?" and you have to engage each and every customer about their choice of books, without ever mentioning that you don't find that sort of book even remotely tolerable.

But you do it. Why? Because you need money, you have pride in your job, and, occasionally, just occasionally, you'll pass someone a book that you once loved and they'll come to love it as well.

That's why we do it.

That and the fact that as soon as the doors are closed, we can swear a blue streak at you.

Next time you're in a bookshop: Smile at the person serving you. You've no idea what they've already been through.

And before you ask - I have 100% in my customer service every time I've been secretly checked. I just store it away as material for later.

All of which are fantastic reasons to hate the job, of which, customers taking advantage of Borders' policy seems pathetic when compared to..

 

[MegaManOfNumbers]

*slow clap* well played, you crazy kids, well played.

Mad props to ANYONE working in retail, you put up with so much shit it s ridiculous. In fact, one of my friends works in retail, because of him, I am now EXTREMELY polite towards any retail employees. too bad that can't be said of everyone else.

 

[CosmicCommander]

So...you base your assumptions about retail workers in general on a single experience you've had? You must have quit a lot of things, if you're deterred so easily by a single semi-bad experience.

I thought the hyperbole was obvious, but whatever. I just have this lingering paranoia that the shop assistants will talk behind my back since I had to deal with that one- I have trouble being in public as it is, having an issue that smashes the experience I mostly had (and do have, when I occasionally have to buy something in the wide old world) of shop assistants being cheery helpers.

And let's not bring some condescension into this.

Also, I've never heard a single anyone say wage slaver before, just putting it out there.

"Wage slavery" is a term usually used by Socialists and Marxists to describe the system of employment that we have today- paying a person for working apparently violates their rights. "Wage Slaver", I assume, is a term describing employers or advocates of said system.

You'd rather they frown at you constantly?

No, I wouldn't. I'm not saying I actively assume I despise all shop assistants, contrary to your knee-jerk reaction- I'm saying that the incident involving the vocal Leftist at the till, I've had a paranoia that even the cheery shop assistants are going to be mocking me secretly- along with everyone else.