Out-Of-Work Borders Employees Deliver an Honest Farewell

[dagens24]

The only issue I have with this is how self righteous it is - acting all kind of helpful and then being total douches behind your backs. Real mature guys.

Have you worked in retail? It might sound self-righteous from the outside, but every single thing on that list is 100%, certifiably true. And, realistically, a retail worker will only talk shit about you behind your back if you were a complete jackass. My coworkers and I are just as apt to sing the praises of our more awesome customers as we are to curse out the unbelievable jackasses.

Treat the employee with respect and kindness and you can pretty reliably expect to receive the same in return.

I have worked retail and it's 100% true but how many of the people who contributed to that list would be willing to say that to their problem customers' face? It's easy to ***** people out anonymously, let's see them have the stone to say it to someones' face.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I have worked retail and it's 100% true but how many of the people who contributed to that list would be willing to say that to their problem customers' face? It's easy to ***** people out anonymously, let's see them have the stone to say it to someones' face.

Why on EARTH would I say it to any customer's face? That's a lose-lose situation that would almost certainly result in me losing my job. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your position on this one; am I not allowed to complain about someone being an asshole unless I say it to their face?

 

[dagens24]

I have worked retail and it's 100% true but how many of the people who contributed to that list would be willing to say that to their problem customers' face? It's easy to ***** people out anonymously, let's see them have the stone to say it to someones' face.

Why on EARTH would I say it to any customer's face? That's a lose-lose situation that would almost certainly result in me losing my job. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your position on this one; am I not allowed to complain about someone being an asshole unless I say it to their face?

I'm talking about in this situation where their job is already over and they have nothing to lose. And there is a difference between complaining about someone privatly to a co-worker or something versus calling out a customer in public. My issue is that they are calling out these customers publicly but also doing so anonymously. I remember one winter some weiner left an anti-idling flier on my car while it was warming up and I was inside getting ready for work; what a dick move - trying to call me out but not having the decency to complain to my face. It's cowardly and self righteous.

 

[boyvirgo666]

You know maybe its just me but i can recall on my fingers the number of times iv returned an item. Frankly I am probably guilty of a few of these things, usually the look for books one but i admit i didnt look if i didnt. Really though at Borders i had nothing but decent people working there, i really was a 3 times a week regular to the one by my house. The people there knew me and i was kinda annoyed when people would get randomly fired because of idiot customers.

All in all...this kinda makes me sad because i liked borders, but hey i have a kindle now.

 

[Atheist.]

The thing I like about bartending in a non-corporate bar is that I can tell people to fuck off and kick them out if they give me attitude. It's a great way to teach people manners. Some people just seem to feel like they deserve to be treated like a god everywhere they go, it's fun to take them down a few notches and make a fool out of the assholes in front of fifty other people.

 

[Blunderboy]

I always wanted to do this when I worked in retail. I always enjoyed my last week or so at a retail job.

 

[gphjr14]

Worked food service (Arby's) and retail (Wal-Mart) and I can relate.

They should've also added if you fit the "profile" of a shoplifter we're not asking to help you because we're helpful its because we think you're suspicious.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

xD this amuses me greatly, I worked in Borders UK until it's closing day and I really feel for a lot of the points on this list.

I have a few photo's of the things we left around the store when we were closed down, but am in work now so might share later (much later).

I also... liberated, the section signs from the skip. Keep them near my bookcase now. Some parts of that job were great but the one big complaint was the customers. Even if only 1/100 was an absolute tool they're the ones you remember.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

I have worked retail and it's 100% true but how many of the people who contributed to that list would be willing to say that to their problem customers' face? It's easy to ***** people out anonymously, let's see them have the stone to say it to someones' face.

Why on EARTH would I say it to any customer's face? That's a lose-lose situation that would almost certainly result in me losing my job. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your position on this one; am I not allowed to complain about someone being an asshole unless I say it to their face?

I'm talking about in this situation where their job is already over and they have nothing to lose. And there is a difference between complaining about someone privatly to a co-worker or something versus calling out a customer in public. My issue is that they are calling out these customers publicly but also doing so anonymously. I remember one winter some weiner left an anti-idling flier on my car while it was warming up and I was inside getting ready for work; what a dick move - trying to call me out but not having the decency to complain to my face. It's cowardly and self righteous.

I more than once refused to serve a customer in our last few days in Borders because they were being particularly abrasive. When they asked for my manager i pointed to the guy on my left and he usually said without even looking up, "Perhaps if you were less of an idiot he might be willing to help." It was only ever on the people that seemed to take pleasure in our losing our jobs, usually idiot teens and the such. Had one guy nearly literally thrown out by security becuase of this. He just wouldn't get out my face about it, the look on his when our security guy got there [name withheld] was priceless, he was a bloody giant.

I loved that job.

 

[dagens24]

I have worked retail and it's 100% true but how many of the people who contributed to that list would be willing to say that to their problem customers' face? It's easy to ***** people out anonymously, let's see them have the stone to say it to someones' face.

Why on EARTH would I say it to any customer's face? That's a lose-lose situation that would almost certainly result in me losing my job. I'm sorry, but I don't understand your position on this one; am I not allowed to complain about someone being an asshole unless I say it to their face?

I'm talking about in this situation where their job is already over and they have nothing to lose. And there is a difference between complaining about someone privatly to a co-worker or something versus calling out a customer in public. My issue is that they are calling out these customers publicly but also doing so anonymously. I remember one winter some weiner left an anti-idling flier on my car while it was warming up and I was inside getting ready for work; what a dick move - trying to call me out but not having the decency to complain to my face. It's cowardly and self righteous.

I more than once refused to serve a customer in our last few days in Borders because they were being particularly abrasive. When they asked for my manager i pointed to the guy on my left and he usually said without even looking up, "Perhaps if you were less of an idiot he might be willing to help." It was only ever on the people that seemed to take pleasure in our losing our jobs, usually idiot teens and the such. Had one guy nearly literally thrown out by security becuase of this. He just wouldn't get out my face about it, the look on his when our security guy got there [name withheld] was priceless, he was a bloody giant.

I loved that job.

See, this is what I'm talking about. You want to tell the customers they are idiots; fine - Have the stones to do it to their face rather than making some anonymous snarky, self righteous, smug list of greivances and then posting it without any accountability.

 

[Sgt. Dante]

I more than once refused to serve a customer in our last few days in Borders because they were being particularly abrasive. When they asked for my manager i pointed to the guy on my left and he usually said without even looking up, "Perhaps if you were less of an idiot he might be willing to help." It was only ever on the people that seemed to take pleasure in our losing our jobs, usually idiot teens and the such. Had one guy nearly literally thrown out by security becuase of this. He just wouldn't get out my face about it, the look on his when our security guy got there [name withheld] was priceless, he was a bloody giant.

I loved that job.

See, this is what I'm talking about. You want to tell the customers they are idiots; fine - Have the stones to do it to their face rather than making some anonymous snarky, self righteous, smug list of greivances and then posting it without any accountability.

It did go both ways though, if a customer was being really really nice then I would bend over backwards to help them out, remember one guy who's book wouldn't scan and I looked over at my manager who again without so much as looking up (that was kind of his trademark) said to the guy, "what do you think it's worth?"

They guy joking said 1p, and my boss said, "seems fair, put it through." So the guy scored basically a free book. Put quite a lot of very heavy discounts on the sales of people that were genuinely nice to us.

One of the best things was the leftover stock, we had a "special sale" for people who were ballsy enough to ask, and one guy wondered how much it would cost to fill the back of a van. we took £100 off him and he took about 500 books from us. XD

Also a lot of the comics and manga sextion was left at the end so some of us staff members had a free-for-all. Was a great job.

 

[Pat8u]

the problem is thats theres alot of hipster stuff on the thing eg: "I hate when a book gets popular because there is a movie of it" I mean I can respect some of it but not others

 

[PhiMed]

And this confirms that 9 out of 10 people who work jobs in retail are only doing it because they can't find anything else.

I worked retail briefly before I got my education. It was far and away the easiest job I've ever had.

Enjoy your unemployment.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I so wish we'd done this, when MVC was closed in the UK.

One of the biggest things we'd have had on the list is:

'One of the main reasons we're closing is those of you who would come in, ask us to find some obscure CD, set it up on the listening post, listen to you mumble thru the words for half an hour and then wander off without a word, knowing you liked it and are sodding off to amazon to save a pound instead of paying for the customer service you just enjoyed.

If you want every store to be like LIDL, just big piles of torn open boxes stacked up with no order,information or help, then carry on.'

I'm in full agreement about the "customer is always right" thing tho. You can get new customers, a quality member of staff who does a good job, actually CARES, and generates sales, if management have ANY clue at all, is worth a hundred moaning fuckers who don't buy anything unless it's on sale, and then want to see the manager for a discount because they're so fucking special.

We're more than happy to rectify genuine complaints, we don't want to make people unhappy, but unfortunately TV seems to have trained the public that they'll get free stuff if they only make the store clerk's life as miserable as possible. Screw you.

We had an unofficial rule that the nicer the customer was and the more reasonable their complaint, the further we'd go to send them away happy. The uttering of 'I know my rights' immediately dropped you to minimum levels of those rights, forfeiting any customer service.

I've got another seven hundred pages of this but I'll restrain myself.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

the problem is thats theres alot of hipster stuff on the thing eg: "I hate when a book gets popular because there is a movie of it" I mean I can respect some of it but not others

As someone who worked in a music store, I'm not sure it's about 'hipster', so much as having a true love for a medium, and knowing there's thousands of truly talented people making genuinely great, original music, then feeling your soul shrink on the Monday as you open the doors to a queue of people all clutching the latest Simon Cowell signing knocking out a bunch of poorly autotuned karaoke numbers.

We just wish they'd stop supporting the easy cash ins when they could have something really great for the same money.

The damage would occasionally be repaired when someone would actually come up and go 'I like (for example), Soundgarden, can you recommend anyone similar to try out?' It did happen, and it made you feel like you were more than just automated checkout robots.

We had regular customers who'd actively want you to approach them with new suggestions, new releases by bands they like, and such things.

Also, I'd always be happy to help a customer find something they wanted, so long as it wasn't like the latest 50 cent cd or the new Harry Potter movie, because they'd have had to walk past a ten foot display of it to get to me, as well as the number 1 spot in the charts, carrying bloody dozens of copies, all staring out at them. I don't demand everyone follows the charts, but if you're looking for something that's been in every damn TV ad break this week, it's probably not buried under a pile of foreign language yoga dvds in the far corner.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I feel like I'm gonna take over this thread, but I seem to have a feeling about every damn comment:

9 outta 10 in retail are only doing it cos they don't have a choice, fair enough, it's no reason to be a dick to them. I still maintain everyone should do a 3 month placement in the retail or food service industry, so they know what it's like, and I'd think in 5 years or so, the vast majority of people would be far nicer, as they'd have been there.

They should've also added if you fit the "profile" of a shoplifter we're not asking to help you because we're helpful its because we think you're suspicious.

Indeed, we had a phone to upstairs, and if we had more than one guy in store looking chavvy or otherwise suspicious, we'd buzz three times to call someone down to watch them.

This is because at least 90% of ALL shoplifting was done by someone in a baseball cap, and this is the UK. If you don't like that we think chavs are likely to steal, either tell you mates to stop stealing, or stop dressing like a criminal. If I dressed like a clown, I'd not expect children to not be terrified of me, and I wouldn't blame them, I'd blame my choice of fashion.

Really we need more management with the stones to support their staff (IF they're in the right), and less shitty people in head office who'll roll over and shit all over their staff because some idiot managed to grip a green crayon long enougrh to scrawl a letter of complaint to them because we didn't bow when they entered.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

he stormed out, and apparently now shops elsewhere.

Good, if all stores did this, the minority of assholes ruining life for the decent people would soon find themselves running out of places to shop until they changed their attitude, and one person like that can put someone in a crappy mood, ruining their demeanour for dozens of people afterwards.

"I shall take my custom ...elsewhere" Good, you take about half an hour of employee time moaning every time you come in and we're lucky if we can squeeze about $3 a month of your cash out of you. In the time it takes to get you to the level of mildly dissatisfied, I can usually send a dozen other customers away happy.

Again, I'll state that a legitimate complaint, not expressed as 'you personally caused my problem, and I'm specifically blaming you', would always get very fair handling, we'd go out of our way to make them happy to return.

Also, as the above guy said, sometimes nicer, regular customers who'd bother to treat us as human beings, perhaps even bothering to engage us in a few moment's conversation, would sometimes find bonus things in the bag with their purchases. (Not giving away stock, just promo things and the like).

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

"We hate it when a book suddenly becomes popular because it was turned into a movie."

Honestly, screw you hipster. If people show interest in a book because they saw the movie, I say let them at it. Book reading is going down and we don't need little ass munchers like you criticizing people for it.

Indeed, how dare someone be irritated when the only thing that motivates people to read a book is because a multi-billion dollar Hollywood studio spent millions to advertise their bastardised version of the text: trimmed down for 2 hours, stripped of seriously controversial events, significant parts altered to be audience friendly and with no serious effort made to cinematically transpose the author's stylistic qualities to film.

I have sat through classes on Jane Austen with people who said they were only reading the book because they liked the movie. And two weeks later they said the book was boring. I've had conversations with people who say they prefer the movie version of Breakfast at Tiffanys because the ending in the book isn't romantic enough. Best of all, in a few months time I'm going to have the privilege of seeing my favourite book ever turned into a movie, watching it suddenly become insanely popular and having people tell me that they tried to read the book but couldn't get into it because the style was too hard to follow.

But they liked the movie, so I should just be happy that they enjoyed what basically amounts to the Cliffnotes version with more eye candy?

 

[Monsterfurby]

Hm. I worked in retail for a couple of years. I liked 90% of my customers. Guess any job is just what you make of it.