Poll: Working in Retail/Customer Service
- Thread starter Tyranicus
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It's a necessary evil. Retail work may be hell, but it sure does wonders for making someone grow as a person.
Ah, at my time as a shop girl we took great pleasure puncturing the ego of many a precocious young teen.
You there, young un, we say, think you're better than everyone else? Get o the till and have your illusions shattered.
Ah, at my time as a shop girl we took great pleasure puncturing the ego of many a precocious young teen.
You there, young un, we say, think you're better than everyone else? Get o the till and have your illusions shattered.
That poll is misleading, I thought the question would be "Do you hate working in retail"
or something along those lines.
Going into detail on the poll, no it doesn't make you less of a person,
but it seemed sometimes the customers forgot I was one.
Some of them would come in with the worst possible moods and it was like we made a perfect target for their rage.
Some of them were also pretty cynical, always assuming we wanted to scam them out of money (even though I was selling shoes) although the company I worked for put priority on customer satisfaction and we genuinely did want to help them.
Although is does go both ways,
Their was a time when the store was slow and we only had two customers in.
They didn't really want any help (just looking), so me and my co-worker were having a conversation
(about weird fruit) and one of the customers chimed in, it took us by surprise,
I guess we looked at them like they were shopping robots or something.
Retail does make you grow as a person, you become much more tolerant.
Because of my experience I've never mistreated an employee in a store I've visited,
or stayed after closing time. Maybe that's why the employees at Gamestop like me so much.
or something along those lines.
Going into detail on the poll, no it doesn't make you less of a person,
but it seemed sometimes the customers forgot I was one.
Some of them would come in with the worst possible moods and it was like we made a perfect target for their rage.
Some of them were also pretty cynical, always assuming we wanted to scam them out of money (even though I was selling shoes) although the company I worked for put priority on customer satisfaction and we genuinely did want to help them.
Although is does go both ways,
Their was a time when the store was slow and we only had two customers in.
They didn't really want any help (just looking), so me and my co-worker were having a conversation
(about weird fruit) and one of the customers chimed in, it took us by surprise,
I guess we looked at them like they were shopping robots or something.
Retail does make you grow as a person, you become much more tolerant.
Because of my experience I've never mistreated an employee in a store I've visited,
or stayed after closing time. Maybe that's why the employees at Gamestop like me so much.
I don't love it but the pays the bills and I don't really have the anything to pursue the career I want.
As for the poll question, if someone thinks a retail worker is below them then they are an absolute ****.
I'm sick of people thinking I work where I do because I failed at school and obviously have no qualifications (I have GCSE's, A-levels, NVQs and health training certificates so they can suck my balls). Some of them talk to me really slowly and act like I don't have a clue how stuff works. They're usually stupider than me which bugs me the most.
It makes you much more tolerant to bullshit but doesn't do much for your faith in people. (Not in my city at least).
As for the poll question, if someone thinks a retail worker is below them then they are an absolute ****.
I'm sick of people thinking I work where I do because I failed at school and obviously have no qualifications (I have GCSE's, A-levels, NVQs and health training certificates so they can suck my balls). Some of them talk to me really slowly and act like I don't have a clue how stuff works. They're usually stupider than me which bugs me the most.
It makes you much more tolerant to bullshit but doesn't do much for your faith in people. (Not in my city at least).
My answer to the poll depends on the context in which it's being asked. For life in general, no, it does not make one less of a person. In the actual workplace, while working, yes. While standing around wearing a nametag you are quite literally nothing more than an extension of the store, just as much of a person as the fax machine.
My experience working in retail is pretty limited- but i'd say it's generally good for you because it helps you interact with the general public and you get an insight into how a basic business works. When i was 16 i did a 2 week placement in a bookstore and i quite enjoyed it- but i think wherever you enjoy working in retail or not depends a lot on the store itself. Back then i was working with some 20yr old who said he used to work in Blockbusters and said he hated it because they set targets and the managers treat you like shit- and the hours arn't as good i imagine, having to work evenings and all. Interestingly i was speaking to someone i knew in highschool recently and he said he used to work for Blockbusters and hated it as well.
Take my advice kids, stay the hell away from working at Blockbusters.
So, working in retail can be good for you, but it depends a lot on the type of retail job it is and what the work environment is like. In a postive retail environment you get more confident in talking to strangers, make new friendships with your co-workers and gain an insight into how businesses work. On the other hand, it can also be soul destroying.
Take my advice kids, stay the hell away from working at Blockbusters.
So, working in retail can be good for you, but it depends a lot on the type of retail job it is and what the work environment is like. In a postive retail environment you get more confident in talking to strangers, make new friendships with your co-workers and gain an insight into how businesses work. On the other hand, it can also be soul destroying.
I did my time in retail. I'm a nine year veteran. It sucks balls.
I'm out now and work a regular Monday to Friday, Nine to Five job.
I do feel that everyone should work in retail at least once in their live, if only that they might learn to obey Wheaton's Law.
I'm out now and work a regular Monday to Friday, Nine to Five job.
I do feel that everyone should work in retail at least once in their live, if only that they might learn to obey Wheaton's Law.
I did it for five years. Then one day last Christmas I was standing in the shop, stressed, exhausted and fed up of feeling like my soul purpose in life was to keep others happy and wondered why I was wasting my life. So I quit, got a temporary office job and tomorrow I start college to do my A-Levels to go and be a scientist, something I've wanted to do for a while now. I enjoyed my video game store job for a while but really grew to loathe retail. I have to say, the bad customers gave me a lot more confidence overall when dealing with confrontation and I'm a much more confident person on the whole thanks to my retail experience, but if I never work in retail again I'll be happy.
But I'll be getting a part-time job, most likely retail, whilst I'm at college. Yay.
But I'll be getting a part-time job, most likely retail, whilst I'm at college. Yay.
I actually don't mind working in retail. It pays well and you meet a lot of cool people. There're a lot of downsides but they aren't so bad.
I've only ever worked in small places though, like clothes and shoe shops. I wouldn't like to work in Tesco or something.
I've only ever worked in small places though, like clothes and shoe shops. I wouldn't like to work in Tesco or something.
So... nobody else liked working in retail?
I would do it again in a second.
It's easy, it's insanely repetitive but I don't mind that, and you always get to see new people and the occasional regular.
One of my favourites was one old lady who used to come into the shop about once every few days, demand to be told as much as possible about everything she picked up and then she would declare it `Too expensive!` and leave. She came in all the time and I think I only saw her buy like one or two things, my manager thought she was a shoplifter, but I just thought she wanted someone to talk to.
I much prefer being behind a register to waitressing. I dont know what it is about waitressing that makes me hate everything, but I never wanna do it again.
Probably gonna have to, cause of there being almost fuck-all work.
I would do it again in a second.
It's easy, it's insanely repetitive but I don't mind that, and you always get to see new people and the occasional regular.
One of my favourites was one old lady who used to come into the shop about once every few days, demand to be told as much as possible about everything she picked up and then she would declare it `Too expensive!` and leave. She came in all the time and I think I only saw her buy like one or two things, my manager thought she was a shoplifter, but I just thought she wanted someone to talk to.
I much prefer being behind a register to waitressing. I dont know what it is about waitressing that makes me hate everything, but I never wanna do it again.
Probably gonna have to, cause of there being almost fuck-all work.
I chose the invisible 3rd option: I've worked retail and still technically do but it's really only as bad as the people you surround yourself with. Here's an example: I went from working Blockbuster to Gamestop. Being a gamer more so than a Movie-guy you'd think I'd like GS more than BB but no. If I worked with the same people at GS as I did at BB then I would have likely hated the place though. Either way, it's better than having no income at all.
I find it odd you assume because I worked on the register I did not work on the shop floor.Matthew94 said:
Maybe the company I worked for was just cheap, but everybody did everything.
Still, register was probably my favourite part of that job.
There's retail, then there's call center monkey customer service jobs.
Know that whole internet fuckwad theory? That thing where people are much more pissy/entitled/blah blah because there's a computer in front of them?
It's the same with the phones...
Know that whole internet fuckwad theory? That thing where people are much more pissy/entitled/blah blah because there's a computer in front of them?
It's the same with the phones...
Yep, I worked in a factory packing and assembling boxes. Worst job I ever had.Matthew94 said:
The pace they expect you to go at is so unrelenting it wasn't uncommon to slice your hand on the cardboard. Someone shouting at you all day in a language you don't know is not fun.
Well, like I said, our shop was not particularly a busy one (it was a large hardware shop), so everybody did everything, but most of the guys were in the warehouse and most of the ladies were on tills or working the shop floor.
I hated being at the register. At our store, you got more angry people running a register than being at the returns counter. Also, being 6'4" while working on a register designed for someone 5'6" with a bad back just made every working day suck. If I went back to retail, I would flat out refuse cashier training.Matthew94 said:
The people I worked WITH were good people when I worked retail. The people I worked FOR deserved treatment that cannot be considered decent to even speak about in a public setting. By the way, if anyone says working at Target is better than Wal-mart, laugh at them and walk out the room.
so, to OT - I hate retail. I was about ready to quit working at my retail store and be willing to go hungry than stay there. Luckilly, right about when I hit wit's end, I got a better job.
to Poll - Whether or not I wore a namebadge, people tended to treat me the same regardless (After working for 3 years, I stopped wearing my namebadge for the next 2). So, I think it can be annoying (every angry customer knows you by name), but doesn't make you less of a person.
Now, if we wanna trade stories about how much retail sucks, I got plenty of those.
This. I'm tired of people coming into the store where I work and explaining what they want in simple terms; as though I wouldn't understand the services of the place I've worked at for two years. Some are just downright rude and to them you are not a person but part of the service itself. You learn pretty fast the customer is rarely right and as long as you are confident in what you do it is pretty satisfying being able to hand a rude customer's ass back to them, and know you were in the right.EeveeElectro said:
But like others have said, you get to learn how to deal with horrible, tough situations and understand how to treat other people better (for example I treat customers how I want to be treated and I do the same for workers in other shops). For these lessons I will always be grateful of my employer.
Where I work (Argos) each employee is required to be trained in every area; and because we are always grossly understaffed you'll often be required to do everything yourself (serve the customer, collect their order and give the order out, rinse and repeat).Phasmal said: