I owe my soul to the company store

First of all, I work at a Waldenbooks. AKA, Border's. Yeah. So, my store is closing, and that sucks enough, right, many of us have probably been there or are there right now. But ... it's already a zoo here and ... the people are WORSE than animals!!!!

MY store is small so I really feel for those of you who work in the big superstores!

Anyway, This is my day:

I walk up to this slight batty looking but innocent seeming lady ... "May I take your books for you? They look heavy!"

"Oh, no it's okay. Well, can you ring this up for me and tell me how much it is?"

*I read the price listings off the sign for her* (BTW, how hard is it to figure out that 20% off of $8 is $1.60, and then you subtract $1.60 from $8 and arrive at: $6.40!? Seriously. If you're shopping in a bookstore, I'm assuming you are literate and therefore learned basic math while you at it!!! And there's a sign, USE IT!!!)

"Oh, wow, that's a good deal! But how much is it with tax?"

SERIOUSLY?!

I take her and her stack of books to the register, ring everything, then she changes her mind on the $6.77 (with tax) book. I take it off. She wants it back. I add it back on. I bag it in a big bag, 'cause they're sturdier.

"Can you double bag it for me?"

"I'm running out of big bags. How about two smaller bags?"

"Oh, no don't worry about it then."

(Mind you, I am EXTREMELY pleasant to EVERYBODY, and she is no exception! Though I'm getting irritated at this point.)

"No, I really just don't think I want that cookbook. I'll come back later in the week for it." I go over the merits of the cookbook, the fact that there are hardly any left, it's a bargain for goodness sake, it won't be there when she comes back and I point out that she would spend MORE money in GAS then just buying the damn thing now! (mind you who the hell would care enough to sell the damn book to the batty lady at this point?! My own stupidity.) And she says, "That's true. That's true. That's true. That's true ..." Not like she's got Turrets (Just 'cause I work in a bookstore doesn't mean I can spell, btw!) but like she's honestly just stuck on replay, like a vinyl record where the arm swings back and there is a pause in between each "That's true".

I have to do a trans abort, and ya'll know how corporate hates it when you do that, audits, etc, but whatever.

SO she pulls out a twenty (more than enough to pay for what she has, PLUS the big cookbook--such a deal!) meanwhile, her pocket HAS A HUGE GAPING HOLE IN IT AND SHE FLASHES ME HER GOODIES!!!!!!!!

Okay. FINALLY, I get her out of my damn store, I now have a line and my poor co-worker is on his 7th smoke-break (I exaggerate, but it was a bad day ...) and then ... THEN ...

SHE COMES BACK FOR THE DAMN COOKBOOK!

Ring her up, give her a new bag to shut her up and send her on her way.

SHE COMES BACK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

I ran like hell into the back room.

My co-worker fills me in. "So, meds lady came back asking for bags. They were defective. She keeps dropping them." Seriously? OUR bags are defective because YOU keep dropping them? "If she comes back, she must PURCHASE the re-usable bag, because we are so low on stock we can't just give them out like souvenirs here." I know, I've been telling people that all day. Sorry, your three kids do NOT each need their own bag for a SINGLE book! UGH.

Freaking take your meds before DRIVING to the mall next time! Can you imagine somebody like this IN A PARKING LOT? Oops, I'm halfway through my turn but I don't want that aisle after all! OMFG.

Or WORSE. Raising children!?

Speaking of which ... kids ransack bookstores, it just happens. I can't even really get too upset at the kids, its the parents that LEAVE their children unattended to ransack my store that REALLY pisses me off. But today ... Today I find entire SERIES of books left all over the place, like they freaking have legs! And they are on upper shelves ... so, obviously ... it's NOT the kids, its the PARENTS THEMSELVES, setting a damn bad example for the kids.

Oh and side story: By the ASVAB books (military exam prep books) recruiters just left their business cards sitting on top of the books. Seriously? BRING THEM TO THE COUNTER AND WE'LL TAPE THEM UP SOMEWHERE!!!!

And, why can't you just slide a book back onto the shelf? Why set them on top of the other books all helter skelter? Seriously, just put it back somewhat neatly!

Oh and the next parent who has a screaming child and just lets it scream for endless periods of time without doing SOMETHING (comforting him/her, getting a bottle, changing it, taking him/her to the car or out into the mall) I'm going to freaking start screaming. I mean, I don't wanna be there anymore than the brat does! (I realize some kids are just monsters, but seriously, there is a thing called parenting and I see enough people lacking this effort that it really bugs me. For those of you with screamers who DO try, thank you!)

I mean, really! These same people who can't be bothered to re-shelve a book are going to come up to me and ask me where something is. I'm gonna point you in the general direction and say "Should be over there. Good luck!"

We have a skeleton crew and Christmas crazy, there is NO way we can recover, ring, and manage a store, let alone cover breaks, like this.

The liquidators told us to just shove books wherever, don't both with alphabetizing, don't help people find things, just ring. (I can't even check what's in my stock).

Seriously? MY store is EXTREMELY well know for its customer service. Every other customer has a story about what this store means to the them or their family or how their youngest started reading because of one of the employees or how they'd get calls about new series or new books that we knew they'd be interested in. People leave our store IN TEARS because we're closing.

It's just terrible.

And then there's people who come in "OMG, only 20% off! That's NOT a sale!"

Um, sorry 11,000 people are LOSING THEIR JOBS AND OUR SALE ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!

MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE SHOPPED HERE BEFORE WE CLOSED WHEN WE HAD 30, 40, AND 50% OFF COUPONS!!!! And our membership program blows Barnes and Noble's out of the water. Its cheaper AND better discounts!

And then people are all up in your business "OMG, what are you going to do?" And I don't mind if they are genuine, I'm lucky, I have 2 other jobs. I worked 42.5 hours in retail alone this week. Next week I have my direct care job on top of it. Its like I'm sad and angry but I'm still proud to have been part of that team but ... how can you even express that to people?

Bookstores closing is just tragic in general. I hope independent booksellers can get a leg up in the market again.

Thanks for reading, by the way!!!

Ranting has been quite therapeutic! =)

<3

Dear co-worker,

When you told me to get the trash from under the registers while I was idly waiting for customers to come through my line, I did it without a word. When I asked you to finish the exact same task when you were in a similar position (your register's computer was rebooting), this happened:

Me: Hey, (X), can you finish up the trash? Just need to get register 7 and we're good.
(X): Uhm, my computer's rebooting.
Me: ... (Thought process: There aren't any commands to input though! Seriously! Why the hell are you standing there when my line is this long?!) Yeah, but you don't have any customers.
(X): Tch! Fine!

Okay, fair. Trash duty sucks. That's why I avoid the hell out of it. But, seriously, it takes about ten minutes. Five if you don't nearly retch in the trash room, which I nearly do. Not the half hour you took, then had the nerve to say that you were just taking out the trash. Bull. Fucking. Shit. I saw you flitting around the front desk, chatting with your buddies five minutes after you left.

Oh, and awesome job on the trash, by the way. I notice you completely forgot to empty out my trash. Lazy bitch.

Can't wait to put in my two weeks,

~ A.H.

-

Dear customer who overheard the first exchange,

I'd just like to go through what you said to me bit-by-bit.

"I heard what you said to her and I thought that was really rude of you to say." 
Mmm, yes. It was rude of me to ask her to leave her rebooting register to come do a task that she asked me to do, wasn't it? You know, do some actual work while she was on the clock? 

"I was applying for a job here, but I don't think I'll be coming now that I know people like you work here." 
Lady, I wouldn't have wanted you as a coworker in the first place. Not that I think the woman who does the hiring would have taken you.

Also, I understand its Summer and we're not the most high-class store, but it wouldn't have killed you to wear some actual clothes to come shopping, would it have? No one needs to see that garbage on display.

Have fun with your search for a job and may the hiring staff know what they are getting into.

~ A.H.

Warning this post is a total rant about a manager I work with. Marion is her name and even thoughI do love her I also want to strangle her all.the.time.  I mean the lady has her good points when she's good she's good but when she's bad she's just bat shit crazy! I absolutely dread having to work with her. The ironic thing is that she loves me and thinks I walk on water. The reason why she likes me is because I'm one of the best employees and I do everything. Literally everything. Which is one of the reasons why I hate working with her because I'm stuck taking care of the things that keep the store in order like putting back clothes, putting away new merchandise, keeping the store neat/functional in general while she's off doing God knows what. She's very good with the customers and getting sales though. However it drives me beserk when I'm busy trying to get things that need to get done, done yet she's still calling me over to do things that she can totally do HERSELF. I'm like why bother giving people two hands if they won't use them?  The things she has me doing are a total waste of my time when she can get it done with out me. I love how she's always complaining about other people never doing anything when she's the one who never does anything!! For example I was busy trying to take out the new shipments of clothing, hang them and somehow find a home for all of it before we close for the night. Marion calls me over to the register because she wanted me to print out some new marketing and I'm like REALLY?? Really you can't do this yourself? Really? You called me over here when I'm busy with other projects while you are doing nothing to do something that will take you all of ten minutes to do on your own??? I feel like I'm treated like a work horse. I feel like there are just things that she can do that do not require me. I only have so many arms. She can't be giving me 10 projects at once and expect me to finish them simultaneously.  There are times when I want to go, "Marion. I'm busy. DEAL WITH IT."   I feel like this lady clogs the personal space of my mental sanity.   Marion is always telling me that I need to be more people oriented. How am I supposed to focus on the customers when I have to focus on getting everything else around the store done because I'm the only one doing it? I swear if the DM makes a comment about people needing to get comment I'm going to tell her that I totally agree and that I also agree that people should pull their weight when it comes to making the store functional because I am the one who puts away all the clothes. I am the one hangs up everything, I am the one who takes out the trash, changes the light bulbs, puts up marketing or whatever signs when I work with Marion. So someone please tell me how I am supposed to get people to fill out credit cards when I'm busy doing the heavy work?

Yesterday when I worked with her all I wanted to do was SCREAM. I can be the most chill laid back person but God knows my patience was tested. Then towards the end of the night one of our regular customers came in. She has leg problems so she usually sits and we run around bringing her clothes like a Maharaja. We don't mind  because the woman spends tons of $$$. Marion told her since she's so skinny now she can walk around and get things herself, and that its wrong to make me run around for her while she's sitting. Mrs. Rollins totally put La Loca right back in her place. She ripped her a new one about not presuming things about people and how her weight has nothing to do with her sitting and that doesn't mean she's lazy. She has to sit because she has leg issues and that she has been actively exercizing all day and running around. She recently got lap band surgery so the weight has literally been falling off her. Then later Mrs. Rollins totally told off Marion again when Marion made some comment about the color of a shirt  acting like Rollins was some ignorant child and Mrs. rollins told her that she knew very well what color it was since she'd been an art teacher for years. God love Mrs. Rollins because I'd wanted to yell at Marion and put her in her place all day and Mrs. Rollins did it for me. Though she didn't yell at her for any of the stuff that I wanted to yell at her for it still felt so so so good. I felt so vindicated.

Ugh, we have a guy at the store who comes in or calls us all the time with obscure questions about his android phone. All. The. Time. Sometimes he'll call multiple times a day. And it's not your basic "how do you add another email account" type of question, it's more like "I have a CompuServe email account set up on my droid but I can't send email from it, I can only send from Gmail, but I get email on my CompuServe one why is that? Am I doing something wrong? Does it have anything to do with the fact that AOL bought them out? Why did AOL buy them out I don't understand it I'm a big fan of CompuServe I used it since the 80's, is there anything you can do about that?" NO. I cannot do anything about the fact that you seem to want to cling to an out-dated service when the company that bought it is also outdated, nor can I do anything about the fact that AOL bought them out! I work in a cell phone store, that's it! I don't have super-secret access to all the CEO's of all the information technology companies out there, I don't email them or call them or even know who most of them are. Is your phone broken? No? Then get out. Quit whining to me that you miss CompuServe, I don't care. Get over it and get with the times. Use Gmail, it's free and easy, and it's what your phone is made for.

Oh, now he wants to lodge a complaint about an app he downloaded that supposedly took a note from his phone containing passwords and sent it using his CompuServe (I thought you couldn't send from that one?) to one of his Facebook friends. Sorry, but you probably hit a button and did it yourself, you call us all the time and obviously don't know how to use your phone. Here's an idea: Don't get an open-source phone and then store personal sensitive information on it. You want security? Get a Blackberry! You had one before and didn't have an issue with it. Oh and by the way, your phone keeps freezing because you have over 5000 contact numbers on it, any phone would freeze with that kind of data bogging it down! GAH! Please just stop calling and coming in. I find it creepy how much you look and sound like John Lithgow.

Today as I was starting my shift I noticed a lady with two kids running circles around her. I put my stuff down behind the counter and went to the back to let the boss know I had arrived when I noticed them ripping open packages of toys left and right. This is a big no-no in our shop. I asked the mother to take the toys from the kids and told her that they couldn't open them until they were paid for. She just smiled and told her kids what I had just said. They didn't listen to her and started running around with the open bags spilling toys every where. As I was going around collecting the toys I noticed Cheeto crumbs ground into the carpet. I told them there was no food allowed in the store, again the lady just smiled and told her kids that "la senora se va enojad" which in english is "the lady is gonna get mad". Basically she threatens them with me getting mad at them, as if she has no authority over them. Then I follow the Cheeto trail and find that the entire bag had been spilled on the floor and I about lost my sh*t!!! I grabbed the attention of the older kid and told him that he needed to go over and pick up their mess. I cannot even begin to understand the mind set that says its ok to spill in a store and not clean up. I stood over the kid as he gathered up the chips. I got a bag and picked them up. Then the kids all started shouting at the mother because she wouldn't let them have their pops and she just caved and gave it to them. Then she sat on a chair that we had up front for sale and she told me that she was going to pay for the bags of toys and that she was just waiting for her husband. I think they stayed for about 15 minutes before the middle kid threw him self on the floor, screaming bloody murder because he couldn't have his toys. The mother just sat there and ignored him. I looked at her like "really?" and she stopped him after 5 solid minutes of screaming and took him up to the counter to pay for his toys. After they paid they left. MY GOODNESS!!!

During the final hour of the business day at Rite Aid,I was ringing someone out,and this young couple complained about our prices being 'too expensive' as they were exiting.Upon doing so,however,they set off the security checkpoint and started running into the parking lot when it was already dark and the only non-pharmacy staff on duty were myself and the assistant manager.I don't know what went out the door,but if they weren't robbing us blind,then we wouldn't be 'expensive.'Anyone else had a stunt like this pulled on them while behind the counter?

Dear asshole who called me on the phone with the intention of yelling at me:

Your phone is not under warranty anymore. Yes, you've been paying insurance for the past 5 years on it, yes that package at one time included an extended warranty. That part expired 3 years ago. It's in your paperwork. If you want another phone, break yours and make an insurance claim, but I'm not going to warranty a 5 year old phone. We don't even have it anymore even if I wanted to. You're going to call the state department and complain? Good luck with that, we are the biggest cell phone company in the area, and you agreed to your extended warranty expiring after two years when you signed your contract. Oh you're not in contract anymore because you haven't renewed in 5 years? Too bad, so sad, you're still bound to the agreement. Sure, go to another carrier, no there's no termination fee since you haven't upgraded in 5 years (by the way, use your upgrade dipshit), but they're not going to do any more for you than I just have. In fact, they'll mail your phone out for two weeks to their remote technicians who will undoubtedly find "abuse" of some kind and make you use insurance anyway.

P.S. Insurance has a deductible. That's why they call it insurance.

Dear crazy ex-boyfriend:

No, you cannot access your ex girlfriend's account. I don't care that you know ALL of her personal information and can recite her social security number like the alphabet. The account does not name you as an authorized user. No, I cannot give you any information about it, I can't tell you what the bill amount is, when she started it, what the early termination fee is or how it's billed. No, you can't cancel the account on her. I don't care if you say she gave you permission, I need to speak with her directly. Oh she's not available to call right now? Well then if she wants it cancelled she can call us directly when she is available. She works nights and can't get in during business hours? Not to worry, our customer service line is open 24/7, she can call us anytime. No, you still can't cancel the account, even with that lame excuse. By the way, the account is notated that you're doing this and it's against the account holder's wishes.

P.S. You're a fucking lunatic, and I bet she wishes she never dated you. Now get out.

Dear lady who has to pee:

No, you cannot use our bathroom, it is for employees only. I don't care if you're about to lose it in your pants, there is a JCPenney store with a public bathroom right next to our store. What? It's a big store and you don't know where it is? Go in the door and go to your left, take the first path to the right and go straight back to the men's department, it's just between men's and lamps. I worked there for over a year, I know where their bathroom is, don't look at me like I just told you to go take a crap in a hat, it's very easy to find. You still don't know where it is and you still really need to go? Too bad, you're not getting into our back room. There are tons of very expensive phones back there, in a room even I don't have access to. We're not going to let some lady we don't know from Eve walk back there so she can pull a knife or a gun and rob us. Not going to happen. Go to JCPenney, I can vouch for their cleanliness. In fact I prefer their bathroom to the mall bathroom.

P.S. For someone who really had to go you stood here arguing with us for quite some time.

Dear everyone who ever got their phone wet:

If you come into the store and immediately say "it didn't get wet or anything", that is the first thing we're going to look for. Often times we find it whether you mention it being wet or not. The contact pins turn green when they rust, they're made of copper. So when you get your phone wet, it looks like you're smuggling the statue of liberty in your chraging port. Yes, that green stuff means it got wet. I don't care if you don't know how it happened, it still got wet. I don't care if you claim you did nothing to it, someone else obviously did if it wasn't you, you're still going to pay for a new phone. No, the manufacturer's warranty does not cover against liquid DAMAGE, that's why we call it DAMAGE. Yes, we replaced the last guy's liquid damaged phone, but that's only because he happened to have the ONE phone we carry that is water resistant. No, they are not all water resistant. No, you shouldn't use them in the rain, how much toast do you make outside in the rain? Why would you think your cell phone should operate flawlessly when it's being pummeled by falling liquid from the sky? Oh it was in your pocket? Was it raining out? Did your clothes get drenched, were you, underneath your clothing yourself wet? Well why would there be a magic aura around your pocket your cell phone is in that keeps it dry? If you're wet under your clothes, chances are your phone that is between clothing and you is also wet. Oh you were at an outdoor concert, how are you supposed to keep it dry? Hmm, I don't know, most people bring some kind of weather resistant clothing or outerwear, sometimes with pockets that zip. Perhaps you should invest in something like that, or leave your phone in the car.

P.S. Liquid damage does not necessarily mean just water. If your phone smells like coffee or beer or is sticky from juice, it is still liquid damaged. It came into contact with liquid. Liquid means wet.

Dear asshole with a cracked display:

Your phone did not just "do that". You did not wake up one morning from charging it all night to find it "just spiderwebbed". That spiderweb is damage. See those little white lines? Go home and punch your TV, I bet you'll find very similar white lines. It's LCD, those black smudges are the liquid crystals leaking out of a crack, a BREAK. Yes, it's broken. No, your phone is not suceptible to hot and cold to the extent that it would damage your screen. Your charger did not overheat your phone to the point the screen cracked. If it did, you'd have more damage that a crack in the screen, in fact you might not even have a house left because your phone would have caught on fire. You'd have a twisted hunk of melted phone stuck to your nightstand. No, leaving your phone in the car over a cold night and a hot morning will not break it, something else happened to it. Something fell on it, or it fell on something, or you had it in your back pocket and you sat on it. It is a pressure or impact crack, it is not from heat. The only thing that could potentially crack it is if you had it in an oven at over 400 degrees and put it immediately in the freezer. You didn't do that? Well then you did something else to it to cause it to crack. No, the manufacturer will not warranty it. Why not? Because it's not a defect in the phone, it's user error. Oh that's good, throw your phone on the floor in a tissy fit. That's probably what broke it in the first place. Now you can tell the insurance company you intentionally threw your phone around and it broke, see if they cover it. Ooooh, even better, kick it across the floor repeatedly as you walk out of the store. That'll fix it. Oh, you'll just buy another phone for fifty bucks? That's how much they are anyway? Um, how 'bout no? Your phone is $409.99 full retail, and that's all your elligible for. Yeah... guess insurance really is a good deal isn't it?

P.S. You wouldn't keep your TV in a big box with a toaster, a microwave, a printer and a toilet would you? Why would you expect your phone to hold up against similar hazards?

So Michaels. We close at 9. I proceed to say that over the intercom three times before 9.

But last night, around 7, this lady, her husband, and her 4 screaming children come in, walk to my tower basket, and start digging through my dollar ribbon, not seeming to care AT ALL that they were not only throwing a bunch of it in the floor, but they were also blocking both my register and register 2 since they felt the need for 3 of their kids to have their own buggy to sit in.

Since no one could get to my register due to the screaming blockade, the girl on the general craft side of the store was being completely bombarded with people (more than usual...people were really REALLY needy yesterday), and the poor manager on duty happened to be over General Crafts which is in the middle of completely reoragnizing the bead section which involved her separating 1200 some backer tags (not a made up number...it's awful), I started putting up returns for that side of the store. My cashier is fairly new but awesome, and she only had to call me up a few times.

Well in those few times I arrived back at my register I felt pretty useless, since everytime I came up the customers brave enough to fight their way through the blockade were also annoying enough to have me do a price check on at least one of their items. Keep in mind that: Manager-Drowning in Backer Tags, Gloria (general crafts)- drowing in customers, and Kristi (Seasonal/Floral)- drowning in customers, phone calls, and people screaming about why is she working over there if she can't make bows. So it takes a good while for someone to finally get to me to do a price check, and by the time that happens my cashier has everyone through her line and I have succeeded in helping only one whiney person. No, these are $.79 and not $.39, sorry to break your heart. No, your vase isn't $3.49, it's $9.99, and if you want it anyway why did you waste mine and Kristi's time? Yeah. Someone also decided to throw a poopy diaper in my trash can while I was away. How nice.

Finally, after managing to get the returns put up, I return to the front to empty the trash, sweep, straighten, and bring in the bins from outside. It's 8:30 by this time, and guess who's still up front? Yeah. Lady and her army of kids. STILL messing up my ribbon. So I bring in the bins and take out the trash and my cashier helps me straighten and sweep since the store had much less people in it by now. At 8:45, 8:50, 8:55, and 9, I do my announcements, and guess who's still there...

UNTIL 9:15. >_< Rude lady's husband at least had the courtasy of removing the screaming children from the store. I know you heard me lady, I'm 5 feet from you. But by the time she got up to register her buggy was heaping full of ribbon and junk, and she had the nerve to force poor Gloria to do price checks on a bunch of stuff that quite clearly was not clearance.

FINALLY, around 9:25-ish, she takes her junk, and takes her time arranging her purse before finally removing herself from our store.

So we left around 10 last night. Rawgh.

Hello friends. My name is Candice and I've worked at Michaels for about 2 years now. I am currently a Front End Superviser, which is just the fancy name for the cashier with the keys who gets yelled at alot.

After reading the wonderful Michaels rant from kumagoru, I'd like to add a few more rants:

( Coupons Suck. )

-sigh- I really like most of the people I work with alot, it's just now that the FESs are complaining about my Sundays my boss came to me and told me I had two choices, lose my Sundays and stay FES which guarentees me at least 15 hours a week in the spring, or go back to the floor and keep them, which keeps my study days but pretty much guarentees me maybe one day a week come spring. It irritates me alot, because I've been there the longest of all the FESs and my boss said when I was hired that my Sundays weren't going to be a problem.

So, I'm moving to the floor until I can find another job. I think part of it is they don't think I'll quit even if they treat me like a doormat, but I've about had enough. A change will be good I think.

But it'd nice to meet you all! ^_^

So we've been short two technicians for the past month and it doesn't look like a new hire will be starting any time soon. With our busy season fast approaching life at the tech counter has been absolute hell. We've started service writing again to cut the line down and then of course dealing with the summer people who feel we need to bow down and worship the ground they walk upon.

"I have a warrranty on this phone and it's not working right, can you just give me some other phone?" Hmm sure, ok. Let's go to the car dealership and see if they'll trade you your neon for a viper because you just don't like the way the neon handles. That's covered by the warranty right? Your phone is fine! It's supposed to do that!