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There is one thing I truly hate when shopping: When an employee thinks they assuredly know something & they are wrong.
I stopped into Rite-Aid this morning (on Moorpark road in Thousand Oaks, California) and experienced just that. I had stopped their fairly early to pick up a tube of Krazy Glue. When I got in there, there were a few employees throughout the store, as they were going though and organizing the merchandise on shelves. All the employees where doing this, throughout the store. The only exception being the woman working the front register, yet she was behind the counter organizing merchandise. The point of this in my story is significant, as when I entered over 80% of the store had been cleanly organized -- items put in their proper locations and there were no randomly abandoned items sitting on various shelves. I began walking to the back of the store & passed a small clearance rack that was set up, and on it were all shapes and sizes of bubble bath. In the middle of the rack, very cleanly arranged was a bottle of Hello Kitty bubble bath. Being my wife loves Hello Kitty, and that half price is much more reasonable when it comes to that particular brand of bubble bath, I grabbed it. I eventually worked my way to the back of the store & got my glue, picked up a few cans of Spam Lite, and saw that there was one other customer in the store. She was the only other shopper in the store at this time, and as I walked passed her cart (she went to ask an employee who was arranging chips a question) I stopped it from rolling off as it seemed there was quite an incline & it was moving pretty fast (she didn't see me stop it, not that this is significant). At any rate I got up to the register with 6 items: 1 tube of Krazy Glue, 3 cans of Spam Lite, a 4 count box of Cadburry Creme Eggs, and the bottle of bubble bath. When I walked up she was on the very last register organizing stuff (as I mentioned previously) and told me "next register". I got very confused because she was the only employee behind the counter (the registers are all along the wall behind the same counter), and the only one in visual range for that matter. Generally you don't tell a customer that unless someone else has a register open. She repeated it and I began to look around wondering where this 'next register' was and she finally said, "I'll ring you up on the next register". Being that she was in the middle of something, and her choice of phrasing, this was in no way obvious. But at that point I understood so I walked back and around to the next register. A few seconds later, she walked over and began to ring me up... She picked up the bottle of bubble bath and said "This one has no tag". The tags had been removed, so I explained to her that it was on the clearance shelf for 50% off. She said "No, this item isn't on clearance". I responded it was in the middle of the clearance shelf and she re-iterated "No, this item isn't on clearance, I need to find a tag for this" Now, it seemed obvious to me that part of the reason it maybe was on clearance was perhaps because it was missing a tag (and the lid was loose, making it seemed it had been opened once before). But apparently this didn't occur to the employee. I then told her if it wasn't on clearance I didn't want it. At that point I mentioned the fact that it was with several other bubble baths of all types on the clearance shelf, and it was cleanly in the middle of the shelf, but it made no difference. This employee was 100% certain that the missing tagged already opened bottle of bubble bath, symiler to all the other bottles of bubble baths (including Shrek bubble baths) was somehow different. So assuming the employee was somehow right then ironically this is what had to have happened in order for the bottle to not have been on clearance: At around 10 to 15 minutes before I entered the store someone else entered the store (it had to be within this time span, as again all the employees had re-arranged 80% or more of the store's shelves, and it was obvious the bubble bath clearance shelf had recently been re-arranged). They went to the normal bubble bath isle, which was a different isle than where the clearance bubble bath was. They grabbed a new bottle of Hello Kitty bubble bath, opened it, then removed all the tags (they also rendered part of the bottle slightly dirty). After this they walked over to the clearance bubble bath isle. They re-arranged all the bubble bath on the shelf (about 3 feet across), removing a couple bottles here and there and managed to get the bottle of Hello Kitty bubble bath to fit cleanly. They then placed that bottle on the shelf and left everything looking like it had been arranged that way by an employee. They then bought the bottles of bubble bath that they removed (as there were no superfluous bubble bath bottles sitting on that shelf or a shelf nearby). Leaving the clearance shelf all nice just for me to find it a few minutes later... So, which is easier to believe? That the bottle was on clearance? Or that the narrative above with all the copious detail actually occurred just as I posted, and the employee was in fact right? A side note - when I was at the front counter, there is a sign there that say if an item is rung up at a higher price than the advertised price or the price marked on the shelf the item is free. Which would basically mean that they owe me a free bottle of Hello Kitty Bubble Bath. You may wonder why the long blog post about a bottle of bubble bath of all things? Well, it's exactly this type of thing that makes my blood boil. It doesn't matter if it's a different of $5000 or $.50, it just plain makes me furious... But, what can I say, I guess Rite-Aid employees aren't up to par with the employees at any other chain store... Guess I should stick to CVS and Longs Drug...
Oh, this form of customer service is just about everywhere. I was in the new Fry's store in Oxnard a week after it had first opened. I was looking for a fax machine. As it was my first time in that particular store, I had to ask someone working there where the fax machines were located. So, I asked the nearest employee, "Where are the fax machines?" "We don't have any," was his almost-immediate reply... no fax machines? I thought that was odd, considering Fry's is the largest electronics store around. Rather than question him further, I decided to just wander around. Sure enough, I came across an aisle composed entirely of fax machines! Makes you wonder, doesn't it? In the end, since they "didn't have any" fax machines, I went across the parking lot to Office Depot and bought one there instead.
You should have gone back to where you found your Shrek bubble bath and brought them all up to her regester and made her scan everyone. I hate lowly retail clerks on power trips!!!
I agree that this lack of customer service is everywhere. What ever happened to "The customer is always right"? Even if your clever scenario was the reason the bubble bath was on the wrong shelf (I believe it was more a matter of trying to get rid of a less than attractive piece of merchandise), she should have walked back with you to see where the item had been found then summoned her manager. Chances are, the manager would have noticed the empty space the bottle had left and told her to ring it up at 50% (if she was a good manager) to keep the customer happy and insure a future visit. But noooo! We, the customers, are clever and conniving, and are always looking for a way to rip them off, aren't we? (she says sarcastically) A bottle of Hello Kitty here....a can of Planter's cashews there.....and before you know it, Corporate America has collapsed! All because your wife loves Hello Kitty bubble bath! LOL! Deb
As a rite-aid manager, I wish you would have told her that you would like to see the manager. I do not tolerate that kind of attitude from my employees.
It is my opinion that a store's employees are only as good as the head Store Manager, and only as good as upper management, period! The store's employees (their knowledge & attitude & job moral/job satisfaction) are a direct reflection of the head Manager's skills to run his/her store. I don't believe the comment that retail clerks have power trips; they put up with a lot (not just rude customers but also low pay, low/no benefits, sometimes apparent unfair bosses (seen it) and I can go on and on). I would suggest, however, to always ask for a Supervisor when you have a problem. Often, clerks are NOT in any position of power (therefore rarely have "power trips, since they have no power and the public may apparently treat them as if they are low-class. I've Seen it, I have seen what appeared to be border-line verbal abuse from customers, the way some customers treat clerks, clerks that are just doing their job, and often doing it the way they were told BY MANAGEMENT). Employees "hands" are often "tied". Managers often give work lists to employees (duties that must be done in addition to cashiering, often these duties are expectations that cannot reasonably be accomplished without sacrificing customer service (they are not realistic), yet the employee may get in trouble (or is given the perception that he/she may get in trouble) if the duties are not completed by the end of the day (therefore customer service may be sacrificed by the clerk who just wants to please her manager). Managers will always claim that customer service comes first, but then they may reprimend an employee if he/she does not complete her non-cashiering duties; due to the fact that he/she was too busy taking care of customers (I've seen what appeared to be that possibility). I also would like to point out the gender of the front-end cashiers, usually female??? Where are the male cashiers??? Maybe in the back stockroom??? Maybe women are getting sick and tired of the gender stereo-typing of duties at work (that females are "cashiers" and the males are "stockroom" or "management"). I know it rubs me the wrong way, and makes my blood boil, when I walk in a store and see all female cashiers and all the males are going more "manly" work (yet, nobody would admit any wrong-doing here, no biasness, no discrimination, of coarse not). To all you Managers out there; I will not shop at a store where I see that happening on a consistant basis. I have even asked cashiers if their store has any female supervisors and if all the cashiers are female? Depending on the response; I will no longer shop there. Period!!! Drug stores and grocery stores seem to be notorious about having females as front cashiers and males as management/stockroom. Maybe female cashiers don't want to be up front cashiering and maybe they are just as qualified to lift, stock, manage the store too!!!! Maybe some of te boys should be up front cashiering and smiling at the customer. Some workplace fairness would be nice since many employees already sacrifice their wages and benefits. In other words; put yourself in the shoes of the employee before judgeing them. Maybe instead of getting upse with the employee....consider the fact that employees are only as good as the store manager is. The store manager has FAILED to effectively inform his/her cashier....it's the store manager who FAILED to give the employees the tools they need. Corporations SEEM to be focused on getting more and more work out of the employees with less pay, less benefits. Make the employees produce more and more, expect them to complete duties AND cashier AND know everything AND smile AND work harder and harder, do more and more, faster and faster, AND offer the best customer service. Well, there ae only so many hours in the day, and well, at some point, something has to give. Corporations seem to hire LESS EMPLOYEES to save money, and expect more and more out of the employees that they do have...some employees which may possibly try to work during their lunch/breaks (they sneak work in) just to avoid getting in trouble because that is the only way all duties can be done that were expected from them that day. Yet, you still expect this employee to not, at some point, once in awhile, feel (or come off as appearing) irritated? I feel you should point your finger and management and corporate offices, they set the rules; they are responsible for creating training programs for employees...therefore, it's their responsibility. They often sit in thier lavished offices and they have no clue what really happens on the sales floor and at the register...yet they are the ones who set the rules for the cashiers. Often, corporations are spending so much time trying to catch thir employees being dishonest that they themselves indirectly compromise customer service. For example; Possibly, Cashiers try to avoid getting too many "voids" or "returns" because that may set a "red flag" on their register??? Even though it's the customer who caused it. Cashiers often have to call management for any vosid, price modifications, etc.. and management may reprimend her, or simply make a negative comment, for calling him too many times (even though the calls are for the customer, and corporate won't give her the power to make certain changes on her register for the customer)??? Then this same manager will turn around and double talk by saying customer service is his priority.
In my opinion; I have also seen customers con cashiers numerous times. Cashiers start off trusting the customer and then she gets "taken" and reprimended for "getting taken" (one example: a seemingly honest customer insists that she did not get her $20 cash back on a debit, cashier does not want to upset the cashiers in line by closing up her till for an audit, cashier is not sure about whether or not she handed customer the $20, and wants to believe that customers are always right, customer seems honest, cashier wants to please all the customers, and please management, by keeping the line going at a fast pace, then at the end of the shift...guess what? Cashier is $20 short and is written up, or possibly fired). I have seen customers remove sale stickers and stick them on other products and insist that it's a glitch in the system as to why it is not ringing up on sale. I have seen customers apparently "set up" new cashiers. New cashiers don't know their job (what new employee does?). A customer may be observant and realize that cashier is new. Customers ask for things that are not acceptable and then insist to the new cashier that they "do it all the time" and "so-n-so" (put name of male supervisor here, who is not working hat day) does for them "all the time" for them. What happens? That customer may have compromised that's cashier's job because the cashier was only trying to PLEASE the customer and wanted to BELIEVE that the customer is being honest. Then, some sort of "red flag" is seen on the register. Cashier is reprimended??? Corporations may also assume that the customer is a friend of the cashier (even if it NOT true) and before she knows it; cashier is under the spotlight of accusations (even if unofficial)??? Customers can seem to even be able to con senior cashiers because thay seem so belivable. Jobs are at stake here. Conning customers always get to go home and not give a second thought about how their actions may have destroyed a cashier's life. Consider the kid who buys alcohol? Seems older than 21, looks older than 21, says that "so-n-so" (place name of employee who is not working that day) knows him/her, claims he/she left their ID at home. Seems honest. Cashier wans to please all customers. Cashier has great intentions. Guess what? The kid was part of a sting to catch cashiers for selling to minors! Cashiers gets fired and has to appear in court AND has to pay a HUGE fine???Another expample; customer's check is not "going through" customer is a regular; customer swears check is good. The regoster has been having problems reading checks (even good checks), cashoer accpets check. What happens? Check is bad, cashier (or even supervisor, manager) gets reprimended. All this JUST because the employees WANT to PLEASE the customers!!! WHat happens after a while??? Employees have lost respect for the public, sure, uts their job to always smile, be friendly, yada, yada, yada...but then public has conned them so many times...
Yep, how about the one where the customer sets-up the cashier by asking numerous questions, getting her to focus on him and not the floor, while his possible apparent friend is out in the floor stealing stuff? I have seen where a cashier's attention is focused on a seemingly honest customer who is requesting a lot of attention from her, asking her numerous questions, cashier is just trying to do her job by showing great customer service to this man, then when it slows down and the employees go on the floor to tidy-up, there are empty packages everywhere where this man's apparent friend happened to be "shopping", hmmmm! In some cases, the cashier is then maybe asked by management why she can't be more observant and be on the look out to prevent theft. Just the other day, I saw a cashier being treated worse than I have ever seen by a customer, the customer was very demeaning and degrading towards the cashier (this woman, the customer, probably has never worked a day in her life). I would like to go into the author of the origional blog's place of employment and check and see if he is always at is best 100% of the time? I am sure he would say he is great 100% of the time, what would his emploees (if he has any under him) say??? The point is that there are a few bad apples on every tree, some cashiers are just not good, probably true, same is probably true everywhere, I suppose. People are human, cashiers will have bad days, just like everybody else. There are also wonderful, valued customers and there are cusomers who are scam artists, to expect the cashier to automatically know which is which, right off the bat, is unrealistic. A company's financial loss due to scam artists and theft can possibly result in lower wages and lower/no benefits for the employees, therefore, it is in the interest of employees to be skeptical of certain customers, but I would agree that all employees, everywhere, should always try to be tactful, curteous, respectful. Also, people should to put themselves in the shoes of others before judging them. It does seem true that often "little johnny" , a hypothetical young man with little/no prior experience, who has worked at a place for six months is now supervisor, he was promoted over a woman who has worked for the same place for 10 years and has been applying for the same position that hypothetical "little johnny" got right off the street.
I can't believe you honestly sat there behind your computer and wrote that....And I actually wasted minutes of my life reading that..Stop whining damn little baby!!
>I can't believe you honestly sat there behind your >computer and wrote that....And I actually wasted >minutes of my life reading that..Stop whining >damn little baby!! I can't believe you spent minutes of your life reading something that only left you wanting to complain like a little baby... Did your mommy force you to read it or did you elect to on your own??? Because I surely didn't present this post to you, you came here...
As a fellow consumer- I cannot stand when employees give consumers incorrect information. I am a firm believer that in order to be a responsible employee at any establishment, if you are unsure the answers to a customers questions OR a customer is questioning your judgment- it is your responsibility as the employee to you employer and the cashier to your customer- to find someone who has the correct answers and can solve the problem at hand. In your case, the cashier should have contacted their direct supervisor on duty at the time of the incident. As a consumer with a complaint, it was your responsibility to ask to speak to their supervisor since you were unsatisfied with your service. As a Rite Aid Pharmacy employee- I absolutely despise when people place blame on a company as a whole or an entire department as a whole as a result of ONE cashier in ONE Rite Aid store. Your blog is questioning the judgment of EVERY employee at EVERY Rite Aid store. I do not appreciate being linked to this situation just because one dumbass employee I will never meet at a store I will never work in was having a bad day or was simply improperly trained on the ins and outs of retail. I do my job and I do it well. I have worked in retail for well over seven years. Four of those years have been with Rite Aid. I work very hard at pleasing my customers. I would have never simply stated ?It?s not on clearance.? and sent you on your way. I do not appreciate your comment ?Rite-Aid employees aren?t up to par?? Maybe you shouldn?t base your complaints on ONE visit to ONE Rite Aid. Or maybe you should just be more specific: John Doe at Rite Aid store #1111 was not up to par with the employees etc etc? In defense of the cashier from that day- Working in retail for so long, there isn?t much I haven?t seen. Customers think their original with the stunts they pull. I have seen and heard it all before. Here is one example: One day awhile back a customer came up to the register with an item- I believe it was a bottle of vitamins or some sort of supplement. When the price rang up $18.99, the customer pointed out to the cashier (whom just so happened to be the store manager) that the price marked on the shelf was $6.99. She proceeded to walk the store manager over to the shelf and show him where she found the product- there were two other bottles of the same supplement behind a label marked $6.99. He pointed out to her that the items were in the wrong place and the actual price of the product was what it rang up. The customer then said she didn?t want it and left. The store manager moved the bottles to their correct home on the shelf and went to his office to review the security cameras. In doing this- He witnessed the customer moving every bottle of that product on the shelf to a different place- behind a tag marked with a lesser price. This is a true story whether you choose to believe it or not. Wondering why I felt the need to share this with you? Because your hypothetical scenario may not be as far fetched as you seem to think. Some customers will do anything to try to get over on an unsuspecting employee. By all means, I do believe that you picked up the bottle of bubble bath in the clearance aisle. I do believe the cashier should have been more polite to you and investigated the situation further. But I do not agree with your attempt to discredit all Rite Aid stores and all Rite Aid employees because of one situation in one store with one employee. And for the record, my personal opinion, I don?t know who came up with that slogan but the customer is NOT always right.
As a fellow consumer- I cannot stand when employees give consumers incorrect information. I am a firm believer that in order to be a responsible employee at any establishment, if you are unsure the answers to a customers questions OR a customer is questioning your judgment- it is your responsibility as the employee to you employer and the cashier to your customer- to find someone who has the correct answers and can solve the problem at hand. In your case, the cashier should have contacted their direct supervisor on duty at the time of the incident. As a consumer with a complaint, it was your responsibility to ask to speak to their supervisor since you were unsatisfied with your service. As a Rite Aid Pharmacy employee- I absolutely despise when people place blame on a company as a whole or an entire department as a whole as a result of ONE cashier in ONE Rite Aid store. Your blog is questioning the judgment of EVERY employee at EVERY Rite Aid store. I do not appreciate being linked to this situation just because one dumbass employee I will never meet at a store I will never work in was having a bad day or was simply improperly trained on the ins and outs of retail. I do my job and I do it well. I have worked in retail for well over seven years. Four of those years have been with Rite Aid. I work very hard at pleasing my customers. I would have never simply stated ?It?s not on clearance.? and sent you on your way. I do not appreciate your comment ?Rite-Aid employees aren?t up to par?? Maybe you shouldn?t base your complaints on ONE visit to ONE Rite Aid. Or maybe you should just be more specific: John Doe at Rite Aid store #1111 was not up to par with the employees etc etc? In defense of the cashier from that day- Working in retail for so long, there isn?t much I haven?t seen. Customers think their original with the stunts they pull. I have seen and heard it all before. Here is one example: One day awhile back a customer came up to the register with an item- I believe it was a bottle of vitamins or some sort of supplement. When the price rang up $18.99, the customer pointed out to the cashier (whom just so happened to be the store manager) that the price marked on the shelf was $6.99. She proceeded to walk the store manager over to the shelf and show him where she found the product- there were two other bottles of the same supplement behind a label marked $6.99. He pointed out to her that the items were in the wrong place and the actual price of the product was what it rang up. The customer then said she didn?t want it and left. The store manager moved the bottles to their correct home on the shelf and went to his office to review the security cameras. In doing this- He witnessed the customer moving every bottle of that product on the shelf to a different place- behind a tag marked with a lesser price. This is a true story whether you choose to believe it or not. Wondering why I felt the need to share this with you? Because your hypothetical scenario may not be as far fetched as you seem to think. Some customers will do anything to try to get over on an unsuspecting employee. By all means, I do believe that you picked up the bottle of bubble bath in the clearance aisle. I do believe the cashier should have been more polite to you and investigated the situation further. But I do not agree with your attempt to discredit all Rite Aid stores and all Rite Aid employees because of one situation in one store with one employee. And for the record, my personal opinion, I don?t know who came up with that slogan but the customer is NOT always right.
Im a Rite-Aid Manager and I would never tolerate that kind of attitude from an employee. My staff knows that if something is mis-marked or in the wrong spot it isnt the customers fault and should be price modified to meet that price. Next time ask to speak to their manager and let them know what their employees are doing wrong.
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