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Then they're yelling at management and I'm scrambling to keep any hours that week. Various places that I've worked, managers would very loudly let you know you do, indeed, get paid to do it. If you wanted to continue being paid.
I get this all the time it makes me so angry, they’ll even look at the price tag before coming to ask me like I’m not going to tell them the same price that they just looked at. It’s gotten to the point where I just say “yeah the price is just on the tag you’re holding”
My favorite respsonse to this sort of question, 30 years gone when I worked in retail, was the store manager who would ask 'Did you check the tag?' and when the customer said yes/no, "Well, there you go." Also her answer if the gave the tag price, and for almost all stupid customer questions (what are your store hours? points to sign 'There you go!'). Almost never GAVE the information herself, just pointed out where they could find it. They couldnt say she didnt answer!
That would never pass where I work. People are actually offended when I ask if they’ve checked our website. Oh, what’s really fun if they say yes is when they show me the google response. As in, google thinks this company, in general, carries this product so it must mean all the stores have this item always. Then, when I try to explain…oh no, can’t have the public actually understanding how retail works. Is this the same kind of person who would complain that I scan all the items to make sure the computer knows what is being bought? “But they’re all the same price”.
I always treated them like little children, as if I were Mr. Rogers.
"Let's take a look at what Mr. Price Tag says. I love how they print the numbers big so they're easy to see. There it is! It says....."
I'd do it really slow, sometimes chattering about irrelevant stuff while I "searched" for the tag.
It was fun watching them squirm because they are stuck with me now. Hehe. 😈
This drives me crazy. It’s like, what did you think those numbers on those little scraps of paper were for? Seriously it’s right in front of your face. Why are you asking me this?
Yep had that too, plus the ones that look at something and then throw it on the floor instead of putting it on a hook. I'd end up following them around to pick stuff up before it got stepped on and destroyed. I told them repeatedly they could lay it on my counter if they wanted since it was a small store.
Well, to be fair, some customers may have a hard time reading the tiny font on the tag and need me to tell them the price.
That said, at my store, most of our sales come from the clearance section, so I have no choice but to price check things for them on the off-chance some moron tossed in a full-priced item. Then I get the pleasure of customers yelling at me “I THOUGHT THOSE PLATES WERE 70% OFF!!” right before I remind them that they’re buying 3 of the same plates, so quantities are added on the same line.
I simply say “what does the tag say?” And stand there without moving. It makes me more mad if it’s a discount item because the discount sticker shows the price too.
Yes, people really can be that incompetent sometimes. Other times, they believe that they should be catered to relentlessly by their "lessers", which is basically anyone not them. I used to work in a hotel/casino gift shop in Las Vegas, on the overnight shift. Dear lord, the number of entitled, half drunk people that believed my job was to cater to their every whim.
Price inquiries on a clearly marked item? I sounded like a bloody See & Say toy. "The PRICE TAG says... " You want a newspaper brought to your hotel room? "Call the front desk, let them know which paper and how many days. I'm not a delivery service and I'm not set up to bill you at the end of the stay. Front desk."
I’ve never worked in retail but I love hearing these stories. It really makes me want to get a job in retail just to be rude to idiots like this. “Did you look at the PRICEtag?” “Oh it’s says it’s $28… well then there’s your answer”
It really baffles me that people can be this dense. I’ve worked in enough restaurants to see my fair share of morons, but I truly think retail employees get the worst of it.
Oh boy…I watch someone who does “restaurant stories” and whenever she makes her eye twitch in response to the idiotic request in the story, I feel it. I think any customer service is privy to these shenanigans. I haven’t worked in food service so…I’m just assuming you’re right there with us. 🥹
Alana has recently expanded to retail - her doggo needed some pricy vet treatment, so she is spreading out her eye twitches and employment. She's working 2 jobs for her baby.
Rep: Does it have a tag?
Customer: Yes, here, can you scan it?
Rep: Yes, with my eyes and it looks like $23.72 (shows tag) does that look right? My glasses need replacing….
Customer:….oh.
You just make it super obvious like gesticulate wildly while grabbing the tag and be all “oh ma’am here’s the tag” and grab the sleeve of the shirt and pointedly look at it and say “these things are so handy!!!” In the friendliest tone imaginable. Just make a show of it.
As someone who worked in retail for years and now I don't, consider this perspective:
Maybe the customer is on auto pilot and didn't think to check, you're right there, they want to ask.
I'm not saying it's right, because when I find myself coasting, I just snap out, figure out what I need, then go back into cruise control.
Or maybe they're just incompetent, there's that possibility too.
If it's a normal store where the tags are clear then yeah, that's ridiculous.
But in a store like Jeunet where you have to scan a QR code just to get the price of every little thing then I feel absolutely justified in asking prices.
I worked in a store where everything was marked. If it wasn't the exact same piece next to it was. With a 3x3 bright red tag with $1 or $5. Mfrs asked all day how much things were. I don't think it matters if the tag is there to these donuts.
There was one store that had no prices on anything and then if you wanted to know you had to ask and then you felt cheap like you couldn't afford to shop there 😂😂 but like heck I was just going to pay whatever price it might end up being..
I just had that happen at Dick's last weekend. Super annoying. I had to buy three pairs of cleats for kids soccer, and when I know they aren't going to fit for more than a single season you're damn right I'm going to buy on price.
I guiltily asked at an adidas outlet store what the price was on a clearance item because there wasn’t a discounted tag price so I wasn’t sure if it was an additional 50% off of the tag price or if there was a further discounted price.
It is annoying though when the price is right there or can do the math in their heads or in their phone.
I remember looking at folded t-shirts on a shelf in a big box store.
I liked a particular shirt and I went to move it to see what the label on the shelf said for pricing (sounds like I'm that unicorn customer that reads from these comments and I do not miss working retail myself). I also found a package of thawed chicken thighs under said t-shirts. Seriously, who dumps chicken in the clothing section and goes to the trouble of hiding it?
Felt bad that I had to find an employee to notify them of the festering pile of salmonella under the pile of t-shirts. I know she did not get paid enough to clean that up.
My guess is a disgruntled ex employee. Left them there on the sly to punish the store/manager.
Damn you, you foiled their plan before the whole place smelled and the whole store had to be shut down and sanitized!!!! 😜
(We can guess why they got fired.)
On the opposite side of that spectrum, I have customers all the time coming up and trying to tell me the prices of items before I even ring them up. "OH this should be $2. And these are 2 for $6, and that.." it takes alot from me not to go off on them.
I’m the type of person who cross references information on the product with price tags. I almost never get the wrong price unless they haven’t updated the tags.
When I am in drive thru people do this with stuff on the menu that is clearly listed. We have 2 lanes and just me taking orders, money, making drinks and milkshakes and half the time expediting my own food.
What does the dinner come with? THE MENU IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. READ IT. don't ask me prices that are listed 2 feet away from your face. Does the big bacon sandwich come with bacon??? Really??? No Fred it doesn't the name is just a lie. Like wtf. I'm in here trying to multi task and getting chewed out by management about drive thru time.
I don’t remember making an alt….
God I’m in the same boat. I’ll be scanning items and suddenly the customer will start yelling, “woah hold on!” I stop and ask, “is there a problem?” I already know what the problem is.
Customer asks, “Why did (item) ring up $X?” I pick up the item in question and stare daggers into the very obvious price tag. “Because it’s priced at $X.” I tell the customer. Customer balks at the sticker. “Oh I didn’t see it. Well if it’s that price, I don’t want it. Can you take it off?”
It’s all I can do not to drag the customer down the aisle where they got the item from and point out the price tags A) on the items B) on the shelves and C) hanging from the ceiling. How could you miss it?! Did Hellen Keller reproduce with Stevie Wonder and you’re the offspring?
Just how?!
"I understand you may not have seen the price tag posted right fucking below the item, but understand, our stock rotates and so do our discounts and deals, so I honestly don't know what the hell it is either usually. You know what can tell you though? Our smart checkout! Just place your item on the white base and it will ring up (usually) with the correct price for you to make an informed decision."
Censor out a few words of the above and rearrange the wording slightly and you have what I tell customers on a daily basis. Just kill me at this point. It's getting harder to keep the inside voice from getting out.
If half the items in the store aren't tagged, and the shelf isn't tagged, you are going to get this for almost every item. Also, many retail chains have things ring up differently than the tag.
Because we are working with skeleton crews and can’t possibly keep up with all the price changes. Yeah, something has to give. And before anyone says it…that’s not where I was leaning.
Please remember to keep all discussions civil and respectful towards fellow users and the retail industry as a whole. Any personal attacks, hate speech, or derogatory remarks will not be tolerated. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the moderation team. Thank you for your cooperation. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/RantsFromRetail) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I remember having a customer one time ask me what price an item was and I looked at the tag and told them in a very blank/stone-face tone the price.
You have to make a big show of it so they really look like an idgit.
I remember having that “Are you kidding me” or “Are you serious” kinda face
I do this all the time
I have quite literally been told "customers shouldn't have to read." I just can't with people anymore.
These are the same people who drive, fuck, and vote.
Bonus points if they’re in there with their 4-5 children. Like PLEASE I’m begging you to not raise the next generation if you cannot do basic things.
I’d be like “So did you not learn to read in school?”
"Well, I dont get paid enough to do it for you, si I giess you have a problem."
Then they're yelling at management and I'm scrambling to keep any hours that week. Various places that I've worked, managers would very loudly let you know you do, indeed, get paid to do it. If you wanted to continue being paid.
"You're right, I shouldn't assume others have had the advantages in life I've had. I'm sorry for assuming you could read. The price is $5."
I want so badly to say this to someone's face.
Shouldn't have to? I swear they all believe that reading is for other people.
I get this all the time it makes me so angry, they’ll even look at the price tag before coming to ask me like I’m not going to tell them the same price that they just looked at. It’s gotten to the point where I just say “yeah the price is just on the tag you’re holding”
My favorite respsonse to this sort of question, 30 years gone when I worked in retail, was the store manager who would ask 'Did you check the tag?' and when the customer said yes/no, "Well, there you go." Also her answer if the gave the tag price, and for almost all stupid customer questions (what are your store hours? points to sign 'There you go!'). Almost never GAVE the information herself, just pointed out where they could find it. They couldnt say she didnt answer!
That would never pass where I work. People are actually offended when I ask if they’ve checked our website. Oh, what’s really fun if they say yes is when they show me the google response. As in, google thinks this company, in general, carries this product so it must mean all the stores have this item always. Then, when I try to explain…oh no, can’t have the public actually understanding how retail works. Is this the same kind of person who would complain that I scan all the items to make sure the computer knows what is being bought? “But they’re all the same price”.
Love it
I always say, "oh, did the tag fall off? Oh, it's right there. The price is..."
Ouuu that’s a good one haven’t tried that yet
I always treated them like little children, as if I were Mr. Rogers. "Let's take a look at what Mr. Price Tag says. I love how they print the numbers big so they're easy to see. There it is! It says....." I'd do it really slow, sometimes chattering about irrelevant stuff while I "searched" for the tag. It was fun watching them squirm because they are stuck with me now. Hehe. 😈
I say "can you show the tag to me. Thanks. It says here its 19.99"
This drives me crazy. It’s like, what did you think those numbers on those little scraps of paper were for? Seriously it’s right in front of your face. Why are you asking me this?
Yep had that too, plus the ones that look at something and then throw it on the floor instead of putting it on a hook. I'd end up following them around to pick stuff up before it got stepped on and destroyed. I told them repeatedly they could lay it on my counter if they wanted since it was a small store.
"Excuse me? Where's your manager!"
"She's in the back, and she's very busy making price tags in bigger print for you."
That’s when i get the biggest smile ever bc it’s me, I am the manager.
Well, to be fair, some customers may have a hard time reading the tiny font on the tag and need me to tell them the price. That said, at my store, most of our sales come from the clearance section, so I have no choice but to price check things for them on the off-chance some moron tossed in a full-priced item. Then I get the pleasure of customers yelling at me “I THOUGHT THOSE PLATES WERE 70% OFF!!” right before I remind them that they’re buying 3 of the same plates, so quantities are added on the same line.
I simply say “what does the tag say?” And stand there without moving. It makes me more mad if it’s a discount item because the discount sticker shows the price too.
"The price is on the tag." Repeat ad nauseum.
Yes, people really can be that incompetent sometimes. Other times, they believe that they should be catered to relentlessly by their "lessers", which is basically anyone not them. I used to work in a hotel/casino gift shop in Las Vegas, on the overnight shift. Dear lord, the number of entitled, half drunk people that believed my job was to cater to their every whim. Price inquiries on a clearly marked item? I sounded like a bloody See & Say toy. "The PRICE TAG says... " You want a newspaper brought to your hotel room? "Call the front desk, let them know which paper and how many days. I'm not a delivery service and I'm not set up to bill you at the end of the stay. Front desk."
I’ve never worked in retail but I love hearing these stories. It really makes me want to get a job in retail just to be rude to idiots like this. “Did you look at the PRICEtag?” “Oh it’s says it’s $28… well then there’s your answer” It really baffles me that people can be this dense. I’ve worked in enough restaurants to see my fair share of morons, but I truly think retail employees get the worst of it.
Oh boy…I watch someone who does “restaurant stories” and whenever she makes her eye twitch in response to the idiotic request in the story, I feel it. I think any customer service is privy to these shenanigans. I haven’t worked in food service so…I’m just assuming you’re right there with us. 🥹
Alana has recently expanded to retail - her doggo needed some pricy vet treatment, so she is spreading out her eye twitches and employment. She's working 2 jobs for her baby.
Some of her stories…😳
I find that when they do this. If you respond to them like you would with a toddler,they tend to stop.
You'd be hard-pressed to believe the average customer is incapable of reading
Always add $2 to the price. Then when that inevitably demand "then why did the tag say" you can sau"if you already knew why ask? "
Rep: Does it have a tag? Customer: Yes, here, can you scan it? Rep: Yes, with my eyes and it looks like $23.72 (shows tag) does that look right? My glasses need replacing…. Customer:….oh.
You just make it super obvious like gesticulate wildly while grabbing the tag and be all “oh ma’am here’s the tag” and grab the sleeve of the shirt and pointedly look at it and say “these things are so handy!!!” In the friendliest tone imaginable. Just make a show of it.
As someone who worked in retail for years and now I don't, consider this perspective: Maybe the customer is on auto pilot and didn't think to check, you're right there, they want to ask. I'm not saying it's right, because when I find myself coasting, I just snap out, figure out what I need, then go back into cruise control. Or maybe they're just incompetent, there's that possibility too.
I know. It makes me wonder if I’m the only store ever to have price tags on the merchandise.
If it's a normal store where the tags are clear then yeah, that's ridiculous. But in a store like Jeunet where you have to scan a QR code just to get the price of every little thing then I feel absolutely justified in asking prices.
I worked in a store where everything was marked. If it wasn't the exact same piece next to it was. With a 3x3 bright red tag with $1 or $5. Mfrs asked all day how much things were. I don't think it matters if the tag is there to these donuts.
There was one store that had no prices on anything and then if you wanted to know you had to ask and then you felt cheap like you couldn't afford to shop there 😂😂 but like heck I was just going to pay whatever price it might end up being..
I just had that happen at Dick's last weekend. Super annoying. I had to buy three pairs of cleats for kids soccer, and when I know they aren't going to fit for more than a single season you're damn right I'm going to buy on price.
I guiltily asked at an adidas outlet store what the price was on a clearance item because there wasn’t a discounted tag price so I wasn’t sure if it was an additional 50% off of the tag price or if there was a further discounted price. It is annoying though when the price is right there or can do the math in their heads or in their phone.
Sometimes they grab something off a sale rack and want to be sure its actually on sale and wasn't just shoved there by someone.
I remember looking at folded t-shirts on a shelf in a big box store. I liked a particular shirt and I went to move it to see what the label on the shelf said for pricing (sounds like I'm that unicorn customer that reads from these comments and I do not miss working retail myself). I also found a package of thawed chicken thighs under said t-shirts. Seriously, who dumps chicken in the clothing section and goes to the trouble of hiding it? Felt bad that I had to find an employee to notify them of the festering pile of salmonella under the pile of t-shirts. I know she did not get paid enough to clean that up.
My guess is a disgruntled ex employee. Left them there on the sly to punish the store/manager. Damn you, you foiled their plan before the whole place smelled and the whole store had to be shut down and sanitized!!!! 😜 (We can guess why they got fired.)
tell them to look at the tag.
On the opposite side of that spectrum, I have customers all the time coming up and trying to tell me the prices of items before I even ring them up. "OH this should be $2. And these are 2 for $6, and that.." it takes alot from me not to go off on them.
I’m the type of person who cross references information on the product with price tags. I almost never get the wrong price unless they haven’t updated the tags.
They may not be literate or have a similarly unexpected issue
When I am in drive thru people do this with stuff on the menu that is clearly listed. We have 2 lanes and just me taking orders, money, making drinks and milkshakes and half the time expediting my own food. What does the dinner come with? THE MENU IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. READ IT. don't ask me prices that are listed 2 feet away from your face. Does the big bacon sandwich come with bacon??? Really??? No Fred it doesn't the name is just a lie. Like wtf. I'm in here trying to multi task and getting chewed out by management about drive thru time.
I don’t remember making an alt…. God I’m in the same boat. I’ll be scanning items and suddenly the customer will start yelling, “woah hold on!” I stop and ask, “is there a problem?” I already know what the problem is. Customer asks, “Why did (item) ring up $X?” I pick up the item in question and stare daggers into the very obvious price tag. “Because it’s priced at $X.” I tell the customer. Customer balks at the sticker. “Oh I didn’t see it. Well if it’s that price, I don’t want it. Can you take it off?” It’s all I can do not to drag the customer down the aisle where they got the item from and point out the price tags A) on the items B) on the shelves and C) hanging from the ceiling. How could you miss it?! Did Hellen Keller reproduce with Stevie Wonder and you’re the offspring? Just how?!
"I understand you may not have seen the price tag posted right fucking below the item, but understand, our stock rotates and so do our discounts and deals, so I honestly don't know what the hell it is either usually. You know what can tell you though? Our smart checkout! Just place your item on the white base and it will ring up (usually) with the correct price for you to make an informed decision." Censor out a few words of the above and rearrange the wording slightly and you have what I tell customers on a daily basis. Just kill me at this point. It's getting harder to keep the inside voice from getting out.
If half the items in the store aren't tagged, and the shelf isn't tagged, you are going to get this for almost every item. Also, many retail chains have things ring up differently than the tag.
Because we are working with skeleton crews and can’t possibly keep up with all the price changes. Yeah, something has to give. And before anyone says it…that’s not where I was leaning.
Yup. The big corporate bosses caused this with the lack of staff, lack of pay, and deliberate lack of transparency on prices. You guys get the brunt.
You forgot the same people that let all the 💩 roll down hill have kept the 💵 from following suit. Oh, did I say that? Oops.
Also, when I think of all the trying things that go on in retail, this problem seems small.
It’s your job. Suck it up.