This summer, I'm working two jobs. One has yet to start - my boss needs to make sure I can actually tell the stories before I start work as a Ghost Tour Guide. (I turned the contract in two weeks ago, but my costume has to come in before I do my tour review).
The other job has already started - I'm working at my local Bath and Body Works a few times a week. Before starting work at Bath and Body Works, I wasn't sure whether those Retail Horror Stories were true. You know the ones - where customers are horrible and demand refunds or exchanges on items that can't be returned or exchanged and throw a fit when they can't have their way because the item WILL NOT SCAN INTO RETURNS.
Though nothing like that has happened to me yet, I now fully believe in the shopper's capability to do something like that. I only have two major stories from the two weeks I have worked at Bath and Body Works (both happened on the same day), but I'm only telling one.
Before I start, let me state two things:
Firstly, in regards to what I said earlier about Retail Horror Stories, I am fully aware that frustration can run high when you can't get your money back on something that won't get used. Please do not take it out on the checkout person. It is not their fault. They do not make store policy. Please be polite and try to gift it to someone or donate the item if it can't be returned.
Secondly, in regard to the story I'm about to tell: In the event of a WICKED AWESOME DEAL, I am no stranger to the desire to buy ALL THE SALE ITEMS, especially if it's a store I love. If something I kind of like is 75% off, I completely identify with the desire to buy a dozen in my size/ color/ scent/ whatever.
HOWEVER, please be respectful of the store's hours.
It was my first real day on the job; on Sunday night (10:00 PM - 6:00 AM), I had been assigned to set the floor for semi-annual sale, and then I got scheduled from 5:00-closing on Monday, the first day of semi-annual sale.
One lady was very excited about smaller candles only being $2.50. She came in at around 7:30 or 8:00, amid a crowd of others. I checked in on everyone, guided people to sales, answered a few questions. A few people from the group had bought two or three items apiece by 8:30 and went on their way. Reasonable things.
Store hours officially close at 9:00, so the manager and I have time to close up and actually get home at a reasonable hour, especially since we both had pulled an all-night shift.
Candle Lady walks up at around 8:50 with 50 candles, and a request to scan three coupons that got $10 off a sale of $40. These coupons don't stack, so I had to ring up three different $40 sales. Many of the candles also were still scanning as the original price, so I had to override each one individually.
This order took around half an hour to scan up, which means we had to stay open half an hour longer than we needed to.
The moral of this story: if you want to get a fantastic deal, definitely do it. If you have the need to buy 50 candles in the same order in-store, please plan your visit so you don't walk up to the register 10 minutes before closing.
I've learned a lot about how to interact with people and talk to people first - usually, I'm not that person, but I have to be if I want to make a sale.
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