Sunday, 05 July 2009
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The Do's and Don'ts of Department Store Shopping
If you're like me, you like to shop. Or at least, you DO shop. Either way, you must spend some amount of time in a department store.
Now I'll admit, before I took this job at my local TJMaxx, I was just an everyday, normal shopper. I have been guilty of several of these transgressions during the 19 years I've been shopping. (Yes, I've been shopping since infancy. I loved grabbing shoes off the shelves when I was in stores with my mother.) But in the almost month I've been a sales associate, I've realized just how many things any shopper does can further complicate the job a sales associate has to do. Thus, I've compiled a list of the do's and don'ts of department store shopping.
DO try and find an item with a price tag attached. If it isn't the right color you are looking for, bring both items to the register with you, and we can check you out with the item you want. If you can't find another item of the same, ask an associate on the floor to help you out. We can do price check runs from the register, but just know that it will take time; 5-10 minutes at least, so don't get upset with the cashier because you have to wait. We are going as fast as we can, and doing the best we can with the resources we have.
DON'T ditch half your cart at the cash register. Know exactly what you plan on purchasing before you get to the register and before we have completely rung you out. Now, I don't mean if you have gone over-budget and you need to remove one or two items. That's not a big deal. I mean coming up with a cart load of things and then deciding as you are being rung out that you don't want every other item you have with you. That causes unnecessary items behind the counter and takes away valuable time from the sales team that could be used to help serve you and our store better and more efficiently.
DO put things back where you got them. So you think that top is cute but want to take a better look? Go ahead, take it off the rack and look. But if you decide it's not for you, for goodness sake PUT IT BACK where you found it. That goes for anything, anywhere in the store. And please, don't carry a million things around the store and then drop them all in a pile in an unrelated department. There is nothing more annoying to a sales associate than having to spend two hours doing recovery, picking up juniors clothes strewn all throughout the home department. Just please, have some respect for our store and for us. We want your shopping experience to be easy and enjoyable, but it can't be if your associates are spending all their time cleaning up after you and your fellow shoppers.
DON'T use the kids/toys department as a daycare for your children. By all means, bring your children to the store with you. But please, keep an eye on them. Don't send them to wreak havoc throughout the toy section while you shop for shoes across the store. Sales associates are not babysitters, and cannot be blamed for any trouble your children get into. We want your children to be safe, but accidents do happen, and if you aren't watching them, it is more likely your child could get hurt. No one wants to see that happen. Just use common sense when you take your children shopping with you.
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Now these guidelines are good for use in any store, whether it be a Wal-Mart, a Macy's, or even just your local grocery store. Not only is it just good practice, and respectful of the store you are visiting, but following these simple tips will help all of us sales associates help you, the customer, have a more pleasant shopping experience.
Are any of you guilty of these shopping transgressions? Have any of you experienced a change in the way you shop because you have worked retail? What else would you add to this list?
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- From: Allyson_Singsxo@xanga
- Name: Allyson
- Location: Jamestown, New York, United States
- About Me: allyson rae. 19. freshman music major. I'm a daughter. I'm a sister. I'm a friend. Give me a pillow, a blanket, some junk food & a House marathon, & I'm happy. Give me your heart, & I'll love you forever.
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Comments (82)
I've been a cashier and a layaway associate so this is the freaking gospel to me. Spread the message, please!
Sometimes now, I'll bring an unticketed item up to the register without checking. If the baby is being civil, I'll take it right back to where I got it. If not, I tell them not to worry about it. Nothing worse than having a customer hold up your line to the point where they leave and there are 20 people waiting. Agony.
argh thanks so much for this list!
I didn't work in a department store, though I did work at Bakers, and we would have parents come in who let their kids run through the store and decide the $150 pair of boots were their own personal toys and knock them all over the place...among other things. Retail ain't no recess, ladies and gents.
i hate it when kids run around and scream in stores. -3-''
Lol this was a good list
just go to http://www.paid-to-read-email.com/?ref=683 and youll have enough money for the department store
Sometimes after I try on clothes, I even take what I'm not buying and place them exactly where I got them from, rather than leaving them for the dressing room attendant to take care of. I know it's their job, but I'd like to think it helps them out a little bit.
i've been guilty of the first one. sometimes it's hard to notice if there isn't a tag on something. and i work at a grocery store where everything has barcodes already on it lol. i'm surprised you only came up with 3 things. i have like a list of 50 do's and don'ts for shopping at a grocery store. some people can be so stupid lol.
hahaha "DON'T ditch half your cart at the cash register." who does that?!? i guess people must if you felt it needed to be added to the list of don'ts. some people, no shame!
wow, i wish had that guy's name tag.
there's a different mindset that people seem to take when they enter a store. some think that they can leave their trash for us to throw away or think they don't have to pick up after themselves because it's the employee's job.
i also work at a TJX Company, so i know how you feel.
i've heard from one of my coworkers that some customers like to snag or pull on the clothing in inconspicuous places and think that they will get a discount. my coworker looks at it, lays the shirt on the table and flattens it out. fixed, and no discount was given, lol
AMEN TO YOU.
I've been working at a department store [which I won't disclose] for about four months now and can agree with every single item on your list. I'd like to add, however, 'DON'T get mad at an associate for asking questions. As a part of their job, they're likely required to ask you if you'd like coupons through email, if you want to sign up for a credit card, and/or if you will fill out a customer satisfaction survey of some sort. It's a legal thing; the associate can't ask one person and refuse to ask another, or it defies the idea of treating all customers equally, and some people enthusiastically appreciate the opportunities mentioned, so if you have to stand there for several extra questions, don't get impatient. You should expect that if you're going to shop in a department store these days.'
and:
'DON'T leave your shopping to a time when you're in a hurry. Nothing is more frustrating for you OR for the sales associate than you watching them scramble to ring your items up correctly and them listening to you say, "I have somewhere to be, can we keep this moving?" Go shopping WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. Don't wait until fifteen minutes before your kid's band concert to buy him dress slacks; you should know in advance, and it'll save everyone a lot of hassle and a lot of impatience and a lot of unhappiness if you plan ahead.'
hahaha there is my miniature rant. :) Thank you, original author!
I work at a toy store. I see all of these and more. Thanks!
this is so funny. I use to work at armani exchange (I've worked at a lot of other retail stores too) and this one night when we were closing, he was like, ya know what? what if instead of mandatory military service, we had mandatory retail service? like how much of a difference do you think that would be? we were totally joking of course but now you know what we go through.
@TheLovelyVulpecula@xanga - that's incredibly considerate of you. I'm sure teh associates wherever you shop are very grateful :)
@Incredible_Edible_Erin@xanga - I especially hate when you're halfway through your required credit card offer an dthey CUT YOU OFF! Then you just trail into a stupefied "oookay then." & it's awkward. grr. & I agree wholeheartedly with the shopping in a rush thing. If I didn't need this job, I'd be tempted to say "If you don't have the time to be shopping right now, I'd suggest you just turn around and walk away right now. Don't tell me to hurry up or i'll punch you :) Thanks."
@RandomxBlinkingxLight@xanga - It's not people with unticketed items that annoy me. I don't mind calling for price checks. It's those customers with unticketed items that get mad at ME because they have to wait for a price check. And then get mad because it's the last item in the store like it, so we have to price it using a similar item, and they think we're just trying to rip them off.
I've been in retail for 3 years and this past weekend I was thinking someone needs to write a blog like this! There are so many pet peeves. The list is endless! You wouldn't think something like "Do not use a fitting room as a bathroom" should be on there, but it has happened many times! Gross.
I've only been guilty of one and that's not putting items back where they belong. Most I've ever set down at once is like 5 or 6 things but nothing more. I mean come on, why would I want to spend my time putting them back when employees can do it since it's part of their job... well the janitors at least but still...
This makes me just think of the list of things I could say being a grocery store cashier and most of yours are along my lines. Like people who leave things at the end of my register in the magazine racks which I find later during my shift because we do get busy, it's not that hard to say I don't want this and hand it to us and we put it at the end of the register and call the department up to pick it up. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with customers.
add this:
if you're bringing many coupons make sure
1. they're not expired
2. you have the product
there is literally a case in which we denied a lady service after 3 years of her holding up the line
let me explain what she'd do
she'd bring a full cart to the grocery line, frozen products included, and just unload literally a plastic bag full of coupons.
none of the coupons were products she had bought, she wouldn't take "this coupon won't work" for an answer, instead she would just reply "no" until you'd have to take out all of the products out of her cart that she didn't get 50 cents off with coupons, which mind you all of the products have already defrosted at this point. the great part of it was she couldn't speak much english and the child she brought with her would always start crying 10 minutes into it knocking over the keyboard of the cash register
I've never worked at a department store, but my old job as a food service worker is very similar. My biggest pet peeve was definitely kids. Parents or camp group leaders would ditch their kids after bringing them in the cafeteria, and the kids would just grab food and not be able to pay for it. We had to throw it all out since it was unwrapped and whatnot. They'd also sit and ask us the price of EVERYTHING even though the prices were like two feet from their heads. They'd ask us to borrow money when they couldn't afford $2.00 french fries, and they'd ask what they could get for a dollar (which we sold nothing for a dollar) and they'd throw a temper tantrum. One year, we had a kid get a soda then realized he didn't have $2.50 for a large. Another kid came up to him and puched him in the face, knocking his drink everywhere and giving the kid a black eye (mind you, these kids were like six or seven). He also managed to call the poor kid a "Fucker" and so forth. The public in general is a force that I choose to no longer reckon with at the moment; I can't stand rude tourists, whiny bratty kids, or inconsiderate teenagers who can't appriciate staff who work for minimum wage.
I work at a local hardware store in my town, and ive noticed that many a people purchase items and when theyre being checked out they grad another item and put it up for purchasing. That bugs the crap out of me. But hey its my job.
Great! This will surely help! Thanks. :D
i'm considerate when i shop, even though i've never worked retail, because it just seems to me that it'd be a pain in the ass finding a random thing on the wrong shelf and having to put it back where it belongs... and then doing that all day long. i was just raised that way. my grandma used to put clothes back on the original racks after trying them on, even if there was a rack in the dressing room area for that!
I worked at a Ross for a year, and let me just say, Amen! I would also add:
1. Don't leave your used tampon in the dressing room
2. Don't hold up a pair of pants and ask me if I have one just like it, except in a different size and style. I'm not shopping - you are. Go look.
3. It's not my fault your credit card was denied. Call you bank.
4. Say thank you. You have no idea how that can make the day of one tired cashier, or how many people she will touch with the smile you brought to her face.
~ L
a price check has never taken more than 2 seconds. Sales associates are getting ridiculously lazy these days. The cashiers at walmart huff and puff when they have to ring up coupons.
I was a sales associate for 2 years at Linens N Things before the company went out of business. I hate to say it, but it is your job to be there to deal with the b.s. you listed in your blog. People will never stop putting things back in the wrong place, or forgetting their checkbooks in their car and then not coming back to buy their cartload of things they don't need. Your job as a sales associate is to do the grunt work, to be frustrated. You are there to help your valued customer get whatever they want and have a smile slapped on your face the whole time. You just have to suck it up and deal with it.
I've never worked in a store, but I have been a volunteer in several different venues, so I try to be as considerate as possible, because I know what it's like to be on the other side.
That's why it always makes me mad when my dad gets upset with sales people for whatever reason. 95% of the time it's not their fault.