Snooty Macy's Saleswoman

Chai wrote:

....I literally shut down and stop comprehending what the other person is saying, and if they point at something and I look at it, it's just kind of a blind stare and I'm not really seeing anything. Sort of like a rabbit when it feels threatened I guess.

So what you're saying, is you've done a lot of acid?

When I sold used cars, I never had to deal with rude customers. Because people LOVE dealing with car salesmen. Sometimes I felt like a celebrity, because everyone just wanted to talk to me, and pay full asking price. Everyone is just so nice.

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I was thinking before about what some people here have said about rude sales people, and the fact they either went to the manager and reported them, then letting them know they were reported. Or the telling them they'll go elsewhere, then coming back with the product and showing them.. Confused

I dunno...that just seems sort of....well, "nanny nanny boo boo...I told on you" or "ha ha, look what I got, and not from youuuuu......"

In the case of the grocery girl, for instance.

Yeah, she's probably a part time school kid, but this could be a learning opportunity for her.

If she was complaining about her boss...I more would have said..."you know, I'm not one to go and tell your boss what you're saying about him while you're working.....but you never know what the next person in line will do. You're boss could walk over here any time and ask you why you're complaining about him in front of customers."

Nimh's right...she IS a kid, and pretty much never considered someone would report her. Warning her like that might plant a seed.

As far as her being a kid working as a cashier....I remember a few years ago there was a kid working the register at my local supermarket...not to sound all pollyanna, but this kid was the damned best cashier I'd ever seen. Pleasant, professional for his age, friendly but not overly so....I mean, he was maybe 17 and already knew to anticipate the customers needs. I said to him once something like..."wow, you're really good at your job, you must like it." He just simply said "yes, I really do"

Within a few months I didn't see him behind the register any more...figured he'd moved on. Then, there he was....the shift manager of the store...must have been all of 18 by that time.

**** and I'll tell ya, he had people hustling.
Haven't seen him for a bit, I'm sure he's moved up. Wonder what he'll be doing when he's no longer a kid.

As far as the going back and letting them know you bought something somewhere else, and it was because of THEM...well, I guess they're thinking the same thing Bear had mentioned..."I don't need their crumbs, she's just a stupid "c word", fine with me she went somewhere else.

If you're gonna take your business elsewhere, sure, tell them, but then let it go....as for the "I don't need their crumbs", well, what about the crumbs of anyone I tell about my bad experience?

There's that old adage, I don't know if it's true, something about if you're happy with a sales person you might tell one person, if you're unhappy you'll tell 5 or 10.

Honestly? I try to be the person that tells 5 people about the good experience I had, AND I'm not at all shy about telling the actual sales person, or his boss, how good they are.

We seem to be polarized around "rude sales staff, rude customers" In truth, I don't want to make a sales person think I'm rude....BUT....since part of a sales job is reading people, I believe a really really good sales person can take a look at someone walking in the store, and start to size them up as to how to approach them.

If they say something to them, and the customer does even the most subtle thing indicating they are being approached incorrectly, then the Sales Person needs to figure out what they need to change right then to get the whole thing back on track...and that might very well mean NOT trying to be clever, or sarcastic, funny or pushy.

For as short a time as it may last, it's a relationship that's being developed. I mean, there's 2 of you....The customer obviously isn't going to be the one to try to court the salesman in ordered to be allowed to spend their money there. It's up the the salesman to get on the right side of the customer, if possible.

There are customers out there who do walk in and are immediately rude. I've seen that happen as an innocent bystander, and realized nothing had happened to make them act that way....HOWEVER....That is really not at all common. When a customer turns rude, it's more often that the sales person is trying to force the customer to into his ideal of how a customer should act.

Bears right, sales people shouldn't be treated like **** for no reason, but they are working, and need to have the people skills to treat the customer in such a way that makes customer feel pretty good. Not with false compliments or bouncing off the wall good cheer. Just by making them feel comfortable and at home.

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Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:

Chai wrote:
....I literally shut down and stop comprehending what the other person is saying, and if they point at something and I look at it, it's just kind of a blind stare and I'm not really seeing anything. Sort of like a rabbit when it feels threatened I guess.

So what you're saying, is you've done a lot of acid?

Slappy, if that sounded off the wall to you, then so be it. If it's because I'd done a lot of acid, so what?

What? Am I supposed to apologize because when I'm confronted I shut down?

And hey, you Chose to be a used car salesman. No one held a gun to your head.

Which came first, the pushy a$$hole used carsalesman, or the a$$hole customer?

Doesn't matter if it's a little of both, it's your job to present yourself in such a way that doesn't make the customer shut down.

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I was kidding, Chai.

Yes, I chose to be a used car salesman, and made almost double what my friends of the same age were making. It was a fun job that got me the experience to make a nice step up.

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I'm....I'm shutting down....

sorry dave....I don't thing I can let you do that.....

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Only if I was in a bad mood, I would have gone back to show them my new item from another store.

My way of venting, I guess. I think I did that once and I was in a nasty mood.

I've actually had pretty good experiences with sales people and only get annoyed when they linger and watch me, but this doesn't happen often, so all is good.

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I wasn't really trying to direct that specifically at you Montana, or anyone actually.

It was a "just in general" observation.

I know where it comes from too.....my mother.....

My mother's favorite thing to do in the world was to "show them" as in "I'll show them" or "I'll put them in their place"

that just always seemed so self defeating.

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Yeah, I see your point. I just tend to like to vent my anger somehow at someone who treats me like crap and then be able to walk away without it lingering inside me.

Sometimes the beast must be released Laughing

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One thing that really gets me is when the sales staff is on the phone helping someone and refuses to help the people standing in front of them.

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squinney wrote:

This is the way we treat people in the service industry.

And, yet, we often long for the days of real service, gas station attendants, coat takers, waiters that lit your cig for you... What a bunch of no class, self centered jerks we've become.

Are our lives really that unbearable that we can't take a moment to be kind?

That is exactly the point I was trying to make - however, you said it much more nicely than I did.

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Chai wrote:

Linkat wrote:
It's the tone - not the answer - the tone in your comment comes through even without hearing the words. From how you state it - I would envision you would would answer with a sarcastic tone - that is the tone your written word is and voicing it would only emphasize it.

Obviously you wouldn't say No thanks in response, but what is wrong with an answer to "what brought you in today"? To say - just looking around, thank you.

So if you are thinking to yourself and some one says How are you? Are you thrown off your train of thought? The salesman was simply giving a greeting, not asking some deep seeded thought? I have been given similar questions before when entering a store and it didn't cause me to forget some deep thought - but I am very bright so maybe that is why.

Well linkat, the way you envision me answering the question "furniture" is actually totally wrong.

You're very bright? Good. So am I. But I do get distracted from my thoughts when asked a question that I really can't answer without sounding as obvious as the person asking it. It someone asks a question, I'm going to try to answer what is asked.

That said, if any type of sales person just keeps pushing and pushing to start some type of conversation, I just shut down. I'm not trying to be rude....I literally shut down and stop comprehending what the other person is saying, and if they point at something and I look at it, it's just kind of a blind stare and I'm not really seeing anything. Sort of like a rabbit when it feels threatened I guess. I can't wait until they leave, and then, it might take me the next 10 minutes to bring my surroundings back into focus.
heh...I never put this into words before...a revelation for me. I realize now that when I get that way, I really will need time to get it together, and will have to go back over the racks of clothes or whatever, because I have no idea what I'd been pushing down the rack.

So...don't be so sure a customer is being rude, service people, maybe you're just not striking the right chord. Try playing in a different key. One size does not fit all.

I was trying to make a statement by saying I am bright - see how the tone comes across? I never said you were not bright. All I said was that I was bright - perhaps a poor way of making a point, however, tone can come out differently than how you intend.

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Some sales clerk says that to me and one tenth of a second later, I say, "May I see a manager, please." That sounds like something that would be inappropriate enough to get a clerk fired.

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cjhsa wrote:

One thing that really gets me is when the sales staff is on the phone helping someone and refuses to help the people standing in front of them.

That bugs me too. I think they should set someone up in an office somewhere with a phone to answer all customer questions.
It totally ticks me off when I took the time and paid for the gas to get there, and while I'm trying to explain what I need, the phone rings and it's "excuse me for a moment", while they finish talking with whoever called in the middle of them helping me.
I've walked out of stores right pissed off just for this reason. It's rude and I have better things to do than to hang around a store all day waiting for them to get off the phone.

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Montana wrote:

cjhsa wrote:
One thing that really gets me is when the sales staff is on the phone helping someone and refuses to help the people standing in front of them.

That bugs me too. I think they should set someone up in an office somewhere with a phone to answer all customer questions.
It totally ticks me off when I took the time and paid for the gas to get there, and while I'm trying to explain what I need, the phone rings and it's "excuse me for a moment", while they finish talking with whoever called in the middle of them helping me.
I've walked out of stores right pissed off just for this reason. It's rude and I have better things to do than to hang around a store all day waiting for them to get off the phone.

This is becoming more and more common. In some stores clerks wear headsets so they can answer phone calls while dealing face to face with customers while stocking shelves as well as being available to answer questions while in the stock room (or even while on a lunch break). It's yet another example of businesses wanting multi-tasking from employees paid the minimum. If you don't like it don't complain to the employee, complain to the manager. (If they're taking personal calls while leaving you standing around that's another thing.)

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I don't blame the employees and I know what the problem is. My beef is with the store owners who are too stupid to realize how many customers they lose due to this.

Up until recently, I've been getting my gas and little daily stuff at a gas station/store that is closest to my home. The owner of the station/store is a great guy and always very friendly, but the man truly needs to get his priorities strait.
I began to dred going to his store because of the wait time. I usually pay with my bank card, which means the phone line needs to be clear for them to run the card and I can't count the times he's there on the phone for several minutes while I'm trying not to be late for work.
Work or no work, I hate waiting in a line at stores because I've got many other things that need to be done.
The phone thing wasn't the only thing with him. He likes to talk a lot and as much as I like the guy, again, I've got stuff to do and don't have time to chat all day.
If I get to the counter and he sees someone pull up to a gas pump, I have to wait for him to run out and pump the gas for a customer who was there after me.

Now, the guy wonders where I've been Rolling Eyes

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That's the very reason I hate call waiting Montana...same principle.

You're talking to someone, but business, and they get a signal there's another call. All of a sudden you're secondary and can just sit there and wait while another conversation takes place.

I'll wait a maximum of 15 seconds before hanging up, that's more than enough time for the person to tell the new caller they're on the other line, and will call them back.

If they take longer than that, I'm going to assume I'm not that important to them, or, if I'm in a generous mood, figure they are talking to someone who's having a heart attack.

When I've had the person call me back....later....sometimes MUCH later...they'll say "Hey, you hung up" I have no problem telling them I'm not going to sit on hold and be 2nd choice.

I don't even know why people use call waiting. Oh, they'll say it's if there's an emergency with the kids or something, but how often is that? If someones calling to tell you your kids on the way to the hospital, they'll keep calling.....operators CAN break into calls for real emergencies.

When I call a business, I don't mind being on hold for a while, and if it's too long, I'll call back.

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Chai wrote:

I was thinking before about what some people here have said about rude sales people, and the fact they either went to the manager and reported them, then letting them know they were reported. Or the telling them they'll go elsewhere, then coming back with the product and showing them..

I dunno...that just seems sort of....well, "nanny nanny boo boo...I told on you" or "ha ha, look what I got, and not from youuuuu......"

In the case of the grocery girl, for instance.

Yeah, she's probably a part time school kid, but this could be a learning opportunity for her.

If she was complaining about her boss...I more would have said..."you know, I'm not one to go and tell your boss what you're saying about him while you're working.....but you never know what the next person in line will do. You're boss could walk over here any time and ask you why you're complaining about him in front of customers."

Nimh's right...she IS a kid, and pretty much never considered someone would report her. Warning her like that might plant a seed.

As far as her being a kid working as a cashier....I remember a few years ago there was a kid working the register at my local supermarket...not to sound all pollyanna, but this kid was the damned best cashier I'd ever seen. Pleasant, professional for his age, friendly but not overly so....I mean, he was maybe 17 and already knew to anticipate the customers needs. I said to him once something like..."wow, you're really good at your job, you must like it." He just simply said "yes, I really do"

Within a few months I didn't see him behind the register any more...figured he'd moved on. Then, there he was....the shift manager of the store...must have been all of 18 by that time.

Regarding the grocery clerk; she was probably about 20-21 or so, had a definite 'attitude' and the woman (her boss) that she was endlessly complaining about has been at that store for 10 years (since it opened.)
I shop there at least twice a week and had never seen this young woman before.
Therefore, she was out of line. I feel that as a customer in that store, I shouldn't have to put up with incessant whining from the employees! That's what I told the manager.
Their job is to make my shopping experience as pleasant as possible so that I will continue to spend my $$$$$$ in their store rather than the one down the street.

I thought that my lack of response, except to ask if she was referring to her supervisor, would signal to her that I was not in agreement.
However, she just continued jabbering until she handed me my receipt.
I hope this was a learning experience for her. Maybe next time she'll think twice.

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Chai wrote:

I'll wait a maximum of 15 seconds before hanging up, that's more than enough time for the person to tell the new caller they're on the other line, and will call them back.

ditto, with an emphasis on maximum. Usually, I simply hang up.

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Chai, I'm another who doesn't like call waiting and being put on hold when I'm on the phone with someone.
I'm the worst when it comes to waiting when it could be prevented. Around here people love to talk and it doesn't seem to matter to them at all that there's a line up at their counter, because their coversation is obviously much more important.
There are several stores I won't go into because of this and the owners just don't seem to get it.

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As far as happycat's comment - How else is the manager supposed to know that the employee is not being professional - I don't think such a situation would deem the employee to be fired (unless there are many complaints), but an opportunity to train the employee correctly.

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