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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to think that most people would know I HAVE to ask these questions?

84 replies

Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:10

I work for a well known chain which used to have a very good loyalty system. Ahem. It's not so great at the moment. One of the things I have to ask at the till is "Do you have a membership card?". Most normal people will say yes or no. Some people insist on quite angrily telling me why there's no point in using their card, and it's rubbish and they've been let down, etc etc. "Why do you idiots even bother asking this?" was a gem from tonight.

I just work there. I have to ask this question. Just "no" would do, surely. I am just a shop assistant.

OP posts:
TeracottaTurtle · 27/09/2014 01:23

The general stupidity of people never fails to amaze me.

I used to work in Next when I was in college. I would get people asking me if x was in stock in a different size...off i'd go to the stock room...nope, none.

So i'd go back and apologise, tell them I could order it. Most people were fine, but around 1 in 10 would go off on one. Why wasn't it in stock. It was ridiculous that stock was so low in such a popular size. How did I think that we would keep customers going back with such poor availability. One woman demanded that I give her a reason to keep shopping with us and not go elsewhere.

Seriously love, I just work here. I couldn't give a fuck if you ever come back or not Hmm

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:28

Quite. I don't actually care if you have a membership card. I care about getting sacked if I don't ask. And I don't do crystal meth, so it's not my fault ;)

OP posts:
PetulaGordino · 27/09/2014 01:32

people are strange

mind you, the company does seem to have completely run out of croissants in the last few weeks. i usually pick some up for a regular breakfast meeting a couple of times a week and there have been none. i tried all three within a mile of the office

obviously it's entirely the fault of the staff on the shop floor Wink

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:33

Have you tried asking for some meth? I gather there's a large surplus out back... Grin

OP posts:
PetulaGordino · 27/09/2014 01:35

good idea. should get the meeting off to a flying start

DancingDinosaur · 27/09/2014 01:37

Aww, and I thought staff really cared when I say I've forgotten my tesco club card Sad

MrsTerryPratchett · 27/09/2014 01:38

When you are on the tills or in the shop, you are the 'face' of the company. Your company should be giving you the chance to feedback customer views, profit share so that you are invested in the service you offer and incentivising you to really care about what you are doing.

The fact that most companies are utterly shit at this and treat you like crap whilst paying you minimum wage and telling you to find a new job if you don't ask stupid questions is the issue. Not the customer, who can't get to your plonker boss and their twunt CEO.

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:38

Oh, and since I'm on one, "Your uniforms are so horrible. I hate them. They look like plastic".

Try wearing one then. (Although they're actually terribly easy to wash and need minimal ironing...)

OP posts:
ElephantsNeverForgive · 27/09/2014 01:41

Yes, we know you have to ask your stupid questions, but can't you just ask them really quickly, while taking our money. You can see when we are in a hurry because we have kids to fetch or don't want to spend another hour on the car park.

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:45

Well. I don't draw it out. I say, "Do you have a membership card?" and then you are allowed to say whatever you like, but "Yes" or "No" is probably the most time efficient and practical way of going about things, I would think.

OP posts:
DancingDinosaur · 27/09/2014 01:46

I don't think the question takes that long does it? Barely a couple of seconds. Would that make you late for picking up kids or getting to the car park? What if theres a queue? Sounds like time management is an issue. Wink

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:47

X post Grin

OP posts:
daisychain01 · 27/09/2014 05:09

Caff I can understand your frustration, esp as its part of your job and people could be a bit nicer about how they answer you.

On another point, I admit I do get frustrated at M&S when pretty much every pair of trousers is in sizes like 8 or 16 and nothing in between. I ask the assistance to feedback to their management that no I don't want to "go online" and buy my size or order it in store and wait 4 days, if .i have made a special trip to buy some clothes that day. I say all this politely and constructively but honestly, in today's world of automated stock control there is no excuse for not having the right sizes.

I reckon shops lose £MMM in impulse purchases because the right sizes arent in store.

Seriously love, I just work here. I couldn't give a fuck if you ever come back or not

When I read this I thought, this attitude is the difference between a company succeeding or failing! Maybe the store manager should be reminding staff that if customers don't come back,you're out of a job!

Babyleopard23 · 27/09/2014 06:06

I know exactly what you mean.
When I was at college I worked at Iceland for a year and they had a membership card system. It was constantly drilled in to us that we must ask for this card for every customer and they could see how many we had swiped each shift, and if we hadn't swiped enough we would be in trouble and need a good excuse why.

So even people such as young school kids coming in to buy sweets etc we still had to ask, and they always looked at you like Hmm

Sapat · 27/09/2014 06:27

daisy availability at M&S drives me insane too. So often I go in to buy something and come away empty-handed, I usually complain to the shop assistant so that they can feed up. And then I watch the news and hear them whinge about profits dipping and it annoys me because I like the company, want to support it, but I can't because I can never buy want I want/need. Uniforms are the worst. I hate having to buy it in June/July, my kids are massively tall, buying 3 months ahead something I expect them to wear for at least 6 months is nigh on impossible.

OP you might have to ask the question, but if it pisses me off you will have to take it on the chin. That is the problem of customer-facing jobs.

Original poster
Caff2 · 27/09/2014 06:38

"OP, you might have to ask the question, but if it pisses me off you will have to take it on the chin".

I DO have to "take it on the chin" when people are rude and unpleasant - as another poster said, that's a customer facing role. But it doesn't make me think desperately highly of the rude, unpleasant person. Thankfully, I suppose, it is only a small minority of people who are not perfectly civil, even when complaining.

OP posts:
fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 27/09/2014 06:39

YANBU, some people are ignorant and rude.

greenbananas · 27/09/2014 07:16

Having done customer facing roles myself, including working on checkouts, I am never rude to shop staff. Problems with stock are rarely their fault, and taking things out on them is pointless as well as mean.

When I worked on a customer service desk in a large chain stores, some people used to come in spoiling for a fight. I figured they were shouting at my uniform, not at me personally, and took great pride in staying aggravating calm. They usually left apologising Grin

Why do people think that being rude to person with no actual power will get them anywhere? Even being rude to the manager is usually counter productive.

Delphiniumsblue · 27/09/2014 07:19

The one that irritates me in M&S is 'thank you for waiting' - as if I had a choice. However, I realise that it isn't the fault of the assistant.
To the card question, yes or no is easy enough.

Delphiniumsblue · 27/09/2014 07:21

I don't know why they don't understand that it is counter productive greenbananas - when I worked in a shop I would go the extra mile for the polite and friendly - the rude got the bare minimum.

greenbananas · 27/09/2014 07:24

Yes, delphiniums, that is exactly what I have found. Most staff will do so much more for you if you smile, apologise and say "I realise this isn't your fault"

Thumbwitch · 27/09/2014 07:27

YANBU but some people just like to shout and blame everyone else for everything that is wrong anywhere.

Like the people who are late for check-in on flights - for whatever reason - and then shout at the check-in personnel, because obviously it is their fault entirely that they've already sent the passenger list and closed the flight at the designated time as their job specifies. OBVIOUSLY they should have delayed it by 15 minutes and risked the plane missing their slot and being fined £kks just in case some rude berk couldn't get to the check-in in time. (I'm not saying everyone who misses their flight is a berk, only the ones who blame the check in personnel for it)

BobPatandIgglePiggle · 27/09/2014 07:31

Op, some people are arseholes. Everyone should work in a customer facing role at some point in their lives (like national service! ) so that they realise what it's like to be yelled at ans spoken rudely too.

Saying that, it seems like the arseholes cross over into all roles now. I teach teenagers in an FE college and the amount of abuse we're expected to take from parents is astonishing!

BluePop · 27/09/2014 07:36

I used to work in retail - actually, sod it, it was Homebase, who had a loyalty scheme called "Spend & Save". If I had a quid for every comedian/miserable bugger who said "How can I save if I'm spending?" I wouldn't have had to work there for long.
I used to laugh and say "I know! I only work here, so I have to ask!" and most people were fine with that.
If they were mega miserable I was just ultra polite to them, as the chances are that if being asked for their loyalty card pissed them off, they had bigger issues that most definitely weren't my fault.

inabranstonpickle · 27/09/2014 07:41

Our local shop has a card thingy, but honestly they do annoy me with it although I'd never convey it to them, I'm always just nipping in for a diet coke or something and I get:
'Have you got a loyalty card!'
'Oh - uh - yeah -'

Fumble fumbles give it to shop assistant, swipes it, gives it back, no, it doesn't take long but to be honest I'd rather not bother.

But they won't take no for an answer!