What I've learned working seasonal retail.

[RamblingRose]

I spent 20ish years as a retail manager, I could tell stories for HOURS.

[readyin07]

Whoa. Now that's a story. Can you say where you work or are is it too specific?

My friend works in a bank by day and moonlights at JcPenney and has for years. She is worn out this time of year, but she LOVES it.

[panicked]

I worked at target one holiday season. I had a lady come in on Black Friday, bought hemorrhoid cream in pennies, and bitch about how long the line was to check out. "You should have a line open for people who ARENT shopping now for Christmas stuff" on Black Friday. At 5:30am.

[wambam]

This is not really retail, but I spent a summer as one of the picture takers at the front of an amusement park. People would say things like "fuck you. I hate you. You ruined my day. You're so annoying." Etc. it was hard not to take personally. Please be kind to these people if you go to an amusement park. A simple "no thank you" will suffice.

[Deleted]

I moonlighted in a Main Street gift shop after grad school and generally had a really good experience. They had a fudge counter and one of the other employees would slowly box up huge quantities of fudge to sneak home. She had serious food issues though.

[verycontrary247]

I worked at Yankee Candle for several years and people would have full blown meltdowns/tantrums if we were out of whatever they were looking for.

Or there was this one time a lady showed up after we had been closed for like 40 minutes and shook the gate DEMANDING we let her in so she could exchange some candles. She freaked out when I was like nope we're closed, then stood there and called corporate to complain.

[fernweh]

Lol, I have been in retail for the last 9 years, I could write a book.

[moolarkey]

I worked retail as a 2nd job when H was a laid off. We had 2 elderly systers that would go to Sears and bring grocery carts back to our store (Macys). They would spend 6-8 hours shopping. Well, not all was shopping, the first couple of hours was bringing stuff back from previous trips. The problem was - you have sales and new credit card goals and the time you spend taking their returns kept you from making sales because your time was tied up with them. If someone else took an item back that you had "sold" them, that amount was deducted from your daily sales goal - so say your goal was $1000 and maybe you were at $700 for your shift and they returned $300 of items you'd sold them before, then your total dropped from $700 to $400. The person taking the items back lose the time to make sales to other customers and the sales associate that originally sold returned items took a hit on making their sales goal for the day. (and it was for any returns, not just for these 2 ladies).

The stuff we would find in the dresing rooms - dirty diapers, dirty underwear, complete outfits that people had worn in to the store. Urine, feces, puke.

Macy's carries a brand called Jones New York. Jones has several different lines and Macy's carries most but not all. Jones sells a line to outlet mall stores that they do not sell to department stores. We would get people who had bought that line at the outlet mall try to return items to Macys without a receipt or ticket and try to get us to give them cash. It would get ugly.

Oh stealing - the department I was in was by the front door. I walked over by the door to put somethings back out on the racks and saw several upper level handbags (but not so upper level they were locked in cabinets or chained together) sitting by the door. The person was grabbing a bag, wandering around the store, putting it by the door. Their plan was to walk to the door as though leaving, grab all the bags and head out. All were sitting with the handle up for easy grabbing.

We had racks of clothing attached to the back wall of the store (just down from the door mentioned above).  I kept finding entire, expensive, size 8 outfits stashed between the clothing hanging there and the wall - wedged in there. Their plot was to come in, by something and get a shopping bag then to to their stash, put the item in the bag and walk out.  One night I found, along this 90' or so long wall, about $2000 in clothing. I don't think they ever found the person but at least I stopped them from getting those items - and it happened multiple nights.

We had jewelry and watch thefts. Another store had about 14K in men's suits taken because they were near a door. Then the thieves were taking the suits back, 1 at a time, to other stores for refunds.

We had a guy steal Dyson sweepers from everyone, all the Macy's here, Wal-Mart etc. He would walk in, pick up a Dyson and walk out. Everyone just assumed if he was walking around with it that he'd paid for it. 

We had on-site security but they really didn't do anything and we weren't to either. They put a stop to it after one of the security people had her wrist broken by a shop-lifter.   In fact, most of the time after that our store rarely had anyone on duty. 

It's been a few years now so I've forgotten some of the really crazy things but it was interesting. I liked it, most customers were really nice, loved my co-workers.

[thatgirl2478]

Found a dirty bra shoved in among some sweaters.

Found a very VERY worn and dirty pair of khaki's folded up among the new ones.

Found a poop in the back changing room.

Had to tell a man that while he could try on the women's swim suit, he had to take it to the men's fitting room.

Had an associate steal $600 out of the main register while on the clock.

Had an associate 'sell' $200 of clothing to a 'customer', then return it for cash 30 min later.

[thatgirl2478]

Dec 19, 2015 18:22:27 GMT -5 moolarkey said:

I worked retail as a 2nd job when H was a laid off. We had 2 elderly systers that would go to Sears and bring grocery carts back to our store (Macys). They would spend 6-8 hours shopping. Well, not all was shopping, the first couple of hours was bringing stuff back from previous trips. The problem was - you have sales and new credit card goals and the time you spend taking their returns kept you from making sales because your time was tied up with them. If someone else took an item back that you had "sold" them, that amount was deducted from your daily sales goal - so say your goal was $1000 and maybe you were at $700 for your shift and they returned $300 of items you'd sold them before, then your total dropped from $700 to $400. The person taking the items back lose the time to make sales to other customers and the sales associate that originally sold returned items took a hit on making their sales goal for the day. (and it was for any returns, not just for these 2 ladies).

The stuff we would find in the dresing rooms - dirty diapers, dirty underwear, complete outfits that people had worn in to the store. Urine, feces, puke.

Macy's carries a brand called Jones New York. Jones has several different lines and Macy's carries most but not all. Jones sells a line to outlet mall stores that they do not sell to department stores. We would get people who had bought that line at the outlet mall try to return items to Macys without a receipt or ticket and try to get us to give them cash. It would get ugly.

Oh stealing - the department I was in was by the front door. I walked over by the door to put somethings back out on the racks and saw several upper level handbags (but not so upper level they were locked in cabinets or chained together) sitting by the door. The person was grabbing a bag, wandering around the store, putting it by the door. Their plan was to walk to the door as though leaving, grab all the bags and head out. All were sitting with the handle up for easy grabbing.

We had racks of clothing attached to the back wall of the store (just down from the door mentioned above).  I kept finding entire, expensive, size 8 outfits stashed between the clothing hanging there and the wall - wedged in there. Their plot was to come in, by something and get a shopping bag then to to their stash, put the item in the bag and walk out.  One night I found, along this 90' or so long wall, about $2000 in clothing. I don't think they ever found the person but at least I stopped them from getting those items - and it happened multiple nights.

We had jewelry and watch thefts. Another store had about 14K in men's suits taken because they were near a door. Then the thieves were taking the suits back, 1 at a time, to other stores for refunds.

We had a guy steal Dyson sweepers from everyone, all the Macy's here, Wal-Mart etc. He would walk in, pick up a Dyson and walk out. Everyone just assumed if he was walking around with it that he'd paid for it. 

We had on-site security but they really didn't do anything and we weren't to either. They put a stop to it after one of the security people had her wrist broken by a shop-lifter.   In fact, most of the time after that our store rarely had anyone on duty. 

It's been a few years now so I've forgotten some of the really crazy things but it was interesting. I liked it, most customers were really nice, loved my co-workers.

Yeah, I worked at JCPenny & our return system worked the same way - luckily we didn't have sales goals to hit but it would come out of our commission. 

We had these REALLY loud (black and neon pink/blue/green/yellow) suits that were RIGHT by the front door.  We only sold 1 (to our floor manager) but somehow we only had 3 left when it came time to inventory the store... and somehow we were always getting them returned. 

[thatgirl2478]

When I worked at Best Buy, I saw multiple customers throw a variety of items at the bosses heads. Stacks of CDs (can't return unless there's an actual defect & then you'd only get an exchange - this was is the height of CD burning), cameras, disc-man, computer speakers, etc (well if it wasn't intentionally broken BEFORE it sure is now...). Good times.

Had one customer who smelled SO BAD I had to turn my fan off, and we had to stop accepting 'sock money'... yes we had a sign indicating that we didn't want your sweaty money from your bra or sock or where ever people were stashing it.

[bitsandpieces]

I worked at the Santa Photo Booth for two Christmases. People really stress out about getting a perfect picture with Santa. One lady brought her kids back on four different says and would just hang out for an hour to get them to warm up to Santa. We probably spent over and hour trying to help her get the perfect picture, but her two year old was terrified. I don't even remember if she ended up buying pictures.

Also I RUINED CHRISTMAS for so many people. Wouldn't let them take their own pictures (because selling pictures was how we made money). And we warned everyone in line on Christmas Eve that we were closing at 4pm and wouldn't take any more customers, but I had a woman screaming at me about how could I do that to her child!!!?!??! Never mind that we had been open for the last month and a half and she waited til the last day to see Santa.

[circa1978]

I worked at Claire's in high school, which was like the seventh circle of hell, especially at Christmas. Aside from the stealing, which goes without saying, some highlights:

• We had to wear $50 of Claire's jewelry each shift. In 1994. 
• At the end of our shifts, we were supposed to put it all back out as stock. Even the earrings.  
  
• We had to answer the phone: "This is your elf, Circa - how may I help you?" (At Easter it was bunny and so on.)
  
• Grown men get off on asking teenage girls to pierce their penis. I always said, yes, I'd do it, but only in the middle of the store with 6 and 7-year-old girls all around.
• The place is the size of your average walk-in closet. During Christmas it was packed wall-to-wall, which was AWESOME when some kid would puke. 
  
• Our particular store was located above the holiday concert area, so we were treated to a constant rotation of Jingle Bells sung by area elementary and middle schoolers.

[thebreakfastclub]

I learned a lot about humanity in my 5 years at Target, lol.

One of my coworkers had an elaborate return fraud scheme going for years. They estimated $500/week over her 15 years at various stores. The loss prevention guy started his case because he saw her eat a single cookie at the snack bar without paying.

[killercupcake]

A lot of people seem to think that fitting rooms double as bathrooms. If they even get that far.

Just last week, my mom and one of her associates had to clean up someone's shit.

I once had a kid arm sweeping tables with t shirts and jeans on them. Clothes all over the floor. His mom was at the register and didn't say a thing until my manager was like "Okay, whose kid is that?!" Mom turned around and went "Oh, he's mine. Hehe."

I've got stories for days. Retail is weird.

[RamblingRose]

We had this prolific shoplifter that the entire staff recognized and she was always told to leave. One day she made it out the door with a mesh bag of stuff, and I stopped her as I was coming back from lunch. Next time she came slinking in I flipped out on her. She said "oh damn, has my twin sister been stealing from you? I hear that all the time."
Lol for days. No bitch. It's you.

[abs]

I worked retail for 15 years. SO many stories.

The Claire's $50 worth of jewelry was obnoxious. I never did it. I also thought that store would never get clean during Christmas.

My first job was at a candy store. I was 16 and had to answer the phone with "candy store name where sweet dreams come true." Um. Imagine the comments. They were bad.

When I was closing a department store we found used comdoms in the dressing rooms. Gross. People are gross. Security found people jerking off on them, too.

But my personal nemesis was the thieves. The ones that would bring back arm loads of stuff with the sensors cut out claiming none of it fit. Right. You had a size 0 and a 16. If one was one an option the other wasn't. They would return them, get a merchandise credit, and sell it on eBay. There was a whole ring of them and you would get slammed with a $1000 return. It pissed me off then and still does.

[sapphireblue]

I worked in retail years ago. Now I work in a public library and people are just as you described. Most people are actually very nice, but there are some real crazies. And all people in between. I have really learned that you cannot judge people by appearances!

Overall it's been great working with the public, I've formed real relationships of a sort with some of the regular patrons. I'm an introvert so it means I feel drained by it regularly, but mostly, working with the public is very entertaining and positive.

[RamblingRose]

Or the mother of the year who said to me "don't fucking talk to my child you cunt" when I warned the kid that she was about to fall and hurt herself.

[thebreakfastclub]

I also remember one Christmas Eve, about 20 minutes before the store closed at 6pm. A couple and their 2 school aged kids came in, and the parents filled the cart with whatever toys they could grab, while the kids were crying. The lights turned out and we had to ask them to please finish shopping so we could leave. It was so weird to do in front of their kids.

[circa1978]

Dec 19, 2015 19:40:16 GMT -5 HRH Queen Dick I said:

But how can you wear $50 worth of Claire's? Isn't everything a couple dollars?

EXACTLY.

[goaskalice]

I too have stories for days! My two favorites are from when I worked at Williams-Sonoma.

1) There was a ring of thieves that liked to steal and return the $100-200 pepper and salt mills. One day I got the balls to tell the lady returning her "gifts" that we had run out of merchandise credit cards so I couldn't do the return. I was 22 and my heart was beating a mile a minute throughout the whole thing. She finally left and about an hour later I got a call from the next closest store with the manager chewing me out for making her take the return. Not my problem she didn't think of it first!

2) Some bitch drove 30 minutes!!11! (It's CA everything is 30 minutes away) to return a WS outlet item. We couldn't take those returns, for obvious reasons. She went ballistic on me when I pointed out not only could we not do the return at our location, but her receipt said you have 30 days to do a return and it had been 2 months. She complained to corporate and she got a free $50 GC. That's when I knew I couldn't stay in retail.

[Eagles]

After a teenager and her mother got into a shouting match in my store today (mom doesn't want teenager to drive home from a party on NYE), I pretty much hate everybody.

[kittyb]

"What do you mean I can't use a coupon?" Awful. The holiday season in particular kills me. Most customers are really nice but the awful ones are truly awful.

Please don't poop in the fitting room. It's just not necessary.

[Deleted]

I worked at Eddie Bauer back in college. One night during the Christmas rush, I re-folded 64 turtlenecks during close. Just the womens' turtlenecks, and never mind how much folding we did through the night to keep it getting completely trashed. I get checking sizes but holy cow people, if one is unfolded already use that one for reference. I'm still compulsive about putting things back neatly because I feel badly for workers fixing displays.

Oh, and we had someone pee in a dressing room once. Klassy.

At a jewelry counter in Sams Club I had a mom with her very cowed late teens/early 20s son buying a wedding ring because they 'had to get married. And she came back to pick up the resized ring very shortly after a chemical peel. I felt so vad for the poor girl getting the woman for a MIL, still wonder how that relationship worked out.

[pixy0stix]

I work at my friends costume shop during Halloween. I'd say about half the people are normal, half are batshit crazy.

[stephm0188]

A favorite shoplifter story from my time spent working in a national retail clothing store:

We had a group of people who would come in every week to steal stuff. Two young twenty something women would come in and fill mesh shopping bags with clothes, then leave them toward the front of the store. Then they'd leave, and a man would come in, pick up the bags, and run out. We noticed a pattern and had LP in the store when we expected them to hit us again. As soon as LP noticed the women come in and start shopping, they notified the police department. The police didn't arrive before the guy ran out with the bags, but luck was on our side that day. The car broke down on the other side of the parking lot and they couldn't get it started again. The police rolled up before they could make their getaway.

Turns out there was a crackpipe in the car, and the driver said "It's not mine, this isn't my car."

The car was stolen. Felony shoplifting charges turned out to be the least of their worries.

[polarbearfans]

Over 7 years in retail management.... Some customers are great and why I love my job... Others are just crazy and have no business being out in society. Sundays bring the craziest worst customers. Sunday is a short day but my least favorite day to work because of how ridiculous and mean a majority of the customers are.

So many stories lol

[noradog]

The pooping stories are what baffle me. I can't imagine what prompts that. I have a friend that owns a grocery store and he has outrageous stories of theft and poop too. I get the roast thefts, but the stories of poop just confound me.

[Eagles]

Yeah, I'm not really comfortable pooping outside of my own house, so I don't know how people are just deucing it up in fitting rooms.