I Work(ed) in Retail, and Now I Understand...

[carnation]

When I was in grad school in Hawaii, I worked in a women's clothing store near UH. These Hare Krishna women used to come into the store and look at everything (why? they had to wear robes!??) and leave the store in a shambles. We thought they might be doing it to cover up shoplifting but we could never catch them.

Then there was this really tall guy who used to come in and try on (women's) clothes for hours. He was maybe 6'4". Of course very little fit him and he would rant. Okay, we're supposed to stock tall sizes exclusively for you in this state full of short women? I think the manager finally banned him with the threat of police because he was getting scary.

[lovespink88]

Originally Posted by angels&angles

Yeah, I'm usually 32 DD-F (ugh), and VS told me I was a B cup! I'm not a fan of VS because for a MAJOR bra store, they carry NO unusual sizes (nothing in 32 past C, nothing past DD period). I mean I know you can buy them online, but bras are pretty much one of the things that you HAVE to try on.

Not the salespeople's fault, though, except for the bad measuring.

Yeah, that is WAY off, lol That had to be frustrating!

I too have had some difficulties with my own sizing. A few years back I measured as 34B but was fitting perfectly into a 34D. *shrug* Just like all clothes, you really don't know for sure until you put it on. It's kind of like how I have a size 4, size 6, and size 8 jeans...all from Express. WTH?

I'm so with you on the not having unusual sizes thing. I always felt bad for women who were an odd size and we didn't have anything for them. I mean it would make sense that VS would have something, it was mind boggling that we didn't. Yes, there's more sizes online, but what a hassle!

It's not like VS had to carry the unusual sizes in EVERY BRA. Chances are, women with large busts are NOT looking for a push up bra, lol Just a good supportive bra. I never understood why they sucked at catering to that.

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by jennyj87

Now I work at a college and I've learned that everyone thinks its someone else's department that handles things. I work in the maintenance area, answering the phones, and I've gotten phone calls transfered to me about withdrawing from the university and how to use our online class add/drop system.

This happens a lot at hospitals. Every hospital (and medical office) job I've had be it a volunteer, patient care tech/nurses aide, nursing preceptor, or nurse, we'd always get calls like this. At the hospital it was people wanting to be transferred to or know someone's room number that dispatchers/operators I guess didnt want to tell them, so they would transfer calls to Surgery Waiting Room or the Ortho/Neuro unit for us to look stuff up on the computer and tell them. Pre-OP would even get calls like this. At the medical office calls would get transferred back to nursing from the front office to make appointments for people or to answer questions about billing.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by RaggedyAnn

I once had a kid run in from the mall and clear off a table full of ties. There were probably at least 300. Dad came in and laughed. I did not.

OMG. Once I was in H&M and this little boy (probably about 5 or 6) pushed over a GLASS vase thing holding sunglasses.

Like 5 employees had to stop what they were doing, close off that part of the store and clean it up.

The mom LAUGHED. She didn't tell him that was bad, apologize, anything. She just laughed and walked out of the store. So rude.

[IrishLake]

I could never, ever, ever work in retail. I'd throttle someone on the first day.

[Alumiyum]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

OMG. Once I was in H&M and this little boy (probably about 5 or 6) pushed over a GLASS vase thing holding sunglasses.

Like 5 employees had to stop what they were doing, close off that part of the store and clean it up.

The mom LAUGHED. She didn't tell him that was bad, apologize, anything. She just laughed and walked out of the store. So rude.

Ugh. People like that disgust me. Your lil pumpkin is NOT cute-no-matter what-he-does to anyone else.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by lovespink88

I'm so with you on the not having unusual sizes thing. I always felt bad for women who were an odd size and we didn't have anything for them. I mean it would make sense that VS would have something, it was mind boggling that we didn't. Yes, there's more sizes online, but what a hassle!

It's not like VS had to carry the unusual sizes in EVERY BRA. Chances are, women with large busts are NOT looking for a push up bra, lol Just a good supportive bra. I never understood why they sucked at catering to that.

Random: Is it true that their Pink! collection bras don't come in a size larger than B?

Some of my bigger-boobed friends have said that.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by jennyj87

Now I work at a college and I've learned that everyone thinks its someone else's department that handles things. I work in the maintenance area, answering the phones, and I've gotten phone calls transfered to me about withdrawing from the university and how to use our online class add/drop system.

YES. I used to answer phones in undergraduate admissions and we would get the weirdest calls that had nothing to do with our department.

I work at a different university now and it's not an isolated phenomenon. My job is actually two positions combined, and the woman who had half of my job before me was a sweet older lady with a lot more time on her hands who was generally happy to track down people's extensions. The operators picked up on this pretty fast and got used to sending her all the really strange calls they didn't know what to do with. Now I have her job (and her extension) plus someone else's and I really don't have time to do this, but they continue to send me the weird calls that have nothing to do with my department. I hate to transfer people back to the operator again, but since I've started doing that it's gotten better.

My co-worker told me the weirdest one she ever got was a man from another country asking her to find his wife, who had left him and moved to the city the university is in. He gave her a list of all the places she might be and asked her to find her and make her go back to him. Huh?

I've never worked retail, but I worked part-time at an animal shelter for many years and have plenty of awful customer stories. People trying to steal kittens by putting them in their purses, people opening up all the cat's cages so they can "play", people who treat the shelter like a zoo for their kids - we had some women actually try to leave their young children with us while they went across the street to go shopping. Because we had nothing better to do than babysit kids and make sure they don't get bitten by already-stressed animals.

This next part is not for the squeamish - but the cruelty and stupidity of people was something that really got to me in that job. One morning in the middle of a new england winter we arrived to find three puppies tied to the front door, freezing, because somebody didn't have the cojones to come in and surrender their dogs face-to-face (the puppies ended up being ok, btw, and all found homes). Another time a person brought in a guinea pig they had been keeping in a cage full of cat litter because they didn't want to buy shavings. The poor thing was caked literally all over with dried clay from where she had gotten stuck in wet litter over and over. And the worst one - this person brought in a cat in a carrier and just left it in the entrance before running out the door. We took the cat in the back to examine her and she smelled awful. My boss put his hands into the carrier to pick her up and his hand went inside the cat's abdomen. She had a mammary tumor that had gotten so bad it had burst and was left as a giant open infected wound. It was horrible. Unfortunately, at that point there was nothing we could do for her and she was euthanized.

There were a lot of happy stories in that job too, but it was a real eye-opener to how awful people can be.

[KSUViolet06]

^^^I somehow figured that what you were about to say wasn't going to be that bad.

I just lost my desire to eat anything.

[littleowl33]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

^^^I somehow figured that what you were about to say wasn't going to be that bad.

I just lost my desire to eat anything.

Sorry

I did try to warn you!

[RaggedyAnn]

Originally Posted by carnation

Then there was this really tall guy who used to come in and try on (women's) clothes for hours. He was maybe 6'4". Of course very little fit him and he would rant. Okay, we're supposed to stock tall sizes exclusively for you in this state full of short women? I think the manager finally banned him with the threat of police because he was getting scary.

I used to work with the transvestites when I worked at VS if the women were uncomfortable. Since I had a background in men's clothing, I was used to measuring their chests.

We did have one employee in one of our stores, however, who we were unsure of whether or not they were a transvestite. It's not a big deal, but you can only have women working in the fitting room area.

[nittanygirl]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

Because of the stereotype associated with the area my store was located in, people also assumed that I was some ghetto girl with multiple kids, stuck working at Pizza Hut to make ends meet (and would imply that when they got mad about stuff). That was always fun.

Are we the same person?
I worked in a pizza hut that was the exact same way and even teachers I had in HS who know what kind of student I am (an excellent one) that practically were asking if I got knocked up and dropped out (not exactly but it was well implied)
I was like uhh hello? Summer job. Hospitality student? No one is hiring in this tiny town? Annoying.
We need a "What I learned from working in hospitality thread"

[LouisaMay]

Just want to echo what others have said about having customers talk down to you. I worked as a Wal*Mart cashier and/or snack bar worker during every summer through four years of college. People (especially people with coupons!) spoke to me like I was a small child. I admit, I did look about 14, but still...

[aggieAXO]

My job is not retail but reading all of these stories I completely relate to those of you that have been in the trenches. Some of my pet peeves:

-you signed the check in sheet that says you will be charged 85$ for the exam-don't act stupid and say you didn't know you would be charged.
-I don't want to overhear about how your BMW broke down and you had to drive the maserati here-get the F off the phone with your mechanic and talk to me about your pet. It is 7 AM and I want to go home. (the guy was on the phone for 10 minutes while I just stared at him-Fing rude)
-don't tell me about how you have no money when you have a huge rock on your perfectly manicured hand and are clinging to your Louis Vuitton and Iphone-unfortunately veterinarian medicine costs money-I have to make a living just like you do
-don't tell me I should work for free b/c I love animals-see statment above about making a living
-try and control your unruly children, they are giving me and Fluffy an ulcer, no wonder Fluffy is always sick

BTW I have never worked retail but I always fold the clothes and place them back into their proper place and hang up what I have tried on-common courtesy

[dreamseeker]

Originally Posted by lovespink88

Chances are, women with large busts are NOT looking for a push up bra, lol

wrong.

i do however, do NOT need a bra that is padded. if i am buying a bra from lane freaking bryant, you'd think that would be the general assumption.