The two things I vividly recall from working in retail are the customers and the managers. But not because they were good. No no, because they taught me how to smile while my mind was repeating "Fu** you."
Of course, there was the cleaning of the floor, the stocking of the shelves, and the ringing of the register but these responsibilities were the easy part. The human factor was where the misery was usually at. And if it wasn't for my colleagues, I don't know if I would have lasted for as long as I did.
So I was very glad to come across r/RetailHell. The subreddit acts like an online support center where workers from the industry come together to both vent and celebrate their painful and proud moments on the job. Sometimes, just the fact that someone is listening is enough.
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It Do Be Facts Tho
Dutch Supermarket Chain Opens Slower 'Chat Checkouts' In An Effort To Combat Loneliness Among The Elderly
We managed to get in touch with the mods of r/RetailHell and they were kind enough to have a little chat with us about it.
"This subreddit is very easy to mod," one of them told Bored Panda. "The community is really supportive and very little policing needs to be done, that's probably because the majority of members work retail, and anything insulting or rude to employees will be downvoted to oblivion, so it's largely self-governing."
"That said, we pretty much just ban people for breaking the rules," another mod added. "None of that negotiating a timeframe and then having to ban them again in a month. If you're [a jerk], we just ban you."
I Love This
Truth
Too Accurate
"Hey! What costs this???" *Proceeds to stay in front of that little paper, all alone over the product. Name, price and everything* "Is that the price for this???" Happens surprisingly often.
"The community itself is really positive, funny, and insightful about working in retail," the first mod continued. "Lots of people letting their internal monologues out where in work they have to keep a smile on even behind a mask."
"The most popular themes are humorous — we have a good sense of humor here. In retail, you have to or you just wouldn't survive."
However, it's not just sunshine and days off. As the second mod explained, if you dig a little deeper, you realize it's a bunch of tired people trying to get a break from life.
If Only
True Af
On The Front Door Of A Local Liquor Store
I wish we had security, so i have not to deal with these not so smart as they think people.
A large part of this emotional exhaustion comes from indifferent bosses. Zeynep Ton, a Professor of the Practice at the MIT Sloan School of Management, whose research focuses on how organizations can design and manage their operations in a way that satisfies employees, customers, and investors simultaneously, thinks the main reason why retailers underinvest in labor is that it's often their largest controllable expense.
"[Labor] can account for more than 10% of revenues—a considerable level in an industry with low profit margins," Ton explained in Harvard Business Review. "In addition, many retailers see labor as a cost driver rather than a sales driver and therefore focus on minimizing its costs. Accordingly, they often evaluate store managers on whether they meet monthly (or weekly) targets for payroll as a percentage of sales. These managers don't have much control over sales (they almost never make decisions on merchandise mix, layout, price, or promotions), but they do have a fair amount of control over payroll. So when sales decrease, they immediately reduce staffing levels. The pressure to reduce payroll expenses is so high that store managers at several large chains, including Walmart, have been widely reported to have forced employees to work off-the-clock, paying them for fewer hours than they put in."
"You Are Not At A Level Of Skill That Deserves This Wage"
The people who call them unskilled jobs aren't even capable of working them.
Nothing Better
I Love How Customer Actually Think We Care
However, according to a new analysis of more than 1.4 million Glassdoor reviews, a toxic culture is 10.4 times more likely to contribute to an employee leaving than compensation. That culture includes failing to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion; unethical behavior; and workers feeling disrespected, the report said.
"Compensation is at best a moderate predictor of attrition," Donald Sull, a co-founder of analytics firm CultureX, which performed the analysis, told Bloomberg.
The research focused on reviews posted between April and September 2021 for large for-profit companies that employ roughly 25% of private-sector workers.
The numbers revealed that apparel retailers are losing the highest number of workers. Retail employees had an average attrition rate of 19% during that six-month period, and retail employees quit at a rate three times higher than airline workers, medical device makers, and health insurance employees.
It Said "Call Center" Previously, I Believe It Also Applies
Not Oc But Worth A Share
Saw This At A Restaurant Today
The first moderator of r/RetailHell believes this toxicity is so abundant because "current culture allows it."
"Retail and other front line workers have not benefited yet from the change in cultural behavior that we have seen over the last 20 years, and part of that cultural problem comes from retail itself. It allows customers a lot of room to abuse employees because, at the end of the day, the customer spends money," the mod said. "These are my views only ... but I'm 21 years in retail."
The second mod said they don't think that customers are mindfully misbehaving. "It's not that they want to be [jerks] to the workers, it's that they literally can't see outside their bubble and recognize that it's another human being stocking those shelves. I really think they often don't take the time to mention that. You'll see that in stories from here. A customer is being a complete a***ole, but the worker shows emotion like crying, and suddenly they realize what they've done. I've seen workers talk about de-escalation methods that speak to this very issue. When you get them to realize that you're a human, rather than simply a conduit to donuts, their attitude often changes."
"This isn't always the case, and some people just suck," the mod highlighted. "I'm willing to bet most of those people suck outside of a retail setting, too. Sometimes retail is simply society's first line of defense against [jerks]."
Every Night At Closing Time
Sad That This Even Exists
Upvote If You Would Not Fix This
This
We've Had These Kind Of Karens Right
Ha, Sunday after church service was always the worst. Was* because I waitered 20 years ago.
When Those Certain Customers Are Walking Towards The Door...
We had a few customers that everyone dreaded serving and cringed if we saw their faces in the shop. We even had a dibs system where the last person to say dibs had to serve the customer.
I worked somewhere that the only warning sign that the well known annoying customer had entered was that all the sales associates would suddenly scatter and hide.
Load More Replies...Yes. When I was working in IT I had some people who were so annoying that I just yelled: "Not now! Not here! Not you!" when ever I saw them.
Taking notes for further use on one or two students of mine...
Load More Replies...You see certain people coming at you and you just want to rip their faces off because you know what's gonna happen!
No, that's the point of ethnomethodology: they must commit a faux-pas of done kind, then we unleash the stored up pettiness and spite on them.
Yep, one restaurant I worked in opened at 10:00am, and anyone that would be waiting outside the door for us to unlock it, was immediately pre-judged, and was guaranteed to be annoying
Yes 1000x yes. Or those "regulars" that come in that are ALWAYS annoying and you and the rest of the staff have nicknames for them to warn the others they are in the building
Would see people’s fat heads through the glass doors when I worked as a receptionist in college, and would literally feel my blood pressure rising. Like, turn around, go back to your car, and leave me the f**k alone! 🙄
We customers see them and dread them as much as you. It has caused me to leave the store.
howabout when you’re having a good day at work and a pre-annoyed customer stomps in to purchase something? 😬 You work to fill their order while their grumpiness takes on the presence of an approaching thunderstorm; ☁️🌪🌩 Gotta finish & get them out before they start whinging and complaining about something (not under your control & not your fault) Big Smile… Thank You
Certain relatives and co-workers, I hear their voices from outside in the street or see their name on the same shift and am just like "F**k!!! Not you again!!!"
I get pre-annoyed every day about everyone. Every.Single.Human.
Well...I went from retail, to preschool, to having four kids of my own, so...
any time a Consumer Cellular customer walks up to me. because it always involves tech support and they never accept that i am not trained in that.
My mom did tech and service support for cell phones a while back. I was doing tech and service support for consumer entertainment. When our contract ended, they wanted to put me on phone support, I said no thank you beggar of the stories my mom would tell me. I remember someone saying "everyone has a phone, including those who don't deserve to have a phone"
Load More Replies...When I was working on a cruise-ship, there were always a couple, regarding who the housekeeping were played paper-rock, who should clean their cabin.
Any old person with lottery tickets. They can't even work the f*****g card reader ffs
"Oh yeah there's 10 people behind you and I'm the only one on register right now but please keep mumbling and rifling through your pockets for that $7 you should of had ready 5 minutes ago when you forced me to start this transaction that's just throwing that money away anyway."
Load More Replies...Lmboo
These People Are The Worst
Anyone Else Starting To Reach Their Emotional Limit?
Mcliving-Wage
We're sorry, that item is only available in our European branches.
How I Wish This Wasn't True
Some Dutch shops have adopted this ridiculous rite of shouting "Welcome" when customers enter the store. I've heard many people yell back "Act normal!!!"
Cough Cough At My Entire Management
What a bad attitude! Is that the thanks company gets for employing you and giving you a chance to become rich if you work hard and long enough? /S
Hits Home Doesn't It
Haha True
Didn't know "main character syndrome" was a thing. I love the concept!
Just A Reminder For Some
Mama Mia
I Never Related So Hard To A Meme Before
Every. Single. Time
I used to say, "Now its actually going to cost double, as I've now done double the work. But just because you're a SPECIAL VALUED customer, it'll be 100% off so its now only (regular price).
Customer: Is This Cash Only?
Walmart circa 2015 made you click "I understand" when it said that it didn't accept cash/card. About 1 in 5 got to the end of the transaction and then were completely dumbfounded that it didn.t take cash/card. I used to joke that customers would agree to selling their kidneys on those self checkouts and never know.
My Boss Volunteered Me For A Golf Event That I Hated Every Second Of, So I Gave Her A Golf Themed Resignation Letter
✋🏽✋🏽✋🏽
Manager Put These Up 3 Days Ago Not Going So Well
Maybe you should mention a Bonus for that time like, let´s say, tripple the salary for that time?
I’m... Concerned
The people working to keep us in food and loo rolls during the pandemic are heroes!
It Do Be Like That, True Or Nah?
I Clock On My Brain Clocks Off
Because every customer is just another shadow in the long lines of shadows that they see passing by each day, with the exception of that one friendly and polite customer that stands out every 2 weeks or so.
I Have No Words...
Side Affect Of Working Retail
It Really Do Be That Way
Sorry, Please Come Back Tomorrow
Worked at a bar for years. After we FINALLY got the last patrons out and locked the door at (depending on how busy it was) between 1 and 4 am, it was a regular occurence that we'd have people banging on the door or windows, pointing at the door handle, kinda like trying to tell us "uh folks, you made a mistake there, the door doesn't open". Yeah, we fúcking know, it's on purpose, and we're glad about that. We have lives too, you know, and at some point we just wanna go home.
Anyone Else Get These Guys On The Regular?
That's why in Europe you pack your shopping bags yourself. So you can b!tch at yourself for packing them wrong.
We Must Be Able To Tell The Future Sometimes
Hold Up
Good
It Do Be Like That Sometimes
Trying To Avoid Customers When Going On Break
Oh, Well……ok…..i’m….sorry…???
We Don't Need To Hear About Your Life Story
What Am I Gonna Do With My Day? Oh! I Know, I’m Gonna Go S**t On Underpaid Workers For Just Doing Their Job To Make Their Lives More Miserable Than It Already Is!
"Boomer" is not synonymous with "a$$hole"... can I speak to your manager?
Corporate Knows Best Of Course...
That Customer One!
Oh Wow
That was the day after US Thanksgiving, which is usually the busiest shopping day of the year in the US. They could have at least sprung for a sandwich or crackers and cheese.
Working In Retail
Nobody Wants To Work Anymore (Not Oc)
Check The Back!
Oh I would just walk back around a corner and stand there for a minute then come out and say, nope we are completely out.
Did You Know?
The Amount Of Times I've Heard This...
If I Had My Way We'd Open At 9am And Shut At 9:01am The Same Day
Fun Fact: You Don’t Need To Be Told Corporate Is Coming...you Just Know By Looking At Ur Managers Lol
Seriously. A corporate visit isn't going to change the way I do my job 🤷♀️
I Hate It When Managers Make You Look Like A Fool Just So They Don't Want To Stand Up To Customers
For The Tenth Time!
Soooooo Satisfying...
Had This Interaction With A Delightful Couple Yesterday
I hate the concept of comission sales. Every salesperson I have worked with who was on commission was between a little deceptive and a downright liar.
When A Customer Tells You How Nice It Is Outside, But You Have 5 Hours Left Of Your Shift And It Will Be Cold And Dark Outside By The Time You Finish
Or, "I can't believe you have to work on this beautiful day/ or holiday. " you my dude, are the reason I have to work.
Every. Single. Shift
We open at 7 AM and People sit in there car half an hour bevor and stand in front of the door 10 minutes bevor we open. If i have stuff to put out it is quit hard to deal with some people, because they always try to sneak in.
Manager Is Sympathetic...
Had a manager tell me on a late Friday afternoon that I was getting written up the next Thursday when she came back to the office after a vacation because I was crying at my desk (my mother was dying)...and it made her look bad.
Good Luck With The Karens Leading Up To Christmas Guys
Mood
Ask for a raise and notice how quickly you're not essential anymore.
Solidarity For Everyone This Holiday Season
Shouldn't retail workers be treated with the same respect that veterans get? After all, they also served their country in the most harrowing circumstances.
Who's Looking Forward To One Day Off
I did retail for 27 years I haven't enjoyed Xmas since I started working. Customers sure know how to take the shine out of everything
Exactly This
"Checking in the back"= "Having a smoke, getting coffee and taking a bathroom break."
And When They Do Show Up “I’m Just Going To Look Around”
3 minutes before closing you have locked most doors and you guard the only open door like the hellhound Cerberus.
Sorry, Kids, But The Future In Retail Ain’t Bright
Why Are We Always Understaffed On Our Busiest Day?
You're God Damn Right We Do
I Hate People That Give Out To Employees Like They Personally Design The Store Policies
Heard a Dutch retail worker say : "Madam, If I owned this place I would change some things here too. I'd start with banning obnoxious customers like you."
"I Don't Get Paid Enough For This S**t." Poor Waitress!
I’m Sure It’s Already Started For Some Of You…
Free 5 Minute Break
At My Local Grocery Store, I Work As A Cashier For The Same Company But Different Store A Few Minutes Away
What would happen if shops would close because of rude and belligerent customers?
A Good Representation Of How I Feel On My Lunch Breaks
Basically you pack your lunch or you don't eat right here. Coworker: what's for lunch? Me: "last night's dinner" and don't get me started on "work through lunch" call centers.
Please
dude when i worked register that was the most obnoxious thing. And one time I said "hey you can remove your card now." they laughed and removed it. then said "Oh sorry can't really hear high pitched things. Surprised I can hear your voice!" I'm a trans guy and I just sat there like oh haha ya
Gee, Thanks.. I Think
Wow, an extra $2 an hour. The biggest hourly increase I got was approx 98c. The lowest was 6c lol.
Retail Time Off
I need vacation to have 2 days in a row off and i´m still jealous, my wife had every weekend for herself. She on the other hand, wishes to have a day off in the middle of the week, so she can doe things without pressure. Like seeing a doctor or something like that. I see here point but i stand jealous.
Do We Still Have To Call Them “Guests” If They Cough On Us?
When I worked at a model toy store, we had a lot of regulars who were the sweetest, most fascinating old men, a lot of them ex military and delightfully obsessed with regaling me with tales of their previous planes or trains they had built. Lots of times when a customer began stepping out of line if any of them were there, they would kind of crowd next to me and become my geriatric secret service lol. Once a woman spat on me because I confronted her about the truck she had stashed in her baby's pushchair (pram) and Mr H, my favourite regular, went purple with rage and loudly shamed her, one hand using his hankie to remove the spit from my shoulder and the other wagging a scolding finger in her face. While he was doing that a coworker managed to convince her boyfriend to just hand it over and go. Happy ending :)
This really gave me something to think about. The real issue here is that it seems retail workers are just supposed to accept whatever comes their way. The problem isn't really the customers. The problem is the companies and the management that have allowed this customer behaviour to become normal. When customers behave badly, staff should be able to refuse to serve them and managers should tell them to leave. Nobody should ever have to deal with adults behaving like spoiled babies, ever.
Totally... Whoever invented the phrase 'the customer is always right' should be shot into space.
Load More Replies...I used to have a small hand sanitizer bottle on a belt clip. The store had large bottles by the registers, but this was great when customers insisted on shaking hands. (Pre-covid) One pair of Karen's said "give me some of that hand sanitizer" and I said no, it's my personal one. They could not grasp that store employees had personal items they were not entitled to. They reported me to management, who asked me how I always managed to attract these nutjobs.
I had a very similar experience working as a cashier at the pool last summer! Because we're funded by the park district we dont exactly have those new fancy card readers that you can tap your cards on and we also require people to sign. So I'd heard from my coworker that the day before some stuffy old lady came in and berated her for our card reader being "out of date" and how we absolutely must fix it (like any of us had any control over it.) And lucky me she shows up again during my shift and goes on the same rant. Only this time I have a personal, scented hand sanitizer by my keyboard in her line of sight. Of course she sees and then DEMANDS to use it because she had to touch our "disgusting" card reader. Wish I had told her no like you did because after I gave her some she scoffed and didn't even say thank you like she was entitled to my personal hand sanitizer.
Load More Replies...Customers think they can treat people like crap for some reason. Customers think they can destroy a store for some reason. Customers are awful. Don't be awful.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies...For years, I wrote short essays about my tenure at the big orange box. It was a hellish place, really. I need to get that all gathered up for a book. The title would be- THE KILLING FLOOR- OR- TRUE STORIES OF WORKING IN RETAIL FOR 30 YEARS.
I cancelled a dude's whole order last night because he kept pulling his mask down to mouth off at me. He left when he realised I was stone cold serious.
Retail work absolutely sucks. I never want to do it again, especially since it's much worse with Covid. I'm so glad I'm studying this year to try do something other than retail.
Hey Foxxy, It's been a while ... It's good to hear you are studying and I'd like to know what ! Did you have a good Christmas? Hug from me.
Load More Replies...After being furious with a manager because he didn't back me up, he explained that he had leeway to give customers extra discounts or concessions that I didn't. Like cool, next time we play good cop / bad cop, less switch roles.
Yes, American (of course that american) businessman Selfridge taught people that customers has always right, anf f*cked up the whole world with this. Fortunately, come to Europe, you will never encounter sooo many a**holes customers as in America. Because our culture is not sooo selfish entitled. I waitered in High School for 5 years and only once i encoutered with stupid behavior, once….
Quit my retail job week ago over mandates when they premptivly started before supreme court shot it down I said you can keep my 70hrs of vacation time and use it as compensation for 2 weeks notice to new store director.
It's not only retail, but fast service food places (like dominos) have you ever had a call just hold the phone at arms length and being cursed out so badly calling you every name in the book and the worst part is you HAVE to deal with it because you a a manger and you gotta fix the issue, or try to make a pissed customer happy. The person screamed so lousy that the customer I had in front of me waiting to order ( it was just me and my only driver was out making delivery) actually turned pale? I have to deal with all kinds of verbal abuse specifically when we are short handed and we still have ordered coming in over the website. Then I have to call them and explain why I can't fill their order and that I will have to void the payment. Then I get yelled at more and people coming into the store shouting " I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!" I just give them the normal speel depending on your banking institution it can take up to 24hrs to blah blah, and if course I am on repeat through the rest of i
I have no empathy for retail workers. They're rude and lazy and wonder why they only get paid 9$ an hour. No Somalian subway sandwich "artist" cares about covid. They use their hands to wipe their ass after they s**t.
Retail workers are rude and lazy. Try living in the ghetto and you'll see what I mean. No empathy for them. And no Somalian subway "artist" cares about covid. They use their hands to wipe their ass after they s**t.
It boggles my mind that people unhappy with their profession continue in that profession. Change your profession. Get more education. Or best, start your own company. Perhaps people in retail just like to complain how bad they have it but aren't willing to do anything to change their situation.
Retail work is a job no one in there right mind would want but it can be entertaining at times.
When I worked at a model toy store, we had a lot of regulars who were the sweetest, most fascinating old men, a lot of them ex military and delightfully obsessed with regaling me with tales of their previous planes or trains they had built. Lots of times when a customer began stepping out of line if any of them were there, they would kind of crowd next to me and become my geriatric secret service lol. Once a woman spat on me because I confronted her about the truck she had stashed in her baby's pushchair (pram) and Mr H, my favourite regular, went purple with rage and loudly shamed her, one hand using his hankie to remove the spit from my shoulder and the other wagging a scolding finger in her face. While he was doing that a coworker managed to convince her boyfriend to just hand it over and go. Happy ending :)
This really gave me something to think about. The real issue here is that it seems retail workers are just supposed to accept whatever comes their way. The problem isn't really the customers. The problem is the companies and the management that have allowed this customer behaviour to become normal. When customers behave badly, staff should be able to refuse to serve them and managers should tell them to leave. Nobody should ever have to deal with adults behaving like spoiled babies, ever.
Totally... Whoever invented the phrase 'the customer is always right' should be shot into space.
Load More Replies...I used to have a small hand sanitizer bottle on a belt clip. The store had large bottles by the registers, but this was great when customers insisted on shaking hands. (Pre-covid) One pair of Karen's said "give me some of that hand sanitizer" and I said no, it's my personal one. They could not grasp that store employees had personal items they were not entitled to. They reported me to management, who asked me how I always managed to attract these nutjobs.
I had a very similar experience working as a cashier at the pool last summer! Because we're funded by the park district we dont exactly have those new fancy card readers that you can tap your cards on and we also require people to sign. So I'd heard from my coworker that the day before some stuffy old lady came in and berated her for our card reader being "out of date" and how we absolutely must fix it (like any of us had any control over it.) And lucky me she shows up again during my shift and goes on the same rant. Only this time I have a personal, scented hand sanitizer by my keyboard in her line of sight. Of course she sees and then DEMANDS to use it because she had to touch our "disgusting" card reader. Wish I had told her no like you did because after I gave her some she scoffed and didn't even say thank you like she was entitled to my personal hand sanitizer.
Load More Replies...Customers think they can treat people like crap for some reason. Customers think they can destroy a store for some reason. Customers are awful. Don't be awful.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies...For years, I wrote short essays about my tenure at the big orange box. It was a hellish place, really. I need to get that all gathered up for a book. The title would be- THE KILLING FLOOR- OR- TRUE STORIES OF WORKING IN RETAIL FOR 30 YEARS.
I cancelled a dude's whole order last night because he kept pulling his mask down to mouth off at me. He left when he realised I was stone cold serious.
Retail work absolutely sucks. I never want to do it again, especially since it's much worse with Covid. I'm so glad I'm studying this year to try do something other than retail.
Hey Foxxy, It's been a while ... It's good to hear you are studying and I'd like to know what ! Did you have a good Christmas? Hug from me.
Load More Replies...After being furious with a manager because he didn't back me up, he explained that he had leeway to give customers extra discounts or concessions that I didn't. Like cool, next time we play good cop / bad cop, less switch roles.
Yes, American (of course that american) businessman Selfridge taught people that customers has always right, anf f*cked up the whole world with this. Fortunately, come to Europe, you will never encounter sooo many a**holes customers as in America. Because our culture is not sooo selfish entitled. I waitered in High School for 5 years and only once i encoutered with stupid behavior, once….
Quit my retail job week ago over mandates when they premptivly started before supreme court shot it down I said you can keep my 70hrs of vacation time and use it as compensation for 2 weeks notice to new store director.
It's not only retail, but fast service food places (like dominos) have you ever had a call just hold the phone at arms length and being cursed out so badly calling you every name in the book and the worst part is you HAVE to deal with it because you a a manger and you gotta fix the issue, or try to make a pissed customer happy. The person screamed so lousy that the customer I had in front of me waiting to order ( it was just me and my only driver was out making delivery) actually turned pale? I have to deal with all kinds of verbal abuse specifically when we are short handed and we still have ordered coming in over the website. Then I have to call them and explain why I can't fill their order and that I will have to void the payment. Then I get yelled at more and people coming into the store shouting " I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!" I just give them the normal speel depending on your banking institution it can take up to 24hrs to blah blah, and if course I am on repeat through the rest of i
I have no empathy for retail workers. They're rude and lazy and wonder why they only get paid 9$ an hour. No Somalian subway sandwich "artist" cares about covid. They use their hands to wipe their ass after they s**t.
Retail workers are rude and lazy. Try living in the ghetto and you'll see what I mean. No empathy for them. And no Somalian subway "artist" cares about covid. They use their hands to wipe their ass after they s**t.
It boggles my mind that people unhappy with their profession continue in that profession. Change your profession. Get more education. Or best, start your own company. Perhaps people in retail just like to complain how bad they have it but aren't willing to do anything to change their situation.
Retail work is a job no one in there right mind would want but it can be entertaining at times.