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...
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
✋🏽✋🏽✋🏽
A girl I know lost her voice because her job was understaffed & she was forced to take non-stop calls for eight hours straight. She could barely whisper but her boss still made her come in the next day because they were still understaffed. Poor girl spent the next few days being screamed at by customers because no one could hear what she was trying to say. Her boss also yelled at her for crying. She was visibly pregnant at the time. People are evil.
🖐🏼🖐🏼 Healthcare worker: normally have a 6-12 patients (which is the legal maximum in some cases). Have had to regularly have 20+ patients every shift and have had to care for up to 60 patients AT ONE TIME. Tell me that’s not crazy.
Working as manager in restaurant. Supervisor comes in at 3:15 and tells me to tell all the workers scheduled to het off at 4pm that they must stay or they are fired. I refused and made the supervisor do it.
You can ask them if they can stay but you cant legally tell them they have to or they’re fired. I’d be like sorry I have plans after 4 I can’t change.
Load More Replies... I came in, with half an hour’s notice, on my day off, because the nice manager asked as a favour (two people had called in sick). I clocked in three minutes after the shift start time (because, you know, getting dressed, driving) and the other (shitty) manager made a rude, sarcastic comment about me being late. Pointing out that I was actually 23 hours and 57 minutes early got me a written warning.
I think thats when I woulda clocked out and said "Have fun".
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Oh yes I have in a fast pizza place only me and a driver, now being manager I am expected to do everything from making your food to cleaning the floor and all my manger duties as well. With a ton of orders still coming in and angry phone calls of people demanding a free item to people "claiming" that their food never showed up. It's my responsibility to fix it. I have to at times call customers back and tell them I have 1 driver and it can be a two hour wait for there delivery. Trust me it never goes well. In fact I often have to hold the phone away from my ear they are yelling and cursing at me so badly. I'm like fuc* it it's fu*k a pizza chain and I don't get paid enough to hear 20+ people abusing me
I was with my company for 12 years but My dm was looking for a reason to fire me. She found one when she found out I let my employee get her own price gun out of my office with my key. Why I did it? There were only 3 of us on a Saturday! A cashier. Me who was manager/ csm/ frame shop/ book keeper and stockman and her who was fabrics/ crafts/ jewelry/ back up cashier and doing mark downs. Victim of short staffing.
My husband works in Long Term Care. Since Covid started 22 months ago, he has been running short staffed and upper management does nothing. Today, he is being paid big bucks to clean/sanitize touch points. Whatever, he's tired...
Lol, that's why employees leave.. & maybe the only way the company learns to hire at better wages.
Like really, how the f**k did you have 20+ employees but only THREE people on breakfast?
eeyup. feel this one. my department is perpetually understaffed and for awhile, we had to do a lot of extra work with little coverage. now i get to do a lot of clean-up because stuff gets left behind for me all the time despite the fact that we're now properly(if only barely) staffed.
Short staffing isn't your problem. It just means that some people won't get any service. At least, that how I handled the situation.
The problem with short staffing is being made to work overtime, not getting time off, not being allowed to leave because your cover hasn't shown up, being too busy to take your breaks etc.
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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...
Note: this post originally had 90 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
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.
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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.
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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.
