-Ever since I watched this episode of Portlandia, I cannot look at bird merch the same way. I have been sick of birds and this was the "nail in the coffin". So when a future bride was buying a bunch of ceramic birds for her bird-themed wedding, I could only sigh. What animal will be the next bird? (By the way, I love real birds. I am just sick of them stuck on everything, as demonstrated in the Portlandia clip).
-Still amazed by the phenomena that when you need to put something back in a store devoid of customers, there will be someone standing right in front of the display which you are needing to return an item. This never stops being weird.
-I am in hate with Debit. Ok, ok. It saves the store a few bucks here and there, which I can appreciate. But debit transactions require a certain amount of precision and interaction for which I do not always have time. Classic example: the distracted mommy. She says debit, I say enter PIN, but she is gone chasing her kid. If I was smart, I am still holding the debit card so that when the opportunity to enter the PIN times out, I can easily reswipe the card without having to ask for it again. BUT, I am often hasty, and that leads to the time consuming job of asking for the card again, explaining that they were not already charged (as they most often think), and going through the PIN entering process again. OH! Error in entering PIN. Please try again. Nope, not the green button, the yellow button. Ok there you go. Cross our fingers and hope it works.
-Evil me: There is this homeless?/ne'er do well man that has been coming in nearly every day, sometimes several times a day. He seems harmless enough, and I get the sense that he is itching to talk to us about making displays, like, he wants to pretend that he works at the store or maybe he just wants to work. ANYWAY, he does not and I get frustrated because I end up babysitting him and his pack and I don't want to be unkind, but I also have a lot more to do than to be 3 hours of entertainment. So I end up going out of my way to NOT engage him because I don't want to have to talk to him for 15 minute intervals.
-Just because you saw something at Starbucks doesn't mean it is a good idea.
Showing posts with label credit cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label credit cards. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Attention shoppers: I am not going to steal your credit card.
Yesterday I was ringing up a woman and as we finished the transaction, she started to panic that I hadn't given her credit card back. "Do you still have my card?!" she asked, her voice accusatory and suspicious. "No. I gave it back to you. I saw you put it in your wallet." And she had.
I have had this conversation countless times customers during my years in retail. The intensity of the accusations vary, depending on the store ambience and façade of classiness. When I worked at a chain thrift store, there were customers that would hold up the line and tell me to my face that I had taken their card. "I'm not going anywhere until I get my card back!" It was there that I learned to make a big production of returning the card. "AND THERE IS YOUR CARD BACK. DON'T FORGET TO PUT IT IN YOUR WALLET. Have a nice day."
There was also a phone call the other day from a woman that had lost her card and at some point had been shopping in our store. I understand calling around and seeing if we had it; that makes good sense. But this woman told me that "there were only 2 places" her card could be: our store or the grocery store. How do you explain to an irrational person that their are ACTUALLY a lot of places their card could be and that is why it is called a lost card? Her card was not in our safe (procedure!), and when I told her that, she was almost hostile, as though I was holding her card and using it to buy shit online while on the phone with her.
The point is that not all clerks and service workers are criminals. There are so many chances for me to rip people off, but I don't because I am not that sort of person, and, to my knowledge, neither are my co-workers. It all comes back to the customer: pay attention when you are buying shit and check your damn statements! And before you accuse someone of taking your card, check your pockets. ALL of them.
I have had this conversation countless times customers during my years in retail. The intensity of the accusations vary, depending on the store ambience and façade of classiness. When I worked at a chain thrift store, there were customers that would hold up the line and tell me to my face that I had taken their card. "I'm not going anywhere until I get my card back!" It was there that I learned to make a big production of returning the card. "AND THERE IS YOUR CARD BACK. DON'T FORGET TO PUT IT IN YOUR WALLET. Have a nice day."
There was also a phone call the other day from a woman that had lost her card and at some point had been shopping in our store. I understand calling around and seeing if we had it; that makes good sense. But this woman told me that "there were only 2 places" her card could be: our store or the grocery store. How do you explain to an irrational person that their are ACTUALLY a lot of places their card could be and that is why it is called a lost card? Her card was not in our safe (procedure!), and when I told her that, she was almost hostile, as though I was holding her card and using it to buy shit online while on the phone with her.
The point is that not all clerks and service workers are criminals. There are so many chances for me to rip people off, but I don't because I am not that sort of person, and, to my knowledge, neither are my co-workers. It all comes back to the customer: pay attention when you are buying shit and check your damn statements! And before you accuse someone of taking your card, check your pockets. ALL of them.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Charge it! Squeezing this Clerk with your credit crunch!
My lax attitude towards customer credit card usage was a slow evolution. In my youth, I was vigilant; comparing names, checking ids, suspicious of demagnatized cards, cards with rips and rubbed out signatures. After years of customer abuse, survival mechanisms, and reality, kicked it, resulting in my current "not my problem" attitude.
I do not check ids. Ever. Not even when the card is unsigned or when it says to check id. Too many times I have been yelled at by a customer because their id was in the car, their other coat, their pants pocket at home on the floor, their kid is holding their purse and the kid is wondering around somewhere else. These are not even people that seem sketchy. They are frantic, disorganized people blaming me for holding up the line when they are ones that put "C.I.D." on the back of their card. I tell people about this and they try to shame me. They tell me about a friend of theirs that had fraudulent charges on her card and how hard! it was to have them reversed. Of course, they never know any details about this friend's experience. So, again, not my problem.
Then there are the people that use other people's cards, usually a wife and husband situation. For some reason, people think this is okay and don't scold me for accepting cards labeled "Frank", "George", or "Walter", clearly masculine names, from people that are definitely female. I used to try to joke a little: "Oh, hi Frank, how's it going?" but the ladies give me a death glare and say "it's my husband's card." Basically, "do not F with me, clerk."
So, I gave up. And it is fantastic. For those of you that have had stolen cards, I am sorry. But it is not my problem. If you are grown up enough to have a card, you are grown up enough to keep track of it, open your statements, and use it wisely. I am paid minimum wage; that is not enough to be the keeper of everyone's credit safety.
If ever I do start checking ids again, I am going to check absolutely everyone's. I will be a pain-in-the-ass. Nothing arbitrary. Because to me, the clerk, everyone looks like someone that could be using a stolen credit card.
I do not check ids. Ever. Not even when the card is unsigned or when it says to check id. Too many times I have been yelled at by a customer because their id was in the car, their other coat, their pants pocket at home on the floor, their kid is holding their purse and the kid is wondering around somewhere else. These are not even people that seem sketchy. They are frantic, disorganized people blaming me for holding up the line when they are ones that put "C.I.D." on the back of their card. I tell people about this and they try to shame me. They tell me about a friend of theirs that had fraudulent charges on her card and how hard! it was to have them reversed. Of course, they never know any details about this friend's experience. So, again, not my problem.
Then there are the people that use other people's cards, usually a wife and husband situation. For some reason, people think this is okay and don't scold me for accepting cards labeled "Frank", "George", or "Walter", clearly masculine names, from people that are definitely female. I used to try to joke a little: "Oh, hi Frank, how's it going?" but the ladies give me a death glare and say "it's my husband's card." Basically, "do not F with me, clerk."
So, I gave up. And it is fantastic. For those of you that have had stolen cards, I am sorry. But it is not my problem. If you are grown up enough to have a card, you are grown up enough to keep track of it, open your statements, and use it wisely. I am paid minimum wage; that is not enough to be the keeper of everyone's credit safety.
If ever I do start checking ids again, I am going to check absolutely everyone's. I will be a pain-in-the-ass. Nothing arbitrary. Because to me, the clerk, everyone looks like someone that could be using a stolen credit card.
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