It never ceases to amaze me how straight-out grumpy people in retail get. I mean, I can understand and relate, since I've held a job in retail before over a summer. However, even when I was having the worst of days, I always tried my best to appear bright, cheerful and happy to be there. Let me tell you, it was a struggle, and most the time I didn't feel like bothering. But, it all paid off. When I left that job, I was second-highest in the department in customer service, and I had only been there a month and a half.
On Saturday, I ran out to AC Moore to pick up some pieces for an art project. We just got a new teacher in our art class--our old teacher had an emergency C-Section and was required to leave the class. I'm still not sure how I feel about our new teacher, but I'm going to reserve judgment for now. Our new teacher is having us make a mobile, which to be quite honest, I have no idea how to make. Undeterred, I ran over to the store to pick up some pieces. While I was there, I found a great sale on a candle-wick snipper. We are notorious for burning candles in our house--one of these days we'll probably start a fire--and all our candles always have too-long wicks, so I picked it up and went to the register with my crafty pieces.
The cashier didn't smile, mumbled the entire time, and when I cautiously asked her what she had said, she looked at me like I was wasting her time. Hmph. I decided I wasn't going to seem irritated and put on a cheerful exterior, though inside I was indignant. I've noticed I get offended very easily, which may be most of the reason that these sorts of situations happen to me. If I didn't let them bother me, maybe I wouldn't notice them as much.
Anyway, she rang up the items I wanted, and when she came to the candle-wick clipper, it rang up at full price. I was surprised, so I asked her exactly how much that thing cost. $7? Was she serious? It was on sale for $3.99! I politely explained that there was a sale sign on the display, and she insisted it was not on sale. I even went over, picked the sign off the display and brought it back and showed her. Her response was to call a manager and begin insisting that the item wasn't on sale, regardless of the sign.
One thing I had determined was not to get nasty about anything and to remain very polite and cheerful. I chatted nonchalantly with the manager, every so often throwing in an, "That's so strange--I really thought it was on sale." I was actually trying a piece of advice my mother always said. Whenever she was in a situation like this, she says the best thing to do is, "Either blab their ears off so they finally just give it to you to get rid of you, or you stay very quiet and let them handle it." Since I had been chatting before the manager came over, I didn't think I should stop now.
Finally the manager burst out, "Just give it to her for $4!" And hurried away. I have to admit, that wasn't exactly polite either, but I wasn't going to complain. I'd gotten what I wanted. I paid for the items and left.
I hate having to say this. My 19-yr-old brain doesn't want to comprehend this, but...
Mom was right.
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Sorry your teacher had to go, she's good. Have you heard if she had a boy or girl?
ReplyDeleteAh our mothers' voices in our heads. Sorry you can't escape their advice. I found that out when I moved 3,000 miles away and my mother's came with me.
That was good motherly advice. I thought the rule was when an item is tagged at a sale price, even when it's a mistake on the stores part, that the customer gets that sale price.
Good luck with the mobile. Look up Alexander Calder, he's a master at the mobile and one of my favorite artists.