Therapy for Retail

Work was absolute chaos yesterday. I worked form open until close, plus three extra hours after closing. I've come to believe that the word "free" is a phenomenon that turns civilized human beings into raging animals. Hence, Black Friday.

I arrive at work early only to find a line of customers already lined up around the corner, waiting to pounce on the free phones. Turns out, our system crashed nationwide due to the extreme influx of people wanting to upgrade or activate. It's ok, because we had a backup system.

Which also crashed. But that's ok, because we had a back-up back-up system.

Which was backed up (har har). In short, we had to go 1940's on everyone and run every transaction manually. With the failed system and the customers yelling and blaming us sales reps for the complications, there were several of us who were near breaking down in the back. I'm usually a very patient person, but unfortunately this was all that went on in my head yesterday:


Customers of Retail, 

You need to understand that sales reps are always trying to do whatever they can to assist you. If you insist on being rude and irrational, you are only delaying the process of us getting you what you want or need. Yelling doesn't help, calling us idiots doesn't help, and CONSTANTLY CRITIQUING THE SYSTEM DOES NOT HELP! I'll  tell you what, the next time you think you can do a better job than the person who is trying to help you,WHY DON'T YOU PICK UP AN APPLICATION AND APPLY FOR A POSITION??? 
So, unless you're ready to put on your formal black slacks and dress shoes just so you can RUN around everywhere to get the customers what they want in the time they want it, you need to keep your negativity at home, and your rude thoughts to yourself. If you can't do that, then you should just stick to online shopping.

Reluctantly Yours,
An Exasperated Sales Rep

PS, If you want the most expensive smart phone that a wireless company offers, you need to fork up the money to buy it, and yes, it does come with a pricier phone bill that you do have to pay. This isn't Burger King; you can't always have it your way, and you can't just pick and choose what you want to pay for.

I clearly need to meditate more. Aside from the amount of crazy customers that I have to deal with, I still love my job. I'm super grateful to have been able to land this job, and I love the fact that I actually get to use my brain at work. Back home in Orange County, I held three mindless jobs as a receptionist at a hair salon and a tanning spa, and an event planner for high school formal dances. The first two were the worst. I did horribly at them because I struggled to be fake toward the Ruthless Housewives of Orange County. The last one was horrible, because my boss liked to throw computer monitors at me.

Are there any bad moments at your job? If so, how do you handle it?

6 comments:

  1. I can't stand it when people take out their anger, frustration, etc. on the wrong people. Sounds like a crazy day - customer service is an under-appreciated field in many ways!

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    1. It truly is. Thank you for being so understanding. :)

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  2. I have so many work rants, but I'll pick out two for you to read. It'll make you feel better. Trust me. Not trying to blow up my spot or anything, I promise.

    I also work in a service industry. I like my job, but I don't really like people.

    http://oppositeofthat.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-i-dont-do-black-friday.html

    http://oppositeofthat.blogspot.com/2011/12/youre-annoying.html

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    1. Oh, I don't feel like you're doing that at all. I really appreciate it when I can read similar posts from people I follow to see that I'm not the only one who suffers so miserably at work. :)

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  3. I feel for you! I worked as a make-up artist for D&G..so I was scrutinised by a lot of people that thought they were 'better' human beings than me. I am so glad that I'm not in sales any more!

    GM x

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    1. NOW I THINK YOU'RE A GIRL!!! hahaha

      Anyway, thank you for understanding. We retail people need to stick together. :D

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