How Not to Be a Bad Customer

We are all consumers, correct? I do not think I could find a single person that has not purchased something from a store at one point in their life or another. We are all customers and we want to be treated with respect. Sadly, a concept that seems to escape the most educated and professional of people seems to be that in order to get respect, you must show others the same courtesy. I work in retail. My employer is one of the largest corporations in the world (and shall remain nameless, though I bet you could figure it out) and I have learned many things about people. I have seen some amazing customers, and some not so amazing customers. I think it is important to remember that we are all people, regardless of our demeaning job titles. Customers take warning. Here are some things to avoid when dealing with us public servants.

Don't mistake the store for a daycare.

Just because we have a children's clothing section and a toy department does not mean we are babysitters. We understand it can be very frustrating going grocery shopping with a screaming child, but it is certainly no picnic when you put them in our department and expect us to watch them for you. When parents just tell their young children to stay in this certain area while they shop, even though I am not their mother and have never met this child in my life, I feel horribly obligated to make sure nothing happens. Honestly parents. In this day and age, you should never let your child play alone in the toy department.

We don't always have the item you want.

I know that it seems like we carry everything under the sun, but honestly, there are so many things that we do not carry. You should never assume that we have anything unless you have seen it with your own eyes. The worst is when customers come in and yell that they just KNOW we have this item because they bought one three years ago. I will warn you now, we change merchandise every week. If you can find the same shirt you wanted three months ago in stock here, you are extremely lucky. So please, do not get livid if we cannot find what you need. Sometimes we run out or simply do not have the item.

Don't insult us...

And then expect us to help you with a huge smile on our faces. Here is a true story as an example of what I'm talking about. A woman's son puts in a dollar in to one of those games where you move the crane to grab a toy. Well, the machine ate the dollar so the woman went to our door greeter to request a refund...and when I say request I mean demand. The employee kindly told her she would have to go to talk to customer service about this situation. The woman screamed and yelled and called the poor associate every name in the book. And when she ran out of steam, she demanded the employee take money from her own pocket to give to her son. Because of course after you yell and call a person names they are going to want to give you money. Completely logical, right?

I do not know the exact price of every single item in the store.

Again, I work in a huge store with about 90 departments. I work in one department. Please do not approach me while I am folding clothes and ask how much a specific brand of bleach is. I honestly do not know. I can do my best to try and find someone to help you, but I do not know. So when I tell you this, try not to yell and berate me and call me stupid. Don't say that since I work here I should know every single thing about the store. That is just ridiculous.

Control your children.

Oh parents...for the love of Pete PLEASE buy a child leash or something. Like I stated earlier, we all realize that it is difficult raising children and they can be a handful-especially in the store. But that is no excuse to let them run wild and knock over displays and torment the other customers. I do seriously suggest buying a child leash if you have such little control over your child. It is always the parent who says they are so degrading that winds up having to put the store on lockdown because your three year old went missing. Sure, you can have all the employees abandon their jobs to look for your child because you cannot control them and not allow anyone in or out of the store. But noooo, a leash is just so awful. And heaven forbid you actually have to put your cell phone away and pay attention to what your kid is doing. I know, crazy.

That does not go there.

Let's imagine this scenario. If I were a guest in your home and I was just looking around at some of your belongings, how would you feel if I picked items up and just threw them wherever I pleased? How would you feel if you had spent all day straightening and cleaning your home and I did that? I bet you would be pretty upset. Well dear customer, it is the exact same way when you come into our store and mess up all the items all the employees worked so hard to keep looking nice. If you pick up a hat, why do you insist on throwing it across the store? Why not just put it back? Have we as a people become so utterly lazy that we cannot put things where they go? Do we really need to throw them around? The cherry on top is when you look at me while I am trying to salvage my area and say "It's your job. I am just helping to keep you employed."

These are just a few tips to help anyone out there who is not sure of proper customer to employee etiquette. I do hope that most of you already realize these things. Of course, if you did not know I pray that you do now. Though this may sound cliché, always treat others how you want to be treated. Remember, even if you do not have to deal with the public, how would you feel if your child got treated horribly on their first job? If you are nice to us lowly slaves, we will gladly help you.