etiquettes while shopping!

[thegoreprincess]

I truly think when people go shopping, they become idiots and lose brain cells. Especially when it comes to the credit card swipe machine. Seriously, how hard is it to swipe your credit card at the terminal. It's not rocket science and the machine tells you what to do. I am so sick of people asking me "Do I swipe my card". The machine clearly says in big bold letters "Please Swipe Your Card". :censor:

Going off the credit card tangent, I don't understand why people feel the need to hand me their credit card when there is clearly a machine RIGHT THERE underneath their arm. Why? It's not going to make it go any faster. You're still going to have to enter in your pin, or sign. It's slower for me to swipe it and wait for you so I can hand back your card.

I also hate people who give you cards (like a CVS ExtraCare card or credit card) and don't pay attention to what you're doing and make you wait there holding their stupid plastic POS.

Another thing is when people's cards are declined. They can get declined for a number of reasons... the balance is too low, too many purchases and the bank thinks the card was stolen, wrong pin, I don't know. It is not my fault that your card got declined. I don't know why. Don't ask me. Call your credit card company or your bank. It is also not my job to find out why it got declined. Again, your problem.

And one more... please, for the love of god, try to take good care of your credit cards so the magnetic strip doesn't get demagnetized or broken or anything. It is a pain to try to enter in the numbers manually, not to mention it usually requires a manager authorization to do so.

Oh, and change! If your total is $xxxxxxx.01, please, pretty please, find a penny. Borrow one. Look on the ground. Counting out $xxxxx.99 is no fun. And if you're telling me I'm doing it too slow, I will kill you.

 

[Serayane]

Self-swiping is not the usual thing everywhere. I always hand my card out of reflex because I am not used to it, it is not meant to offend or cause inconvenience.

Going off the credit card tangent, I don't understand why people feel the need to hand me their credit card when there is clearly a machine RIGHT THERE underneath their arm. Why? It's not going to make it go any faster. You're still going to have to enter in your pin, or sign. It's slower for me to swipe it and wait for you so I can hand back your card.

I also hate people who give you cards (like a CVS ExtraCare card or credit card) and don't pay attention to what you're doing and make you wait there holding their stupid plastic POS.

Another thing is when people's cards are declined. They can get declined for a number of reasons... the balance is too low, too many purchases and the bank thinks the card was stolen, wrong pin, I don't know. It is not my fault that your card got declined. I don't know why. Don't ask me. Call your credit card company or your bank. It is also not my job to find out why it got declined. Again, your problem.

And one more... please, for the love of god, try to take good care of your credit cards so the magnetic strip doesn't get demagnetized or broken or anything. It is a pain to try to enter in the numbers manually, not to mention it usually requires a manager authorization to do so.

Oh, and change! If your total is $xxxxxxx.01, please, pretty please, find a penny. Borrow one. Look on the ground. Counting out $xxxxx.99 is no fun. And if you're telling me I'm doing it too slow, I will kill you.

 

[ms-whitney]

to avoid the 99 cent thingy I always ask if they have a penny--never had a customer who wasn't willing to look

I actually ask even if it's 32 cents or whatever if they have it or two pennies or anytime it's ends in 1, 2, 3 or 4 just cos if I was the customer I'd want to get rid of pennies not collect them!

i hated it when I greet a customer and then they ignore me like they don't know english then later on the floor I hear them speak it perfectly to their friend or companion--I'm saying hello NOT asking if you want me to gather
everything for
you and swipe your cc without your permission!

 

[Ribbon]

Some of these stories remind me of why I shop when its quiet and why Im selective of where I shop. Even so, I still encounter bad manners etc. By picking my times and where I shop this is reduced greatly though.

 

[Syd]

Some of these stories remind me of why I shop when its quiet and why Im selective of where I shop. Even so, I still encounter bad manners etc. By picking my times and where I shop this is reduced greatly though.

This works for me too!

 

[NemoAndChula]

I always say to all the SA's, "Thanks so much for your help today!" The girls in the dressing room area, the sales register clerks, stock room people, everyone gets a big smile and a thanks from me because I know they work their @sses off.

 

[beantownSugar]

I always say "Thank you" when I can

 

[Sassys]

Self-swiping is not the usual thing everywhere. I always hand my card out of reflex because I am not used to it, it is not meant to offend or cause inconvenience.

I have not been to any store in USA in the last 5 years that does not have a card swipe machine. Even McDonalds has a card swipe machine.

 

[Sassys]

Ladies (men do not usually do this), the holidays are coming and we will all be buying gifts. Stores run out of gift boxes and tissue paper all the time, please leave your attitudes at home if a cashier tells you "we have no more boxes/tissue paper". Gift boxes and tissue paper is a courtesy to customers, we are NOT required to provided them.

 

[maudlin18]

As an S.A as well, I echo a lot of other posters' sentiments in this thread. Therefore, I don't feel the need to repeat everything again! LOL. [Will come back if I come up with anything new, though].

However, two things: One, if you buy an item, please, PLEASE!! read the washing instructions! There was once a woman at our store who bought a white tank that had very delicate beading all around the collar. It was quite a large area with a lot of this beading, and it turns out she threw it in the washer and dryer and it [inevitably] got ruined. She came back wanting to return it and threw a FIT when we told her we couldn't process the return for her. We asked her how she had washed it and admitted the above; when the SA checked the washing instructions in front of her, it clearly said DRY CLEAN ONLY. The customer admitted she had put it in the "gentle cycle because it's the same thing!" No... it's not. That's why some clothes say gentle cycle, and others say dry clean.

The dry cleaning process is different and very varied-- the cleaning for the garment will depend on its material. My mother told me this because she used to work at a dry cleaners. I digress. The point is, if you don't want to dry clean your clothing, avoid buying dry clean only clothing! It is NOT our fault/responsibility to return something YOU damaged by wilful acts of neglect. Everything comes with care instructions-- if you didn't read it, the onus is on you, NOT us!

Secondly, and this isn't really an etiquette issue so much as a common sense one: I find it VERY disconcerting how many customers are absolutely careless with their credit cards! I'm a cashier and I cannot begin to count the amount of times customers leave their cards lying about, left in the machine [those that have chips] and leaving the store. I had one customer doing an exchange who went to go search for the same item on the floor, leaving a whole load of clothes on the counter. Moving the clothes to the side I was alarmed to find she had carelessly left her AMEX amongst the clothing. I am not responsible for lost/stolen cards! Please don't be so trusting of people! I would NEVER steal, but there are stories of customers/SA's across the globe who have stolen other people's CC's. Carry them with you and hold onto them until you are asked how you are paying. Common sense!

 

[juneping]

Going off the credit card tangent, I don't understand why people feel the need to hand me their credit card when there is clearly a machine RIGHT THERE underneath their arm. Why? It's not going to make it go any faster. You're still going to have to enter in your pin, or sign. It's slower for me to swipe it and wait for you so I can hand back your card.

I also hate people who give you cards (like a CVS ExtraCare card or credit card) and don't pay attention to what you're doing and make you wait there holding their stupid plastic POS.

Another thing is when people's cards are declined. They can get declined for a number of reasons... the balance is too low, too many purchases and the bank thinks the card was stolen, wrong pin, I don't know. It is not my fault that your card got declined. I don't know why. Don't ask me. Call your credit card company or your bank. It is also not my job to find out why it got declined. Again, your problem.

And one more... please, for the love of god, try to take good care of your credit cards so the magnetic strip doesn't get demagnetized or broken or anything. It is a pain to try to enter in the numbers manually, not to mention it usually requires a manager authorization to do so.

Oh, and change! If your total is $xxxxxxx.01, please, pretty please, find a penny. Borrow one. Look on the ground. Counting out $xxxxx.99 is no fun. And if you're telling me I'm doing it too slow, I will kill you.

i think swiping cc is something new. to me it's more of a reflex to hand the cc to the SA.
like drug stores...the swiping machine is located right in front of my face so i can't miss it.

 

[thegoreprincess]

Here are a few more... I work at a very busy drugstore in a semi-sketchy area so I get a lot of unruly/rude customers. Probably not applicable to ladies here, but it's good to know nonetheless.

On bagging... please tell me that you don't want a bag before I put everything in the bag! Don't wait until all your things are in there before you tell me you don't want one.

And don't just leave the bag on the counter either for me to clean up when you decide you don't want one after you've been rung up.

On receipts... if you don't want one, that's cool! Just tell me. Don't make me stand there with my arm out waiting for you to take your receipt only to have you walk away. And again, don't leave it on the counter because you're too lazy to tell me you don't want it, or you're too lazy to throw it away.

On items in stock... if the display is empty, we're out. Don't ask me to check in the back, because we are out. We have night crew and day crew who work every day to make sure things go out on the shelves. Sorry that someone got to the item you want before you did. It's not my fault.

On IDs... if I ask for your ID, don't give me sh!t for it. It's my job. It pays. I don't want to lose it. I don't care if you think you look like you're 18, or 21. If you want to give me trouble, you don't need your cigarettes, alcohol, lighters, cough/cold medicine, or 5-hour energy drinks that badly.

On alcohol... I don't care if we're best friends. I don't care if we're related. If I know you, and I know you're not 21 or over, get out of my line. I'm not going to ring you up, and I will tell you to leave. I don't want to lose my job and I don't want to pay excessive fees. Get over yourself.

On change... please don't hand me a handful of dirty, sweaty coins and stand there picking your nose while you expect me to count it out. It's okay if you give me coins! I don't mind, as long as you help me out a bit by handing me things in increments like dollars or whatnot.

Also don't just plop a handful of coins on the counter and leave. Chances are, it's never the right amount and my drawer will be short.

And we can't accept rolls of coins! If you want to pay with them, you will have to count it out. Sorry, but not everyone is trustworthy, and some people will try to short the cashier. Don't get angry with me because you don't want to count it out.

 

[cocosapphire]

hey all!
I need to know what are the etiquettes one must observe while shopping?

Some of my favorites (as taken from above):

- leave the dressing room tidy when you are finished trying things on (don't leave your items in the dressing room for others to remove, take them out and hang them on the "go back" rack)

- if someone is thumbing through clothes on a rack, don't start pushing clothes from your end of the rack towards their side.

- if the aisle is too narrow for people to pass without brushing against each other, then obviously there’s no room for a shopping cart, RIGHT?

 

[chikapinku]

Going off the credit card tangent, I don't understand why people feel the need to hand me their credit card when there is clearly a machine RIGHT THERE underneath their arm. Why? It's not going to make it go any faster. You're still going to have to enter in your pin, or sign. It's slower for me to swipe it and wait for you so I can hand back your card.

I personally prefer taking peoples' cards and swiping them... otherwise I get people that swipe the card every way but the correct one (even though there is a diagram of which way the strip faces on the terminal), or don't insert their card enough so that it doesn't read, or swipes too fast/too slow so it doesn't work. I used to not swipe peoples' cards but have since found it faster to because every second person takes several tries to get it right otherwise.

I have a few more that I've noticed in the shopping centres whilst I've been out and about...

Please don't stop and chat with your group of friends in the middle of the aisle/the entrance to a shop. Go and have a sit-down and coffee or move to the side so that other people can finish their shopping without needing to go around you.

If you're going to walk slowly whilst you're shopping, that's fine. You're more than entitled and I don't begrudge you that. I'm also entitled to walk past you, though, so please don't veer from one side of the walkway to the other whilst you amble along on your merry way. Oh, and please don't cut me off whilst you're veering. Chances are I will rage at you and it probably won't be pretty!

 

[KatNW1]

RBI....I used to think that too and roll my eyes when I hear screaming/crying babies/young toddlers, but now that I'm a mom, I sort of empathize with moms with a 2 year old having a meltdown in the middle of the store. There are definitely times you can remove the child from the store or even take him/her to a corner and try to calm them down, but there are times where you really just have to ignore them, not because you're busy shopping but because they're just doing that to push your buttons--trust me, a 15 month old is smarter than they get credit for You're better off just pick a slower day to shop if you really have to take an unpredictable child out with you.

Meltdowns don't tick me off so much, and I don't have kids - I know that when you're little the ONLY way you know to be p'd off is to pitch a fit - but there IS a limit (my mother had four of us, and believe me, we knew the limit), and sometimes it seems as though some parents now don't want to set a limit. I also know the age of the kid in question has a lot to do with what can be done - but even a two year old can be taught limits.

That aside, what really burns me up are parents who just let their kids of varied ages run amuck, running (!!!!) through the store, tearing stuff off of racks, TOUCHING people they don't know and who aren't concerned with them....I really don't blame the kid, the kid probably doesn't know any better (unless they're over the age of, say, eight), but the parent needs a 'come to Jesus' chat.