Working in retail

[AeneasBK]

Working in retail is a step below working in a call center.

In a call center you have to deal with total morons an assholes just over the phone. Now strip away the phone aspect and instead have to be in the physical presence of morons and assholes; thus you have retail.

YMMV, but absolutely totally the opposite for myself. In retail I can communicate much more easily and am also much more responsibile for the job I am doing. As I mostly do a good job and I'm smiley and cheerful, I get great feedback from the majority of customers and everybodys a happy little cloud. In a call center the moment the phone handset is replaced you will never speak to that individual again; and everyone knows it. You are nearly ALWAYS being brought up on someone elses mistake; but as you're the only point of communication between customer and company you get the earful. And that's not even starting on the "borderline harrassment" which is outbound calls/telesales. At least face to face I can smile and diffuse the situation.

[TITAN308]

YMMV, but absolutely totally the opposite for myself. In retail I can communicate much more easily and am also much more responsibile for the job I am doing. As I mostly do a good job and I'm smiley and cheerful, I get great feedback from the majority of customers and everybodys a happy little cloud. In a call center the moment the phone handset is replaced you will never speak to that individual again; and everyone knows it. You are nearly ALWAYS being brought up on someone elses mistake; but as you're the only point of communication between customer and company you get the earful. And that's not even starting on the "borderline harrassment" which is outbound calls/telesales. At least face to face I can smile and diffuse the situation.

When I was younger my problem was simple; in a call center they could not see my facial expressions when they said something of dumbassery or just being a moron. These are like instinctive reflexes. Like, "My monitor is not working, does it need a power plug?" This would automatically result in one raised eyebrow and a somewhat slack jaw from me. A total "are you fucking stupid?" look on my face. Faking the tone in your voice over the phone was a lot easier to me than completely trying to be stone face or throw up a fake smile in person.

Now imagine trying to suppress these totally natural facial expressions in person for the sake of customer service. haha

[Fang7986]

The only bad thing about working retail is the customers. In my experience how the customers behave is what makes or breaks you in working retail

[Felya]

I would argue that its good for the younger crowd. It will definitely foster a case of appreciation for a better job once you have it. haha

I sold trinkets in Itally when I was 9, by running around a square screaming 'una milla'. I had odd jobs after that, until I was 14 and became a Sunday school coach/counselor to kids that were just 5 years younger than me. Does that count?

[Dug]

When I was younger my problem was simple; in a call center they could not see my facial expressions when they said something of dumbassery or just being a moron. These are like instinctive reflexes. Like, "My monitor is not working, does it need a power plug?" This would automatically result in one raised eyebrow and a somewhat slack jaw from me. A total "are you fucking stupid?" look on my face. Faking the tone in your voice over the phone was a lot easier to me than completely trying to be stone face or throw up a fake smile in person.

Now imagine trying to suppress these totally natural facial expressions in person for the sake of customer service. haha

Hah man I got called out on that one time for the eyebrow thing. It's so natural and I didn't mean too but this customer asked a really stupid question and my brain just couldn't process the absurdity of it. I wish I could remember what she asked, I think it was that bad that my memory purged it lol. But yeah raised eyebrows and then the lady goes off saying that I'm disrespectful.

[Jester Joe]

Worked at Geeksquad for 3-4 years, had a great time most of it. I guess that's technically retail.

Honestly though, I think Geeksquad is a nice spot to be for technically retail.

Most the time, people need you because they know they know little to nothing about the topic. They're coming to you knowing you are the one that knows.

For some reason, that doesn't happen for other positions.

[Captain N]

Worked at Venture (Now Out of Business) in the early 90s. Moved from cashier to electronics to electronics department head within 18 months. My first full-time job and I never had to leave high school to get it.

[AeneasBK]

Now imagine trying to suppress these totally natural facial expressions in person for the sake of customer service. haha

And people say performing arts is a non vocational course

Legit tho, controlling yourself is admitedly a learned ability; but I'll take keeping my face in check and smiling to getting yelled at for other peoples "not giving a fuck"ness

[Faroth]

Honestly, if the pay had been able to continue to increase as I moved on in life, I would have stayed in my retail job forever. Sure, some people were stupid, but overall I actually look back on it as having been an overall enjoyable experience.

However..... I was working retail in a book store. I honestly think that makes a rather large difference.

Except when a new Harry Potter book would come out. Then we prepared for hell week!

I did have a cool boss, though. Too bad our district manager wasn't. Nobody liked her. Our manager shielded us from her and had our backs.

[Gib Lover]

Honestly though, I think Geeksquad is a nice spot to be for technically retail.

Most the time, people need you because they know they know little to nothing about the topic. They're coming to you knowing you are the one that knows.

For some reason, that doesn't happen for other positions.

Yeah we had a lot of freedom to tell people to fuck off, too. People getting super rude about how long it's taking to repair their computer? Come pick it up then. Sure, you can have a refund but never come back.
Lots of downtime too once you started being an actual repair agent if you actually spent a portion of your day working on getting all the automated processes started on the units in for repair.

tons of genuinely nice old dumb people too that are total pleasures to work with.

[Sky High]

did, thankfully, never going back to that bullshit ever again. I worked for Sears/Sears Outlet so you can imagine the kind of management I had (useless,clueless). thankfully I worked in the clothing defartment where all i had to do was sort clothes when we got them, maintain the store, and deal (yes I said deal) with customers. aside from having me work the bare minimum hours making it so I could barely make $500 a month the customers were the fucking worst to deal with.

in a store where all of the cloths are one step above going to goodwill. you'd think people would appreciate the deals, discounts, prices of everything, right? nope, it just makes them even more eager to haggle with you. most if not all of the frequent shoppers are hated by the people working there. why? because at every fucking turn they try to weasel out of having to pay an extra 1-5$ on a pile of cloths they fully intend to flip and make money on.

but the best story I have is of this woman who was in her middle ages and her mom. they walk up, telling me they want to return this night gown for another one, AND they want the buy one get one deal to go with it. not only is that particular sale been over, for weeks. but the night gown she wanted to return was bought half a year ago. so I break the news to them, telling them I can't basically give away 2 night gowns for free. the woman, unsurprisingly, flips her shit. she then tell me to go get whatever manager is around so THEY can help me. I tell her there is no clothing department management on call and that they woudl tell you the same thing I am. she gets angrier so I go of, find the ONE manger we have working at that moment. he comes up, tells exactly what I said, and she gets mad at him. "well, what department are you even the manager of?" he answers "receiving", to which she gets mad at me again for bringing up "the wrong guy". they eventually fuck off in a huff, the manager I brought up take me aside and tell me he's run into that woman before. saying that she's caused the same problem in OTHER sears outlet stores. I'm not sure what it is, but lots of shitty people go there.

[TITAN308]

And people say performing arts is a non vocational course

No kidding.

When I met my wife she was a master salesman at Sears. Selling lawmowers and stuff like that off all things.

You could be the rudest, dumbest, assholish person and she could still put on that smile and keep going like some sort of positive-junkie doing shots of rainbow farts like it was coke or something.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I worked for a small southern pet chain for over 15 years, was a manager for most of it. It had good days and bad days. I actually liked helping people who were looking to improve the lives of their animals because they'd actually listen. Over the years I moved stores and had a few other companies try to recruit me, but I generally stayed because my final store was a nice area, most of the customers were decent and I liked working for a smaller company that I actually got to know the people in charge as well as my fellow managers, though the visits from corporate people typically a pain in the ass. I ended up leaving because I was feeling burnt out, I was finally ready for something different, for all the positives, staffing was a nightmare, between the shit pay we offered, the hiring process itself and quality of perspective employees, I was on call 24/7 so a day off wasn't really a day off, the only real vacations I got were if I could go visit family where I had no cell service. I couldn't sit through a movie without getting a call or text. I will be re-entering retail but as my own boss when my gf and I get our business started.

[Jester Joe]

Yeah we had a lot of freedom to tell people to fuck off, too. People getting super rude about how long it's taking to repair their computer? Come pick it up then. Sure, you can have a refund but never come back.
Lots of downtime too once you started being an actual repair agent if you actually spent a portion of your day working on getting all the automated processes started on the units in for repair.

tons of genuinely nice old dumb people too that are total pleasures to work with.

Old people seem to think for some reason them knowing nothing makes it awful to deal with them. I get that all the time at the library when I'm helping them on the computer. I want to be like "Hey, you know how to use the mouse, that's better than most people strangely enough", but usually I'm just like "It's okay, that's what I'm here for anyway!"

[AeneasBK]

No kidding.

When I met my wife she was a master salesman at Sears. Selling lawmowers and stuff like that off all things.

You could be the rudest, dumbest, assholish person and she could still put on that smile and keep going like some sort of positive-junkie doing shots of rainbow farts like it was coke or something.

Well put .

[RobertoCarlos]

retail work is soul destroying unless you're one of those dodgy people that enjoy the "Game" of sales.

Also retail work isnt that specific. Retail is sales really. And being good at sales can lead to anywhere, just food for thought.

[Gaebryel Quintyne]

I worked at a gym. I don't think it counts as retail. I was a front-desk receptionist. It was the best job I have ever had. It was amazing. The manager was amazing. The coworkers were amazing (to me anyway, to others, not so much, lol). The people who came in, new clientèle or old clientèle. They were all nice and kind people. I was in charge of people signing in and opening the 3 prong door thingy, dunno what it's called. It was fun messing with people at times, locking them out. I had a lotta fun times there. Worked there for an year. My home situation at that time was shitty and I used to call the gym my home sometimes, to get away from all the shitty stuff at home.

[Eroginous]

Good evening loves,

As the title suggests, I want to talk a little about retail, the work in a store. Did you have a job in retail, or still do? What's your experience so far, or how do you look down to the experience now you have a new job? I ask this because I'm working in retail myself, and I'm getting a little tired of it. This afternoon I was thinking about it and I was curious how the people here think about it, since there are many people from many different nationalities and strata here. Besides that, I do like the most opinions and feedback over here.

As I stated, I'm working in retail myself. One of the bigger ones in my country (Netherlands), I'm responsible here for one the bigger sports in our country and assisting the buyers when purchasing gear etc. But..... I also need to help the customers, most of the time I'm on the floor. In the beginning it was all good.... but as the days pass, I'm really getting tired, or fed up of the people. Do you know the definition of insanity? Yes I do, working in retail. How longer I work here, how more I realise how lazy, rude, brutal and selfish people are. The people who have worked in this branch now what I mean. People really feel like they're are better than you and don't have any respect (I don't demand respect, but I like normal treatment). Sometimes it feels like people think I'm a robot. I really wonder, how can this be? How can people be like this?

I want to say with it that I'm helping people at the best that's possible. However, per day I do realise more and more that I'm more an actor than myself, like I was in the beginning of the job. Also, the role this actor is playing is getting harder and harder, every day. No too dramatic, but you know what I mean. My question to you guys/girls: how did you do the job? Did you love it, or still do? Couldn't you stand it, did it make you insane?

Like I already said, I'm really - really - curious!

Love,
Raptar

As a US born citizen I've spent the better part of the last 20 years working retail in various jobs. Right now the current system of capitalism is hurting this sector, with stagnant wages, very little in the way of benefits or bonuses, and an overall poor reputation for taking care of employees. Imagine for a second, you were given a job at a place where you wanted to make the best of your opportunity. You show up on time, ready for work, willing to do the day's tasks without needing to be directed. But then you're told the wage you make ($0.25 above the legal minimum) is the wage you'll make for the rest of the time you work there, unless you get promoted to a position that pays more money. Additionally, you're given less than 20 hours on average, despite having open availability, working hard, and doing everything in your power to give the company a good image by being a model employee in all aspects of your job. When you ask about more hours, you're told that you can't be given more than 29 hours on average before the company has to start giving you benefits (like seriously!?), so they'll 'see what they can do' for some extra shifts but not to expect much because [x reason having nothing to do with you or your need for more hours]. Eventually, you start getting more hours and the average you're working exceeds whatever predetermined point they're supposed to start treating you like a human being, and you get cut back to 12 or 16 hours per week until your average falls below 29 again. To make matters worse, you're given a schedule where every single shift you work is on a different day at a different time, making it impossible to find suitable child care, transportation (if you don't own a car), and conflicting with your ability to find a reliable second job to make up for what this job isn't giving you.

Tell me why I'm working 5 days a week if I'm only being given 20-24 hours? Do you realize how difficult it is to do anything with that little money, while having to pay for transportation as if each day you're working is a full day, when it's not? Bus fare here (if there's bus service) is $2.50 a trip, one way. That's $5 a day just to go to work, which adds up to $25 a week or $100 a month. One Hundred Dollars a month in transportation expenses at a job where your average take home pay is about $600 a month. Factor in rent where you're lucky to be living in a studio for $500 a month, and your entire wage is going to living in a box and getting to work. What are you supposed to do to Eat? How are you supposed to enjoy your life? You work as hard as anyone (don't even try to say retail isn't a hard job, you've never done it if you think it's easy) and you less than what you need to meet your basic survival needs. We're already flat broke and I haven't even discussed food, phone, internet, or any utilities. At the bottom, for a shit studio (no bedrooms) apartment, you're paying $500 or more, just for the living space. That doesn't include any other utilities (most of the time). About the best you'll be able to do is rent a room from someone for about $300-500 a month with some utilities, it really depends on what you can find. It's a miserable existence that too many people are quick to justify in the name of capitalism. It's legalized slavery, and we are better than that as people.

In the end, you end up burning out and doing something stupid either to hurt your career or yourself, and it's not a competitive job in most cases, considering the profits these companies make. The Walton family (Walmart) is the wealthiest family in the world right now, with a net worth of $149 billion. Their stores span the globe, selling everything from locally grown fresh produce to care care services, often utilizing the underpaid labor of the working poor (you and me) to sustain a high profit margin while sourcing their goods from places you read about in the News: horror stories of working conditions and accidents that leave workers maimed or killed so that the Walton family can put a $3 Spongebob tshirt on your toddler.

And it's like this in every retail environment. Of course you have exceptions, companies who do their best to treat their employees with respect and dignity despite the current conditions allowed by capitalism. I've never worked for a retail employer who has completely solved all of these problems, making the retail environment a competitive place to work. And before the 'it's entry level minimum wage you don't deserve competitive employment' people start in on me, do you understand the basic concept of employment? You go to work so that you can get what you need to live a healthy, decent life. This hasn't changed since men learned how to farm and build. However, what has changed is the ability to just go out into the world and find work. It's no longer possible to just stake your claim on a piece of land and build your empire from it. Every opportunity in this world is already owned by someone and you have to be given a chance by them. Whether it's a capitol investment or a job at Denny's, every single opportunity in this world has to be given to you by someone else. Once upon a time, that wasn't the case.

So we've had to adapt as people to survive, while the system becomes increasingly more representative of 17th century slavery. People having to work 2 and 3 jobs just to be able to keep the lights on because the jobs that are available are shit jobs and wages/hours they offer are shit too. When it's either work a shit job or live in a box in an alley, you don't have time to get a degree in a STEM field so you can make a relaxing career for yourself out of an overpaid job. You're going to be homeless today, unless someone offers you an opportunity to not be homeless.

Until the system is reformed and makes this a competitive job, it's really not worth doing, especially if you value your time and your life. Remember, no job worth having is going to be easy to get, unless we make those easily obtained jobs worth having too.

[TITAN308]

retail work is soul destroying unless you're one of those dodgy people that enjoy the "Game" of sales.

Also retail work isnt that specific. Retail is sales really. And being good at sales can lead to anywhere, just food for thought.

aka car salesmen...

Your whole paycheck is based on how much you can dupe the customer into paying over cost.

[Altrec]

I worked at a custom build computer store from 1998-2004 in various roles within the company. I actually rather enjoyed interacting with the customers most of the time, but it can be draining. I also have some entertaining stories ranging from death threats toward me to finding lace thong underwear in someone's computer. I don't know if I would ever go back to retail, but it certainly lets you see a variety of people.