Showing posts with label Target. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Target. Show all posts

Friday, January 23, 2015

Ridiculous Ramblings in Retail: Executive Style

I know stupidity runs rampant.
No matter where you go, you will have at least one idiot who can ruin even the best of days. And that person is usually the one with the "boss" title. Mine is at Executive level. With boobs so big, she can't fit through a door with another person simultaneously and only enough knowledge to get her by, she runs the show haphazardly and makes us question how much she gets paid (or who she slept with) to get her position of authority. She's known throughout the lower levels of employees for running her mouth, being suggestive, and having plenty of bad ideas. Thanks to some of her ramblings, I've been nicknamed the Backroom Hooker.
The jokes that follow that line of thinking have been funny to downright my-face-feels-like-its-on-fire.
Conversations with her are avoided often. She is avoided as much as possible. Since she came on... the following things have made working at that store a near nightmare.


After being there maybe a week, she tried to question almost all of us in the back room about our relationship status. She wanted to know who was dating and who was married. She has been married at least twice and working on number three. Explains where she got the money for her manufactured breasts. Her conversation with me went along these lines....
Her: "Wow, you look so dressed up today. Got a hot date after work?"
Me: "I'm not all dressed up, its just a skirt. But no, Backroom is my date! I'm not divorced, yet after all."
Her: "Are you kidding? Dating while going through a divorce is the best! I've had my best dates then."
Me: "Um... wow."

After being our Executive Team Leader (ETL) of Logistics for a couple months, she began to teach us new lingo on the tools and terminology for the back room.  
She showed us the upper shelving and the way things should look in a perfect back room. Then she says, "Don't forget to use your back room hooker."
Now, this is a new term for us. Sure we know about the metal hooks we use to pull things from the back of the steel shelves to the front. It helps us keep a healthy zone while eliminating our need to actually climb onto the shelves and possibly hurt ourselves. Did we know it's called a "hooker"? No! So, she got incredulous looks as a reply.
"You know, those metal hooks? Those are hookers. Didn't you guys know that?"
No...
She starts up her talk again and ends with, "Now don't forget guys (looks at the guys), utilize your back room hooker (looks at me and winks)."
What the...?! The guys all look at me and a couple smile. I could feel my face turning red. I immediately went from Backroom wife (because I'd cook and bake and clean up for my team) to being a hooker. Let's just say the jokes haven't ended and won't. I've learned to just roll with it.
She's told us to go "topless". We needed an explanation and were told it's where everything on the top shelves are brought down.
She told an older male ETL he could "use" one of our younger guys for "whatever purposes he wanted". Poor guy is now picked on for being that ETL's "boy toy".
When we spoke about our hopes for the back room and getting it as close to perfect as we could, she told us "Hope is for the weak and dying."
While receiving a food truck, the driver was hitting on me pretty strong. Trying to get my number, ask about my Facebook page, and ask me out when his divorce was settled. Did she step in for me? Nope. Just laughed. But when our receiving guy who is old enough to be my grandfather and has been nothing but a sweetheart to me, gives me a hug... She asks if I felt sexually harassed. 😐 Are you kidding me?! Her ideas of harassment are way out of line. 
We have designated areas for certain large-container products that work well for our safety and ease of back stocking. Like pillows being on the top shelves along a wall. "We need to make this look pretty. Move them to the bedding aisle." Now we have to haul boxes as tall as ourselves up a ladder to the top shelves down an aisle. The one assigned to that task did so, only to then be told to move them to the back of the aisle since it still wasn't "pretty enough" if we could see it.
Appearances mean everything to her. Obviously. What others think of her and the back room, also matter. Whatever happened to "Don't let others' opinions of you, affect you. Be yourself and do good. It will all work out. Don't worry about what others think of you." Nope, it doesn't apply to you when you're an adult working in retail. Appearances are everything then.
All these months of dealing with her and listening to the things that come from her delusional mind have given two teams in our store something to hate as well as laugh at. Today, she really messed up. Will anyone notice? Probably not on the executive level.
We came in, and started our normal routine. We were already behind since the closer couldn't complete his part and back stock product was scattered everywhere. We had two trucks; general merchandise and a food truck. After pulling the morning stock, she had "projects" lined up to beautify the back room and present as close to perfection as possible to her special visitors today. Did she let us back stock? No. Did she let us start pulling down the pallets from the truck? No. "Make it pretty." We brought everything low and tight. This took a lot of time.

We get done with that and back stock starts rolling in with the pallets we have yet to finish from the truck. On top of this, food truck delivery was twice its normal size and coming up fast. So here's our team, struggling to keep up. What's her solution? "If you work faster, you'll finish faster."
Seriously?
We didn't stand much of a chance. They had their visitor and the higher ups didn't even bother to really give us a look over. They peeked in and moved on. Less than five minutes I'm guessing. All that work.... for nothing! Way to go! So much for prepping for the inspection. But what do you expect from an exec who has no idea how  to plan ahead? By the time I left (past my scheduled time again), the freezer looked like this:
And the best part? Look at us, being ever so safe!
You got it! The fire exit was blocked. To the left, our paper products which are edged by chemicals and lighter products. Now let's think about this a minute.... what happens if there is an accident? A single spark, turned blaze, and no exit. I see a future of deaths, lawsuits and plenty of finger pointing. Come on people! But what do I know? I'm just another loser working in retail.
Welcome to my crazy world!

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Making this weekend special

I not only got out of work early on Friday, but had the whole weekend off. There were a few family events (free of course) that I couldn't pass up. 
The Lego Store at the North Star mall, for instance, had a pre-Black Friday VIP event. It was one VIP card holder and a guest going in 9-10 AM (before opening) to get free bags of goodies and special extras. While my husband was there with the middle son, I took the oldest and little lady to stand and wait by the Disney store. We had run into a friend who let me in on the knowledge that the first child at the door would get to "open" the store.
They also got a free key ornament.
My oldest son didn't want to do it so I took my lady out of the stroller.
She was so excited. I found it amusing that all 3 of us were dressed in Disney style. I had worn a Maleficent ensemble.
Afterwards, we took the kids to the Target Frozen event. Each of the kids got a goodie bag regardless of what they were wearing.
My little "Elsa" was posing and smiling. 
The Cartwheel toy of the day is the Lettlest Pet Shop Style set. 
We also stopped by our friends at San Antonio Plastic Bricks. They have recently moved to a larger retail store front. Definitely going to be amazing once it's completely set up. 
Hope you all have an amazing weekend! Remember those deep breaths as you try to get through the Thanksgiving week next week!!! 

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Ridiculous Ramblings in Retail: Part 5 I'll Have Your jobs!

Retail gives you more than experience in work. It gives you extra patience, a better outlook on your own intelligence level, and humorous stories to relive over and over. I've been witness to all sorts of things. I've seen a child burst into tears and tell his mother that she was "breaking" his heart because she wouldn't get the candy he wanted. I've had little girls want high fives on their way out.
Sometimes though, you come across people who are out to ruin the night with their bad attitudes. We have some of those that are regulars. Known for making trouble and being verbally abusive. Like the one that stopped by last night. First time I've ever encountered her.

She came and loaded a cart with various items she wanted. Most of which were clearance. Then she remembered that she left her payment method at home. To the Guest Service desk she goes. "I want to leave this here while I run home to get my card. I'll be right back!" This was about 8 PM or a little before.
What's wrong with this scene? First, we don't hold clearance for anyone. Against Target policy don't you know! But we were trying to provide excellent customer service and doing her a favor. She did say she'd be right back... right? Secondly, 9/10 people who say "hold this for me" won't come back at all. Do you know how much food we throw out? How much merchandise we have to rush to put back out on the floor before closing time? All because someone didn't bring their money. Well, guess what happens next.
9:45 rolls around and that cart is still there. We have 15 minutes to get everything set up for closing and hope we get out on time. So I made the choice to reshop everything. I figured she was just like the other 9/10 people that says they will be back but never do. Clothing was picked up by the team members in that department immediately. Everything else went into the carts. 9:55 comes up and we are feeling great because closing time is almost here and we have everything ready so we can walk out as soon as we verify no one is in the store. But here walks in Trouble... Yep. She came back in. 5 MINUTES BEFORE CLOSING!
"Where is my cart?!"
"Well, ma'am, we returned everything to their rightful areas."
"WHY?"
"We are preparing for closing and you hadn't returned to the store."
"I said I was coming back, didn't I? Don't assume I'm like the 98% who say they will, but never do. That's wrong of you."
Then comes a long rant about wanting to call our store manager and how the security guard (me) will be escorting out this employee come tomorrow with a "Have a nice day and you're fired." She claims to have worked for a Target store before and knows company policy. She says we shouldn't have re-shopped everything until right at closing as that's the rules. There's a lot of things I wanted to say... But I was trying too hard not to laugh to open my mouth. And then she brought back a return to top it off! 5 minutes before closing?! What store did you work for, honey? Because I can tell you that 5 minutes before closing, all but 1 register is closed, all the reshop is put away and we are clearing the building of
guests. We plan to go home ON TIME! We don't want to hear about your store. We don't care who you worked for or what region you came from. We are on a mission and nothing you say or do is going to change that. If anything, its going to make our resolve stronger. So zip it and move along.
I have to commend the incredible poise and dignity displayed by my coworker who was dealing with this piece of work. He didn't raise his voice, referred to her as Miss, kept a polite tone, and provided the best Vibe possible as if there weren't any issues at all. Then when her words didn't rattle him as she wanted, she turned to the rest of us and apologized for us having to work with "such a guy". My answer? "I LOVE working with him! He's a really great guy." Another coworker chimes in, "He's a great guy to work with." Another, "Oh, I like working with him! Don't apologize for us." The look on the lady's face was PRICELESS! I'd love to have a copy of it hung in the break room. She mumbled something about not understanding how we can stand it when half his coworkers and most of the guests she's met say how much they hate him. Sweetheart, we all know you are lying. He's one of the top performing employees of our store with some of the highest guest compliments given. I've worked with him for over a year and never heard a guest complain about him unless they were upset that he wouldn't bend the rules to fit their fancy. So shut the pie-hole and get out of my store. While she's ranting, I gathered what was left of her cart items and we rang them up for her. She freaks out at this and tells us no, because we are all going to be in trouble and she wasn't buying anything until she talks to the store manager. Then she grabs a bag that was on the counter and acts as though she's going to walk out with it. At this point I say, um, no! "Did she pay for that?" She stops and turns around then brings the unpaid for merchandise back. "Now I'm getting so upset that I forgot I didn't pay. Keep it!" And she throws it down. "Do you want us to hold these items for you to get tomorrow?"
"Yes, I do. You ruined my trip and now I have to start over."
"I remember your name started with a C but can you tell me the name again please, miss?"
"No! I already told you my name today and if you can't remember it, then you are out of luck."
"Well, miss I can't hold them if I don't have a name."

"Too bad. You hold them and remember my name." At this point she begins to walk towards the door. Before she even gets there I tell them to reshop everything. "If we don't have a name, we don't hold the items. Put everything in their carts." She stops at the door and starts yelling something about how we will remember her name tomorrow when we get fired for being such poor Target employees. Everyone was ignoring her though. Why give her the benefit of an audience when the performance was such a poor one? As soon as she was gone, there were high fives and cheers all around. Why? Because we are Target's finest. We don't let people bully us and heavens to Betsy, she wasn't going to ruin our night with anything she had!
The previous night we had a known trouble maker who tries repeatedly to fraud the system with coupons. Well, ma'am, the gig is up. We know your face and MO and its not happening. As a matter of fact, everyone has been warned. You might want to take your business out of town from now on. She always comes in at closing. She doesn't get to the checkout lanes until 5 minutes before closing. She has a stack of coupons, most of which don't match or aren't able to be processed without managers approval. We deny them because of her reputation. She's cursed at least half of the managers out. She is verbally abusive to the cashiers. She hates my guts as I won't leave the front until she does and will have no problem returning her icy stare. She promised to have us fired too. It didn't happen. She claimed Target gave her a $100 gift card. But she didn't spend it, so that's probably bogus too.
Then we have people who think its okay to solicit in the stores. Target is a privately owned company. Target stores are private property. They have a strict No Solicitation policy. You get caught doing it, you will be asked to cease or leave. Get caught a second time, you will most likely be asked to leave. A third time will result in trespass warnings or calling the police to trespass you. Step foot in that store again and you get arrested for violating a trespass warning. This particular guest thinks she should be exempt from that because she's promoting her book and no other guests asked her to stop. She has since screamed at another security guard, yelled at a manager, and now has added the front lanes leader to her "get fired" list. I've got news for you, its not going to happen!

A lesson from the wise... Don't come to Target with your attitude, people! Most especially not at closing time. Don't try to sell other guests something, we don't need your health food books. Don't use and abuse your coupons and you won't make it on our black list. You won't run us down. We just "ain't gonna take it!"