The Customer Is Always Right...Right?

Huge Disclaimer before I start. These are my opinions and not necessarily the opinions of those that I work with. Also, not everyone that shops retail acts in this manner, it just always seems to be those negative ones that stand out. I've had some awesome people come into the store that make working at lulu a terrific job.

So I've been working retail for quite a few months and there's been a few instances that have made me shake my head and lose faith in humanity. Not all of these are my own experiences, but hearing about them made me ponder at how building a 'brand' can scew expectations. That and how retail workers (in general) don't seem to be treated with the same amount of respect that other professions do.

One thing that really bothers me is that customers expect that we know everything that's going on in the company and the store. As a rule, staff are pretty well informed about the company events, policies and such, but when it comes to what product we will get we're all in the dark. I think it's brilliant from a business stand point, there's no insider information that we as store staff can pass on to family and friends. It makes it fair for everyone. But the amount of disbelieving looks I get when I answer 'no' to the question 'do you know when you're getting more in?' is more than annoying. We want happy customers, we want people using our product, why on Earth would we lie?

Keeping on this same topic, we as store employees do not always know what happened earlier in the day or on the phone. I had one guest get angry at me cause I didn't know what 'top', yes that's how it was described to me, they were picking up for Jane Smith. Things I wanted to say to this person "We have at least 50 'tops' in store right now, I need some more information. I started an hour ago, I have no idea what you're talking about. Those of us on the floor also don't answer the phone or know what is said on the phone, so don't bite my head off for not knowing exactly what you're talking about. The name you gave me doesn't match anything I have in the back and you have no idea what you're picking up. Just because it's thesame last name doesn't mean it belongs to you. Sorry for trying to do my job correctly, here's your freaking 'top'!" Key words 'wanted to say', but this person was making it really hard to act in a civil manner.

I have learnt while at this job that what people pay directly reflects what they receive from the it and the people that sold them it. I completely agree with this statement, if you paid a decent amount of money for something it should last an appropriate amount of time. And yet, even this idea has been skewed past the point of rational thought. This did not happen to me, it's a second hand story, but does not surprise me at all that someone thought this was acceptable. A person came into the store and wanted a pair of pants replaced for free, they did not fit anymore because they had lost a bunch of weight. Wait what? You're clothes don't fit anymore so you want us to replace them for free? It would be like buying a $500 suit or dress and returning to the store a year later and asking for a brand new one. Know what those sales people would do? Give you blank stares and send you to the nearest tailor. We have some awesome, reasonable priced tailors in Saskatoon that can fix and alter clothes for way less than the cost of new ones. Clearly you didn't love that one of a kind piece enough, you'd rather have it thrown out for something new. People.

Not all of us who work in the retail or customer service plan to work in that industry for the rest of our adult lives. For a good majority, we're working to help fund the other aspirations we have in this lifetime, higher education. Would you leave your change room a disaster or become irrationally angry with someone if you knew they may have your life in their hands some day? What if they were teaching your children? Flying you across the country? Designing the building you work in? This isn't a scapegoat for terrible service. If an employee doesn't lift a finger when you're looking for assistance then being cross is somewhat justified. If someone is genuinely trying to help solve your problem and you're beyond the point of listening, don't be surprised when someone ends up bitching you out on a blog.

 

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So Now What?

It's been way too long! I'd like to say that I was just too busy to write, but it was in fact just complete laziness and lack of enthusiam. I don't like writing in a bedroom or at a table. Although there are infinitely more distractions I find my creative juices flow better outside or in a public place. Case and point I'm currently sitting in the PAC Gym during the first game of the Canada West Men's Basketball Final 4. I haven't found my life has become any less interesting, in fact coming home has presented me with some interesting life decisions. Let me explain...

Something a lot of travellors deal with when returning home is the feeling that they have changed so much but everything at home has stayed exactly the same. This statement was almost the complete opposite for me, it seemed like everything was changing. Now I must stress none of these changes were in any way negative what-so-ever, I'm so happy for everyone, it was just a lot to take in all at once. While I was away I had numerous cousins and friends get engaged (6 weddings in 2015), both my parents decided they are going to retire (also in 2015), and a few friends have bought houses and are starting careers in different cities. If anything it felt like everyone had their life figured out and I was getting left behind.

That first little while I was home was rough. I had an interview with Shell but wasn't offered a position which was pretty devastating. Couple that with the slump in the oil and gas industry and full on panic mode ensued. What on Earth was I going to do? An already hard work force to get into just got exponentially more competetive. It really made me question coming home in the first place and I was almost considering leaving the country again.

Then I had some luck! I'd had enough of trying to browse for jobs on the internet that I found myself doing some online shopping at lululemon. On a bit of a whim I decided to apply for a position at the store here in Saskatoon and a couple weeks later I started working there full-time. It wasn't 'ideal' at the time, but bills needed to be paid, and it's turned into an opportunity I'm extremely grateful for. Say what you will about the company, I have felt nothing but genuine support from all the staff that work there, especially now that I've decided I'm going to pursue Graduate Studies and have a Master's Degree in a few years. In my ideal world I will balance both working and being a student but there are a lot of unknowns I still need to figure out. It terrifies me that I will be defending a thesis in 2 years time, but that's a good thing right?

I went snowboarding for a week and saw some of my favourite Canadian wildlife!

The most successful blogging session I've had in months.

 

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