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Himuro
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 Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:14 pm Post subject: Wow. Retail sucks. Share your experiences! |
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I worked for Kroger. This is my story.
For the past 3-4 weeks they gave me one day to work a week. ONE DAY A WEEK. I do my stuff, I come in on time, I never dawdle, and I do everything I'm told to do, and the one day I'm not feeling well enough to come into work, they tell me not to bother coming back at all. What?
They had a whole sheet of folks they had down for one day a week, it was pretty crazy. I looked at the schedule the other day and there were like 25-30 people with one day work weeks.
This happened yesterday. Funnilly enough, I got called into to work for the next three days. I went up there hesitantly.
Probably shouldn't have gone because it proved once how much the store was full of shit. I should have quit in the first place.
So apparently I got called in, and then when I walked in the guy that fired me yesterday was all,"Didn't I talk to you yesterday?"
Me: Yessir, but I was called in today.
Him: We'll see about that.
*we walk to the associate manager who manages the schedules*
Him: Why is he working? I told him yesterday that he was through working here.
Her: Huh? I didn't know, he asked for more hours and he works pretty hard so, what happened?
Him: He took off his shirt in the store yesterday after I told him he couldn't work here anymore. He said he had something important to do yesterday, and he obviously doesn't wish to work here anymore.
Me: I took off my shirt because you told me to. You said to give it to you since I shouldn't wear a shirt for a store I don't work at anymore.
Him: Well, it doesn't matter. You're through. You no longer work here.
Her: What.
Me; Okay.
What a load of clap trap. I'm looking for another job right now and it seems the jobs with the most openings and probability of landing me a job are Radioshack and Gamestop. Sigh.
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Tullaryx
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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I'd suggest you pray to get the Gamestop job. It's not really a change from retail job hell, but at the very least you will be surrounded by all things video games.
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Parallax
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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I've heard that Gamestop isn't a fun company to work for, myself.
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HarmonianHiccup
Over-Enthusiastic Archaeologists
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Parallax wrote: |
| I've heard that Gamestop isn't a fun company to work for, myself. |
You got it.
Believe me, I wasted two years of my life slaving for them and got almost nothing out of it.
I won't go into too deep of detail because the amount of absolutetly moronic things that happened there would fill a library.
Let me just say this--I am no scrub. I am responsible and hard-working and willing to be dedicated to my work.
I was an assistant manager in charge of pretty much running the busiest and most productive store in our region, and all we got was garbage from the top. They do not reward effort there, all they do is fire and reprimand if you fail to "perform."
We were the top ranked store in our district and almost always in the top few in the region. We worked our fannies off dor the company and were lucky if we got so much as a "good job." Instead they'd come to our stores and tell us that we were terrible because we were doing all sorts of other things wrong.
Anyone who has ever run a high-traffic retail store can tell you that it's totally impossible to keep EVERYTHING in order ALL the time. But the suits--the people who somehow merit a rank above ours, have NEVER experienced this. They get their little marketing ideas and implement them, never bothering to figure out if these sorts of things ACTUALLY work or not. 90% of the time they DON'T, and yet everyone in 3000 stores across the nation still has to deal with them
And then there were the customers. I worked 3 system launches. Can I just say that I never want to be anywhere near a launch again?
As in all retail, people are jerks to you when they don't get their way. People are jerks to you for no reason at all. If you're a girl that is even mildly good looking, you have to put up with being hit on and asked out every five minutes by people who creep you out on a level too intense to describe.
ANyway. It really was hell. If it weren't for the fact that about 80% of the people I worked with were FANTASIC, I never would have lasted.
The problem with a place like Gamestop is that they don't care about keeping their employees happy because they're replacable. So what was the point of me bending over backwards for them? Nothing. They didn't care if it was I working for them, with my long retail experience and expert knowledge and customer service skills or Joe Blow off the street. In fact, they'd rather have Joe Blow because they wouldn't have to pay him as much.
The whole thing disgusts me utterly.
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Himuro
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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I can't imagine any retail job to fall under the implications of "fun", but you gotta do what you gotta do, especially when you're a college student.
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Parallax
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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There's no doubt about that. I have a crappy retail job myself, mostly to pay tuition and college expenses - I've just heard that Gamestop is one of the worst companies out there because you have to work pretty hard just to not get fired (which is really not true of a lot of retail jobs) and that you're never appreciated.
I work for Wal-Mart, and even I get regularly recognized for being a hard worker, and I've never even been in trouble there, even on days when I don't feel like working... which does happen to everyone sometimes, I imagine!
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Ezekiel
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Parallax wrote: |
| I've heard that Gamestop isn't a fun company to work for, myself. |
*flies in*
Sorry, I heard 100% truth being told.
| HH wrote: |
| They get their little marketing ideas and implement them, never bothering to figure out if these sorts of things ACTUALLY work or not. 90% of the time they DON'T, and yet everyone in 3000 stores across the nation still has to deal with them. |
It's so obvious we worked for the same company, and had the same STUPID idea's forced onto us. They'd form a plan for an entire market, not taking into account how different stores and area's could be. Our little "fun map of relay marketing" was for a store 3 times our size, cause we had a tiny mall store. Nothing EVER worked.
| HH wrote: |
And then there were the customers. I worked 3 system launches. Can I just say that I never want to be anywhere near a launch again?
As in all retail, people are jerks to you when they don't get their way. People are jerks to you for no reason at all. If you're a girl that is even mildly good looking, you have to put up with being hit on and asked out every five minutes by people who creep you out on a level too intense to describe. |
Oh god, I swear everything is worse x3 in a mall. As a guy, I assumed I'd never get hit on by a woman in in a game store. But SADLY, that was not true. I've been flashed by a large woman, and offered sex in return for a 360 by a middle-aged woman who was holding her baby. Wow. Also, I was literally pushed to the edge one day, and fought a customer. He threatened to punch me in the face cause I wouldnt let him trade in a BROKEN IN HALF PS2. So he came after me, I realized we had no camera, and I was much bigger. So I wailed on him, and when we called security, people just said he attacked me. Not entirely false. I never got in trouble, thanks to customers appreciating me, and sticking up for me. Thank god the store wasnt filled with his friends.
| HH wrote: |
They do not reward effort there, all they do is fire and reprimand if you fail to "perform."
We were the top ranked store in our district and almost always in the top few in the region. We worked our fannies off dor the company and were lucky if we got so much as a "good job." Instead they'd come to our stores and tell us that we were terrible because we were doing all sorts of other things wrong. " |
Oh, like the time I got 28 reserves in a day, and then got bitched out for not getting enough subs. HH, I'm sure you know how hard it is to get 28 reserves. Especially in a mall in philadelphia that caters to cheap ass people. I was incredibly pissed. Don't ever bust your ass for this company.
| HH wrote: |
It really was hell. If it weren't for the fact that about 80% of the people I worked with were FANTASIC, I never would have lasted.
The problem with a place like Gamestop is that they don't care about keeping their employees happy because they're replacable. So what was the point of me bending over backwards for them? Nothing. They didn't care if it was I working for them, with my long retail experience and expert knowledge and customer service skills or Joe Blow off the street. In fact, they'd rather have Joe Blow because they wouldn't have to pay him as much.
The whole thing disgusts me utterly. |
Exactly, they have a full deck of applications, at all times. Everyone thinks it's a dream job, and everything is numbers to them. The people I worked with were awesome, and as you said, only reason I lasted. I'll also note I was forced to work alone on a Sunday, got robbed because I just HAD to do relays and redo a whole PS2 wall (DM came in and told em to, even though I was alone) and then got a final write up for it. Yes, open to close, alone. I might as well have been wearing a sign that says "Rob Me", because they certainly put me in prime position, and continued to do so afterwards. My only good memory was when I got free shit, and rented games, never returned them, and quit. I earned it.
HarmonianHiccup, I have a lot of respect for you. Those arguments you made are echoed throughout every store in the country. Oh, and I didn't even list our "Black list" bad customers in this rant. We kept track and gave them fake names.
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Sir Kan of Grassland
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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| I work at a place call Sunflower and well the dud that on the place came up to he and told me that I was wearing the wrong brand of tie. and the brand that we were suppose to wear cost big money. and I was not making big money so I told him he could kiss my butt and I got fired. |
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Ezekiel
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Sir Kan of Grassland wrote: |
| I work at a place call Sunflower and well the dud that on the place came up to he and told me that I was wearing the wrong brand of tie. and the brand that we were suppose to wear cost big money. and I was not making big money so I told him he could kiss my butt and I got fired. |
I'm proud of you for that. It's BS that you need a certain brand of tie. It would have no effect on anything. Good for you for standing up to THE MAN!
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Sparhawk
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:10 am Post subject: |
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Retail? I actually like working in retail. The frustration comes, however, when as HH said, the big boys decide what is right for us. I worked in a Wl-Mart for a while, went to Petsmart, and now I work at Target. Same shit, different names.
I actully mat go into retail for a career, cuz for some reason, I like it. I actually like my job a lot when shit is good, which it is 80% of the time. For me, it comes down to saying "yessir" to the big-wigs, ignoring everything they have said, and going back to doing what I was. Now I am getting paid decent and about to move into a salary position.
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Christine Lightfellow
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:45 am Post subject: |
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I work for Gamestop as well, and there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. I'm lucky enough to have a district manager and store manager who are actually pretty cool, but go any higher than them all of the usual corporate garbage is there. I've seen a distinct difference from the way Gamestop runs things to the way EB did before they were bought up by GS.
Hiccup, I feel you on the system launches. I've worked the three most recent ones myself. ... not fun. Not fun at all. Even less fun are the days where you take reservations for those system launches... I'm still scarred from PS3 reservation day. Had a family of people trying to scam us out of six systems between two stores so they could sell them on eBay, among other things. That's to be expected, but they made it a very painful process.
But, the people who work in my store are mostly good folks. It's not a dream job, but I've worked in far worse places (Media Play, ugh) surrounded by people who were far less pleasant to work with.
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Masa
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:01 am Post subject: |
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Hey. I also work for Target. But fortunately not in retail. Though it can be boring, working in the Photo Lab is probably the best job in the store. The only disadvantage is being located right across from Guest Service. Doing returns is never fun. Ever. Especially since Target has an extremely limited return policy. Everyone thinks we're Wal-Mart, but we're not. Oh well.
I worked at Wal-Mart for six months a long time ago. I got fired though. But then, I was more or less trying to anyways, so it was fine.
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Himuro
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:41 am Post subject: |
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One thing about you gamestop people is that you should not RAG GAMESTOP ONLINE IF YOU ARE AN EMPLOYEE. They read your posts on your forums and will FIRE you for bad mouthing or spilling secret gamestop info.
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| I'm not even sure you could say I was "fired". I posted pissed off after the Madden release in 2003, saying a lot of negative shit about GS management after they had basically bungled the launch of the game. My boss, who I never really got along with (liked my old DM better) showed up at my store and showed me a print out of those posts and I was like, "so is this supposed to impress me? what the hell?" and he started saying a bunch of critical horseshit to me. I told him he was acting like a dickhead, and he said that I was fired. I told him no, I think I quit when I called you a dickhead, dickhead. Then I went home and got drunk and stoned, it was pretty awesome. |
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Yvl
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:47 am Post subject: |
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Wow, and to think I almost was employed there.
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Timbo
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| Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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I work at an ice cream store and I think people get dumber when they are ordering ice cream. I don't know why, but no one every oreders correctly, people order flavors we don't have, when you ask if by large they mean 'big dipper' (our biggest size) they say ''give me a large", everyone orders in scoops (but no one knows how big a scoop is), people who mix up the sizes throwing them together (give me a double large kid's cone), people who make up menu items and ask for them, people who don't understand that buy five get one free means the sixth is free, not the fifth, people who call everything a sundae and when given a sundae don't want it, the list goes on.
Some of the events that really make me stop and stare at the customers looking for sarcasm. One time a woman came in and said "Are the chocolate dipped bowls dipped in chocolate?" Are the chocolate dipped bowls dipped in chocolate? What the fuck kind of question is that! Another one is when a customer came in and said "Are vanilla, Sweet cream and birthday cake all the same flavor?" These are all flavors we have and they are all white colored and apparently people judge ice cream flavors by color. Apparently, our company loves to trick customers into thinking we have more flavors then we actually do by making one flavor and calling it three different things. Or all of the people who stare at me for minutes making waffle cones and then ask "So, are you making the waffle cones?" Of course I am fucking making waffle cones! What the hell were you looking at beforehand!
Man, I hate retail.
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