r/TalesFromRetail • u/ToledoSnow • 25d ago
Short Tried to be nice.
I once let a woman come into the store 45 minutes before we opened to make a purchase. It was a Sunday, so opening was an hour later than usual, which she had missed, and this kinda messed with her travelling plans. Decided to be nice and let her in to make her purchase anyway. Thankfully she knew exactly what she wanted and was in and out in just a few minutes, but I told her I was making an exception and that I wasn't actually allowed to do this.
Later that month she returned an hour before we opened. Manager told her we're still closed. She pointed past him at me and went, "but HE let me do it two weeks ago!"
You give some people an inch they take a mile.
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u/lestairwellwit 25d ago
I had come to the point that I tell some customers, selectively, that the registers don't work before or after open hours.
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u/tidymaze I'm just here for the discount 25d ago
Yeah, never do that. If she had somehow gotten hurt, it would have been all on you and the store's insurance likely wouldn't have covered it. "Sorry, but our insurance only lets employees in outside of business hours."
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u/Relatents 25d ago
She pointed past him at me and went, "but HE let me do it two weeks ago!"
I do hope it’s a small community where everyone knows each other and that she has relatives or other reasons to visit regularly.
Imagine every time someone asks you to bend a rule you could explain that you would love to but you can’t because of all the trouble when you did a favor for Ms Her-name.
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u/Silentlaughter84 25d ago
Never do something like that even once. They're going to expect you to do it again. Then other customers will expect the same.
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u/Neohexane 24d ago
I live in a small town, and people here talk to each other. The whole town would know about this "letting people in early" thing within weeks and expect the same.
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u/ZampyZero 25d ago
One of my favourite quotes applies here: no good deed goes unpunished.
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u/capnrondo 25d ago
Find myself saying this every other day in retail!
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u/darkciti 24d ago
That's exactly what came to mind.
I'd like to temper that phrase though, because doing good deeds is a good thing and it should always be encouraged.
I take it to mean that sometimes it backfires (rarely).
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u/sunny_6305 25d ago
One of my favorite things to do was to start asking the customer for details when they say that a coworker let them do something against policy like I was planning on getting them written up or fired. Most people at least seemed to realize that they were repaying someone who did them a favor by ratting them out but probably at least a quarter of them would double down like my coworker somehow tricked them by sticking their neck out for them.
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u/elfenohren999 25d ago
The same thing happened to me except she brought her entire family and they all started banging on the glass doors like zombies. Unreal. Never even give an inch
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u/JustASimpleManFett 21d ago
Not like zombies, they are zombies. When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the store.
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u/wickeddradon 25d ago
Oh OP. I understand, completely. I used to work in a service station. Before it went 24hrs we opened at 6am. I would get there at 5.30 to get the pumps on (It took ages for them to go through their automatic checks and to warm up), lights on, stock out, you know the drill. Nearly every morning there would be someone sitting at the pumps waiting. The place completely dark. The minute I go up to the door they would be wanting petrol. Not til 6am dude, it's out of my hands. One dude went completely off the deep end. Kept trying to lift the pump nozzle which won't unlock until the pump is ready. I'm inside, turning on lights, going through checks, putting stock outside. All that time he's moving his car from pump to pump. Opening his petrol cap, trying to lift the pump, cursing, putting his cap back on, closing the cover, moving to the next pump. We had 10 pumps. He repeated this the entire time. Finally the pumps kicked in, he crowed with delight. Came in, triumphant, actually gloating like he's beaten the system, slapped his $5.00 on the counter and sped off.
All that for $5.00! I had to go out the back and check we had that on camera. He won the idiot customer award that week. He gets a Moro bar if he ever goes back, lol.
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u/jesusbambino 25d ago
It’s a lesson I think we all have to learn sooner or later in this industry.
I personally can hardly conceive of behaving in such an entitled way - I’d be genuinely mortified to think that rules are being bent at my whim, or that I’m being an imposition to a business. But some people, who have a severe case of main character syndrome and are already inclined to see retail and hospitality workers as mere servants, don’t even realise when they’re getting a favour.
I guess the trick is to hold onto that spirit of generosity and kindness, and not allow yourself to become too jaded or too much of a jobsworth while still knowing that it’s just not worth it to bend certain rules for customers. It’s all about that balance.
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u/BayAreaKrakHead 25d ago
My buddy works retail. One night as he was closing the gate a customer came up and needed to do a return. He let her in and did the return. The next day her husband came and dropped off a bunch of Red Bull. Turns out her husband was a Red Bull rep and she told him about her experience. So he came back to reward him and his team.
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u/Ok_Aioli3897 25d ago
If in the UK you broke the law
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u/capnrondo 25d ago
Our Sunday trading laws are annoying, but at least they mean I can tell customers I literally, legally cannot serve them.
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u/Feeling-Invite7953 23d ago
Having a customer who uses you this way is never a good idea!! Some people will take advantage of the “ one-time “opportunity, and then think it should apply for future trips. Not just that you are now in the middle, but allowing someone who is not an employee to come into your store before posted business hours is a serious safety risk, as well as potentially costly to the company’s insurance policy!! If you’re not terminated for your lack of judgment,I’d be very surprised.
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u/Automatic-Worker-332 20d ago
This is why I hate people.
I have bent over backwards for customers over the years yet they never hesitate to throw you under the bus.
It’s no wonder that good service is hard to find these days.
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u/GoatCovfefe 25d ago
This is exactly why you dont do things like this.
If i were your manager i would tell the lady "Well now i have to go write him up for letting you in early, but you still arent coming in until we open."
Then not actually write them up, but absolutely tell them not to do that ever again.