The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

"Excuse me sir, do you need some help?"
"Good day sir, can I help you?"
"Hi, what can I do for you?"

SHUT THE HELL UP! Every 5 seconds, I'm approached by some over-zealous part-time employee at any store in the mall. Can you people just leave me the hell alone? I can't even look at socks at the mall without being harrassed by the entire store's staff, asking me if I need assistance. No mother fucker, just shut the hell up and let ME approach YOU if I need help.  Can I just look around without being bothered?

Also, how many employees are there at the Apple store? there's like 40 people up in that place that work there!!! I mean really, do you really need THAT many people just sitting around on their fat organic asses all day? Jesus Christ.

I can never find someone to help me when I actually do need help.  ???

Yea...like at home depot.  Its really annoying to have to hunt someone down only to find them stuck on like 3 other people.

All the kids "working" at Home Depot are on break.  All the adult men working there are helping female customers.  All the women working there are stuck behind cash registers.

Few of them would know what the hell you're talking about anyways. 


"Fry's Electronics" is the worst place to get help.  There are hundreds of employees - all young and extremely sociable.  They hang out in groups around the store - much like teens hanging out at the mall, except they're getting paid.  On the off chance that one does "help" you, all he/she'll will do is read and then recite what's written on the package ... and then lie about how the item will be 50% more if you wait until tomorrow to buy it.

All the adults are waiting on women?  Great, I must be hideous!  :(

Perhaps when shopping, Joe, you should wear a large sign that says "I DON'T WANT ANY HELP," so the store employees who don't have psychic abilities will be able to tell the difference between you and the 99% of the customers WHO DO WANT HELP.

I know, you've probably thought of this, and are ranting simply because it's been a half hour or so since you last ranted, and you needed to set the world to right. Or maybe you're just practicing, so that when the time comes for you to become an hornery old fart, you'll be really-really good at it.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm with jtex here.

Joe, did you wake up on the very wrong side of the bed this morning?

Hey Jtex, that's part of their job.  When I worked at Publix as a teenager, if a customer came within 8 feet of me, I'd have to greet them within the first 8 seconds. 

It's called customer service.  Perhaps you should look it up.   ;)

  Really?  I worked at Publix during high school as well, I don't remember being told to do that.

I also worked at Publix, and was not told that either, because if so, I'd have been doing nothing but saying "hi" to customers all day.

And Joe, is it so friggin' difficult to just say "no thanks" and move on with life?  I mean, damn, stop being such a bitch.

I'm with Joe on this one too, and in fact, I just ranted to a friend about this very thing about 2 weeks ago, using much of the same language.

I also realize they are just doing their job, however, I am with Jtex in wishing it was not part of their job description.

I like being asked once.  I think it's good customer service, and when I do need help, it's good to have someone there.

EXACTLY.  Having worked in the retail business, all these MF'in' managers want employees to greet every GD customer that walks in the damn establishment (it reduces theft, increases awareness and sales, makes a customer feel welcomed...blah blah blah). Unfortunately,  the "other" employees that didn't see the customers get greeted, greet them again. It's rather annoying but it's what they're told to do. I've never worked at a retail store where I wasn't told to do that.

Most kids that work in retail don't give a flying sh*t about asking if customers need help (like I use to) because of people like Jtex. Not to mention you get what you pay for, you hire kids, expect sub-par customer service (it's not right but it's the truth). It's hard for an adult to survive on $6 - $8/ hr, so you're left with the kids that apply. And I don't expect every one of them to know every damn thing about the store products in detail. Like RTW said, most of them just read the damn label back to you, and lie about which is better. But I honestly don't blame 'em, most people ask stupid questions that can be answered on their own. I use employees for locating things and that's it. I've been in their shoes. I won't defend all of 'em, but I can understand some of 'em.

But I digress...

I like being asked.

For starters - how much time and effort does it take on your part to say "no thanks, I'm just looking?"  Because if you don't have enough time and energy to smile and say one sentence, life is pretty sad.

Second, like some of the folks have mentioned, it seems when I DO need help it's hard to track down.  I will say one good thing about Home Depot.  I bought a riding lawn mower last weekend and the guy that helped me REALLY helped me.  For one, he knew his stuff.  For two, he was nice and attentive.  And he saved me from spending $900 extra on a tractor I didn't need.

That right there is a MASSIVELY undervalued service. I don't have much first hand experience from the service industry, but from what I've heard from others, managers don't like it when their staff "down-sells" or advises customers to go elsewhere. It's sell, sell, sell. Upsell, upsell, upsell.

When I go to buy something and they suggest a cheaper item that fulfills my needs or suggest a competitor when they don't have the item I need in stock, that makes it MORE likely that I come back. It also makes it MUCH more likely that I'll recommend the place to others, because I know there's a decent chance they won't get screwed and walk out with some crap they didn't need.

I still prefer actually asking for help instead of getting a pushy sales person asking me if I need anything every couple of minutes.

I would actually like it if people knew their products more.  I'm sick of walking into a specialty store, like a camera store, for instance, and having the kid behind the counter not know the answer to my questions.

Me: "Do you have a lens hood for this lens?"
Kid: "uhh, a what?"
Me: "A lens hood, you know it attaches to the front of my lens..."
Kid: "um, oh you mean this" (hands me a lens cap)

Its a specialty store, you need to know something about the products you're selling.  I don't know how many times I walk into home depot to ask about which wall anchors will work best for my application and the kid points to a sign on the wall that tells me absolutely nothing.

If the employee doesn't know their product, who else does?

I wouldn't really consider Home Depot a specialty store.  If you go to a big chain like that, you aren't going to get the personal service and knowledge that comes from a small business.

Find a local hardware store.  I bet you'll get what you're looking for.

It's hard for me to speak on hardware, since I don't spend a ton of time fixing things, but for video games and stuff, Gamestop doesn't know WTF they're talking about.  Seriously.  They're bad.  If a single owner worked in a video game store, though, I bet he/she would know the product well.

I once walked into a flower shop and asked for a dozen roses and the girl behind the counter (only one there) responded: "how many?"

She seriously didn't know how many a dozen were.