Tags
advice, Christmas, Common Sense, customer, customer service, ego, employees, Holiday Shopping, Holidays, patience, people, retail, retail life, Shopping, society
That day of family, friends, gifts and food is only a week away. That means that the stores are more full with people than with merchandise. It is a week of craziness for everyone from customers to employees. It is also when a lot of common sense and common courtesy goes right out of the window. The following is basic courtesy and common sense.
- Get off of the Phone. – Yes. We all know that more than likely you have been playing phone tag with the person on the other end, double checking on purchases or finding out if there is something else that needs to be purchased. Do everyone a favor. Get off of the phone. If it is important and you can’t than step aside and let others go first when checking out. You don’t like it when others do it so don’t do it yourself. If you are checking out at least acknowledge the employee in front of you. Don’t use that as a time to glare at them when s/he is trying to help get you out of there.
- Get your stuff.– It is your responsibility to be sure that you have all of your purchases. Once you have paid for them you own them. If you stopped looking at your phone long enough you would know if you got everything or not. This is the time of year there is a lot of paid and left items. Make sure you have enough space for all of your items. Stores are not your personal storage units for weeks on end. If you can not take that item home today or find someone to help you take it home than do not buy it in store. Go online, purchase it and pay for that express shipping.
- First come. First serve. – That item that you have been looking for everywhere but has been sold out is because others bought it first. The store did not run out on purpose. Everything is made in limited quantities. The stores put in orders and other times things are auto-shipped based off of decisions made by corporate. Every year it is a gamble. The stores don’t know how many of what items they will need. It is not the employee’s fault that everyone else purchased it before you. The employees are not hiding or hoarding the merchandise in the back. Stop berating the people because you put your shopping off for what ever reason. Plan better next year.
- Be nice. – ‘Tis the season and all of that. We know you’re stressed and tired. Guess what? So are the employees that are literally running/speed walking all over the store to help everyone. You want to have a good experience shopping. Try to be nice. It is not the employee’s fault that your in-laws are coming into town last-minute. It is not the employee’s fault that your boss said you have to work Christmas Eve. The nicer you are the more that employee will be willing to actually help you.
- Have your discounts ready. – If you are using an app that is giving you discounts or coupons for your purchase than have that pulled up when you get to the front of the line. Get off of your phone and pull the app up. That simple. For whatever reason it may take a little while for it to load. The more prepared you are when you get to the cashier the faster your check out. It’s that simple.
- There will be lines. – Stop complaining about the lines. Look around you. All of those people are in the same boat as you in shopping whenever they have a chance for those last-minute items before the store runs out of them. You will also see check-out lanes opening and employees rushing to closed ones to open them to check people out. If the employee isn’t running. It’s because they have been there for too many hours and their feet may be hurting.
If you want the holidays to mean more than about gifts than act like it. Treat those around you with respect and don’t freak out if the store is out of something. Just because the holidays are here does not mean that simple courtesy and common sense should be thrown out of the window.