It appears to be very difficult for customers to understand what we dont have any means. Some of their reactions are kinda funny, really. I mean, I get that weve been out of a lot of stuff lately, but jeez Im not lying to you guys. Anyway, enjoy the stories. Here they are:
Okay, so my shift is until ten and usually the store dies down around 8:00. That night I had customers coming in until 10 and I was closing alone due to a scheduling error. It was kinda busy and I was a bit stressed out. So this one lady is here at 9:46 and asks me for an item I hadnt managed to fill yet or fit on my already full cart. So I go to the back and grab it for her. As soon as I walk back, she says, Oh, do you have this, too? Theres none on the shelves.
This was actually an item that I had searched for earlier and knew we didnt have. No, Im sorry. We are out of that tonight. I mean, it was closing time, we sold **** all day, what did she expect? Apparently she wasnt expecting it, though because she looks at me with this unbelieving, angry look and says, Youre out? Really? (Cue unhappy customer face).
Yes, we do not have any of that in stock.
Uhm, but I have a coupon for it.
I stupidly blurted, Sorry. (Wasnt sarcastic, I just didnt have a good response. I mean, her having a coupon doesnt magically change it).
Okay, whatever!
On that same night about 5 minutes before the encounter with the female customer, I actually had an old man come up to me and say, Miss?
I look up.
Do you have a truck coming in tomorrow?
Yes, we do.
God, I hope so! He and his wife share a huge laugh at that. Ill admit, Im a little irritated, because Ive been struggling for about 7.5 hours on my own, and doing my best to get the department filled. So naturally, I had kinda had it with stupid questions.
***
This isnt really a funny story, its just something I see customers do a lot.
Hey do you have this item?
No, sorry.
*Just looks at me, like she doesnt understand*
My usual response is to just repeat what I told her, because I really dont know what else to do, and because its not until a few seconds later that I realize that she COULD hear me, she just wanted me to change my mind. So I repeat my answer.
You dont?
No, Im sorry.
*Stares at me more and waits* Wow.
Have other customers that try to bargain with the answer no.
Do you have any of this?
No, Im sorry.
No?
No.
Really?
Yes, we are out.
None?
We have none.
Not even organic?
No.
Zero?
Zero.
Huh. *Walks away*
***
This one was from a while ago. I had already finished filling the department because our manager ordered very poorly. Basically, if it was out on the floor, thats all we had. It was only 7:00, so I was cleaning the floor. I had an irritated customer approach me.
EXCUSE ME! Are you CLEANING or STOCKING?!
I already knew where she was going with this.
Well, Im cleaning right now, but I do work in this department. We are out of a lot of product tonight, so anything we have is out on the sales floor. Were out of pretty much everything.
Really? She snaps, as if she doesnt believe me.
Yes.
Everything??
Yes.
You guys really SUCK you know? You come in here, expecting to get certain things... (she hesitates)... Youre telling me you cant go back there and get me TWO pineapples?!
I cannot.
WHY? Cause youre not ALLOWED?
No, cause we dont have any.
She huffs angrily and storms off.
***
One day, we were out of just one mainstream item. A customer who had previously comnented hed rather buy the strawberry brand from the USA rather than Mexico (this comment kind of annoyed me) approached me once more.
Wheres your head lettuce?
Im sorry, but we ran out.
Huh?! Im not quite sure what to say, so he just stares at me for a minute, and then goes, What do you MEAN youre out? Im unsure of how to respond because this man is starting to freak me out. Thats like... McDonalds being out of FRENCH FRIES!
Im sorry.
How can you be out of HEAD LETTUCE?! Thats ridiculous! He didnt even sound mad, he just sounded disbelieving, so it was hard not to laugh.
Im sorry, the warehouse hasnt been very good about sending us any for three days now, but Im not sure why and my manager is gone for the day.
But thats crazy!
At this point, I really just want him to go away so I can finish filling what we do have. So I decide to like... pretend Im just as annoyed as he is about it. He seemed happy with that and left.
Had a hispanic customer come in and ask where the dried chille peppers were. At this time, our store wanted to stop selling them, so of course we didnt have any. I explained this to the man, and he was understanding but said:
Huh... Thats strange... (Thinks about that for a moment, then shrugs his shoulders). Must be Donald Trump.
I couldnt help but laugh, it was completely unexpected. He laughed, too. Funny thing, this was shortly after the customer that didnt like to buy product from Mexico. I had a bit to think about that day.
Aw man I love getting blamed and called incompetent because of warehouse issues. Honestly, I wish I could explain to customers the inter workings of Kroger so theyd know how ****ty it has become. Hell, I wonder how theyd react to all this order to budget nonsense and how Kroger seems to want you to order truck to truck but also never run out.
Ive never been a bother to a retail worker, but after working here for years I never will be. Some customers/people are just so entitled and expect everything to go smoothly for them.
I like it when I tell someone we're out of something and they go ask somebody else who then comes to me and asks if we're out of that item.
Oh I had something similar to this happen to me quite some time back. A customer asked me if we had more of some item in the back and I told him I'd go check for him. I did, and no luck. So I go back out to the sales floor to inform the customer that we unfortunately did not. He just looks at me and says, "I want to speak to a manager." Okay, fine. I page the only co-manager left in the store (it was late) to come talk to the customer, and when she gets there, he asks her if we have any more of this particular item in the back (like WTF, I JUST told you we didn't have anymore... fine, whatever, don't believe me), so the co-manager goes to the back with me and she asks me if I looked, and I said something like, "yeah, but apparently he doesn't believe me..." so she looks too, and ALSO has no luck (see? I KNEW I wasn't blind). So the co-manager is annoyed at this point because the customer wasted her time, so she proceeds to waste HIS time by telling me that he can just stand around waiting out there why we check our phones for a bit. We made him wait at least fifteen minutes before going back out there to again tell him, "nope, no more in the back."
Okay ... I would first like to say that everyone in the world should be made to work in the customer service industry at least once in their lives.
"Do you have anymore in the back?" I cant tell you how much I HATE that question, customers think that there is like a whole other grocery store back there, like it's all neat and crap but it's not, it's a hodgepodge of truck and backstock, and yes sometimes I AM just too busy to take 30 min to go and see if I have something, if i can find it at all. So, unless I know where something is, and unless I KNOW I have it, I just put a temporatily unavailable tag on it and move on.
