I wouldn't say it's moral policing. Just as a store is expected to give a customer prompt and courteous service, a customer is expected to be civil within reason. Any store that would condone the behavior of customers forcefully demanding stock be pulled (and especially pulling a knife) is setting a bad precident. There has to be reason. Don't reward jacknut behavior from a douchebag that says you have to do what he says because he's the customer. I worked a short stint at Walmart and only had one customer get douchy on me. At that point, I did what any employee should do when presented with a hostile customer... I called a manager in. At that point, he took the customer's hostility in stride and simply said "Leave the store now".

 

Customer service is important. Doing whatever it takes to satisfy the customer WITHIN REASON is important. And there is the key phrase... WITHIN REASON. If the customer is screaming in your face and forcing his way to the stockroom, that's beyond reason at which point a manager should be involved and booting that dork on his backend.

Customer service is important. Doing whatever it takes to satisfy the customer WITHIN REASON is important. And there is the key phrase... WITHIN REASON. If the customer is screaming in your face and forcing his way to the stockroom, that's beyond reason at which point a manager should be involved and booting that dork on his backend.

:pfx 100%

 

I had customers scream at me about hardware and tools back when I used to work the hardware section at Kmart (many MANY years ago). They could not believe when we didn't have certain items in stock. There were more than a few times when I would take these jerkoffs into the backroom and show them that the items were indeed not there. I got yelled at by my manager one time for taking a customer into the stock room, but I felt it was worth it just to get a screaming douchetard off my back (and out of the store). So much griping over frakking utility knife blades. :roll

 

Not that I'm suggesting anyone working retail start taking customers into the backrooms at their stores or anything. But it's been my experience that stock gets pulled out of the backroom everyday to "refresh" the shelves, so-to-speak. My Kmart store had an absolute no tolerance policy for holding stock in the backrooms. If I had something that wasn't on the shelf but was found in the backroom, I got written up. The management's reasoning was that if stock isn't on the shelves, then it's not making money for the store. :tftongue

 

Now, as far as "street dates" are concerned, I hate them... but I also understand them. I could not frakking wait for June 2nd last summer, but as soon as it hit, I was frakking excited. That was one of the best toy-shopping days I could remember in a long time. :clap

It's like this doof dude. Do you know what 'cherry-picking' is? well so does everybody else in this country. So (from Target's stand point) why would somebody pull a fresh case from the back so you can pull out that 1 figure you gotta have,when all the pegs are full of the exact same line of toys?

Also,there's this. There's a process known as 'Sweeps' in which product that has been sitting in the backroom for an extended amount of time,gets sent back to the manufacturer for money back. This can only happen with SEALED cases. Nothing that has been opened can be sent back.

 

Normally, I wouldn't even respond to someone who can't participate in a conversation without dropping personal attacks or childish names against other people, but in your case I will make an exception. Your response is intellectually lacking on so many levels that I feel obligated to attempt one last time to help you understand something beyond a foot in front of your own nose.

 

Now, listen carefully....

 

I have said many different times before that I have asked Target employees on numerous occasions to pull stock in the following situations:

 

1) The pegs / shelves are empty. (NOT full, like you stated)

 

2) The provided scanning system, which is put there for the CUSTOMERS to use, says that more (new) stock is in the back room.

 

3) After a courteous request, all except for two occasions the employees have complied. On those two occasions when they didn't, I left the store with no issues.

 

Your term "cherry picking" is irrelevant to this discussion. If stock needs to be put out anyways, and I am the first one to get a "shortpacked" item, then honestly - what difference does it make if it is me, you, or anyone else? It was going to be sold anyways, whether it was to me or 5 minutes later to someone else, the item is still sold and the remaining items are still out on the pegs.

 

Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I don't. The last time I got lucky was when a Target employee walked in the back room, pulled out a case and allowed me to get an '08 Bumblebee. I thanked her, offered her some money for her trouble (which she graciously refused) and I went on my merry way. The remaining stock was placed on the shelves, which had to be put out anyways... so what's the problem?

 

There is no doubt that there can be problem customers in this world, no matter what you do for a living. You'd better learn how to deal with them (and others) a little better, or working at Target might be where you spend the rest of your days as an employee.

It's like this doof dude. Do you know what 'cherry-picking' is? well so does everybody else in this country. So (from Target's stand point) why would somebody pull a fresh case from the back so you can pull out that 1 figure you gotta have,when all the pegs are full of the exact same line of toys?

Also,there's this. There's a process known as 'Sweeps' in which product that has been sitting in the backroom for an extended amount of time,gets sent back to the manufacturer for money back. This can only happen with SEALED cases. Nothing that has been opened can be sent back.

 

Normally, I wouldn't even respond to someone who can't participate in a conversation without dropping personal attacks or childish names against other people, but in your case I will make an exception. Your response is intellectually lacking on so many levels that I feel obligated to attempt one last time to help you understand something beyond a foot in front of your own nose.

 

Now, listen carefully....

 

I have said many different times before that I have asked Target employees on numerous occasions to pull stock in the following situations:

 

1) The pegs / shelves are empty. (NOT full, like you stated)

 

2) The provided scanning system, which is put there for the CUSTOMERS to use, says that more (new) stock is in the back room.

 

3) After a courteous request, all except for two occasions the employees have complied. On those two occasions when they didn't, I left the store with no issues.

 

Your term "cherry picking" is irrelevant to this discussion. If stock needs to be put out anyways, and I am the first one to get a "shortpacked" item, then honestly - what difference does it make if it is me, you, or anyone else? It was going to be sold anyways, whether it was to me or 5 minutes later to someone else, the item is still sold and the remaining items are still out on the pegs.

 

Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I don't. The last time I got lucky was when a Target employee walked in the back room, pulled out a case and allowed me to get an '08 Bumblebee. I thanked her, offered her some money for her trouble (which she graciously refused) and I went on my merry way. The remaining stock was placed on the shelves, which had to be put out anyways... so what's the problem?

 

There is no doubt that there can be problem customers in this world, no matter what you do for a living. You'd better learn how to deal with them (and others) a little better, or working at Target might be where you spend the rest of your days as an employee.

I should be so lucky to work at Target 'the rest of my days'. I've got no problem with that.

I love the uptight-gotta-have-it-my-way-genious-hot wheel-collector attitude you have :demon maybe THATS why no ones been helping you out.

#1 Cherry-picking IS relevant,even if YOU don't think so. (You being a cherry-picker,I can understand the desire to play it down). Scanners? Are you talking about the price checking scanners? I've never seen the ability to be able to check for stock in the backroom with one of those. How would you? Are you pulling the price stickers off the shelves? Even IF you were able to do such a thing,those things are not always accurate.-Meaning that I've often looked up the prices of new toys with them,only to have the words 'not on file' come up on the screen.

 

Bottom line is that if the peg is empty,the chances are more than good that there is no more product to fill it. There are at least 4 times during the course of a day for that peg to be restocked. Believe me if there are holes in an isle somewhere there ARE employees trying to find product to fill it in.

So don't ask employees to look esspecially for you,cause they are well aware of the situation,and all you're doing is taking them away from their job at hand.

 

-If you don't understand any of that Devil Mcbean then I can't help you. HAVE A NICE DAY :wave

chances are good that those items are popular enough to sell out once the boxes of those items hit the shelves anyway. Refusing to search the back room for one elusive item isn't going to cause the store to lose money; it's just that the $10 are going to come out of someone else's pocket.

 

Good counter-point. How did I miss that?

 

On a different note... I never even knew a customer could scan to see if there is anything "in the back". News to me. Not sure how useful that knowledge would be if you can't ask if they can get it from "the back" for you though.

chances are good that those items are popular enough to sell out once the boxes of those items hit the shelves anyway. Refusing to search the back room for one elusive item isn't going to cause the store to lose money; it's just that the $10 are going to come out of someone else's pocket.

 

Good counter-point. How did I miss that?

 

On a different note... I never even knew a customer could scan to see if there is anything "in the back". News to me. Not sure how useful that knowledge would be if you can't ask if they can get it from "the back" for you though.

Never seen that option pop-up from any of the scanners I've used. I'm sure the stocker's handhelds can do it, but figured that info was verboten to the regular customers.

I think the retail employee's who've weighed in so far have hit it on the nose. as a fellow retail employee (albeit, specialty retail.), I have to stand with target's policy. if the pegs and shelves have plenty of the product, then wait for the figure you're looking for to trickle out. or get it online.

if the shelves are empty, check for the grey dot (at target). that means they don't have any more and are waiting for new stock. not to mention, sometimes, like at my local target right now, they are moving stuff around. wait for them to finish. and if the employee says he cant look in the back, just believe him. he prolly has better things to do than stand there and argue.

most of these policies have been put into place due to those idiots who think store employee's exist solely to serve them. I've had to hang out by the electronics counter at the target my girlfriend works at to keep the a-holes off her case for the stupidist crap.

 

and seriously guys, they're just toys. stop arguing like it's going to prevent a nuclear war.

I think the retail employee's who've weighed in so far have hit it on the nose. as a fellow retail employee (albeit, specialty retail.), I have to stand with target's policy. if the pegs and shelves have plenty of the product, then wait for the figure you're looking for to trickle out. or get it online.

if the shelves are empty, check for the grey dot (at target). that means they don't have any more and are waiting for new stock. not to mention, sometimes, like at my local target right now, they are moving stuff around. wait for them to finish. and if the employee says he cant look in the back, just believe him. he prolly has better things to do than stand there and argue.

most of these policies have been put into place due to those idiots who think store employee's exist solely to serve them. I've had to hang out by the electronics counter at the target my girlfriend works at to keep the a-holes off her case for the stupidist crap.

 

and seriously guys, they're just toys. stop arguing like it's going to prevent a nuclear war.

:pfx Thank You.

Oh please. You talk about the duty of a retail store as if you gave a crap about anything besides getting the toys you want, when you want them. Maybe people should, I don't know, BE NORMAL and get a life or something. That would also solve the problem.

 

I just think that employees of a store should refrain from becoming the moral police of merchandising, and just simply do their job - put the merchandise out so customers can buy it. If it's not out on the floor, and the handy-dandy scanners (which by the way, are intended for the customers to price check and to see if more of an item is in stock) indicate that they actually do have more in stock, then why is that a problem to put it out? If it were such an issue, why not pull the scanners entirely, or disable the indicator about having more in stock?

 

It's not about obsessiveness here... it's about specifically taking one section of the store and making a selective judgement about refusing service to a particular demographic. I have no sense of entitlement just because I expect a person to do the job that they chose to do. Truth be told, I have only been denied twice in all my years of "hunting" toys. I am always polite, professional, and courteous - even if they say that they cannot pull from the stock room. Now, I might still curse at them under my breath as I walk out of the store, but I am still respectful while I am in their presence.

 

What I don't get is that you seem to consider it to be some sort of twisted "justice" when employees prevent customers from buying products from their store, because they don't feel as though certain people are deserving enough to purchase it.

 

FWIW, the customers' "intent" is irrelevant to to the process of buying and selling products. Have product, sell product, done. Can you imagine what kind of a world that we would live in if people could be denied service, based completely on a merchant's perception of what they plan to do with it?

 

Also, do you not expect a certain level of service from a waiter or waitress who's job it is to serve a meal to your table? Why is it different, and suddenly "rude" for a customer to have an expectation of customer service from a CUSTOMER SERVICE person at a retail store?

 

That's their job, and that's what they are paid to do - help the customer. Not to make decisions on who is / who isn't worthy to purchase a specific product.

 

 

Bottom line is that there is more going on here other than "moral policing."

 

The stores that run this policy usually tend to stick to it more and post the signs and all when they feel they need it.

 

Unless you've worked in retail then you can't know all the problems that go on, especially with people in the toy department. Unlike 10 years ago where making the sale was the first priority, these days stores aren't afraid to think of their own best interests over the customers.

 

Toy collectors can come in all throughout the day and take up way too much of an employees time and they do tend to give a lot of grief whether the employee deserves it or not. They cause A LOT of problems!

 

If I had a dime every time I wasted 10 or more minutes with a toy collector or scalper only to have them walk out empty handed I'd be rich. That's time I can be spending helping people who are more serious about buying things in the store and who will spend more money.

 

You also have to consider that many stores are understaffed and that just makes even that much harder to deal with it all the time. It's a matter of priority and helping a guy get $10 or more worth of toys is far less important than helping person with hundreds of dollars of merchandise in their carts and shops in the store often.

 

I could go on all day with good reasons for this policy. It may cause some slight problems for the collectors and scalpers but it helps relieve some of the burden for the workers. There's plenty of burden there as it is, so what little there is to help out does help. Maybe some people don't agree with that, that's fine, work in retail for awhile and get back to me later on on this subject.

i never knew you could ask what was in the back, if it wasnt there i thought i just had to wait till they got it in, darn