The Whinge Thread

[madonplants]

aprilaydee said:

babyswan, I'm a cashier and it happens to me all the time. I wait there ready to take the payment, when I see their hand reaching to give me the payment, I hold my hand out ready to take it from them. They then pass my hand and put it onto the counter. Then, when they digging out change, they put it on the counter past my hand. I pick it up, place it in my outstretched hand again ready to accept the rest and they place the rest on the counter too. So I thought "bugger them, I'll do the same back" but I'm not giving them the satisfaction of being able to say I've been rude to them.

Had a right obnoxious git in this morning. He wanted to return some lights. All I asked was, "do you have your receipt?" and the only reason I was asking is because depending on whether there is a receipt or not depends on what button I press on the till. Nothing more, nothing less. He started giving me a load of abuse about how we've sold him something not fit for purpose and if he wants to bring something back he'll bring it back in his own time and if we won't accept it, he'll give it to trading standards and they'll bring it back and so the rant went on. I said to him, "It was a polite request to query whether you had your receipt sir and there was no need for the abuse" and he carried on so I just switched off at that point.


Then there was another guy telling me all about some boxes of toilet seats that had been opened and had fixings missing and so he wanted to check inside the one he was buying. I said OK even though the box was still sealed from the manufacturer and there would be no danger of any bits being missing. I said thank you for letting us know about the toilet seats and when he was walking off after being paid he made some sarcastic remark about he was only trying to be helpful and if I'm not interested. With all due respect, I had a queue of about 10 people and there was nothing I could do about the toilet seats at that moment in time which is why I said thank you for letting us know.


ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!! I really need to get out of that place before I get hold of a axe from the hand tools aisle and go on a rampage. Although I did consider getting hold of a chain saw, locking all the doors bar one, getting on the tannoy and telling all the buggers what I was going to do and then start up the chain saw. Oooooooooooooooooooh the faces would be hilarious.

I'm only kidding. I'll stick to beating the cr*p out of the pillows before bedtime. It helps plump them up ;D

Out of curiosity, April, how did this end?
BTW, when you get the chainsaw out, can you let me in with a camera, still or video don't mind which??

Keith

[MamIDdau]

How did what end? The idiot with the receipt?

He said he hadn't got the receipt so I went to process as no receipt and then he threw it at me over the counter and carried on giving me grief. I then processed the refund and replacement, scanned the rest of his items. One thing hadn't got a barcode on so sent someone to get one and then when they returned, served him in silence with only the usual polite requests for a pin number etc and then he left the store. I didn't say goodbye to him nor my usual pleasantry of "take care". A*seh*le.

[nightowl]

No way could I do your job AL.

The Red Mist would descend and I'd lose it

Actually, what usually happens is that I end up in tears with the frustration of not ripping their head off. Then you look like a girly wimp when it's just that you don't wanna end up in court.

[jean]

What really gets me is the bell, the sign says "please ring the bell for attention" honestly, once is enough, children who can't reach should not be lifted to ring for fun:( as the day goes on the smile turns to a grimace) I think it needs tampering with big time to a point of no return

[owainglyndwr]

Parking Attendants.

I parked in a public car park for 5minutes tonight while I took some books back to the library. Typically the spaces allocated to the Library were all taken (...yet not so many people in there as in relation to cars outside...)

I get outside to find I was being given a ticket for 'not paying & displaying (70p for an hr)

£60 fine.

I'm not paying it. I'm in the process of writing a very strong email to the County and Town councils.

... Better get back to whilst my blood's still bubbling ...

[nightowl]

I got caught like that when I parked 5 minutes before it turned into free parking

B*****d must have been hiding cos I had a good look round.

The most annoying thing is the realisation that you could have prevented it for 50p or whatever

[Deleted]

I got fined once in Clacton for not paying to park. It was a Saturday evening. I parked up at 8pm (my watch beeped the hour as I swicthed the engine off) and there wasn't a single other car in the car park. I admit I didn't read the notices, I just assumed that being a Saturday evening after 6pm, there wouldn't be a charge.

When I got back to my car, there was a ticket on it. The time written on the ticket was 8.01pm so the b*****d must have watched us walk away before scurrying over to slap the ticket on. He/she could've at least had the bloody decency to tell us that the parking charges were 24hr. Instead of paying £1, it cost me £25.

FA x

[nightowl]

Decency? I think that gets lobotomsed out of them when they learn the mantra "Only doing my job, sir"

[Deleted]

nolawn said:

Decency? I think that gets lobotomsed out of them when they learn the mantra "Only doing my job, sir"

FA x

[MamIDdau]

you're more than welcome to pop in and see me WB as long as it isn't a wednesday, saturday or sunday cos otherwise I'll be grumpy LOL You're best avoiding our place on those days anyway cos it's normally heaving.

Oh and I had another one today. Woman wanting to use a debit card that wasn't hers (had a man's title and name on) so I politely declined as I would be committing fraud if I knowingly put through a transaction where the card holder wasn't present.

She then got onto her mobile phone and started talking very loudly into it saying "I can't use your card in B&Q because the girl is accusing me of fraud and I'm trying to steal something. I'm making sure everyone can hear what she's done because it's ridiculous" and so on and so forth. All I had said was I can't use the card unless the card holder is present. I was polite and never mentioned anything about fraud or theft.

So, while she was messing around talking on the phone and trying to provoke a reaction from me, I carried on serving but because she was stood in the way I couldn't move around the checkout with the scanner in my hand so put it onto the checkout, walked around the counter and picked it up. When I had finished serving the customer behind her, I couldn't reach to put the scanner back on the checkout properly so threw it back on there so I could walk back around to the till. She then said to whoever she was talking to on the phone "And now she's banging stuff around in a huff". I said to her that I wasn't banging around and was going to explain that i couldn't reach and she said "if you carry on with that attitude I'll take the paint elsewhere". I nearly said "fine f**k off then" but I didn't ;D

So she carried on slagging me off all the way until she left the store and then said "well she's just failed the mystery shopper". If she'd known anything about what she talking about, she'd know that had she actually been a mystery shopper a) she wouldn't have told me nor kicked up a fuss and b)I'd actually have passed with flying colours because I checked the card, was polite and didn't commit fraud...

Why do I get all the a#seholes?! LOL

[Babyswan]

I think she was a mystery shopper, it's a mystery she's not had her block knocked off by now, to put manners on her! oh, poor you Aprilaydee.

[MamIDdau]

LOL Babyswan

Our store manager told us today that year to date, we'd had over 140,000 customers and not one complaint. I was actually very surprised given all the people I'd "upset" and who were "going to write in to the manager". Just makes me laugh what people threaten to do because you know for a fact a)they're not going to do it and b)they're saying it to try and make you think "oh no, I'd better do as the customer tells me then.

Store manager told me I was absolutely right to refuse the cards and to stick by my guns. So I am. Makes a nice change to be backed up by management.

[Deleted]

I know how you feel April, i used to get it when i worked for Focus so you have my sypathy.
Customers can be real bs if they want to be, most are ok but if you get a bad one it makes your day go downhill.
Some people are not happy unless they are giving agro.
Well done for sticking to yourguns.

Karen

[MamIDdau]

There's one guy who comes in who complains about absolutely everything. Sounds awful but I actually just switch off when he starts talking now or call someone else over to deal with him cos I haven't got the patience for him anymore. Store manager got him yesterday and he spent more time with him because he thought he might be the mystery shopper. We informed him afterwards that he most certainly wasn't!

I don't know what it is Karen but as soon as the customer enters our shop they turn into monsters. I've seen them queuing quite happily in ASDA for instance but then they've complained about standing in a queue in our store when the queue, nor the wait, was as long as the one I witnessed them in before.

I really need to get out of retail! This is why I'm hoping to get the postie job soon so that I can earn more money, do less hours and get less grief. I could always stay on at B&Q working afternoons/evenings so I still get my discount ;D

Forgot to say NL, I get the same way when I'm angry, start blubbing cos I can't vent and then it looks like they've won and really upset me. When in actual fact I'm only upset cos I can't smack their face off their head <sweet smiley>

[Cheerypeabrain]

Like most of you on this MB, I often visit nurseries and GCs. On the whole the service is fine and the plants are lovely. However, I've noticed of late that a lot of places just don't look after their plants! (I'm not getting at B&Q April because I don't get to our local one as it's not on a bus route and is v difficult to get to!)

Recently I went to one where all the plants looked untended, several were dead and the pots were full of weeds...today we went to FOUR and at 2 of them the pots of even the very expensive plants were riddled with weeds...some of the pots were so full of weeds that the plants themselves were hard to see!

the thing I want to know is...who buys these plants! It is such a shame as a lot of these places are struggling to keep open, with a little attention to detail I'm sure that they'd sell a lot more. I don't work in a nursery, and don't know whether people are just too busy. We might knock these big GC chains, but at least the plants at our Wyvale were well tended, watered, weeded and looked healthy! That's where I ended up spending my money...

One of the smaller independent nurseries was good too, healthy plants well tended...it's such a shame about the other two.

[isabella]

Hello CPB -As you may know I work in a Garden Centre in a d.i.y. store - we try really hard to keep our plants looking good - but we are not there all of the time

I hate going to work on Mondays - wondering what I am going to find - usually no watering has been done!!!
I cut my hours down from 28 to 16 at Christmas ( 'cos I am now getting my old age pension ) but it seems to me that I am still expected to do the same amount of work!!!
Those 12 hours just seem to have disappeared!
It's a real shame when plants look neglected - the reason is that there are not enough dedicated staff! or enough staff full stop!
I called in at work today to buy some compost and one of the lads was watering - well he thought he was watering I thought he was just waving the hose around and not getting the water where it was needed - the roots
I will be having something to say on Monday morning

[MamIDdau]

I completely agree CPB and just because I work there, doesn't mean I eat live and breathe B&Q! Far from it... I just like getting things I want cheaper than everyone else ;D

I only buy the plants when they're marked down anyway and very often they're only a little thirsty. Or I'll buy it if I really want it and don't think there'll be any left.... Just annoys me when they do mark them down cos all I hear on the tills is "they only want a bit of water" and "last of the big spenders".

Anyway, I agree they don't look after the plants as well as they need to be however I also know all the other jobs they have to get done. When we have people applying to work in the garden centre they think it's just pottering around tending to plants. It's not, it's moving pallets of stock, re ordering, customer orders, dealing with queries, jumping onto the tills when needed, rearranging the racking, facing up the indoor shelves, sweeping, garden furniture, barbecues, watering etc etc...

We're lucky at ours because there is actually someone in the garden centre who knows something about the plants she's dealing with. Then there's her fiance who works with her who just does what he's told because he knows nothing about plants (but he's handy for a plumbing or building enquiry). Then there's another guy who's from the Shaw Trust (he's mentally handicapped) who doesn't really know what he's doing and spends most of his time dancing and helping customers to cars with things...

[Cheerypeabrain]

Thank you April and Isabella...I was anxious that you might have thought that I was getting at everyone who works at a GC or Nursery , I understand that there are conscientious staff as well , I spose that I'm just a lot more picky than I used to be...it's me age dearies...

and as for staff shortages...I know what you mean! In my lab we've lost 4 members of staff, the workload has gone up and we're still expected to cope....if a patient is bleeding and needs a blood transfusion we can't say 'I'm sorry...would you mind waiting till morning ? cos it's my knocking off time"

[Deleted]

Don't get me started on staff cuts. HM Revenue & Customs originally said that they wanted rid of 12500 staff by March 2008. Then they decided they want rid of another 12500 by March 2011. We're losing people hand over fist at the moment, getting rid of all the experienced staff by early retirement and then what do they do...........? Up our targets by 20% this year to cover the loss of staff

FA x

[Spruance]

I work for a shipping and forwarding company, and for 18 years from 1975 to 1993 that involved working in the Customs clearance department.

In 1975 Boston had two Customs offices. One in town and one at the port.

The port office worked a continuous 24 hour shift, and so if a ship arrived at 2am, it was possible to get goods cleared through Customs shortly afterwards.

As the years passed, the 24 hour shift was replaced by two shifts, but still with the same number of staff. Then with the advent of computerisation, this eventually dropped to one daytime shift, but with extra hours still available by official request.

Now, there is no Customs office in Boston, and having not being involved with that side of the business for 14 years, I would be hard pressed to say where the nearest office is. It's all very well for central Government to say that there is no need for local representation to deal with Customs clearance matters, but what about immigration or smuggling? Boston is wide open to both of these with any number of landing areas for small boats on the tidal river. It is a rarity indeed to see a Customs Officer on the dock estate, let alone patrolling the wider area.

This cost cutting exercise has just gone far enough. What has it come to when a busy working port has no-one on hand to deal with Customs matters?

[Deleted]

Well, here's a story I heard at work. Not sure how true it is.

The chairman of HMRC was appearing in front of the Public Accounts Committee at Parliament. He was asked about cutting the number of staff and in particular the number of Customs officers for Wales. His reply was that there would be "sufficient" Customs officers for Wales. My union picked up on this point and revealed that there were, in fact, 5 (yes FIVE) Customs officers for the whole of Wales. How on earth is that "sufficient" ?

They dress up all the staff reductions and office closures as "customer service" but ask yourself how good the customer service is when you no longer have a local tax office and the only assistance you get is a "helpline" (I use the term "help" loosely) that can't usually answer specific queries. It's rubbish, utter utter rubbish. It's all about saving money. Our manager just keeps saying "we have to keep doing more, for less". That's ok but there's only so much it's physically possible to do. If you don't have a very positive attitude towards HM Revenue & Customs, you should try working for them !!!

FA x

[Cheerypeabrain]

If only 'they' could just come clean and say 'we're cost cutting again because we can't afford to have a new building with a lovely thick carpet in the Director's office unless we loose 400 staff'....(cynic? moi?)

[MamIDdau]

why does my boyf talk and shout at the TV when watching football? a)I'm not watching nor listening and when I do listen he tells me he's talkin to the TV and b)does he really think it helps?!

[nightowl]

Aprilaydee, it's a man thing

[owainglyndwr]

Fish and Chip shops that take your money ... then when you take the food back you get a tirade of foreign bad language almost as bad as the muck they've served up.

I'm so wound up I AM phoning Enviromental Health on Tuesday!!

[MamIDdau]

<cheerleader chants> go WB go WB!

[nightowl]

Aprilaydee, I've been following your customer trials and tribulations with constant shock at how horrible customers can be.

I have recently started a new job at Tesco, night shelf-filling (no customers about to stress me out ) and I am gobsmacked at the stunts they pull

Hidden on the shelves are loads of empty cans &bottles, sandwich, crisp, cake & sweet wrappers, apple cores. And, not stealing just thoughtlessness I know, in the freezer cabinets are so many fresh items that people have changed their minds about and just dumped The worst so far was £14 worth of lovely fresh lamb chops, dumped in the freezer.

Don't people realise that all these items are a write off once they're frozen? If they can't be bothered to take them back where they got them, they only have to leave them at the checkout. Too difficult for them

So AL you don't have to SEE the customers for them to p*ss you off

[MamIDdau]

I know NL. I used to work on replen and even though I work in a DIY store, people would eat something while they were walking around and just leave the wrapper stuffed behind places. Half eaten food, sweets, drinks etc. just left next to a drill or in the plumbing items now covered in flat coke. Absolutely disgusting.

It does annoy me while walking around Tesco or ASDA and seeing the things people have left in other places because they couldn't be arsed to take them back.

Thou's lucky thou works nights with few customers around. I was hoping to go onto evenings where I'd see fewer of the buggers but that's not happening as yet. Let's hope one of my other 2 jobs in the pipeline comes through soon so I can get out of that place. <prays>

[Rosefriend]

I think that it is time for me to have a whinge - I am seething. I had a rose in the front garden with 4 beautiful buds on it that were just opening and I was waiting so that I could take a photo.

As I just looked out of then kitchen window, the blooms were gone - after going out to see what had happened, I find that some bloody so and so has ripped the roses off and once I cut back to bring the plant in order again it will probably be 2 months before I get another flower.

That is to say if they don't pull the whole plant up next time.

I will give them the damn roses if they ask - why do they have to ruin everything.

RF

[MamIDdau]

because they are inconsiderate <bleeps> with no regard for other people's property or feelings.

God I hate them!!!!