Last Day

Well, my last day at my old store wasn't anything impressive, I didn't get to yell or scream at anyone. It was just really busy. I was a little short with some people who just weren't getting it.

This one woman comes up and wants a temporary Target card. All my faithful readers know we can't do this. She starts getting testy with me, and off I go. I say, "No ma'am, we aren't able to access your account from our computers. It is for your security." She kinda backs off but finds her account number and asks if she can use that to pay for things. I say, "I'm sorry, but we need the actual card in-store in order to charge it." She ended up just walking away. I love it though when some people take it farther by saying so-and-so business does it and that's when I can say 'We are not (that store), this is Target. Do you want every single employee in the nation to have access to your account?"

And then I get a call from some asshole who was just grilling me and taking it out on me when he wasn't getting his way. So he wants to buy a grill for his relatives, but they live in another city. He was wondering if he bought it at our store, if they could keep it at his relatives local store. No. Then he was wondering if he could call the other store, pay for it over the phone, and keep it at that store. No. So as he's arguing with me, he says, "Then why should I shop there? Wal-mart will do what I want. Do you want me to go there?" I hate when people say this because they think I actually care. I just say, "That's your decision." Well then he says, "Well, I guess I'll come in and see if there is anything I like there, and we'll work something out." Ok, bye! And of course I'm looking forward to dealing with him when he comes into the store. But like most people, he's actually completely nice when he's in the store and we find a solution that works.

It still doesn't feel like I'm done at that store, and I think it's just because I'm not in my new city and store yet. That's when it will sink in. But I still get pissed off at my old store. Things are getting even worse and it will be a nightmare this holiday season. The good employees that have been there a long time are quitting or getting close.

One cashier who was always a breaker because she knew all the Front End departments so she could give them breaks put in her two weeks because it finally all added up. The final straw was that she was sick with strep throat and called in sick 2 shifts in a row. The GSTL just hung up on her because they were so short-staffed but that wasn't her fault. So the next time she worked, after she put in her 2 weeks, another GSTL went up to her and said, "How dare you make a rash decision like this!" And she just explained that it was a bunch of things and that she was starting to hate coming into work. But honestly, how dare the GSTL treat her that way. But that's my store for you. Completely horrible.

The comic at the top is how I feel about my old store, and hope to god that it's different at my new one. The comic is called Retail and daily comics can be found at seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/retail.asp.

I'm Back!

And actually I've been back since Sunday, but you all know how well my track record is with posting...

Which brings me to: TODAY IS MY LAST DAY AT THE HELLHOLE! But don't worry, I'm transferring to a different hellhole in a different city. My first shift there is in less than a month, and I'm sure it will be quite the experience. Now it will be my turn to be the 'but my old store did it this way' know-it-all.

So because it is my last day, I hope I get a rude ass guest (won't be too difficult) so I can be totally rude to them. But knowing my luck, every guest will walk in with flowers and chocolate.

It's going to be tough. I was already getting a little emotional last night, and it's weird because of all the bitching I do. It's not the job (and guests) that I'm going to miss, it's the people, well most of them anyway. It's funny (sad? pathetic?) that almost all of my friends do or have worked at Target, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

So my last 2 shifts have been kinda lackluster. Just more of the same. People who don't have their receipt and somehow it's my fault. People who do have their receipt, but it's hidden within millions of others, and take 5 years to find it.

There was this one guy who was trying to return a defective saw. All he does is hand me a piece of paper with the Refund Authorization number on it and tells me I need to call it to do his return. He says he was in on Saturday and they gave him the Target Guest Relations number because he didn't have the box and no longer carried it in our store. I keep trying to ask him what they told him in store on Saturday and what I was supposed to do by calling Refund Authorization. He wouldn't budge. I didn't even know if he wanted to return it, he just kept saying to call them. So I do and give them the case number and did a no-receipt return. I still don't know what the fucking situation was.

Well, I will probably be back to tell you about my last day, so until later...

Going on Vacation!

I'll be back after the 15th! I'm glad to say, I'll be far away from the Canadian border, so it's already going to be great!

Plus, I only have 3 more shifts at my store! See ya when I get back!

Am I missing something?

I mean, really? How hard is it to anticipate a busy week when you have last year to go from? Canada Day + 4th of July = Busy fucking WEEK! Not hour, not day, WEEK. It's been so bad that people are calling in 'sick'. Sick of being overworked is more like it. This leads to even more stress on the people that are actually working, which in turn leads to more people calling in 'sick'. Hey morons! Schedule more people and you won't have this problem! I don't care about 'not having enough hours', it's bullshit. You and I both know that it is going to be crazy busy every single Canadian holiday because of the exchange rate. (Sidenote: I pray for the day for the exchange to go back to ~65 cents.) It's only going to get worse.

What do they teach at this Target Business College? How to lie, cheat, and steal so that you get your bonus? Because they sure as fuck don't teach how to manage a store effectively. We've had tons of complaints about being understaffed, and they have the nerve to yell at us when we get ONE complaint about not bagging something correctly. Give me a fucking break.

And if Target HQ sees this, which who knows they could, what the hell are you thinking? Announcing visits? Are you that dumb? Guess what we hear? That we have a visit, so the store needs to be perfect. Doesn't this defeat the purpose of a visit? And about the unannounced visits... When you visit one store in the area, they call every other store near them to tell them to expect a visit. I would LOVE for you to come to our store when the whole salesfloor team is on the registers because they scheduled 7 cashiers on a Saturday at a SuperTarget. Get over yourselves, and give us more hours. You want more money? You have to spend it to make it.

And we're the ones who have to deal with the guests. We get the bitching and the blame for everything. So don't be surprised when you get 5 cashier call-ins which leaves 3 closing cashiers, and expect people to come in. It's not going to happen. I'm not going into work to be overworked and stressed out on my day off because you can't make a schedule. I'm not paying for your mistake. You want to dig yourself in a hole, fine, but don't expect me to pick up a shovel.

So Ready To Be Done

I can't take it anymore. We are continually short-staffed and it's getting pathetic. Today was as busy as a Saturday, but we were only staffed for a regular Monday. They knew it would be busy. Like every other fucking first Monday of the month, the dumbass Canadians have it off, and so they come down here. But this time, it is a double holiday with us having the 4th this week. Braindead monkeys do the scheduling apparently.

People weren't generally that bad today, there was just a bunch of them. I could've easily used another person, and I pressed that back-up button like it was my job.

But in better news, I'll be done at my store on the 20th! Then I'm going to be moving and starting anew at a different store in the new city. From what I hear, the store I'm moving to is always dead, which will be quite the contrast from the one I'm currently at.