The song should be sang "It's the most wonderful time of the year, unless you work in retail..." Working in retail during the Christmas season can be a real damper for your festive mood. Even with a Christmas soundtrack playing in the background, and cute Santa hats to wear, recovering from working the shifts leading up to the holiday is anything but easy, and dealing with certain types of customers certainly doesn't make it any easier. Here's a list of the 10 types of customers all holiday workers are sure to encounter during the Christmas season.
1. The Discount Debbie
No ma'am, you cannot combine all five of your coupons from the mail, the two in your email, and the one you found on the sketchy couponing site. And yes, my manager will tell you the exact same thing when you ask to speak to her.
2. The Interrupter
The person who insists on asking questions about holiday sales over the person who you are actually trying to help. Please, please do not be this person.
3. The "I'm just looking"
The customer who blatantly ignores your offer to help them when they enter the store and acts as if you are infringing on their personal space, but comes back to you two minutes later asking for help looking for every item on their gift list.
4. The "No tag? Must be free" Jokester
Yeah this joke is never funny, especially when you are trying to decrease the mile long line weaving through the store on the weekend before Christmas.
5. The customer who insists that you have to have one more of the product you told them you were sold out of in the back
Yeah sir, you are right. I just lied to you. We actually do have 100 bottles of that lotion in the back that I am hiding from you.
6. The customer who wants you to gift wrap everything for them
*****Huge internal groan.
7. The "You are out of the gift I have to buy" shopper
Well maybe you shouldn't have waited until 5 days before Christmas Eve to start your shopping.
8. The customer who insists that the product they are buying is cheaper than it is.
You're right. That was 50% off yesterday. YESTERDAY. Its the holidays, the deals change every day people.
9. The Impatient Customer
The customer who taps her foot in annoyance and makes sure to answer curtly and bluntly when asked if she found everything okay, to signal to you her anger over the long Christmas lines. Or better yet, the ones who verbally emphasize their discontent over the length of the line, as if you have anything to do with it.
10. And finally, the "Let me just speak with a manager"
This one is annoying all year round, all 365 days. Why? My manager will tell you exactly what I just told you. But of course, lets get the boss.
