1. I will never leave a fitting room a mess.
If you have ever worked fitting rooms then you know it’s the most frustrating task one can have in a retail clothing store, especially when it gets busy. And if you have never had the experience of working fitting rooms, then you’re about to find out why it can be such a nightmare. The repetitive cycle of people trying on clothes and then leaving a mess for you to clean up, process, and finally return to the floor can drive a person crazy. It is absolutely awful when a lady, or a man (this is an nonsexist article) walks in with fifteen articles of clothing and then comes out only wanting one item. You do realize that the person working fitting rooms has to return every single item back to its original rack or table, right? It doesn't seem like much work but when that person has eight fitting rooms to maintain at a constant rate the clothing articles and workload adds up, fast. If your excuse for not cleaning up after yourself is “it’s their job”, that’s not good enough.
We DON’T get paid enough to do all the extra work you’re causing us when you leave your clothes all over the floor, or bring an outrageous number of items into the fitting room. I’m not saying that you have to put all the clothes you try on back, because that is our job. I’m just saying don’t make our job harder than it has to be. At the least, hang your clothes back on the hanger as you found them, take them out of the fitting room, and hand them to the person working fitting room. Maybe say a quick "thanks" if you're feeling extra generous that day, and they’ll take care of it. Trust me, doing little things helps out so much more than you think they do.
2. I will never leave trash/food behind.
Intentionally leaving trash or food in a fitting room, on shelf, or hidden behind clothes simply because you don’t want to carry it or are too lazy to find a trash can is plain old disrespectful and immature. There are some things in life you just do. DO pay for something, don't steal. DO wait in line, don't cut. And DO throw away trash, don't litter. Leaving the trash/food in the store not only creates more work for the employee who has to pick or clean it up but can also cause proceeding issues, such as for customers who may step in or tip over the food or drink. Additionally, it causes problems for the store whose merchandise is in danger of getting ruined. It's an easy task to accomplish and yet some still fail to follow through. Now, accidentally forgetting to something away is somewhat understandable, but purposely leaving your large Dr. Pepper and half-eaten Double Bacon Cheeseburger on a table of clothing is just being a jerk.
3. I will never leave random things in random places.
This is something that I’ll admit I am guilty of doing in the past, most of us have. You find an item you like, but after walking around the store for a while you decide it’s too expensive or that you don’t really like as much as you thought you did. So instead of walking all the back to where you found the item to put it back, you just set it down in a place it doesn’t belong. And it doesn’t bother you, because “big deal” right? But if everyone thinks that way then one misplaced item turns into ten misplaced items and then into a hundred misplaced items until eventually you have a big melting pot of all the items in the store. But in reality we don’t. You know why? Because retail employees keep the mess contained by putting those items back for us. This is another example of one of the little things we can do to avoid the big messes left for employees to clean up. And again, if you don’t want to put the item back, don't remember where it goes, or don’t have time to then just give it to an employee so they can make sure it gets put back in the right place. Please and thanks.
4. I will never get angry when waiting in long lines.
As a customer, it’s easy to get upset when you have to wait in a line for more than five minutes. But when a store’s busy, you need to remember that it’s not their fault. Okay, the store can be blamed if they are seriously lacking cashiers or purposely giving bad customer service. But in most cases, they can’t help it. Cashiers do their best to quickly get customers through the line, and unless you’re the Usain Bolt of cashiers then each customer is going to take a fair amount of time.
5. I will NEVER blame the cashier for a purchase not going right.
I have had a number of customers who get upset over things that I can't control, such as coupon expiration/start dates, items not ringing up for what the sign said, or their credit card not getting approved. It's okay to ask if you can still use the coupon the day after because you forgot, ask for a price check, or if you can put the item on hold and come back later. But it's not okay to call the argue with the cashier, automatically get defensive, or call the system "dumb". There are just some things that we can't change. Using the expired coupon, changing the price of items, or reducing your total are all things that can get us fired. So you have to put yourself in our shoes and realize that we are helpless when it come to those sort of situations. Trust me, we want to help you because we've all been there and know what it's like. But we simply can't.
6. I will never get upset when asked if I want a credit card or need help.
There are an array of answers I receive when asking a customer, "Would you like to apply for a credit card?" Some customers respond with a polite "No, thank you", others may cut you off with a sharp, "No". When a cashier asks you if you would like to apply for a credit card it's not because they personally think you need one and want to force it upon you. Most cashiers are required to ask customers at least once, some more, if they would like to apply for a credit card. It's basically part of their job, and they can't pick and choose which part of their job they actually want to do. If they did, then they'd be in trouble. Asking someone if they want a credit card is awkward. We don't want to, but we have to. So just a polite, "No, thanks" will do, or even an added "And please don't ask again" is better than actually getting upset. We don't need all the extra stuff. Same with getting asked if you need help. We don't know that you're "just browsing" or that another employee just asked you the same question five minutes ago. Don't get irritated, be civil and respond appropriately. Again, we're just trying to help.
7. I will never complain that a store is "messy".
I used to internally shake my head when shopping in stores that seemed like everything was an absolute mess. I remember actually asking myself how a store "can be so messy". Now, I know that it definitely can be and will be. I don't think customers really have the right to complain about a store being a little unorganized (Well, you do have the right because the whole first amendment, freedom of expression thing, but you know what I mean). Think about it, why is the store messy in the first place? It's because the people that shop there make it a mess to begin with. Unless a store literally looks like a tornado ripped through it and scattered everything then I'm not really blaming anyone. I've spent twenty minutes folding one shelf of clothes and the condition doesn't last more than an hour. People make a mess and it's hard to keep everything in tip-top shape, especially when considering factors such as the size of the store and how busy it is.
The best thing both customers and employees can do to avoid conflict is to simply try and understand each other. Put yourself in each other's shoes and take a deep breath. You'll get through it and life (more like your day) will move on.
