Retail Etiquette

I've worked in retail for a few years now and it has definitely changed my perspective as a shopper. So, in order to help you be a more respectful customer, please adhere to the following procedures when shopping:

1. If you pick something up and later decide you do not want it, please put it back where you find it. We spend between two to three hours every night, and countless wasted hours during the day returning items to their proper spot. As a shopper, you are probably frustrated when there is an item you want, but it appears to be out. It could be it's just not in the right spot because someone has picked it up and put it down somewhere else in the store. I was working one day, wheeling my cart full of misplaced items through the aisles trying to return things to their home. A woman with her child in the cart was in the same aisle. She had picked up a lunch box a few aisles over and, because her son was misbehaving, decided he didn't need that item so she put it down in right in front of me, looked at me and said, "I'm sorry." I bit my tongue so I wouldn't say what I was thinking: "If you're truly sorry, then put it back where you found it."

If you decide last minute that you do not want an item, we would much rather have you bring it up to the counter and let us know. Most retailers have return areas for these items where they can all stay in one spot and we don't have to hunt for them throughout the store.

2. Pay attention to what your kids are doing. If you bring your children into a store please pay attention to what they are doing. This isn't a playground. The items in the bulk bins aren't free and aren't their toys unless you pay for them. Nearly every day I watch kids run up and down the aisles, play dress up, throw balls back and forth across the store, eat candy right out of the bins without paying for it and scream and cry when they are told to stop - usually by us, not by their parents who are on the other side of the store.

During Christmas, a girl, about 7 years old, wanted a gumball out of the gumball machine. She was upset when she didn't get the color she wanted so she started throwing a tantrum. Her mother, obviously not wanting to deal with her daughter, just left the store, leaving her daughter throwing screaming and crying in the store. The girl threw her gumball in frustration. It hit another customer in the head. The mother was halfway to her car by this time. Please accept responsibility for the irresponsibility of your children. If they break something, buy it or at least let us know - don't hide it behind the shelf. I witnessed a little boy playing with an item at the checkout counter. He dropped it on the floor and it broke. He picked it up and started to hide it behind the candy. I calmly said to him, "If you broke it, how about instead of hiding it behind the candy, you give it to the cashier so she can throw it away." His mother huffed out of the store and said, under her breath, "she didn't have to be so rude about it."

3. If you use the bathroom, keep it clean. If you make a mess, discretely let us know. It's OK, it happens, but we would rather fix it immediately than have another customer run across it and get grossed out. All you have to say is "the restroom needs some attention." You don't even have to implicate yourself.

4. Do NOT EVER open merchandise on the floor unless you ARE going to buy it. We understand you want to see exactly what it will look like, but we cannot sell open packages. If you open the package, buy it. If you open the package and decide you want it, don't put the open package back and take a sealed package - what's that all about?. If you want to see something out of the package, ask a sales associate. Don't open it yourself. We damage out hundreds of dollars of merchandise that is perfectly fine except some a**hole has opened the package and it can no longer be sold.

5. If you return something you should have your receipt. Many retailers will not take anything back without a receipt. Again, you cannot return an opened item. We can't resell it if it's open. Whining and pleading to take something back because you failed to retain your receipt is not going to change our return policy. If you can't return it, try selling it on Ebay or Craigslist.

Please understand that we have rules we have to follow. It's never personal, we have to protect our assets, especially in today's economy. The more loss we suffer, the fewer people we can sustain on the payroll and the more the faultering economy affects us as individuals. You wouldn't want someone coming into your workplace and causing unneccessary disruptions, please give us the same respect in the retail environment.

And, that's all I have to say about that...