Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Aug 1, 2014 17:52:30 GMT -5
Them: I need a birthday present for a 7 year old girl.
Me: What kind of things does she like?
Them: *Blank stare* I don't really know. What do girls that age like?
Me: Depends on the girl, does she like art, active toys, building things, inside, outside?
Them: *Blank stare* I'm not really sure.
Me: Have you asked her parents for any suggestions?
Them: It's for my daughter.
Me: What the fuck? <--- this part is in my head, but it happens often enough that it's going to come out sooner or later
Or my other favorite.
Them: Do you have that one thing? They were so cool, man I haven't seen one in forever.
Me: No, I'm sorry we don't carry that. They were pretty cool, but I haven't seen one in forever either. I think they stopped making them in the late 80s.
Them: Can you order me one?
Me: I doubt it, I don't recall seeing one in any of our product catalogs. I don't think they're in production anymore.
Them: Can you check your catalogs? You should totally order some, you'll sell a ton of them.
Me: What the fuck?
Seriously, it's like getting trolled in person. When did people get so obnoxious and utterly oblivious about it?
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Formerly SK
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Post by Formerly SK on Aug 1, 2014 17:58:03 GMT -5
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Aug 1, 2014 17:58:09 GMT -5
People are stupid.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Aug 1, 2014 18:03:34 GMT -5
My favorite question when I worked retail: what size would a 2-year-old wear? Me: It depends. Are they tall for their age, or small? I can try & guess. Or, can you check the size on something they currently wear? Blank stare from customer. (Usually a grandparent.)
Gotta LOVE retail!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 18:18:17 GMT -5
OMG, from the MOM?!
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Malarky
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Post by Malarky on Aug 1, 2014 18:34:58 GMT -5
My favorite stupid customer question:
"Do you have any of (insert product here) in the back?"
Why yes I do. We all got up at 2 am so we could bake shit and hide in the back so you can't buy it.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Aug 1, 2014 18:38:15 GMT -5
LOL! That sounds like DH's dad. He is not very tech-savvy, so whenever we go over there he wants DH to download songs for him on iTunes. He'll say "I want that one song... you know, the one that goes 'na na na na na.'"
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Aug 1, 2014 18:55:49 GMT -5
You should have joined Beach's thread.
Feel bad for the poor girl with those parents. Unfortunately you'd probably sell more if you started keeping running list of what's most popular with certain age groups. It might not make the seven year old as happy as a parent who actually paid attention, but it will give you a sale and hopefully give the child in question a present they have better odds than average of liking.
I have callers similar to your clueless guy pretty often. Welcome to customer service.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 19:04:58 GMT -5
you'd probably sell more if you started keeping running list of what's most popular with certain age groups.
Do you not think that's EXACTLY what he does?! But some girls are girly, and some are not, so still, there's no "one gift fits all", you're supposed to actually be able to GUESS, if not to actually KNOW, even VAGUELY, what SORT of toy or game the kid actually would like. Especially if you're the kid's mom!!!
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Aug 1, 2014 19:20:40 GMT -5
I still recommend something with nothing to go on, but god only knows if the kid in question will like it or not. It's like picking a movie for somebody totally blind. They might like it, they might hate it. I might as well be throwing a dart at a list.
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Mardi Gras Audrey
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Post by Mardi Gras Audrey on Aug 1, 2014 19:29:51 GMT -5
Can you imagine doing that for adults? "I need something for a 45 year old man. What do you recommend?" "what does he like?" "I don't know...don't you just have stuff 45 year old men like?"
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Aug 1, 2014 19:35:00 GMT -5
LOL! Ratchets, I just found an old set of lawn darts in my parent's basement, while I was cleaning it out.
Isn't it amazing our generation survived to grow up? (No bike helmets, either...)
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Aug 1, 2014 19:36:55 GMT -5
I still recommend something with nothing to go on, but god only knows if the kid in question will like it or not. It's like picking a movie for somebody totally blind. They might like it, they might hate it. I might as well be throwing a dart at a list. I know. It sucks. But clueless people love suggestions and it gives you sales.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Aug 1, 2014 19:38:39 GMT -5
LOL! Ratchets, I just found an old set of lawn darts in my parent's basement, while I was cleaning it out.
Isn't it amazing our generation survived to grow up? (No bike helmets, either...) There were real lawn dart injuries with our set. How about yours?
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busymom
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Post by busymom on Aug 1, 2014 20:01:01 GMT -5
LOL! Ratchets, I just found an old set of lawn darts in my parent's basement, while I was cleaning it out.
Isn't it amazing our generation survived to grow up? (No bike helmets, either...) There were real lawn dart injuries with our set. How about yours?
We were seriously blessed. Plenty of near-misses, but we quickly learned to RUN out of the way when someone had a wild throw.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Aug 1, 2014 20:04:46 GMT -5
There were real lawn dart injuries with our set. How about yours?
We were seriously blessed. Plenty of near-misses, but we quickly learned to RUN out of the way when someone had a wild throw. I think we had two actual hits different times, different people. Luckily all below the waist and perhaps only minor blood once. Took awhile sometimes to convince other kids not to stand by the target circle to watch where the other throws landed.
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Mardi Gras Audrey
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Post by Mardi Gras Audrey on Aug 1, 2014 20:24:35 GMT -5
I still recommend something with nothing to go on, but god only knows if the kid in question will like it or not. It's like picking a movie for somebody totally blind. They might like it, they might hate it. I might as well be throwing a dart at a list. I know. It sucks. But clueless people love suggestions and it gives you sales. You should just give suggestions according to your profit margin... Clueless customer? Highest profit margin item. Customer with a clue? More appropriate item...
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Aug 1, 2014 20:51:39 GMT -5
My favorite stupid customer question: "Do you have any of (insert product here) in the back?" Why yes I do. We all got up at 2 am so we could bake shit and hide in the back so you can't buy it. I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just hate people in W towns, don't you ??
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Aug 1, 2014 21:07:41 GMT -5
I hate to admit it -- as the younger sister of a boy and the parent of two boys, I have always had absolutely NO clue what girls of various ages wanted for gifts. My poor nieces. I tried. But probably failed more than succeeded.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2014 21:44:52 GMT -5
My favorite question when I worked retail: what size would a 2-year-old wear? Me: It depends. Are they tall for their age, or small? I can try & guess. Or, can you check the size on something they currently wear? Blank stare from customer. (Usually a grandparent.)
Gotta LOVE retail! LOL! I hear you. Working a busy register, taking a food order for delivery. Customer: "I want to order a pizza for delivery." Me: "What size?" Customer: "I don't know. Just a minute. Yells to his wife: 'HON, WHAT SIZE?'" Customer: "How much for each size?" Me: I list off all the prices for each size and explain that the toppings are extra. Customer: "We'll take an extra large" Me: "Great! What toppings would you like?" Customer: "I don't know. Let me ask. 'HON! WHAT TOPPINGS DO WE WANT?"' Customer: "How much for 3 toppings?" Me: I give him a price. Customer: "Okay. Can we get 2 salads and some bread sticks with that?" Me: "Sure. What dressings do you want on the salads?" Customer: "I don't know. Just a minute. 'HON WHAT KIND OF DRESSING DO YOU WANT?'" Customer: "What dressings do you have?" Me: "Ranch, Thousand Island, oil and vinegar...." Customer: "One Ranch and one Thousand Island." Me: "Sure, anything else?" Customer: "How much are your sodas and what flavors do you have?" Me: I list the flavors, sizes and prices. Customer: "We'll take two large Root Beers." Me: "Great! Will there be anything else?" Customer: "No, that will be all. Can you give me a total?" Me: I ring it up and give him a total. Customer: "OMG! That much!? Are you sure you rang that up right?!" I go over the whole order and tell him that it will be $3.50 for a delivery charge. Customer: "$3.50 for delivery!? That is outrageous! Forget the whole thing!"
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Aug 1, 2014 21:59:10 GMT -5
I haven't seen the site in a while but there used to be a site where you could look up suggestions for age groups and what were best sellers.
As far as 45 y.o. men. Tie downs or mechanix gloves. Magnetic flash lights, telescoping magnet, and magnetic trays. A self-contained screw driver.
Little girls - make up and nail polish. Hair paints. Jewelry.
Little boys - Match box cars or tonka trucks.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Aug 1, 2014 22:10:02 GMT -5
LOL! That sounds like DH's dad. He is not very tech-savvy, so whenever we go over there he wants DH to download songs for him on iTunes. He'll say "I want that one song... you know, the one that goes 'na na na na na.'" Everybody knows that's Journey's Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' song. This thread is hilarious. When I was first reading Dark's (sorry - he's still Dark to me) OP I was thinking: What's the big deal? It's probably an aunt or friend of the family who doesn't have kids and then he said it was her mother! Malarky - LMAO!!! Quit hiding all the good stuff in the back - to get stale!
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 1, 2014 22:28:44 GMT -5
Sorry for repeating a story. I know I've told it before but it's still one of my favorites. Our business' products are clearly branded in our business colors - midnight blue and silver. We're known for being the high quality, best service products in our industry, including fantastic tech support. Tough tech support cases are handled by DH, who is an electrical engineer and the one who designed the products and we get many loyal repeat customers because of our good support and service.
One customer in a very remote location had called in with a particularly tough problem. He was trying to use the product for an installation that wasn't quite what it was designed for and was having all sorts of issues. Couldn't tear out the rest of the installation to correct the other pieces, so was trying to see how to make our product work in that suboptimal situation. It was a tiny sale (single unit) and he was unlikely to be a repeat customer because it wasn't his primary business, but DH had spent many hours over a series of days on the phone with this guy trying to help him out. After a week's worth of calls back and forth, DH had another idea of something to try, so suggested that the customer pop off the back of the unit to make a change. The customer didn't understand DH's description, so DH was saying - put a screwdriver in the blue panel right next to this silver logo and the customer let slip, "Blue panel? No, no, it doesn't have any blue panels, it's all red."
Our biggest competitor's product is packaged in red. So DH asks the customer to let him know what the serial number of "our" unit was and after a long pause the customer sheepishly admitted that it wasn't one of our units, but he wanted help from us because we had the reputation of the best service in the business and the competitor hadn't been able to figure the problem out. Hey, if the guy wants to buy that single unit from our competitor, that's not a biggie, but to waste almost a week of my husband's time trying to service a product that we didn't even make that one tiny sale on? Ouch.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on Aug 1, 2014 22:48:27 GMT -5
There were real lawn dart injuries with our set. How about yours?
We were seriously blessed. Plenty of near-misses, but we quickly learned to RUN out of the way when someone had a wild throw. LOL - We had the killer lawn darts too when I was a kid - AND I was the only girl with three older brothers - yeah - that was fun. You learned how to duck & dodge wayward darts pretty quickly - yet we all survived unscathed - not even a scratch or wound on any of us.We also rode our bikes with no helmet, and roller-skated with no knee pads or elbow pads/helmets.
We also picked veggies (such as peas, carrots, and radishes, etc ) out of the garden and rinsed the dirt off with that garden hose that's been sitting outside forever - before wolfing them down.
We all survived - in fact, I think it helped build up our immune system - unlike kids today who are placed inside bubbles to protect them from life and germs and dirt - and all other fun stuff - such as lawn darts - or tobogganing down a steep, snowy, icy hill at full speed (also without a helmet).
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drivingaround
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Post by drivingaround on Aug 1, 2014 22:52:11 GMT -5
Sorry for repeating a story. I know I've told it before but it's still one of my favorites. Our business' products are clearly branded in our business colors - midnight blue and silver. We're known for being the high quality, best service products in our industry, including fantastic tech support. Tough tech support cases are handled by DH, who is an electrical engineer and the one who designed the products and we get many loyal repeat customers because of our good support and service.
One customer in a very remote location had called in with a particularly tough problem. He was trying to use the product for an installation that wasn't quite what it was designed for and was having all sorts of issues. Couldn't tear out the rest of the installation to correct the other pieces, so was trying to see how to make our product work in that suboptimal situation. It was a tiny sale (single unit) and he was unlikely to be a repeat customer because it wasn't his primary business, but DH had spent many hours over a series of days on the phone with this guy trying to help him out. After a week's worth of calls back and forth, DH had another idea of something to try, so suggested that the customer pop off the back of the unit to make a change. The customer didn't understand DH's description, so DH was saying - put a screwdriver in the blue panel right next to this silver logo and the customer let slip, "Blue panel? No, no, it doesn't have any blue panels, it's all red."
Our biggest competitor's product is packaged in red. So DH asks the customer to let him know what the serial number of "our" unit was and after a long pause the customer sheepishly admitted that it wasn't one of our units, but he wanted help from us because we had the reputation of the best service in the business and the competitor hadn't been able to figure the problem out. Hey, if the guy wants to buy that single unit from our competitor, that's not a biggie, but to waste almost a week of my husband's time trying to service a product that we didn't even make that one tiny sale on? Ouch. I'm going to pretend the above is a donkey 'cause that guy was an a$$. That behavior is infuriating and hurts small businesses. Basically the customer wanted the benefits of excellent customer service and knowledge without actually paying for it.
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Works4me
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Post by Works4me on Aug 2, 2014 3:55:03 GMT -5
Sorry for repeating a story. I know I've told it before but it's still one of my favorites. Our business' products are clearly branded in our business colors - midnight blue and silver. We're known for being the high quality, best service products in our industry, including fantastic tech support. Tough tech support cases are handled by DH, who is an electrical engineer and the one who designed the products and we get many loyal repeat customers because of our good support and service.
One customer in a very remote location had called in with a particularly tough problem. He was trying to use the product for an installation that wasn't quite what it was designed for and was having all sorts of issues. Couldn't tear out the rest of the installation to correct the other pieces, so was trying to see how to make our product work in that suboptimal situation. It was a tiny sale (single unit) and he was unlikely to be a repeat customer because it wasn't his primary business, but DH had spent many hours over a series of days on the phone with this guy trying to help him out. After a week's worth of calls back and forth, DH had another idea of something to try, so suggested that the customer pop off the back of the unit to make a change. The customer didn't understand DH's description, so DH was saying - put a screwdriver in the blue panel right next to this silver logo and the customer let slip, "Blue panel? No, no, it doesn't have any blue panels, it's all red."
Our biggest competitor's product is packaged in red. So DH asks the customer to let him know what the serial number of "our" unit was and after a long pause the customer sheepishly admitted that it wasn't one of our units, but he wanted help from us because we had the reputation of the best service in the business and the competitor hadn't been able to figure the problem out. Hey, if the guy wants to buy that single unit from our competitor, that's not a biggie, but to waste almost a week of my husband's time trying to service a product that we didn't even make that one tiny sale on? Ouch. I have heard of and even seen some good ones but this one takes the prize!!!
This could possibly be even funnier than that infamous urban legend of a customer service call that ended with these infamous words said by the frustrates tech to the customer, "Because you are too f'in stupid to own a computer!" EATA: I still believe that was a real call.
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MarleyKeezy78
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Post by MarleyKeezy78 on Aug 2, 2014 9:47:20 GMT -5
LOL! That sounds like DH's dad. He is not very tech-savvy, so whenever we go over there he wants DH to download songs for him on iTunes. He'll say "I want that one song... you know, the one that goes 'na na na na na.'" So he's a Journey fan huh ETA: I see someone beat me to the Journey thing!
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MarleyKeezy78
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Post by MarleyKeezy78 on Aug 2, 2014 9:50:03 GMT -5
To be honest, we didn't have lawn darts as kids - I think they were recognized as a bad idea already loL!!
But my dad let me buy a crossbow at a garage sale when I was pretty young. And it didn't have the foot stirrup thing to keep it steady and held down when you pulled the string back to cock it, and I didn't have any crossbow bolts to shoot so had to cut arrows in half and shoot those. I think the only thing that saved me from being horribly disfigured in a freak crossbow accident was that you could cock it and then load the homemade arrow up in order to shoot it at random objects in the backyard . I used to have a bow and arrow and a sling shot! We had a target in the yard too!
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daisy
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Post by daisy on Aug 2, 2014 10:06:31 GMT -5
Weren't those lawn darts called Jarts? We had them as well and all survived with no bloodshed. I'm sure my mom still has them, actually. As well as 90% of our childhood toys.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Aug 2, 2014 10:16:59 GMT -5
We were seriously blessed. Plenty of near-misses, but we quickly learned to RUN out of the way when someone had a wild throw. LOL - We had the killer lawn darts too when I was a kid - AND I was the only girl with three older brothers - yeah - that was fun. You learned how to duck & dodge wayward darts pretty quickly - yet we all survived unscathed - not even a scratch or wound on any of us.We also rode our bikes with no helmet, and roller-skated with no knee pads or elbow pads/helmets.
We also picked veggies (such as peas, carrots, and radishes, etc ) out of the garden and rinsed the dirt off with that garden hose that's been sitting outside forever - before wolfing them down.
We all survived - in fact, I think it helped build up our immune system - unlike kids today who are placed inside bubbles to protect them from life and germs and dirt - and all other fun stuff - such as lawn darts - or tobogganing down a steep, snowy, icy hill at full speed (also without a helmet).
I was talking to a scientist (immunologist) at one of our research meetings and he was of the opinion that kids do not eat nearly enough dirt today. Once upon a time, there was the idea that you ate a peck of dirt by the time you got through childhood....but that doesn't happen anywhere near that anymore. Not long afterwards...maybe 5 years or so, there was a study that came out that farm kids who had been associated with animals had a lower rate of immune diseases (allergies, asthma) and I have frequently thought back to that conversation. Hell, I remember picking rhubarb out of my grandmother's garden and just munching on it. I don't think we even rinsed.
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