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Hey all got a question. So when you browse online for products such as clothes or anything, let say its a big name place like gap, target, jcpenney or something like that. I'm sure you you notice that you could either buy the product online or sometimes its only available at a store or a certain store. For example this gap or target might have it on stock but other ones do not etc. So has anyone here ever called that store you are going to, to see if they have the actual product in stock? Because online, they have a web id for each product. Thus for example when i was at kohl's, i notice they had a shoe that i want to buy and it showed all available sizes for online purchase. But when i went to kohls to take a look, they only had certain sizes and thus not the size i needed.
I was told i could buy it online as they don't have that specific size at the store as one of the store reps checked it with a device he had on him to check for inventory.
But are there people here that do that such as you call the department store to see if they have a certain product in stock before you make the trip there? Let say its like a decent drive or bus ride etc but you only going there to buy like one or two items and you aren't looking at other things. Such as okay im going there only to buy a certain shoe at size 10. But you don't want to take a trip all the way there to find out they either don't have it or have it in your size. Im curious if people do this or not. Because I thought about it like if i had known this and gave them a call and say can you tell me if xxxxxxx web model product is in stock, then they told me they dont have it or have it but not that size, then i dont have to go all the way over there. But are there cases where you call them and they check for you and then they say its not in stock but it actually is? For example i called a place where i gave them the web id number and they said they do not have it in stock. So that would mean i dont have to go all the way there etc. But they usually check it on the computer or machine very quickly and its updated right to see if item is in stock or not?
As you have probably witnessed, most stores have cut back the number of employees to cut costs- unless it's a super high-end store, I don't see anyone willing to walk around looking for a specific product size for you. Order it online or go look for yourself imo.
What you are asking is something that was pretty common pre-internet. Prior to Toys R' Us going out of business, I called them up looking for something since the stock information online was vague. It explicitly said "call store for inventory." I did that and they sort of laughed at me saying exactly what Flamingo13 said. They weren't willing to walk around looking for it.
I mean, how could a store not know inventory? I was fine with calling up and giving them the item# and having them look it up, but that was even beyond them.
And more stores are like that. I think the "calling the store" is a thing of yesteryear.
Even if you do call the store, and someone tells you they have it, there is the possibility it won't be there when you get there. Most stores won't allow merchandise to be held for someone.
I work as a wine consultant for a very large liquor store with a very large wine selection, and believe me, I would much rather have someone call and ask if we have a particular wine than drive a very long distance and become very irate that we don't have it. (Amazes me how many people think that because we are so large, it follows that we would, of course, carry all the wines from all the nearly 30,000 vineyards in the world who sell to retailers.) It takes less than two minutes, total, for me to check the computer, verify that it actually is on the shelf, and then put a hold on it.
The biggest problem I see in calling the store is getting someone to actually answer the phone. I have been on the phone for long periods of time while the store phone just rings and rings, and I let it, hoping they will get annoyed by the constant ringing and answer the phone.
Or getting transferred to "that" (specific) department. There is never anyone there to answer THAT phone.
Good luck calling the store. I would still try it at least before I made a special trip there, unless I had other errands or appointments I could do while in the store's area.
Years ago I worked part time at a supermarket and the phone seemed to ring off the hook. Like others have mentioned, most places like that don't have the labor hours to hire someone to specifically answer the phone, so it just rings all over the store and management hopes someone will be free to answer it. Unfortunately people seemed to call at the busiest times of day when everyone was waiting on customers actually in the store, and let's just say not all the calls were "important".* I was often torn between waiting on the person in front of me and answering the phone ringing at my counter, but the manager said to prioritize the customers in the store. I will admit that if the phone were to ring more than seven or eight times before I can get to it, I would avoid answering it because I don't want to get chewed out by the caller. They don't know what's going on at the store or the system for answering the incoming calls (or lack of..)...so they decide to take it out on the person who does answer. We even had a term "permahold" for when callers were transferred to a department where no one was present to answer. Sometimes we knew no one was in the department but transferred anyway.
* I had one person regularly call to ask if we were handing out free samples in the produce department that day, and if it was a non-sampling day he would either curse or hang up on us. We figured he was planning his lunch.
^^^^What this says to me is that I am not important even if I am a paying, regular customer. So what if the man was "planning his lunch". A simple yes or no would suffice. SOMEONE needs to answer the phone, and that someone, IMO, is a manager if there is not a specific person assigned to answer a customer's telephone call.
If one is a manager, I would think that they should, or would have, ATTENTION TO DETAIL. A ringing phone is a customer calling for a reason. ANSWER THE PHONE!!!!!
Hey all got a question. So when you browse online for products such as clothes or anything, let say its a big name place like gap, target, jcpenney or something like that. I'm sure you you notice that you could either buy the product online or sometimes its only available at a store or a certain store. For example this gap or target might have it on stock but other ones do not etc. So has anyone here ever called that store you are going to, to see if they have the actual product in stock? Because online, they have a web id for each product. Thus for example when i was at kohl's, i notice they had a shoe that i want to buy and it showed all available sizes for online purchase. But when i went to kohls to take a look, they only had certain sizes and thus not the size i needed.
I was told i could buy it online as they don't have that specific size at the store as one of the store reps checked it with a device he had on him to check for inventory.
But are there people here that do that such as you call the department store to see if they have a certain product in stock before you make the trip there? Let say its like a decent drive or bus ride etc but you only going there to buy like one or two items and you aren't looking at other things. Such as okay im going there only to buy a certain shoe at size 10. But you don't want to take a trip all the way there to find out they either don't have it or have it in your size. Im curious if people do this or not. Because I thought about it like if i had known this and gave them a call and say can you tell me if xxxxxxx web model product is in stock, then they told me they dont have it or have it but not that size, then i dont have to go all the way over there. But are there cases where you call them and they check for you and then they say its not in stock but it actually is? For example i called a place where i gave them the web id number and they said they do not have it in stock. So that would mean i dont have to go all the way there etc. But they usually check it on the computer or machine very quickly and its updated right to see if item is in stock or not?
Not in about 45 years.
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