Ever abandoned a shopping cart? (purchasing, groceries, Sam's, shirt)

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by lookingfortheperfectplace

That sucks for you to have to shop all over again MoMark.
I have left a cart before at walmart. you all know how much I hate that place.
I thought this thread was about abandoning a cart as in not putting it in the cart return area. Which by the way I hate that. Especially when you see the cart right next to the return thing but on the outside.

No worries. I was already irritable in that store when I saw the quality of the produce. I should have left immediately.
I don't mind shopping again, I just wish we had a truly high quality supermarket here. The ones in Las Vegas are superb. Here they aren't so ....good.

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by lookingfortheperfectplace

That sucks for you to have to shop all over again MoMark.
I have left a cart before at walmart. you all know how much I hate that place.
I thought this thread was about abandoning a cart as in not putting it in the cart return area. Which by the way I hate that. Especially when you see the cart right next to the return thing but on the outside.

Me too!! By the way...I always try to park right next to the cart return so I can put it back easily...if I can't I still put it back (unless it raining) I had a brand new car hit by a cart once because someone couldn't walk ten feet to put the cart back....so I always put mine back now!! Gee how lazy we Americans are!!

[Muhnay]

Been there done that. I dont feel you were wrong in doing so.

[kimmieyky]

I cannot agree with you more.

As I am sure everyone around here knows by now - I have been umemployed since July '06. I have thought a few times about applying at a retail store, but I honestly have to say - I will only do it when I am absolutely confident there are no other options. I worked at Kohl's once around the holidays as a second job, received no training on the floor, and was expected to cover 2 departmetns at once, answering customer phone calls while attemptiong to help those in the store - and I had the busiest department - SEASONAL!!

I quit after 2 weeks.

And, it's not just retail.

Think of all of the places where you are required to wait - and remember the employees who are there.

A doctor's office, fast food and retail - everyone should be required to spend time working in these fields at some point in their life. Patrons, customers, patients can be so rude - and we are there to serve.

Now, I ask you - which came first? The rudeness or the bad service and from where did it come? It is rarely the 'low people' who begin the issue - and if they do, it is directly related back to the demands put upon them by the manger, doctor, whatever.

I have ONE rule when I am working and deal with a client - I am polite and helpful until you give me a reason not to be. You will then be handled with tact and diplomacy until it is clear you are incapable of exhibiting human behaviour - and then you will be told - I will not deal with you or continue this conversation until you lower your voice, stop cursing and change your tone.

It usually works, as I then have a moment of silence and say " now, how would you like for me to resolve this issue?

This works from an employee to patron standpoint - but when you are the customer and someone is rude - there is very little power you actually have except to walk out when mangement has decided to do nothing.

My biggest pet peeve - people who complain for NO reason other than the fact that their life is so miserable they make it a point to ruin as many others as they can in the course of one day.

My grandmother was good at this. She is 90 now, God love her, but still able to stab you in the heart. I can remember as a child how embarrassed I was to go out to eat with her because EVERY TIME she received her food- she complained and had it sent back. I know many people around me like this - and I have refused to go out in public with them because of it.

So - we have a definte two-sided coin - usually controlled by something we have no control over - but we can control ourselves and breathe.

I still believe walking away from your cart was a good thing - because look at it this way, if you had spent the time in line, as angry as you were becoming - the poor checkout person would more than likely have caught a little wrath - even though you are a good person and really knew it was not her/his fault.
It takes a big person to walk away.

Just my 25 cents worth....sorry if I ranted a little and turned a shopping cart into an SUV....
Kimmiey

[hightrump]

Wow, ScrantonWilkesBarre, I think you should definately leave LOWES and become an author. That two parter response was great. Let us know the title of your book, when you finish it.

[christina0001]

$5.50 for a box of cereal is outrageous! MoMark when I went out to KC I noticed there were not as many grocery stores as I am used to; I thought it was just me but maybe not. Right now I am less than 10 minutes away from three ShopRites, which are pretty cheap, and very large. When I went to KC I saw SuperWalMarts (and I love WalMart, but I've been going less because it takes too long to get out), and then little tiny grocery stores. In my experience, the smaller stores have a reduced selection, higher prices, and are not always well kept, although maybe it's different out there. I guess asking for a big selection, low prices, pleasant services, and quick checkout in a clean store is asking for too much! lol

Kimmie I work in Kohl's twice, both times as a second job. The first time was to pay off some debt, the second time was to save up for my wedding. IMO a job is only as stressful as you make it. I came in on time, I worked at a steady pace the whole time, and I left on time. If things were a wreck, oh well. If the work didn't get done, oh well. If managers complained, threatened, whatever, oh well. One manager did start to get on my nerves with her nasty attitude so I went to the general manager and requested to be switched to a different department (which they did, no problem). The pittance retail pays is not worth the stress. I felt sorry for people who worked there and were stressed out, they ran around like crazy, and for what? I knew if I was on time, presentable, and not rude, they weren't going to fire me. Having a good work ethic is a great quality, but in retail the management will take advantage of it and pressure a person to go nuts. Momark, if you had left a big, full shopping cart out for me to put away, I would have thought, "Cool, job security!" lol If customers weren't slobs (and I am one of them!) people would lose their jobs.

[plaidmom]

I've not only abandoned shopping carts, I've abandoned whole stores

By that, I mean, there are just some mega-stores at which I refuse to shop.
I shop at a smaller store, closer to my house. I can deal with smaller selection and higher prices, I figure my time and my stress level are worth it.

I frequent farmers markets and stands in-season. Talk about no-stress and great service. I make one big trip to a mega-grocery store quarterly.

I've also walked out of doctors' offices. I have a 20 minute-past-my-appointment-time limit. I tell the receptionist "have the doctor call me when she's not so busy" Most gasp, then chuckle. Then I find another doctor....(luckily I am in excellent health and only go for my annual).

Lines?
Who needs 'em? That's why I moved to a small town.

[lookingfortheperfectplace]

Years ago I didn't go to McDonald's for 5 years. I still don't like them but I go occasionally.
I was on a pepsi kick and didn't drink Coke for probably 7 years. Now I don't drink much of either.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by hightrump

Wow, ScrantonWilkesBarre, I think you should definately leave LOWES and become an author. That two parter response was great. Let us know the title of your book, when you finish it.

Thanks. Sorry, I didn't mean to go out on a soapbox like that, it's just that I came to work at Lowe's in the beginning of 2005 from a small grocery store in our community where I knew pretty much every other customer on a first-name basis and would gladly go the extra mile for any of them. I kept that same "customer-focused" philosophy when I came to Lowe's, and now, after nearly two years at this store, I'm feeling "burnout." I made myself so overproductive that management gradually phased out the positions of my co-workers as they quit and piled their workloads on top of me, figuring that they could save money on the payroll by making me do the job of three people. While I do literally run at my job to help as many people as I possibly can, it's still not enough on busy days when the flow of people seems to be incessant and even roller skates wouldn't do the job! Meanwhile, I was recently at Target on a Wednesday morning of all days and saw three guys out in the lot pushing carts, sweeping, assisting customers with loading their purchases, etc. To me, this was just a slap in the face---Lowe's could hire another person to help relieve my stress on the weekends, but they choose not to in their never-ending pursuit of the almighty dollar.

In the end, who loses? Everyone. I lose because irate customers blame me for their inconveniences, which puts a damper onto my already stressed-out mood during the weekends. The customers lose because they are treated so poorly that they felt as if they truly were "only a number." The store loses because many of these people don't come back as repeat business. It's often said that a customer will tell twenty other people about a negative experience that they may have had in a retail establishment, discouraging them from setting foot in your store as a result. Conversely, a customer who was blown away by great service will also tell others about it, enticing them to check out our store, and boosting our overall sales. In this case, I think hiring a second loader for $7/hr. would be well worth the investment if it meant that we retained some of our regular, high-spending customers. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a kid.

It's just so hard to try to excel in retail when your own managers are more concerned with their annual payroll bonuses than they are with customer service. Whomever the moron at Lowe's was who decided it was a good idea to give managers an incentive to reduce their payrolls is truly out-of-touch with the needs of our clientele.

[mystree]

In the end, who loses? Everyone. I lose because irate customers blame me for their inconveniences, which puts a damper onto my already stressed-out mood during the weekends.

The customer always blames you and you have to bear their wrath for things you have no control of,I can relate to that myself and it is stressful.
As for the cart I personally would have waited in line especially after taking the time to load it up,just hoping the ice cream doesn't melt.