The chain I worked for back home instituted a "wipe then check the memory of EVERY product that could possibly have dodgy things saved onto it" not long after camera phones became big and we have a couple of incidents. Of course the policy wasn't really firmly kept to until a manager in another store forgot to wipe the hard drive of a demo computer which had about 30gb of porn and pirated movies that he was responsible for.
Kalkino on
Freedom for the Northern Isles!
0
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2007
So I went into a random Gamestop yesterday, and it's been a while since I've been in one, but this was my experience, as a first time customer in a completely new gamestop (to me).
First, I walk in with a few games to trade, and I am admittedly greeted in a welcoming way by the staff. They are very friendly and seem interested in helping me. I walk to the register, and inform the cashier that I want to trade in some games. He looks through my stack and begins scanning, and then sees Halo 3. His response (we'll call him C)
C: So yeah, you must like rainbow six too huh?
Me: Yeah, it's alright
C: well, the new one is coming out in march and it's going to be in real short supply so you should go ahead and pre order it.
Me: (politely) no
C: Well, yeah, I guess if you're looking for a game today then that wouldn't do you a lot of good.
Me: Actually, I'm looking for cash, not a game
C: So did you try mass effect? It's awesome, and so is (insert another used game, shoved in my face)
Me: So what's my cash total?
At this point he realized I'm not a complete idiot and told me that I would get $50 trade in, or $30 cash, since it's 20% less, and there's a trade in promotion going on. I took the gift card so I could maybe get a game. I then watched a twelve year old come in with a game he bought yesterday, and explain to the cashier that it wasn't the one he thought it was and he wanted to get something else. The cashier immediately pawned him on the manager, who gave a speech about how it's not a rental store, and it can only be traded in now (even though it was a gutted case) and how the kid should have gotten used since used games actually can be returned during the hollidays, until January 15th, and how the kid should also pre order stuff in the future. THe kid left, and I began asking questions regarding microsoft rpgs, to which I was told that they all suck, they're all glitchy, and they all have N64 graphics. I was talked out of buying four different games. Finally I gave up, and asked if old xbox games that are BC on the 360 can be played on live, to which I was told Yes, even though when I sign in on a BC game it logs me off of live. I eventually left.
I know this is more of the "we are the little people, so let's tell our stories" thread, and I've done that too, but as a former retail jockey, and a current consumer, this really pissed me off.
Finally I gave up, and asked if old xbox games that are BC on the 360 can be played on live, to which I was told Yes, even though when I sign in on a BC game it logs me off of live.
I don't know about all of them, but I know Halo 2 does. Or it used to. I haven't played it in several months. So at least, they don't all not work.
Tofystedeth on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2007
And honestly I don't know for sure if they do or not, but I do know that I was signed out from my xbox live account, and my xbox account, when I tried to play a BC game.
If the game supports Live, you'll be able to sign in once you launch the game. If not, you won't. I believe that you get kicked, and then have to sign into Live from the in-game menu.
The following interesting exchange happened today:
Today's been ridiculously quiet over at the Shell, due to high gas prices. We barely broke 3000 in sales in my shift, from 2 to 10, which is ridiculously low for a Sunday evening. Bored out of my mind, and alone in the store for the last 3 hours of my shift, I whip out my yo-yo (bought from the store the previous day in a similar bored-out-of-my-mind state) and start practicing Madd Trixx(tm) with it (by which I mean, I can get it to sleep for a couple seconds if the planets are aligned just right and there's no wind). The time is 9:40. 20 minutes until my shift is over. Enter customer, who put 25 dollars in his tank. He is young (read: about my age, which is to say 23, maybe a little older), dashing, and has an optimistic, borderline idealistic, aura about him.
Customer: *sees me yo-yoing* That quiet, huh?
Me: I'm getting pretty good at this, actually. *attempts to demonstrate, but fails*
Customer: *laughs* Guess the joke's on me for buying gas at that price.
Me: Yeah, I'd get more practice and you wouldn't get ripped off. It's win-win. *rings him up*
Customer: How much longer do you got?
Me: 20 minutes.
Customer, sarcastically: Damn, your boss must really like you to give you those shifts.
Me: Meh, it's not too bad. I don't work every day so it's okay.
Customer: What else do you do? College?
Me: Yup.
Customer: What field?
Me: Computer science.
Customer: Cool, cool.
At this point, another customer comes in. he pays for his gas and leaves, no story there. I see that the other guy has hung around and isn't leaving.
Customer: Listen, uh, I'm an entrepreneur, and we're kinda looking for people right now in management.
Me: Yeah, well I can only work part-time...
Customer: Part-time is fine. Do you have people skills?
Me: Yeah, I guess, well I have co-workers and customers to deal with all the time, I like to think I'm good at it.
Customer: That's great. Do you think you could be available for an interview?
Me, laughing nervously: Uh, well, are you serious? I mean, I have no management experience, and... what DOES your company do, anyway?
Customer: That's not an issue, we're not looking for people with prior knowledge of the job, we want fresh minds.
(here I notice he hasn't answered my question, which raises a flag)
Me: Uh, yeah... well sure, I'll give it a shot if it pays more than here.
Customer: *laughs* Of course it does.
Me: Okay, can I give you my name and phone number?
Customer: Yeah, that'd be great.
Me: *writes it down* Here, I'll give you my cell number too, but it's not activated right now, so you probably won't be able to reach me from it.
Customer: Alright! *inquires about when I'll be home to take a call, etc.* Great to meet you, [SimBen]. I'm Max. *handshake*
He leaves. It's now time to wrap up my shift. I'm both excited and intrigued. What could the mysterious Max possibly be up to? He was wearing a tag hidden under his coat, but the neck strap by which it was attached had a PSP logo on it, which leads me to believe this job might be videogame-related, which part of me thinks would be fucking awesome.
The other part of me thinks this is probably how Bond villains hire their henchmen.
To be continued.
Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer went to work for Hank Serpico? (episode 2 of season 8, titled "You only Move Twice") Maybe it'll be that sort of sweet deal, and maybe you too will get close to fulfilling your lifelong dream of owning the Dallas Cowboys. Or something.
The following interesting exchange happened today:
Today's been ridiculously quiet over at the Shell, due to high gas prices. We barely broke 3000 in sales in my shift, from 2 to 10, which is ridiculously low for a Sunday evening. Bored out of my mind, and alone in the store for the last 3 hours of my shift, I whip out my yo-yo (bought from the store the previous day in a similar bored-out-of-my-mind state) and start practicing Madd Trixx(tm) with it (by which I mean, I can get it to sleep for a couple seconds if the planets are aligned just right and there's no wind). The time is 9:40. 20 minutes until my shift is over. Enter customer, who put 25 dollars in his tank. He is young (read: about my age, which is to say 23, maybe a little older), dashing, and has an optimistic, borderline idealistic, aura about him.
Customer: *sees me yo-yoing* That quiet, huh?
Me: I'm getting pretty good at this, actually. *attempts to demonstrate, but fails*
Customer: *laughs* Guess the joke's on me for buying gas at that price.
Me: Yeah, I'd get more practice and you wouldn't get ripped off. It's win-win. *rings him up*
Customer: How much longer do you got?
Me: 20 minutes.
Customer, sarcastically: Damn, your boss must really like you to give you those shifts.
Me: Meh, it's not too bad. I don't work every day so it's okay.
Customer: What else do you do? College?
Me: Yup.
Customer: What field?
Me: Computer science.
Customer: Cool, cool.
At this point, another customer comes in. he pays for his gas and leaves, no story there. I see that the other guy has hung around and isn't leaving.
Customer: Listen, uh, I'm an entrepreneur, and we're kinda looking for people right now in management.
Me: Yeah, well I can only work part-time...
Customer: Part-time is fine. Do you have people skills?
Me: Yeah, I guess, well I have co-workers and customers to deal with all the time, I like to think I'm good at it.
Customer: That's great. Do you think you could be available for an interview?
Me, laughing nervously: Uh, well, are you serious? I mean, I have no management experience, and... what DOES your company do, anyway?
Customer: That's not an issue, we're not looking for people with prior knowledge of the job, we want fresh minds.
(here I notice he hasn't answered my question, which raises a flag)
Me: Uh, yeah... well sure, I'll give it a shot if it pays more than here.
Customer: *laughs* Of course it does.
Me: Okay, can I give you my name and phone number?
Customer: Yeah, that'd be great.
Me: *writes it down* Here, I'll give you my cell number too, but it's not activated right now, so you probably won't be able to reach me from it.
Customer: Alright! *inquires about when I'll be home to take a call, etc.* Great to meet you, [SimBen]. I'm Max. *handshake*
He leaves. It's now time to wrap up my shift. I'm both excited and intrigued. What could the mysterious Max possibly be up to? He was wearing a tag hidden under his coat, but the neck strap by which it was attached had a PSP logo on it, which leads me to believe this job might be videogame-related, which part of me thinks would be fucking awesome.
The other part of me thinks this is probably how Bond villains hire their henchmen.
To be continued.
Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer went to work for Hank Serpico? (episode 2 of season 8, titled "You only Move Twice") Maybe it'll be that sort of sweet deal, and maybe you too will get close to fulfilling your lifelong dream of owning the Dallas Cowboys. Or something.
amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2007
In all reality though ( and I hate to be Buzz Killington here ) it's probably just some kind of pyramid scheme or call center that he needs filled. If it is a henchman job though you take that shit, you take it and you run with it. I've been trying for years to get hired on as a henchman for some badass supervillan or world leader and it just doesn't happen.
In all reality though ( and I hate to be Buzz Killington here ) it's probably just some kind of pyramid scheme or call center that he needs filled. If it is a henchman job though you take that shit, you take it and you run with it. I've been trying for years to get hired on as a henchman for some badass supervillan or world leader and it just doesn't happen.
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
Also, don't try to get lucky with the plucky and beautiful heroine whom you were assigned to guard, even if she does profess to be overtaken by your awesome suit of armor and burly good looks. You'll just end up with a headache, sore balls, and no uniform.
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
Also, don't try to get lucky with the plucky and beautiful heroine whom you were assigned to guard, even if she does profess to be overtaken by your awesome suit of armor and burly good looks. You'll just end up with a headache, sore balls, and no uniform.
But she just looks at me with those eyes! And she's so hot, too! I mean, how's a guy supposed to keep his mind on his job?
In all reality though ( and I hate to be Buzz Killington here ) it's probably just some kind of pyramid scheme or call center that he needs filled. If it is a henchman job though you take that shit, you take it and you run with it. I've been trying for years to get hired on as a henchman for some badass supervillan or world leader and it just doesn't happen.
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
Also, don't try to get lucky with the plucky and beautiful heroine whom you were assigned to guard, even if she does profess to be overtaken by your awesome suit of armor and burly good looks. You'll just end up with a headache, sore balls, and no uniform.
But she just looks at me with those eyes! And she's so hot, too! I mean, how's a guy supposed to keep his mind on his job?
By remembering that when your Evil Overlord achieves his reign of terror, his Legions of Doom (including you) will have the pick of any number of terrified, buxom peasant girls to entertain you in your palatial quarters, high in the towers of the Fortress of Domination. A little self-control now will lead to endless poontang later, at least until the plucky young Hero of Destiny shows up to kill you all. But by that time, you'll be so drunk and satisfied you won't give a crap.
themocaw on
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ShadowfireVermont, in the middle of nowhereRegistered Userregular
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
Also, don't try to get lucky with the plucky and beautiful heroine whom you were assigned to guard, even if she does profess to be overtaken by your awesome suit of armor and burly good looks. You'll just end up with a headache, sore balls, and no uniform.
But she just looks at me with those eyes! And she's so hot, too! I mean, how's a guy supposed to keep his mind on his job?
By remembering that when your Evil Overlord achieves his reign of terror, his Legions of Doom (including you) will have the pick of any number of terrified, buxom peasant girls to entertain you in your palatial quarters, high in the towers of the Fortress of Domination. A little self-control now will lead to endless poontang later, at least until the plucky young Hero of Destiny shows up to kill you all. But by that time, you'll be so drunk and satisfied you won't give a crap.
it's church, and the payout is the lord jesus in your heart.
fadingathedges on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2007
actually, if it's the church that I think you're talking about, the payout is what you take from your wallet to see what happens on the next page of the book.
And honestly I don't know for sure if they do or not, but I do know that I was signed out from my xbox live account, and my xbox account, when I tried to play a BC game.
BC games work just like you were playing on the original Xbox.
meaning, you need to sign into Live THROUGH them, provided that they support live.
and as for the kid, gutted or not, he took the game home and played it before realizing he didn't like it. If he bought a used game he could have returned it, but he bought a new one, so it's really his own fault.
At this point he realized I'm not a complete idiot and told me that I would get $50 trade in, or $30 cash, since it's 20% less, and there's a trade in promotion going on.
I'm missing the part where $30 is 80% of $50. Was that a mistype or was he trying to scam you out of $10?
Today my boss and I took a look at a quarry job for the Oregon Dept of Transportation, they're calling it "Urgent Emergency" work after the flooding last week, wanting gravel and rip-rap to repair roads damaged by the water. Since we were only 6 miles away we decided to drive in and take a look at Vernonia, OR.
The entire town was under 3-4 feet of water during the flooding, some fields were still temporary lakes. The highschool was closed down, mounds of wet and ruined school supplies stacked in the parking lot. Dejected home owners were walking out of their houses with armfulls of wall paneling or insulation and dumping it on the curb for the garbage trucks to pick up, the local doctor's office closed down and operating out of tarped enclosures in the parking lot. An inmate work crew was using a front end loader to empty out someone's garage, their house was built on top of the garage so they escaped fine but everything stored in the garage was absolutley ruined.
I've become pretty good at spotting MLM (multi-level marketing*) and pyramid schemes. If they call me up at night, on the weekend or say that they "found my resume on <Job Board>", it's a warning signal. If it's all three, I run in the other direction.
Apparently, some guy from SunCom really want me to work for him, because he has Emailed and called me several times to tell me about the store he's opening up in my area. Never mind that I told him that I haven't worked in the cell phone industry for five years and the resume he is looking at is nearly that old on a job board that I don't visit any more. He even keeps asking for me by my maiden name.
Yeah, can't imagine why I'm not too keen to work for him.
On the subject of death and daemons disappearing: arrows sure are effective in Lyra's universe. Seems like if you get shot once, you're dead - no lingering deaths with your daemon huddling pitifully in your arms, just *thunk* *argh* *whoosh*. A battlefield full of the dying would just be so much more depressing when you add in wailing gerbils and dogs.
REAL Men/Women buy their cutlery one hand-forged piece of German engineering at a time.
Give me one of these and I can do just about anything in a kitchen.
Edit: Watching the video for Shun, Japanese-made knives, makes me rethink my earlier affinity for Germany.
You can get really cheap, high quality knives from your local restaurant supply store if you're willing to get the professional versions. These generally have hideous but functional handles (the most recent set I got for my father had these neon yellow, textured polycarbon handles that looked like ass, but I got an 11" chef's knife, 10" scimitar, and 11" slicer for $80) but are just as functional in terms of blades and, as the brackets tell, far far cheaper.
I think I might be getting laid-off/fired this afternoon.
As I've written before, my work has gone down the shitter. Our main base of operation is my boss' basement. I'm currently working from home because I can't get my wheelchair into his basement (yay).
Well, we've basically finished that HTPC abortion of a website. I finished my component (a simple PHP script to display and handle a form) yesterday afternoon. There was a bit of a problem with it -- my boss and the 19 year-old decided to add some accessories to sell. This added some complexity to the form (not much), but made it pretty inflexible overall from the end user perspective. So, when I e-mailed it to the 19 year-old, I suggested that we port over some old code I had written about a year ago for our first attempt at e-commerce over as it had a functional, and flexible, shopping cart system. I mean, if we're going to be adding accessories and peripherals and who knows what else down the line, we might as well get it right, you know?
Instead of the anticipated reply from the young shithead, I get a reply from my boss, requesting that I call him at 1:00 PM today. Uh oh.
The writing's been on the wall for a while. My boss actually warned me a few weeks ago that if things get tight for him financially (and I consider the move to the basement to be 'tight') he'd have to let me go. Not only that, but I've been growing noticably more frustrated with the entire operation. It's hard for me to hide my disdain when I'm surrounded by such sheer incompetence.
I'm hoping that they don't try to use me as a scapegoat for their problems. My boss' sugardaddy...I mean, business partner is apparently breathing down their necks. I admit that I work slow -- part is due to my physical limitations, part is due to me wanting to get things right the first time. But, if left to my own devices, I could've gotten this site up and running in about a week, after testing. Instead, it's taken them over a month to get this far, the site looks like shit, and it's not well thought out at all. I just have this feeling that they might try to pin this site's delays and failures on me, even though I was only responsible for one script.
I dunno...it should be an interesting phone call.
Nightslyr on
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
I personally own a set of Shun knives and... Damn.
Never going back.
Until they invent light saber kitchen knives, it's Japanese steel for me.
I was just looking at their site, and WOW. Nice.
Do they use Shun knives in Kitchen Stadium? I would guess so since the announcer is doing the advertisements, but you never know..
My next purchase is going to be some new steak knives, anyone got a lead on some decent ones? I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but I'd like something nicer than the set of supposedly stainless steel I currently have.
How are the full-carbon knives I've been seeing around?
At this point he realized I'm not a complete idiot and told me that I would get $50 trade in, or $30 cash, since it's 20% less, and there's a trade in promotion going on.
I'm missing the part where $30 is 80% of $50. Was that a mistype or was he trying to scam you out of $10?
They were running a promotion where you get more money for trade ins, but they don't/won't apply this promotion if you want cash. They litterally give you a number, then when you tell them you want cash back they remove the promo code, which I think is bullshit. if they're offering more for trades they need to offer more for trades, not pick and choose when and how they're going to give you an advertised discount.
Also, Evander, I know you still work there and everything man, and I've got no real beef with the place, because hell, I used to work there, and I understand how annoying it is when some kid comes back two weeks later with a game wanting to return it. I also know it's not a blockbuster, but come on man, EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE FUCKING WORLD YOU CAN BUY SOMETHING AND BRING IT BACK, ESPECIALLY WITHIN A 24 HOUR PERIOD, if you don't like it....... I understand its company policy, and a twelve or thirteen year old kid should apparently know that (which admittedly, his parents should), but it doesn't defend the policy itself, which is absolute garbage. Also, there are like maybe ten places in the country that rent DS games so you can try them out before you buy them (not including buying someone's used game).
But that's all I've got to say about that. This is a good thread for current and us former employees to vent about crappy days and customers, I just wanted to share my story of having to deal with the occasional annoying employee as well, without starting a whole new thread.
I think I might be getting laid-off/fired this afternoon.
As I've written before, my work has gone down the shitter. Our main base of operation is my boss' basement. I'm currently working from home because I can't get my wheelchair into his basement (yay).
Well, we've basically finished that HTPC abortion of a website. I finished my component (a simple PHP script to display and handle a form) yesterday afternoon. There was a bit of a problem with it -- my boss and the 19 year-old decided to add some accessories to sell. This added some complexity to the form (not much), but made it pretty inflexible overall from the end user perspective. So, when I e-mailed it to the 19 year-old, I suggested that we port over some old code I had written about a year ago for our first attempt at e-commerce over as it had a functional, and flexible, shopping cart system. I mean, if we're going to be adding accessories and peripherals and who knows what else down the line, we might as well get it right, you know?
Instead of the anticipated reply from the young shithead, I get a reply from my boss, requesting that I call him at 1:00 PM today. Uh oh.
The writing's been on the wall for a while. My boss actually warned me a few weeks ago that if things get tight for him financially (and I consider the move to the basement to be 'tight') he'd have to let me go. Not only that, but I've been growing noticably more frustrated with the entire operation. It's hard for me to hide my disdain when I'm surrounded by such sheer incompetence.
I'm hoping that they don't try to use me as a scapegoat for their problems. My boss' sugardaddy...I mean, business partner is apparently breathing down their necks. I admit that I work slow -- part is due to my physical limitations, part is due to me wanting to get things right the first time. But, if left to my own devices, I could've gotten this site up and running in about a week, after testing. Instead, it's taken them over a month to get this far, the site looks like shit, and it's not well thought out at all. I just have this feeling that they might try to pin this site's delays and failures on me, even though I was only responsible for one script.
I dunno...it should be an interesting phone call.
As much as that sucks it's probably for the better, especially if you're not happy with the company.
By the way, how does the 19 year old fit into this? Is he the sugardaddy or just some random dude?
Tw4win on
0
ThomamelasOnly one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered Userregular
I personally own a set of Shun knives and... Damn.
Never going back.
Until they invent light saber kitchen knives, it's Japanese steel for me.
I was just looking at their site, and WOW. Nice.
Do they use Shun knives in Kitchen Stadium? I would guess so since the announcer is doing the advertisements, but you never know..
My next purchase is going to be some new steak knives, anyone got a lead on some decent ones? I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but I'd like something nicer than the set of supposedly stainless steel I currently have.
How are the full-carbon knives I've been seeing around?
Dude, that totally sucks.. Hope you find something better and is more willing to accommodate and listen to you.
Standard warnings with carbon steel knifes. They will require a little more effort to maintain. They will need to be sharpened from time to time. It's not very hard and if you get really afraid there are some places that will sharpen for you. You will also reduce the life span of the knife if you throw it in the dishwasher.
They also develop a patina. It's not dangerous or flavor affecting in anyway but it can be ugly. If you cook alot, I would actually recommend stainless steel for the kitchen itself. Carbon steel can be damaged by the acids you find in a lot of cooking and tend to not last as long.
At this point he realized I'm not a complete idiot and told me that I would get $50 trade in, or $30 cash, since it's 20% less, and there's a trade in promotion going on.
I'm missing the part where $30 is 80% of $50. Was that a mistype or was he trying to scam you out of $10?
there are promotions going on currently that increase trade value, but if you go for cash, the promotions don't apply.
I had a kid the other day who was looking at a difference between $24.40 credit, versus $14.40 cash.
After a week and a half at the new Walmart, the honeymoon is over.
Although, it promises to be exciting.
Thursday night, two associates got into a fistfight - I don't know over what, but its pretty glorious to step around a corner and see two grown men in blue and khaki just beating the crap out of each other.
Friday night we got evacuated for a gas leak, and stood out in the December cold for about an hour until the utilities people showed up to turn off the gas.
Saturday saw a drunken women peel into the parking lot at 80 miles an hour and blow out a tire after hitting a curb.
Sunday, I realized stuff wasn't going to be glorious when a guy who's been working for The Company a grand total of a week tried to yell me down about not knowing the price of an item. "WHY DON'T YOU FIND A SHIPPING LABEL?!" he yelled, I replied, "There wasn't one. Why don't you grab a Telxon and scan it so we know the price?"
He paused, face dropping, and his eyes darting about, before saying, "Wh-what's a telxon?"
(note: the telxon is our handheld terminal system for managing stock)
Monday night to 7 am... I saw the single largest night of freight in Furniture the store had seen since its opening one month ago.
...
And got called out over the PA system for "not putting my cardboard into the baler correctly."
The Assistant Manager and In Stock Supervisor looked at me and I looked at them and we all stood about being really confused for about a minute when I asked, "Is there a RIGHT WAY to put cardboard into the baler?"
Seriously - its insert cardboard, close cage, turn key. There's not a whole lot of room for error.
I'm amused, but I realized... its still the same boring ass job it was at the other Walmart. I knew it was going to be, but the self amusement has faded away to grim realization that I live directly across the street from my workplace, and can be personally fetched very easily on my weekends.
---
And a happy story for the Tom Lederbrand Division:
I found out after leaving that a lot of people actually miss me at my old store, so I decided I'd put that bastard Lederbrand to use for the POWERS OF GOOD and send a message to my old coworkers:
"My name is Joe Strait and I want to recognize the overnight shift of store (store number here) for everything they've done, to help me prepare to take my career towards new opportunities... Each and everyone of you have taught me the valuable lessons I'll need to go forward and grow as an associate. Thank you! (song request: Gene Autry's "Happy Trails")"
This works twofold - its a nifty song and message to my friends, and recognition of my nickname: Straight Joe. We had three Joes on the overnight shift, and mine was Straight Joe - probably because... I was teh only Joe who is straight. Anybody paying attention (likely, the managers are whores for that damn station and will do anything to draw attention to it) will catch the nice message, and the people who know me best will catch the inside joke.
I've worked at 3 wal-marts and the one by home has to be one of the best. For no other reason than about 60% of the cashiers are cute girls and about all of the dayshift CSMs are also cute young women. That and there's a bunch of guys my age I can chat with. The other walmart had a morbidly obese women for one of the CSMs that only wore sweat pants.
Though, not enough weird shit happens judging by everyone else's stories. As a cashier I don't get to see much anyway other than irate customers but even customer service and photo has the best kinds of irate douchebags.
By the way, how does the 19 year old fit into this? Is he the sugardaddy or just some random dude?
The 19 year-old has been with the company from the start. He originally worked part-time, as he was a high school student, but moved to fulltime after graduation. He's really only a service technician (and a bad one at that, given that almost all of our clients have requested he not do the onsite repairs), but has been thrust into our sales position as that person was fired this past July. So, the website in question was mainly created by the 19 year-old, which is why I sent him the files I wrote.
As far as my situation goes, I've tried calling my boss several times at both the number he gave me (I'm assuming it's his home phone number) and our normal Vonage business number. No answer. Kind of annoying, as he specifically said to call him at 1:00 to talk about something important.
Nightslyr on
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
By the way, how does the 19 year old fit into this? Is he the sugardaddy or just some random dude?
The 19 year-old has been with the company from the start. He originally worked part-time, as he was a high school student, but moved to fulltime after graduation. He's really only a service technician (and a bad one at that, given that almost all of our clients have requested he not do the onsite repairs), but has been thrust into our sales position as that person was fired this past July. So, the website in question was mainly created by the 19 year-old, which is why I sent him the files I wrote.
As far as my situation goes, I've tried calling my boss several times at both the number he gave me (I'm assuming it's his home phone number) and our normal Vonage business number. No answer. Kind of annoying, as he specifically said to call him at 1:00 to talk about something important.
Him and the 19 year old took the money and flew to Thailand. He left the business (and debt) in your name. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue your credit history?
By the way, how does the 19 year old fit into this? Is he the sugardaddy or just some random dude?
The 19 year-old has been with the company from the start. He originally worked part-time, as he was a high school student, but moved to fulltime after graduation. He's really only a service technician (and a bad one at that, given that almost all of our clients have requested he not do the onsite repairs), but has been thrust into our sales position as that person was fired this past July. So, the website in question was mainly created by the 19 year-old, which is why I sent him the files I wrote.
As far as my situation goes, I've tried calling my boss several times at both the number he gave me (I'm assuming it's his home phone number) and our normal Vonage business number. No answer. Kind of annoying, as he specifically said to call him at 1:00 to talk about something important.
Him and the 19 year old took the money and flew to Thailand. He left the business (and debt) in your name. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue your credit history?
Just get me a blowtorch and a pair of pliars.
Nightslyr on
PSN/XBL/Nintendo/Origin/Steam: Nightslyr 3DS: 1607-1682-2948 Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
Posts
First, I walk in with a few games to trade, and I am admittedly greeted in a welcoming way by the staff. They are very friendly and seem interested in helping me. I walk to the register, and inform the cashier that I want to trade in some games. He looks through my stack and begins scanning, and then sees Halo 3. His response (we'll call him C)
C: So yeah, you must like rainbow six too huh?
Me: Yeah, it's alright
C: well, the new one is coming out in march and it's going to be in real short supply so you should go ahead and pre order it.
Me: (politely) no
C: Well, yeah, I guess if you're looking for a game today then that wouldn't do you a lot of good.
Me: Actually, I'm looking for cash, not a game
C: So did you try mass effect? It's awesome, and so is (insert another used game, shoved in my face)
Me: So what's my cash total?
At this point he realized I'm not a complete idiot and told me that I would get $50 trade in, or $30 cash, since it's 20% less, and there's a trade in promotion going on. I took the gift card so I could maybe get a game. I then watched a twelve year old come in with a game he bought yesterday, and explain to the cashier that it wasn't the one he thought it was and he wanted to get something else. The cashier immediately pawned him on the manager, who gave a speech about how it's not a rental store, and it can only be traded in now (even though it was a gutted case) and how the kid should have gotten used since used games actually can be returned during the hollidays, until January 15th, and how the kid should also pre order stuff in the future. THe kid left, and I began asking questions regarding microsoft rpgs, to which I was told that they all suck, they're all glitchy, and they all have N64 graphics. I was talked out of buying four different games. Finally I gave up, and asked if old xbox games that are BC on the 360 can be played on live, to which I was told Yes, even though when I sign in on a BC game it logs me off of live. I eventually left.
I know this is more of the "we are the little people, so let's tell our stories" thread, and I've done that too, but as a former retail jockey, and a current consumer, this really pissed me off.
I don't know about all of them, but I know Halo 2 does. Or it used to. I haven't played it in several months. So at least, they don't all not work.
Remember the Simpsons episode where Homer went to work for Hank Serpico? (episode 2 of season 8, titled "You only Move Twice") Maybe it'll be that sort of sweet deal, and maybe you too will get close to fulfilling your lifelong dream of owning the Dallas Cowboys. Or something.
Check out my new blog: http://50wordstories.ca
Also check out my old game design blog: http://stealmygamedesigns.blogspot.com
or this
I'll be all like "Whaddaya MEAN you're not a super-villain? Awww.
I would much rather end up working for Aperture Science. Way more interesting. And I love cake.
Check out my new blog: http://50wordstories.ca
Also check out my old game design blog: http://stealmygamedesigns.blogspot.com
EDIT: Unless there's no Irving places in Québec...
However, just before they launch their super-plans to take over the world, you get out of there and disappear, because you are either going to be killed by their plan/device/themselves, or the hero is going to explode the installation you are in and you won't know about it until you are vaporized.
Oh, and if they call you into their office never take more than 1 step into the room. They're probably trying to test the new trap door.
It never really works out too well for the henchmen.
Also, don't try to get lucky with the plucky and beautiful heroine whom you were assigned to guard, even if she does profess to be overtaken by your awesome suit of armor and burly good looks. You'll just end up with a headache, sore balls, and no uniform.
But she just looks at me with those eyes! And she's so hot, too! I mean, how's a guy supposed to keep his mind on his job?
I guarantee it's a pyramid scheme.
By remembering that when your Evil Overlord achieves his reign of terror, his Legions of Doom (including you) will have the pick of any number of terrified, buxom peasant girls to entertain you in your palatial quarters, high in the towers of the Fortress of Domination. A little self-control now will lead to endless poontang later, at least until the plucky young Hero of Destiny shows up to kill you all. But by that time, you'll be so drunk and satisfied you won't give a crap.
That shit takes time.
BC games work just like you were playing on the original Xbox.
meaning, you need to sign into Live THROUGH them, provided that they support live.
and as for the kid, gutted or not, he took the game home and played it before realizing he didn't like it. If he bought a used game he could have returned it, but he bought a new one, so it's really his own fault.
I'm missing the part where $30 is 80% of $50. Was that a mistype or was he trying to scam you out of $10?
The entire town was under 3-4 feet of water during the flooding, some fields were still temporary lakes. The highschool was closed down, mounds of wet and ruined school supplies stacked in the parking lot. Dejected home owners were walking out of their houses with armfulls of wall paneling or insulation and dumping it on the curb for the garbage trucks to pick up, the local doctor's office closed down and operating out of tarped enclosures in the parking lot. An inmate work crew was using a front end loader to empty out someone's garage, their house was built on top of the garage so they escaped fine but everything stored in the garage was absolutley ruined.
All in all it was pretty depressing.
Apparently, some guy from SunCom really want me to work for him, because he has Emailed and called me several times to tell me about the store he's opening up in my area. Never mind that I told him that I haven't worked in the cell phone industry for five years and the resume he is looking at is nearly that old on a job board that I don't visit any more. He even keeps asking for me by my maiden name.
Yeah, can't imagine why I'm not too keen to work for him.
___________________________
*Basically a legal pyramid scheme.
REAL Men/Women buy their cutlery one hand-forged piece of German engineering at a time.
Give me one of these and I can do just about anything in a kitchen.
Edit: Watching the video for Shun, Japanese-made knives, makes me rethink my earlier affinity for Germany.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
Never going back.
Until they invent light saber kitchen knives, it's Japanese steel for me.
You can get really cheap, high quality knives from your local restaurant supply store if you're willing to get the professional versions. These generally have hideous but functional handles (the most recent set I got for my father had these neon yellow, textured polycarbon handles that looked like ass, but I got an 11" chef's knife, 10" scimitar, and 11" slicer for $80) but are just as functional in terms of blades and, as the brackets tell, far far cheaper.
As I've written before, my work has gone down the shitter. Our main base of operation is my boss' basement. I'm currently working from home because I can't get my wheelchair into his basement (yay).
Well, we've basically finished that HTPC abortion of a website. I finished my component (a simple PHP script to display and handle a form) yesterday afternoon. There was a bit of a problem with it -- my boss and the 19 year-old decided to add some accessories to sell. This added some complexity to the form (not much), but made it pretty inflexible overall from the end user perspective. So, when I e-mailed it to the 19 year-old, I suggested that we port over some old code I had written about a year ago for our first attempt at e-commerce over as it had a functional, and flexible, shopping cart system. I mean, if we're going to be adding accessories and peripherals and who knows what else down the line, we might as well get it right, you know?
Instead of the anticipated reply from the young shithead, I get a reply from my boss, requesting that I call him at 1:00 PM today. Uh oh.
The writing's been on the wall for a while. My boss actually warned me a few weeks ago that if things get tight for him financially (and I consider the move to the basement to be 'tight') he'd have to let me go. Not only that, but I've been growing noticably more frustrated with the entire operation. It's hard for me to hide my disdain when I'm surrounded by such sheer incompetence.
I'm hoping that they don't try to use me as a scapegoat for their problems. My boss' sugardaddy...I mean, business partner is apparently breathing down their necks. I admit that I work slow -- part is due to my physical limitations, part is due to me wanting to get things right the first time. But, if left to my own devices, I could've gotten this site up and running in about a week, after testing. Instead, it's taken them over a month to get this far, the site looks like shit, and it's not well thought out at all. I just have this feeling that they might try to pin this site's delays and failures on me, even though I was only responsible for one script.
I dunno...it should be an interesting phone call.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
I was just looking at their site, and WOW. Nice.
Do they use Shun knives in Kitchen Stadium? I would guess so since the announcer is doing the advertisements, but you never know..
My next purchase is going to be some new steak knives, anyone got a lead on some decent ones? I'm not looking to spend a fortune, but I'd like something nicer than the set of supposedly stainless steel I currently have.
How are the full-carbon knives I've been seeing around?
Dude, that totally sucks..
They were running a promotion where you get more money for trade ins, but they don't/won't apply this promotion if you want cash. They litterally give you a number, then when you tell them you want cash back they remove the promo code, which I think is bullshit. if they're offering more for trades they need to offer more for trades, not pick and choose when and how they're going to give you an advertised discount.
Also, Evander, I know you still work there and everything man, and I've got no real beef with the place, because hell, I used to work there, and I understand how annoying it is when some kid comes back two weeks later with a game wanting to return it. I also know it's not a blockbuster, but come on man, EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE FUCKING WORLD YOU CAN BUY SOMETHING AND BRING IT BACK, ESPECIALLY WITHIN A 24 HOUR PERIOD, if you don't like it....... I understand its company policy, and a twelve or thirteen year old kid should apparently know that (which admittedly, his parents should), but it doesn't defend the policy itself, which is absolute garbage. Also, there are like maybe ten places in the country that rent DS games so you can try them out before you buy them (not including buying someone's used game).
But that's all I've got to say about that. This is a good thread for current and us former employees to vent about crappy days and customers, I just wanted to share my story of having to deal with the occasional annoying employee as well, without starting a whole new thread.
As much as that sucks it's probably for the better, especially if you're not happy with the company.
By the way, how does the 19 year old fit into this? Is he the sugardaddy or just some random dude?
Standard warnings with carbon steel knifes. They will require a little more effort to maintain. They will need to be sharpened from time to time. It's not very hard and if you get really afraid there are some places that will sharpen for you. You will also reduce the life span of the knife if you throw it in the dishwasher.
They also develop a patina. It's not dangerous or flavor affecting in anyway but it can be ugly. If you cook alot, I would actually recommend stainless steel for the kitchen itself. Carbon steel can be damaged by the acids you find in a lot of cooking and tend to not last as long.
there are promotions going on currently that increase trade value, but if you go for cash, the promotions don't apply.
I had a kid the other day who was looking at a difference between $24.40 credit, versus $14.40 cash.
Although, it promises to be exciting.
Thursday night, two associates got into a fistfight - I don't know over what, but its pretty glorious to step around a corner and see two grown men in blue and khaki just beating the crap out of each other.
Friday night we got evacuated for a gas leak, and stood out in the December cold for about an hour until the utilities people showed up to turn off the gas.
Saturday saw a drunken women peel into the parking lot at 80 miles an hour and blow out a tire after hitting a curb.
Sunday, I realized stuff wasn't going to be glorious when a guy who's been working for The Company a grand total of a week tried to yell me down about not knowing the price of an item. "WHY DON'T YOU FIND A SHIPPING LABEL?!" he yelled, I replied, "There wasn't one. Why don't you grab a Telxon and scan it so we know the price?"
He paused, face dropping, and his eyes darting about, before saying, "Wh-what's a telxon?"
(note: the telxon is our handheld terminal system for managing stock)
Monday night to 7 am... I saw the single largest night of freight in Furniture the store had seen since its opening one month ago.
...
And got called out over the PA system for "not putting my cardboard into the baler correctly."
The Assistant Manager and In Stock Supervisor looked at me and I looked at them and we all stood about being really confused for about a minute when I asked, "Is there a RIGHT WAY to put cardboard into the baler?"
Seriously - its insert cardboard, close cage, turn key. There's not a whole lot of room for error.
I'm amused, but I realized... its still the same boring ass job it was at the other Walmart. I knew it was going to be, but the self amusement has faded away to grim realization that I live directly across the street from my workplace, and can be personally fetched very easily on my weekends.
---
And a happy story for the Tom Lederbrand Division:
I found out after leaving that a lot of people actually miss me at my old store, so I decided I'd put that bastard Lederbrand to use for the POWERS OF GOOD and send a message to my old coworkers:
"My name is Joe Strait and I want to recognize the overnight shift of store (store number here) for everything they've done, to help me prepare to take my career towards new opportunities... Each and everyone of you have taught me the valuable lessons I'll need to go forward and grow as an associate. Thank you! (song request: Gene Autry's "Happy Trails")"
This works twofold - its a nifty song and message to my friends, and recognition of my nickname: Straight Joe. We had three Joes on the overnight shift, and mine was Straight Joe - probably because... I was teh only Joe who is straight. Anybody paying attention (likely, the managers are whores for that damn station and will do anything to draw attention to it) will catch the nice message, and the people who know me best will catch the inside joke.
I thought it'd be nice.
Though, not enough weird shit happens judging by everyone else's stories. As a cashier I don't get to see much anyway other than irate customers but even customer service and photo has the best kinds of irate douchebags.
The 19 year-old has been with the company from the start. He originally worked part-time, as he was a high school student, but moved to fulltime after graduation. He's really only a service technician (and a bad one at that, given that almost all of our clients have requested he not do the onsite repairs), but has been thrust into our sales position as that person was fired this past July. So, the website in question was mainly created by the 19 year-old, which is why I sent him the files I wrote.
As far as my situation goes, I've tried calling my boss several times at both the number he gave me (I'm assuming it's his home phone number) and our normal Vonage business number. No answer. Kind of annoying, as he specifically said to call him at 1:00 to talk about something important.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia
Him and the 19 year old took the money and flew to Thailand. He left the business (and debt) in your name. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue your credit history?
Just get me a blowtorch and a pair of pliars.
Switch: SW-3515-0057-3813 FF XIV: Q'vehn Tia