Every person who has ever turned on a TV, a radio, hell, even stepped outside their home, has been barraged with cheerful, cheesy holiday sale ads, whether it be for clothes or for some new hot tub system no one’s heard of ’til now. But for those numerous people that work in various stores and restaurants, it can be less than rosy. Many customers tend to become pushy, ill-mannered, and downright rude to employees who are just trying to make the best out the busiest season of the year. For those of you who have never seen the other side of the register, this is a quick look into a customer service employee’s life around the holidays.
When the holidays first start up, stores usually do a sort of holiday overhaul. This involves hanging up ever-changing sale signs, building displays for larger items, stocking shelves, and rearranging different sections of the store to promote the holiday products. So even on days that the store is near empty there is a lot of work to do. Despite what Angie might say about a certain ‘empty’ candle stores’ lack of customer assistance, employees are usually off doing one of the above activities while also manning the register. So while it may be a few minutes, employees everywhere ask to please have patience, especially during the holidays!
Another big issue is items being out of stock. Once upon a time, I used to work in this solid concrete, fluorescently lit box that sold cheap candy and prescriptions. And one year the big thing that was on sale was this giant box of chocolate that everyone desperately wanted. Every week, we would get shipments of the product, put it out for Sunday and by Sunday night it would be sold out all over again. This is a common occurrence with sales in nearly every store. With such popular items, employees must put out the entirety of the shipment, instead of keeping a few in the back. So when an product is out it’s just out. If a customer insists that an employee check for their product in the back, there is a good chance the employee will go into the stockroom, wait a few minutes, and come back empty-handed. It’s a waste of time for both parties, unfortunately. In this same vein, employees usually can’t hold sale items for too long either. Getting frustrated with an employee is understandable but ultimately they are usually just following orders from the top.
Above all, the biggest blow you can deal an employee is when they greet a customer at the register and the customer says nothing back. There is nothing like awkward silence to make you feel like a machine at work. Even a simple ‘hello!’ can make an employee feel a bit better about the day. This should also apply when asking an employee for assistance. While employees are there to provide service, they are not there at your beck and call. Instead, use the Grandma rule. If you wouldn’t demand something from your grandma, you shouldn’t demand something from a stranger. Overall, please use common courtesy!
So while the holidays can be stressful for employees and customers, please remember that we are all people just helping other people! This time of year is about being kind to your neighbors, spending time with your family and friends, and, yes, to even shop and give your loved ones some goodies.