Black Friday

[Holiday]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...art_after.html

That's a really sad story but unfortunately we seem to get a similar version of it every year. And it seems to always happen at a Wal-Mart too...


I'm really kicking myself for not having more money right now. I could be watching $4 dvds of movies that came out two years ago. Damn you self! Damn you!

 

[Holiday]

It looks like he's saying "That's raisin!".

 

[bunk]

A friend of mine handles the loss prevention for a Kohl's store. He told me it's been insane, with a lot of people stealing. He almost got into a fist fight with a guy this morning.

Bunch of savages.

 

[tzarinna]

You have to make sure to select free shipping. Amazon always keeps it on standard shipping, but if you are over 25 bucks then you have to select the free shipping option.

Only one of my items was eligible for free shipping. They said it's based on what you buy, like toys and some other crap. I bought flannel sheets and a GN.

 

[tzarinna]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...art_after.html

This is the real reason they call it "Black Friday", damn.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

This is the real reason they call it "Black Friday", damn.

 

[Silk Spectre]

Sears had a good deal on an HE washer dryer pair for $600, which is like half price. I was so tempted to buy it. Right now I'm spending like $10 using the laundromat at my apartments.

 

[Heretic]

Since every store in the country looks forward to the massive amounts of cash that they make on Black Friday, and in many cases that money is NEEDED right now to stay open...exactly why is it "black" friday?

 

[Silk Spectre]

Since every store in the country looks forward to the massive amounts of cash that they make on Black Friday, and in many cases that money is NEEDED right now to stay open...exactly why is it "black" friday?

The money they make puts them "in the black" which meand they are profitable as opposed to being "in the red" which is not making a profit.

 

[Heretic]

The money they make puts them "in the black" which meand they are profitable as opposed to being "in the red" which is not making a profit.

Ah, I get it now. However, I have never heard it in that context. Its always "UGH, BLACK FRIDAY". I think if you work retail and you hate Black Friday, you should reexamine your choice of careers.

 

[Manic]

Everyone in retail hates Black Friday. However, it is the best paying time of the year, so they endure the horrible weekend for the sake of a fat paycheck.

 

[Manic]

Everyone in retail hates Black Friday. However, it is the best paying time of the year, so they endure the horrible weekend for the sake of a fat paycheck.

 

[Heretic]

And they hate it because of all the customers? Their job is CUSTOMER service, and yet they hate customers? They make money because of sales, and they hate large numbers of sales? Sounds like horrible choices made by stupid people.

 

[Manic]

They don't hate all customers. Some customers are just jerks. And when you've got a large influx of customers coming in on Black Friday, the jerk to friendly chum ratio is all bad.

 

[Heretic]

Oh, okay...because retail is the only job that has jerks involved in it. They would be much happier as...say...a prison guard...where everyone is nice.

Retail complaining just annoys me. I assure you that every complaint that you may have about retail can be repeated with just about any other line of work. It especially bothers me because they are complaining about the facat that their company is making so much money.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

You aren't getting it.

 

[Manic]

If you worked where I worked, you'd be royally pissed at the company making so much money. Every single Black Friday, the entire network would shut down in the middle of the day, for several hours. All commissions are tracked by computer. The moment the computers stop working, every single sale that goes through the system doesn't come back to you. They have absolutely no way of handling commissions when they do manual receipts.

It's not just Black Friday, either. It happens on all days surrounding Christmas, President's Day, 4th of July, New Year, and just about any other holiday sale. Magically, for some reason, a problem pops up every time that prevents people from earning commission.

And if you don't earn commission at all, then you have a perfect reason to complain about the company making so much money. The only extra money you're seeing is coming from the double-shift you're working.

That's another reason retail workers hate Black Friday. Most stores make employees work double-shifts. My old job made half of the store work from 4am to 12am the next day. If you were lucky, you'd only work from 4am to 9pm.

Then you've got the people on bathroom cleaning duty who suddenly find more and more surprises, as many customer suddenly forget how to aim for the toilet when taking a crap on Black Friday.

Really, every inconvenience that comes with everyday retail work gets amplified on Black Friday.

 

[Heretic]

Okay, you're right. The busiest shopping day of the year is a horrible day.

 

[Silk Spectre]

You have to work in retail to understand. It's one thing working as a cop or prison guard where you know you are dealing with bad people. Retail makes you lose faith in humanity sometimes. There are a lot of great customers, but there are also a lot of jerks. You have to deal with short change artists, return fraud, scammers, those are the actual "bad people." Then there's the fact that a lot of people can not or will not read or follow instructions, then they get mad and act like you as the employee did something wrong. You also have the egomaniacs who think the world revolves around them.

I think the employee interactions will be the same no matter what type of work you are in, but dealing with the public is a whole different ball game.

 

[Heretic]

If you worked where I worked, you'd be royally pissed at the company making so much money. Every single Black Friday, the entire network would shut down in the middle of the day, for several hours. All commissions are tracked by computer. The moment the computers stop working, every single sale that goes through the system doesn't come back to you. They have absolutely no way of handling commissions when they do manual receipts.

It's not just Black Friday, either. It happens on all days surrounding Christmas, President's Day, 4th of July, New Year, and just about any other holiday sale. Magically, for some reason, a problem pops up every time that prevents people from earning commission.

And if you don't earn commission at all, then you have a perfect reason to complain about the company making so much money. The only extra money you're seeing is coming from the double-shift you're working.

That's another reason retail workers hate Black Friday. Most stores make employees work double-shifts. My old job made half of the store work from 4am to 12am the next day. If you were lucky, you'd only work from 4am to 9pm.

Then you've got the people on bathroom cleaning duty who suddenly find more and more surprises, as many customer suddenly forget how to aim for the toilet when taking a crap on Black Friday.

Really, every inconvenience that comes with everyday retail work gets amplified on Black Friday.

You have a legitimate complaint about getting screwed out of your commision. The rest of your complaints go in my "why did you take the job then?" category.

 

[Heretic]

You have to work in retail to understand. It's one thing working as a cop or prison guard where you know you are dealing with bad people. Retail makes you lose faith in humanity sometimes. There are a lot of great customers, but there are also a lot of jerks. You have to deal with short change artists, return fraud, scammers, those are the actual "bad people." Then there's the fact that a lot of people can not or will not read or follow instructions, then they get mad and act like you as the employee did something wrong. You also have the egomaniacs who think the world revolves around them.

I think the employee interactions will be the same no matter what type of work you are in, but dealing with the public is a whole different ball game.

You are talking about idiots, scam artists and jerks. Those people do more than shop. they go to the doctor, they go to PTA meetings, they do what people do...and they make life difficult for everyone. Retail is no private hell with these people.

 

[Manic]

You have a legitimate complaint about getting screwed out of your commision. The rest of your complaints go in my "why did you take the job then?" category.

Does the phrase "you gotta do what you gotta do" come to mind? People take retail jobs for a myriad of reasons. Some people are working their way through college. Some people need a second job. Some people got laid off from a better job and needed to find something to pay their bills. Some people are young and working on their first job. I knew a few people who went to college in their home countries, came to the US for whatever reason, and couldn't find a job in their original profession, thus reducing them to retail work. Some people are just old, can't do physically tasking jobs anymore, and need something to keep themselves busy to keep their minds sharp. Some people only took the job temporarily, and found themselves stuck when the economy prevented them from finding a better job. Some people have no connects, and couldn't find anything else. Some people are just out of options.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

You are talking about idiots, scam artists and jerks. Those people do more than shop. they go to the doctor, they go to PTA meetings, they do what people do...and they make life difficult for everyone. Retail is no private hell with these people.

Retail workers have personal lives to. They don't deserve to be treat like **** which a good number of customers do.

 

[Manic]

Retail workers have personal lives to. They don't deserve to be treat like **** which a good number of customers do.

I've seen customers reduce my co-workers to tears. Some people are just monsters.

 

[terry78]

Retail workers have personal lives to. They don't deserve to be treat like **** which a good number of customers do.

The mindset is, I am spending my money, ergo paying your salary, so I can do whatever the hell I want to you. Even people that buy like a pack of gum feel they can treat the employees that way. And the boss will always take their side, at least to their face in order to keep the sale.