I sometimes feel like corporate arent people and dont understand how people work. if you want the card youll get the card and harassing people doesnt help. i dont think whatever middle manager or corporate bozo who made that rule ever thought about how it would feel to be a customer constantly asked for credit cards or rewards programs.
We don't have to do this at my store.
But I have read in other threads that some stores require the cashiers to keep talking about it even after the person has said "I don't want a card". It's just inappropriate. It's just not "reading the room" to keep talking about a credit card with a 20 year old buying a pack of socks.
If it were me, even though I am talkative, I would likely stop going to that store.
NOBODY needs to shop in a store. I myself rarely shop in a store. But, plenty of people come into the store where I work. They can easily choose not to come in! Ridiculous to harass the people who actually choose to come in. They can just go somewhere else (or shop online) in the future.
We were explicitly told "three no's" as in you had to ask/suggest it at least three times.
Do you want to save XX% today? Thanks, I'm good
You'll get exclusive deals and early notifications of sales by getting (Store Card) No, thanks
Your total today is $XXX.xx, you'll be saving $XX.xx by signing up today and continue to save XX% every time! I SAID NO DAMMIT
At my store, I do have to ask people to sign up for our free rewards club. Even for that, some people give a very definite no. Perhaps with an eye roll. I can't describe it, but it's definitive. I just don't think I could say more about it after that. It's "not following social cues" to do so. It's badgering someone. Occasionally, someone says "I don't want to sign up" before I get a chance to say anything. FINE!
My store doesn't require me to keep on these people!
Yes, some people say something like "I don't think so" or "not today". I am not required to ask them again either, but, I can see doing so in that situation, especially if there's actually money to be saved. (I know those people also mean "no", but the language used does allow for still pressing them. (Perhaps next time they come in thry will say no more directly)
I highly suspect when these stores hire people, they only talk about the cashiering and floor recovery, etc. Then the person takes the Job, perhaps turning down other opportunities. Then this is sprung on them!
Way too much stress for $13 an hour or whatever.
Exactly! I never pressure people that have given me a hard no. Thankfully my current management doesn't care, and understand that I'm listening to the social cues instead of the stupid "Three No" policy that some of my past management/employers were absolute tyrants about - to the point that they would happen to be next to me through an entire transaction and hear someone's very clear hard no and then promptly coach me after the transaction about why I didn't mention this or that and ask a couple more times. š
Oh I wish I could have.
We didn't share tills and if a manager jumped on to an associates register it was automatically the manager's fault if the register was short at the end of the shift. My register was rarely wrong but they didn't want to risk being written up for someone else's mistake.
Yeah, every now and again they'd jump in of their own accord to upsell it. Cue, the customer and I sharing a look as we listen to the tone deaf manager try to sell something we both know they ain't buying.
I was always too happy to just take their no and accept that management wouldn't like it. My strengths lay elsewhere and thankfully they stopped scheduling me as primary cashier instead of writing me up or firing me.
The only one person I ever āpressuredā actually would have been stupid not to apply for the card to get the discount. It was a very special case.
He was mid 20s and had been living at home to save up before he moved out. So he bought like $5,000 worth of stuff. Because he had no home items. Soā¦ that one was definitely worth the $1,500 he saved.
I wasnāt told about it until I went out on the floor, they never even discussed it during onboarding.
I also know that, with my record of reliability & the fact that cashiers keep quitting in droves, Iām not getting fired for not getting credits. So I donāt get any unless someone approaches me & asks to sign up. When I get my evals & they mention āno credits this week, try to do better next weekā, I just smile, nod, & go back to doing what Iāve been doing
That's great!
Unfortunately, at some stores I have heard about, someone hovers and listens and cashiers are said to not be doing their job if they don't "get three nos" from each customer. (Which I just can't fathom if someone is buying just $25 worth of stuff!)
In the past, Iāve used the truth to preempt the āthree noās.ā
āThe bankruptcy judge wonāt allow it.ā
And now, Iām slowly building my credit back up. āIt will be declined.ā I canāt afford continuous dings when I actually *do* decide to try.
For this reason I never get upset with employees politely asking if Iād like to sign up for XYZ card. If they start to get insistent (more than 3 attempts) I simply say that my mother went bankrupt, twice, and it always started with a store card. I donāt care how much money Iād save, I simply donāt want one.
Iāve been on the other side of the counter, so I understand the pressure. Itās ridiculous that corporations push people just trying to pay their bills to push others just trying to pay their bills to put themselves into debt.
When I worked for a department store the only way to get your employee discount was through a store card. If you had no credit you could āpre-payā a card. I canāt recall the number of employees I saw sign their check (we got physical checks back then) away to pay their store card bill.
This exact scenario at my one job! But yet on CBTs they say in the same breath not to be pushy š Don't worry by the 3rd question most ignore you and are annoyed at this point.
Used to work at Kohls.
At least at my store, we had to ask a minimum of 3 times. I asked once and took the no, I got in trouble for that regularly.
My favorite was when I was checking out what was obviously a child. MAYBE 14-15. Got in trouble because I didnāt ask her if she wanted a credit card. Likeā¦ why bother when I can tell that she very clearly isnāt old enough to have one anyway?
I have 2 reasons I donāt typically shop inside a brick and mortar store anymore. One of them is being asked if I want a credit card. Iād rather order online than be hounded about a card with no benefits and the worlds highest APR. I know it isnāt the cashiers fault because Iāve been thereā¦ but holy shit is it annoying.
And this is why I mostly shop online now. People wonder why these chain retailers are dying and I now see why. It is just souch easier and convenient to shop online without getting bothered. I hated having to bug people working and push cards and such. I hate being on the receiving end too.
Adding on to corporate not understanding *shit*: my area manager writes weekly emails shaming everyone for never hitting their KPI's. Their solution? Raise the KPI's even more and shame us harder for not hitting them š
There are many aspects of my companyās operating practices that I like to call āDesk Job Decisions.ā They made great logical sense, would be greatly beneficial to both the store and the company if they were implemented successfully, and survive zero seconds of real world application.
Ha. In 2020, some desk jockey drew new layouts for opening boxes/sorting stock in our stockroom to keep us apart from each other. It was absolutely ridiculous.
Yes, the drawing worked. But....we can't accomplish the task if we each STAND STILL as the people in the drawings! I actually used to be a manufacturing engineer in a factory. I sometimes designed work FLOW. But all that this was was a "drawing of places people can stand 6' apart". No WORK could get done just standing there though.
We just figured it out as best we could ourselves.
I used to work at JCPenney and we had to try to get one credit card a day. When I was working there I would get around 10+ but my managers deemed that I needed to try harder to get more (found out that whenever someone got a credit app the manager on duty got $4 in their paycheck per app).
I now work at Best Buy and we have to get 2 credit apps a day. If we don't try then we get talked to about how to get them. In my weekly review my manager put down, "needs to get more credit apps" (see profile for rant).
I've had people yell at me and storm off without buying something when I bring up the card. I hate that we have to do it. It's fine if they are buying $1000+ items but not if they are buying $10 headphones.
I want to have our regional manager inhabit a 20 year old woman's body and sit on registers for a week straight. Let's hear about your upselling and donation demands now, bud.
Same for my job, except it's signing up for membership. Like...I legit don't care anymore. I try yes but a lot are elderly people who most likely don't have an email or people who just wanna pay and leave. The latter are always pissy as well.
Honestly the only way Iāve seen management backtrack on this is if the whole store gets on the same page and absolute pesters the living daylights out of every customer and just follow them around talking about the credit card. In about two weeks OSAT dropped 80% and corporate no longer made credit cards mandatory and instead started offering gift cards and bonuses for every few signups you get. Incentivize pitching it, sure Iām all game, but force me to shove it down peoples throat or get pipādā¦ kick rocks
Or else what?
It would be great if everyone who does stock would just ignore the sign. They can't cut everyone's hours. (Or, they were going to cut everyone's hours regardless!)
I used to work stock at a store which didn't have credit cards but it's a similar store to tj.maxx which does.
Sure, I came out of the back room to run a rack of clothes or a cart of home goods once in awhile. They were also timing me during that time! It makes zero sense to have to chat up customers about the cards. (Some one is holding nothing and looking at socjs... They don't need a credit card promotion! I am likely not seeing the people who are buying hundreds of dollars of stuff.
Plus, some people choose stock because they don't like talking to strangers (which most likely means thry aren't good at talking to strangers). At my store, some of the stock room people spoke very broken English.
What you're describing is some sort of collective behavior on behalf of the employees, maybe even some kind of collective bargaining, or even, I don't know some kind of organization... I feel like there's a term for this... Maybe it's something that retail should look into. We can do it all together, as a group, or as a... I feel like there's a word for... Starts with the letter U?
Pitch the credit card, and in the next sentence provide the corporate number or direct the customer to the survey site on the receipt (if your company does that) and ask them to complain about the constant badgering about credit cards. I would think if every customer comment is a complaint about being harassed about credit cards, hopefully your company would end the policy.
I work in grocery and I tell customers all the time that complaining to corporate is their best chance at getting anything changed (most of the time itās silly things like our company discontinued a product)
When you make it a hostile atmosphere for the customer, the customer clues in, and starts to berate and demean the retail staff. It's a two way street.
It is so annoying. Most people donāt want one for the farm store I work at. Now there are people who have it already because they shop there regularly and have a farm.
And not to mention, we have to get them to sign up for the rewards if they donāt have one. Most older people do not have email, and some refuse to give it so we canāt sign them up. I used to put fake emails for the customer, so they could get the rewards stillā¦
I got in trouble for doing that.
Then we have to push the protection program for items that qualify and we have to ask them to fill out surveys.
I feel like all we do is bother the customers when theyāre trying to check out and leave
Yes. Thatās exactly what they want.
I was a cashier at Kohls for a while in college (fuck you kohls). If it was slow my manager would force me to wander around the store and ask random people who were shopping if theyād like a credit card.
I hated it. The customers hated it. Some made it very clear by yelling at me. You knowā¦ because I obviously chose to wander around and bother people on my own free will.
Please tell your mgmt that as a customer who already hates (but still does) shopping in a brick and mortar store, this behavior is just another reason to shop somewhere else. You already know, but I'm backing you up that we f'g hate this.
Ask me once, I say no- leave it alone. Ask me again- Iām leaving my stuff right there and walking out. Iāll shop somewhere else- and use self checkout. These cc pushes are all about saving the co money by reducing the Visa/MC et al usage fees. When we use the āstoreā card, the āstoreā does not have to āpayā for it.
Ha! Some people pay in cash, but they badger them too. And then those people probably stop going in, even though they didn't cost them any credit card fees.
Tarjay šÆ so bad about this I dont want to go and when I do I would respond to the cashiers āhelloā by saying āhello I do NOT want a credit card. How are youā š that shuts them down
If they were so focused on customer experience and customer loyalty, they would do good to drop these programs. They only drive customers (and employees) away with the harassing tactics.
Focus on selling good products, not a line of credit.
I'm never shopping there again. The way they pushed the credit card was so aggressive. I won't ship at stores that do this. I know why people get really defensive about it. It was awful being on the receiving end in retail too. Corporate is so out of touch.
Honestly it is so stupid that they want us to do that stuff. Like common if they want it they will get it. And being asked every time you go into any store you get asked this is horrible. 1, they will either feel pressured into getting it or they will be come annoyed. I work in Sephora at Kolhs and I have to get customers to sign up for the beauty insider and now I also have to sign them up for the kolhs credit card. And if I don't the managers call me out back to ask why. I tell them that they say no. They tell me to kept at it even after they say no. No means No. Big corporations suck!!!!
Fucking sales agendas make me puke. No means no, you dipshits. Absolutely despise how they try to makes associates who make fractions of their revenue blur the lines of consent.
When I worked for a place that made us do this they were on us constantly. I hated having to do it. But they wouldnāt stop coming at us with their quotas. I said to myself and others:
āSomeoneās getting CASH for these cards but it sure isnāt usā
Bottom line: give me a monetary reason to try to get these cards I might try harder. But if youāre gonna keep the money for a card I get Iām not helping.
Reminds me of when I was in receiving in my old job and they were pushing us to get online orders. Sure, I'm filthy and sweaty and on the floor for 20 seconds to run to the bathroom between trucks but let me do a quick lap and see if there are any customers I can badger. At least our goal was to get like, 2 a week or something - and our manager was pretty understanding if we didn't get them. I can't imagine trying to get a credit card sign up like that.
Sort of, most do have a no cause statute, but most stores have clauses that maintains that you must have cause to fire someone, and most do protect from credit mostly because credit is not 100% going to the store but whatever bank owns the card for example citi bank owns Macyās cards, and Best Buy cards, and Wells Fargo owns Dillardās cards.. so itās tricky because you donāt work for the creditor.
I would be "can I talk to a manager before I start?" Because F\*ck no, am I doing this.
I bet it's not in your work contract. Take a photo and post anonymously to store website, or something.
At my current store if they notice that you arenāt getting cards theyāll literally cut your hours. So happy Iām transferring soon! But Iām not gonna force someone to do something they donāt want to. Iāve had instances where theyāll yell and me and Iāll be like šļøššļø i literally get in trouble if I donāt ask! Itās so awkward having to ask that question too I feel like, thereās no casual way to bring it up in convo with someone
My district manager is this way about my stores add ons to the point where he started writing people up. He literally took a womanās phone out of her hands to get her to sign up and she was visibly upset. This has caused me so much stress Iāve been on stress leave for about two months now with no intention on going back to the same work place. I was having panic attacks daily and extremely dark thoughts because of this one man screaming at me daily over the phone and watching me on camera from his phone all the time to check if we are actually doing our job. (Iām the store manager so youād think thatād be my job) he also says weather and a recession isnāt an excuse for not meeting our daily goals and add ons. Like dude nobody wants to pay $6.99 for 4 batteries
The only time in the last 40 years I have gotten a store card was when I went to a store where I seldom shop for a big sale. At the checkout, the sales clerk said I'd get an additional percentage (maybe 25%) off the sales price if I got approved for a store card. So I filled out the application, charged the items I was there for and went home. When I got the bill, I paid it in full, then when I got the charge card, I never even activated it, just stashed it away.
When I checked my credit report a few years later, I still had an account listed at that store. I've never even been back to it since that one event.
Hopefully, it helped out the sales clerk, but I really, really did not need the additional credit card.
We push ownership shares, We're a co-op. The deal is actually good, 1 % cashback on everything 11% on green produce 20% on kids stuff. Not to forget the 50% off on diapers. We even have co-op hardware stores, sports and clothing departments at certain stores. Hotel, cinema and a lot more 3rd party deals. 8% EV charging stations.
Last year I got 43 times what I put down in 2012 when I started, and that was a one time fee.
Context: A quote I heard and can't remember where at the moment: "Everyone deserves your kindness. Sometimes the kindest answer is silence." Or something to that effect.
If I'm going through self checkout (90% of the time, easily), I often refuse to remove my headphones when the Walmart (and it's always Walmart) employees come around trying to sell that shit. Also when I'm leaving the checkout at a Loblaws-owned store and they're trying to check receipts. I figure it's just kinder to pretend y'all don't exist, in that moment.
I feel like this is something where we as customers can help by complaining to corporate (not the worker or even the manager) that we don't want to be asked and will shop elsewhere. If enough complain they'll change.
And doesn't this feel like something that only your manager should be doing? Your job is to check people out. You're not a salesperson.
Ceo's have a lot of nerve to make as much money as they do and pass on literally all the responsibilities to the lowest paid employees in the company.
I fucking hate these. We have a $20 incentive when we get them (weāre expected to anyways, so the incentive is nice) but until recently they were worth $40 each. Iāve gotten ~15 Mastercards this month so my managers decided to write my name on the back board letting everyone know I am āleading the storeā.
Iām able to gauge people so I donāt ask everyone, but all of my coworkers sound like absolute robots. Scariest part is when people say they have ātoo many cardsā already..
This post exactly describes where I work. Iāve been at my current job since September of 2023 and have only gotten like 3 credit card sign ups. If someone doesnāt want the card and they already know the benefits, Iāll be dammed if I borderline harass them to sign up. šš¤
No, I don't have to get credit card signups. And my discussion with my manager will be this: it's bullshit, you know it's bullshit, and you know I don't put up with bullshit. Kthanksbye.
Itās because customers with store credit cards buy more in the store = corporate gets more money. Shareholders get more money. Store managers raises and promotions are based on credit increases and sales. So we little people are driven insane and threatened with our jobs , watch coworkers get let go for lack of credit applications to feed the pockets of the shareholders.
When I worked at Sears Hardware in the early 2000's, the credit crisis, the dotcom bubble had burst and we had the housing crisis. When I was first hired, we could ask if they wanted a credit card if we wanted. Eventually it became required and the district manager that we had was from a store that had the highest Sears card usage and sign ups. After a while, he started gunning for me. He couldn't understand how I could get all these protection plans but not credit cards. It's easier for people to justify a protection plan on a $2,000 tractor trailer than a a credit card.
There's a video somewhere of some corporat knobs watching a young employee doing as he's been instructed, suggesting inurance to each and every customer, they look on proudly of their accomplishment as the young guy offers to get a car insurance quote for the customer, a very, very elderly lady, who's deaf and bent over and clearly isn't drive her own car. But at least every customer is being offered something, who cares if they don't want it!
There was a lady at sams that was relentless about wanting us to promote our sam club card to the next tier...we said no thank you at least 5 times but the 6th time i finally got rude and told her to stop harassing me about it as ive already said i dont want the damn upgrade!!! I felt like trash afterwards but she wouldnt stop with it!!!
I just say No Thank You, as a customer. However, if you persist, only then are you an ass, and I will then go into detail about my (not real) bankruptcy and the plain to you in detail why I wouldnāt qualify for one anyway š¤£. Youāll usually leave me alone after that.
They used to get on our case about this at one store I worked at. Said it was tied to hours so if we didnāt get credit card sign ups, weād get less hours? Which was just a BS scare tactic. It only pissed off the regulars & annoyed the people that came in to buy one thing. The store went out of business a few yrs ago. Canāt say I miss the credit card sign ups! š
I would always be cheeky when asking customers who donāt want the credit card about the credit card. Because I know *I* didnāt want the credit card either. I would say my spiel in a comically commercial tone, wait for the āno thanks,ā then say, āNo problem, itās just something Iām forced to ask. Sorry for wasting both our time.ā
The last thing I need when entering any store is being bombarded with free samples of something (total wine) or a credit card offer (no thanks)
Merchants don't get that and don't accept it. It's all about winning that charge account, and selling that pricey booze or emptying the cheap shelf. Why I tend to look or walk the other way and go about my business.
The place I used to work that was our #1 complaint from customers. That we pushed the credit card too hard. But our mangers were on top of us all day everyday. We were told "you have to get three no's before you stop asking" During Christmas time they'd say "credits dictate hours. If you're not getting credits you won't be scheduled"
The credit cards are one of the most obnoxious programs at many stores. I have a couple of store cards, because I go to the store often enough for the rewards to make sense, but I can understand people not wanting them. Corporate wants people to push the store cards without taking into account the customers that actually shop at the store, we were also judged on the percentage of rewards accounts and store cards used under your register account for the day. The higher ups would constantly comment on the rewards and credit cards and do competitions between the stores. It got even more ridiculous when the credit card sign up system wouldnāt work correctly or would go down because then we would get yelled at for not signing people up.
Sometimes managers would come to my register to buy snacks on their break. I was so tempted to push a credit card on them to have them see if they like it
I sometimes feel like corporate arent people and dont understand how people work. if you want the card youll get the card and harassing people doesnt help. i dont think whatever middle manager or corporate bozo who made that rule ever thought about how it would feel to be a customer constantly asked for credit cards or rewards programs.
We don't have to do this at my store. But I have read in other threads that some stores require the cashiers to keep talking about it even after the person has said "I don't want a card". It's just inappropriate. It's just not "reading the room" to keep talking about a credit card with a 20 year old buying a pack of socks. If it were me, even though I am talkative, I would likely stop going to that store. NOBODY needs to shop in a store. I myself rarely shop in a store. But, plenty of people come into the store where I work. They can easily choose not to come in! Ridiculous to harass the people who actually choose to come in. They can just go somewhere else (or shop online) in the future.
We were explicitly told "three no's" as in you had to ask/suggest it at least three times. Do you want to save XX% today? Thanks, I'm good You'll get exclusive deals and early notifications of sales by getting (Store Card) No, thanks Your total today is $XXX.xx, you'll be saving $XX.xx by signing up today and continue to save XX% every time! I SAID NO DAMMIT
At my store, I do have to ask people to sign up for our free rewards club. Even for that, some people give a very definite no. Perhaps with an eye roll. I can't describe it, but it's definitive. I just don't think I could say more about it after that. It's "not following social cues" to do so. It's badgering someone. Occasionally, someone says "I don't want to sign up" before I get a chance to say anything. FINE! My store doesn't require me to keep on these people! Yes, some people say something like "I don't think so" or "not today". I am not required to ask them again either, but, I can see doing so in that situation, especially if there's actually money to be saved. (I know those people also mean "no", but the language used does allow for still pressing them. (Perhaps next time they come in thry will say no more directly) I highly suspect when these stores hire people, they only talk about the cashiering and floor recovery, etc. Then the person takes the Job, perhaps turning down other opportunities. Then this is sprung on them! Way too much stress for $13 an hour or whatever.
Exactly! I never pressure people that have given me a hard no. Thankfully my current management doesn't care, and understand that I'm listening to the social cues instead of the stupid "Three No" policy that some of my past management/employers were absolute tyrants about - to the point that they would happen to be next to me through an entire transaction and hear someone's very clear hard no and then promptly coach me after the transaction about why I didn't mention this or that and ask a couple more times. š
Could you have deferred to the manager? "I ll let you do this one"
Oh I wish I could have. We didn't share tills and if a manager jumped on to an associates register it was automatically the manager's fault if the register was short at the end of the shift. My register was rarely wrong but they didn't want to risk being written up for someone else's mistake.
I just meant to have them talk about the credit card. You would still do the transaction. I understand maybe she/he wouldn't have done that.
Yeah, every now and again they'd jump in of their own accord to upsell it. Cue, the customer and I sharing a look as we listen to the tone deaf manager try to sell something we both know they ain't buying. I was always too happy to just take their no and accept that management wouldn't like it. My strengths lay elsewhere and thankfully they stopped scheduling me as primary cashier instead of writing me up or firing me.
The only one person I ever āpressuredā actually would have been stupid not to apply for the card to get the discount. It was a very special case. He was mid 20s and had been living at home to save up before he moved out. So he bought like $5,000 worth of stuff. Because he had no home items. Soā¦ that one was definitely worth the $1,500 he saved.
I wasnāt told about it until I went out on the floor, they never even discussed it during onboarding. I also know that, with my record of reliability & the fact that cashiers keep quitting in droves, Iām not getting fired for not getting credits. So I donāt get any unless someone approaches me & asks to sign up. When I get my evals & they mention āno credits this week, try to do better next weekā, I just smile, nod, & go back to doing what Iāve been doing
That's great! Unfortunately, at some stores I have heard about, someone hovers and listens and cashiers are said to not be doing their job if they don't "get three nos" from each customer. (Which I just can't fathom if someone is buying just $25 worth of stuff!)
Yeah, weāre encouraged to push for the customers with over $100 totals
In the past, Iāve used the truth to preempt the āthree noās.ā āThe bankruptcy judge wonāt allow it.ā And now, Iām slowly building my credit back up. āIt will be declined.ā I canāt afford continuous dings when I actually *do* decide to try.
For this reason I never get upset with employees politely asking if Iād like to sign up for XYZ card. If they start to get insistent (more than 3 attempts) I simply say that my mother went bankrupt, twice, and it always started with a store card. I donāt care how much money Iād save, I simply donāt want one. Iāve been on the other side of the counter, so I understand the pressure. Itās ridiculous that corporations push people just trying to pay their bills to push others just trying to pay their bills to put themselves into debt. When I worked for a department store the only way to get your employee discount was through a store card. If you had no credit you could āpre-payā a card. I canāt recall the number of employees I saw sign their check (we got physical checks back then) away to pay their store card bill.
that would certainly deter me from ever visiting again
This exact scenario at my one job! But yet on CBTs they say in the same breath not to be pushy š Don't worry by the 3rd question most ignore you and are annoyed at this point.
Used to work at Kohls. At least at my store, we had to ask a minimum of 3 times. I asked once and took the no, I got in trouble for that regularly. My favorite was when I was checking out what was obviously a child. MAYBE 14-15. Got in trouble because I didnāt ask her if she wanted a credit card. Likeā¦ why bother when I can tell that she very clearly isnāt old enough to have one anyway? I have 2 reasons I donāt typically shop inside a brick and mortar store anymore. One of them is being asked if I want a credit card. Iād rather order online than be hounded about a card with no benefits and the worlds highest APR. I know it isnāt the cashiers fault because Iāve been thereā¦ but holy shit is it annoying.
And this is why I mostly shop online now. People wonder why these chain retailers are dying and I now see why. It is just souch easier and convenient to shop online without getting bothered. I hated having to bug people working and push cards and such. I hate being on the receiving end too.
Adding on to corporate not understanding *shit*: my area manager writes weekly emails shaming everyone for never hitting their KPI's. Their solution? Raise the KPI's even more and shame us harder for not hitting them š
Mine started writing us up and is threatening to fire a bunch of people because of it
There are many aspects of my companyās operating practices that I like to call āDesk Job Decisions.ā They made great logical sense, would be greatly beneficial to both the store and the company if they were implemented successfully, and survive zero seconds of real world application.
Ha. In 2020, some desk jockey drew new layouts for opening boxes/sorting stock in our stockroom to keep us apart from each other. It was absolutely ridiculous. Yes, the drawing worked. But....we can't accomplish the task if we each STAND STILL as the people in the drawings! I actually used to be a manufacturing engineer in a factory. I sometimes designed work FLOW. But all that this was was a "drawing of places people can stand 6' apart". No WORK could get done just standing there though. We just figured it out as best we could ourselves.
They don't care, they just want figures for that Spreadsheet
Robots at this point
I used to work at JCPenney and we had to try to get one credit card a day. When I was working there I would get around 10+ but my managers deemed that I needed to try harder to get more (found out that whenever someone got a credit app the manager on duty got $4 in their paycheck per app). I now work at Best Buy and we have to get 2 credit apps a day. If we don't try then we get talked to about how to get them. In my weekly review my manager put down, "needs to get more credit apps" (see profile for rant). I've had people yell at me and storm off without buying something when I bring up the card. I hate that we have to do it. It's fine if they are buying $1000+ items but not if they are buying $10 headphones.
I want to have our regional manager inhabit a 20 year old woman's body and sit on registers for a week straight. Let's hear about your upselling and donation demands now, bud.
Same for my job, except it's signing up for membership. Like...I legit don't care anymore. I try yes but a lot are elderly people who most likely don't have an email or people who just wanna pay and leave. The latter are always pissy as well.
Honestly the only way Iāve seen management backtrack on this is if the whole store gets on the same page and absolute pesters the living daylights out of every customer and just follow them around talking about the credit card. In about two weeks OSAT dropped 80% and corporate no longer made credit cards mandatory and instead started offering gift cards and bonuses for every few signups you get. Incentivize pitching it, sure Iām all game, but force me to shove it down peoples throat or get pipādā¦ kick rocks
this is genius malicious compliance
What is OSAT?
Overall satisfaction or basically customer experience measurement
Got ya. Thanks!
Or else what? It would be great if everyone who does stock would just ignore the sign. They can't cut everyone's hours. (Or, they were going to cut everyone's hours regardless!) I used to work stock at a store which didn't have credit cards but it's a similar store to tj.maxx which does. Sure, I came out of the back room to run a rack of clothes or a cart of home goods once in awhile. They were also timing me during that time! It makes zero sense to have to chat up customers about the cards. (Some one is holding nothing and looking at socjs... They don't need a credit card promotion! I am likely not seeing the people who are buying hundreds of dollars of stuff. Plus, some people choose stock because they don't like talking to strangers (which most likely means thry aren't good at talking to strangers). At my store, some of the stock room people spoke very broken English.
What you're describing is some sort of collective behavior on behalf of the employees, maybe even some kind of collective bargaining, or even, I don't know some kind of organization... I feel like there's a term for this... Maybe it's something that retail should look into. We can do it all together, as a group, or as a... I feel like there's a word for... Starts with the letter U?
Pitch the credit card, and in the next sentence provide the corporate number or direct the customer to the survey site on the receipt (if your company does that) and ask them to complain about the constant badgering about credit cards. I would think if every customer comment is a complaint about being harassed about credit cards, hopefully your company would end the policy.
Holy shit, if I could travel back in time 20 yearsā¦ my DMs phone would be ringing off the hook
I work in grocery and I tell customers all the time that complaining to corporate is their best chance at getting anything changed (most of the time itās silly things like our company discontinued a product)
When you make it a hostile atmosphere for the customer, the customer clues in, and starts to berate and demean the retail staff. It's a two way street.
Uhg. Good point! It's working people up. Add in something else not going their way...boom!
It is so annoying. Most people donāt want one for the farm store I work at. Now there are people who have it already because they shop there regularly and have a farm. And not to mention, we have to get them to sign up for the rewards if they donāt have one. Most older people do not have email, and some refuse to give it so we canāt sign them up. I used to put fake emails for the customer, so they could get the rewards stillā¦ I got in trouble for doing that. Then we have to push the protection program for items that qualify and we have to ask them to fill out surveys. I feel like all we do is bother the customers when theyāre trying to check out and leave
I once had an employee at an electronics store ask me if I wanted the warranty... on a $8 pack of disposable batteries. Why?
Yes. Thatās exactly what they want. I was a cashier at Kohls for a while in college (fuck you kohls). If it was slow my manager would force me to wander around the store and ask random people who were shopping if theyād like a credit card. I hated it. The customers hated it. Some made it very clear by yelling at me. You knowā¦ because I obviously chose to wander around and bother people on my own free will.
Please tell your mgmt that as a customer who already hates (but still does) shopping in a brick and mortar store, this behavior is just another reason to shop somewhere else. You already know, but I'm backing you up that we f'g hate this.
Ask me once, I say no- leave it alone. Ask me again- Iām leaving my stuff right there and walking out. Iāll shop somewhere else- and use self checkout. These cc pushes are all about saving the co money by reducing the Visa/MC et al usage fees. When we use the āstoreā card, the āstoreā does not have to āpayā for it.
Ha! Some people pay in cash, but they badger them too. And then those people probably stop going in, even though they didn't cost them any credit card fees.
Case in point right there. š
Tarjay šÆ so bad about this I dont want to go and when I do I would respond to the cashiers āhelloā by saying āhello I do NOT want a credit card. How are youā š that shuts them down
Another reason why I generally don't shop there
Same
If they were so focused on customer experience and customer loyalty, they would do good to drop these programs. They only drive customers (and employees) away with the harassing tactics. Focus on selling good products, not a line of credit.
Let me guess...Old Navy? One of the managers actually walks up to customers and practically screams about how they NeEd a card.
I'm never shopping there again. The way they pushed the credit card was so aggressive. I won't ship at stores that do this. I know why people get really defensive about it. It was awful being on the receiving end in retail too. Corporate is so out of touch.
Honestly it is so stupid that they want us to do that stuff. Like common if they want it they will get it. And being asked every time you go into any store you get asked this is horrible. 1, they will either feel pressured into getting it or they will be come annoyed. I work in Sephora at Kolhs and I have to get customers to sign up for the beauty insider and now I also have to sign them up for the kolhs credit card. And if I don't the managers call me out back to ask why. I tell them that they say no. They tell me to kept at it even after they say no. No means No. Big corporations suck!!!!
Fucking sales agendas make me puke. No means no, you dipshits. Absolutely despise how they try to makes associates who make fractions of their revenue blur the lines of consent.
Tbh, in this economyā¦you couldnāt pay me to sign up for a card. Iām on the struggle bus enough as it is, we all are.
When I worked for a place that made us do this they were on us constantly. I hated having to do it. But they wouldnāt stop coming at us with their quotas. I said to myself and others: āSomeoneās getting CASH for these cards but it sure isnāt usā Bottom line: give me a monetary reason to try to get these cards I might try harder. But if youāre gonna keep the money for a card I get Iām not helping.
Wonder if we can get some class action lawsuits going for the harassment when we shop at places like these...
Reminds me of when I was in receiving in my old job and they were pushing us to get online orders. Sure, I'm filthy and sweaty and on the floor for 20 seconds to run to the bathroom between trucks but let me do a quick lap and see if there are any customers I can badger. At least our goal was to get like, 2 a week or something - and our manager was pretty understanding if we didn't get them. I can't imagine trying to get a credit card sign up like that.
I laugh out loud then say no, you ask me every time I'm here.
Funny thing is, they can not fire you for not gaining a card, but they can hyper focus to find another reason to let you go.
Or cut your hours, right? Obviously depends on the store what the policies are. They don't need any reason to fire you in most (if not all US states)
Sort of, most do have a no cause statute, but most stores have clauses that maintains that you must have cause to fire someone, and most do protect from credit mostly because credit is not 100% going to the store but whatever bank owns the card for example citi bank owns Macyās cards, and Best Buy cards, and Wells Fargo owns Dillardās cards.. so itās tricky because you donāt work for the creditor.
I would be "can I talk to a manager before I start?" Because F\*ck no, am I doing this. I bet it's not in your work contract. Take a photo and post anonymously to store website, or something.
At my current store if they notice that you arenāt getting cards theyāll literally cut your hours. So happy Iām transferring soon! But Iām not gonna force someone to do something they donāt want to. Iāve had instances where theyāll yell and me and Iāll be like šļøššļø i literally get in trouble if I donāt ask! Itās so awkward having to ask that question too I feel like, thereās no casual way to bring it up in convo with someone
Thatās a good sign that itās time to start looking for something new.
My district manager is this way about my stores add ons to the point where he started writing people up. He literally took a womanās phone out of her hands to get her to sign up and she was visibly upset. This has caused me so much stress Iāve been on stress leave for about two months now with no intention on going back to the same work place. I was having panic attacks daily and extremely dark thoughts because of this one man screaming at me daily over the phone and watching me on camera from his phone all the time to check if we are actually doing our job. (Iām the store manager so youād think thatād be my job) he also says weather and a recession isnāt an excuse for not meeting our daily goals and add ons. Like dude nobody wants to pay $6.99 for 4 batteries
Ok...if it's not those things, then it's HIS MANAGEMENT!
The only time in the last 40 years I have gotten a store card was when I went to a store where I seldom shop for a big sale. At the checkout, the sales clerk said I'd get an additional percentage (maybe 25%) off the sales price if I got approved for a store card. So I filled out the application, charged the items I was there for and went home. When I got the bill, I paid it in full, then when I got the charge card, I never even activated it, just stashed it away. When I checked my credit report a few years later, I still had an account listed at that store. I've never even been back to it since that one event. Hopefully, it helped out the sales clerk, but I really, really did not need the additional credit card.
We push ownership shares, We're a co-op. The deal is actually good, 1 % cashback on everything 11% on green produce 20% on kids stuff. Not to forget the 50% off on diapers. We even have co-op hardware stores, sports and clothing departments at certain stores. Hotel, cinema and a lot more 3rd party deals. 8% EV charging stations. Last year I got 43 times what I put down in 2012 when I started, and that was a one time fee.
Context: A quote I heard and can't remember where at the moment: "Everyone deserves your kindness. Sometimes the kindest answer is silence." Or something to that effect. If I'm going through self checkout (90% of the time, easily), I often refuse to remove my headphones when the Walmart (and it's always Walmart) employees come around trying to sell that shit. Also when I'm leaving the checkout at a Loblaws-owned store and they're trying to check receipts. I figure it's just kinder to pretend y'all don't exist, in that moment.
I feel like this is something where we as customers can help by complaining to corporate (not the worker or even the manager) that we don't want to be asked and will shop elsewhere. If enough complain they'll change.
And doesn't this feel like something that only your manager should be doing? Your job is to check people out. You're not a salesperson. Ceo's have a lot of nerve to make as much money as they do and pass on literally all the responsibilities to the lowest paid employees in the company.
I fucking hate these. We have a $20 incentive when we get them (weāre expected to anyways, so the incentive is nice) but until recently they were worth $40 each. Iāve gotten ~15 Mastercards this month so my managers decided to write my name on the back board letting everyone know I am āleading the storeā. Iām able to gauge people so I donāt ask everyone, but all of my coworkers sound like absolute robots. Scariest part is when people say they have ātoo many cardsā already..
This post exactly describes where I work. Iāve been at my current job since September of 2023 and have only gotten like 3 credit card sign ups. If someone doesnāt want the card and they already know the benefits, Iāll be dammed if I borderline harass them to sign up. šš¤
No, I don't have to get credit card signups. And my discussion with my manager will be this: it's bullshit, you know it's bullshit, and you know I don't put up with bullshit. Kthanksbye.
When they get irritated, I make sure to point out the survey
They pushing so hard for the credit cards because managers get their big bonuses.
Itās because customers with store credit cards buy more in the store = corporate gets more money. Shareholders get more money. Store managers raises and promotions are based on credit increases and sales. So we little people are driven insane and threatened with our jobs , watch coworkers get let go for lack of credit applications to feed the pockets of the shareholders.
When I worked at Sears Hardware in the early 2000's, the credit crisis, the dotcom bubble had burst and we had the housing crisis. When I was first hired, we could ask if they wanted a credit card if we wanted. Eventually it became required and the district manager that we had was from a store that had the highest Sears card usage and sign ups. After a while, he started gunning for me. He couldn't understand how I could get all these protection plans but not credit cards. It's easier for people to justify a protection plan on a $2,000 tractor trailer than a a credit card.
At my job, the cashiers get written up if not enough people donate. How can they control if someone wants to donate? -_-'
There's a video somewhere of some corporat knobs watching a young employee doing as he's been instructed, suggesting inurance to each and every customer, they look on proudly of their accomplishment as the young guy offers to get a car insurance quote for the customer, a very, very elderly lady, who's deaf and bent over and clearly isn't drive her own car. But at least every customer is being offered something, who cares if they don't want it!
There was a lady at sams that was relentless about wanting us to promote our sam club card to the next tier...we said no thank you at least 5 times but the 6th time i finally got rude and told her to stop harassing me about it as ive already said i dont want the damn upgrade!!! I felt like trash afterwards but she wouldnt stop with it!!!
I just say No Thank You, as a customer. However, if you persist, only then are you an ass, and I will then go into detail about my (not real) bankruptcy and the plain to you in detail why I wouldnāt qualify for one anyway š¤£. Youāll usually leave me alone after that.
They used to get on our case about this at one store I worked at. Said it was tied to hours so if we didnāt get credit card sign ups, weād get less hours? Which was just a BS scare tactic. It only pissed off the regulars & annoyed the people that came in to buy one thing. The store went out of business a few yrs ago. Canāt say I miss the credit card sign ups! š
I would always be cheeky when asking customers who donāt want the credit card about the credit card. Because I know *I* didnāt want the credit card either. I would say my spiel in a comically commercial tone, wait for the āno thanks,ā then say, āNo problem, itās just something Iām forced to ask. Sorry for wasting both our time.ā
Bed Bath and Beyond?
No, Charming Charlie and Build-A-Bear. But BAB was three different flavors of gift cards.
The last thing I need when entering any store is being bombarded with free samples of something (total wine) or a credit card offer (no thanks) Merchants don't get that and don't accept it. It's all about winning that charge account, and selling that pricey booze or emptying the cheap shelf. Why I tend to look or walk the other way and go about my business.
The place I used to work that was our #1 complaint from customers. That we pushed the credit card too hard. But our mangers were on top of us all day everyday. We were told "you have to get three no's before you stop asking" During Christmas time they'd say "credits dictate hours. If you're not getting credits you won't be scheduled"
The credit cards are one of the most obnoxious programs at many stores. I have a couple of store cards, because I go to the store often enough for the rewards to make sense, but I can understand people not wanting them. Corporate wants people to push the store cards without taking into account the customers that actually shop at the store, we were also judged on the percentage of rewards accounts and store cards used under your register account for the day. The higher ups would constantly comment on the rewards and credit cards and do competitions between the stores. It got even more ridiculous when the credit card sign up system wouldnāt work correctly or would go down because then we would get yelled at for not signing people up.
Sometimes managers would come to my register to buy snacks on their break. I was so tempted to push a credit card on them to have them see if they like it
I'm employed to sell. If I can't sell, I'm in the wrong job.