A Flärdfull Of Fyrkantig

(I work as a stocker in the self-serve warehouse for a Scandinavian furniture company. As the description implies, people pick the items themselves and we can help if asked nicely. Other than that, we replenish the stock.)

Customer: “Hi. I’m looking for [wardrobe], and I can’t find it at the location mentioned.”

Me: “Sure. Let’s look in the computer for the location and stock details.”

(I start looking and seeing that while we have a lot in stock, it seems to be out of reach of customers. This is something that happens when a product sells more than predicted.)

Me: “Oh, no. It seems that the product is out of stock at the moment, but we should be getting some more overnight.”

(She’s a bit upset, but she seems to leave to find another product. After a while she comes back.)

Customer: “I found some, but it’s a bit heavy. Can you help load it on the cart for me?”

Me: “Sure, let’s have a look.”

(She leads me to an aisle and points towards the top shelf, well out of reach for any human being without a reach truck.)

Customer: “There it is. Can you get it down?”

Me: “Not without a reach truck, and we can’t get it on the floor unless all customers leave, due to safety reasons.”

Customer: “That’s not good enough. It’s clearly there. Climb up and go fetch it for me.”

Me: *staring, knowing that the flat-pack weighs at least 30kg* “That’s not going to happen.”

(Eventually, my manager came round and told her the same. The only option for her was to stay until closing so we could cordon off the self-serve area and get it down by reach truck. She did.)