(Some of our corporate bigwigs decide that they will work in some of the stores for a week. The executive we get tells us to treat him like any other staff member. We are unsure and try giving him the relatively easy job of running the counter but he insists that we give him proper tasks to do and specifically asks me what task I am about to do.)

Me: “Uh, I have to tidy a section, remove all the old sales labels, and then put up new bannering.”

Executive: “Okay, I will start on that; just show me what to do.”

(I show him where to get started and what to do before I head off to bring a ladder over because some of the work is too high to be reached. I noticed he’s only removing sale tags off the front items.)

Me: “There’s a tag on each item.”

Executive: “There’s a tag on each item and all handwritten. That must take you girls ages to do; why do it that way?”

Me: “We have to put a tag on everything and then take them off when the sale period is complete; we get sent the blank tags and have to write them.”

Executive: “How often do you do this?”

Me: “Every two weeks.”

(He gets on with his task and then notices what I am doing; I am removing heavy items of stock from one fixture.)

Executive: “I finished that job. Let me carry those for you… Wow, these are heavy; do you do this on your own all of the time? Why don’t you have someone help you?”  

Me: “There is usually only one other staff member on and they have their own tasks” *the service bell rings* “Excuse me, I just need to serve at the counter.”

Executive: *after I return* “You have to serve as well as do all this. How long do you have to complete this in?”

Me: “It needs to done before we go home today so we can put up the new ticketing tomorrow.”

Executive: “Tomorrow? These are on discount again tomorrow; how much for this time?”

Me: “The same price.”

Executive: “Why not leave the tags up?

Me: “We have to use different tags; they change every sale.”

(For the rest of the week, he does as many of our tasks as he can. He comes to say his goodbyes.)

Executive: “I am going to make sure that things change. I will be calling a meeting as soon as I get back. I am sure that [Owner] would have experienced the same thing I have here; you need more staff for the amount of work you are expected to complete.”

(We were supposed to write a review on his performance. He got a glowing one, but the reports put in by other stores on their executives were full of complaints; they got in late, left early, and spent the rest of the time on their phones. Nothing changed; in fact, our executive quit in frustration.)

(I have come home from my big-city living to the small town I grew up in as my parents are both ailing and need a bit of help. I head to a local coffee chain to get a coffee while I wait for my mother in one of her doctor’s appointments, and I get a china mug as I know I’ll be there for a bit. I accept the coffee from one server and turn to pick up my ordered bagel from the soup/sandwich section a few steps away when I look down to see two flies in my coffee — fully submerged with their eyes and wings visible. I turn back to the coffee server and put my coffee cup back down where she’d put it for me.)

Me: “I have a problem!”

Server: “What?”

(She doesn’t look down at the coffee; she just stares at me.)

Me: “There are flies… in my coffee.”

Server: “Well, they fell in there as you walked away.”

Me: “What?”

Server: “I took the mug out of the cleaner. They weren’t in there when I filled it. They fell in as you walked away.”

(My bagel is prepared and the woman who made it stares between us as if it were a tennis match.)

Me: “Okay. Can I get another coffee, please?”

Server: “But they fell in while you were holding the coffee.”

(I know as a certainty that they didn’t but just say:)

Me: “Can I just get another coffee, please?”

(The server reaches for another mug and holds it up for me to see it is clean.)

Server: “See? No flies.”

Me: “Great. Can I get another coffee, please?”

(The server filled the new coffee mug and put it down beside the fly-filled one. I took it with a “thank you” — I am Canadian after all — and turned to accept my bagel from the woman who was wide-eyed and silent.)

(I want a particular item from a flatpack furniture store. The colour I want is being discontinued, and is not available for online order, though their customer service assures me I can just go into my closest store and arrange for delivery that way. We gather the other furniture we’re buying, and then look for the chest of drawers. We’re able to find the other available colours, but not the one we want, despite the app telling us they have plenty in stock at this location. We go to the furniture desk to speak to a clerk. He apologises and tells us that this item, due to being discontinued, is held in their secondary warehouse. He tears a map off a pad and hands it over.)

Me: “Oh, but I want them delivered.”

Clerk: “As they’re in the secondary warehouse, they can’t be delivered.”

Me: “Oh, okay, but customer service told me I could order them in-store for delivery.”

Clerk: “Sorry, but that’s not possible.”

Me: “I don’t drive. I don’t have a car. I’m unable to go get them myself.”

Clerk: “We have vans to rent, if that makes it easier.”

Me: “I don’t drive; I don’t have a license.” *lifts my cane* “And I’m disabled; I couldn’t load and unload them without assistance, which is why we need them delivered.”

Clerk: “Sorry, but we can’t deliver them. You can go pick them up yourself.”

Me: *shows conversation with customer service on my phone*

(The conversation continues to go in circles, with the clerk seeming to not understand that I don’t drive, can’t drive, don’t have a car, etc.) 

Me: *finally getting a bit upset* “But you’re [Flatpack Store]. I don’t understand why this isn’t something you can organise?”

Clerk: *shrug*

Me: *hating myself* “Can I speak to a manager, please?”

Clerk: “He’ll tell you the same thing.” *calls over radio*

Manager: *appears like a scruffy angel* “Oh, no problem, you just do this—” *taps like three keys* “—and it goes through as [particular order type] and delivery is arranged by the front desk.”

(I thanked the manager and apologised to the original clerk for any trouble I might have caused. And the furniture looks wonderful now that it’s been built, so this is one NAW with a happy ending.)

(My phone’s battery is broken, so I look up a new battery for the phone online and see that it is currently going for $40 on several different websites. Not wanting to wait for it to be shipped, I decide to go to a local [Brand] store in the mall to see if they have any in stock.)

Clerk: “How can I help you?”

Me: “I need a new battery for [phone].”

Clerk: “Okay, let me see what we have.” *checks computer* “Okay, I see that we don’t have those in stock, but we can get one in for you tomorrow. The only catch is that we have to install it for you.”

Me: *thinking this will be faster than ordering one* “Okay, I don’t see why, but that sounds good.”

Clerk: “Okay, that will be $60.”

Me: “Wait a second. That’s a $40 battery.”

Clerk: “Yes.”

Me: “So, you want to charge me $40 for the battery and $20 to install it?”

Clerk: “Yes.”

Me: “A process that takes literally 30 seconds and I can do myself without any issues whatsoever?”

Clerk: “Yep.”

(I turned around and walked out.)

(I am renovating a house so I do considerable business with the local hardware store. Trying not to be overwhelmed by all that needs to be done, I tend to get the things I need one or two projects at a time. One weekend, I decide my projects will be to build the shelves in the laundry room and to power-wash the front deck. Friday night, I go to the website for the hardware store and order the supplies for the shelves for in-store pickup the next day. Saturday morning, I check my email and see that they’ve received the order. I set up what is needed to clean the deck and get started, finishing around 11:00 am, and check my email. Nothing. That is disappointing but I have a small garden chore that I can tackle. I finish that at noon and check my email again. There is an email saying my order is ready. I get cleaned up and sit down for a leisurely lunch. At 1:15, I head for the hardware store. Just before 1:30, I am standing at the pick-up desk waiting for someone to get off the phone to help. He hangs up and asks my name.)

Clerk: “Okay, that will be a little while. They are just starting.”

Me: “I got an email over an hour ago saying it was ready.”

Clerk: “Yeah, well, we’re busy on the weekends so they haven’t finished it.”

Me: “I’m busy, too. That’s why I ordered ahead. I got an email an hour ago saying it was ready. Are you telling me it hasn’t been started?”

Clerk: “They send the email when they start it.”

Me: “They shouldn’t send the email until they finish it. But it isn’t a huge order.”

Clerk: “We’re pretty busy so it will take a while.”

Me: “If I came in and picked out ten 2x4s, two sheets of plywood, and a package of nails, it wouldn’t take me more than twenty minutes. The email was sent over an hour ago. The email that said it was ready. Don’t you think it is ridiculous to send that email before an order is ready?”

Clerk: “Yeah.”

Me: “Cancel the order.”

Clerk: “But it will be ready soon.”

Me: “Clearly not soon enough.”

(I went home, extremely annoyed, and called the store asking what the policy was for in-store pickup orders. I was told that they do actually generate the email when they start the order, not when they finish. I emailed the corporate office to spell out why that is not helpful. I also ordered ready-made shelves from another company. The small cost difference was well worth not having to get out the saw and drill or clean up the dust. I don’t have a lot of choices for hardware stores in this town but when I’m in neighboring towns, I’ll often stop by stores there to pick up things I need. I’d guess my total spending at the local store has dropped by over 70%. It will make very little difference to their bottom line but I feel better about it.)