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Home > Blogs > Women's Life > Archives > 2011 > June > 18 > Entry
Top 8 shopping pet peeves
I stole the idea from was inspired by this blog at one of my favorite time-wasting girly gossip sites, TheFrisky.com. While the Frisky’s bloggers pretty much all live in NYC and have a guaranteed different shopping experience than we do here in the midwest, it still stands that there are some things that can make a routine shopping trip (for groceries, clothes, furniture, anything) a huge pain in the keister.
Here are some that come to mind (without copying the Frisky’s list… gotta at least try for some originality, even at this late hour):
Mysterious Disappearing Employees. When I want to be left alone, they’re around every corner, asking me if I’m finding everything okay (usually when I’m just browsing and not even looking for anything in particular). But when I actually need help finding something, suddenly everyone is on break.
Out of My Size. I’m right there with most of American women in that I wear pants in the 12-14 range. But the fact that so many of my shopping sisters are going after the same pants I want means those sizes are the ones most frequently out of stock, while there are no shortages among the 0-4’s.
Isn’t Made in My Size. Or rather, in my most recent experience, isn’t made in my husband’s size. He is tall with long arms and a linebacker’s neck, but apparently, his combination of measurements is a rare animal in the department store jungle. Finding him a decent selection of new dress shirts turned into a multi-weekend, multi-mall experience.
Unkempt Dressing Rooms. Clothes on the floor. Clothes flung over doors and draped on door handles. Clothes crammed into corners or piled on the tiny little bench in the dressing room. Big sale weekends are the worst for this. I almost never buy anything without trying it on so I’ve seen most of the dressing rooms in the I-75 corridor area. I at least try to do my part by putting my own rejects back on the hangers and putting them on the reject-cart.
Mall Kiosks. You know the ones I mean. I don’t know whether I feel pity for the people who have to work in these, or if I am allowed to just outright loathe them. A 4x8 stand barely counts as a place of employment, yet some of these salespeople take their jobs dead seriously - they’re more persistent than bill collectors. Every trick in the book has been invented to avoid them - pretend to take a phone call, duck into a store or behind a crowd of noisy teenagers, avoid any kind of body language that could communicate interest in their product - yet they still exist. I’m mystified.
Slooooooow checkout lanes. I don’t understand how a store can boast 20-some cash registers, yet even when a decent number of them are open, checking out adds another 15 minutes to the shopping experience. And I don’t even know who to blame - slow cashiers and/or baggers? Customers paying in pennies or telling the cashier their life stories? Me, for choosing the wrong lane time and time again? In any case, the checking lane traffic jam can ruin an otherwise pleasant experience.
Where are Your ** Bathrooms? I guess it’s just bad karma, but I find I ALWAYS have to go at the most inopportune time: when the shopping cart is full and I’m about to check out, when pumping gas, when I walk into the refrigerated section of the grocery store, and best of all, when I’m in a store at the mall that has NO bathrooms and the nearest public bathroom is on the opposite end of the whole mall. So if you ever see a crazy redhead sprinting across the tiles, it’s not my newest kiosk-avoidance tactic, it’s a matter of life and death. Or at least, a matter of dry or wet pants.
Those Darn Trends. I don’t pay a lot of attention to trends. If I like something and it’s trendy, hey, bonus points for me, I guess. But if it’s trendy and I don’t like it, it’s not ending up in my closet. The problem here comes when I am looking specifically for something that’s not trendy. Last fall I had a little corduroy fetish and wanted some corduroy pants to wear to work as it started getting chillier. Could. Not. Be. Found. (Ok, white lie. I did finally find one pair. And just a few weeks ago I ruined them by spilling the contents of a take-out box on my lap on the way home from dinner. Just my luck.)
Those are the big ones that come to mind. Share your pet peeves and shopping horror stories - or if you work in retail, tell us about the bad customer behavior that drives you up the wall. We’re all guilty of something, right?
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Comments
By shanariley
June 18, 2011 5:11 AM | Link to this
I found a site where you can get coupons for restaurant called “Printapon” they are on all over the news, search online
By nancy
June 18, 2011 5:48 AM | Link to this
I dont know where you shop but I haven’t been to a store in years where there is actually an employee working on the floors to help anyone look for anything. Also, most stores have 20+ checkout lanes and maybe if your lucky 2 will be open. when I shop after 10pm at Meijer there are no cashiers, just self checkouts. They should knock 20% of my bill if I have to check my own self out. And as for looking for a bathroom, they are always so dirty that I hold it till I get home.
By Kris
June 18, 2011 5:54 AM | Link to this
There are never any employees in the department stores working the floors. If I can’t find something I just leave without buying it because I get so aggravated that they won’t hire floor clerks. Now they are doing away with cashiers. I would rather pay more and go to a store that has employees to help you rather than spend all day trying to find what I am looking for. It is just sad very few places have the clerks on the floors anymore and cashiers are becoming a thing of the past.
By Realthinker
June 18, 2011 8:30 AM | Link to this
Marisa, landsend.com is the answer to your men’s shirts dilemna. They also have been known to carry women’s cords in both dress slacks and pull ons. So does QVC.com in their Denim & Co. line. They are so comfy I own 5 pairs. They come in petite, average, and tall. I haven’t set foot in a mall in years.
By gunther
June 18, 2011 8:39 AM | Link to this
As long as you are making sales ppl sound terrible, heres how we feel. People that feel a need to bring their dog shopping, ppl that come in with a list expecting us to be their personal shopper, those of you that TRY to describe something you saw, but have no idea what its called, however WE should know what you mean. Those of you that get to checkout and decide there was ONE more thing you needed, and hold up the line while you WALK back for it. Those of you that interupt us while we are already helping someone, like you are more important then they are. The list goes on. Anyone that has a problem with sales ppl should walk a week in their shoes. I think you would probably want to run out screaming, never to return!
By Lynn
June 18, 2011 8:58 AM | Link to this
2 is not true! I wear a size 4 petite and have difficulty finding it anywhere. And speaking of petites, have you ever been to the petite section in stores? We have less than half of the selection of the misses department and most stores don’t even carry petite sizes.
By A Noney Mouse
June 18, 2011 11:35 AM | Link to this
How about the Extreme Couponers, who will rake the shelves of all items CAUSE they had coupons for it and it is on sale. Not thinking about the rest of us who only shop once a week and not 3 times and we do not hoard food. Or the Extreme couponers who will take 4 hours to check out, the people who wait until they cashier is telling them the amount they need to pay before pulling out the check book or credit card. Or the people who think talking on the cell while the cashier is waiting for them, that it is OK to do that. How about the many who bring in kids yelling while shopping and think the rest of us will enjoy hearing the kids yelling from one end of the store These should be some of the top Pet Peeves.. Not OH the stores doesn’t have my size.
By Martha
June 18, 2011 12:59 PM | Link to this
My pet peeve is lottery tickets. Especially when I am waiting to make my purchase and the lottery buyers are deciding … whatever decisions they feel they need to make, letting us know that their mother died on the fifth and the grandbaby’s birthday is on the 21, sharing a complicated algorithm with which they will invariably lose that day’s lottery investment.
By Cindylynn
June 18, 2011 1:07 PM | Link to this
At the Englewood Meijer this week, I finally found an associate who told me their store wasn’t selected to feature the kayaks for sale in the weekly flier. And when I asked if he knew which stores were offering the item, he still didn’t take the hint on how to help a shopper. I did remind him Englewood is right next to a RIVER. The Troy Meijer does carry the item and is 100% cleaner. Customer service certainly is a fluctuating entity, and this man at Meijer wasn’t some high school kid, guess just some tired retail lifer, stuck in a dingy store. For the moment the Kroger Marketplace is the only Englewood business that’s not a dump, but the diverse Englewood shoppers will soon take care of that.
By feelinggunther
June 18, 2011 4:15 PM | Link to this
Customer says, “I KNOW this coupon expired 2 weeks ago, but I: was on vacation/was in the hospital/WORK for a living and didn’t have the chance to come in while it was still good, and if you won’t honor it for me anyway I want to talk to your manager…”
By EnglewoodShopper
June 18, 2011 6:27 PM | Link to this
I agree with Cindylynn on the condition of Englewood shopping establishments…lately it seems everyone and their brother from everywhere are migrating to Englewood to shop and they’re not very concerned with the condition in which they litter and leave. Keep in your trash in Trotwood.
By MIDDLETOWN SHOPPER
June 19, 2011 2:32 PM | Link to this
Wal-Mart in Middletown has 30+ cash registers but they only have 1 or 2 checkouts open ON THE OTHER END OF THE STORE! They could make it convenient for the customers by having at least 1 checkout open on each end.
By Bird's Mom
June 20, 2011 7:47 AM | Link to this
I have no problem with long check out lines, with 3 kids and a husband, it’s my me time. I read or meditate. I am a people watcher too - I laugh at all you up tight people sighing and in a hurry. Life goes by way to fast, pause and be thankful you have the money to be in this line……
By Shop til you drop
June 20, 2011 8:24 AM | Link to this
What about he 12 itmes or less lane and people checking out with 20 plus items? That get me going. No courtesy or shame. Another one is the non-handicapped shopper parking in the handicapped slot. Like I said, no shame.
By Zeeba Neighba
June 20, 2011 7:15 PM | Link to this
I have worked in sales before and have met many types of customers across the entire scale from very nice to very rude, and I find for the most part it’s a two-way street. Be friendly and people will be friendly with you, too. From a customer’s perspective, what bugs me most about store employees is if they look over their shoulder to discuss among themselves their plans for the weekend or why the dog threw up and how many stitches grandma needed, all while ringing up my purchase or swiping my card.
By I can't deal sometimes!
June 23, 2011 8:44 AM | Link to this
The worst in when you are walking through the mall and I see the cutest outfit ever on a mannequin. The shirt is a beautiful color and hangs perfectly while the pants seem to hug every curve perfectly. So, I walk in the store and pray that I can find it in my size (roughly a 16-18ish)and try it on. Then I take a look in the mirror. shakes my head IT IS ALL BAD! The shirt is weird, the color seemed to leave it as soon as it touched my body and the pants just make my legs look all kinds of deformed. Why can’t I be as glamorous as the mannequin?