Archived Dealing with difficult guests

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GSAguy

GSA
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Jan 5, 2018
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So something that kind of bothers me... every now and then, there will be a guest wanting something beyond what our policies allow. For instance, a guest was trying to return an item that had a separate return by date on the receipt which had already passed, therefore the POS would not allow the refund to be processed. The TM at guest service got me involved, and after I looked into everything, apologized to the guest and told her that the items couldn’t be returned because it was passed the time frame. She was very unhappy and was expecting me to give her the refund anyway, but I didn’t. The pos didn’t even give an option to override. She finally left guest service and went into the store to shop. A while later she came back and approached me to tell me that we still had the same item on the shelf and asked again if I could do the refund anyway. I told her yet again that the register would not let me do her refund so she asked for some ‘above me’ (always one of my favorite things to hear), so I got the LOD. I was kind of listening in while making it seem like I was busy doing something else and the LOD was reinforcing what I had told her which I was glad to hear, so I went about my business, but a few minutes later I come back, and somehow she refunded the items for her anyway. I don’t know if she did a no receipt refund or what, but the POS would literally not allow that particular refund to be processed. No overide code, no nothing.

What bothers me is that we are supposed to ensure that target policies are enforced when it comes to returns and such, but when a guest causes a stink, MOST of the LOD’s will cave and give them what they want, making me look like some kind of prick. What I find myself doing is allowing things to happen that I know are not supposed to happen because I feel like if I try to stick to my guns, the LOD will give them what they want in the end anyway. Not to mention it’s kind of embarrassing to be gone over like that.

I’m not bitter with what decisions the LOD’s make, because ultimately, they are the ones in charge of the store, and they are the ones that will have to answer to anything that may come of these things.

I just don’t know whether or not I should stand my ground when I know something isn’t right, or let things slide to avoid bothering the LOD when I know they will probably give the guest what they want anyway.

It really just boils down to who is the LOD. My STL has ALWAYS had my back in these situations, which makes me want to stand my ground, but if it’s anyone else, odds are they will side with the guest.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Part of the reason I left front end was being told to enforce policy only to be overridden by leadership (long before 'vibe', et al).
Quite frankly, it's a contest on who can wear down who & guests know they have nothing to lose by demanding a higher-up until they get what they want.
Leaders simply want to get them out of the store but by caving they're enabling bad guest behavior & throwing their TMs under the bus.
 
I just inform the guest that their receipt is passed the ‘x’ day return policy and let them know Target allows up to $75 no receipt return annually using a drivers licence at current selling price that will be in the form of a giftcard.

On another note I like it when guests bring up regular price oddball items saying they found them in the 70 percent off section even after I explain other guests could have dropped them off there. I give them 30 percent off for the confusion and they can either take it or leave it. Most walk away. :9
 
I wouldn't take it personally, when a guest is getting flustered it's always best to turn it over to a manager. Once you turn it over to them it's out of your hands and any decision the manager makes is on them.
 
At the end of the day every leader can hide behind targets policy of "make it right for the guest" which often supersedes our regular policies.

You can stand your ground and let the LOD decide. Once you pass them to the LOD. Don't worry about whether they accepted the return or not. You did your job.

Unfortunately with NPS Scores being the number one metric for service in stores now. Many lods are just trying to avoid negative surveys is all.
 
Sometimes the system will not allow this to happen depending on the value of the item.

I mean, if it's an electronic item or something where there's a specific return policy (like movies), that's different. But if the guest is just trying to return something from Softlines, making it right for the guest is probably the best thing to do.
 
There is a list of various Target "talking points" that has been circulated recently, highlighting best practices for various areas of the store.

One of those talking points is that GS is not supposed to tell the guest a specific $ amount that is tied to ID/no-receipt returns. This leads me to believe the $ is fluid.

Also...when a guest tells me they found the item in the clearance section, I tell them that items aren't always put back in the right spots and clearance items have yellow clearance stickers. I would never give them 30% off for the "confusion."

Otherwise, I hate that certain guests know that if they moan and complain long enough, they will get what they want. So irritating.
 
I just inform the guest that their receipt is passed the ‘x’ day return policy and let them know Target allows up to $75 no receipt return annually using a drivers licence at current selling price that will be in the form of a giftcard.
Except it's not current selling price. It's lowest recent sale price. I just haven't figured out how recent is recent.

There is a list of various Target "talking points" that has been circulated recently, highlighting best practices for various areas of the store.

One of those talking points is that GS is not supposed to tell the guest a specific $ amount that is tied to ID/no-receipt returns. This leads me to believe the $ is fluid.
When I started, I was told the limit was $200. Before holiday '17, I was told $100. Now it's $75. And I've had people want to return $20 items on ID in just the last couple weeks that the POS says "no credit back, you gotta do an exchange right now."
 
I would suggest trying the return, and stating the policy. No need to tell the guest that you dont have the option to override. When the guest asks for a supervisor, he can make the decision. By just stating the policy, if a Supervisor decides to do the return, he is not overriding you, but the policy. In the case of an item we still carry at full price, I would almost always do the return.

Clearance is priced as marked--sorry.
 
If the guest is being a douche, I'll refuse the return every time. If the guest is minding their manners, they will get an override from me. At the end of the day, it's Target's $$, so circumventing the policy when we are allowed to do so is fine by me. You're not paid enough to deal with annoying guests, just hand them over to the LOD.
 
@HRZone is correct. Since the MyGuest system has been put into place, ETLs are really scared of negative scores and will bend to the will of the guest. They always been this way but with NPS scores it has become worse.

No I would have to ask you, did you explain that the receipt was past the return time...

and their only other option will be to do a no receipt return, but they'll either get the lowest selling price on store credit or be forced to exchange it?

Looking at how you laid out the story it looks like you didn't mention that before going to the LOD.
 
If guests press stuff like that, I'd just go straight to the LOD or other higher authority. Regular TMs or even TLs may not have the ability to override, but if you can tell you have one of Those Guests, just save everyone's time and aggro and go straight to the LOD.

Had one of those with clearanced display Christmas lawn ornament thingies. TL came over and enforced that the clearance price was what it was and we couldn't discount further, but half of the items didn't have DPCIs that we could find and she was continuing to haggle about it. We called over the LOD and she basically negotiated with the lady and sent her on her way with a super good deal on a bunch of light up reindeer and shit. Guest was happy and we got rid of a bunch of unwieldy crap and the guest understood that we couldn't approve extra discounts without getting fired but if you're willing to wait around for the LOD to get free to come back to seasonal, well, there you go.
 
Well, I'm a sales floor TM, and new to boot, so pretty much everything is beyond my power, except for overriding the occasional coupon at the registers. :)
 
I just inform the guest that their receipt is passed the ‘x’ day return policy and let them know Target allows up to $75 no receipt return annually using a drivers licence at current selling price that will be in the form of a giftcard.

On another note I like it when guests bring up regular price oddball items saying they found them in the 70 percent off section even after I explain other guests could have dropped them off there. I give them 30 percent off for the confusion and they can either take it or leave it. Most walk away. :9

My god, the amount of times I have had a guest ask me this, to tell them this, act confused and disappointed.

Then place the exact same item there.
 
I try not to call the LOD for guest issues unless it's totally beyond my power. That's how I go about things.

To be fair for a regular team member it's not uncommon

I feel like if the gstl shuts down a guest they are usually able to do it in a way that the guest even if unhappy can leave without needing the LOD.

Usually when guest have those interactions with a team member they want to talk to someone higher up the ladder.

Very rarely does the gstl need the LOD . They are usually able to phrase it in a way that even if the person doesn't like their answer they are willing to accept it.
 
On another note I like it when guests bring up regular price oddball items saying they found them in the 70 percent off section even after I explain other guests could have dropped them off there. I give them 30 percent off for the confusion and they can either take it or leave it. Most walk away. :9

Today I did the aisle work for toys, and my fellow price peep and I scanned, ticketed, and zoned the two aisles of clearance and the endcaps. We filled a cart to the brim with regular price reshop and put it in the backroom. A few hours later I have to start the price audit, so I head to that beautiful clearance aisle. And I find that whoever did the reshop dumped it all back in that aisle. I'm trying to do my audit (and pissed now because that aisle was perfect) and guests keep asking me how much the regular stuff was and why wasn't it scanning lower. Ugh. After I politely explained that only the tagged stuff was on clearance they were cool, but i wanted to throttle the TM who just dumped everything there.

On a side note, do your TMs just dump anything without a location in clearance, even if it's not on clearance?
 
I gots degreaser & room in the walk-in :D

When it's a coworker who is pulling that kind of crap I don't believe in the kindness of the long knives.
Just hose them down, wrap them completely in saran wrap (poke holes so they can breath) then put them in the walk-in.
This gives them time to consider the error of their ways.
 
To be fair for a regular team member it's not uncommon

I feel like if the gstl shuts down a guest they are usually able to do it in a way that the guest even if unhappy can leave without needing the LOD.

Usually when guest have those interactions with a team member they want to talk to someone higher up the ladder.

Very rarely does the gstl need the LOD . They are usually able to phrase it in a way that even if the person doesn't like their answer they are willing to accept it.

Absolutely. I'm assuming the OP is a GSA. For regular TMs yeah. It's unfortunate but a TM can say something and then when the guest speaks to a manager they say the exact same thing as the TM and then the guest accepts it.
 
I will admit that i have placed online items that were returned in store on a clearance endcap because there's no actual location. and the POS sort function is telling me a regular floor sort bin rather than price accuracy. But if it's not already tagged as an online item and has no location, I take it back up to GS to re-check the sort and print a label if possible.
 
You could have just done store credit or an exchange (whatever it lets you do) on their ID. Yes you absolutely couldn’t have used the receipt but it’s not like that’s your only option. That’s what I’m guessing the LOD did lol
 
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