Archived Have you ever gotten a question from a guest and you didn't know the answer?

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seasonal

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This especially goes to electronics TMs. I was walking past electronics, and he was busy so i helped him out. A guest wanted me to show her how to use a camera. She wanted to know EVERYTHING. What the symbols were on the camera, how to downgrade mega-pixels etc. I told her i don't know. At the time i really didn't know much about cameras, but now if i can go back in time, i would have sold her 5. She told me what am i doing here if i didn't know what im talking about lol.
 
I love nice guests.
Sorry your guest sucked but I DO like nice guests.
 
It's guests like that...which don't understand that we all work under one roof

Guest, If you don't like his answer...then patiently wait for available Electronics TM who does

Good job trying to answer her question to the best of your ability at the time its ok to not know the answer.

I love awesome nice guests and actually thank me with a smile and stuff..it really brightens my day but all it takes is one unappreciative one to make it rain -.&
 
One day I had a guest who came in to buy a graphing calculator. For those who have never bought one of those before, the instruction manual rivals the size of a short novel. She wanted me to show her all the features on it, and basically do her homework assignment for her. I haven't had a math class or a need for a graphing calculator in 10+ years. Plus she bought a CASIO which I don't know anything about anyway as I am more familiar with the Texas Instruments calculators. Finally after like 30 minutes of futilely trying to figure out her calculator I finally begged her to just ask her math professor how to use it. I'll never get that 30 mins back. Saw her the next day in the store, she told me she returned the calculator. I was soo pissed.
 
@seasonal : If there was a piece of Electronics I didn't know about, I told the guest, "Honestly...I don't know. I am more into this."

I especially loved how guests would call Electronics asking how to connect or trouble shoot their TV/DVD/game system from home. After some failed explanations, I just said "I am sorry...I just can not help you from this end. You might have to call the <said item> technical support line." <Click>

@Punch Correction : Dang...I would have pushed her off first thing...I would be like. "Why are you asking me. I just sell the calculator and I got a C in Calculus. Why do you think I know anything about it. "
 
One of my TLs made a good point. If a guest is looking for expert advice on electronics for example, they'll go to The Source or Best Buy. Sure they're more expensive but the staff there have a reputation for being more knowledgeable. I think the majority of guests know if they want cheaper prices while being served by somebody who isn't as knowledgeable then they'll come to Target or the W-store. I'm not saying Target Electronics team members don't know anything about electronics but some don't have any electronics experience and are just thrown into the department.
 
This especially goes to electronics TMs. I was walking past electronics, and he was busy so i helped him out. A guest wanted me to show her how to use a camera. She wanted to know EVERYTHING. What the symbols were on the camera, how to downgrade mega-pixels etc. I told her i don't know. At the time i really didn't know much about cameras, but now if i can go back in time, i would have sold her 5. She told me what am i doing here if i didn't know what im talking about lol.

And THIS is why I always hate/hated covering electronics. So many questions that go beyond anything the actual training book says and something you would have to actually be familiar with and own the product to know the answers to. In my head I always think "hey you know guest, I bet google knows the answer"
 
One day I had a guest who came in to buy a graphing calculator. For those who have never bought one of those before, the instruction manual rivals the size of a short novel. She wanted me to show her all the features on it, and basically do her homework assignment for her. I haven't had a math class or a need for a graphing calculator in 10+ years. Plus she bought a CASIO which I don't know anything about anyway as I am more familiar with the Texas Instruments calculators. Finally after like 30 minutes of futilely trying to figure out her calculator I finally begged her to just ask her math professor how to use it. I'll never get that 30 mins back. Saw her the next day in the store, she told me she returned the calculator. I was soo pissed.

lol these are the kinds of guests that we always get. Its like guests dont understand we arent experts in every freaking single product we sell.
 
We had a guest one night, right before close of course, who asked just about everyone in the store about hormone-free milk. I was closing PA that night, so I did my best to help him. But of course he had a picture of a gallon of milk that was an organic store brand from the local grocery store in the area, so I had to try and guess to help him. I showed him the Horizon milks, as well as the organic Simply balanced. We also discovered that the market pantry brand has no rbst (or whatever it is) but obviously I couldn't say for sure that what we had would be the same as the stuff from the other grocery store. He threw a fit. Said his wife sent him out and if he bought the wrong milk he would be back & the milk would be coming through our window. Literally he asked everyone in the store about the damn milk. He was around a good 15 min after close talking with our one clueless LOD who asked me for help and I was like I already tried, sorry.
 
I have told guests...Just being honest we get a constant rotating selection of electronics. We don't get any more info on products than whats listed on the box or on the label. But I will try my best to help you.

I always started out people asking what they want in camera. Do they want AA batteries or a Lithium battery. Do they want something cheap (blister pack Kodak/Polaroid) or middle ground (Point&Shoot) or put some money into quality (DSLR).
 
I was hired on during christmas season and i could not even walk through toys/electronics without getting stopped by 50 guests asking "where can i find that one toy that spins and shoots things" etc.. i was so clueless. I am obviously still no expert on finding specifics or answering specific questions, but i will just direct them to someone who can
 
I just tell them "honestly, I couldn't tell you."

One lady asked me what kind of batteries her radio took. I had no clue. I just said "Well let's see here" and then proceeded to take the radio out open the manual and look it up. It was something she could have done very easily, I basically did it for her.

I was working some stuff on the floor yesterday and some lady asked me if we had an item on her friend's registry. I showed it to her and explained how the sections and the aisles worked, then she asked me to take her to 2 more places. I got to the third place and she paused to look at her sheet and I said "I hope you find everything okay" and went back to what I was doing. I wasn't about to be her personal shopper.
 
Personally, I find it a little insulting some people expect us to know everything about every item under the roof. Had a guest who wanted a DSLR once. She didn't know anything about them, didn't need one. But wanted one. One of my ETLs and I spent a good hour answering her questions. The same damn ones. Over and over. Really tested our patience but we managed.

I just tell them "honestly, I couldn't tell you."
I was working some stuff on the floor yesterday and some lady asked me if we had an item on her friend's registry. I showed it to her and explained how the sections and the aisles worked, then she asked me to take her to 2 more places. I got to the third place and she paused to look at her sheet and I said "I hope you find everything okay" and went back to what I was doing. I wasn't about to be her personal shopper.

We used to have someone like this, and he was specific. VERY specific. Everyone scattered when he came in.
 
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We had a guest one night, right before close of course, who asked just about everyone in the store about hormone-free milk. I was closing PA that night, so I did my best to help him. But of course he had a picture of a gallon of milk that was an organic store brand from the local grocery store in the area, so I had to try and guess to help him. I showed him the Horizon milks, as well as the organic Simply balanced. We also discovered that the market pantry brand has no rbst (or whatever it is) but obviously I couldn't say for sure that what we had would be the same as the stuff from the other grocery store. He threw a fit. Said his wife sent him out and if he bought the wrong milk he would be back & the milk would be coming through our window. Literally he asked everyone in the store about the damn milk. He was around a good 15 min after close talking with our one clueless LOD who asked me for help and I was like I already tried, sorry.

Can you even get milk with hormones anymore? At my Target and the local grocery stores, every milk I see is rBST-free.
 
We had a guest one night, right before close of course, who asked just about everyone in the store about hormone-free milk. I was closing PA that night, so I did my best to help him. But of course he had a picture of a gallon of milk that was an organic store brand from the local grocery store in the area, so I had to try and guess to help him. I showed him the Horizon milks, as well as the organic Simply balanced. We also discovered that the market pantry brand has no rbst (or whatever it is) but obviously I couldn't say for sure that what we had would be the same as the stuff from the other grocery store. He threw a fit. Said his wife sent him out and if he bought the wrong milk he would be back & the milk would be coming through our window. Literally he asked everyone in the store about the damn milk. He was around a good 15 min after close talking with our one clueless LOD who asked me for help and I was like I already tried, sorry.

Can you even get milk with hormones anymore? At my Target and the local grocery stores, every milk I see is rBST-free.

I don't know. I don't really pay attention to be honest but this guy was just so obsessed with getting the right milk so his wife didn't kill him and he took it all out on us.
 
I once had a guest come up to me holding a piece of paper. He asked me where one item was and I brought him to it, then he asked me to show him where another item was and I brought him to that one too. Finally he gave me his entire list and told me he'd meet me at the cash register in 20 minutes. I handed him the list back and told him while i didn't mind helping him find the odd item on his list that Target didn't offer personal shopper services. He left his cart and told me he was going to Walmart because they'd do it for him there.
 
I just tell them if they read the box, they know more about it than I do. Vacuums are the worst, I swear they want a Billy Mays like demonstration.
funny-celebrity-pictures-oh-please.jpeg
 
I just tell them if they read the box, they know more about it than I do. Vacuums are the worst, I swear they want a Billy Mays like demonstration.
funny-celebrity-pictures-oh-please.jpeg

Pretty much with the whole box thing. Most questions can be answered by that.

I just remembered I was helping a guest in season just the other day and they were looking at one of the outdoor heaters which used a small propane tank for fuel. It looked like one of those propane lanterns but it was a heater. They wanted to know how long it lasted with the propane but obviously I didnt know off the top of my head. Usually they have some information about that on the box but we could not find it. We opened the box and read the instructions and nothing about it on there either.

Its usually questions like the above I have trouble with. Always the questions that are very specific and technical that you wouldnt just know off the top of your head.
 
In a previous retail job I was trained to never say "I don't know." but to always say "Let me find someone who has the answer to your question."
It was supposed to make sure the customer always had a positive impression of the store.
The problem with Target was the half the time I knew for sure that the person who could answer their question was on break or tied up with another guest, so it would be a long time.
So you have a toss up, get them pissed off because you might not be able to answer their questions or make them wait because Spot has cut back hour so much there aren't enough trained staff on the floor.
Good luck.
 
I don't know jack shit about cameras other than need-to-know information.... What do they expect? Lol. We get paid $8.50, we're not going to be certified experts.

I love it when they ask for a manager and along comes a tl or etl who knows less about the camera then i do.
 
A lady called me in market the other day to ask if a certain kind of ground beef has pink slime in it. This guy from AP was standing next to me while I talked to her for like fifteen minutes and he started laughing so hard he had to walk away when I told her to Google it... oops. :p

Usually if I don't know the answer to a guest's questions, I just call the LOD over and make them deal with it.
 
Have I ever gotten a question from a guest and I didn't know the answer?

Yes. Every time I walk anywhere near electronics. And the electronics TM is always with another guest or nowhere to be found.
 
I had a guest who didn't speak english, trying to phrase his question on his phone. "Stirred strawberries", it said. After much finger pointing, questioning and holding the guy's hand, it turned to be strawberry smoothies. I'm glad he had the patience of a saint.
 
We had a guest one night, right before close of course, who asked just about everyone in the store about hormone-free milk. I was closing PA that night, so I did my best to help him. But of course he had a picture of a gallon of milk that was an organic store brand from the local grocery store in the area, so I had to try and guess to help him. I showed him the Horizon milks, as well as the organic Simply balanced. We also discovered that the market pantry brand has no rbst (or whatever it is) but obviously I couldn't say for sure that what we had would be the same as the stuff from the other grocery store. He threw a fit. Said his wife sent him out and if he bought the wrong milk he would be back & the milk would be coming through our window. Literally he asked everyone in the store about the damn milk. He was around a good 15 min after close talking with our one clueless LOD who asked me for help and I was like I already tried, sorry.

You could've just given him the Market Pantry milk and added about $3 to the price, that sounds like what he was needing.

That's something I have never understood. I've made it this long drinking milk from the store, and I haven't mutated or whatever from anything that's added to it (although I will never buy milk from Wal-Mart ever again, it tastes weird).
 
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