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

[pellinore]

I dread the days when I have to cover an electronics break/lunch because there's no one on the floor who's electronics trained (hello, neither am I!). As soon as the electronics TM goes off to their break, I get all kinds of questions about stuff that I know nothing about. I don't own a tablet, professional-quality digital camera, gaming console, or giant-screen TV with surround sound. How am I supposed to provide good guest service when I don't know the products?



It is good to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't have all these electronic things in my home.
I don't even own a SMART phone...so I can hardly help guests when they need to use Cartwheel!
My most "up-to-date" products is a Nintendo....pre-camera style and a flip open cell phone!

 

[mrknownothing]

I dread the days when I have to cover an electronics break/lunch because there's no one on the floor who's electronics trained (hello, neither am I!). As soon as the electronics TM goes off to their break, I get all kinds of questions about stuff that I know nothing about. I don't own a tablet, professional-quality digital camera, gaming console, or giant-screen TV with surround sound. How am I supposed to provide good guest service when I don't know the products?

It is good to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't have all these electronic things in my home.
I don't even own a SMART phone...so I can hardly help guests when they need to use Cartwheel!
My most "up-to-date" products is a Nintendo....pre-camera style and a flip open cell phone!

I have a "dumb phone" too. But apparently being an early-20s male implies tech savvy? I must've missed the memo.

 

[salesfloor10]

I dread the days when I have to cover an electronics break/lunch because there's no one on the floor who's electronics trained (hello, neither am I!). As soon as the electronics TM goes off to their break, I get all kinds of questions about stuff that I know nothing about. I don't own a tablet, professional-quality digital camera, gaming console, or giant-screen TV with surround sound. How am I supposed to provide good guest service when I don't know the products?

Well with Target's Electronics Champion Training of course!!
*insert sarcasm here*

That training is pretty useless. (It isn't updated to reflect what we currently sell and pretty much just tells you to attach stuff and sell a service plan with everything, lol)

 

[RunForACallBox]

Most guest who ask questions have a damn smartphone in their hand to look it up for themselves in the first place. I'm like... really? Utilize the phone for its purpose, not just to text everyone. Especially if I really don't know the answer.

 

[NeoDarikona]

All the freaking time. Electronics was the worst because they would ask the most inane questions that had little to do with the overall quality and usefulness of the product and suck up to twenty minutes of my life. The graphing calculator one brought up earlier just kills me because we're in the middle of back to college and I get the most irritating questions about functions.

Guest: Does it do xyz?
Me: Well, that's calculus so yes it should. But...*Insert 2 minute explanation about this one stupid function*
Guest: Well, I need to find one that can do XYZ.
Me: what math class are you taking?
Guest: oh, just fundamentals. We learn fractions and decimals next term.
Me: THEN WHY ARE YOU BUYING A GRAPHING CALCULATOR THAT HAS TO DO XYZ.

Or better yet, people trying to get me to fix their damn smart phones. You know what, those are electronic items that are unique to the manufacturer and NO I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY IT WON'T RECEIVE SMS. Please call your manufacturer to troubleshoot. Thanks, have a nice day.

 

[GlobalJ]

I hate the guests who expect me to know everything about every item just because I work in electronics. Most the questions I get asked can easily be answered if they wouldve taken 30 seconds to read the damn box.

 

[oath2order]

I hate the guests who expect me to know everything about every item just because I work in electronics. Most the questions I get asked can easily be answered if they wouldve taken 30 seconds to read the damn box.

Or people who expect me to know about everything because I work the sales floor. No, I don't know what toy your kid would like for his 5th birthday. I'll take to you to younger kids toys but I don't know anything other than that. No, I don't know which shirt would look better on your husband. Who isn't even here.

 

[sher]

People always ask me about specific baby items and brands and I can't answer the questions because I don't have any babies lol. I just found out that a harness booster seat is a type of booster seat hahaha. I mean, it makes sense and we have those signs up above (I never looked until recently because I'm not a tall person) but i swear everything in that aisle looks the same to me. I only go in there when I have to call back room for someone.

I'm a techy, and I wouldn't even be able to answer a bunch of the questions I'm sure electronics team members hear on a daily basis. There's no way in hell one person can know all those shitty android tablets (I love android... And apple but target carries the worst of the android tablets), 838485938 printer inks, 34 TVs, 10 smart TVs, 484 apple TVs/rokus/streaming boxes, 5838 cameras, 38494988 headphones

All those numbers are random, but it's so dumb for a guest to assume one person knows it all.

 

[NeoDarikona]

I had an awkward moment....lol a couple of days ago on Monday or Tuesday I was in Electronics and a lady comes over to me and I'm asking "Is there anything I can help you with?" And she's like "I need some information about bras and pregnancy tests but I cant find anyone to help me."

I proceeded to choke on how the awkward silence went on so long until I pulled out my walkie and I wanted to say "Softlines, do you copy? Please save me" but one of the girls who works over there was watching and helped her I didn't have to use the walkie and she mouthed "Your welcome" haha

All healthcare questions must be answered by a licensed medical specialist. Basically any questions like that (pregnancy test) must be forwarded to the pharmacist. Easy as cake.

And no, technicians can't substitute.

 

[spoilers]

Basically any questions like that (pregnancy test) must be forwarded to the pharmacist. Easy as cake.

And no, technicians can't substitute.

This is my most favorite rule ever...I can pass some dumb question off to my pharmacist and get on with my crap

 

[commiecorvus]

Basically any questions like that (pregnancy test) must be forwarded to the pharmacist. Easy as cake.

And no, technicians can't substitute.

This is my most favorite rule ever...I can pass some dumb question off to my pharmacist and get on with my crap

This is indeed good information for everyone to know.
Of course, now all the pharmacists won't get there work done and will hate you but hey,

 

[NeoDarikona]

But Commie, thanks to PDX EPS the pharmacist will obviously be standing around to do nothing but help guests!

Also their hate sustains me. So. Delicious.

 

[thetargetman]

a lady called the photo lab trying to get sizing and prices for a family photo she was trying to get resized for a family reunion, I had no clue of prices or sizing so I politely explained to her the photo person was on break and would be back in 30 mins and very rudely she pretty much said "if you don't know why did you answer the phone" to put it in a nice way. I never tell a guest I don't know I tell them "let me try to find you someone who knows the answer for sure" or "I can try to find out for you"

 

[thetargetman]

I dread the days when I have to cover an electronics break/lunch because there's no one on the floor who's electronics trained (hello, neither am I!). As soon as the electronics TM goes off to their break, I get all kinds of questions about stuff that I know nothing about. I don't own a tablet, professional-quality digital camera, gaming console, or giant-screen TV with surround sound. How am I supposed to provide good guest service when I don't know the products?

What about when it when someone asks for something that we don't carry and then they want to know where they can go to buy it?

If I'm lucky, what they're looking for can be found at another store in the plaza. Usually, it's some tool or piece of hardware that we don't carry, and there are quite a few hardware/home improvement stores in the area. Specialty food item? Wegmans or Trader Joe's might have it. Crafty thing? Michael's. Obscure craft beer, wine, or liquor? The liquor store down the road. Home decor? Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Anything else, God only knows.

Well why not try to stay up-to date on the products. I try to understand the products we sell for the days I have to cover a hardlines shift.

 

[Jill of All Trades]

I get a ton of practice with this when I'm doing the comp shop at wally world. No matter what I wear, people constantly come up to me and ask for stuff. I usually say politely, "I'm sorry, I don't work for WalMart. Look for the blue shirts!" Because even if I do know the answer to your question, hell if I'm going to waste my breath providing guest service for the competition. I had one guy recently get all huffy and say, "well if you didn't want to help me you should have just said so!" Uh... Isn't that what I just did?

 

[spoilers]

This is my most favorite rule ever...I can pass some dumb question off to my pharmacist and get on with my crap

This is indeed good information for everyone to know.
Of course, now all the pharmacists won't get there work done and will hate you but hey,

I'd only ever get enjoyment out of doing this to one pharmacist who absolutely refuses to do anything other than fill and verify, leaving me, the only tech, to take care of guests and get through the other 9000 tasks of the day...I kinda enjoy interrupting her personal phone calls to tell her there's a guest wondering how to use neosporin

But more on topic, I've gotten some questions about where to find weird products lately, so I do a quick google search (a pro of being surrounded by computers), check with the pharmacist, call a walgreens/CVS if the guest is still unsatisfied, then suggest amazon as a last resort... suggesting an online search is usually enough of a hint haha

 

[Jill of All Trades]

But more on topic, I've gotten some questions about where to find weird products lately, so I do a quick google search (a pro of being surrounded by computers), check with the pharmacist, call a walgreens/CVS if the guest is still unsatisfied, then suggest amazon as a last resort... suggesting an online search is usually enough of a hint haha

Is your leadership cool with you calling competitors? I'll give directions to the nearest CVS, but I'm not about to work to get them a sale.

 

[Retail Girl]

People keep bringing me film. I tell them we don't process it. Their next question? "Who does?" I don't even own a camera that takes film. We no longer sell film. How in the hell should I know where you can get it developed?

 

[commiecorvus]

People keep bringing me film. I tell them we don't process it. Their next question? "Who does?" I don't even own a camera that takes film. We no longer sell film. How in the hell should I know where you can get it developed?

I'm told that CVS still does but I don't know for sure.

 

[pfreshdude]

I dread the days when I have to cover an electronics break/lunch because there's no one on the floor who's electronics trained (hello, neither am I!). As soon as the electronics TM goes off to their break, I get all kinds of questions about stuff that I know nothing about. I don't own a tablet, professional-quality digital camera, gaming console, or giant-screen TV with surround sound. How am I supposed to provide good guest service when I don't know the products?

Well with Target's Electronics Champion Training of course!!
*insert sarcasm here*

That training is pretty useless. (It isn't updated to reflect what we currently sell and pretty much just tells you to attach stuff and sell a service plan with everything, lol)

lol yep..Ive had to go through it twice during my time and while there is some useful information it is much as you described

 

[pfreshdude]

Well why not try to stay up-to date on the products. I try to understand the products we sell for the days I have to cover a hardlines shift.

Maybe because they dont have the time to and are being split between 3 different tasks all shift?

 

[thetargetman]

Well why not try to stay up-to date on the products. I try to understand the products we sell for the days I have to cover a hardlines shift.

Maybe because they dont have the time to and are being split between 3 different tasks all shift?

good point but it cant hurt to get an idea on the different products.

 

[NeoDarikona]

Well why not try to stay up-to date on the products. I try to understand the products we sell for the days I have to cover a hardlines shift.

Maybe because they dont have the time to and are being split between 3 different tasks all shift?

good point but it cant hurt to get an idea on the different products.

I'm going to just pointedly just say that is an unacceptable request on yours and Targets part. The amount of information needed to answer all these nuanced questions from guests would required substantial training and investment on Target's part which we know they won't do. The only alternative is off the clock research which is just absolutely absurd. I know a lot about smart phones, computers, and consoles simply because those conveniently align with MY personal tastes and hobbies. If you ask me about cameras? Well, I guess I could mention some generic corporate response on ISO and shutter speed. But you rarely get questions, at least in my store, asking for canned responses. Guest want to know which product is the best product for their specific needs. This can get grossly complicated depending on their budget, intentions, brand quality, material, and accessories needed. Why should I invest my personal time to learn, off the clock, about cameras when I couldn't care less about them? Now add TVs. Now add batteries. Now add tablets, laptops, cell phones, dvd players, printers, sound systems (my personal bane). There are dozens of brands, dozens of 'unique' features. How effective are they at delivering the service they advertise?

I challenge you to point to me an electronics team member that can answer all of this and I'll say they're at best a super rare occurrence, at worst a fraud who has been faking it. When we had hours we would have at least two team members in the mid day who could compliment each other to handle areas they were comfortable in. This worked alright, generally. Occasionally we just had to answer honestly that we didn't know. Now we're lucky to get one who can answer some tiny bit of questions for everything and leave the guest wondering if they knew anything at all.

 

[thetargetman]

Well why not try to stay up-to date on the products. I try to understand the products we sell for the days I have to cover a hardlines shift.

Maybe because they dont have the time to and are being split between 3 different tasks all shift?

good point but it cant hurt to get an idea on the different products.

I'm going to just pointedly just say that is an unacceptable request on yours and Targets part. The amount of information needed to answer all these nuanced questions from guests would required substantial training and investment on Target's part which we know they won't do. The only alternative is off the clock research which is just absolutely absurd. I know a lot about smart phones, computers, and consoles simply because those conveniently align with MY personal tastes and hobbies. If you ask me about cameras? Well, I guess I could mention some generic corporate response on ISO and shutter speed. But you rarely get questions, at least in my store, asking for canned responses. Guest want to know which product is the best product for their specific needs. This can get grossly complicated depending on their budget, intentions, brand quality, material, and accessories needed. Why should I invest my personal time to learn, off the clock, about cameras when I couldn't care less about them? Now add TVs. Now add batteries. Now add tablets, laptops, cell phones, dvd players, printers, sound systems (my personal bane). There are dozens of brands, dozens of 'unique' features. How effective are they at delivering the service they advertise?

I challenge you to point to me an electronics team member that can answer all of this and I'll say they're at best a super rare occurrence, at worst a fraud who has been faking it. When we had hours we would have at least two team members in the mid day who could compliment each other to handle areas they were comfortable in. This worked alright, generally. Occasionally we just had to answer honestly that we didn't know. Now we're lucky to get one who can answer some tiny bit of questions for everything and leave the guest wondering if they knew anything at all.

very good points. I was not saying every team member should do that all I was saying if a team member knows they are going to be spending a lot of time in electronics they can learn the product. they can choose to or not choose to do this.