What Is Leadership Officially Taught/Trained for Guest Complaints?

[starmaster1000]

It's always been in my mind why I can't get any ETL or TL to back me up on obvious scams and return denials (okay maybe one out of 150+ denials where the "Guest" has challenged it and Karen wanted a manager).

So I'm curious... what, as a TL, ETL, SD, or above, are you officially told and trained to do?

It's obviously not "follow the policy" and I'm starting to wonder if ever enforcing any policy is even worth it anymore. Just override everything myself and save myself from looking like a dumbass anymore.
"You'd like me to override your $289 merch card refund to cash? Absolutely!"
"Ohh that video game was open? Lol silly DMCA and federal copyright laws lmaooooo let me get you a new one of any title you want!"
"Oh we don't even sell this? It's in a Walmart package!! Lol it's okay let me type 099-09-0999 DPCI and do a no receipt return for you lol!"

 

[Leo47]

One time I called the return hotline because a guest was attempting to return a recalled baby stroller type thing but had no receipt, only a DPCI that guest relations gave her. I attempted to do a no receipt return using the DPCI and her ID but the POS denied it. The woman on the phone told me to ask the guest how much she paid for it. The guest said “about $500.” The woman on the phone told me to type in the 099-09-0999 DPCI and basically do a fake return with a fake DPCI and give the guest $500. I just hung up. Like wtf??

 

[Priceslasher]

Has anyone gotten this one yet.? “Guest relations told me to tell you they recommend using the one time special override key.? “ oh guest relations.. lol!

 

[NKG]

"They did it for me last week" bro this is THIS week

 

[Nauzhror]

"Ohh that video game was open? Lol silly DMCA and federal copyright laws lmaooooo let me get you a new one of any title you want!"

No copyright law has anything to do with returning games. Target has agreements with vendors, nothing more.

 

[rog the dog]

We're being heavily pressured to "make it right for the guest" in all instances possible. If somebody is complaining about something in the store, rather than fight them on it, apologize and accommodate them as best as possible. After all, how can families discover the joy of everyday life if they don't shop at our stores?

That's where I imagine the attitude you're experiencing comes from. The specific instances you mentioned are obviously hyperbolic (except for the video game one) and should still absolutely be denied.

The general idea is that $20 we're basically just giving them will turn into a $40 purchase at our stores anyway. I'm not the finance team so I don't know if that's working or not but I hope it is even though I love catching people in lies and denying returns, we're just discouraged from being hard asses.

 

[Fluttervale]

The idea is that it's the TMs job to make it difficult enough that most people won't bother.

When a TL comes behind you and changes the answer, it's NOT PERSONAL. Each household has a potential spend of over 15,000 a year on stuff we sell. They aren't going to send that away over $10 or $20 or even $500. Over the 18 years a family raises one child, they'll spend over a quarter of a million dollars on stuff they could buy from Target.

Just remember that when a manager overrides you. Your job is to make shenanigans difficult without losing the customer. The TLs job is to keep the guest.

 

[happygoth]

At my old job this kind of stuff used to really bother me, until it finally dawned on me that it's not my money and I get paid the same whether a guest gets their refund or not. There's really no point in arguing with them. State the policy - if a guest pushes back, either do the override or call a leader.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

It's always been in my mind why I can't get any ETL or TL to back me up on obvious scams and return denials (okay maybe one out of 150+ denials where the "Guest" has challenged it and Karen wanted a manager).

So I'm curious... what, as a TL, ETL, SD, or above, are you officially told and trained to do?

It's obviously not "follow the policy" and I'm starting to wonder if ever enforcing any policy is even worth it anymore. Just override everything myself and save myself from looking like a dumbass anymore.
"You'd like me to override your $289 merch card refund to cash? Absolutely!"
"Ohh that video game was open? Lol silly DMCA and federal copyright laws lmaooooo let me get you a new one of any title you want!"
"Oh we don't even sell this? It's in a Walmart package!! Lol it's okay let me type 099-09-0999 DPCI and do a no receipt return for you lol!"

We are told to make it right when a guest is upset. So basically your job is to enforce the policy and if the guest isn’t happy with that we have to step in and make it right. Unfortunately this encourages bad behavior but at the end of the day it’s us being yelled at for bad guest surveys and complaints not the TM. I was often overruled myself when I was GSTL so I’ve learned that, that is just the nature of how things happen. Your TL, ETL, SD will likely always overrule you because that’s what we’re supposed to do.

 

[starmaster1000]

enforce the policy and if the guest isn’t happy with that we have to step in and make it right

So why not cut out the middle man?
Why waste precious TM hours of any amount when we can just go "okay sure" ourselves? What's the point?

 

[redeye58]

Because service desk TMs are the sacrificial lambs.
If they can be convincing enough to uphold policy, fine & dandy.
But when Karens with nothing to lose line up, they either get run over or watch as they're overruled by which ever leader responds.
Basically SDTMs are a paper wall.
Before I finally left the front end I adopted the 'above my paygrade' response: whenever I knew I was going to get overruled but had been told to enforce policy, for any unreasonable request I simply told guests that was 'above my abilities & against policy' & punted them to whomever was on duty.
It's the only thing that kept me from going postal.

 

[RedcardReba]

AP backs us up on scams. Make it right works until they put rocks in a box. Lol

 

[Nauzhror]

We are told to make it right when a guest is upset. So basically your job is to enforce the policy and if the guest isn’t happy with that we have to step in and make it right. Unfortunately this encourages bad behavior but at the end of the day it’s us being yelled at for bad guest surveys and complaints not the TM. I was often overruled myself when I was GSTL so I’ve learned that, that is just the nature of how things happen. Your TL, ETL, SD will likely always overrule you because that’s what we’re supposed to do.

Obviously all stores are not the same on this, and it might have changed at my store (I was only rehired 3-4 weeks ago and I've worked 11 shifts so far, so I don't claim to know how my store functions today, only how it did in the past), but in the past, my ETL's and LOD's had my back nearly 100% of the time.

If I denied a return, and called them over, they'd do the same. If they weren't sure why I denied the return, they'd ask, after the guest had left, because they trusted that if it shouldn't have been denied, I wouldn't have denied it. They weren't second guessing me when they asked, they were seeking to understand. I knew which guests were scammers better than they did, because I dealt with them daily, and they acknowledged and respected that.

I'm not against making it right for honest guests. I don't mind the store losing $10 to make someone happy who will keep coming back and spend thousands per year.

I am against letting people fuck us over repeatedly. Those people are people I don't want to return, because we will never profit from them doing so. The moment a guest stops being honest with me, they lost the privilege of me trying to "make it right" for them.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Obviously all stores are not the same on this, and it might have changed at my store (I was only rehired 3-4 weeks ago and I've worked 11 shifts so far, so I don't claim to know how my store functions today, only how it did in the past), but in the past, my ETL's and LOD's had my back nearly 100% of the time.

If I denied a return, and called them over, they'd do the same. If they weren't sure why I denied the return, they'd ask, after the guest had left, because they trusted that if it shouldn't have been denied, I wouldn't have denied it. They weren't second guessing me when they asked, they were seeking to understand. I knew which guests were scammers better than they did, because I dealt with them daily, and they acknowledged and respected that.

I'm not against making it right for honest guests. I don't mind the store losing $10 to make someone happy who will keep coming back and spend thousands per year.

I am against letting people fuck us over repeatedly. Those people are people I don't want to return, because we will never profit from them doing so. The moment a guest stops being honest with me, they lost the privilege of me trying to "make it right" for them.

Case by case. I’m not saying override and make it right for people clearly scamming us. I’ve denied plenty of people. We have overrides codes and supervisor numbers for a reason, and I don’t see a problem with using them.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

We are told to make it right when a guest is upset. So basically your job is to enforce the policy and if the guest isn’t happy with that we have to step in and make it right. Unfortunately this encourages bad behavior but at the end of the day it’s us being yelled at for bad guest surveys and complaints not the TM. I was often overruled myself when I was GSTL so I’ve learned that, that is just the nature of how things happen. Your TL, ETL, SD will likely always overrule you because that’s what we’re supposed to do.

The verbiage "make it right" for the guest is bullshit. If you have to circumvent policy to make something right, then the policy is shitty and ineffective.

What they really mean when they say that is "cater to" or "make an exception for"

After my time at Target, I was a project manager and then a store manager for Michael's arts and crafts. Their policy was much better. We had one SOP for customer issues in store which read

"USE YOUR COMMON SENSE AND GOOD JUDGEMENT TO RESOLVE ALL CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS."

That's it, that's the entire SOP. As SM I was given unilateral power to resolve any issue in any way I saw fit. Whether that meant telling the customer no (frequent occurrence) or giving them a $500 dollar gift card (I did this once too). No policy to tie your hands, no bureaucratic red tape.

Every time a DM brought the hammer down on a SM it wasn't because they did too much, it was because they didnt use their brain to resolve a situation that was clearly easy to solve and shouldn't have been escalated to begin with.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

The verbiage "make it right" for the guest is bullshit. If you have to circumvent policy to make something right, then the policy is shitty and ineffective.

What they really mean when they say that is "cater to" or "make an exception for"

After my time at Target, I was a project manager and then a store manager for Michael's arts and crafts. Their policy was much better. We had one SOP for customer issues in store which read

"USE YOUR COMMON SENSE AND GOOD JUDGEMENT TO RESOLVE ALL CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS."

That's it, that's the entire SOP. As SM I was given unilateral power to resolve any issue in any way I saw fit. Whether that meant telling the customer no (frequent occurrence) or giving them a $500 dollar gift card (I did this once too). No policy to tie your hands, no bureaucratic red tape.

Every time a DM brought the hammer down on a SM it wasn't because they did too much, it was because they didnt use their brain to resolve a situation that was clearly easy to solve and shouldn't have been escalated to begin with.

Again there’s an override for a reason, why not use it. Like previous people have said the policies are in place for the 95% that take no for an answer. I don’t see how “making it right” is any different than what you did a Michaels. Do whatever you can within your power to make sure the guest leaves happy

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

The primary difference is that perception of the message leads to negative results.

When the policy is written in a way that the result is "making it right" it drives two things into your culture.

The first is that it drives a culture where you have employees who feel devalued when they adhere to policy and have their autonomy revoked directly in front of a customer. This directly drives negative job satisfaction and the plethora of posts here on a weekly basis saying "why even follow the policy" prove this to be true.

The second is that it weakens customer engagement where it actually matters, because your good customers, the ones who provide real value to your organization, are unlikely to challenge policy. They're going to take their lumps silently and simply not come back, while the shitters who know they can get away with it abuse the Goodwill for their own gain.

The entire intent of it is blown up by the execution in practice.

 

[starmaster1000]

Again there’s an override for a reason, why not use it. Like previous people have said the policies are in place for the 95% that take no for an answer. I don’t see how “making it right” is any different than what you did a Michaels. Do whatever you can within your power to make sure the guest leaves happy

This would be the case if 95% took yes for an answer. Out of 4 no's I did last week, 3 demanded a manager and all 3 got cash instead of a merch card, forced to accept a Mainstays comforter, and put full amount of suggested split $87.00 gift card + $24.something Visa credit all to the credit card, respectively.

I have a brain. I have the rationale necessary to say no and "shit, we fucked up, let me make it right." I've worked the desk and the store long enough to know my shit. I won't argue over anything less than $20. Gift card didn't apply? Here's another one yay.
I can make it right.

What I can't seem to make right is my usefulness as an independent contributor and use my brain to make a judgment call, apparently. That's what frustrates me.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

This would be the case if 95% took yes for an answer. Out of 4 no's I did last week, 3 demanded a manager and all 3 got cash instead of a merch card, forced to accept a Mainstays comforter, and put full amount of suggested split $87.00 gift card + $24.something Visa credit all to the credit card, respectively.

I have a brain. I have the rationale necessary to say no and "shit, we fucked up, let me make it right." I've worked the desk and the store long enough to know my shit. I won't argue over anything less than $20. Gift card didn't apply? Here's another one yay.
I can make it right.

What I can't seem to make right is my usefulness as an independent contributor and use my brain to make a judgment call, apparently. That's what frustrates me.

Yeah I’m not saying to just override everything but when I was GSTL there were plenty of times where my GSTM would say no to something and it was an easy fix for me to just make the guest happy. There are also plenty of times I backed them up. In your situation I pretty much never override to cash unless I can prove they paid cash and it’s just a formality. Also the Walmart comforter??? Absolutely not. I luckily wasn’t a high theft/scam store and my store was mostly angry Karen’s that just wanted to return something past the date or if override to a regular gift card. Something simple that the GSTM has to say no to but again overrides are there and supposed to be used as a tool when necessary

 

[Nauzhror]

Yeah, I have used the GSTL override code once recently.

It was because they paid with cash and a gift card. As soon as I saw it pro-rate their return (they paid more cash than the amount of the returned item) I immediately overrode it, didn't wait for them to ask me to, just did so, because it was the right thing to do IMO. I'm not opposed to overriding the register when appropriate, I just won't bend over backwards for shitty guests.

 

[Fix It]

Corporate policy for the most part is fold and “make it right for the guest”. Stores in high crime areas usually get more leniency to say no and bounce people out of the store. My district has some tricks to catch these scammers because all of our stores are high risk. It sucks but what ever management says, do it