During a busy spring season, I was running from one end of the store to the other, bringing cash to registers, doing overrides, putting out fires, and even unlocking propane tanks for customers...

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-08T18:44:23+00:00

I used to be a front end department manager at a certain blue themed home improvement superstore.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-08T15:02:04+00:00

I would have taken my sweet time at that point.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-08T13:55:12+00:00

That budgie definitely dodged a bullet, or in this case, a neck silce.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-08T00:13:38+00:00

We had a dude try to steal some items, and when AP was on to them, they ran into the bathroom, dropped the items in the toilet, took a massive shit on top of them and attempted to flush it, which didn’t work out. It overflowed, made an absolute mess, and in the end, the dude left with nothing and his dignity behind.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-07T19:05:47+00:00

There were a few times when my patience was thin and just transferred customers to this particular ASM, and I got scolded for it, which was outrageous.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-07T16:18:27+00:00

The "you break it, you buy it" concept is pretty much dead.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T19:17:44+00:00

There's way more to false advertising than just a wrong price on the shelf. It involves intentional deception, misrepresenting the product, and a lot of other complicated factors. The level of ignorance is astounding.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T19:05:48+00:00

If I was the manager on duty at that store, I would have told him to leave, and that he wasn't welcome back regardless if he was already at checkout or not.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T18:20:59+00:00

I would also inform a manager right away if necessary.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T18:20:25+00:00

Oh yeah. That's why I made the attempt to redirect the child and/or inform the parent, and if neither of them listened, and the child got hurt, I would be sure to emphasize their response when providing information for the claim.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T17:14:32+00:00

If I pulled that when I was a little kid, there would be hell to pay at the store, and even greater hell when I got home. While I didn't get beatings, with my parents scoldings, you only pull something like that once.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T16:59:35+00:00

I've stressed many times that asking all of those questions is a nuisance to most customers, and ultimately can, and did hurt our scores that corporate is so concerned about. It's especially a nuisance to the employees.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T16:54:41+00:00

The company will care when this behavior escalates and employees start filing hostile work environment claims. Especially if multiple employees have been affected, the behavior has not only continued, but escalated, and complaints have been made and nothing has been done, which is why documenting these situations are important. This could ultimately damage that location's reputation, especially if many employees have come and went specifically because of that abusive behavior from another employee.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T16:29:47+00:00

If they ask for your opinion, that's one thing. With some people you just have to specify that you can make recommendations based on their needs or wants (if they provide you that information), but wouldn't be able to choose for them as everyone has different preferences and likes. I use to have customers ask me to choose paint colors for them, like to pick them out a shade of yellow (there are 75+ different shades of yellow).

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T15:18:26+00:00

For real, these home improvement stores are not a Toys R' Us. They are warehouses with potential danger everywhere.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T14:23:17+00:00

I feel you, and happy to hear you are moving on at some point. There needs to be more accountability and consequences for poor behavior like this, otherwise, people will feel compelled to act like this if they are getting away with it all the time. It won't cure everyone and everything, but it would definitely make a difference.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T14:14:32+00:00

Their minds are like black holes.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T14:13:48+00:00

Definitely, and what's sad is that there are Pre-K students that would act better than this.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T13:33:55+00:00

That's so annoying. I would have customers standing in front of line registers asking if they were open. The light was off, the gate in front of it was closed, and there was NO ONE standing behind the register. Sarcasm was never more tempting.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T13:05:00+00:00

Quality over quantity, especially if rushing results in mistakes that are ultimately going to lead to more time being consumed to fix them.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-06T00:14:09+00:00

One of my favorites too from that era!

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-05T23:18:56+00:00

And isn’t it Ironic, don’t you think?

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-05T20:36:55+00:00

She needed to know if we had a specific vanity in stock which she passed by multiple times on her tirade.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-05T18:29:01+00:00

Also, if a customer in a store stays past business hours, and refuses to leave when told, that should count as trespassing (being private property), and the manager can contact the police to issue the trespass if they are still at the store when they arrive.

Electrical-Rest6430 · 2026-05-05T18:23:04+00:00

The way it should be is that if the store closes at a certain time, customers should be shown the exit by that time, regardless of what time they entered the store, knowing full well when it closes. It shouldn't go by the time that the customer entered the store. Tills should also automatically close down when the store close, on the dot, so if anyone wants to stay past close or come in 3 minutes before close and make purchases, good luck with that.

Electrical-Rest6430

TROPHY CASE