So, I don't know if Lindsey and I are the only people on this BBS currently working retail, but I wanted to start a thread to swap a few retail/service stories. So, me first.
This happened just last night. I was jubilant as I've been promoted out of the "pit" (AKA the sales floor) into the pharmacy. ( Just found out, as a matter of fact.) So anyway, there's a call for a spill cleanup. There's no maintenance person on today so I head out to clean up the mess (a 96-load box of laundry detergent spilled all over the aisle). No biggie, I've cleaned up worse. So I'm plugging along, have signs on both sides of the aisle since it's a slip hazard, and some asshat steps around my sign and DEMANDS that I get a trashcan from the top shelf in Christmas. We keep shit up there that's stocked in the home because our magical, mythical "Back Room" only holds so much shit and the shelves are high up enough that it requires a ladder to retrieve the merchandise. The company term is "risers". So, I tell him that per company policy I'm not allowed to leave the site of a spill and I would be happy to assist him once I cleaned up the mess. Asshat informs me that he's waited "20 minutes" (It had been two or three minutes since the page for assistance) to have someone retrieve a trashcan "from the goddamn shelf, why do you stupid fuckers put shit up there if you won't get them down?" I threw my broom down (literally) and stomped to the risers, and about killed myself getting the ladder open, (the ladder is a 9-footer and I'm tiny) and as I retrieve the trashcan I inform Asshat that the trash cans are in Housewares and the reason these were up here were because we had so many. He sputters and says he'll just go over there, and I said, "Oh, that's fine, since you were so insistent, here's your trash can. If you're dissatisfied with the number of associates you can find on the floor, I suggest you take it up with the store manager instead of swearing at me. He has much more power to fix it than I."