STORM2K

and the worst part is.. because I made the mistake of retaliating.. I made this b with an itch look better than me

Yesterday around 1:30pm et.. This is what happened..

I am at work.. and had just got off lunch not even 10 minutes prior..

A woman in a fairly new white van is slowly creeping up exiting my wal mart parking lot.. I at the same time, am pushing a row of very light brand new buggies towards the front..

At this time.. she's probably going about 5-10 mph.. I figured since, she's going so slow.. she's gonna let me go by with my carts..

Um.. NO.. wrong answer The woman insists to speed up {probably to 20-25} which causes me.. nearly 3 buggies across the spot of impact already to try to "slam on the brakes" or whatever the term would be..

Then as I do.. 3 buggies slam into the woman's side of her van..

Here's where it got bad.. The woman jumps out and insists to ask me.. "are you a f-n idiot and are you f-n stupid" she also claims "didn't ya know that I had the right of way and you should be fired.. yada yada yada"

My mistake came after she cursed at me the 1st time.. I don't know why but I actually sunk to her level and yelled back at her!

I know it was wrong for me to retaliate.. and that is what got me in trouble.. I didn't get into real "trouble".. Just management had a different story than I did.. and think they BELIEVED HER!

This woman told my manager.. that I "deliberately hit her car by ramming the cart into the side of it" She also said that "I {me} yelled 1st and she was cool the whole time"

Give me a freakin break.. I can't believe I sunk to her level and retaliated... but I also can't believe this woman can be so irately stupid..

Management just told me.. "Be more careful with the carts, and do what you always do.. {call a manager if you need help}.. I don't know what caused me to lash back..

I know what you are going through. Customers think that they are always right. I work in retail and have to deal with stupid, rude customers all the time. And I am not the type to bite my tongue. Because I don't believe in the BS statement that customers are always right. I was working at K-mart right out of high school, and this customer was being so rude to me for no reason. So, I purposely put her ant poison in the same bag with her cookies. Boy, was she steaming after that, accusing me of trying to poison her. But, I didn't care. She shouldn't of treated me the way she did. After that incident, I refused to wait on her.

This woman was god knows what was wrong with her..

I have actually hit a car or 2 before with a cart.. and customers have actually LAUGHED AT ME instead of being like her..

My boss said maybe her hubby didn't get her anything for Mothers' day lol..

But this still ticks me off.. I don't think it's gonna go any further than it did.. But I am sorry.. I didn't mean to retaliate but I do not like being cursed at.. and will not take it.. {though I know I should have gone to a manager}

Don't you have survellience cameras in the parking lot? If what you say is true, then management would have the true story about her speeding up. She may be one of those "sue-happy" people looking for some quick money.

Some peeps in life...

So sorry to hear this John!

Eric

In actuality, since you were walking-YOU as a Pedestrian had the Right of Way and not the woman in the car. People roaring through Parking lots are always a problem. Of course, Peds also have to be aware of blind spots on vehicles and whether or not the driver sees you. If you can't see the driver's eyes directly or in the rear view mirror then they are not looking at you.

Steve

Aslkahuna wrote:In actuality, since you were walking-YOU as a Pedestrian had the Right of Way and not the woman in the car. People roaring through Parking lots are always a problem. Of course, Peds also have to be aware of blind spots on vehicles and whether or not the driver sees you. If you can't see the driver's eyes directly or in the rear view mirror then they are not looking at you.

Steve

My biggest pet peeve is that... Several months back(I posted about it) an elderly couple was struck by a car in the Wal-Mart parking lot just a block from here, get this, IN BROAD FREAKING DAYLIGHT!! It doesn't surprise me though. Everytime I go up there it reminds me of a death trap. Don't forget the people who pull out of the parking slots without looking or slam on their brakes while looking for a place. Ugh...

John, sorry to hear about that. Some people.

Josephine96 wrote:and the worst part is.. because I made the mistake of retaliating.. I made this b with an itch look better than me

Yesterday around 1:30pm et.. This is what happened..

I am at work.. and had just got off lunch not even 10 minutes prior..

A woman in a fairly new white van is slowly creeping up exiting my wal mart parking lot.. I at the same time, am pushing a row of very light brand new buggies towards the front..

At this time.. she's probably going about 5-10 mph.. I figured since, she's going so slow.. she's gonna let me go by with my carts..

Um.. NO.. wrong answer The woman insists to speed up {probably to 20-25} which causes me.. nearly 3 buggies across the spot of impact already to try to "slam on the brakes" or whatever the term would be..

Then as I do.. 3 buggies slam into the woman's side of her van..

Here's where it got bad.. The woman jumps out and insists to ask me.. "are you a f-n idiot and are you f-n stupid" she also claims "didn't ya know that I had the right of way and you should be fired.. yada yada yada"

My mistake came after she cursed at me the 1st time.. I don't know why but I actually sunk to her level and yelled back at her!

I know it was wrong for me to retaliate.. and that is what got me in trouble.. I didn't get into real "trouble".. Just management had a different story than I did.. and think they BELIEVED HER!

This woman told my manager.. that I "deliberately hit her car by ramming the cart into the side of it" She also said that "I {me} yelled 1st and she was cool the whole time"

Give me a freakin break.. I can't believe I sunk to her level and retaliated... but I also can't believe this woman can be so irately stupid..

Management just told me.. "Be more careful with the carts, and do what you always do.. {call a manager if you need help}.. I don't know what caused me to lash back..

WalMart has a tendency to believe the customer over their employees..

It reminds me of the days when I worked in maintenance at a Sleep Inn for awhile when I lived in Roanoke Rapids, NC. During employee orientation we were at some point instructed that "The Guest Is Always Right" ...we knew what that meant and lightly chuckled at that thought even though we abided by and made sure each guest was treated with top notch respect service!

Eric

BTW John, what's the latest on the store bike assembler job?

That's why whenever I go to Wal-Mart it's late at night when there is little traffic in the Parking Lot. For some reason it seems to be only the Wal-Mart Parking lot that's really bad like that.

Steve

Eric.. The latest on the bike assembler job is that they passed up me and gave it to somebody else

As for this incident.. My manager also doesn't believe we as cart pushers are pedestrians and that the customer has the right of way!

He also told me if the lady decides to file a claim "we won't fight it and we'll just give the woman money and send her on her merry way".. I think that's sick.. lol..

Don't get me wrong.. I like working for Wal Mart.. but sometimes.. I feel like I'm stuck {which I really am lol because if I quit, I don't know how long it'd take for me to find another job}

I do NOT believe in that "Customer is always right" jazz. I work for a grocery chain. We mainly have nice customers who understand that retail/customer service can be difficult sometimes. I had a bad day once, and a CUSTOMER actually gave me a pat on the back because she knew that I was trying my dangest on a BUSY day! But sometimes...we get these people that do NOT deserve service, those people who act like they own the world, get fiesty when the checkout lanes are full. It's like "Hey, there are other customers; the world does not revolve around you."

Carts slamming into vehicles? I have done it ONCE several years ago. I was bringing in three carts at a time (6 was the recommended limit). It was towards the end of my five hour shift. I only grasped the FIRST cart; the others were just lightly locked into each other. As I was crossing a drive lane in the parking lot, the third car got loose as I was about to brake. I reacted quick, but with no success. It hit the left-front of this young lady's vehicle. Suddenly, I was speechless. The young woman told me that accidents happen and gave me a hug! We both went into the store to get the manager to take some snapshots of the damage. It was not much; only a large dent about the size of a grapefruit (no, we did not go to the produce department to get items to estimate its size. )

During the last hour of the sift, I just could not work very well, feeling kind of "yuck". The same manager, a nice guy, just let me know that accidents happen, reassured me that things will be alright, and that I was not going to lose my job.

As you go thru life and thru jobs you're always going to find crabby, crappy, unreasonable or dishonest jerks that you have to deal with in one way or another. Either they're behind you in the checkout isle, on the telephone screaming, using "finger" motions in the car behind you, or just affecting your life and emotions in one way or another. I found the secret is to not take it personally. These people have no idea who you are or what a nice person you are. Some of them are really nice people too who are just having a bad day. Some of them are really nasty people at heart. Either way, stay calm a just let them "blow off steam". The sooner they get to do this, the sooner they will be gone and no longer affecting your mood. Don't respond in anger. That only gets you worked up and them worked up even more. Stay calm and react rationally.

I'm sorry to say that you will have to deal with people like this your entire life. How you react to them is not going to affect their life but it will make your life more pleasant if you don't get all upset and worked up. Nobody is picking on you personally. I have a coffee cup here at work that read "Don't let the Ba$tards get you down!!"

Count to ten my friend
((Hugs))
Karan

Wow, that is really too bad. Some people are just jerks, including the woman whose van was damaged and your manager.

This incident reminds me of something that happened last year. I work at a pizza place during the summer, and we had one of the most obnoxious customers I have ever seen in my at-the-time four summers working there. We have a buffet and the customers can ask for an all-cheese pizza buffet. However, this woman didn't ask for that, no, she asked, "When will the next cheese pizza for the buffet be out?" Not to mention, she was really demanding to me (and I'm not even a waiter) and the waitresses, and even the manager! Then, after she finally got her cheese pizza and eaten, she came back and didn't politely ask for more, she DEMANDED more. She constantly kept this up and finally all of us, including the manager, were thinking, uh lady, why don't you order one off the menu? Or why don't you just take the toppings off of another piece, because then you'll have a nice cheese pizza then.

One of the worst customers we have ever dealt with. From there on out, she has been known as The Cheese Pizza Lady.

-Andrew92

Eh, I guess I'm in the minority. I subscribe to that "The customer is always right" thinking. Then again, my "customers" are patients and it's part of the hospital's core vision and purpose to serve the comfort and health needs of others. When you're able to do CPR on a man with a shaved head and covered in neo-Nazi tattoos, the rest comes pretty easily.

GalvestonDuck wrote:Eh, I guess I'm in the minority. I subscribe to that "The customer is always right" thinking. Then again, my "customers" are patients and it's part of the hospital's core vision and purpose to serve the comfort and health needs of others. When you're able to do CPR on a man with a shaved head and covered in neo-Nazi tattoos, the rest comes pretty easily.

Medical care is a different ballgame; the patient is always right. Besides, if they are in pain, the nurse/doctor should take it seriously and provide the needed remedies. If I were injured or very ill, I would expect to have the best medical care possible. Medical fields are life and death; retail is NOT life and death.

If you're the owner of a business, you realize that indeed, the customer is always right. Sometimes the employees don't see it that way, but then they get their paychecks whether business is good or bad that month. The owner doesn't, and thus knows that he needs every dollar coming in that he can.

Josephine96 wrote:Eric.. The latest on the bike assembler job is that they passed up me and gave it to somebody else

As for this incident.. My manager also doesn't believe we as cart pushers are pedestrians and that the customer has the right of way!

He also told me if the lady decides to file a claim "we won't fight it and we'll just give the woman money and send her on her merry way".. I think that's sick.. lol..

Don't get me wrong.. I like working for Wal Mart.. but sometimes.. I feel like I'm stuck {which I really am lol because if I quit, I don't know how long it'd take for me to find another job}

Very sorry, John ((((HUG))))

Seems then that the law for pedestrians apply except in store parking lots.

It would be interesting if someone ever conducted a survey based on the case that occurred this past weekend...at other retail outlets to see what they would have to say in regard to what happened.

B.S. about law for pedestrian right-of-way...it should (and here in KY, DOES) apply EVERYWHERE. I was HIT at a grocery store last year! KY law says pedestrians always have the right of way except of course at crosswalks if the light is red. Parking lot rules my arse...