Can you share some working retail horror stories?

I once worked during the holiday season. The store was super crowded. There was this one customer who took items from the shelves, scattered them all over the place, and then just left without buying anything. It took me ages to clean up and restock.

The most common one is probably dealing with difficult customers. Some customers can be extremely rude, demanding refunds for no good reason or just being verbally abusive.

Customers being rude is very common. They might complain about prices, product availability, or just be generally unpleasant. Another common one is having to deal with shoplifting and the stress of trying to catch the thief without causing a scene.

One retail horror story is when a customer got extremely angry because the store was out of a very popular item on sale. They started yelling at the cashier, who was just following company policy. The cashier felt really bad and was on the verge of crying but had to keep calm. Another story is about a delivery mix - up. A customer ordered a new dress for an event but received men's shoes instead. It was a nightmare for the store to sort out as the customer was furious and demanded immediate compensation.

Well, I heard about a retail horror story where a store received a shipment of perishable goods, but due to a miscommunication in the supply chain, they didn't get the goods until a day later than expected. By then, most of the items had spoiled. And there was also a case where a customer was extremely rude to the sales staff just because the item they wanted was out of stock. They shouted and even threw things around.

Well, a common horror story in cigar retail is bad storage. I know a case where a store had cigars stored in a damp basement. Customers started complaining that the cigars were moldy. The store owner didn't realize the importance of proper storage conditions. As a result, the store lost a lot of customers and had to deal with a lot of returns.

Well, I heard a story where a cashier in a clothing store was extremely rude to a customer. The cashier was making snide remarks about the customer's choices and even refused to serve her properly. The poor customer left feeling humiliated and never wanted to go back to that store again. This shows how bad customer service can really ruin a shopping experience.

Here's another one. A retail manager hired a new employee without proper background checks. This new hire had a history of theft in previous jobs. Soon, the store started to notice missing merchandise. It took weeks to figure out it was the new employee, and by then, a significant amount of stock was gone. This not only cost the store financially but also damaged its reputation.

One horror story could be long waiting times. People often have to wait for hours just to get their products checked or repaired at an Apple retail store. It's really frustrating.

In a Japanese department store, there was an elevator that seemed to have a mind of its own. It would stop at floors where there were no customers waiting and the doors would open to an empty corridor. Some shoppers who were alone in the elevator claimed to hear strange whispers. The store management could never figure out the cause of this strange behavior and it became a well - known horror story among local shoppers.