I'm Here!

Oh yes, I am alive and thinking about things that happen that I need to blog about. First I need to share a really good laugh with you. Well, I thought it was funny. I work in a gift shop that does monogramming, sells jewelry, and does engraving. An older woman comes in and says to me, "I'm looking for a thing."
That's exactly what she said, no lie. And then proceeded to look at me as if I would know what the THING was she was referring to. I had to pop her bubble and say, "I need a bit more of a description so I can help you."
So she then says, "A thing that was right here."
Holy Christmas, lady! So I've got about 40 things in the general area she is pointing at AND we move stuff around so it could be any THING that she is talking about and it could be anywhere.
"Can you tell me what the thing looked like?"
Now can you believe I am having this conversation? Honestly. She was a very nice lady, and very polite, but I think she might have been a dingbat!

On Oprah and Obama
Yes, Oprah made her way to the USC football stadium. If I would have gone, I would have gone to see Oprah, not Obama. It's not that I do or do not care for him, but frankly, Oprah would have been the attraction for me regardless of which political candidate she came with. And, I don't vote for someone anyway, based on some star supporting them. Kinda silly if you ask me!

Employee Discount
I'm working pt for a major department store to earn some Christmas money. People, I am working for the discount. Now, when I applied for this job, we filled out a form to tie our discount to the store credit card. Mine happened to be my husband's card. They took this form and mailed it off.

We have employee shopping days where they will double our discount on top of the sale and clearance prices! Plus you can use coupons you have. So you can save a significant amount of cash on those days.

When I went to look at the statement for the card, I didn't see my discount so I called the credit number. They told me, I needed to talk to the store.

So I talked to the store, and they said they don't have a thing to do with credit, I needed to talk to credit.

HUH???

I call credit. They've never heard of attaching my employee discount to my spouse's card. They don't do that and so I wouldn't get my discount using his card even if I was an employee. HOLY CRAP. But I can either be a co-signer on his card or get my own. They suggested I do that first and then worry about this discount, although this guy said he'd never heard of them making credits retroactive.

HOLY CRAP!

I take a few days break. Mainly because they are working me to death, and then I ask the store secretary about the form with my husband's card. She mailed it off. She doesn't see what the problem is.

I ask the store HR person, who is the store asst. mgr, about this form, my discount and my husband's card. She doesn't see why I'm not getting it, but she will check into it for me.

OK. Someone is finally taking me seriously...NOT! A week, and I hear nothing. An employee shopping day is coming up and I want to finish my Christmas shopping. I call the store asst. mgr, and she says she hadn't had time to check into it, but she will make a call right then and let me know.

NOT CHECKED INTO IT! WTF?

She calls me back two minutes later and says that they can't attach the discount to my husband's card, but that I should just apply for my own. They have to give me my employee discount so not to worry about it. Just bring my receipts in and they will take care of it.

OK, she should know right. ASST MGR and all. NOPE! It gets even more convoluted.

I bring in receipt no. 1 for a major purchase. I have double discount, plus a manufacturer's discount for employees only, and a coupon. So I can save 25%, plus 20%, plus another 15% on top of that. A significant savings! Only the first customer service girl can't get the register to ring up 3 discounts. REmember, it was from an employee shopping day, which normally would have taken off 25% and the 20% so they would have only had to ring up the extra 15% from my coupon. VOID. What to do? But she just decides to add up two and put in the third and voila. Done!

HAPPY!

NO...

Enter the next experience...bring my long receipt with many items purchased to customer service. CS person has small stroke, but lucky for her the CS Supervisor comes up so she passes me off to him, who wanted to go on break, but decides to stay ad do my heinous return/ repurchase, until he sees one of the dept. managers. He passes me off to her who then proceeds to tell me that she is not pleased to be doing this. HOLY MOTHER OF GAWD. Is she kidding me? With all that I have been through? It's their fault in the first place for feeding me misinformation and no one taking the initiative to fix the problem right then. Like I want to take my spare time to fix this crap, too?

OK, items returned. CS Supervisor comes off break and dept. manager passes me off to him again to re-enter all my items. His vision is going he tells me. Another area manager comes up and they tell what they are doing. Everyone has a good laugh at my expense and then there is a huddle. WITHOUT ME.

First dept. manager says they cannot give me my employee discount because it is not employee shopping day. That is 30% people! She also says that whatever the price of the items is not is what I'm going to have to pay because that's what they are. HUH? Now, the savings for me is $200. We are not talking about $10. I think at this point the world turned upside down for me.

HOLY CRAP? Mind you the store policy is for the customer to leave happy and do what it takes. But apparently if you are an employee they can just POOP on you. It's one button they touch on a touch screen and my discount is in. That's it.

So she passes me to the CS Supervisor who says he can't do anything. I tell him the store asst. manager told me it was no problem. I don't get it. He says, "Well, this girl has worked here longer so she knows more."

HUH? The store asst. manager is her freakin' boss, I'm thinking. So it would seem to me that since the store asst. said to do it, ya do it. But he says his hands are tied.

I have been there an hour now after an 8 hour shift of Christmas mayhem. I realized I had to leave, and leave quick, or their would be alot of crying over my $200. I was about to lose my mind! Nobody would help me get what I earned working all those stinking hours for.

)#($*_)#($*_#$&%#(#**!@

I cried all the way home. I cried and cried and cried. I ripped open every box I had wrapped of stuff I had boought and put it in a bag to return it. I cried some more. I ripped the boxes that I had the stuff in. I cried some more. I was so frustrated.

I mean, I could call the corporate office, get everyone in trouble, and get my discount and probably lose my job because everyone I worked for would be pissed at me and figure out how to get rid of me. What else could I do?

To make a long story short, I calmed down. CAlled credit one last time. Was denied any help until I played the "what would you do if this was your $200 and nobody would help you" card. She bit. And fixed.

So I thanked her profusely. And then took time to talk to her supervisor to thank her and say that seven people had had the opportunity to correct this and her employee was the only one that took the initiative.

So what am I thankful for today? Cash. I went shopping with cash today. Even though I pay my cc off every time I get paid, I shopped elsewhere today and used cash. It felt good.