Just say NO!

I'm not sure if you remember this, but back in the 80's they had this great anti-drug campaign that was Just say No!  I distinctly remember a commercial jingle that had the lyrics, "Just say No, No a right to say no!"  


In a normal retail setting you don't have the right to say no to a customer.  You yes them to death so you make sure you retain their loyalty and patronage.  Liquidation is a totally different story...


Some examples...


Customer-"Can you look up (insert random obscure title here)?"
Me-"No I'm sorry we don't have any computers to look things up?"


Customer-"I'd like to return this item, you see it's ripped on the corner."
Me-"I'm sorry there are no returns at all, all sales are final."


Customer-"I need to return this, I purchased it before your liquidation and I already had it."
Me-"I'm sorry but since we are now owned by a liquidating company I can't authorize returns."


Customer-"Wow this book is damaged I want a bigger discount."
Me-"No I'm sorry I can only give the discount authorized."


It goes on and on.  I think my staff and I feel a bit empowered by this new found sense that we can say NO and not be in fear of someone overruling our decision.

Customer madness

We had some strange customers today....2 in particular wanted to talk to our liquidator.  One was a burly looking man who asked EVERY associate he could find if Ray (our liquidator) was in the store.  Each associate knew Ray was out of the store so they said no.  When he finally returned the burly man could not be found.  About an hour later the man comes back and spends at least 30 minutes talking to him.  An hour after that he returned again to talk to him....no idea why either....

Another woman called and wanted to purchase the ice machine...TODAY.  Unfortunately the contracts for fixture buying have not been completed yet so we can't sell any fixtures yet.  Basically we're just taking names and numbers at this point.  This woman spoke to J.B. and would not take no for an answer.  J.B. gets Ray on the phone and he goes through the same spiel....I don't get it, we don't have the contract we can't sell End of Story....

That's all for today, mostly because Im tired....

Liquidation Day 5

It's been an interesting 5 days at the store.  People have been tearing the store apart.  It's quite sad actually.  People don't care about what they put where.  Today before I left the store there were 2 girls laying on the floor.  Really???? Honestly we haven't vacuumed the floor in 2 weeks. I can't imagine laying on it personally.


This whole things has felt like a very very very long wake for the store.  Many customers who have come in over the years have said "So sorry your store is closing."  Yes I'm sure you're sorry.  You're only sorry you won't have to drive 20 minutes to go to a store instead of 10.  My staff and I are the ones losing our jobs.  


This is just taking a toll on me, yesterday I slept pretty much all day with the exception of 8 hours....ugh!


More to come...evil vulture stories etc.