Attention Target Guests...
Dear Target Guests,
First of all, I thank you for taking the time to come and shop in our store. We appreciate your business, and we do our best to try and cater to your needs, providing "fast, fun and friendly" service. We're glad to help you out when it comes to answering your questions and providing a clean and eye-pleasing store that's stocked with your consumer needs in mind.
That said, it would be a lot easier to provide good service if you showed us a little respect. I realize it can be frustrating when we're out of stock of an item. I also realize that we, the employees, are human and can occasionally screw up when it comes to labeling the price of things. And I also realize that our policies might not agree with you.
But venting your frustrations to the cashier or to the sales floor woman will do very little in regards to changing things. If you want a change in the way Target operates, I suggest asking to speak to a manager. Also, I suggest being polite and courteous when doing so. Getting angry and yelling isn't the most effective way to suggest an idea, I've found. A simple "please" and "thank you" goes a lot further.
About one particular policy that several of you have had issue with: Children in the shopping cart need to be buckled down. I wish that were common sense, but it isn't. However, it *is* Target's policy. This isn't some rule to confuse or annoy you. This is a safety issue. A kid standing in the cart can (and very likely will at some point) fall out, thus injuring themselves, sometimes seriously. We want to protect your child, please help us by making sure Tommy or Sue is strapped down in the seat. If an employee asks your child "Hey, want to buckle up for me?" they are not trying to tell you how to raise them, they are trying to prevent them from getting hurt. And they certainly don't mean to frighten them.
One thing I'd like to point out: employees are homo sapians, human. We are not super powered, we cannot just wave a wand and make everything magically work the way you want it to. I can't snap my fingers and have all the shelves re-stocked. I know it's annoying that we're out of Wiis. Those are so popular that they sell out very quickly, and I don't know when we'll get them next. I apologize for not having the cosmic knowledge of when everything will arrive. If you need a Wii quickly, I would suggest going someplace else or looking online. Otherwise, please be patient.
Another thing about employees, especially those on the sales floor: We work our asses off to make sure everything is looking nice and where it needs to be. I do closing shifts most nights, and generally, I leave work an hour later than I'm scheduled for because we have to clean up after you. Would it really be so hard to try and put things back where they belong? I am not asking for it to be perfect, but please use some common sense. Empty coffee cups belong in a trash can. A boy's coat does not belong anywhere near the womens' section, for instance. The Wizard of Oz on dvd has no place on a rack of sweatpants. Stationary is not the same as shoes. If you decide you don't want something but either don't have the time or cannot remember where something is, there are a couple of options. One is to hand the item to the cashier at the checkout. They'll gladly take an unwanted item off your hands. Also, you could always just ask an employee where it belongs. Part of our job is stocking the shelves, after all. But that does not mean we appreciate having to walk from one end of the store to the other because you decide you don't want something and place it in a random location instead of where it should be. You might argue that we get paid to do this. No, we don't. Sales floor gets paid to take the returns from guest services and to take stock that has just come in and put them on the racks.
Another thing: things are in packages for a reason, even socks and underwear. Please, do not open them unless you've paid for them. Opened and/or torn packages look unsightly, both to us and you, I'm sure. All of our socks and undergarments have the sizes on the outside of the package. If you have trouble figuring out which is best, ask us! We can gladly tell you. And I'm sure you're curious about those cute pajama sets wrapped with a white ribbon around it. But once again, they're wrapped like that to look cute. Tearing them out of the ribbon not only looks messy, but creates more work for us as we have to put it back. And to be honest, I can't make it look perfect. The sizes for all the sets are on the label, and you can clearly see the patterns of all three pieces. The banner above them tells you what each set includes, as well as a display of what the set will look like unwrapped. There is no reason to tear the clothes out...and then decide you don't want it and leave it there for us to make look pretty again.
While we're on the subject of packaging, shoes belong in their shoeboxes. It will only take about 3 seconds of your time to put them back inside. Don't worry about putting them in the exact way we do (although that would be nice). We can straighten them out later, but it makes our job easier if they're in the box to begin with. That way, we don't have to hunt for each shoe's proper container.
Also, about the folded clothes. I realize that you probably have no clue how to fold our clothes just the way we do, but an earnest attempt is much appreciated by us. Just tossing something onto the table isn't. It would be very helpful if you were to fold the shirts somewhat after deciding not to get them, instead of crumpling them up into a ball and leaving them there.
I hope I'm not being too demanding here. These are just simple observations by someone who works hard to keep the store looking nice. I know you like a good-looking store, so do we. If you helped us out, things would be better for all. We're not your mom. This isn't your house. We call you "guests", but would a true guest mess everything up and not expect to help clean? That would be just plain rude. Regardless, I deal with this every day I work there.
Thank you for listening, and at least keep what I said in mind. Thank you for shopping at Target!
-Becky
First of all, I thank you for taking the time to come and shop in our store. We appreciate your business, and we do our best to try and cater to your needs, providing "fast, fun and friendly" service. We're glad to help you out when it comes to answering your questions and providing a clean and eye-pleasing store that's stocked with your consumer needs in mind.
That said, it would be a lot easier to provide good service if you showed us a little respect. I realize it can be frustrating when we're out of stock of an item. I also realize that we, the employees, are human and can occasionally screw up when it comes to labeling the price of things. And I also realize that our policies might not agree with you.
But venting your frustrations to the cashier or to the sales floor woman will do very little in regards to changing things. If you want a change in the way Target operates, I suggest asking to speak to a manager. Also, I suggest being polite and courteous when doing so. Getting angry and yelling isn't the most effective way to suggest an idea, I've found. A simple "please" and "thank you" goes a lot further.
About one particular policy that several of you have had issue with: Children in the shopping cart need to be buckled down. I wish that were common sense, but it isn't. However, it *is* Target's policy. This isn't some rule to confuse or annoy you. This is a safety issue. A kid standing in the cart can (and very likely will at some point) fall out, thus injuring themselves, sometimes seriously. We want to protect your child, please help us by making sure Tommy or Sue is strapped down in the seat. If an employee asks your child "Hey, want to buckle up for me?" they are not trying to tell you how to raise them, they are trying to prevent them from getting hurt. And they certainly don't mean to frighten them.
One thing I'd like to point out: employees are homo sapians, human. We are not super powered, we cannot just wave a wand and make everything magically work the way you want it to. I can't snap my fingers and have all the shelves re-stocked. I know it's annoying that we're out of Wiis. Those are so popular that they sell out very quickly, and I don't know when we'll get them next. I apologize for not having the cosmic knowledge of when everything will arrive. If you need a Wii quickly, I would suggest going someplace else or looking online. Otherwise, please be patient.
Another thing about employees, especially those on the sales floor: We work our asses off to make sure everything is looking nice and where it needs to be. I do closing shifts most nights, and generally, I leave work an hour later than I'm scheduled for because we have to clean up after you. Would it really be so hard to try and put things back where they belong? I am not asking for it to be perfect, but please use some common sense. Empty coffee cups belong in a trash can. A boy's coat does not belong anywhere near the womens' section, for instance. The Wizard of Oz on dvd has no place on a rack of sweatpants. Stationary is not the same as shoes. If you decide you don't want something but either don't have the time or cannot remember where something is, there are a couple of options. One is to hand the item to the cashier at the checkout. They'll gladly take an unwanted item off your hands. Also, you could always just ask an employee where it belongs. Part of our job is stocking the shelves, after all. But that does not mean we appreciate having to walk from one end of the store to the other because you decide you don't want something and place it in a random location instead of where it should be. You might argue that we get paid to do this. No, we don't. Sales floor gets paid to take the returns from guest services and to take stock that has just come in and put them on the racks.
Another thing: things are in packages for a reason, even socks and underwear. Please, do not open them unless you've paid for them. Opened and/or torn packages look unsightly, both to us and you, I'm sure. All of our socks and undergarments have the sizes on the outside of the package. If you have trouble figuring out which is best, ask us! We can gladly tell you. And I'm sure you're curious about those cute pajama sets wrapped with a white ribbon around it. But once again, they're wrapped like that to look cute. Tearing them out of the ribbon not only looks messy, but creates more work for us as we have to put it back. And to be honest, I can't make it look perfect. The sizes for all the sets are on the label, and you can clearly see the patterns of all three pieces. The banner above them tells you what each set includes, as well as a display of what the set will look like unwrapped. There is no reason to tear the clothes out...and then decide you don't want it and leave it there for us to make look pretty again.
While we're on the subject of packaging, shoes belong in their shoeboxes. It will only take about 3 seconds of your time to put them back inside. Don't worry about putting them in the exact way we do (although that would be nice). We can straighten them out later, but it makes our job easier if they're in the box to begin with. That way, we don't have to hunt for each shoe's proper container.
Also, about the folded clothes. I realize that you probably have no clue how to fold our clothes just the way we do, but an earnest attempt is much appreciated by us. Just tossing something onto the table isn't. It would be very helpful if you were to fold the shirts somewhat after deciding not to get them, instead of crumpling them up into a ball and leaving them there.
I hope I'm not being too demanding here. These are just simple observations by someone who works hard to keep the store looking nice. I know you like a good-looking store, so do we. If you helped us out, things would be better for all. We're not your mom. This isn't your house. We call you "guests", but would a true guest mess everything up and not expect to help clean? That would be just plain rude. Regardless, I deal with this every day I work there.
Thank you for listening, and at least keep what I said in mind. Thank you for shopping at Target!
-Becky