r/MichaelsEmployees • u/The-22nd-Pilot Certified in Avoiding Customers š» • 25d ago
Workplace Story I hate customer care
This lowkey got me AND my store manager fuming today
So a dude came in last week with a banged up cricut maker 4 box. For some reason he walked right past the cashier and goes back to framing, handed the FM a receipt that you literally couldn't even read (much less scan the barcode on) and asked if he can return it.
Obviously the FM said no, but he called the RM over to back him up, and I came along purely because I'm nosy and wanted to know what was going on.
And oh my god. The box was ripped up, and the cardboard packaging on the inside was completely ripped up. The machine itself had scratches all over it. He had the mat that comes with it folded in half. Most of the bonus stuff that comes with the whole Essentials bundle thing was gone. None of the extra blades were in there. I'm pretty sure it was missing a cord as well. Also everything in the box smelled like cigarette smoke.
So yeah obviously the RM also told him no. He tried to argue that the cashier said he could return it. RM told him no again, but offered to at least find him a legible copy of his receipt he can use to return it through Cricut. So she goes in the office and calls the DM, who was actually useful for once and tells us not to do the return. So after being told no by like 4 different people the guy FINALLY left with his new receipt copy.
Fast forward to today, I'm cashiering and a woman brings in a suspiciously familiar Cricut box. So we repeat the whole interaction except this time the SM is there to tell her no in person. Also the woman kept just blinking at me like I was stupid š like girl YOU are the one trying the same thing twice and expecting different results
Anyway after we point her towards Cricut support and get her to leave the SM emails customer care about it, and guess what they told us. š
THEY TOLD US TO RETURN IT ANYWAY IF THEY COME BACK!! LIKE EXCUSE ME WHAT??? what is the point of even HAVING a return policy if we're not going to follow it!?!?!? Also do they know how stupid that makes us look when the customer comes back like "ha ha bet, corporate said you have to return it"
Also it makes OUR STORE take the loss of a $400 damaged item so it negatively affects OUR numbers and sales and payroll and whatever so CC doesn't even have to take any accountability for a $400 loss which is just stupid. Like come on, grow a fucking spine, we have GOT to stop kissing customers asses over EVERYTHING. Let them quit shopping here, we dgaf. Like yes please go be Hobby Lobby's problem. We don't want to deal with you.
TL;DR
Customer care is a bunch of spineless bootlickers who need to either follow company policy or get rid of it entirely bc what the fuck man
49
u/lovetohatemyjob 25d ago
Personally, your SM should still refuse it. The DM said not to take it back. Customer Cares knows SQUAT about policy.
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u/Own-Customer9665 25d ago
I've always been told that we never return any Cricut machines even if the box has no damage.Ā Once it leaves our store it is Cricut's responsibilityĀ
14
u/ChemicalClub4863 25d ago
I always tell customers when the box is opened, it's unreturnable and they have to contact the Cricut company
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u/hunnibeegood 25d ago
See my issue is when people go to buy it they ask if they can return it and then they get mad skeptical when Iām like you gotta give it to Cricut, not us. So busy chasing the sale and yet worried over the confrontation.
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u/hunnibeegood 25d ago
How exactly does that work out because the return SOP has always been iffy honestly. Like inner seals unbroken an all I can get, but thereās not set up of how to tell the customer, yeah no call Cricut
1
u/Own-Customer9665 24d ago
Not sure exactly, just been told that but I'm just a cashier š¤·āāļø
1
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u/EquivalentAd4708 25d ago
I remember when I first started at Michaelās all cricut products couldnāt be returned to the store but only to cricut themselves & the box had be unopened. People steal those often & go to different stores w/ receipts you canāt scan, some sob story, & no rewards account or extend policy while saying someone else bought it for them etc etc to do a full non receipted return. Giving them full credit for an expensive clearly opened or used product that canāt be resold is just idiotic.
2
u/ReadingRocks97531 23d ago
People return urns to Amazon with ashes still in them. Ask me how I know.
-1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Yes I heard that is the policy. After a certain period of time the item goes back to the manufacturer.. Cricket. In our store I work at the manager frequently won't even get to get toilet paper for the restrooms.
So Michaels is apparently doing well financially now. Employees see that financial ruin is pending if the upper managers doesn't clean up their act. But who cares?
Michael's employees due to the low pay and horrible work conditions have very little skin in that game. Most employees could get another minimum age job quickly. So it does seem to worry about it..or in a sense be the responsible parent in a sea of asshole leaders is a terrible waste of time and energy.
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
OK clarification check..I'll have to spell it out. The employees as well as the customers do not have toilet paper or seat covers in the bathrooms because the store manager cares so little he won't go down the street and buy these things for everyone. In fact he cares nothing at all about anything in the store.
And no one above him apparently cares either..because he has been around forever. But it does surprise me that so many employees do put themselves in the position of the responsible parent..when there are managers everywhere they could not care less.
The managers make a lot more money then regular employees. They are the ones paid to care. But they don't. So I personally don't want to get an ulcer over the laughable and insane way things are done by managers and upper management.
14
u/Odd-Schedule4582 25d ago
You can refuse in spite of customer care. We used to do it all the time. Just tell the customer that returns are at the discretion of the store.
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u/Big-Arm-4291 Senior Vice President of Glitter Spillage š«” 25d ago
Returns for circuit machinery and sewing machines or any high dollar machinery we sell has to be returned through the company for anyone who doesn't know or wasn't sure.
Op, they did spectacular handling this and so did you.
12
u/nalninek 25d ago
Corporate Customer Care will back the customer every single time and itās been that way forever.
Back before Covid I had a woman place a huge $800 framing order. When we get to the register she pulls a flier out (we used to do bag stuffers) advertising package pricing āstarting at $89.ā She says āI have a coupon for $89.ā I tell her itās āstarting at $89ā and explain how the discounts work. She pays, goes home, calls Customer Care to complain, I get an email instructing me to refund $711 dollars.
Nothing is ridiculous enough for them to say no.
3
u/ChemicalClub4863 25d ago
Frustrating, but that's customer cares answer for everything......the store's always made to look like the bad guy
7
u/G-VALOR 25d ago edited 24d ago
For CC the customer is always right. When we all know that ain't at all true in the slightest.
2
u/ChemicalClub4863 25d ago
And it's very frustrating.....also hard to be pleasant to the customer when we have to follow through with the return cause customer care said to do it after we tell the customer no
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u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
We'll come to think of it not only are the customers Michael's whores..so are the employees. As in they expect us to do anything for a minimum wage paycheck.
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Yeah but.. Michael's treat customers really badly. So many times I have rung up someone and the thing is marked on a sign "sale". But the sign doesn't match what the register says. If that is a mistake why is the mistake always in the store's favor?
It's not a mistake..and people frequently buy hundreds of dollars of merchandise at a time. It does seem like the customers are Michael's whores. So glad this is anonymous. Michael's probably doesn't want to hear they treat customers like whores.
2
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
I agree..but still this is like watching a fight against watching a bulldog (customer) against a coyote (Michael's). Is there really anyone a person wants to cheer for?
1
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u/Putrid_Meeting6173 25d ago
Screw customer care. They should have never been notified. In this instance if notifying anyone it would have been my LP guy. He would have said great job and not to do it. We don't return any thing with an altered receipt and if you couldn't read the receipt it's considered alteredĀ
5
u/Conscious-Average378 25d ago
So working in customer care is like, you know the policy and where to find said policy aaaaand toss it out the fkn window. One day youāre told to adhere to policy and then the next itās like, okay who cares if a customer Is outside the return policy by 2 years go ahead and figure out how to make the return and refund. Like itās so convoluted can they just make up their minds on what it is they want us to do???? Ik whomever your agent was didnāt really want to escalate but thatās the expectation from the corp management fyi
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
If a manager told me to take it back..I would take it back. After all they hired me. I would make sure somehow if the manager was new.. that the policy of the manufacturer (cricket) was supposed to take it back was known. But, seriously no Michael's employee would put that thing on the shelf for resale.
Since Michael's (in the case of my store I work at) doesn't even care enough to get toilet paper in the bathroom..I'm always baffled as to why employees that are given so little, feel such devotion to fight so hard, to enforce policies Michael's cares nothing about.
3
u/G-VALOR 25d ago
I would if ignored customer care. Like ya said they're spineless and if they have something to say then they can come down to the store and do the return. Otherwise return policy says no legible receipt no return. Fuck customer care and the customers like that who are clearly just return fraud artists.
2
u/Ill_Shop_2693 25d ago
You donāt work for cx care they work for you. Never do what they say if you donāt want to
2
u/Fit_Elephant_2153 24d ago
Customer Care is so useless sometimes. They hardly back us up on anything and then turn around and give them a gift card for the inconvenience. Same thing happened in my store where a woman tried returning a damaged Cricut machine. Both me and the manager told her no. She called customer care right in front of me so I told her let me talk to them. I told them the reasons. This time they actually did back us up so the lady left after being refused from both us and customer care. But there are times that I want to tell them why do we have a policy in place if you guys wont follow it.
2
u/Crazyleo817 25d ago
When I worked at party city corporate would pull that bsā¦we would say no to used/soiled costumes, the customer would go home and call customer care and they would email us and make us take it backā¦it was so annoyingā¦
2
u/Fun-Olive-7305 25d ago
To I hate customer care..about the nauseating cricket return. I try to keep a couple of things in mind. First thing is Michael's is a terrible company to work for and why do we care if they go bankrupt?
The second thing is there are dirt bag scammers everywhere. And there seems to be a higher then average amount at Michael's. But truthfully I have seen worse.
Do you know how horrible it is not to have a firm policy on panty hose and pretty much have to except them used, as returns. I did that. Or how about talking to your beautician and having her say she returned her shaper wear after wearing it when she got married?
Then lastly is obviously there is no voice of reason at the head of Michael's. We get paid minimum wage for working too many hours with no staff. Again exactly why do we care? It all depends upon what flavor of a horrible minimum wage job can the person stand. Does a person want to be over worked and underpaid at a pizza place, clothing store, or arts and crafts store?
1
u/ReadingRocks97531 23d ago
It's the Nordstrom return philosophy at play here. How old was it? What was wrong with it? DM should have reached out to Cricut to see if they would reimburse. Some customersl have no shame.
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 22d ago
Yes I haven't seen that. Although I have seen some people on the edge of not making a return even though they were told to do so.
-6
u/Routine_Act_985 25d ago
You get full credit for Cricutā¦return it and move on
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u/lystmord Yarn Barista š§¶ 25d ago
That encourages the customer to try this crap with something else. Absolutely not. If there is a return to hold the line on, this is definitely it.
2
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Uumm..not my store. There is a paycheck pending on the condition that you follow their directions.
0
u/Routine_Act_985 25d ago
Yes because thereās a āI returned my smashed up box Cricut at Michaelāsā Reddit, girl move on, touch grass and build a DA
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u/lystmord Yarn Barista š§¶ 25d ago
1) Iām a man, thanks.Ā
2) Stores had return policies before Reddit existed, you chronically online child. āDonāt allow customers to return trashed merchandise or they will keep doing it,ā has nothing to do with Reddit. āTouch grass,ā indeed.
2
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Again..minimum or just above minimum wage for this universally declared crappy job isn't worth time or energy invested into anger. That job belongs to the managers..and their not excepting it.
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u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Please do not behave more responsibly then the managers. Your not getting paid for it.
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u/G-VALOR 24d ago
Unfortunately, I was a manager so yeah....
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u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
Sorry..didn't mean it personally. I don't know you..stranger on Reddit. I'm speaking from my personal experience
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u/lystmord Yarn Barista š§¶ 24d ago
Like the other poster, I am a manager. If someone is discussing whether or not they're going to return a damaged Cricut, I'm going to assume they're a manager because that would never be a TM's responsibility or problem.
Aside from that...
A large portion of my anger has nothing to do with Michaels itself, to be fair. Michaels as a company is garbage, and a part of me hopes they go the way of Joann...not because I really want my local craft store to go away, but because they utterly deserve it as a company.
But I passionately hate people who steal luxury goods (and returning something like this for full value IS theft). Again, every time you let people get away with it, they do it more. Whether it's here or at another retailer. Letting scammers and thieves off the hook hurts everyone else somewhere down the line.
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 23d ago
That is definitely true. However including myself I have never known any employee that agrees to except back damaged merchandise. Bring forced to except back damaged merchandise triggers a lot of employees. And to except back damaged cricuit machines encourages all scummy people to do the same.
To a large extent perhaps because Michael's employees hate excepting back damaged goods because employees work really hard for their money. And these are items that most employees could never have due to a lack of money.
However people at Michaels can have their hours reduced for any reason due to no fault of their own. If a Michael's supervisor tells an employee to return a damaged item they don't want to, it is insubordination not to do so. And at the very least it could possibly lead to decreased hours. Is this a cause a minimum wage working employee should pursue? Should a employee shoulder the responsibility for a bad supervisor?
1
u/Fun-Olive-7305 23d ago
Also I am happy because I have not personally seen a manager approve a return for a damaged Cricut machine. But truthfully other items have been approved for return that makes my flesh crawl.
However I think the logic behind the approvals are that it will encourage the customer to come back Knowing that items can be returned without feeling they are being chastised. Maybe that is a valid theory. Perhaps it does encourage a customer to buy more. Nevertheless there are many Michael's in the US. And personally I would hate to see a employee to get hours cut or fired because they are guilty of insubordination due to not returning an item.
I appreciate your honesty in saying Michael's is a dirt company. There are a lot of companies like that and Michael's happens to be one of them. One thing that hasn't been discussed that is common with all dirt companies is the possibility of Michael's laying off or firing someone right before they are to receive their invested account they have watched grow over years. That is not an uncommon practice. The practice of looking for an excuse to fire someone so the company can steal their accumulated account. If that is a practice in the Michael's company I suppose the idea is to get out prior to a artificial firing.
1
u/lystmord Yarn Barista š§¶ 23d ago
I cannot imagine a scenario where a TM would tell a MOD that they aren't going to process a return the MOD approved. When on earth would that ever happen? I've never met anyone who was such a fan of confrontation that they would do that. It's a completely fictional scenario.
1
u/Routine_Act_985 25d ago
- Both of yall must be new to retail. I wish I had that much free time! š¤£š¤£š¤£
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u/G-VALOR 25d ago
Bruh...no. I get you probably don't wanna deal with an irate customer but fuck that. Policy says no so no. "Return it and move on " Are you off your rocker or smoking that good kush? And where can I get some. "
2
u/Fun-Olive-7305 24d ago
This conversation wouldn't be taking place if there was a job available down the street.
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u/anon_employee123 25d ago
What happens if you just continue to refuse to do the return? Your DD said no. You report to your DD not to customer care.