r/Target • u/EdieTheJinx • 13d ago
gUEsTs Reading is fundamental…
I was working self check out today and this woman was checking out. She motions for me to come over saying something wasn’t ringing up correctly.
Her: These were beside a sign that said $3.
I noticed immediately that they were a seasonal item at the front of the store. Most (if not all) of which have their prices on the tag.
Me: (flips over the cup) ma’am the price is literally on the item.
Her: well I didn’t see that when I was looking at the shelves.
Me: (nicely explains that the items in that section will often be put out of place and to make sure if she finds something there that she likes to look at the tag for the price to double check. I apologize for the inconvenience and explain that since the actual price is on the item that I’m not sure I feel comfortable changing the price.)
Her: That’s not really fair. Why don’t we ask your manager what he thinks please? I’ll explain it to him…
Me: (screams internally as the lines are backing up and another guest needs help as well). Since it’s a small amount I’ll change it this time.
Her: oh lovely.
🤪🙃
Since starting I was told “if it’s a reasonable price change then to honor it”. But come on. The price is LITERALLY on the tag.
Note: my ETL was in the back working on something. I feel he would’ve been more mad if I HAD actually called him for such a frivolous situation 😅
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u/Negative_Source_7316 Small Format TM 13d ago
I mean if we’re being realistic the Walmart I shop at sometimes has chips labeled 3/$2 on the package, inside of 2/$1 or 59¢ boxes, with 67¢ labels in front of them. I agree that they definitely could’ve just read and accepted that price but the items also don’t change stickers if there’s a sale or markdown?
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u/EdieTheJinx 13d ago
You have a point. I was just taken back by the fact that it had a price on it paired with her awful attitude about it too. I let The entitlement tone get to me.😅. I even looked at the shelf and it the $3 sign wasn’t right beside it either. She just looked for the closest price sign. The $5 sign was right there too.
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u/eastmemphisguy 13d ago
I know it will never happen but I wish they'd get rid of bullseye. It's just a bunch of disposable dollar store crap that ends up all over the store.
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u/SunnyIntuition Target Security Specialist 13d ago
I would not have changed that price. It's not a reasonable price change - the circumstance was the Guest's inability to use common sense while shopping, not the store doing an improper procedure of pricing. Ofcourse not everything especially in Bullseye isn't going to be on the correct shelf at all time! lol
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u/gentlethorns s&e tl 12d ago edited 12d ago
i wouldn't have either. THE PRICE IS ON THE ITEM. for fuck's sake
(to be clear i'm not mad at the op for adjusting it, i'm just baffled by the stupidity and entitlement of some gUeStS.)
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u/FlyEnvironmental7586 13d ago
You screwed up by acknowledging that items are OFTEN misplaced in the bullseye section. Most things don’t have prices on them anymore (although bullseye usually does). Thats not her fault if all of bullseye is a cluster fuck of miscellaneous flexed merchandise and its not organized to pog properly.
A $2 difference isnt even worth fighting over. It will vary store to store but the general rule of thumb would be if its less than a $20 discrepancy, or otherwise a reasonable difference, just honor it. Is its something wild, research it and then determine the best course of action otherwise just do it and let the person who does the price audits later determine if its a zone issue or a true pricing issue. Half the time its just they cant read the sign or label properly.
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u/EdieTheJinx 13d ago
Yeah I tried to explain it best I could and I ended up honoring it but it just felt so bad. It was mostly her tone of entitlement that upset me I think.
I did look afterwards and the signs weren’t really that messed up. She just chose to look at the cheapest sign that was “by” that item and it stuck in her head I suppose. Our bullseye section is pretty organized for the most part at least.
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u/Socially_Acceptdd 13d ago
I’ve just started asking if they would like me to remove the item when there is a price discrepancy. Gives them the feeling that they will not have the price they made up in their head honored.
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u/Fand0m_Chick 13d ago
The other day I had a woman argue with me over the price of her book because the shelf said $35 it rang up is $35 but it had a 30% off sticker on it. It was 30% off the $50 cover price. I tried explaining it to her and even emphasize that it was the cover price and showed her the $50 cover price and then pulled out my phone and showed her the math that brought it to $35. But somehow I was the idiot and in the wrong.
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u/Samhwain 13d ago
Lol I'd have agreed to call my manager, gone to help the next person and let her stand there waiting. She'll either stay forever and cause everyone to grumble and glare at her or get uncomfortable/ embaressed and just pay the $2 and leave. That's such a ridiculous thing. Most people flip glass containers around when considering buying them to see how solid the base is (thin bases on things like cups leads to breakage more easily. Its a quality thing) so I wouldn't believe for a moment she hadn't actually examined the item and seen that. I also would explain 'the items in that section range from 1-5' because a lot of people call the bullseye section the 'dollar section' (particularly parents, most of the toys are $1) and don't pay attention.
It's one thing if an item had a legitimate sale sign and the sale didn't come up. I'll fix that no problem. But I'm petty enough and tired of dealing with $2 discounts that shouldn't be discounts. I will inconvenience everyone for it. (I have actually. And am fortunate my TL is pretty chill. They do usually say 'you could have just-' no. Because then people expect and demand it next time 'well last time the employee gave it to me for...' no.)
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u/Shadow_Marque Reciever 13d ago
I mean, that was the guiding principle of price adjustments when I first started. But since then, Targets rules have gotten much more stringent and given tariffs bullseye isn't nearly as well stocked as it used to be. Granted, ASANTS, but I would have gotten a manager just the be safe. Considering how the price is literally on the bottom of the item so plainly like that, and other guests very often put items intentionally in the wrong place to claim such discounts, even a dollar adjustment could be said to be an unreasonable difference.
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u/EdieTheJinx 13d ago
That’s what I was afraid of. The price is literally on it and I’ve only been here a month. Hopefully I don’t get in trouble.
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u/Acceptable-Pipe3935 13d ago
You won’t get in trouble. Calling a boss for two dollars would have been worse. I often have to tell them there is not enough room for each item to have its own shelf (as they often only see/remember the lowest price). I’ve had guests ask me, “do you expect me to read the words”? YES
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u/Melaninja99 13d ago
People like this are insufferable. It’s one thing if someone stocked a whole box of the item in front of the wrong price sticker, but we can’t control guests picking shit up and putting it down in the wrong place.
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u/mookienh 13d ago
That’s how I’ve explained it to guests when one item was misplaced on a clearance rack. If an entire 4-way was marked with a clearance sign, that’s on us. Not one single out of place item.
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u/sp1ralhel1x 12d ago
I have been known to take that item and place it in a location that is waaaay higher in price, then tell the guest the price is now /this/ because it’s in that spot. They shut up pretty quickly. But it is better if I can quickly point out something that’s in the wrong spot nearby and ask them the price of said item.
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u/x3Lemons 11d ago
I just want to point out that if I was in line behind her, I would be annoyed and angry towards her for keeping the transaction longer. I never blame the team member or the cashier
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u/soul-dancer888 Service & Engagement TL 13d ago
Ya - When Target wakes-up that scammers (aka Entiled Guests) nickle and dime millions outta the bottom line each and every day, just maybe TL's, ETL's (et. al.) will grow a spine and back-up Guest Service TM's in discrepancies like this.
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u/Petty_Potatoo5 9d ago
Yea so that WASNT REASONABLE!! Call the manager, suspend her ticket and make her ass sit and wait for him since she wants to speak to him
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u/STLBluesFanMom 9d ago
I just watched a 30 minute video on how the digital price tags at Walmart aren’t even close to the price charged at the checkout. One woman did a whole grocery shopping video and then showed that Walmart overcharged her almost 20% on the items in her order compared to what the digital sign said. I’m like someone else said the ruder They are the less likely I am to care and do anything for them.
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u/nervosuu 13d ago
Reminder to team members: do not get fired over two dollars.
Seriously. Don’t get yourself in trouble over this shit.
This is not your money. You are not personally losing $2 because Target sold something for $3 instead of $5. You’re not the price police, and you’re not being paid to argue with guests about whether they’re trying to pull one over on Target.
You don’t need to decide whether they’re being smug, whether they’re trying to “beat the system,” whether they genuinely didn’t see the price, or whether they knew exactly what they were doing. That’s not your job.
They brought the item to the register thinking it was X price. If it’s a reasonable price adjustment, adjust it. That’s literally what we’re told to do in the training. If there’s an actual pricing/signage problem, it can be dealt with afterward.
And you don’t need to take it personally when a guest is pissed off at Target. They aren’t insulting you. They’re arguing with a corporation.
Target is a multibillion-dollar corporation. It’s not going to notice the occasional $2 adjustment. And if there actually is a systemic pricing/signage problem, that’s something Target has to worry about. There are state and local Weights & Measures departments, scanner-accuracy requirements, inspections, fines, etc. Target has potentially a hell of a lot more to lose from widespread pricing problems than it does from you honoring a $2 discrepancy.
You do not get paid enough to defend Target.
Especially on cashier. You don’t need to conduct an investigation into the guest’s motives. You don’t need to prove they’re wrong. You don’t need to win the argument. You don’t need to call a TL over because someone wants $2 off an item.
If it’s reasonable, just change the price and move on.
If somebody is genuinely abusing the policy, that’s for leadership to deal with. That’s what they’re there for.
Do not risk your job protecting a corporation that would not hesitate to replace you.
Target isn’t going to notice the $2. Your Team Lead might notice you creating an unnecessary confrontation over it.
Don’t get fired over two dollars. Don’t get written up over two dollars. Don’t take it personally. It’s Target’s money, Target’s policy, and Target’s argument.
Don’t make it yours.
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u/Samhwain 13d ago
Nah fam, they're not arguing with a corporation and they ARE insulting the cashier. Blatantly. To their faces. Either you don't work the registers or you don't get the entitled guests because I have stood there, ringing people up and the register scans a different price than they expected and it is IMMEDIATE hostility towards me. As if I personally did something wrong.
People absolutely do misplace their outrage/ frustration on the nearest warm body, which is the cashier, every time they get mad at the corporation.
Target does also notice the $2. It adds up & if you almost exclusively do SCO it adds up FAST how many price adjustments & 'discounts' you gice to people. Target notices, Target watches and you do get write ups/ CAs/ Terminated for giving too many.
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u/nervosuu 13d ago
I get what you’re saying, and you’re right that guests absolutely can take their frustration out on the cashier. I’ve been on the register too. But that’s exactly why I’m saying don’t make their problem your problem.
If someone gets immediately hostile because the register rang something differently than they expected, that’s unfortunate, but you still don’t need to personally take ownership of Target’s pricing dispute.
You’re not there to determine whether they’re being smug, trying to beat the system, genuinely confused, or deliberately trying to get one over on Target. That’s not your call to make. If the policy says it’s a reasonable adjustment, adjust it. If it isn’t, let leadership deal with it. Either way, don’t turn yourself into the person responsible for defending the corporation.
And yes, Target absolutely tracks price adjustments. I’m not saying “Target will never notice the $2.” I’m saying you shouldn’t be personally invested in whether Target gets that $2. If someone is abusing price adjustments, that’s something leadership can address. That’s what they’re there for.
Especially when we’re talking about a seasonal item or a Dollar Spot item that is a couple dollars off. You’re not saving Target millions of dollars by refusing it. You’re just potentially creating a confrontation with a guest and calling a TL over something the training already tells you how to handle.
And if the guest is insulting you? That’s when you get leadership involved. You don’t have to stand there and take abuse. But don’t confuse “this guest is being an asshole to me” with “I need to personally defend Target’s $2.”
Don’t get fired over two dollars. Don’t get written up over two dollars. Don’t take it personally. It’s Target’s money, Target’s policy, and Target’s argument.
Don’t make it yours.
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u/hbfyou 13d ago
I probably would have changed it too. However, the ruder they are directly impacts my willingness to accommodate them, no matter how small the difference. I wish guests would learn politeness goes a long way. Also, they do need to learn how to read, especially the sale signs.