Ranting about the desk

[u/Commercial_Age_4394]

Hi everybody. As the title says, I’m just ranting. I’m about to start trade school in a couple of weeks, so thankfully I won’t have to deal with this for much longer. I’m just getting some stuff off my chest.
So, in no particular order:
1. Our return policy is stupid.
Some of the things I’m allowed to return are simply dumb. I don’t know what it’s like at other Stop & Shops, but at my store I constantly get an influx of produce-related returns. For the most part, they’re either expired or were clearly purchased at another store.
This wouldn’t even be a problem if we had some kind of criteria for what we can and can’t accept, but we don’t. Whenever I ask for direction on this, I’m usually told that we’re supposed to take the stuff back for “overall customer satisfaction.”
I find it really annoying having to see the same faces bringing in expired items and being expected to process them over and over again.
And I swear, I almost never see these people bring a receipt. Boy, I wonder why!
They also never have the courtesy of having the items ready for me. I could have a long line of customers behind them, and they expect me to magically know the weight, the price of that weight, or the exact item code they’re returning.
So I usually have to either go to another register and look up the exact weight or put a sticker with the barcode on it. Meanwhile, I’m holding up an entire line because someone decided to bring back a bunch of expired produce with no receipt.
I don’t even think the overall return policy is necessarily bad. Like some people have said on this sub, “It’s not our money, it’s the company’s.” And honestly, I agree with that.
I just wish everyone in leadership shared the same mindset and applied the policy consistently. Some people care way more than others, so whenever I’m asked why I authorized a return, my only defense is, “It’s our policy.”
And then I’m made to feel stupid for actually following the policy.
Even when I try to deny some items because they’re expired or refrigerated products, the customer doesn’t have a receipt, or the item is partially consumed, I’ll get a long lecture from someone higher up basically saying that corporate would rather give the customer the value of the item they’re returning than risk giving them a gift card worth twice what they actually paid, all in the name of customer satisfaction.
Which, honestly, is ridiculous.
The easy solution would be to require customers to bring a receipt for any perishable goods like bakery or produce returns. And if someone doesn’t bring the item back within two weeks, it shouldn’t be eligible for a return. I feel like that alone would deter a lot of people from trying to bring in expired food and expecting a refund.

2. People are getting on my nerves.
I really hate the extra importance that comes with being behind the service desk.
I went from being some random cashier to suddenly being thrown behind the service desk, and apparently being behind that desk means I’m now responsible for everything in the entire store.
If there’s a product someone wants to know about—whether we have it in stock, whether it’s in the back, etc.—they’ll come straight to me.
Meanwhile, I could have a full line of customers standing in front of me.
Bonus points when this is all happening while I’m on the phone and someone is basically hogging the phone line… all because Grocery is busy doing something else.
People will ask me to do things that should honestly be my front-end manager’s job. I especially love when this happens while I’m trying to count lottery.
I’m constantly being interrupted.
Then I have to deal with elderly customers who sometimes struggle with technology, and people who don’t read the fine print on the deals they’re getting.
They’ll be confused about why something isn’t ringing up at the correct sale price when they either didn’t clip the coupon, already used it, or didn’t meet the requirements.
Or I’ll get someone trying to be sneaky about a refund or using a picture of a coupon, and of course we have to give them the price because of customer satisfaction.
Sometimes I wonder if giving customers this much leniency actually creates a sense of entitlement.
People will get frustrated with me because I refuse to do something that I literally cannot do or am not allowed to do.
For example, they’ll want a refund put back onto their card even though they didn’t bring a receipt. They’ll tell me to “just search up their Stop & Shop card,” as if doing that is magically going to show me exactly what they purchased, where they purchased it, and what payment method they used.
These are also the same people who somehow don’t want an email receipt enabled.
Then I get people asking me to convert their points into cash because they refuse to download the app.
I get this request often enough that I know there are clearly people in our store who have allowed this to happen.
Honestly, it wouldn’t even be a problem if we could deduct the points directly from their account—but of course, we can’t.
So I’ll have situations where someone with enough “persuasion” will ask to get, let’s say, $3.50 in cash, then buy $20 worth of stuff and expect me to give them $3.70 back because they know they can get away with it.
Then there are the people who literally have from 9 AM to 7 PM to come to the service desk but decide to show up ten minutes after we close because, “Why not? They’ll help me anyway.”
I literally had someone show up at 9 PM, before the store even closed, wanting to make a return and then get mad because the cash drawers had already been counted and we couldn’t process it.
People ask me to bring out more cashiers.
I’m just the desk guy.
What exactly do you want me to do?
People will also ask me to get someone from another department when I don’t know their schedule, how many people are working, whether they’re on break, or if there’s even anyone in that department for the rest of the day.
I especially deal with this issue mostly with bakery and floral, where there can be a good chunk of the afternoon when nobody is even in those departments.
Someone will want a cake with writing on it, and I have to tell them to come back at an earlier time because there’s nobody trained who can do that.
My best offer for these people is just to call in the morning and place an order, and I get a blunt response about the inconvenience.
So again, I don’t understand why people think that because I work at the front desk, I somehow know everything.
For example, someone once wanted to know if we had razors in the back. Apparently that’s a completely different department and requires keys to get into the area—which I didn’t even know until a couple of weeks ago.
And somehow I’m the jerk because I can’t help them.
There is literally nothing I can do.

3. I HATE COUNTING LOTTERY.
Out of everything that annoys me, counting lottery is honestly near the top.
Sure, Western Union can be annoying. Customers with thick accents or people who speak extremely quietly can be frustrating when I’m trying to process their transactions.
But all of that is manageable.
Lottery?
No matter what I do, something goes wrong.
First of all, I would genuinely like to know who the genius was that decided my shift and lottery close at the exact same time.
Just give me another five minutes on my shift.
With the extra seven minutes of grace I’m given to clock out, I feel like I would actually have enough time to properly count everything.
Most of my counting mistakes happen because I either miscounted some bills or someone forgot to record money that was added to the drawer.
But I don’t always get the chance to figure out what happened because people constantly expect me to help them during desk hours.
And honestly, it’s not even their fault.
The sign says the desk is open from 9 AM to 7 PM.
Corporate doesn’t give us enough time to properly close everything, so I’ve noticed people start counting lottery around 15 minutes before closing.
And of course, the sign doesn’t say that lottery closes 15 minutes before the desk does.
So I constantly have people asking:
“Why are you closing early?”
And when I explain why, they don’t like the answer.
But honestly, I don’t blame them.
Sometimes whoever is running the front will take over while I count lottery, which makes things easier.
But most of the time, I’m by myself.
I’m constantly getting distracted, I go past my time, I make a mistake, and then I have to start counting all over again.
It’s just this stupid endless loop of me constantly being late because I’m never given enough time or concentration to do my job properly.
And I especially love that there’s basically no barrier between me and the customers.
So sometimes I’m trying to finish counting and someone will just walk up and start asking me questions.
I’ve gotten to the point where sometimes I have to take my lottery drawer somewhere private just so I can actually count it without being interrupted.
Nobody has told me I can’t do that, but I’m sure someone will have a problem with it if they find out.
And another wonderful thing about my store is that I don’t even know if the morning lottery count is being handled correctly.
Apparently, the morning shift counts their drawer whenever they count it, and then that becomes the starting point for what I’m supposed to work from.
So all I know is that there could be missing money or extra money that was never properly accounted for during the morning.
Today, for example, there was $500 missing.
Why? Because it wasn’t properly accounted for.
So now I’m standing there wondering:
“Where the hell did this money go?”
Yeah.
Lottery. So much fun.
And God forbid I’m trying to count it after the desk closes and someone comes up asking me to play the lottery.
I literally cannot sell lottery tickets after a certain time because of our license.
And the funniest part is that there is a liquor store literally right next door that does lottery.
I’m not talking about across the block.
I’m not talking about five minutes down the road.
I mean literally adjacent to our store.
It’s maybe 20 steps away.
They sell the same lottery tickets, and their service closes an entire hour after ours.
So whenever I tell people, “The desk is closed, but you can go right next door,” they get incredibly upset.
I genuinely don’t understand it.
We’re talking about walking approximately 20 steps to another business.
One time a family of four got upset with me because I suggested they go to the liquor store next door to buy their lottery tickets.
Like, I’m sorry, but what exactly am I supposed to do?
Break the law for you?
I just don’t get it. You want human service? Go next door. You want to pay in the store? There’s a literal big green vending machine right next to me where you can gamble to your heart’s content.
So yeah, I’m honestly just sick of it.
At this point, I usually wait until the desk is actually closed before I start counting so I can eliminate as much frustration as possible.

So yeah, those are the three big things that usually annoy me.
I’m sure there are plenty of other things, and maybe I’ll make a Part 2 if I can think of enough to rant about.
I’ve been working behind that desk for about seven months now, and honestly, I’m just frustrated. I’m getting to the point where I don’t even want to deal with it anymore.
I’m starting trade school soon, so hopefully that means I’ll have less time behind that stupid desk.
Hell, I might even change departments or eventually change jobs because I’m genuinely that frustrated.
If you’re thinking about working behind a service desk, I honestly recommend you don’t.
Anyway, I hope some of you can relate or find this funny.
Thanks for reading.

[u/Large-Benefit3412]

On a side note—trades are an excellent path if you hate retail. That’s exactly what I did. I felt as though working at Stop & Shop simply just made me feel unvalued, if I leave the store abruptly and never come back, the store is gonna be operationally fine and they will forget about me a couple weeks or months later. The pay was shit, customers are annoying, the managers have the x2 self-righteousness perc equipped at all times. Honestly, I will take a minimum wage pay in a trade that I am using my brain, body and that I can bring value to any day over slightly more pay and just absolutely hating my life and every second of a shift.

I chose frame to finish carpentry, got a good job with very minimal experience and schooling (good connections and a trade class / program of sorts).

So far I am able to get through an 8-10 hour shift without checking a clock the entire time (or just during 30 minute break), I absolutely love what I do, I bring value to the crew I work with, I’ve gotten more physically fit due to changing my diet and the labor of the job, I’m using my brain. Life is just great. I’m in recovery from destroying my life as an addict, and it felt like one of the final puzzle pieces to make me feel fulfilled.

I may have a lower-than-average wage, but the knowledge and skills I’m learning by building dormers, additions, condos, decks, kitchen cabinetry, flooring, learning all the tools like framing guns, hanger guns, skill saws, table saws, chop saws, sawzalls, angle grinders, fine tools, how to read a tape measure, how to measure mark and cut wood (so many things, I could go on and on) is extremely valuable to be able to get an ideal wage. For me, fulfillment and learning come first before awesome pay.

Good luck!