Every American has a freedom of speech, but some people abuse it when they don’t know what they’re talking about.
I work in retail, so naturally I interact with people almost every time I go into work. It’s shaped me into a more humble consumer.
That being said, a video has recently resurfaced with a woman ranting about her experience at Bath & Body Works, and it was one of the most painful things I’ve ever watched.
If you haven’t seen this video, basically this woman from Wisconsin, Angela, wanted two candles during a sale. One of the stores in her area said they had the candles she was looking for, when she drove there it turned out that store manager had made a mistake.
The video goes into more detail, but basically Angela was upset because she had driven all the way to the store just to get the candles, found out they weren’t there and then couldn’t get anything free for her troubles.
Lastly, she said she would call the district manager and complain that the store had messed up.
Now this video irritates me for more than a couple of reasons. First of all, Angela called every single B&BW store in her area EVERY DAY FOR A WEEK.
One store even took down her information and she still called them the day after that. If you call every day to see if a store has two candles and day after day they don’t have them, try online shopping.
Next, she said she had driven all the way to that store to find out that the candles weren’t there, when earlier she said it would only take her twenty minutes to get there.
If it doesn’t take you more than an hour to get somewhere then you have no reason to complain.
Also she complained because she didn’t get anything for her troubles because she drove out there. The store manager offered her coupons, but she wouldn’t take them. Then she told Angela to call the 1-800 number to talk to a live person from the corporate company who would be able to help her.
Angela then went to freak out because the manager said “a live person” and was thinking “are you not a live person” when in reality, the manager was just trying to assure her that she wouldn’t be met with an automated messaging service.
Regardless, she called that number and corporate sent the two candles she wanted to her free of charge. So obviously there was no reason to be as snappy as she was.
People who feel like they’re entitled, who make it seem as though we don’t know how to do our jobs and that we purposely try to ruin someone’s day are the kind of people that sometimes make me hate working in retail.
Maybe the manager should have checked on the candles before saying that the store had them, but she did everything she could in her power to try to help Angela, who in return tried to get her fired.
So next time you go to a store, please be nice to the people who work there. Because if it weren’t for them, all of us wouldn’t be able to buy the things we need or want.
And if all else fails, please just shop online.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
