'The only thing in the 'back' is the cardboard crusher': Toy store employee gladly ditches a Karen at the register after getting ordered to dig through ‘the back’ for an out of stock item

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  • 01
    "Check the back" translates to "go take an extra fifteen"
  • 02
    . r/ r/MaliciousCompliance · 13 hr. ago ineedatinylama Can I check the back? Sure! S Quick and dirty: Customer asked for a very popular toy at Xmas. Staff stated we did not have any, no one had any. She insisted the employee " Check the back".
  • 03
    He explained there is no " back" everything is brought in and put directly on the shelf. The only thing in the "back" is the cardboard crusher and empty stocking carts. She insisted he check. He refused, she asked for the manager on duty, me.
  • 04
    I happily went to the back, crushed some cardboard, texted my husband, swept the truck bay, threw out trash. That was in 2018, I hope she is still waiting there for her Hatchimal.
  • 05
    Kaablooie42 - 13h ago I used to work at a big box store and I just gave up telling them we didn't have stuff in the back. I'd say sure, go to the back, chat with whoever was doing stuff back there for 5 mins then come back and say no luck, sorry.
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    Paul_Michaels73 • 13h ago For me, "Check the back" translates to "go take a extra fifteen" in Wal-Martese. Ⓒ 4 1 ↓ 41 Reply JunosGold 13h ago ● Share 'twas the same for us retailers in the 70s and 80s. And back then, we actually HAD something in the back.
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    No_Talk_4836. 13h ago I ask "do you know when you'll get more?" Because sometimes I've gotten an answer to that. Check the back assumes they have it. Whereas I realize they don't, accept it, and see if they'll get more soon. That is how I got the switch, an endangered species, in March 2020.
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    maxl100 11h ago ● I had a customer a few years ago ask for something. I went back to the back, checked for it, didn't have it and told the customer. Literally 10 seconds later I had another customer ask for that same item and this is about how the conversation yet. Me: "we don't have that item."" Customer: "I know you have it."
  • 09
    Me: "I just went to the back to check for this same thing seconds ago and we don't have it." Customer: "well I know you have it. I don't think you checked hard enough, go check again." I don't remember what happened after that. Alls I know is I went and sat down in the office and took my break after that, and when I came back on the floor she was gone
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    zorggalacticus • 13h ago See, when I worked at Wal-Mart, we weren't allowed to sell stuff until it was stocked. We couldn't just get something out of the back and sell it to you because it messed up the automatic inventory system. So even if we did have one in the back, you weren't getting it. You had to wait for it to be restocked like everyone else. Not getting written up/fired so you can get first dibs.
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    kam49ers4ever 12h ago ● I always was willing to "check " when a customer didn't believe me. It was frequently the only break I got!
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    JBCrux 4h ago ● *sighs* There is a particular tea that I, and a lot of other customers, like in my local Mart-of-walls that seems to be "sold out" about half the time that I go there to go shopping. There have been times where I would *gasp* "politely" (YES I was polite to a representative! Shocker! XD) Ask if there may be "more in stock", and they would either say: "No we don't have any more.
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    Sorry.", "We just received a truck load recently that hasn't been put on the floor yet. Let me check.", "Let me check real quick. *goes into the back and comes back with one or more of the tea in question* Is this enough?" I admit that I may ask a representative every now and then about the tea if it isn't on the shelf.. however I mostly just leave well enough alone and go without it for a while.
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    DependentBattle2520 13h ago Unless I volunteer to check the back......naw naw naw...that's a story telling break....depends on how many are involved. Would be rude to leave in the middle of Melissa's story. 41 ↓ Reply ↑ Share AlphaShadowMagnum 12h ago Bravo!
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    L437Dog 12h ago I had a clueless gentleman come in about December 23rd in the early 1990s, who could understand that we were sold out of the hot toy of the year, just like everyone else was. Oh, the days of working retail. My favorite thing from retail was getting garden seeds delivered about Christmas time to the frozen tundra of Northern MN.
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    Insewn12 Checking the back was my favorite thing to do when I worked retail. Just a little 5 min break. ● 2h ago
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    StupidFugly 12h ago Who are these people that somehow believe that a shop would possibly have extra stock somewhere that the customer could not purchase it? If a shop has stock of on item it will be on display. Can't sell something no one can see and shops go out of business if they don't sell goods. Therefore there is NEVER any extra stock out back.
  • 18
    Slothfulness69 • 4h ago I worked at a gas station and we did have stuff in the back. It was often the case that a particular product would sell faster than we got around to restocking it. We had a skeleton crew and a high volume store - stocking could only be done at certain times, and there were no designated stockers. So we did tell customers "let me check the back" a lot. Could be why they think all stores have a back. A lot of small stores have a back.
  • 19
    Halospite 3h ago I mortified myself with this. At my first retail job sometimes we didn't put out things fast enough to restock, so often something that appeared out of stock really WAS in the back. So whenever I went shopping after that I'd often ask if something might be in the back and was genuinely confused at the stinkeye I got.
  • 20
    getmorecoffee • 1m ago Yep. Did this many times. To be fair I'd let the customer know we didn't have anything in back and would only waste their time if they insisted. I also had someone mad about a bit of extra, loose serging on a sweatshirt. It was the last in that size, and they refused to believe they could just trim the threads. I even offered a bit of a discount. Nope, not good enough. They insisted, then I "found one more" in the back! Wow! Aka I cut the threads my self and they paid full

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