JEW Make the Call -- Shitty Target Cashier Edition

[Dan Druff]

Target has a confusing and annoying discount program called "Target Circle", where you have to use the app to "activate" offers of extra discounts on things.

It is not at all user-friendly, and often is riddled with bugs and issues.

You are at Target and buying an item which is $7.50/ea, but you get 40% off three or more of them. The $7.50 price sucks, but the 40% off makes the price decent, so you grab 4.

To get Target Circle activated at the register, you need to either enter your phone number registered to your app account or scan a barcode on the app. You choose to enter the phone # because it's easier.

At checkout, Target Circle fails on both this and another item, but works for two others. This proves that the Target Circle was activated, but it's just not working for two of the things you bought. Most notably, the 40% off didn't come off for those 4 items described above.

The cashier fixes the first problem, and then attempts to fix the second one (for the group of 4 items you bought at 40% off), but she miskeys something and the price accidentally goes up. You politely point out where she miskeyed, she apologizes, undoes the mistake, and is 5 seconds away from hitting the button to give you the 40%, when a more senior cashier sees the confusion and interferes. Turns out that this first cashier is a new hire and just learning. You get moved over to another cash register (which they can easily do), so it doesn't hold up the line, and you're fine with that.

Then things start to go awry.

The second cashier -- a male who looks around 30 (the previous one was a young female) asks, "Did you scan the barcode?"

You explain that you did the phone number instead of the barcode, to which he replies, "That won't work. The phone number is just to earn points. You need the barcode."

You reluctantly get on the app to scan the barcode, but it demands the password to verify, which you don't remember because the app always auto logs in otherwise. The barcode can allow you to pay for everything on a linked card, hence the higher security. But you tell this guy that you don't need the barcode to pay, and the phone number should work for Circle discount activation.

Then you're stuck in an endless loop.

The guy tells you to request a forgot password. You explain that you tried that once before, and Target is extremely slow sending those forgotten passwords -- at least to the mail server you use.

He obnoxiously replies, "That's no problem if it's slow. I have all day to wait."

You reply, "But I don't have all day. I have some cold stuff here, plus I need to go do other things. Can you please just fix the price?"

You show him the 40% Circle offer activated in the app, just to prove you're doing everything correctly.

He answers, "I just told you how we can fix it. Show me the barcode on the app to scan."

You reply, "Again, I don't have the password to do that, and the phone number should be fine for this."

He replies, "Then request the password reset, like I just told you."

You reply, "And like I just told you, it will take a long time to do that. Can you please just change the price?"

He replies, "Try resetting it and see what happens."

You are getting really annoyed.

You ask, "Why are you refusing to help me here? I just told you the password reset takes a long time."

He replies, "I am trying to help, but you won't let me."



Tired of this, you say, "So you're refusing to change the price unless I stand here and wait forever for the password to come?"

He replies, "Try requesting the password. That's how I can help you."

You say back, "I keep telling you that won't work and..."

Then you see he's starting to *giggle* at either you or the situation.


The difference is about $12. You really have tried to reset the password in the past for this barcode (for a different reason) and it took like 45 minutes both times you tried it. You are also fairly convinced the barcode isn't even needed, but not 100% sure. All you know is that you've never needed it for a Circle discount, and you see other Circle discounts are already showing from entering the phone number.

What do you do at this point, given this guy's intentional stubbornness and *giggling* at your frustration?

It is later in the evening, and it is unlikely a manager with any real power is at the store, but it's possible whoever is in charge can at least honor the price without all this BS.

FYI this is a Target about 30 miles from where you live, so you don't have history with anyone there.

JEW MAKE THE CALL!

[FRANKRIZZO]

Your experience is surprising. Can't walk down an aisle and not have employee ask if you need help. Targets is very pro customer is king. You will probably get a reprimand for the cashier who was rude if you complain about him to a supervisor.

[Dive_Bar_Dave]

You have millions. Just take your products/purchases and move on. Is the aggravation worth 12 bucks? If you ever went to a bar with friends, you would know that drinks cost more than 12 bucks these days (in big cities). Just move on.

[Sloppy Joe]

I honestly don't know, I've never been treated like this. Think it would really depend on my mood and if my son was with me.

Of course I've experienced unfriendliness and dismissive rudeness but have never been directly antagonized.

I care about my time and hate shopping, so really digging for anything more than a minute isn't happening

No chance I'm buying that bloated turkey without the price break if I came in under the mindset of paying less.

I'm also not a cuck with a coupon app on my phone like a menopausal housewife so hard to imagine.

[Dan Druff]

I honestly don't know, I've never been treated like this. Think it would really depend on my mood and if my son was with me.

Of course I've experienced unfriendliness and dismissive rudeness but have never been directly antagonized.

I care about my time and hate shopping, so really digging for anything more than a minute isn't happening

No chance I'm buying that bloated turkey without the price break if I came in under the mindset of paying less.

I'm also not a cuck with a coupon app on my phone like a menopausal housewife so hard to imagine.

Gave up on the bloated Target frozen meats a long time ago.

I was shopping by myself when this occurred, if that matters.

I never hassled with coupons at supermakets before because they were a waste of time. However, now they tend to have a sign on the items you're buying if the app has a coupon for them, and you just bring it up and click a button, then enter your phone # and it is supposed to work.

When it doesn't, both at Target and the supermarket, they always just put it through because they know the system is fail.

This idiot not only interrupted the new cashier being literally seconds away from fixing it for me, but he decided to be a prick and demand I get the app barcode scanned, even after I kept repeatedly telling him I forgot the password and it was nontrivial to reset. And even after I kept trying to insist that the barcode wasn't needed anyway.

It started as a passive aggressive power trip, and ended with him unable to contain his laughter when my frustration mounted. I think all of this stemmed from his false belief that I needed the barcode to make it work, and he felt he would teach me a lesson for not following his exact instructions. Every other employee there -- including the first cashier I dealt with -- is under instruction just to fix anything which Circle fucks up.

The choices sucked at that point because it was either eat $12 and let this prick "win" with his antagonizing behavior, speak up and give it back to him, or just ask for whatever passes for a manager at 8pm and wait for that person to show up and do the right thing. Zero chance I was going to try to reset that password and stand around like a chump waiting for it, while he sat there grinning.

[Dan Druff]

Your experience is surprising. Can't walk down an aisle and not have employee ask if you need help. Targets is very pro customer is king. You will probably get a reprimand for the cashier who was rude if you complain about him to a supervisor.

I agree, most Target employees have been pretty nice in my experience.

Even the first cashier in this story was nice and trying to be helpful, but she wasn't that experienced yet, and it took her a bit of time to fix this, especially after she misclicked something.

We were literally seconds away from having everything in order when this asshole interfered and decided he would take over.

The asshole second cashier was the type of employee I hate the most -- a passive-aggressive jerk who smiles and acts saccharine friendly, all while refusing to help you and making little snide remarks which he can defend later as a misunderstanding. As much as I hate directly confrontational employees, guys like this are worse.

[country978]

We all know what you did, Druff. There's 0.0 chance you drove there 30 mins. just to leave empty handed and 0.0 chance you just paid the extra $12 without a fight. I'm pretty sure the solution did not involve you waiting around for the password re-set either. So, please tell us, was the manager helpful?

[Dan Druff]

We all know what you did, Druff. There's 0.0 chance you drove there 30 mins. just to leave empty handed and 0.0 chance you just paid the extra $12 without a fight. I'm pretty sure the solution did not involve you waiting around for the password re-set either. So, please tell us, was the manager helpful?

So far the manager is helpful. It's an ongoing matter.

There's more to the story which I will post later.

The whole thing is pretty outrageous (beyond what I've written so far).

It has been confirmed that he and one other employee (not yet described) committed some pretty egregious company rule violations here.

[Sloppy Joe]

We all know what you did, Druff. There's 0.0 chance you drove there 30 mins. just to leave empty handed and 0.0 chance you just paid the extra $12 without a fight. I'm pretty sure the solution did not involve you waiting around for the password re-set either. So, please tell us, was the manager helpful?

So far the manager is helpful. It's an ongoing matter.

There's more to the story which I will post later.

The whole thing is pretty outrageous (beyond what I've written so far).

It has been confirmed that he and one other employee (not yet described) committed some pretty egregious company rule violations here.

Shout out to young king for STRAIGHT CUCKING Druff and laughing in his gook face.

Probably cost him his job but well worth it.

[Dan Druff]

From what I understand, "young king" was trying hard there to work his way up the Target ladder, and was finally promoted not too long ago, so this probably isn't going to be a positive event in his life, laughter notwithstanding.

I could more respect if this guy just hated his job and wanted to cuck an annoying customer on the way out.

But this was more of a guy who let the "power" go to his head, and thought he'd fuck with a customer with no consequence.

[Sloppy Joe]

From what I understand, "young king" was trying hard there to work his way up the Target ladder, and was finally promoted not too long ago, so this probably isn't going to be a positive event in his life, laughter notwithstanding.

I could more respect if this guy just hated his job and wanted to cuck an annoying customer on the way out.

But this was more of a guy who let the "power" go to his head, and thought he'd fuck with a customer with no consequence.

Weird how bad you run in these scenarios, surely just coincidence.

[Dan Druff]

From what I understand, "young king" was trying hard there to work his way up the Target ladder, and was finally promoted not too long ago, so this probably isn't going to be a positive event in his life, laughter notwithstanding.

I could more respect if this guy just hated his job and wanted to cuck an annoying customer on the way out.

But this was more of a guy who let the "power" go to his head, and thought he'd fuck with a customer with no consequence.

Weird how bad you run in these scenarios, surely just coincidence.

Because I don't tolerate bullshit from wannabe authority figures in service positions.

The average person in my spot would just give up, walk out without the $12 correction, grumble to themselves, and maybe even blame themselves for forgetting the password.

It only escalated because I wouldn't play ball with this guy's bullshit.

BTW it was confirmed by the manager that the guy was wrong, and his precious barcode idea would have failed anyway, just like I thought.

[Sloppy Joe]

Weird how bad you run in these scenarios, surely just coincidence.

Because I don't tolerate bullshit from wannabe authority figures in service positions.

The average person in my spot would just give up, walk out without the $12 correction, grumble to themselves, and maybe even blame themselves for forgetting the password.

It only escalated because I wouldn't play ball with this guy's bullshit.

BTW it was confirmed by the manager that the guy was wrong, and his precious barcode idea would have failed anyway, just like I thought.

It's all about social skills brother, can't really be taught beyond childhood.

Guarantee you came in awkward and clumsy before young king humiliated you.

Glad Target manager intervened, likely sided with you just to defuse.

[Dan Druff]

Because I don't tolerate bullshit from wannabe authority figures in service positions.

The average person in my spot would just give up, walk out without the $12 correction, grumble to themselves, and maybe even blame themselves for forgetting the password.

It only escalated because I wouldn't play ball with this guy's bullshit.

BTW it was confirmed by the manager that the guy was wrong, and his precious barcode idea would have failed anyway, just like I thought.

It's all about social skills brother, can't really be taught beyond childhood.

Guarantee you came in awkward and clumsy before young king humiliated you.

Glad Target manager intervened, likely sided with you just to defuse.

You post this same stupid shit every time I post a customer service story, which I only do out here for the entertainment of the forum.

There was no way out of this one. Power tripping dude thought you needed that barcode for it to work, and he wasn't listening to anything otherwise. You would have also hated this situation had it happened to you, and you know it.

At this point you either get cucked by him and let him waste your time resetting passwords in order to earn the honor of his help, or you stand up to the situation and refuse. Being the nicest, most agreeable guy in the world isn't gonna change that.

If I "came in awkward" and the "manager sided with me just to defuse", then these people wouldn't end up getting fired/disciplined, because that would be a case where the manager acts like he's on your side but in reality nothing happens. In most of these egregious ones, the manager either outright tells me the person is fired, or I just never see that employee again.

I actually have a great feel for what is complaint-worthy and what isn't. If it isn't, I say nothing, regardless of my personal feelings about the matter.

I only told half the story so far. It actually gets worse from here.

[Small_Banana]

Just tried Target password reset. It took 3 minutes. That is super slow because it should be instant.

[Dan Druff]

Just tried Target password reset. It took 3 minutes. That is super slow because it should be instant.

Maybe worked in 3 min because it was the middle of the night, and there's light email traffic. Also could be due to some connection issue between Target's email server and mine. Or I just ran bad the times I tried it.

I tried twice in the past 2 years or so, because I was at Target with no credit card on me (both times I came there after hiking), and I needed it to pay with that barcode. Tried resetting both times and the email came in like 45 mins after I got back home. Both times I ended up paying cash.

However, even if the password did come in 3 minutes, it would have been a wasted 3 minutes, because that wouldn't have fixed the issue anyway. No doubt the prick would have come up with a new thing to suggest after that.

It has been verified to me by the store manager (top manager I contacted the next day) that all cashiers are instructed to manually put the Circle discounts through if they don't come up, and not to make a big inquisition about it. In fact, he expressed surprise at that part of the story, stating that "all of our cashiers know this".

[GrenadaRoger]

a retailer's loyalty/rewards programs and deals are not worth the headache and almost always have exceptions to short one's expectations. use at your own risk.

Druff, the cashier is undoubtedly paid little above minimum wage and probably has minimal training but he has his rules to follow and is monitored cyberwise...just ask to have the sales manager come to the register--the manager will probably give you what you wanted--he knows that if doesn't and you complain to corporate that corporate will probably say to give you what you wanted and to apologize...

really Druff, you should try working retail in the current times for about 6 months, if you did i'm sure you will come to hate type of customer you are and curse corporate management for the complicated promotions they create. and maybe you will develop some diplomatic skills to use during your retail raids.

[Dan Druff]

a retailer's loyalty/rewards programs and deals are not worth the headache and almost always have exceptions to short one's expectations. use at your own risk.

Druff, the cashier is undoubtedly paid little above minimum wage and probably has minimal training but he has his rules to follow and is monitored cyberwise...just ask to have the sales manager come to the register--the manager will probably give you what you wanted--he knows that if doesn't and you complain to corporate that corporate will probably say to give you what you wanted and to apologize...

really Druff, you should try working retail in the current times for about 6 months, if you did i'm sure you will come to hate type of customer you are and curse corporate management for the complicated promotions they create. and maybe you will develop some diplomatic skills to use during your retail raids.

You're overthinking this.

The store manager himself told me that everyone there was instructed to simply put the discounts through when they aren't working correctly, which takes seconds.

This guy decided he was going to power trip and demand I go through a long process so he could show me how to "fix" it (which it turned out wasn't possible).

So this cashier was breaking the rules by NOT giving me the discount. It's the reverse of what you think.

[Texter]

a retailer's loyalty/rewards programs and deals are not worth the headache and almost always have exceptions to short one's expectations. use at your own risk.

Druff, the cashier is undoubtedly paid little above minimum wage and probably has minimal training but he has his rules to follow and is monitored cyberwise...just ask to have the sales manager come to the register--the manager will probably give you what you wanted--he knows that if doesn't and you complain to corporate that corporate will probably say to give you what you wanted and to apologize...

really Druff, you should try working retail in the current times for about 6 months, if you did i'm sure you will come to hate type of customer you are and curse corporate management for the complicated promotions they create. and maybe you will develop some diplomatic skills to use during your retail raids.

You're overthinking this.

The store manager himself told me that everyone there was instructed to simply put the discounts through when they aren't working correctly, which takes seconds.

This guy decided he was going to power trip and demand I go through a long process so he could show me how to "fix" it (which it turned out wasn't possible).

So this cashier was breaking the rules by NOT giving me the discount. It's the reverse of what you think.

Maybe the kid is a poster here and did it for the LULZ.

[tgull]

The walk out, leave product in cart is exactly what I did a few months ago. Different product though.

I wear a sport coat maybe twice a month, I have two, a light one and dark one. The lighter one started getting ratty so decided to buy a new one. Budget was $200 nothing fancy I don't wear it enough.

So I went to a couple chain men's stores and finally found what I was looking for. Sales guy an early 20 something was quite helpful. I tried on several and found the right one. Obviously, it had no tag on it. But it was right next to two, exact some coat just different colors. It was $450, BUT it was right under a giant sign that said 40% off this section. Ok, little more than I wanted to spend but close enough. Sleeves needed to be tailored and for $40 they offered to tailor it, so I hopped on the stand, guy came out did my sleeves.

So go to pay, and the cashier who was the Assistant Manager based on his name tag just groaned there was no tag. I calmly said there is one in the same section the exact same coat, just different color I can get it and you can scan that one. He cooly said it does not work that way, and for literally 10 minutes he had to search the computer until he found it. No apology for me waiting he was more impressed with himself he actually found it. Ok, that will be $522. Ummm, its 40% off.

Seems because it was the Spring he told me, the lighter coats are not on sale because of the season. I was like look man, how was I supposed to know that? Its in the section with all the other coats, under that giant 40% off sign, plus I am overpaying on the tailor thing as well. He begins to state his case rather firmly that human error happens in life and I bite my tongue because I want the coat.

So I take the high road, I said look, I will split the difference with you just give me 20% off and we'll call it a day. He voice begins to raise stating it was human error and if I don't want the coat at full price I don't have to buy it. I calmly called over the young man who helped me, reached into my pocket and said here is $10, I am sure this exceeds the commission you would have made on the coat, he was stunned but took it and thanked me.

I then turned to the neanderthal behind the register. I calmly said you look to be in your early 30s, do you know why you are standing behind a cash register on a Sunday at your age, while your peers are out having a good time? He stood there speechless. I'd give you the answer but you probably already know the answer, it begins with an L. He had a blank stare, mouth open.

I just walked out.