Associate asked me to put all clothes I was leaving back on a hanger

Every time my family goes out to an nice sit down restaurant (Non Mystery Shopping) like Applebee's, Out Back etc we always stack our dishes nicely. Also if one of our kids makes an mess we tell them and clean it up the best we can.

Also if we go to any FF places we take our trash to the trash can.

I know they get pay to clean tables and clean up messes and stuff but sometimes they are very busy.

I know some people are like us and some people are just plain lazy but IMO I think that's the right thing to do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2015 01:36AM by Isaiah4031a.

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@cm wrote:

Empty hangers signal theft. Even if you are inconsiderate and sloppy, you should protect yourself by hanging things back up. Maybe this was a high theft store, and the associate was trying to make that part easier vs. holding you up while she matched a garment to each empty hanger. That gets uncomfortable.

Never understood people who left a pile in the floor. You're not buying it and you want to make sure it is ruined so no one will else will buy it, either?

You can be sloppy and not inconsiderate. Just saying.

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Throwing away trash at a FF and stacking plates at a sit down restaurant are two different things, even if it is a restaurant as casual as Applebee's or Outback. My habit is to toss my trash and drop off my tray at Panera, but stacking dishes is not something I would do at an Applebee's type of restaurant and certainly wouldn't consider at a nice restaurant. Rather than helping it could put more pressure on the server because it looks bad for stacked dishes to be sitting in front of a customer. Some people do that to indicate they have been waiting excessively long for the server or busser to clear the table.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

There have been times that we have gone to an sit down restaurant and have been seated and have our drinks taken with in a couple of minutes after we have been seated.

The places that we visit, they like for us to do that and they don't mind... Even if we wait 5 minutes for our food after we have order or drinks or thirty minutes after our drink orders..

Sometimes the busy boy clears the table and other times it's the waiter or waitress

But that is just us

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2015 02:10AM by Isaiah4031a.

So Applebee's and Outback do have bussers? I wasn't sure if the servers maybe had to bus their own tables.

It makes sense that sometimes the busy boy doesn't have time to clear the table.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I mean. Being so busy and all.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

You know, this reminds me of my youth. I took a job as a busboy. I looked at the job description and decided there is no way I was gonna have time to bus tables and refill water glasses....what were they thinking!? I decided to pick one and do the best job ever. Well, I was the best water refiller they ever had! Scored mostly 7, 8's and 9's, with an occasional 10! Then for no reason they just up and fired me....no more paycheck.....so this is a warning: Never work for Acme Restaurant...you do one little thing different, and they will find a way to cheat you, and not pay you!!!!! I'm thinking about filing a lawsuit, and also filing with my state's AG, and the BBB!

....................Yes, I'm Kidding!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2015 02:37PM by OCyou2.

It would never occur to me to not rehang my clothes. I even go back and rehang them on the rack in the correct place. I'm not OCD, it's just common courtesy to me. However, I would be slightly offended if an employee asked me to rehang the clothes even before I tried them on.

As far as leaving trash or a mess on a table at a FF place: The employee's duty is to provide a clean table for the next customer; that does not imply it is okay to leave a mess (with slight allowances for people with small kids.).

I have tried to return merchandise to the sales floor after trying it on but have always been denied. Just trying to help! As for stacking dishes, we only do it if the prebussing is taking awhile and everyone is finished. Otherwise the server is already on top of it. And as for FF, some don't even have trashcans in the dining room these days, such as Wingstop. I always feel so weird about stacking my trash and walking out. But if there's a trashcan, I'll always clean up myself. My mom used to tell us to leave it there as "job security" though.

Doing what I can to enhance the life of my family! I LOVE what I do

I'm with you Milesmom. Been doin' it wrong. To me it is just common courtesy to hang the clothes back up. I often take them back to the rack where I found them although if there is a place to leave them at the dressing room I do that. I don't think I would have been upset to have the employee ask me to hang them up when I was done. I guess it depends on how she said it. Did she sort of demand it or ask nicely? At any rate, to go back to the original question, I would definitely include it in the report somewhere.

I definitely would have.

Why wouldnt you put the clothes on a hanger? Do you just leave them in,a pile in the fitting room?

It's definitely something that should be included in the report--it's factual, and it's unlikely to be in line with the store's policies. I've worked for and managed stores in several clothing companies, and putting the clothing back is part of the job. We would never, ever be permitted to ask customers to hang their clothing back up, no matter how politely, and I honestly can't think of a store that would allow it. Associates might be doing it and getting away with it, but that doesn't mean they should be doing it.

I do this all the time! I also hang everything back up and sometimes put it back on the floor. I think it's all the years in retail that I did and I feel bad for the attendant sometimes. Oeople are SLOBS and you would be surprised what you would find in a dressing room! GROSS!!!!!

I would mention it in the report, but I would also do what the associate asks and put the items back on the hanger. Sometimes I even put the items back out on the rack if I can remember where they go. It seems to me like this store hasn't hired enough help, and that is not the associate's fault. You also had to go up to the cash register to ask for assistance. Maybe if you let the client know that you were asked to put the items back on the hanger and that the fitting room was messy because the associates could not keep up, the client would get the message after awhile and hire additional help.

"Evolve thyself and lose all hate...." Orphaned Land

My two cents. When I try things on, I expect to re-hang them at the very least. I will leave them hanging on the "go back" rack, or possibly return them if there is not a rack outside of the dressing room. Everyone is different, I just feel wrong leaving a mess for someone else. As for the server, I do not feel guilty. I usually tip well, and that is part of the service. I do not treat them any differently from a high end to a midscale. Fast food, on the other hand, is paid an hourly salary to serve the food only. The trash and mess is mine to handle. I am not tipping, and I should not leave a mess for someone else (customer OR employee)

Lets face it - customers are pigs sometimes. I was merchandising athletic shoes in a department store last week. A woman with a college age daughter was trying on running shoes. She tried on shoes while the daughter kept finding new ones for her to try. I watched them rummage the stacks for over 20 minutes as they were where I needed to take my final after photo. I was getting paid for how long I was in the store and it was amusing to watch. The mom finally chose a pair and they walked away leaving 18 pairs of shoes, boxes, paper and shoe forms in the area. As they walked past me I asked, are you going to clean that up? They gave me a dirty look and said it wasn't their job. Luckily they didn't mess up my display or I'd have given them a few choice words.

The OP did not mention the tone at which the employee asked to hang up the items. That makes it difficult to comment on the statement. She did mention it was busy and there was a line it the fitting room. If it is one of those stores where they get the colored hanger to determine the number of garments that they brought into the it may have been to expedite the process. I fit in the hanging group myself.

~~*~~*~~*~~ kal ~~*~~*~~*~~
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just forget to load the film.

None of this has anything to do with the OPINION of if we think we should have to put clothes back on the hanger or not. We are paid to report FACTS. Fact is, if the associate asked all customers to hang all clothes back up, that is what needs to be reported. If there is an opinion section, that is where to note how that made the shopper feel. Perhaps the merchant is directing this action and is interested to see how customers react in order to cut staffing and costs. Perhaps it is just a rude, lazy associate trying to get customers to do her job for her. That is not for us to decide.

After working in a very popular retail store, I can tell you that customers usually do hang their items up and return it to the fitting room clerk. In the shoe department, 70% of customers do not return shoes to their boxes and will leave the shoes, filling and boxes scattered where they may have sat.

Based on my personal experience persons who have retail or restaurant backgrounds are sympathetic to clerks and waiters since they know the feeling. That being said, the customer is always right so whether I choose to be a PIG and leave my clothing on ground or I choose to neatly stack my dishes- it's the associate's job.

This topic has me laughing, because I always take my girlfriend with me on the dinner shops and she stacks and cleans the table after we are done. I threatened to take someone else.... because she's compromising the report in a way.

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Although I was taught to re-hang or re-fold all the cloths I tried on in a stores dressing room by my parents (yes I am male) and as far as I can remember I have done so. It is the attendant’s job to retrieve the clothing and make sure that it is fit to be retuned the show room. It is the attendant’s jobs to collect, inspect, re-hang or fold if necessary, and re-turn them to be restocked or to restock them.

It is up to everyone to help keep the place clean and danger free but it is the employees JOB to do it.

I always hang clothes up after trying them on unless it's bras, panties etc that are on those little hangers. I know I can't get the item back on the little hanger the way they would want it and that they would redo what I did so I leave that in a pile on the chair.

Speaking of "leaving messes"...I was at a certain fast casual and one of the adults at the table had dropped some paper bags on the floor. After he dropped the paper bags on the floor, he stared at the bags laying on the floor and then went back to eating...When they left the restaurant, the paper bags were still on the floor, the table a big smeary, crumby mess and they all casually walked out together....

I've always hung the items back on the hangers that I wasn't going to purchase and I feel a little guilty if I leave them in the dressing room and not take them back to hang on the rack. However, I would not clean up the person's mess who was in the dressing room before me.

I hang up the clothes I am not purchasing and unless I am in an extreme rush, I put them back on the rack where I found them. On my checkout night at hotels, I pull off the sheets and pillow cases and put them in a neat pile on the bed so the housekeeper doesn't have to do it. I do the same with the used towels. --Yes, I know I might be a bit extreme, but these people work real hard and can use a break every now and then. That being said .... I would not take kindly to being told to do it. A better approach on the assistants side would be to enthusiastically thank everyone that brings out the clothes on a hanger. That way other's would hear her and realize how this little act is appreciated. Indirect motivation is better than direct mandates. But getting back on track here....yes, you should have included it in your report as an observation without judgement.

Depends on what side of town you're on.

When I am in the changing room: The "keep" clothes (I am going to buy) go on the right hook, the clothes I am going to "give back" go on the left hook. I hang as I go. Then when I walk out, I hand her the "give backs" and she counts them, along with the hang tag number to verify I have returned the right number of items.

I generally put the clothes back on the hanger out of courtesy. That is just me. However, it is not good business to tell your customers what to do. Customers should be treated like honored guests if you want them to return to spend more money. I have in a few cases had a store employee try to tell me what to do and I just ignored them ( such as a porter who once wanted me to hurry up and leave a restroom so he could clean it and I refused to be rushed). I am sure management would like to know that their sales staff are being rude to their customers. So, maybe next time, put it in the report?

@Wentra wrote:

I generally put the clothes back on the hanger out of courtesy. That is just me. However, it is not good business to tell your customers what to do. Customers should be treated like honored guests if you want them to return to spend more money. I have in a few cases had a store employee try to tell me what to do and I just ignored them ( such as a porter who once wanted me to hurry up and leave a restroom so he could clean it and I refused to be rushed). I am sure management would like to know that their sales staff are being rude to their customers. So, maybe next time, put it in the report?

This kind of reminds me of the late night 9:30 p.m. fast casual shop, where they want you to report anything "early" the associates might be doing, to try and close the store while customers are still inside, like mopping the floor while customers are still eating inside. I once saw the fast casual with all the outside lights off. I mean no signage lit at all. I had to go inside and do the shop. I had to report the lights were off prematurely. I guess that's why they want some late go-ers to take this shop, to see how early the associates in the store are trying to "close it" (with the exception of sweeping the floor-----mopping or putting up chairs would be a no-no)

It would never occur to me to NOT hang up the clothes and return them to the dressing room rack, attendant or sales rack.

However, it would be fun to holler from inside the dressing room, "hey, they're out of toilet paper in this one. Can someone pass me some?"

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

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Associate asked me to put all clothes I was leaving back on a hanger

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