My retail experience

I'm a 16 YO, currently awaiting my O lvl results . With that said , I have also been working at Royal Sporting house for the past month . My last day was on 21st December . Although it has only been a short one month , it has really been a eye opener for me . I used to believe working retail was the easiest , all you have to do was to serve customers , put up a big smile , if there were any unreasonable customers , just nod your head and apologise . After all , working retail requires you to stick to the legendary phrase " the customers are always right." However , just within that short period of 1 month , I didn't think so anymore . I'm one of the luckier smart , just one of those who didn't sign a contract with Royal sporting house . From what I heard from my work mates , their contract requires them to work 44 hours/ week . Which means that they had to work 5 days per week. I feel that I'm more lucky in a sense that I didn't have to work Everyday . Firstly , retail jobs requires you to work from morning till night . I usually report to work at 1pm and end at 9.30pm , my work mates ( who signed the contract ) needs to report to work at 11am all the way till 9.30pm . We close at 10pm on Fridays and the weekends . What really bothers me is that ending at 9.30pm . Oh yes , we get to wake up late , report to work late (yay more sleep) , but sometimes when I return home at night, my parents and Brother would be asleep , and by the time I wake up for work the next day , they would be at work / having school , cca,out with friends . And the cycle repeats itself . I feel like I rarely have the chance to interact with them due to the working hours of my job . That's one of the worst thing about working in the retail industry. Ah , and now the best part . During my work , although rare , but I have met some unreasonable customers during my time at RSH . The 3 best examples : 1) This woman ( I Guess she was from China based on her accent ) was looking for a pair of Adidas pants in size L . The pants was for mens. So she kindly asked for my assistance on whether was there a size L left . Being unfamiliar with the stock room, I had asked one of the full timers - let's call him R- to accompany me into the stock room to look for it . Since the pants was from an old season ( it was first released in the earlier part of the year ) , we did not carry anymore stocks for it . So R told me to tell the lady to try it on in the fitting room , since size M was already very big and it looked like she could fit . I did as I was told. Instantly , she asked me was it for mens , I replied " yes. " Then without saying anything else , she shouted at me and said " if it's for mens then why you ask me to try on ? I confirm need a size L its for my dad , " she then turned to the full timer(R) and asked him to recheck again . R gave me the "it's okay " kind of reassuring look . I feel kind of maligned in a way . Firstly, I didn't know she was buying that pants for her Father, and she did not clarify herself properly . Secondly , there are some people who prefer wearing the opposite sex wear , because truth to be told , as Long as the size fits you perfectly and you like it, I don't see a reason to deem it as oh I can't wear this because it's for the opposite sex . And the worst part was she started screaming at me for apparently not being able to find the stocks ? Why? Because I look young and inexpierence ? I had a full timer ( he has been working at RSH for almost a year ) to enter the stock room and search for the pants with me . I tried to find it , but if our outlet doesn't carry Anymore stocks , it Isi't my fault . I can't do anything , yes we have even checked with other outlets to see if they carried the same pants of size L , but there isn't. And the best part was , she only said " thank you " to R and not me . Why do adults always treat kids/teens as if they do not know anything , you are not even giving me a chance to learn . 2) Another woman , was holding on to a pink Adidas cap, asking me was there a discount for this , I looked at the tag and said no , there was no discount as this was from a newer season . She then asked me , why Isi't that this pink Adidas cap that don't have a discount while the other Adidas cap , which had the same design , just that was brown in Colour had a 25% discount . Feeling unsure , I took the cap to ask another full timer ( let's call her S ) , at this point in time when I was asking S , S was actually serving Indian customers. And these Indian customers (5-6pax) were trying on shoes . The ladies were trying on swim wears , the men were trying on shoes . And ALL of them didn't know their size , so poor S had to keep going to the stock room , taking 3-4 pairs of the same design each , just for them to figure out their shoe size . Meanwhile , the ladies are looking at swimwear , asking S which had a discount , which didn't have a discount , looking for different sizes , and S was just scurrying around to the stock room and back, helping them out . She was the only person helping them , as the other part timer was on break . Although it was quite hectic for S , she still put on a very cheerful attitude , and was very kind as to help the Indian customers . So seeing she was so busy, I asked her whether the pink Adidas cap had a discount or not , S simply told me no , this is from the newer season thus does not have Any discount , I then told the woman , what S had told me . Then the woman took the brown Adidas cap and pointed out to me that they were the same design . Feeling unsure , I asked s once again, who was busy keeping the shoes while the Indian customers were trying on New pairs . S said you try to scan the tag on the computer to check the price , so I said , okay . But being new to the computer ( part timers were not allowed to do the payments for customers , thus it was my first time touching the computer ) , I was not able to scan the tag to check for the price . Then , this woman started being angry . She told her male Friend ( I'm gonna assume it was her Boyfriend ) that the staffs here are unreliable , and we didn't even know whether there is a discount or not .And that this was bad customer service. And how we were rude to not even help to serve her . She probably said it loud enough for me to hear , but not for S to hear . Then, my manager suddenly walked in and asked what's the matter , my manager then helped to scan the pink Adidas cap , and Lo n behold, the cap indeed didn't have a discount , the brown cap did have a discount as it was from the past season . The woman simply left unhappy . I honestly felt that the woman was being unreasonable , she keep insisting that since it is the same model , there is bound to be a discount . Me and S both told her from the very beginning, that the cap DID NOT have a discount , yet she was the one who insisted that there must be a discount and then went on ahead to assume that WE ( me and S) didn't know whether or not there was a discount thus was giving bad customer service . And I feel even badder for S because she was serving other customers ( which were more difficult to handle ) , this could not assist this woman, yet instead the woman simply put it off as S's bad customer service . Customers NEED to understand that in a shop, they are NOT THE ONLY CUSTOMERS that we , employees serve and we always try our upmost best to provide good customer service , but it is NOT OUR FAULT should there be more customers then employees , thus we are unable to serve all at once . 3) *disclaimer* this is more of creepy then unreasonable . The Old men, I would say he is in his late 50s to early 60s , he walked into the store and took this Adidas shirt ( for females ) , I didn't find it that weird since I strongly believe that if you like something, and it fits you perfectly , it doesn't matter whether Isit for male or female . Now , the weird thing is that he approached me ( I'm the only female employee in the shop at this point of time ) and asked me to hold the shirt for him . Not that weird right . Then he asked me whether or not this size would fit ( he points to a nearby lady ) that lady . I was Abit stun by the question as hardly anyone does that. I said I'm not sure I think it would fit but it all depends on her built , then he asked me to hold it for him while he examines the shirt . After that , another customer called for me and I left the shirt back to him, after about 30 mins, when I was done serving that customer , he approached me again, asking me whether or not this size would fit ( he points to another lady) that lady. I said again I'm not sure , what he does next is creepy af. He then told me to ask the lady whether the shirt would fit her or not , and told me not to tell the lady it was him who asked to do so. I found this weird but comply anyway. When I finished asking the lady, the man was nowhere to be found , the lady whom I asked left the shop quietly ( I presume she was Abit frighten ), then the man whistled to get my attention . I turn around to see that he was actually in the next aisle , next to when I had talked to the lady . I told him what the lady said ( she said it could not fit ) and the man said thank you before leaving heastitly . I guess this encounter wouldn't be so creepy if he had told me its for his Wife or Daughter . All in all, I found this retail job experience a very good eye opener for me , I definitely look up to all those working in retail industries and will not treat any retail staffs members with any disrespect . Having left RSH, I wish RSH all the best in the future , and thank all my co-workers who treated me kindly and helped me along the way . Special thanks to XiaoPing, Marica , Sam , Ron, Ivy , all the other part timers , Eugene , Marcus , Joenus & Fardius ❤️