I'm not a pro-union guy. They had a place, they did a job, but by and large union leadership nowadays seems to be more Tony Soprano and less Norma Rae.

That said, this story of Target firing a pro-union employee sucks. We don't know all the facts, and likely never will, but the ironically Red store better have crossed all its Ts and dotted all of its Is on this firing.

Even if Target had a reason for termination that doesn't run afoul of the law, the timing is awfully suspicious.

She was the face of the failed campaign to make a Valley Stream, L.I., store the first unionized Target in the country. Again and again she told media outlets she was struggling to raise her daughter on what she earned as a Target sales floor team member.

Now, Tashawna Green, 21, of Jamaica, Queens, no longer has her $8-per-hour job. A Target supervisor fired her earlier this month, seven weeks after workers voted not to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500.

I guess target doesn't want any competition in sucking arena.

Target Calls Cops On Breastfeeding Shopper

Target ordered to pay $3,100,000.00 for libeling a woman when a Target Loss Prevention employee sent out an email accusing her of trying to pass a (perfectly valid 1974 issue) counterfeit $100 bill.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200881023038

Hmmmm, what's the opposite of Loss Prevention?

It all comes down to people.

Sometimes customers think that Target sucks because just one employee of Target sucks.

They can suck so bad that it causes customers to lose faith in an entire company.

A story about such a person is related here

A Tale Of Two Target Managers And A PS3 With Mismatched Serial Numbers

After wasting 5 minutes arguing with one of the most stubborn women on the East Coast, he agreed. He walked about 3 feet away (for privacy?) and picked up the big red phone to call the other location - obviously I was eavesdropping. He gave the GSLT(?) of Fairfield, Ryan, the rundown of what was happening and the impossible happened. Ryan actually wanted to see the situation resolved fairly. Ryan traced the PS3 and was able to see that it had been returned a few days before my sister purchased it. He was also able to see that the serial number on the console was NOT checked against the serial number on the box (scary what a computer can tell you) and told Y. that it was a legitimate return.

I have never seen a "manager" so angry after solving a problem. Y. told us that it was Ryan's decision if Fairfield would accept the return but it was HIS decision if Clifton would accept the return. And he had already made up his mind - no. After a 45 minute drive to Fairfield (which is about 5 minutes away - don't you love Route 3 on a Friday?), we were finally able to meet the charming Ryan who processed our return in - seriously - less then 3 minutes. It was unbelievable.

I consider myself to be a fairly informed consumer. I keep my receipts, I watch my statements, and I play by the rules - but it never would have occurred to me to open a box, remove the packaging (seriously, this PS3 was perfectly wrapped. I want the thief to come to my house and clean because he/she is METICULOUS) and compare serial numbers. It also never occurred to me that Target would accuse me (in a roundabout way) of dishonesty and fraud. All in all, it only took about 1.5 hours of my life to solve the problem but the experience has left me with a terrible taste in my mouth (or is that lunch?)

So BOO to the unnamed evil male manager "Y", and CHEERS to Ryan for doing the right thing.

A couple of Flat World moments from the Target-Sucks Bulletin Board.

This was something that happened a few days ago.....

I'm normally on the floor, but I was closing backrom/sales floor (I was told to go to the floor after the caf pulls were done). One of the new team members asked for a location check which I gave him, took a total of 20 seconds, and I told him that there were no locations.

After that I went on break, went outside to smoke a cancer stick. As I came back in I saw the GSTL give me the get the heck out of the front look, so I walked back to the TSC, the guest was complaining that I didn't take enough time checking the back for the product she wanted.

Now I understand that the guest really had no way of knowing that we basicly carry around small computers with us wherever we go. But she didn't give the GSTL the chance to explain to her that all we have to do is type or scan in a number and within seconds we know wether we have any in the backroom or not.

Finnaly the GSTL walked back to TSC grabbed my PDA out of my holster and pretty much yelled at the lady..... "See this is what we call a PDA, this is a computer that is hooked wirelessly to a bigger computer that has a database of everything in the back as well as where it is. He didn't spend alot of time looking for your __________(I really have know idea what it was she wanted, I think it was some sort of sheet set) because he didn't have to. This small hand held computer did all of his looking for him."

The lady shut up quickly and asked if we could call another store.

Funny that for this lady a thorough search through hundreds of shelves & locations would actually mean manually spending long periods of time physically seeking to find a wanted product.
This next one is strange beyond words.

People are stupid with gift regestries. One lady, after I scanned her sheet to mark an item as purchased on the registry, asked why the paper didn't say the item was purchased. SHE EXPECTED THE PRINTED PAGE THAT SHE HAD IN HER HAND TO UPDATE AND SHOW THAT THE ITEM HAD BEEN PURCHASED!

I looked at her, and said.. umm its paper... it can't change. (Well, at least not until Electronic ink becomes a standard in a few years...)

I explained that it updates FUTURE printouts. She still didnt get it. I didn't know what else to do on that one. I mean its PAPER. It doesnt just magically get changed. So, I just put a "1" on the paper over the "0" in the purchased column and said "There.. all corrected for you, sorry about that"

She left happy.

I really love the way this was handled. The person wanted the paper to be updated, and a quick thinking employee simply updated the paper.

Brilliant!

How to send messages to PDA's.
From this thread LRT, PDT, PDA Tips and Tricks

You can send messages by using the Avalanche program on the signing PC. But you have to know the IP address of the gun you want to send it to, simple, just reboot the pdt and try to cath the last 2 or 3 digits of the IP number as it boots. Then find that number on Avalanche, double click it and there is a typing box to send a message. The PDT must be booted up, doesnt matter if your logged in or at the "Enter to connect" screen, it'll work from there.

Every now and then I like to feature a post from the BB that tells a really good story.

This weeks comes from user gstm on a thread discussing how customers expect employees to be perfect-recall experts on 25,000+ items in a huge retail store.

If you have a question about electronics, ask an electronics TM, not somone in softlines. I don't go to Home Depot looking for advice on what type of fishing line I should buy my neighbor.

I do try to help people but it's frustrating, especially when they ask you about specific merchandise and prices. I want to say "How would I know how much that baseball glove is, I don't even know what one you were looking at". I hate it when you tell someone where an item is and they're like "Are you sure, I was just there."

If they where there, they must be blind.

I must admit, we have one guy come in the store. He's about 30 and expects us to do his shopping. He asked where EVERY item is and wants the full details of the item.....

Guest: Where is the Kool-aid?
TM: Aisle A15
Guest: Do you have cherry?
TM: Yes, I believe we do
Guest: What sizes does that come in?
TM: The standard sizes in which all the other flavors are availabl.
Guest: And how much would that be?
TM: There is a price on the shelf, sir
Guest: You mean you don't know how much it is?
TM: No, sir, I'd assume its about $x.xx
Guest: And how many serving does that make?
TM: You'd have to check the label

You think i'm joking...nope! we ALL run when we see him. Even the TPS will tip us off. We started saying "I don't know" and walking away. The GSTL spent 20minutes with him with all his questions about white out! The GSTL told us to avoid him at all costs and to say "Let me get someone who will be able to answer that for you" and just leave but not call another TM.

Glossary:

TM = Team Member, a Target Employee.

GSTL = Guest Services Team Leader, the supervisor for customer service.