Dress For Success!

[beefheart22]

I learned a valuable lesson about dressing appropriately when buying supplies at my friendly LHS.

The one I have frequented for the past two years has a new guy running the show who of course doesn't know me from a hole in the ground. It was Saturday, I had nowhere important to be so I hadn't bothered to shave, wearing a beat up cap(my lucky cap that is), hooded sweater and some old broken in jeans. Ya I looked like a bum.

I asked if he had any of the green bottle Tamiya glue in stock since it wasn't on the shelf and he got all bent out of shape and told me they don't sell glue (which they do!). Asked when they'll have more and he got right up to my face and insisted they don't sell glue. So I picked up some acrylic that was also on my shopping list and he quizzed my intentions for the acrylics.

I came back a week later, dressed in my work attire and all of a sudden they have plenty of glue in stock. And he is all smiles too.

Guess I look like a huffer in my grubbies. Never ran into that problem before. What a dink.

Looks like I have to put up with the cross-town trip to the better LHS from now on. Oh and dress a bit better when venturing out on the weekend.

Edited October 28, 2010 by beefheart22

[oldscool]

I would get the guy fired from his job, but that's just my way of dealing with retail nazis.

[beefheart22]

I would get the guy fired from his job, but that's just my way of dealing with retail nazis.

Got a feeling if that's how he roles, it won't take long for it to happen...

I should check back next week with a paper bag and ask him which can smells the strongest -- while wearing my suit and tie.

[ewaskew]

He sounds like a real jerk.

And he needs another job,if it was me,I would help him need to find one.

When you deal with customers there all the same regardless of how they dress.

Edited October 28, 2010 by ewaskew

[Jon Cole]

The day I need to "dress for success" just to shop for model supplies, that's the day I shop on-line.

Oh wait... I already do!

Edited October 28, 2010 by Jon Cole

[beefheart22]

Agreed, he does need to find another job. If he's afraid of huffers, the hobby supply business is probably not the right career choice.

Ah well, the online route is starting to sound better all the time. At least the ladies at the post office appreciate my rugged good looks!

[Agent G]

I had that happen once car shopping. On my day off I took my then small daughter to look for new Suburbans. Salesman took one look at me and announced "They are quite expensive you know" I told him that I already owned one that I bought new, and wanted to replace it with another new one. He still didn't get the hint. He decided I needed to fill out a financial questionaire, so I played along. All of a sudden he was smiles and giggles wanting to sell me a car. I told him to stuff it and that I'd be purchasing the vehicle at a competitor.

Which I did.

G

[roadhawg]

Not to be mean or anything, but if you LOOK like a bum, don't be suprised if people TREAT you like one. Far too many people act like slobs today. If yer loungin' around the house, thats one thing, but if yer going out in public....dress accordingly.

[Foxer]

I'm retired and back to my old hippy days. I put my time in as a professional engineer. I wear old jeans, moccasins and whatever shirt I care to. I shave about every 3 days. It's pretty simple to me .. anything like this from a store employee and they will never see me or my cash again. I would have been out of business with those attitudes in no time.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Foxer

[Nova-ss]

I've run my own business for years.I had long hair every couple days shaved.....as a matter of fact never dress up,the most I do is for church and its 501's white button up shirt and tie and of course church shoes.some people treat me like I'm nobody others don't.I've learned in business......you lose if you treat your customer like a bum.I don't judge nobody....I'm not the God on earth.and I don't believe he would either....to me that is a brown noser's that treat people a certain way based on what you THINK they are or have.some of the best people I've ever meet are those not dressed up.but of course I run sound for a living to.Thanks,Chris

[Darren B]

Dressing bummy or just rag tag shouldnt make a difference for anyone. Customer service i have been observing for a long time now is totally out the window, wheter in person or over the phone , people just dont care anymore and will treat people like dirt anyway. Still if the owner of that hobby shop knew what Happened im sure they would have handled it!

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

There's a few distribution centers that I run service calls to where hobby shops are nearby. If I get all my repairs done and "make time" I'll stop and get kits and or supplies on my way to my next service call or on the way back to the garage. I could change a leaf spring,couple tires and a few wheelseals and still go in covered in dirt and grease. I actually like that better people get out of my way a lot faster

[my80malibu]

I had that happen once car shopping. On my day off I took my then small daughter to look for new Suburbans. Salesman took one look at me and announced "They are quite expensive you know" I told him that I already owned one that I bought new, and wanted to replace it with another new one. He still didn't get the hint. He decided I needed to fill out a financial questionaire, so I played along. All of a sudden he was smiles and giggles wanting to sell me a car. I told him to stuff it and that I'd be purchasing the vehicle at a competitor.

Which I did.

G

My story was similar to this one. but I went back to the same dealership later and found a different salesman. you should have seen the look on his face when I told him the story.

[Railfreak78]

I had that happen once car shopping. On my day off I took my then small daughter to look for new Suburbans. Salesman took one look at me and announced "They are quite expensive you know" I told him that I already owned one that I bought new, and wanted to replace it with another new one. He still didn't get the hint. He decided I needed to fill out a financial questionaire, so I played along. All of a sudden he was smiles and giggles wanting to sell me a car. I told him to stuff it and that I'd be purchasing the vehicle at a competitor.

Which I did.

G

I had a buddy do the same thing. He was a contractor and was always in ratty jeans and tee shirts. When the all new ( at the time ) 1994 Dodge Ram came out he went to a big Dodge dealer and the sales guy just shun him away. So he went to a little Dodge place and paid CASH in full. Then he drove it right back to the first place and called the sales guy out in front of the manager.

I also had a similar experience in customer service but a different way. My wife went to surprise me for an Anniversary and was going to rent me a Ferrari for 24 hours. Her car was down at the time so she was driving my friends Tempo. One look and they laughed at her. She showed enough cash for the rental plus insurance and then told them they were number one. Sad thing is I never got my Ferrari drive and the place is gone now. It would have been cool to drive a Testarossa for 24 hours

[Smart-Resins]

I will add my two cents quickly here. First, roadhawg sounds like a snob! I have seen garage owners who make well over $100,000 a year wear very crappy clothes to work. Geeze, I wonder why? I would still desire to treat the person with respect. In a day and age apparently long gone in this American nation wich is turning into something other then for wich it stands, it was appropriate to adress every one with respect irregardless to thier social standings or what one assumed to be thier social standngs!The people lived with a certain Christian ideaology. Wether they were Christians or NOT. These things were just being respectfull and decent towards everyone! You also treated people who were potential buyers with respect as you needed that money! I say first, if that guy is just a worker, speak with the owner. If the guy as I read, actually runs the place now, I would certainly take my business elswheres! Second, I absolutly do not care how my attire is when I am out shopping. If I have been out scrapping all day or cutting down trees or gardening for my customers, yeah I am going to look like total ######. But if the store is on the way home and I have the money and desire to spend it, I WILL STOP! I am not going to drive a hour to get home, put on dress slacks and a dress shirt then go back to the store. What kind of farse ###### is that when you HAVE TO IMPRESS others? Thats when your social standing, money and pride have taken over your whole nature! I do not need to impress anyone other then my spouse and the one above.This story is one more example why the small LHS are closeing and the online hobby shops are excelling!

[jeffb]

i worked behind a retail counter for many years, and i can tell you that customer service is just about dead. last place i worked, the young store manager was treating a raggedly dressed customer badly. i interupeted him and told him how wrong that was..he almost fired me. turns out the customer was a secret shopper. the manager got into all kinds of trouble, and so did i! turns out its agaisnt company policy to correct your superiors. oh well... i dont work there anymore...

[Terror]

Style doesn't give you class! I have long hair and I get that treatment all the time my whole life.You should see the looks I get when I'm looking at or buying nail polish. People crack me up,like I'm suppose to care what others think of me.If you got long hair and get the same thing I get all the time,Your hair is so long you look like a girl.Tell them what I tell them,I would hate to see the girls your dateing.That usually shuts them up.

[beefheart22]

Biggest point is assuming somebody who's dressed poorly in a hobby shop is automatically a glue-sniffer. The guy was half my height and looked like he has never known the caress of a woman. So I guess that makes him and I even in the judgmental department.

One day he'll get in the face of a real glue sniffer and eat his next meal through a straw...

Edited October 29, 2010 by beefheart22

[roadhawg]

I will add my two cents quickly here. First, roadhawg sounds like a snob! I have seen garage owners who make well over $100,000 a year wear very crappy clothes to work. Geeze, I wonder why? I would still desire to treat the person with respect. In a day and age apparently long gone in this American nation wich is turning into something other then for wich it stands, it was appropriate to adress every one with respect irregardless to thier social standings or what one assumed to be thier social standngs!The people lived with a certain Christian ideaology. Wether they were Christians or NOT. These things were just being respectfull and decent towards everyone! You also treated people who were potential buyers with respect as you needed that money! I say first, if that guy is just a worker, speak with the owner. If the guy as I read, actually runs the place now, I would certainly take my business elswheres! Second, I absolutly do not care how my attire is when I am out shopping. If I have been out scrapping all day or cutting down trees or gardening for my customers, yeah I am going to look like total ######. But if the store is on the way home and I have the money and desire to spend it, I WILL STOP! I am not going to drive a hour to get home, put on dress slacks and a dress shirt then go back to the store. What kind of farse ###### is that when you HAVE TO IMPRESS others? Thats when your social standing, money and pride have taken over your whole nature! I do not need to impress anyone other then my spouse and the one above.This story is one more example why the small LHS are closeing and the online hobby shops are excelling!

Nooooo, man! I'm not a snob at all!! Ask anybody that knows me! As a matter of fact, I'm a jeans and T-shirt guy, and have been accused of looking like a homeless bum at times! I'm just saying....if you LOOK like a bum, don't be suprised if you get TREATED like one. Look at it this way.....if some guy shows up to take my teenage daughter on a date....if he's wearing gangsta clothes with his pants down to his mid-thigh and underwear over the top....she ain't going out the door with him. Period. I don't care if he's a "great guy"! If I get on the airplane with the Middle-Eastern guy in full Arab garb, yes, I'm gonna keep an eye on him.

I'm just sayin....expect to be treated the way you dress! Thats all!

[davyou5]

For the dealership comments here, I have done Mystery Shops myself, and I can tell you flat out that the instructions given tell the Shopper to Dress Well, this one shop shop was for a Chrysler Dealer ship, and I can tell you first hand that I was treated with much respect for dressing how you would say Casual, you know Polo Shirt and Clean slacks, so as it appears here the way you dress is everything to the mind set of a person.

On the other hand, it is also a discrimination on any one to assume that a person not so well dressed is a loser and a bum, as many have pointed out here there are many such peoples that dress alittle Raggy and still make Ton's more than a counter person. That counter person actually needs a lesson in humility! I would have called the manager over in an instant and talked to him about his counter person and the bad service that has been experienced! Then I would have insisted on getting that person Fired, and of course ask the manager about the item that needs to be purchased, even if I would have had explain that I build Model Cars, that in its self would have been worth the effort to get rid of such arrogance .

On a more personal note, I do not go out often looking ragged, but I don't dress too nice ether. And I don't discriminate against others who do, that's just plain wrong, it's stupid and its arrogant, Especially if local businesses want to stay open, Glue Sniffing Customers or no, they still get the mighty Dollar from Customers.

[beefheart22]

Nooooo, man! I'm not a snob at all!! Ask anybody that knows me! As a matter of fact, I'm a jeans and T-shirt guy, and have been accused of looking like a homeless bum at times! I'm just saying....if you LOOK like a bum, don't be suprised if you get TREATED like one. Look at it this way.....if some guy shows up to take my teenage daughter on a date....if he's wearing gangsta clothes with his pants down to his mid-thigh and underwear over the top....she ain't going out the door with him. Period. I don't care if he's a "great guy"! If I get on the airplane with the Middle-Eastern guy in full Arab garb, yes, I'm gonna keep an eye on him.

I'm just sayin....expect to be treated the way you dress! Thats all!

True that. People automatically judge based on appearance. It's a natural instinct.

If I had my way I'd grow my beard and hair out and wear nothing but a bath-robe and slippers... kind of like Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski. I never had any intentions on going to Malibu anyways.

[1320wayne]

Nooooo, man! I'm not a snob at all!! Ask anybody that knows me! As a matter of fact, I'm a jeans and T-shirt guy, and have been accused of looking like a homeless bum at times! I'm just saying....if you LOOK like a bum, don't be suprised if you get TREATED like one. Look at it this way.....if some guy shows up to take my teenage daughter on a date....if he's wearing gangsta clothes with his pants down to his mid-thigh and underwear over the top....she ain't going out the door with him. Period. I don't care if he's a "great guy"! If I get on the airplane with the Middle-Eastern guy in full Arab garb, yes, I'm gonna keep an eye on him.

I'm just sayin....expect to be treated the way you dress! Thats all!

Sorry Tommy, but this is the kind of narrow minded, anti Christian thinking that has gotten this country into the position that it's in today. If you think that this is the way people will treat you if you look a certain way then you obviously feel the same way. And based on your comments about Middle Easterners in full Arab garb then I'd say that's pretty much true.

People shouldn't think this way. It's called profiling and profiling is wrong. I have worked in retail loss prevention for over 15 years and one thing that I've learned is it doesn't matter how anyone is dressed. You never know what anyone is capable of, or not capable of for that matter, simply based on their appearance. I've had people rip off one of my stores and go out to the parking lot and climb behind the wheel of a Mercedes and drive away. I've also seen the most destitute looking individual come in and drop a couple of thousand dollars in one shot. You never know. It's peoples actions and behaviors that tip off what type of character they are, not how they look or how they dress.

The person at this hobby shop is definately the type of person that is not long for his job if this is how he will treat customers.

[roadhawg]

Sorry Tommy, but this is the kind of narrow minded, anti Christian thinking that has gotten this country into the position that it's in today. If you think that this is the way people will treat you if you look a certain way then you obviously feel the same way. And based on your comments about Middle Easterners in full Arab garb then I'd say that's pretty much true.

People shouldn't think this way. It's called profiling and profiling is wrong. I have worked in retail loss prevention for over 15 years and one thing that I've learned is it doesn't matter how anyone is dressed. You never know what anyone is capable of, or not capable of for that matter, simply based on their appearance. I've had people rip off one of my stores and go out to the parking lot and climb behind the wheel of a Mercedes and drive away. I've also seen the most destitute looking individual come in and drop a couple of thousand dollars in one shot. You never know. It's peoples actions and behaviors that tip off what type of character they are, not how they look or how they dress.

The person at this hobby shop is definately the type of person that is not long for his job if this is how he will treat customers.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm not saying thats what I believe or don't believe. I'm just saying thats the way it is.

[roadhawg]

Sorry Tommy, but this is the kind of narrow minded, anti Christian thinking that has gotten this country into the position that it's in today. If you think that this is the way people will treat you if you look a certain way then you obviously feel the same way. And based on your comments about Middle Easterners in full Arab garb then I'd say that's pretty much true.

People shouldn't think this way. It's called profiling and profiling is wrong.

If you reach a decision that, based on all the evidence you have, that in the overwhelming majority of cases, certain actions are performed by people of a certain group...is that profiling, or is that deductive logic? If someone walked into a bank wearing a ski mask and hiding something in his jacket, would it be wrong of me to think this might be a issue?

Sorry, man. Political correctness is whats gotten this country into this situation, not "profiling". In most cases, "profiling" is nothing more than good police work.

[Smart-Resins]

Nooooo, man! I'm not a snob at all!! Ask anybody that knows me! As a matter of fact, I'm a jeans and T-shirt guy, and have been accused of looking like a homeless bum at times! I'm just saying....if you LOOK like a bum, don't be suprised if you get TREATED like one. Look at it this way.....if some guy shows up to take my teenage daughter on a date....if he's wearing gangsta clothes with his pants down to his mid-thigh and underwear over the top....she ain't going out the door with him. Period. I don't care if he's a "great guy"! If I get on the airplane with the Middle-Eastern guy in full Arab garb, yes, I'm gonna keep an eye on him.

I'm just sayin....expect to be treated the way you dress! Thats all!

I do not know about anyone else here, but when I go out, I expect to be treated with respect! I do not give a darn how I am dressed. I treat others with respect. I expect to be treated with respect. I esp. exspect to be treated with respect from anyone younger then myself. There is nothing I hate more then being waited on by some teenager who snobs the heck out of me! I have busted my butt my whole life and have worked circles around most people to honestly earn my dollar! To be snubbed by some snob teenager really disturbs me! That is called lack of respect, something I see everywheres! I mean everwheres including church! I also hate being cut off, pushed, bumped into and stepped on. Or even someone reaching out and grabbing something I am already reaching out to grab! Or someone reaching across infront of me! I wait my turn. If someone is in the way, I polightly wait. If it takes a little while, I polightly ask them to excuse me! I let others go before me. It is called common decency. Also roadhawg, I do wish to apologize even though my opinion stands firm. I should have worded it as you come across as a snob to me! I should not judge that you are! The statement about the anti-christianity I whole hardily agree with as well here! The post about someone taking offense to that wich I now do not see(?) makes me feel as though perhaps you also lack the decency and respect and ideaology that wich this nation was founded on? Just the way you come across. Now before I get into things here and get dragged into a debatical wich is where I can see this heading into soon, I will say I hope everyone has better experiances in the future and I hope that person at the hobby shop figures out how to treat thier customers. Thanks. Now I take my leave of absence.