What do you hate most about the holiday shopping season?

Discussion in Stores Reviews, Comments & Complaints started by lrd913 • Oct 19, 2014.

  1. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    I used to work in retail and the holiday season was my least favorite time of the year. I'm 24 years old, and I started working when I was 17 years old and I've had many different jobs over the years. I've worked at a grocery store, a bookstore, another grocery store, and fast food restaurants, and as a waitress over the years. I've noticed that it didn't matter where I was working, customers can generally be the worst around the holiday season.

    I've had customers get in screaming matches with one another. I've seen people ram their carts into each other when coming down an aisle, and then flip out at one another. I've seen customers be downright rude and in an eternal bad mood.

    Nothing compares to how people act between Thanksgiving and New Years.

    What do you hate the most about the holiday shopping season?
     
  2. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    I hate the commercials during the holiday season because here I am trying to pay off debt and save money so that my daughter can have security and a good life,
    and every other commercial on TV is telling me that I have to buy a ton of things or I'm a bad parent and Christmas will suck.
    I hate the pressure to spend tons of money to ensure a happy holiday.
     
  3. isabbbela

    isabbbelaWell-Known Member

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    What I hate the most by far is the frenetic crowds looking for presents on the last minute! It's crazy how most people are procrastinators and leave the gift purchasing for the last minute!! I'm like that as well so it's not like I can criticize others!! But to me it gets annoying when people get rude and start pushing others and being nasty to sales people because they are in a hurry.
     
  4. Nickchick

    NickchickWell-Known Member

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    I don't know how else to explain it but I hate how commercial it has felt. Maybe it's because my grandma died years ago and as a child being with her she made it so magical. It could also help that I'm older. When you're a kid Christmas means everything. There are things I want and get disappointed when I can't get them so I guess even I've made it commercial but just find it hard to have much meaning in it.
     
  5. spacetimecontinuum

    spacetimecontinuumMember

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    I hate that people work themselves up into a complete lather of consumerism, frothing at the mouth about things they don't actually need, things people don't actually want. People are too programmed by advertising and media about what they should and should not have and at the end of the day, all these things are so ephemeral and temporary, they mean nothing.

    I enjoy gifts and I enjoy gift giving. But when I see people lining up for hours for items, or getting into fights with other customers in stores and such, it makes me weep for humanity.

    I wonder are these really the priorities in your life? Are these things worth getting in debt and potentially losing your life for?
     
  6. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    It does seem that the holiday season has become far too focused on the "want, want, want", and people forget that Christmas isn't about how much money is spent. I understand now that I'm older why my parents were always so stressed about buying gifts. Television is full of ads and television shows that put a negative spin on people who can't buy their kids what they want. It shouldn't matter how much I spend on a gift. It should matter how much thought I put into it. I personally prefer gifts that were thought out and have a personal meaning.
     
  7. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    I was always stuck working on Christmas Eve and it was always a horrible experience. Most customers were rude, in a bad mood, or too concerned on getting out of the store as quick as possible. I always loved the customers that complained about the long lines at 5pm on Christmas Eve. I always wanted to say something like, "Well maybe their wouldn't be lines if you people would have gotten your shopping done before today", but I always caught myself before I could.

    I have no problem with anyone buying gifts last minute. I've done it before and I think everyone has at one time or another. But the people that become rude and ignorant are the one that make me want to throw something.

    The pushing is one of the worst things ever. I've been rammed in the side by carts at Walmart, Target, etc more times than I can count. People just act like crazy people once they step foot in a store.
     
  8. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    It does seem that people have their priorities all wrong. Don't get me wrong, I do check ads and look for gifts for people, but it's gotten out of hand. Everything is so focused on how much can be spent or how much we need something new. I miss when I was a kid and wasn't aware of all the drama associated with the holiday season.

    I try to avoid shopping around Christmas as much as possible. I also don't go shopping on Black Friday. I've had to work Black Friday far too many times in the past and it is crazy. I saw on the news a few days ago that Macy's is opening at 6PM on Thanksgiving this year. I'm just appalled at this point with stores and their need to cash in at every opportunity.
     
  9. DancingLady

    DancingLadyActive Member

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    I don't like the crowds. It's too busy when there is a big sale. Even if I really need something, and really have to go and take advantage of the deal, I don't like being in the crowd. Most of my shopping experiences during the holiday rush have been rather negative. Too many people like that makes me feel stressed, and then you have to wait in line on top of it. I have done very little shopping offline for Christmas in the past few years due to not very many stores in my town anyway, and not liking to deal with all that.
     
  10. Mayvin

    MayvinActive Member

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    OMG... the black Friday frenzy is so crazy! When you see people pulling knives on each other over the last xbox then you know something has seriously gone wrong with society lol... I mean seriously?? I avoid all of that buy either shopping early or online. It's not worth my life. Plus everything is so overly commercialized. Instead of it being about celerating the birth of Christ it's mostly about one-uping each other with getting the best gift.
     
    #10Oct 19, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2014
  11. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    It really is crazy. I remember a news story a few years ago about someone being trampled to death on Black Friday. Trampled! No one even noticed for a while because they were all too focused with pushing their way into the store when the doors opened. It's disgusting. People put more thought into what they can buy than another persons life. Black Friday is just the worst, it really is. It's terrifying for customers and workers alike. I know that I always dreaded being on the sales floor on Black Friday. If I could, I tried to get myself behind the sales registers. At least it was safer that way.
     
  12. JessiFox

    JessiFoxActive Member

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    I hate the way people treat each other, too. It really is awful to shop this time of year- and how messed up when it's supposed to be about generosity and good will, etc. etc. I hate dealing with people pushing and shoving and being generally unnecessarily aggressive. I've seen people literally try to snatch things out of other peoples' carts/hands. And let's not even get into how stupid people tend to act in parking lots getting in and out of places.
     
  13. askanison

    askanisonMember

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    I have worked retail before also and now despise the holiday season and shopping in the midst of it all. I refuse to go out for any Black Friday deals and fight the huge volume of people. I have seen little old ladies beaten down over a five dollar Barbie doll before. It is ridiculous how the season of giving turns into the season of pushing, shoving, and fighting. I would rather order from the many retailers that offer online deals and avoid a big store any day. Hopefully this year many more will joing the internet crowd and offer more for the customers like me who refuse to participate in the madness of Black Friday.
     
  14. spacetimecontinuum

    spacetimecontinuumMember

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    There is a period around the holidays, at least here in New York where Macy's stays open 24 hours, it's usually the week up til Xmas eve. I enjoy the displays, the decorations and such, get out of it what I can, without being driven crazy by people foaming at the mouth, to get their hands on the latest bit of Made In China nonsense.

    By the way, do you all realize that in a couple months, it will be 2015??? This is the Back To the Future 2 year!!!! It's here..arrrghhhhh, how the heck did that happen and Dagnabbit, where is my flying hover-board??

    Now, there's something I might chop someone in the neck and line up for, lol...just kidding of course.

    Is it bad form to quote oneself?, ha! well nevertheless, I'm gonna do it... "Now, there's something I might chop someone in the neck and line up for, lol...just kidding of course"


    .Zoiks!!, it's here...sort of.

    Log In

     
  15. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I hate that during this season, malls and stores are looping the same Christmas songs every year. I have nothing against Christmas, but I do kind of hate Christmas songs. Granted, I don't hate all of them, but most of them annoy the hell out of me and I would probably go crazy if I were working in a store and had to listen to that endless loop of cheerful songs I'd have to put up with day in and day out for over a month.
     
  16. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    The only thing I dislike are the grumps that contribute to the season being less than cheery. But this is a problem on a daily basis.. people just refuse to keep their cool or conserve their energy for more important things than griping or snarking at other customers or employees. These are the people that ruin it for the rest of us. Or they attempt to.. nothing brings me down during the holidays; I just feel sorry for these people having such miserable lives lol.
     
  17. Zyni

    ZyniWell-Known Member

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    I remember one year not too long ago, when one big store decided to start pushing Christmas sales in September. Christmas music was playing when people had just finished back to school shopping and had not even bought stuff for Halloween yet. It was a complete turn off to me. Christmas is so much more than $$$, or at least it should be.
     
  18. lrd913

    lrd913Active Member

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    I worked in a bookstore during Christmas for two years and I have come to hate Christmas music with a fiery passion. Whenever I hear a Christmas song on the radio I immediately change the channel, and I now stock my car with burned CD's to listen to instead. After being subject to "Christmas Classics" on loop for hours and hours, I can't take it anymore. The bookstore I worked in played Christmas music from Black Friday until New Years Eve. No other songs were played in that time frame. It was all corporates doing. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the holiday season, but no one needs to listen to "Frosty the Snowman" over 40 times a day. No one.
    "
     
  19. gmckee1985

    gmckee1985Active Member

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    I don't hate the holiday shopping season. I'm a big fan of getting good deal. But I do think that it has some negatives. The main thing I don't like about it is people's rudeness. I get that you want to get everything you want, but we should definitely treat others with respect and put that above getting your item before everyone else. Have some dignity.
     
  20. tangela

    tangelaActive Member

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    The crowd, for sure. When I go shopping I like to go by myself and listen to music and not have to deal with a billion people and their screaming babies. I get everyone's also trying to get a deal and get stuff but it honestly drives me up the wall. I find that by the end of the trip I'm always WAY more tired than I would've been if I was just by myself and not fighting a huge crowd.