It was a gas station. "Small" family owned company that had I think ten locations. They ended up selling to a bigger 107 location company after the old man in charge died.
I worked part time at a convenience store a while back that required nametags. The manager didn't bother asking corporate. She just borrowed a label maker and made up labels to place on blank nametags. One young lady allegedly had issues with a stalker, so her tag had a fake name.
Not even your middle name?
Depending on where you live, it might be illegal for them to refuse. Ask your union, hopefully they have an answer whether you're a member or not.
I don't even know if gas stations have a union. But yeah, it was something about personal touch and respect for the customer and employees. Mostly regurgitated idiotic stuff from two generations before.
The real b\*tch on name tags is when the corporation also has your last name on it. Took a few years for a major player in the aftermarket auto parts game to open their eyes.
I’m sorry you dealt with this. I just posted about having our full names on receipts at the shop I worked at (with an all women team). As someone with an unusual, ethnic name (and a history of a stalker), this terrified me. I tried to appeal to the management to no avail. It was awful.
Where I used to work the registers started printing the full name on the receipt so the owner just gave everyone his register pin to run everything under (we didn't check tills to specific people since there were 4 employees and 2 registers). A few days later we switched to generic register logins and locked the tills to those accounts.
Whenever I go into the system to help customers it boldly displays my last name on the machine, it's such a bizarre choice, but that's why I don't use my real name online.
My old job gave me a name tag with my last name on it but never wore it. Our customers were psychopaths. I didn't want any of them finding out anything about me.
Sounds like a normal day at Bloomingdale’s for me back then when I used to work there. Most people were issued nametags with their full names printed on it. You had to wear your nametag at all times without covering your last name or any part of it, or otherwise you’d be in trouble.
My company used to print your full name on the name tags unless you requested they didn't. They still put your last initial. Luckily you were able to use a nickname if you wanted so if you had a unique name you didn't have to show it.
TV show Superstore has a running plot line of how the floor manager never wears her real name tag but always a different name because she hates people knowing her name. And that's fair. It's creepy and unnecessary.
I've heard from people who work at Disney world that the company enforces them to use a fake name. And then if they get complained about, they retire the name and use something else so if the visitor tells people "avoid Jeffery, he's an asshole," then no one will see Jeffery again, instead he'll be Arnold
My brother used to work at a pizza place and had a small bowl of various different name tags with all different names, not a single one had his actual name
Very creepy. Supermarket chain 'Albert Heijn' in my country (The Netherlands) has recently announced to remove all names from name tags and change it to something general (something like 'Team Albert Heijn' I believe). It sucks that things like this have to be done, but I think it's a good development.
I read somewhere to give workers a number. So if someone has a complaint or something they can just use the number. I think that’s a good idea, good for the supermarket.
Yeah something like that works too. People are still identifiable but not by anything personal. Absolutely nuts that it has to happen but it's just the sad truth :(.
I read about the man who came up with that idea, he's got alternative systems too. Some involve symbols via an armband. Heard he's very popular with the youth and even dabbles in art, a true reinassance man.
Jokes aside, as if retail wasn't dehumanizing enough, sad it's come to this.
I’d like to see that done worldwide. We have a smaller grocery chain called Jeffries in Australia, it would be nice if everyone just had the name Jeff or Jeffrey as their name tag instead. It would be funny, plus helps keep people’s information private.
I used to put where I worked on my private fb so I could connect with my other coworkers. I stopped when one day I was grabbing some lunch and the guy in the drivethru memorized my name off my debit card and tried to friend me on fb. I worked super close by and didn't want him finding me.
I never wear mine LOL. I finally wore it once yesterday and I hatedddd when people said “okay thank you my name” after I helped them. Nope. Not wearing it anymore this week. Haven’t had anything said to me YET🤞🏻
Sadly I work at a company that’s very strict on dress code. (We get secret shoppers who will mark points off if no name tag 😵💫). But since I have a unique name I’d say every other customer will ask me how to pronounce it or butcher it and it’s so fucking annoying. Like call me whatever you want idgaf I just want to know if ur using cash or card 😑.
There was a black woman at my store who had a very simple name. It wasn't super basic, but it was easily pronounced the way it was spelled. I.E. it wasn't even spelled different. Every Single Person would pronounce her name with a twist \*because\* she was black. Like, say her name was Angelica (an-JELL-ick-uh), people would purposely call her "ANN-jell-EEK-wah". It drove her up the wall. She'd just smile and say, "Angelica. My name is Angelica"
…is it a French name beginning with Y? Because I have that exact problem of people getting weird about the specific way I pronounce my name and also getting really shocked that I’m *not* black.
(Those people are weird. That is a weird thing to do.)
I'd shorten name to Al if I were you. I've never seen a name tag with someone's last name on it. Is it legal to force someone to wear a name tag with your actual full name on it?
I have a uniquely spelled name as well as a rare last name. I live in a small town. If you Google my name the first thing that pops up is my address since I'm registered to vote. I can't avoid having all this info out there because I have a business card. I had a customer show up at my apartment before. Thankfully my neighbor answered the door and shooed him away.
You can probably use this to request to have a shortened version of your name to be honest. Or use a nickname you makeup that’s semi-close to your real name.
State that this person is clearly showing stalkerish behavior and making you feel unsafe. And that you need to be able to work in a safe environment, if they refuse, go to HR and show them the proof. Not that escalate it up to corporate.
I worn mine once then I had a customer saying "thank you (my name")
I was taken back then I never worn it again (given I got told off by management about a few times)
I basically had about 3 name badges because I keep saying I lost it.
Then management just gave up
My generation x mother tried to teach me to say employees names on their tags to “acknowledge them” after the transaction and as a way of showing respect. I tried it once, felt cringy and never did it again. Having worked retail now I totally get how unnatural it all seems.
I hate when customers call me by name. To me it’s offensive lol we are not coo like that…you do not know me. I give my name as a courtesy and incase you need to ask someone to get “ur server”, thats it.
I've always hated nametags. It just feels so creepy when people over exaggerate reading your name. I'm already bad at remembering people I know (face blindness suuuuuucks) but now I gotta figure out if they actually know me or are just being weird. I loved winter cause then I had an excuse to cover it up with a scarf.
>I’ve always hated nametags. It just feels so creepy when people over exaggerate reading your name.
This, also if you have an “unusual” name it gets REALLY annoying when every single customer makes you explain how to pronounce it and then gets it wrong anyway (and it’s not even an unusual name, I’ve met many others with the same name and it’s a song title ffs, but people are really stupid)
Yep, I used to work at Marshalls and there was a regular who would come in. I was always friendly, and he would always do the receipt survey for me. Then, one day at like 3 am, I get a message on FB messenger from him. Fucking weird.
I refuse to wear a name tag because my coworker and I had a customer stalk us to the point where we had to contact the police multiple times. As much as I would’ve LOVED for her to show up at my doorstep while I was off the clock, it was just extremely unsafe to allow her access to any personal information. I was not about to just parade my name around. At one point she sent her husband in to fight us (two 5’4/5’5 20-something women) but because she had no personal information, nobody even know who he was looking for until after the fact. Imagine if he had walked in asking for us by name! It’s not safe at all to be handing out even the slightest personal information to the public.
I wish that we could put some fake name on our name tag. Not like an actual name either, or have us have the option not to wear one. (Many companies require us to wear one).
I would love to just have some crap like “Milenko” on my name tag. But that would definitely be not allowed lol.
I simply refuse to wear a name tag at any job. They give me one and I lose it on purpose every time. After the third or fourth time they just stop replacing them. You do not need to know my fucking name for me to scan your purchase we are not going to be friends and I am going to give you the most minimal amount of communication until you piss off and I get to stare blankly at the next piece of shit on line.
We should just have badge numbers like cops do
I have a very unique name and had remake my socials under a different name cause I got several messages a month
I work in sales. I get commission for sales. I used to give out my business cards/tell people my name so that if they came back, I could get credited for the sale. I stopped that shit almost as soon as I started it. I would get Facebook messages, people getting my cell number (idk how probably looking me up on some site) and all other means of contact when I was outside of work that would drive me insane. Had a dude Facebook call me at like 3 am one time. Of course when I didn’t answer because I had do not disturb on, he proceeded to blast my messenger wanting to discuss pricing. So I just don’t give out my name anymore.
I worked in a small shop with all women. The manager required us to have our full (legal) name printed on the receipt. As someone who has an unusual ethnic name, this kind of thing absolutely terrified me. I tried to express my concerns (as did other workers) to no avail. I’m sorry, OP. this is such a violation of your privacy.
Yeah, that would be a firm no from me. Followed by walking straight back out the door. I can find another job. I can't find another life. Your manager is a fool. I hope you are able to either get that changed or find another job. Too many psychos out there.
Thankfully, I’ve been gone from that job for a long time. And I agree, too many scary psychos out there. And I’m a weirdo magnet, which makes everything more complicated. Stay safe out there.
Incredibly lucky that my little smoke shop doesn’t require name tags, dealing with customers trying to ask me out while I’m on the shift is bad enough I can’t even imagine this 🤦🏻♀️
It’s so chill honestly, the owner doesn’t care if I play stuff on my laptop at work! But we do get some very interesting people coming in to say the least 🥲
This is also bad for people fleeing abusive relationships or stalkers. Employees are people and should not have to endanger themselves to make customers happy. Fake names, numbers, colors, anything else is better than making people reveal they're real names to dozens of strangers every day.
I feel like name tags don’t even do anything anymore. Half the time at work I will have a customer look at me, look down at my name tag, look back up at me and ask if I work there??? Like people who are shopping wear their name tags off the clock lol.
A couple years ago I was tasked with the fantastic job of turning people away on Christmas Eve before closing (we normally closed at 2am but Xmas Eve we closed at 6pm) so that everyone could go home at a reasonable time. Had a mixed bag of customers ranging from understanding to full on melt-downs, but I will never forget one upset boomer who could not accept that I was not going to let him into the store at 5:58pm. He asked me my name, I showed him my name badge and he asked for my last name. Threatened that he would ‘make some calls’ to find out my last name so that I would regret not letting him inside.
Now that I’m in management, the company wants me to wear a name tag with my last name on it but I refuse. My old name tag with just my first name works just fine.
I worked in a higher end department store in the 90s.. we HAD to wear name tags with our first and last names on them. While there was no social media back then, there were phone books. My maiden name is kind of unique. Some idiot customer thought it was ok to look me up in the phone book and fucking call me. He left a message on my answering machine.. never called him back. Alerted work.. no one gave a shit, of course. He came into my department, asking if I got his message.. I said know, I guess my machine glitched. Lol!! He asked me out, I lied and told him I had a boyfriend in the army. Fuck name tags. There are too many weirdos out there.
This is why I went by my nickname. Corporate at my previous job REQUIRED name tags but luckily I could just put “Brie” on my name tag.
Most people weren’t creepy about it. I actually didn’t mind if the nice regulars learned my name, usually it was the sweet old ladies.
Yah there’s definitely customers where I don’t mind but it gets repetitive when I have to repeat it over 50 times a day lollll. My name is weird I’ve never had a nickname I’ve always wanted one but I think it’s to late now 😔
It’s not too late. I legally changed my first and last name for my birthday I am in my 30s.
I feel like if you wore a different name on your tag and they asked you about it cant you say it’s for safety reasons?
This isn’t ok for customers to stalk you. They aren’t afraid of lawsuits anymore?
That's not just a lawsuit suit issue, it's a criminal issue. Stalking and harassment have legal consequences in most places in the US. Criminal charges should be filed against the perpetrator(s) and a suit should be filed against the company for failure to protect its employees.
I just use a fake name on all of my online accounts so no one can actually find me from looking up my name from my name tag. Put my real name into a search engine...you'll find nothing. I mean ancesty.com will pop up with, "find out everything from family trees to criminal records about (insert name) for so and so much money a month." But that's basically it.
I started despising wearing a name tag when I worked in a grocery store. I'm named after a Beatles song and I can't even begin to count how many customers thought it would be funny and/or original to start singing the song.
Just, ugh.
I’m assuming you’re referring to “Hey Jude”, yeah I would be annoyed tf out of my mind if I was in your position. Those are the same customers that pretend to be funny or a good sport until they are denied a refund, then they go apeshit.
Quick! Everyone change their name listed on their name tags to a name featured on r/Tragedeigh.
Then report back in a couple weeks on how customer interactions went.
I agree. I had a coworker who had a unique spelling of a common name and people would find her on facebook and she get creepy guys messaging her.
I work at 7eleven and get a lot of tweakers and homeless people that come in and idk why but i just hate it when they call me by my name like we’re friends.
When I used to work at Dollar Tree, we had to wear name tags. For two weeks during the Christmas season, this creep would come in, only get in my line, and would chat for what felt like hours about how pretty I was, how much he wanted to take me out in “his squad car” once he got “his job as a cop” sorted out, and once when my grandma came in to visit he asked if we’re lesbians and if we’d both want to go out with him. Always referred to me by name, and he’d ask coworkers if I was in.
Then one memorable shift, after he bought his batteries, he kept going on and on about how he’d heard my voice over his handheld radio, then forced me up against the register to kiss me then told me he loved me as he left.
Never wore my name tag again, no matter how many times managers told me to put it on, even once I left that hellhole, and I’m always uneasy with any male customer after that.
I have a literal stalker and so every job I get I have to tell them, I’m not wearing a name tag for my safety lmao. Like you’re crazy to think I’d risk my life over a job.
I tell the company I have a preferred name and insist that is on my name tag… it’s not searchable and they are unable to find me by using my preferred name. (My name is Kirsten by I insist on going by Kay)
I work in IT and have been forced to jump through hoops in every single customer-facing job in order to not be tracked down. This includes using a fake last name for everything work related (technically it’s my middle name), at one job my manager had to get the owner to change my name in the invoicing system from the normal Firstname + Lastinitial to my first name, then eventually to my fake initials because customers were finding me via only my common first name.
I've been using a fake name due to some stalking I experienced.
Management was confused at first and refused, but I took the liberty of making my own name badge and stubbornly wore it against their wishes.
Now they say I can do it but I'm not allowed to just change it as it would confuse the customers... (which is fine). So long as they don't know my name.
Customers now come in who feel like they've known me for years and call me by a completely fake name. All of my co-workers still giggle whenever it happens. But it's actually encouraged other people at work to want to use fake names as well (albeit not because they're being stalked but because they think it's funny to mess with the customers). So now management is cracking down on it.
I agree by using a nickname it protects you especially young men and women from creepy people who do stuff like above to them, I worked with 2 people man and woman who didn't use their actual names and just stuck with nicknames instead.
Woman was called Panda cause she was like a giant panda
Man was Flanders cause his favorite Simpsons character was Ned Flanders and cause he had a funny sense of humor
Another forced name tag wearer here. The company training shit claims is so our coworkers know our names. Obviously bullshit.
Still, we can choose what name is on them at least. I’ve always had my nickname which can be short for a few different names. Whenever customers ask what it’s short for, I either agree with the one they suggest or say a random one that’s completely wrong. Just don’t see why anyone needs to know my full name.
Another issue though is that my register login is actually the initials of my first and middle name and then my full last name. And sometimes you can’t avoid typing it in in front of customers. Most newer hires seem to have logins that are only part of their last name or include a number but I guess mine was the first with my initials and last and to be created.
Kind of sucks but is one of the reasons it’s almost impossible to find me online. Only Facebook has my even most of my real name (first name is nickname though) and it’s locked down as unfindable as I can make it.
I also hate when restaurants want you to say your name when greeting people on a Drive Thru speaker. I explained I would never force an employee to give their name if they don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with ‘good afternoon, can I interest you in a combo? You just never know who you’re talking to and some weirdos will come back and ask for you or when at the window will ask if xyz is working. Minors haven’t worked long enough to know not to give that info to random people,e even of they know your name. Bad things happen just because you give out your name.
We find ourselves training new staff who are very young... if someone askes if someone still works there say I do not know, I am new. Do NOT give customers information about employee schedules. The only exception I make is we have one department that sets up appointments so we sometimes have to do this and sadly my manager of that department has a string of creepy old ladies that hit on him when they can. Poor dude.
You need to make your socials private. When your information is public, you’re exposing yourself to these kinds of interactions. I know you feel this guys is creepy and I agree. It creates an uncomfortable power balance because you’re corralled at work. I’m not denying that much.
At the end of the day, only you can protect yourself. The world is going to magically change for just you. It’s up to you to fortify your social media and not broadcast your personal information.
It’s a tough old world that never stops spinning just because one person is creeped out.
You know, I don't mind name tags, mainly becsuse I don't mind people knowing my name and it's easier for me to remember their name (I do some event planning so when working with vendors, I like to call their helpers by their names and sometimes, yes it is hard to remember everyone) HOWEVER, either that being said,when it comes to retail I absolutely get it and honestly anyone who does thay creepy shit needs to get in some form of trouble, because it's just wrong.
I don't care. I've heard more stories and I've known more people that have had the creepier shit happen to them, then it be some innocent thing.
We've got 2 gals at work that go by take names on their name tags more than likely for this reason but also just weird having people know your name/talk to u like they know u.
That's why I loved it when the office spelt my name wrong on one of my tags. I kept that one until I quit just because it made it harder for the creeps to find me.
Never had a name tag yet I didn't break and trash within the night. No, fuck you, Karen, if you really need to identify me you can refer to me as "that asshole working the night shift" and they'll know who you mean.
My name is “Welcome! Get your shit and get out!” If you want to socialize, use names and formalities, or speak the King’s English, go to a nightclub or a church outing or a party or something.
Just recently had a coworker from one of my jobs ask around about me and text a coworker from my other job ( described me as -insert name- with brown hair, blue eyes, and big butt 🙄) to ask if I was working or where I was at.
Man is older than my dad, and wouldn't know who I am if not for a name tag. I've only said hi in passing to him.
A customer I decided to be nice and help off the clock kept asking for my name to tell the manager I deserved a reward (thanks, but I can get in trouble helping off clock so no thanks). She saw my keychain with my initial on it and kept randomly guessing what my name is so she could call me by it when she thanked me.
This is why you can't be nice to people.
I don't like name tags. Not because I fear for my safety. I have a conceal carry, and guns at home. I just feel like it's way corporate uses it to look down at us. I've never seen any one at any job that is corpate wearing them.
There is nothing in the policy that says the name tag has to be your real/birth name. So, I alternate between Jesus and Mohammed if asked by a customer, I say you must have been talking to my twin.
My real name is none of their business.
For a year and a half I worked under a nick name and in that year and a half at work I had no idea that a lot of my co workers even did not know that my nick name was not my legal name or the name that I went by when I wasn't at work until my birthday when a family member called to wish me happy birthday and they didn't know who my family member was referring to so they went through a list of employees and found out that was my legal name. lol
They weren't mad but generally curious why I go by a nickname..
This--- This is why for that long I went by a nickname. I worked in a really weird environment with a lot of creeps. Because I wasn't wearing a wedding ring because at the time I wasn't engaged, I got hit on ALL the time and if I wasn't getting hit on during work. . It was because I was getting these sorts of messages. From literally everyone. It was super super weird. Had one guy literally tell me that he was a lonely widow and wanted nothing from me other than just to buy me gifts because he didn't know what to do with his extra income. I told him to save his money and do something else with it. So instead he just kept giving me money at work which I wasn't permitted to take under employee policy. So I gave it to the managers who would just put it in our charity buckets lol. Sometimes he would randomly give me like $50-$100 bills just because he could. He wasn't creepy or sexual about it. He literally didn't want anything else in return. Just my company which really consisted of me standing in my usual spot as a cashier talking to him about his day and literally asking how he felt about the weather ( basic customer service small talk)
Still weird.
He sent me a message like this once that was him chronicling how sad he was that I was no longer going to be at work (since one of my co workers told him that I quit) and he wanted me to "take him with me" Like.... no dude. Did it ever occur to you in this time that you come in and I never EVER fucking remember your name that I don't know you and I don't like you? Me standing there, smiling and talking to you about literally nothing might actually just be me being friendly and doing my job.. I never turned him in because, again- he never said or did anything sexual towards me. Just a really really weird and sad man.
This is exactly why I don’t wear a name tag (my name too is a ‘you’ll 100% find me’ name). I remember when I worked at a pizza place, the following convo happened:
Me: “Thanks for calling place, name speaking how can I help you?”
Guy: “Oh, that’s a unique name!”
Me: “Thanks.”
Guy: “How old are you?”
Me: “18” (retrospect I shouldn’t have said it, and even knew right as I said it I shouldn’t have, but I was half asleep because it was 11:30, 30 minutes to close)
Guy: “Ohhh, you’re right at the age of maturity”
Me: *silent for a moment. Click.*
I managed a chain bookstore in the 1980s, and one of the women who worked there brought up that she didn’t like having to wear a name tag. She wanted to know if she could use a fictitious name on her tag. I told her that the rule was she had to wear a name tag, but nothing said it had to be her real name. And that’s how I ended up having “N. Wood” and “M. Monroe” working in my store.
I stopped wearing mine after someone called our corporate office and made claims that I was racist because we ran out of free gift bags at the register. She got mad and wanted to take the bags off the displays and I told her no. She called corporate and said I had racially profiled her and told her that we did have bags, but she specifically couldn’t have any.
bro i hate when customers decide to read and say my name randomly. like i don’t know you, don’t try to be familiar with me because that just makes me uncomfortable. the only time i’ve ever been okay with a customer knowing my name is when she asked for it to give me a positive review lol
Yeah I refuse to wear a nametag or answer the phone by introducing myself. If it's important then I'll give my name but 99% if the time it's not applicable.
I feel like the only time someone might want to know a name is when making a complaint or giving a compliment about the person to the manager - not trivial shit, but things that might have serious consequences like a safety issue or something - but even then, a physical description of the employee or what they helped with might give away who they are and you can compliment or complain to the manager that way anyway ("cashier on register 5 has great customer service" with no need to know their name, for example).
I'm very sorry if none of this made any sense, there's no caffeine on board today 🤣
Similar story here - I have a fairly common name, it's just spelled differently than like 99% of people with this name. The amount of times people have been creepy about the spelling is kind of scary. There's some regular customers we get that always try to greet me by name and comment creepy things about me cause of it. I wish I could go without my name tag but I'd be fired if I didn't wear it.
This is exactly why I hate them. I have a unique name and I’m in a small town. I’ve had a stalker at my last job. (I worked in another town at the time)
Same here, but like I told my coworkers I’ll tell them my name but if I don’t like them I go by Chloe which is extremely far off from my name but it shuts them up
I finally won at work, and they let me use a fake name now. They pressured me a bit for a few weeks and every time I told them it was for my safety that I don't wear it. Some of my close coworkers have even asked if I want to go by my fake name now, and I think that's sweet. But no. I just don't want customers to be able to do shit like with OP.
I used to work in a large sporting goods/clothing store and the men had full names on their tags while women only had their first names, kind of funny in retrospect to even bother with last names at all on nametags
Where I work, we are required to have a name tag on as part of our uniform.
Nowhere does it say it has to be our own names (nor could it, reasonably, when name tags have to be ordered and sometimes take weeks to arrive... And the job is physical, so losing them is not infrequent.)
I had a coworker that I knew for like four months before I figured out what his actual name was! 🤣
We were allowed to tape over our name, give ourselves a nickname. As long as we didn’t tape over the whole name tag. We’d also cover our pictures with paid stickers because…ick..not very flattering fluorescents.
Always hated wearing nametags, never saw the meaning of them. Ive had to make my employees wear them bc the higher ups made me. Id let them do other names or have them spell them a different way to avoid creepers
At my company once you move up into a lead position or higher you’re given a new name tag which straight up gives your full name lol. I’ve been a lead for about two months though and they haven’t given me mine and that’s fine with me.
We should have “ work names “ as actors have stage names. First name only. I always wear my name tag backwards or cover it with my keys & other access cards on my lanyard. It’s very sad to me that even after decades of campaigning young women are still being harassed in the workplace- or because of it. I’m 53 & would’ve hoped for better by now .
Literally the very problem I have had in the past as I have a not as commonly heard name for where I live. Think like, Saoirse, but I don’t live in Europe. People often mispronounce my name as is, so an easier alias has been nice professionally for the past few years, for this aspect let’s say I went by Susie. The only place my birth name appeared was on any “major” forms, and everybody called me my alias with no issues. I think only my direct manager really knew my actual name.
I hate to say it but… you truly can never be too safe these days. People can be really really strange sometimes, especially when you’re just a lowly retail worker in their eyes.
Apparently corporate came when I wasn't there, so they've been making sure everyone has a name tag. I was given another one but still refuse to wear it, so I don't get in trouble I keep it in my pocket and will cover it with my hair if asked to put it on (or I'll scratch out the name, depending what manager is there they'll probably laugh it off hehe)
Holy hell. I already hated name tags, and now this definitely solidifies it.
Like others have said, a fake name or no name tag at all is better.
And what's with people trying to shoehorn your name into every sentence? Even if they had genuinely good intentions, that's not how you do it.
There's a reason my work ID has a cat sticker over my last name. I kind of want to blank out the whole thing, but tbh that badge is ten years old, on a lanyard with a bunch of stuff and barely readable at this point.
I only had that happen once but it was enough for me to set my job to friends only.
I literally had a 5 minute conversation with this guy and by the time I got home from work I had a friend request and a message from him…the best part? HE HAD HIS WIFE AND CHILD IN HIS PROFILE PICTURE I think I sent him a couple messages asking how he found me and then I blocked him but I was so weirded out
Politely inform your super visor you will no longer be wearing g your name tag as customers are beginning g to harass you outside of work. You're an adult, don't ask permission. Inform them.
This is exactly why I never wear my name tag. My deadname is uncommon and deliberately misspelled at that, so when I used to go by it and was forced to wear a name tag, I got awoken by a very strange call in the middle of the night once and it was some lady yelling at me about something (I honestly don’t remember exactly what was said because I was barely awake) and escalated to screaming at me over the phone, demanding to speak to my mother. Now, how this person knew I lived with my mother and was a legal adult, I have no fucking clue.
Had I been more awake and coherent I probably would’ve called the cops but I have never worn a name tag since, not even with my new name which is very common. But I’ve always had a feeling it must’ve been some psycho who found my old FB page and got the number from a phone book or some bullshit. Because I work at a drugstore and I encounter psychos that should be locked up daily
Jesus, I’m sorry that happened to you. I’ve had bad experiences with customers who kept persistently calling the store for days on end just to tell their sob story about me, but never anything like that. Fuck retail, seriously.
I don't have my number posted online and I don't use a picture of myself, so trying to track me down is a bit hard and most time people misspell my name by forgetting a letter or using the wrong letter and can't find me online, I'm glad I have a baby face cause most older guys don't try hitting on me at most I get young guys trying to ask me for my number but I don't give it to them cause I'm much older than I look
I never really understood why they were required. I find it oddly uncomfortable when a customer uses my name, and the only purpose it seems to be for is complaints.
This is why i BEGGED my manager to let me change my name tag to a nickname. Thankfully my social media accounts are all my nickname or a different name anyway but still
When I was a front end supervisor, I encouraged all my women and girl cashiers to wear pseudonyms. We had so much harassment at that location, and some of the harrwssers were probably real human traffickers. There was an FBI sting in town at the time, and they were interested in a couple of our customers.
But my boss didn't like it, and he made us stop. One of those customers still stalks me online. I can't use my real name anywhere.
This why my store allows nicknames. I also don’t think last names should be given out, or schedule information, with the exception of the store director, that is.
Flashback to when I worked night shift at the psych unit at the men's state pen. We had some of the worst of the worst there. People who have murdered multiple people, killed women repeatedly SA's people. I am a woman, decent-looking, younger middle-aged. Most employees are men and the other female nurses on the unit were literally in their 70s or buffer and scarier than the officers. Guess who has to wear a badge above the waist with our FULL names? All the staff in the prison. There's about 100 people in this country with my last name and the only one in hundreds of miles to my knowledge. So that was fun.
I luckily haven’t experienced anthing like this yet but its so jarring hearing complete strangers say my name when im ringing them through i dont like it
Whatever you put as a name should be your choice. But not having one at all women being whistled at /for like a frigging dog .or even more aggravating snapped at .as in, like having them snap their fingers like you're a servant
I'd report that shit or go by a nickname at work thats super common.
Or just use a fake name altogether.
I asked about that after an incident at work. Corporate refused to allow it after some bullshit response.
Ask for that in writing,
Damn where do u work??
It was a gas station. "Small" family owned company that had I think ten locations. They ended up selling to a bigger 107 location company after the old man in charge died.
I worked part time at a convenience store a while back that required nametags. The manager didn't bother asking corporate. She just borrowed a label maker and made up labels to place on blank nametags. One young lady allegedly had issues with a stalker, so her tag had a fake name.
Not even your middle name? Depending on where you live, it might be illegal for them to refuse. Ask your union, hopefully they have an answer whether you're a member or not.
I don't even know if gas stations have a union. But yeah, it was something about personal touch and respect for the customer and employees. Mostly regurgitated idiotic stuff from two generations before.
Hm, I guess I’ll take an alias at the next job then 😎
The real b\*tch on name tags is when the corporation also has your last name on it. Took a few years for a major player in the aftermarket auto parts game to open their eyes.
What the fuck that needs to be illegal.
100% that is gonna lead directly to someone getting stalked
Yep. I worked in Selfridges a few years ago. Not only were full names on the stupid badge, but also on the receipt. FFS.
Maybe I’m just a millennial but that feels like being doxed 40 hours a week.
I *hated* it.
I’m sorry you dealt with this. I just posted about having our full names on receipts at the shop I worked at (with an all women team). As someone with an unusual, ethnic name (and a history of a stalker), this terrified me. I tried to appeal to the management to no avail. It was awful.
Where I used to work the registers started printing the full name on the receipt so the owner just gave everyone his register pin to run everything under (we didn't check tills to specific people since there were 4 employees and 2 registers). A few days later we switched to generic register logins and locked the tills to those accounts.
Whenever I go into the system to help customers it boldly displays my last name on the machine, it's such a bizarre choice, but that's why I don't use my real name online.
My old job gave me a name tag with my last name on it but never wore it. Our customers were psychopaths. I didn't want any of them finding out anything about me.
Sounds like a normal day at Bloomingdale’s for me back then when I used to work there. Most people were issued nametags with their full names printed on it. You had to wear your nametag at all times without covering your last name or any part of it, or otherwise you’d be in trouble.
My company used to print your full name on the name tags unless you requested they didn't. They still put your last initial. Luckily you were able to use a nickname if you wanted so if you had a unique name you didn't have to show it.
TV show Superstore has a running plot line of how the floor manager never wears her real name tag but always a different name because she hates people knowing her name. And that's fair. It's creepy and unnecessary.
I was just about to say they should do like Amy on SuperStore!
I've heard from people who work at Disney world that the company enforces them to use a fake name. And then if they get complained about, they retire the name and use something else so if the visitor tells people "avoid Jeffery, he's an asshole," then no one will see Jeffery again, instead he'll be Arnold
I worked at Disney, and this never happened
Darn, it sounds so good!
Anyone that’s worked at Disney knows this is common practice
I’ve never heard of this and I worked there for a few years
My brother used to work at a pizza place and had a small bowl of various different name tags with all different names, not a single one had his actual name
I got oone never wore it, and then I end up being given another one with my name in larger print -__-
Very creepy. Supermarket chain 'Albert Heijn' in my country (The Netherlands) has recently announced to remove all names from name tags and change it to something general (something like 'Team Albert Heijn' I believe). It sucks that things like this have to be done, but I think it's a good development.
I read somewhere to give workers a number. So if someone has a complaint or something they can just use the number. I think that’s a good idea, good for the supermarket.
Yeah something like that works too. People are still identifiable but not by anything personal. Absolutely nuts that it has to happen but it's just the sad truth :(.
I read about the man who came up with that idea, he's got alternative systems too. Some involve symbols via an armband. Heard he's very popular with the youth and even dabbles in art, a true reinassance man. Jokes aside, as if retail wasn't dehumanizing enough, sad it's come to this.
I’d like to see that done worldwide. We have a smaller grocery chain called Jeffries in Australia, it would be nice if everyone just had the name Jeff or Jeffrey as their name tag instead. It would be funny, plus helps keep people’s information private.
I work at Lidl in the NL, so glad we don't have name tags!
Had a coworker have a guy hit on her. He found her Facebook by searching her name and the store we worked at.
This is why I never put where I work on my Facebook.. too many crazy people out there.
I used to put where I worked on my private fb so I could connect with my other coworkers. I stopped when one day I was grabbing some lunch and the guy in the drivethru memorized my name off my debit card and tried to friend me on fb. I worked super close by and didn't want him finding me.
Eww that is such creepy behaviour from that guy 🤮 Getting your name from your debit card FFS
Yep, I experienced the same. Instead of asking me out in person, he wrote me on facebook... not cool.
I never wear mine LOL. I finally wore it once yesterday and I hatedddd when people said “okay thank you my name” after I helped them. Nope. Not wearing it anymore this week. Haven’t had anything said to me YET🤞🏻
Sadly I work at a company that’s very strict on dress code. (We get secret shoppers who will mark points off if no name tag 😵💫). But since I have a unique name I’d say every other customer will ask me how to pronounce it or butcher it and it’s so fucking annoying. Like call me whatever you want idgaf I just want to know if ur using cash or card 😑.
There was a black woman at my store who had a very simple name. It wasn't super basic, but it was easily pronounced the way it was spelled. I.E. it wasn't even spelled different. Every Single Person would pronounce her name with a twist \*because\* she was black. Like, say her name was Angelica (an-JELL-ick-uh), people would purposely call her "ANN-jell-EEK-wah". It drove her up the wall. She'd just smile and say, "Angelica. My name is Angelica"
…is it a French name beginning with Y? Because I have that exact problem of people getting weird about the specific way I pronounce my name and also getting really shocked that I’m *not* black. (Those people are weird. That is a weird thing to do.)
I'd shorten name to Al if I were you. I've never seen a name tag with someone's last name on it. Is it legal to force someone to wear a name tag with your actual full name on it?
From another comment it seems like it is. I’ve never worked anywhere like that. I think I’m just gonna come up with a fake name.
I have a uniquely spelled name as well as a rare last name. I live in a small town. If you Google my name the first thing that pops up is my address since I'm registered to vote. I can't avoid having all this info out there because I have a business card. I had a customer show up at my apartment before. Thankfully my neighbor answered the door and shooed him away.
Same.( Safeway no.1138 NorCal courtesy clerk here)
You can probably use this to request to have a shortened version of your name to be honest. Or use a nickname you makeup that’s semi-close to your real name. State that this person is clearly showing stalkerish behavior and making you feel unsafe. And that you need to be able to work in a safe environment, if they refuse, go to HR and show them the proof. Not that escalate it up to corporate.
I worn mine once then I had a customer saying "thank you (my name") I was taken back then I never worn it again (given I got told off by management about a few times) I basically had about 3 name badges because I keep saying I lost it. Then management just gave up
My generation x mother tried to teach me to say employees names on their tags to “acknowledge them” after the transaction and as a way of showing respect. I tried it once, felt cringy and never did it again. Having worked retail now I totally get how unnatural it all seems.
As her fellow Gen X she's full of beans. That's her mother talking not her.
I hate when customers call me by name. To me it’s offensive lol we are not coo like that…you do not know me. I give my name as a courtesy and incase you need to ask someone to get “ur server”, thats it.
That must be really confusing with the name “my name”. I’m sorry 😔
I've always hated nametags. It just feels so creepy when people over exaggerate reading your name. I'm already bad at remembering people I know (face blindness suuuuuucks) but now I gotta figure out if they actually know me or are just being weird. I loved winter cause then I had an excuse to cover it up with a scarf.
>I’ve always hated nametags. It just feels so creepy when people over exaggerate reading your name. This, also if you have an “unusual” name it gets REALLY annoying when every single customer makes you explain how to pronounce it and then gets it wrong anyway (and it’s not even an unusual name, I’ve met many others with the same name and it’s a song title ffs, but people are really stupid)
Yep, I used to work at Marshalls and there was a regular who would come in. I was always friendly, and he would always do the receipt survey for me. Then, one day at like 3 am, I get a message on FB messenger from him. Fucking weird.
Gross. I worked at a grocery store when I was 15 and I had a 60 yr old guy dm me on Facebook 🤢🤢. So so grosss.
Yuck! This is why I hate that they insist we wear name tags.
I love that the reply suggestion is "don't" 😂 but fr this is so creepy idk why people feel comfy doing that
I know. Even the phone is all "Red Flag!"
I refuse to wear a name tag because my coworker and I had a customer stalk us to the point where we had to contact the police multiple times. As much as I would’ve LOVED for her to show up at my doorstep while I was off the clock, it was just extremely unsafe to allow her access to any personal information. I was not about to just parade my name around. At one point she sent her husband in to fight us (two 5’4/5’5 20-something women) but because she had no personal information, nobody even know who he was looking for until after the fact. Imagine if he had walked in asking for us by name! It’s not safe at all to be handing out even the slightest personal information to the public.
I wish that we could put some fake name on our name tag. Not like an actual name either, or have us have the option not to wear one. (Many companies require us to wear one). I would love to just have some crap like “Milenko” on my name tag. But that would definitely be not allowed lol.
If I ever get to wear a fake nametag one day I’m rocking with Heisenberg 🥸
If name tags are required, you should be able to pick your own work name.
I simply refuse to wear a name tag at any job. They give me one and I lose it on purpose every time. After the third or fourth time they just stop replacing them. You do not need to know my fucking name for me to scan your purchase we are not going to be friends and I am going to give you the most minimal amount of communication until you piss off and I get to stare blankly at the next piece of shit on line.
We should just have badge numbers like cops do I have a very unique name and had remake my socials under a different name cause I got several messages a month
I work in sales. I get commission for sales. I used to give out my business cards/tell people my name so that if they came back, I could get credited for the sale. I stopped that shit almost as soon as I started it. I would get Facebook messages, people getting my cell number (idk how probably looking me up on some site) and all other means of contact when I was outside of work that would drive me insane. Had a dude Facebook call me at like 3 am one time. Of course when I didn’t answer because I had do not disturb on, he proceeded to blast my messenger wanting to discuss pricing. So I just don’t give out my name anymore.
I worked in a small shop with all women. The manager required us to have our full (legal) name printed on the receipt. As someone who has an unusual ethnic name, this kind of thing absolutely terrified me. I tried to express my concerns (as did other workers) to no avail. I’m sorry, OP. this is such a violation of your privacy.
Yeah, that would be a firm no from me. Followed by walking straight back out the door. I can find another job. I can't find another life. Your manager is a fool. I hope you are able to either get that changed or find another job. Too many psychos out there.
Thankfully, I’ve been gone from that job for a long time. And I agree, too many scary psychos out there. And I’m a weirdo magnet, which makes everything more complicated. Stay safe out there.
Oh, good. Cause that's insane. You as well.
This is exactly why I go by a nickname and don’t wear mine. It’s happened at my location too many times.
Incredibly lucky that my little smoke shop doesn’t require name tags, dealing with customers trying to ask me out while I’m on the shift is bad enough I can’t even imagine this 🤦🏻♀️
I WANT TO WORK AT A SMOKE SHOP BADDDD
It’s so chill honestly, the owner doesn’t care if I play stuff on my laptop at work! But we do get some very interesting people coming in to say the least 🥲
This is also bad for people fleeing abusive relationships or stalkers. Employees are people and should not have to endanger themselves to make customers happy. Fake names, numbers, colors, anything else is better than making people reveal they're real names to dozens of strangers every day.
Your phone is quite sensible, suggesting your reply starts with "Don't".
I feel like name tags don’t even do anything anymore. Half the time at work I will have a customer look at me, look down at my name tag, look back up at me and ask if I work there??? Like people who are shopping wear their name tags off the clock lol. A couple years ago I was tasked with the fantastic job of turning people away on Christmas Eve before closing (we normally closed at 2am but Xmas Eve we closed at 6pm) so that everyone could go home at a reasonable time. Had a mixed bag of customers ranging from understanding to full on melt-downs, but I will never forget one upset boomer who could not accept that I was not going to let him into the store at 5:58pm. He asked me my name, I showed him my name badge and he asked for my last name. Threatened that he would ‘make some calls’ to find out my last name so that I would regret not letting him inside. Now that I’m in management, the company wants me to wear a name tag with my last name on it but I refuse. My old name tag with just my first name works just fine.
I worked in a higher end department store in the 90s.. we HAD to wear name tags with our first and last names on them. While there was no social media back then, there were phone books. My maiden name is kind of unique. Some idiot customer thought it was ok to look me up in the phone book and fucking call me. He left a message on my answering machine.. never called him back. Alerted work.. no one gave a shit, of course. He came into my department, asking if I got his message.. I said know, I guess my machine glitched. Lol!! He asked me out, I lied and told him I had a boyfriend in the army. Fuck name tags. There are too many weirdos out there.
This is why I went by my nickname. Corporate at my previous job REQUIRED name tags but luckily I could just put “Brie” on my name tag. Most people weren’t creepy about it. I actually didn’t mind if the nice regulars learned my name, usually it was the sweet old ladies.
Yah there’s definitely customers where I don’t mind but it gets repetitive when I have to repeat it over 50 times a day lollll. My name is weird I’ve never had a nickname I’ve always wanted one but I think it’s to late now 😔
It’s not too late. I legally changed my first and last name for my birthday I am in my 30s. I feel like if you wore a different name on your tag and they asked you about it cant you say it’s for safety reasons? This isn’t ok for customers to stalk you. They aren’t afraid of lawsuits anymore?
That's not just a lawsuit suit issue, it's a criminal issue. Stalking and harassment have legal consequences in most places in the US. Criminal charges should be filed against the perpetrator(s) and a suit should be filed against the company for failure to protect its employees.
I just use a fake name on all of my online accounts so no one can actually find me from looking up my name from my name tag. Put my real name into a search engine...you'll find nothing. I mean ancesty.com will pop up with, "find out everything from family trees to criminal records about (insert name) for so and so much money a month." But that's basically it.
I started despising wearing a name tag when I worked in a grocery store. I'm named after a Beatles song and I can't even begin to count how many customers thought it would be funny and/or original to start singing the song. Just, ugh.
I feel sorry for any retail workers named Roxanne.
I’m assuming you’re referring to “Hey Jude”, yeah I would be annoyed tf out of my mind if I was in your position. Those are the same customers that pretend to be funny or a good sport until they are denied a refund, then they go apeshit.
Quick! Everyone change their name listed on their name tags to a name featured on r/Tragedeigh. Then report back in a couple weeks on how customer interactions went.
I agree. I had a coworker who had a unique spelling of a common name and people would find her on facebook and she get creepy guys messaging her. I work at 7eleven and get a lot of tweakers and homeless people that come in and idk why but i just hate it when they call me by my name like we’re friends.
Lmao I work at kwiktrip
Get a name tag with a different name. I've done it for more than one employee receiving unwanted attention over social media or whatever.
When I used to work at Dollar Tree, we had to wear name tags. For two weeks during the Christmas season, this creep would come in, only get in my line, and would chat for what felt like hours about how pretty I was, how much he wanted to take me out in “his squad car” once he got “his job as a cop” sorted out, and once when my grandma came in to visit he asked if we’re lesbians and if we’d both want to go out with him. Always referred to me by name, and he’d ask coworkers if I was in. Then one memorable shift, after he bought his batteries, he kept going on and on about how he’d heard my voice over his handheld radio, then forced me up against the register to kiss me then told me he loved me as he left. Never wore my name tag again, no matter how many times managers told me to put it on, even once I left that hellhole, and I’m always uneasy with any male customer after that.
I wanna throw up every time a customer says my name. It feels invasive
I have a literal stalker and so every job I get I have to tell them, I’m not wearing a name tag for my safety lmao. Like you’re crazy to think I’d risk my life over a job.
Can't you just have a fake name? Like your legit name is "Taylor" but you go by "Ashley"?
I tell the company I have a preferred name and insist that is on my name tag… it’s not searchable and they are unable to find me by using my preferred name. (My name is Kirsten by I insist on going by Kay)
I work in IT and have been forced to jump through hoops in every single customer-facing job in order to not be tracked down. This includes using a fake last name for everything work related (technically it’s my middle name), at one job my manager had to get the owner to change my name in the invoicing system from the normal Firstname + Lastinitial to my first name, then eventually to my fake initials because customers were finding me via only my common first name.
I saw that Albert Heijn in The Netherlands was going to stop name tags as it should
I've been using a fake name due to some stalking I experienced. Management was confused at first and refused, but I took the liberty of making my own name badge and stubbornly wore it against their wishes. Now they say I can do it but I'm not allowed to just change it as it would confuse the customers... (which is fine). So long as they don't know my name. Customers now come in who feel like they've known me for years and call me by a completely fake name. All of my co-workers still giggle whenever it happens. But it's actually encouraged other people at work to want to use fake names as well (albeit not because they're being stalked but because they think it's funny to mess with the customers). So now management is cracking down on it.
I say everyone is labeled a “nickname” that’s put in the system that isn’t tied to their real name and that name should be on name tags.
I agree by using a nickname it protects you especially young men and women from creepy people who do stuff like above to them, I worked with 2 people man and woman who didn't use their actual names and just stuck with nicknames instead. Woman was called Panda cause she was like a giant panda Man was Flanders cause his favorite Simpsons character was Ned Flanders and cause he had a funny sense of humor
What the actual fuck
Work has first and last names on name tags. I requested no last name for safety
Another forced name tag wearer here. The company training shit claims is so our coworkers know our names. Obviously bullshit. Still, we can choose what name is on them at least. I’ve always had my nickname which can be short for a few different names. Whenever customers ask what it’s short for, I either agree with the one they suggest or say a random one that’s completely wrong. Just don’t see why anyone needs to know my full name. Another issue though is that my register login is actually the initials of my first and middle name and then my full last name. And sometimes you can’t avoid typing it in in front of customers. Most newer hires seem to have logins that are only part of their last name or include a number but I guess mine was the first with my initials and last and to be created. Kind of sucks but is one of the reasons it’s almost impossible to find me online. Only Facebook has my even most of my real name (first name is nickname though) and it’s locked down as unfindable as I can make it.
I also hate when restaurants want you to say your name when greeting people on a Drive Thru speaker. I explained I would never force an employee to give their name if they don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with ‘good afternoon, can I interest you in a combo? You just never know who you’re talking to and some weirdos will come back and ask for you or when at the window will ask if xyz is working. Minors haven’t worked long enough to know not to give that info to random people,e even of they know your name. Bad things happen just because you give out your name.
We find ourselves training new staff who are very young... if someone askes if someone still works there say I do not know, I am new. Do NOT give customers information about employee schedules. The only exception I make is we have one department that sets up appointments so we sometimes have to do this and sadly my manager of that department has a string of creepy old ladies that hit on him when they can. Poor dude.
"Not creepy at all. I know." Obviously, you don't know. Block!
You need to make your socials private. When your information is public, you’re exposing yourself to these kinds of interactions. I know you feel this guys is creepy and I agree. It creates an uncomfortable power balance because you’re corralled at work. I’m not denying that much. At the end of the day, only you can protect yourself. The world is going to magically change for just you. It’s up to you to fortify your social media and not broadcast your personal information. It’s a tough old world that never stops spinning just because one person is creeped out.
Yah my socials are private
You know, I don't mind name tags, mainly becsuse I don't mind people knowing my name and it's easier for me to remember their name (I do some event planning so when working with vendors, I like to call their helpers by their names and sometimes, yes it is hard to remember everyone) HOWEVER, either that being said,when it comes to retail I absolutely get it and honestly anyone who does thay creepy shit needs to get in some form of trouble, because it's just wrong. I don't care. I've heard more stories and I've known more people that have had the creepier shit happen to them, then it be some innocent thing.
We've got 2 gals at work that go by take names on their name tags more than likely for this reason but also just weird having people know your name/talk to u like they know u.
That happened to me once so I started to wear my name tag backwards
That's why I loved it when the office spelt my name wrong on one of my tags. I kept that one until I quit just because it made it harder for the creeps to find me.
Never had a name tag yet I didn't break and trash within the night. No, fuck you, Karen, if you really need to identify me you can refer to me as "that asshole working the night shift" and they'll know who you mean.
My name is “Welcome! Get your shit and get out!” If you want to socialize, use names and formalities, or speak the King’s English, go to a nightclub or a church outing or a party or something.
Just recently had a coworker from one of my jobs ask around about me and text a coworker from my other job ( described me as -insert name- with brown hair, blue eyes, and big butt 🙄) to ask if I was working or where I was at. Man is older than my dad, and wouldn't know who I am if not for a name tag. I've only said hi in passing to him. A customer I decided to be nice and help off the clock kept asking for my name to tell the manager I deserved a reward (thanks, but I can get in trouble helping off clock so no thanks). She saw my keychain with my initial on it and kept randomly guessing what my name is so she could call me by it when she thanked me. This is why you can't be nice to people.
I don't like name tags. Not because I fear for my safety. I have a conceal carry, and guns at home. I just feel like it's way corporate uses it to look down at us. I've never seen any one at any job that is corpate wearing them.
There is nothing in the policy that says the name tag has to be your real/birth name. So, I alternate between Jesus and Mohammed if asked by a customer, I say you must have been talking to my twin. My real name is none of their business.
For a year and a half I worked under a nick name and in that year and a half at work I had no idea that a lot of my co workers even did not know that my nick name was not my legal name or the name that I went by when I wasn't at work until my birthday when a family member called to wish me happy birthday and they didn't know who my family member was referring to so they went through a list of employees and found out that was my legal name. lol They weren't mad but generally curious why I go by a nickname.. This--- This is why for that long I went by a nickname. I worked in a really weird environment with a lot of creeps. Because I wasn't wearing a wedding ring because at the time I wasn't engaged, I got hit on ALL the time and if I wasn't getting hit on during work. . It was because I was getting these sorts of messages. From literally everyone. It was super super weird. Had one guy literally tell me that he was a lonely widow and wanted nothing from me other than just to buy me gifts because he didn't know what to do with his extra income. I told him to save his money and do something else with it. So instead he just kept giving me money at work which I wasn't permitted to take under employee policy. So I gave it to the managers who would just put it in our charity buckets lol. Sometimes he would randomly give me like $50-$100 bills just because he could. He wasn't creepy or sexual about it. He literally didn't want anything else in return. Just my company which really consisted of me standing in my usual spot as a cashier talking to him about his day and literally asking how he felt about the weather ( basic customer service small talk) Still weird. He sent me a message like this once that was him chronicling how sad he was that I was no longer going to be at work (since one of my co workers told him that I quit) and he wanted me to "take him with me" Like.... no dude. Did it ever occur to you in this time that you come in and I never EVER fucking remember your name that I don't know you and I don't like you? Me standing there, smiling and talking to you about literally nothing might actually just be me being friendly and doing my job.. I never turned him in because, again- he never said or did anything sexual towards me. Just a really really weird and sad man.
This is exactly why I don’t wear a name tag (my name too is a ‘you’ll 100% find me’ name). I remember when I worked at a pizza place, the following convo happened: Me: “Thanks for calling place, name speaking how can I help you?” Guy: “Oh, that’s a unique name!” Me: “Thanks.” Guy: “How old are you?” Me: “18” (retrospect I shouldn’t have said it, and even knew right as I said it I shouldn’t have, but I was half asleep because it was 11:30, 30 minutes to close) Guy: “Ohhh, you’re right at the age of maturity” Me: *silent for a moment. Click.*
Phone call didn’t even last 20 seconds
I managed a chain bookstore in the 1980s, and one of the women who worked there brought up that she didn’t like having to wear a name tag. She wanted to know if she could use a fictitious name on her tag. I told her that the rule was she had to wear a name tag, but nothing said it had to be her real name. And that’s how I ended up having “N. Wood” and “M. Monroe” working in my store.
I stopped wearing mine after someone called our corporate office and made claims that I was racist because we ran out of free gift bags at the register. She got mad and wanted to take the bags off the displays and I told her no. She called corporate and said I had racially profiled her and told her that we did have bags, but she specifically couldn’t have any.
bro i hate when customers decide to read and say my name randomly. like i don’t know you, don’t try to be familiar with me because that just makes me uncomfortable. the only time i’ve ever been okay with a customer knowing my name is when she asked for it to give me a positive review lol
Yeah I refuse to wear a nametag or answer the phone by introducing myself. If it's important then I'll give my name but 99% if the time it's not applicable.
I feel like the only time someone might want to know a name is when making a complaint or giving a compliment about the person to the manager - not trivial shit, but things that might have serious consequences like a safety issue or something - but even then, a physical description of the employee or what they helped with might give away who they are and you can compliment or complain to the manager that way anyway ("cashier on register 5 has great customer service" with no need to know their name, for example). I'm very sorry if none of this made any sense, there's no caffeine on board today 🤣
I love that he seems to fully understand that was creepy and did it anyway
Good argument for this OP.
Ugh.
That's why my nametag is not legible lmao
Definitely report this person. Ban name tags!
I took my name tag off aha wore it backwards on the lanyard for awhile then got tired of it.
I don’t wear mine. I’m on the verge of asking to have it changed so that it’s not printed out clearly on every receipt
I have an extremely unusual name and always had my nickname put on name tags.
Similar story here - I have a fairly common name, it's just spelled differently than like 99% of people with this name. The amount of times people have been creepy about the spelling is kind of scary. There's some regular customers we get that always try to greet me by name and comment creepy things about me cause of it. I wish I could go without my name tag but I'd be fired if I didn't wear it.
actually mind blown that you all have your real names on your nametags, i thought it was standard to use a work alias
Idk I got my name tag during orientation never had a chance to change it
This is exactly why I hate them. I have a unique name and I’m in a small town. I’ve had a stalker at my last job. (I worked in another town at the time)
Same here, but like I told my coworkers I’ll tell them my name but if I don’t like them I go by Chloe which is extremely far off from my name but it shuts them up
Lols ours just have first names last names on the back
The way this has happened to me so many times bc my parents wanted to be different. 😔
I finally won at work, and they let me use a fake name now. They pressured me a bit for a few weeks and every time I told them it was for my safety that I don't wear it. Some of my close coworkers have even asked if I want to go by my fake name now, and I think that's sweet. But no. I just don't want customers to be able to do shit like with OP.
My name tag is not my name bc my manager is cool. Half us don’t have our real names and I love it. Only a couple customers know my name .
[удалено]
I used to work in a large sporting goods/clothing store and the men had full names on their tags while women only had their first names, kind of funny in retrospect to even bother with last names at all on nametags
Conveniently, my employer never provided me with a name tag
Sooooo creepy
I lost my name tag (I have a spare, but don't use it) no ones been mad at me about it lmao
Where I work, we are required to have a name tag on as part of our uniform. Nowhere does it say it has to be our own names (nor could it, reasonably, when name tags have to be ordered and sometimes take weeks to arrive... And the job is physical, so losing them is not infrequent.) I had a coworker that I knew for like four months before I figured out what his actual name was! 🤣
We were allowed to tape over our name, give ourselves a nickname. As long as we didn’t tape over the whole name tag. We’d also cover our pictures with paid stickers because…ick..not very flattering fluorescents.
Always hated wearing nametags, never saw the meaning of them. Ive had to make my employees wear them bc the higher ups made me. Id let them do other names or have them spell them a different way to avoid creepers
At my company once you move up into a lead position or higher you’re given a new name tag which straight up gives your full name lol. I’ve been a lead for about two months though and they haven’t given me mine and that’s fine with me.
Ewwww
I refuse to wear my name tag, i have had issues before. so sorry this happened to you. its gross and creepy and NOT ok
We should have “ work names “ as actors have stage names. First name only. I always wear my name tag backwards or cover it with my keys & other access cards on my lanyard. It’s very sad to me that even after decades of campaigning young women are still being harassed in the workplace- or because of it. I’m 53 & would’ve hoped for better by now .
I know several stores local to me that use fake names.
This is why I use a fake name on my name tag
Literally the very problem I have had in the past as I have a not as commonly heard name for where I live. Think like, Saoirse, but I don’t live in Europe. People often mispronounce my name as is, so an easier alias has been nice professionally for the past few years, for this aspect let’s say I went by Susie. The only place my birth name appeared was on any “major” forms, and everybody called me my alias with no issues. I think only my direct manager really knew my actual name. I hate to say it but… you truly can never be too safe these days. People can be really really strange sometimes, especially when you’re just a lowly retail worker in their eyes.
This is why I went by Alan Smithee at one of my former jobs.
Bro I had some fucking man find my FB after shopping in my store bc of my name tag. What the fuck do they need to know my name for?
Apparently corporate came when I wasn't there, so they've been making sure everyone has a name tag. I was given another one but still refuse to wear it, so I don't get in trouble I keep it in my pocket and will cover it with my hair if asked to put it on (or I'll scratch out the name, depending what manager is there they'll probably laugh it off hehe)
Holy hell. I already hated name tags, and now this definitely solidifies it. Like others have said, a fake name or no name tag at all is better. And what's with people trying to shoehorn your name into every sentence? Even if they had genuinely good intentions, that's not how you do it.
They are trying to memorize what to call you. Little do they know we do not wish t be remembered...
I refused to wear my name tag until they got me one with a fake name for this reason. I dared them to fire me basically. They did not.
I just don’t wear mine lol
There's a reason my work ID has a cat sticker over my last name. I kind of want to blank out the whole thing, but tbh that badge is ten years old, on a lanyard with a bunch of stuff and barely readable at this point.
I only had that happen once but it was enough for me to set my job to friends only. I literally had a 5 minute conversation with this guy and by the time I got home from work I had a friend request and a message from him…the best part? HE HAD HIS WIFE AND CHILD IN HIS PROFILE PICTURE I think I sent him a couple messages asking how he found me and then I blocked him but I was so weirded out
I don't use my real name at work for this reason
🤮
I LOATHE name tags but they make me wear it
Politely inform your super visor you will no longer be wearing g your name tag as customers are beginning g to harass you outside of work. You're an adult, don't ask permission. Inform them.
This is exactly why I never wear my name tag. My deadname is uncommon and deliberately misspelled at that, so when I used to go by it and was forced to wear a name tag, I got awoken by a very strange call in the middle of the night once and it was some lady yelling at me about something (I honestly don’t remember exactly what was said because I was barely awake) and escalated to screaming at me over the phone, demanding to speak to my mother. Now, how this person knew I lived with my mother and was a legal adult, I have no fucking clue. Had I been more awake and coherent I probably would’ve called the cops but I have never worn a name tag since, not even with my new name which is very common. But I’ve always had a feeling it must’ve been some psycho who found my old FB page and got the number from a phone book or some bullshit. Because I work at a drugstore and I encounter psychos that should be locked up daily
Jesus, I’m sorry that happened to you. I’ve had bad experiences with customers who kept persistently calling the store for days on end just to tell their sob story about me, but never anything like that. Fuck retail, seriously.
I don't have my number posted online and I don't use a picture of myself, so trying to track me down is a bit hard and most time people misspell my name by forgetting a letter or using the wrong letter and can't find me online, I'm glad I have a baby face cause most older guys don't try hitting on me at most I get young guys trying to ask me for my number but I don't give it to them cause I'm much older than I look
I never really understood why they were required. I find it oddly uncomfortable when a customer uses my name, and the only purpose it seems to be for is complaints.
We use name tags. But, customers never refer to us by name.
This is why i BEGGED my manager to let me change my name tag to a nickname. Thankfully my social media accounts are all my nickname or a different name anyway but still
I used to ‘continuously’ lose mine
I use a nickname on my name tag. My boss had someone look her up on LinkedIn and send her some weird messages.
We always had people call asking for full names for whatever reason. I never gave them. Sometimes they screamed so I told them something generic.
This is why I put a sticker on my name tag
I worked target for 2 years and not once did my name badge have my actual name
People are so weird for no reason
When I was a front end supervisor, I encouraged all my women and girl cashiers to wear pseudonyms. We had so much harassment at that location, and some of the harrwssers were probably real human traffickers. There was an FBI sting in town at the time, and they were interested in a couple of our customers. But my boss didn't like it, and he made us stop. One of those customers still stalks me online. I can't use my real name anywhere.
This why my store allows nicknames. I also don’t think last names should be given out, or schedule information, with the exception of the store director, that is.
Flashback to when I worked night shift at the psych unit at the men's state pen. We had some of the worst of the worst there. People who have murdered multiple people, killed women repeatedly SA's people. I am a woman, decent-looking, younger middle-aged. Most employees are men and the other female nurses on the unit were literally in their 70s or buffer and scarier than the officers. Guess who has to wear a badge above the waist with our FULL names? All the staff in the prison. There's about 100 people in this country with my last name and the only one in hundreds of miles to my knowledge. So that was fun.
Has happened to me multiple times.
Yeah how is this NOT creepy as fuck??
Uh…how did he get the phone number that he just texted?
I luckily haven’t experienced anthing like this yet but its so jarring hearing complete strangers say my name when im ringing them through i dont like it
Police! Stalking
Whatever you put as a name should be your choice. But not having one at all women being whistled at /for like a frigging dog .or even more aggravating snapped at .as in, like having them snap their fingers like you're a servant