Archived Service Desk Is Out of Control

[Full of Bullseye]

Hi, I'm GSA at our store, and have been running the front all this year.
One question for you guys: What does your store do about 'Need's Info' items?

We use our ipad to search for the dpci for some items, but this is painstakingly slow, and hopeless against the package-less, description-less, no UPC, no DPCI merchandise the salesfloor brings up by the cartfull!!!
Help!

I come into such a mess everyday and it is driving up the wall. How to process these items out? What's best practice? What works, what doesn't?

also, first time posting, long-time following 🙂

 

[Barcode]

If I couldn't find something or we definitely didn't carry it, I'd use the SIM PDA app and mark it AS-IS

 

[mrknownothing]

We put little slips of paper on each item that say NEEDS INFO and have a space for the DPCI. If I get those in my re-shop carts, I try my best to find the item's DPCI. If I can't find the item on the sales floor, Item Search, or the iPad, then I get the department and class (first 5 digits of the DPCI) so it can be SIM'd. Or if I don't have time because I'm about to hit compliance, then it becomes someone else's problem (but only temporarily because nobody else cares enough to do anything about it).

 

[Nauzhror]

We do similar to knownothing's store, except I refuse to use the stickers that says needs info, etc. They leave white adhesive stuck on the items and are very hard to get off of them cleanly. I instead will attach a tag to the item and write #'s needed, or get receipt paper, and write it on the piece of receipt paper and tape that to the item.

 

[mrknownothing]

We do similar to knownothing's store, except I refuse to use the stickers that says needs info, etc. They leave white adhesive stuck on the items and are very hard to get off of them cleanly. I instead will attach a tag to the item and write #'s needed, or get receipt paper, and write it on the piece of receipt paper and tape that to the item.

Ours aren't labels, they're just regular paper that gets taped on with cheap Scotch tape. The only problem is when we run out of those slips because one of the GSTLs didn't print out more of them.

 

[Nauzhror]

Ahh, okay, I was thinking of the obnoxious sticky-note labels that we have that are meant to be used, but that many of us refuse to use due them being overly annoying to remove from items.

 

[Full of Bullseye]

Oh, its all junk. It needs to be tossed/salvaged/esim'ed... and without numbers, label printing and defecting is all a no-go.

...but asking the salesfloor to go find identical items makes sense.. jotting the info down. I assume that's why it's called "need's info"

 

[Full of Bullseye]

I'll let my floor team know, and send a few items out with slips to test the waters... thanks!

 

[mrknownothing]

The worst is when you end up with individual parts from a multi-piece set. If you have the DPCI, do you defect it out or not? You can never tell if someone else defected out a different piece from the same set, and you don't want to screw up the OH and create shortage.

 

[sigma7]

First I look for the DPCI printed on the item somewhere. That usually takes care of about a quarter of all the needs info I come across. Then we do like @mrknownothing's store.

 

[LogisticsFox]

I guess we do it a little differently at my store. Anything with no numbers gets dumped on my [the chargeback] desk, despite the box labeled 'Needs Numbers' in plain sight. I usually just open target dot com on the chargeback PC and I'm usually able to find the DPCI. If not, I just go out to the floor after my dock closes. I've seen SD attendants use the paper slip method too, but this requires your SF team being trained/smart enough to do their part 😉

 

[eleuthreophile]

I always check the item to see if the DPCI is on it anywhere, and if not I will check target.com. Our SD isn't too busy so I don't mind looking for a bit. If I can't find it on there, I will tape some receipt tape to the item with "needs DPCI" written on it. Usually people will either write down the DPCI or bring me another of the same item (with the tag on). Lately people have been dumping those items in the pricing cart in the backroom though.

 

[Bosch]

I guess we do it a little differently at my store. Anything with no numbers gets dumped on my [the chargeback] desk, despite the box labeled 'Needs Numbers' in plain sight. I usually just open target dot com on the chargeback PC and I'm usually able to find the DPCI. If not, I just go out to the floor after my dock closes. I've seen SD attendants use the paper slip method too, but this requires your SF team being trained/smart enough to do their part 😉

Yep cause I find them all over the store where the person doing the reshop just stock them on the shelf, slip of paper still attached and not filled out. I get stuck filling out the slips or grabbing the same item with a barcode for service desk to do what they need to do with it.

 

[hannahlouwho]

We just put a little pink slip on it that says "needs DCPI" and then sort it into the basket. It comes back with either the DCPI on the slip or another of the same item with the barcode.

 

[Nauzhror]

I guess we do it a little differently at my store. Anything with no numbers gets dumped on my [the chargeback] desk, despite the box labeled 'Needs Numbers' in plain sight. I usually just open target dot com on the chargeback PC and I'm usually able to find the DPCI. If not, I just go out to the floor after my dock closes. I've seen SD attendants use the paper slip method too, but this requires your SF team being trained/smart enough to do their part 😉

Wait, you work in receiving and you handle it? Our receiving TM'd laugh at me if I asked her to find the info out for the items, that's absolutely not her responsibility in our store.

 

[Noiinteam]

That doesn't fly in my store either. I pity the poor TM who by mistake might ask her. The only thing my receiving TM gets is item not on file.

 

[oath2order]

When I was just plain hardlines and had opening shifts (and the closing team had finished the reshop), they'd have me work out the need DPCI cart that we had near photo. (I guess we've gotten better because we haven't had a cart of need DPCI in ages). THAT SAID I was good at it.

 

[JustJoe]

Hi, I'm GSA at our store, and have been running the front all this year.
One question for you guys: What does your store do about 'Need's Info' items?

We use our ipad to search for the dpci for some items, but this is painstakingly slow, and hopeless against the package-less, description-less, no UPC, no DPCI merchandise the salesfloor brings up by the cartfull!!!
Help!

I come into such a mess everyday and it is driving up the wall. How to process these items out? What's best practice? What works, what doesn't?

also, first time posting, long-time following 🙂

My store tries to pawn it all of on price accuracy. As of yesterday, that no longer flies. We'll handle true NOF, but when we cleared out the needs ID garbage (defected it out and tossed) right before inventory we said "NO MORE". Yesterday, a 3-tier arrived full of "NOF". It was 99% needs ID. I called my TL over and had him explain to his fellow team leads that we don't have the the manpower to do the salesfloor's job. Of course, I pulled the true NOF out and worked it.

 

[StaticSun]

Need DPCI requests. If no DPCI, then SIM using a DP/C/0000 I. Defect out if needed.

 

[Full of Bullseye]

Thanks all! 🙂
To say our clientele are of the rough variety is an understatement. That said, items that survive their treachery with numbers intact all get processed.
Like logisticsfox said, floor training for this is nonexistent. I'll get with our TL's, have them include need's info explanations for our seasonal hire. That, and learning about the SIM pda (?) should help a lot !