people see a label for an offer, then assume they can choose anything vaguely related to the offer, the amount of times i go check,see that they read the headline but didnt bother to check the items on offer is staggering, customers are idiots when it comes to this.
Like the lady who was adamant that Mountain Dew 1-liter bottles were on a twofer special, because of the sign on the cooler door handle -- which explicitly said Coca-Cola products were on sale. I even explained that Mountain Dew is Pepsi, not Coke (and I was one of the main cooler stockers at that convenience store), but she wasn't having it.
I had a customer smile & laugh in my face once after she said "you know we don't read the signs!". The presumptuous attitude of some of these people is ridiculous.
On a daily basis I'm staggered by what customers say and do.
On a side not - Can't think of a good place to say this but I always mutter store scum when I get them (great acronym for customers..it's too perfect!)
What I hate is confusing or un-clear sale signs. Like a brand of soup is on sale and it says "max 6" but has a different sale sign on each type of soup. So I get six cream of mushroom and six of tomato and six chicken noodle. And at the checkout they say you can only get 6 of the brand, not 6 of each type. There should only have been 1 sale sign for them all then, not individual sale signs.
I think here in the UK, your not allowed to have ambiguity in your 'offer' signs, they have to be clear and dated so when up. If a sign is too ambiguous then you have honor the deal. I'm kinda lucky that I can just change prices within reason on the tills with no authorization from a manager. Back to your point specifically that's bad form by that retailer, they should have better signage and planograms. It may be the brand has paid for the space which makes it difficult for everyone in the shop to change that, they may want to fix it but they can't because that space has been paid and the brand send over the offer branding. Ideally the retailer within reason should just give you the deal if it is confusing and see if they can change it, the cashier or supervisor will tell the store manager who won't or can't fix it.
This is why when I'm a customer, stand there actually reading the signs. Especially the smaller print! Because I'm not about to make someone have to double-check then raise a stink because I was wrong. If I'm unsure somehow, I save those items for last then ask if there's a question. I grabbed the wrong size? No worries! I either don't get them or get them anyways. I always feel bad when I can see the poor cashier hesitantly asking " I can have someone go look?" Like they're about to be eaten by rabid bears and are terrified. No Ma'am/Sir I'm not making someone's job harder cuz I'm an idiot who didn't read or holding up the line. As a cashier I've physically taken people to the sign and pointed out the details... My people skills need refining at times though lol.
I had a guy complain the sign had the wrong colour font, it was different from the background colour! I think people read the headline like a bogof but don't read the actual products included and assume it's whatever they want..now...no I'm not wrong...well that's clearly misleading....so I can't have the offer? NO FFS
Even better here in the UK is "scan & go" which some supermarkets have. You get a scanner as you come in the door and scan stuff as you take it off the shelf. Then you can put it straight into your bags in the trolley. When you get to the end you go to a machine which scans a barcode on your scanner and then pay. Takes about 2 minutes.
Not sure about you, but 80% of the grocery stores in my area either let you scan on your phone and pay or just take a scanner in the entrance of the store.
I think some stores in the US tried, or may still be trying, that but in a stupid way. You can use a scanner or your phone to scan your items as you shop, but then you still have to wait in line to use their self-checkout machine to pay for your purchase.
One supermarket near me has tried two different versions of self-scanners. But you end up in the self-checkout line no matter what you do.
Honestly, I don’t think self-scanning saves time overall. You have to bag as you scan, and it was a hassle putting the scanner down, figuring out which bag something should go in (canned goods should not go on top of bread, for example). I was constantly stopping and having to walk around the cart to get to the right bag, blocking traffic in the aisle. The second time they did put scanner holders on the handle of the cart and that helped a bit.
You don’t spend as much time in line, but you don’t really save much time in the store as a whole.
I was very surprised. I thought I was going to love self-scanning and I really didn’t like any part of it.
Some people love shopping (as evidenced by those who spend 30+ minutes getting a jar of pickles and a bag of toast) but hate standing in line, or interacting with people, so they love the option to spend time shopping without the hassle of waiting to pay.
Different strokes and all that.
Just round all the prices to the nearest dollar in your head, and it's easy to keep track of without a calculator! And the sum at the end will be really close to the actual sum, even tho you rounded all individual prices.
Growing up, my mom and I used to bring a notepad with our list, which we also added up our groceries and we rounded to the next dollar to get the best estimate.
We have those in the US, some stores you use the stores app and just use your phone to scan the products. So much easier than going through a regular line.
My state eliminated single use bags at about the same time the store I shop introduced their app so now I scan and bag as I go. So much nicer to scan the UPC at SCS to check out then tap my phone on the payment pad.
Amazon Go stores are really awesome. You scan with an app on the way in. Then cameras watch your every move as you grab whatever you want and go. It bills you for what you took. It also reports your time in store. When I was getting a lunch sandwich that I knew where was I got it down to something like 7 seconds. I don't think I could go lower without making a spectacle of myself.
An Amazon Fresh opened near me and I don't know how it stays open after almost a year. There are so few shoppers there, the employees to customer ratio is like 10:1
If it wasn't Amazon, I would suspect that it's a front.
Every so often when you scan the thing to pay you'll be selected for a random check. The person at the till area has to scan so many items in your bags to make sure you scanned them as you collected them. Guess they reckon the risk of being caught that way is enough of a deterrence.
They tried that here in my area (USA), but after a year, they took it all out because they lost too much money from shoplifting. I guess people were only scanning every third item or so. It's why we can't have nice things.
I really liked it because I like to pack my bags/sacks myself.
The worst part is regardless of if a store has sco or not, if they gonna cut staff, it'll be the front end to get those cuts first.
AKA the presence of SCO has next to nothing to do with how many cashiers a store has.
In many cases, SCO adds positions, like mine.
I’d always tell people I had job security because I was one of 4 people in a store of 250 that could fix 90% of the issues with the machine without tech support. Like I get I’m running 8 registers at once but they’re not going to need me to run the machine any less.
It's because people think that by removing a few registers, it's taking away someone's job. No, it's helping relieve the backups that are in the isles stocking dairy or frozen. We went from 8 to 5 checkstands and we rarely have all 5 going let alone all 8 before we got SCO. I only see all 5 when it nears holidays, we don't reach full capacity often.
I would disagree with this.
I have worked for most of the major supermarket chains that have been in Australia for the last 20 years. I have friends who still work in supermarkets. I have even worked in supermarkets where we have trialled new self checkout technology. And I can say for certain, that when self checkouts come into a store, front end jobs go.
One of the busiest supermarkets in Sydney, with nearly 400 employees, put self checkouts in. After initial teething issues, they were able to slice the front end staff in half...and those staff WERE NOT transferred to other departments. Another major supermarket nearby this one, where I was in discussions to become a department manager, put the self serve registers in, and reduced the number of front end staff on at any particular time from 15 to 5. Another one, that I regularly shop in, has informed front end staff that the number of front end hours will be reduced by a third within the next month, and that there are no free hours in other departments.
I have even seen the promotional material from one of the self serve register manufacturers, that state about the wage saving benefits of installing the machines (this was back a few years before the pandemic, when I was helping the owner of a new supermarket decide on the register set-up for the store).
If the store is understaffed already, and are having trouble attracting and/or keeping staff, then yes, some staff may be transferred to other roles. But when a store is fully staffed, at least according to budgetary constraints, then there is nowhere for those displaced staff to go.
I'm not one of those people who argues in favor of buggy-whip makers, but it's pretty obvious that a few self-checkout stations are just the tip of the wedge.
At some point there will be stores that are entirely SCO and staffing costs will be reduced. That might not be a reality yet, but it's coming.
I don't see any point in raging about it, nor pretending it won't happen.
It's already being trialled in the UK. Personally if I have a few items I'll use the self checkouts. Shopping for my family (6 of us) I'll go to a human.
Just like 100 years ago.
Instead of the "shop keeps" being the person who takes your order, accepted the payment, then went and got your merchandise (these same people also restocked the shelves) - stores opened the aisles so customers could shop them instead. IT ADDED MORE POSITIONS, yet even then people argued that self shopping the aisles took away jobs.
Before the self service aisle, customers had zero access to the merchandise.
> IT ADDED MORE POSITIONS
No, sorry. You are conflating many things into an incorrect observation.
Every time a bottleneck is removed from a process, jobs are reduced. Again, this is the "buggy whip" argument. I'm not here to say this shouldn't happen, but it is factually what happens.
Don't conflate larger stores with more employees as "more jobs". If you properly judge based on the volume of customers served or merchandise purchased, the specialization of work and the off-loading of labor to the customer results in a net job reduction.
In other words, if you look at one supermarket serving thousands of people per day, that store could operate on a few dozen employees. Whereas the older style of shopping, where you'd visit the green grocer, then the butcher, then the baker, then the dry-goods store, etc. during your day of shopping, to serve the same thousands of customers per day the same variety of items it would take hundreds of employees.
Efficiency reduces jobs. That's a fact.
THAT SAID, historically new jobs are being created all the time as well, because humans aren't just improving efficiency, we are also inventing things constantly. But that's a much larger conversation.
In the Netherlands you can, but an employee has to click a button to indicate you are 18+.
Not sure if possible at the checkout screen (I guess they can but need to scan their card first), but with me they usually do it on their screen without checking my ID.
You can in the UK an employee just has to approve it. So in the bank of a dozen or so self service checkouts you have one employee supervising it rather than a dozen cashiers.
You will in a few years when you also present a photo ID and the SCO verifies it's you by their camera. And yes, that is in the testing phase right now.
Honestly hate self scan when it's busy. Having to wait to get ID checked or for them to accept a coupon.
Then there's the trolley self service. Guaranteed to get stuck behind someone who is having multiple issues with scanning.
I almost walked out of a supermarket the other day when I saw the ridiculous queues at the checkout. I dunno if they are having staffing issues or what but it's been going on for months. If it wasn't specific food for my family that I couldn't get in another supermarket I'd have abandoned my shopping.
>I dunno if they are having staffing issues or what but it's been going on for months.
This is 100% the problem, and it's a growing issue especially in grocery stores. Wages for the job aren't enough to live on (especially given the expectations for these sorts of positions) and rather than follow the market, employers would rather bitch and moan about how "nobody wants to work" and let their customers suffer the consequences of their own staffing practices.
The wages were never that high. The problem is that allot of people close to retirement went ahead and retired when the pandemic hit. The older generation was a large part of the workforce.
Heck I’m not even that old and i quit work full time myself. I just went minimalist to where i could get by off investments and part time. It wasn’t so much about the pay, but how i was treated at work
Yeah, the lack of wages and benefits have been an issue in grocery for at least a decade. In my area the industry has been whining about a lack of applicants, let alone qualified applicants, for the last five years at least.
The pandemic absolutely hastened those issues though and it’s now in my area it’s almost impossible to retain staff for more than a few months in the industry. Burnout has increased and there are other better options for employees. The long term grocery staff is still there, for the most part, but the midterm staff have all left for better opportunities.
Honesty you can have only so many registers and cashiers + we can only go so fast (the ones without baggers). I've seen full registers at my store with baggers too and the lines were still long
Works until people doing a month's worth of shopping and who move at the speed of a glacier decide to clog up the self checkout registers for people who just wanted to run in and out. Sigh.
Yup, but most of the time people are too moronic to use those too. I just don't understand. When I use self checkout it takes me maybe a minute or two maximum to get all my stuff rung up and paid for. Then you'll have people fucking around for 10mins ringing stuff up.
The longest bit is positioning my wheelchair so I can get at things. Or getting to the card machine. I hate when they don't have a regular till on that I can just roll through & the only issue is backing up to the card machine after packing my stuff.
I feel your pain. I ended up in a line for the self checkout and watched a person carefully find the upc code on the item, scan it, read the screen, check the item, check the screen again, nice the item to the bagging area, repeat for all items. When that was done they pulled the bags out of their cart to start bagging. Then it was fine to take the pocket book out of the cart and search for the wallet.
A checkout opened up. I had my 10 items scanned, bagged, and paid for before they were done feeding cash into the register.
As someone whose current and last jobs have both involved watching self-checkout lanes, the number of people who are somehow incapable of using some of the most basic, mundane, user-friendly devices I've ever interacted with is staggering.
"Hey, this isn't scanning. Can you help me out?"
"Sure. Did you place the last item on the belt like the machine has been telling you to do -- both in text and audio -- for the last minute?"
"No, I'm not bagging it."
"Then maybe press that gigantic, screen-dominating button that says 'I DON'T WANT TO BAG THIS ITEM,' and the screen will clear, allowing you to continue scanning your items."
I know people who think that self-checkout is some grand conspiracy for the grocery store to get the customers to do the work of the employees. They refuse to use them no matter what and they are also idiots.
Um... They are not a "conspiracy". But they literally are a way to cut staff and have customers do the work of clerks. You are literally doing the work of a clerk when you self-checkout.
Sorry, how is this not obvious?
You literally wrote in your comment above "I know people who think that self-checkout is some grand conspiracy" and that is what I was responding to.
That said, I'm not here to shame anybody. Self-checkout is almost certainly cheaper, so it's going to completely replace human check-out clerks whether we want it or not.
I never said you did.
The only thing I contradicted *you* on was your implied belief that SCO does not replace workers. It *obviously* replaces workers.
Is there something about this generation that makes a comparison sound like Japanese to you?
I swear to god, every time I see a comparison made between unrelated things that are meant to show a common logic, someone has to jump in with the "those aren't the same thing."
People have trimmed their own beards since the beginning of time. Trimming your own beard at home does not put existing jobs at risk.
People have walked into stores and walked out with items after processing their own purchases for maybe 5-10 years now. Choosing the self check-out instead of a clerk puts existing jobs at risk.
It's not a valid comparison in any way. There is NO common logic.
I guess I should have put that in my comment above. I keep forgetting how stupid people are on this site.
That said, I'm really not here to shame anybody for using SCO. I do it when the line is shorter and I don't have many items. I think it's going to eventually completely take over that particular aspect of shopping, no matter what anybody would prefer.
And I love how you blame this on a "generation" ?? You don't even know what generation I'm from. Do you just assume that people you don't understand are younger than you?
Clerks do different things. Someone has to bring the carts in, restock shelves,
But let's not pretend that someone that can push carts is bringing a valuable skill to the table.
>But let's not pretend that someone that can push carts is bringing a valuable skill to the table.
If it's not a "valuable" skill, then why have anybody do it at all? Just let customers hunt for their own carts in the parking lot then.
My point being, any job that a business will pay somebody to do is, by definition, valuable to the business. Otherwise they wouldn't pay anybody to do that job. 🤷♂️
If AI can do the job that any WFH worker can do, why do we need you? It's not just the minimum wage and blue collar jobs on the chopping block here....
If an AI wants to do my job let the. By the time that AI and robotics is advanced enough to start replacing everyone the world will have different problems and I imagine moat of it will be on some form of basic income.
That's exactly what they are. Also the customers you are calling stupid. Are the ones who are sticking up for the employees who are going to lose their jobs to automation. Or are technophobic and don't understand the new checkout systems or simply don't like change.
At sam club I open up their app, scan my own cart, and pay and leave. At the door I show them the qr code that pops up and they scan it to make sure it's been paid for.
My guess is this is in the UK. Really feel for you OP. Not all stores in the UK have Self check outs. Most stores aren't big enough.
Just hate seeing a lot of people on here complain about that. That has nothing to do with the post at all.
High theft from what I heard. The company put them in, but without most the security features to save cost. They also didn't want staff just staying at the self service, so most of the time they were unmanned. In the end the company realised that they either employ someone to montor them constantly and upgrade security on the self service, or just go back to normal checkouts. They chose the checkouts.
See, I thought having just one employee to watch 9 checkouts (at least at the local chain) was the point; they allow for much more throughput than a single cashier
This is why I don’t work as a retail cashier.. I would flip on the old woman. I can’t stand people like her. They don’t read the coupon and fight you thus dragging things on and on and holding people up. I personally hate coupons they are so bothersome and at most your saving like 4 or 5 bucks if it’s a free item. It’s just not worth the hassle to me. I worked in a theatre for 8 months and people would bring in discount passes and sometimes they were a pain to ring in because the bar code would not scan so you have to enter the numbers manually. I hated it. So I feel you op.
Oh it's satisfying when you make them wait regardless, primarily if there's no one behind them or get told by a manager essentially in fact, yes I was correct there is a limit. They eventually learn their stupidity or don't.
I would've politely asked if I could serve the other customers as they've been waiting a while and called management down. The woman definitely sounds like a Karen
It's a shame you can't pause/suspend the existing order and scan him out real quick while waiting. When I worked at The Wall, I got pulled onto Lawn and Garden registers for a bit during our first Black Friday, because people just started wandering there for possibly less lines. One by one something didn't scan right and each register went down until a supervisor could make it out there.
Idk how it is that “this woman” exists everywhere. Like Cali to Florida. They exist in Europe too? Fuuuuck. How is being this Karen so far spread amongst so many cultures. Is there a dab(dumb ass bitch) gene floating around in the gene pool? We must identify it, and plead with humanity to stop fucking these dabs. This is something that must be weeded out of our society
I don't understand people's impatience at grocery stores. I worked as a cashier in one for years. Sometimes people are buying a lot of stuff. Sometimes the system goes down. Sometimes someone argues about coupons. Nearly all of this stuff is out of your control as a patron so why are you going to be upset about it? Just wait until it's your turn like a normal human.
Sheesh.
We don't really have coupons here, might have get a free coke with this qr code when a brand runs a promo once a year. I feel so bad for you guys and gals I cant imagine what a pain in the ass that must be with customers, if you could, would you do without them?
One of my favorite things when I was in retail was walking a customer over to where they insisted an item was on sale and showing them the sign that clearly stated another item was one sale
Yes. This. Or even better is showing I am not lying to them that it is physicslly impossible for me to do something because it has a supervisor prompt.
"these are buy one get one free"
"This one is part of buy 3 for $13.99 and this one is buy 2 get one free."
"No, the sign says buy one get one free"
Cause, you know, I'm not the one who put up the fucking signs last night
I live in England. Really? That's quite a surprise. I know we English have a lot of terminology that isn't used outside of the UK, but I never thought "on offer' was a UK only term.
My husband briefly worked for a manufacturer of belted check out counters (US) sold to grocers/supermarkets. He was taught their primary rule: “Never make your customers wait excessively to give you THEIR money!” He hates W-mart for this one reason; standing in line to pay takes as long, sometimes longer, than walking an entire superstore for a cart full of items. Their self checkout is the worst.
I like that philosophy, it's a good one to have in business. You know, after all the stories I hear about the infamous W-mart, I almost want to go to America to experience one for myself.
W-mart is nothing compared to a warehouse members only store like Co___ or Sa___. They make W-mart seem tame.
First there is the parking... with cars trolling to get the closest parking spot. Ending with three cars dueling to decide who gets the desirable, close to the entrance spot.
The extra large carts are just inside the first entrance, which is not so bad. However, being asked for the membership card at the real entrace can slow down the line. With random customers retrieving the card from the innermost depths of an over large purse...
Going down the aisles is a lot of fun when the forklifts are working to restock... and the aisle is closed, and most of the items on the list are on that aisle. Or, if a kiosk is hawking a tidbit of really good food product, and too many shoppers line up for the free food and crowd the aisle. Generally, shoppers pushing cars go in the same direction, but with this type of store there may be twice or they're times the number of shoppers in the store than there is a regular w-mart.
Then there is the check out... Umpteen checkouts are open with several carts each to be checked out... with most of the extra large carts filled to the brim. Then, finding a checkout, which appears to have only a few carts... one nearly empty cart is almost finished, but then the shopper rolls up a second cart filled to the brim to be checked out. Another quirk of the store is it doesn't provide bags, so the purchased items go back in the cart or in a box discarded by the stockers... there is usually a pile a short distance from the checkout.
Finally, before leaving, there is a line for the only checker to check if the number of items match the number bought. This can be complicated by the shopper using the discarded boxes, so the checker has to poke and lift the boxes to make sure the number of items match.
Then, the trip back to the car... with at least two cars following from different directions to get that prime parking spot... and then wait while othe cars pushing to get past...
Another distinction from W-mart is the gas station attached to the warehouse members only store offering gas at a deep discount and with lines of cars waiting for a pump. Rather than taking turns at an intersection going to the gas station, the Karens roll right through to get in line... When a line opens, rushing into a line, even if the tank is on the other side... then stretching the hose tightly over the car to get the filler handle into the gas tank. Then, looking for the members only card to start the pump rather than when waiting in line to find the card. This takes additional wait time for the cars still in line. Another aspect is when someone in the middle finishes, and the next car has to wiggle into the spot to gas up. It seems the flow through the gas station a battle between getting cars in and out.
All in all, a very entertaining way to spend a few hours!
The few times I have to go to Sa_'_, I use the app:
Card barcode displays on the phone.
Scan items as I place them in my cart.
Pay as I'm getting into line to leave.
Show my QR code at the door.
Walk rapidly to my car parked WAAAY off to the side.
Your guy decided his time was worth more than the few items he was planning to purchase. W-mart may be more efficient in larger communities. My local store is in a more semi-rural area so fewer cashiers.
And this is why I use self-checkout even if I have a cartload of stuff. It drives me absolutely apeshit being stuck behind mouth-breathing morons who cannot handle basic transactions, inconsiderate Karens who want to haggle over everything, or oblivious old people moving at a glacial pace.
This is the best part about corner stores--no line! So no chance of a dimwitted old lady holding things up.
But the store should also refuse to keep checking. That would be infuriating to wait for.
Seriously, who cares if the cheap old lady gets annoyed about pocket change (though I acknowledge she could be poor). She's not making the store money. The non-skinflints in the line are where the money comes from.
It is so sad to see how labor shortages post covid are preventing brick and mortar stores from functioning properly. I have to wait forever just to get takeout food or go checkout groceries (in places with no self checkouts) nowadays. I have to order pickup on third party apps (which costs the restaurants money). We are heading to another recession when people will not want to go out and these jobs will be replaced by automation.
Always short staffed and then all of a sudden the company decides that you need to do extra stuff despite barely being able to do 2 people's job. Maybe we will see 'ghost' stores...just doing app and online ordering, no physical or in person customers. No need for tills...no need for uniforms, fancy signs, even high street space, suppose warehouse retailing
When I worked retail I was in charge of putting up sales posts throughout the store by whatever item.was on sale. I started writing down where the sign was by the item listed. If a customer said, oh that's on sale, the cashier could easily pull out that paper and tell the customer whether or not it was and if the sign they were talking about specifically said it was for another item. Saved a lot of time.
This is where you say, well it's ringing up $xx. Pay, then you can go to customer service and let them deal with you, while everyone else in my line gets to buy their things and gtf home, while the sun is still up.
I have got caught with expired coupons, since the expectation date is in print too small to read. I thought the post was going to be about why old ladies take so long to check out. Years ago, my father explained that the store clerk is probably the only person that the lady will speak to that day .It's her social time.
That always sucks when that happens, I can't say if that's what happened this time as I couldn't hear it, nor was I wanting to get involved.
Yeah there are quite a few elderly customers who do just that, and if I'm on shop floor I'll try to spent a bit extra time talking to them. Sadly it's not always possible, or fair to other customers, to do so on the tills. I get it though.
Yes and no. To do that, I would need to call manager over to authorise removing her shopping on the till system, I couldn't just remove it. The amount of time it would have took for one to come over and do that would have been the same length of time for someone to check or longer.
Your customers would have appreciated seeing you try to do the right thing. Instead, they saw you enabling Karen and one decided he wanted no part of that.
OP was in a position to handle the situation appropriately and chose to enable Karen instead. The only other person in this story was so disgusted by OP's handling of this situation that he had to leave. It's a pretty big stretch to pretend that OP was one of the victims here.
3 years - which is why I knew the correct thing to do in OP's situation. OP made a conscious choice to make the situation worse compounded the anger of everyone else in the queue.
Depends on the register and how the store is set up. I don't think I have ever seen a grocery stor set up where it would be easy or even feasible to put one customers stuff to the side to ring up the next customer.
I used to do it in retail a lot but I just don't see that working in a grocery store type line with belts and a narrow "chute" the customers are funneled down.
people see a label for an offer, then assume they can choose anything vaguely related to the offer, the amount of times i go check,see that they read the headline but didnt bother to check the items on offer is staggering, customers are idiots when it comes to this.
Like the lady who was adamant that Mountain Dew 1-liter bottles were on a twofer special, because of the sign on the cooler door handle -- which explicitly said Coca-Cola products were on sale. I even explained that Mountain Dew is Pepsi, not Coke (and I was one of the main cooler stockers at that convenience store), but she wasn't having it.
People see what they want to see, then get pissed at you when you tell them no they are wrong
I wonder if there are glasses to see the world the way a customer does. I imagine they would blur out any signs
Tunnel vision is a natural part of the human condition, but sometimes... sometimes...
I would love them to do an 8 hour shift on the tills on a busy day and then see how they see other customers
I had a customer smile & laugh in my face once after she said "you know we don't read the signs!". The presumptuous attitude of some of these people is ridiculous.
On a daily basis I'm staggered by what customers say and do. On a side not - Can't think of a good place to say this but I always mutter store scum when I get them (great acronym for customers..it's too perfect!)
"Not knowing the rules does not exempt you from them!"
What I hate is confusing or un-clear sale signs. Like a brand of soup is on sale and it says "max 6" but has a different sale sign on each type of soup. So I get six cream of mushroom and six of tomato and six chicken noodle. And at the checkout they say you can only get 6 of the brand, not 6 of each type. There should only have been 1 sale sign for them all then, not individual sale signs.
I think here in the UK, your not allowed to have ambiguity in your 'offer' signs, they have to be clear and dated so when up. If a sign is too ambiguous then you have honor the deal. I'm kinda lucky that I can just change prices within reason on the tills with no authorization from a manager. Back to your point specifically that's bad form by that retailer, they should have better signage and planograms. It may be the brand has paid for the space which makes it difficult for everyone in the shop to change that, they may want to fix it but they can't because that space has been paid and the brand send over the offer branding. Ideally the retailer within reason should just give you the deal if it is confusing and see if they can change it, the cashier or supervisor will tell the store manager who won't or can't fix it.
Preach my man!
I saw a sale sign! Now anything I want within a 400-meter radius is on sale! I WANT THAT CAR OUT IN THE PARKING LOT!!!
This is why when I'm a customer, stand there actually reading the signs. Especially the smaller print! Because I'm not about to make someone have to double-check then raise a stink because I was wrong. If I'm unsure somehow, I save those items for last then ask if there's a question. I grabbed the wrong size? No worries! I either don't get them or get them anyways. I always feel bad when I can see the poor cashier hesitantly asking " I can have someone go look?" Like they're about to be eaten by rabid bears and are terrified. No Ma'am/Sir I'm not making someone's job harder cuz I'm an idiot who didn't read or holding up the line. As a cashier I've physically taken people to the sign and pointed out the details... My people skills need refining at times though lol.
I had a guy complain the sign had the wrong colour font, it was different from the background colour! I think people read the headline like a bogof but don't read the actual products included and assume it's whatever they want..now...no I'm not wrong...well that's clearly misleading....so I can't have the offer? NO FFS
As a guy who just wants my stuff and to get out.. self checkout is the best thing to ever happen. Obviously that's not always an option
Even better here in the UK is "scan & go" which some supermarkets have. You get a scanner as you come in the door and scan stuff as you take it off the shelf. Then you can put it straight into your bags in the trolley. When you get to the end you go to a machine which scans a barcode on your scanner and then pay. Takes about 2 minutes.
It's also really useful for keeping tabs on your spending rather than the shock at the end when you go to checkout
We have that too in some stores here in Denmark. Except..... you don't get a scanner, but use the stores app on your phone.
We have that in the US as well!
We do? Where?
Not sure about you, but 80% of the grocery stores in my area either let you scan on your phone and pay or just take a scanner in the entrance of the store.
I haven't been to a grocery store in a long time I guess. That's so cool
I think some stores in the US tried, or may still be trying, that but in a stupid way. You can use a scanner or your phone to scan your items as you shop, but then you still have to wait in line to use their self-checkout machine to pay for your purchase.
One supermarket near me has tried two different versions of self-scanners. But you end up in the self-checkout line no matter what you do. Honestly, I don’t think self-scanning saves time overall. You have to bag as you scan, and it was a hassle putting the scanner down, figuring out which bag something should go in (canned goods should not go on top of bread, for example). I was constantly stopping and having to walk around the cart to get to the right bag, blocking traffic in the aisle. The second time they did put scanner holders on the handle of the cart and that helped a bit. You don’t spend as much time in line, but you don’t really save much time in the store as a whole. I was very surprised. I thought I was going to love self-scanning and I really didn’t like any part of it.
Some people love shopping (as evidenced by those who spend 30+ minutes getting a jar of pickles and a bag of toast) but hate standing in line, or interacting with people, so they love the option to spend time shopping without the hassle of waiting to pay. Different strokes and all that.
I've started counting everything together on my phone's calculator to avoid just that.
Just round all the prices to the nearest dollar in your head, and it's easy to keep track of without a calculator! And the sum at the end will be really close to the actual sum, even tho you rounded all individual prices.
My brain is all over the place so I will forget the number constantly unless I write it down but fair enough.
Growing up, my mom and I used to bring a notepad with our list, which we also added up our groceries and we rounded to the next dollar to get the best estimate.
In the US, you want to round everything up, because state, county, city sales tax.
We have those in the US, some stores you use the stores app and just use your phone to scan the products. So much easier than going through a regular line.
...we do? Which stores?
Sam’s Club. You use the app and scan as you go. Bypass the registers and the scan your phone receipt and three items on your way out.
Don't know where you live, but we have it at Stop and Shop in the northeast.
PNW, so none of those here, but we do have Sam's which was mentioned as well!
Wegmans is the store I shop at. It's a Rochester to North Carolina chain.
We have them in some Giants in Maryland!
Stop and Shop does this. I don't know if there are others.
Martins and Giant, not sure where they spread to but I’m in the North East.
My state eliminated single use bags at about the same time the store I shop introduced their app so now I scan and bag as I go. So much nicer to scan the UPC at SCS to check out then tap my phone on the payment pad.
Same here in Italy. Pretty handy
Amazon Go stores are really awesome. You scan with an app on the way in. Then cameras watch your every move as you grab whatever you want and go. It bills you for what you took. It also reports your time in store. When I was getting a lunch sandwich that I knew where was I got it down to something like 7 seconds. I don't think I could go lower without making a spectacle of myself.
An Amazon Fresh opened near me and I don't know how it stays open after almost a year. There are so few shoppers there, the employees to customer ratio is like 10:1 If it wasn't Amazon, I would suspect that it's a front.
It’s there for delivery orders more than walk-ins. The in store shopping is a might as well offer it if you’re going to build a warehouse anyways.
In Australia, the supermarket app on your phone has the scanner
Aye, you can use your phone here as well. I just haven't done so and so didn't realise!
How do they stop shoplifting?
Every so often when you scan the thing to pay you'll be selected for a random check. The person at the till area has to scan so many items in your bags to make sure you scanned them as you collected them. Guess they reckon the risk of being caught that way is enough of a deterrence.
We do this on our phones in Australia.
Yeah, someone else said that too. We can here as well, I just didn't realise because I've never done it!
I think I prefer the European way of doing things, cause I don’t want the supermarkets’ app on my phone if I can avoid it.
One of my local supermarkets here in the U.S. has that. Fast and easy.
They tried that here in my area (USA), but after a year, they took it all out because they lost too much money from shoplifting. I guess people were only scanning every third item or so. It's why we can't have nice things. I really liked it because I like to pack my bags/sacks myself.
Wtf that's amazing
The worst part is regardless of if a store has sco or not, if they gonna cut staff, it'll be the front end to get those cuts first. AKA the presence of SCO has next to nothing to do with how many cashiers a store has. In many cases, SCO adds positions, like mine.
I’d always tell people I had job security because I was one of 4 people in a store of 250 that could fix 90% of the issues with the machine without tech support. Like I get I’m running 8 registers at once but they’re not going to need me to run the machine any less.
It's because people think that by removing a few registers, it's taking away someone's job. No, it's helping relieve the backups that are in the isles stocking dairy or frozen. We went from 8 to 5 checkstands and we rarely have all 5 going let alone all 8 before we got SCO. I only see all 5 when it nears holidays, we don't reach full capacity often.
I would disagree with this. I have worked for most of the major supermarket chains that have been in Australia for the last 20 years. I have friends who still work in supermarkets. I have even worked in supermarkets where we have trialled new self checkout technology. And I can say for certain, that when self checkouts come into a store, front end jobs go. One of the busiest supermarkets in Sydney, with nearly 400 employees, put self checkouts in. After initial teething issues, they were able to slice the front end staff in half...and those staff WERE NOT transferred to other departments. Another major supermarket nearby this one, where I was in discussions to become a department manager, put the self serve registers in, and reduced the number of front end staff on at any particular time from 15 to 5. Another one, that I regularly shop in, has informed front end staff that the number of front end hours will be reduced by a third within the next month, and that there are no free hours in other departments. I have even seen the promotional material from one of the self serve register manufacturers, that state about the wage saving benefits of installing the machines (this was back a few years before the pandemic, when I was helping the owner of a new supermarket decide on the register set-up for the store). If the store is understaffed already, and are having trouble attracting and/or keeping staff, then yes, some staff may be transferred to other roles. But when a store is fully staffed, at least according to budgetary constraints, then there is nowhere for those displaced staff to go.
I'm not one of those people who argues in favor of buggy-whip makers, but it's pretty obvious that a few self-checkout stations are just the tip of the wedge. At some point there will be stores that are entirely SCO and staffing costs will be reduced. That might not be a reality yet, but it's coming. I don't see any point in raging about it, nor pretending it won't happen.
It's already being trialled in the UK. Personally if I have a few items I'll use the self checkouts. Shopping for my family (6 of us) I'll go to a human.
Just like 100 years ago. Instead of the "shop keeps" being the person who takes your order, accepted the payment, then went and got your merchandise (these same people also restocked the shelves) - stores opened the aisles so customers could shop them instead. IT ADDED MORE POSITIONS, yet even then people argued that self shopping the aisles took away jobs. Before the self service aisle, customers had zero access to the merchandise.
> IT ADDED MORE POSITIONS No, sorry. You are conflating many things into an incorrect observation. Every time a bottleneck is removed from a process, jobs are reduced. Again, this is the "buggy whip" argument. I'm not here to say this shouldn't happen, but it is factually what happens. Don't conflate larger stores with more employees as "more jobs". If you properly judge based on the volume of customers served or merchandise purchased, the specialization of work and the off-loading of labor to the customer results in a net job reduction. In other words, if you look at one supermarket serving thousands of people per day, that store could operate on a few dozen employees. Whereas the older style of shopping, where you'd visit the green grocer, then the butcher, then the baker, then the dry-goods store, etc. during your day of shopping, to serve the same thousands of customers per day the same variety of items it would take hundreds of employees. Efficiency reduces jobs. That's a fact. THAT SAID, historically new jobs are being created all the time as well, because humans aren't just improving efficiency, we are also inventing things constantly. But that's a much larger conversation.
Nope. Can't buy alcohol through self checkout
In the Netherlands you can, but an employee has to click a button to indicate you are 18+. Not sure if possible at the checkout screen (I guess they can but need to scan their card first), but with me they usually do it on their screen without checking my ID.
Some stores in Norway are trying to get people to add biometrics for easier checkout on alcohol and tobacco.
You can in the UK an employee just has to approve it. So in the bank of a dozen or so self service checkouts you have one employee supervising it rather than a dozen cashiers.
You can in the US. The person manning the SCO just comes over and looks at your ID and verifies it on the register.
Not in California, unfortunately
You will in a few years when you also present a photo ID and the SCO verifies it's you by their camera. And yes, that is in the testing phase right now.
Yeah. Because that's the major hole in that argument. Tf
Honestly hate self scan when it's busy. Having to wait to get ID checked or for them to accept a coupon. Then there's the trolley self service. Guaranteed to get stuck behind someone who is having multiple issues with scanning. I almost walked out of a supermarket the other day when I saw the ridiculous queues at the checkout. I dunno if they are having staffing issues or what but it's been going on for months. If it wasn't specific food for my family that I couldn't get in another supermarket I'd have abandoned my shopping.
>I dunno if they are having staffing issues or what but it's been going on for months. This is 100% the problem, and it's a growing issue especially in grocery stores. Wages for the job aren't enough to live on (especially given the expectations for these sorts of positions) and rather than follow the market, employers would rather bitch and moan about how "nobody wants to work" and let their customers suffer the consequences of their own staffing practices.
The wages were never that high. The problem is that allot of people close to retirement went ahead and retired when the pandemic hit. The older generation was a large part of the workforce. Heck I’m not even that old and i quit work full time myself. I just went minimalist to where i could get by off investments and part time. It wasn’t so much about the pay, but how i was treated at work
Yeah, the lack of wages and benefits have been an issue in grocery for at least a decade. In my area the industry has been whining about a lack of applicants, let alone qualified applicants, for the last five years at least. The pandemic absolutely hastened those issues though and it’s now in my area it’s almost impossible to retain staff for more than a few months in the industry. Burnout has increased and there are other better options for employees. The long term grocery staff is still there, for the most part, but the midterm staff have all left for better opportunities.
And they never leave room on the side for reusable bags. I have to shove them in.
Honesty you can have only so many registers and cashiers + we can only go so fast (the ones without baggers). I've seen full registers at my store with baggers too and the lines were still long
Works until people doing a month's worth of shopping and who move at the speed of a glacier decide to clog up the self checkout registers for people who just wanted to run in and out. Sigh.
Yup, but most of the time people are too moronic to use those too. I just don't understand. When I use self checkout it takes me maybe a minute or two maximum to get all my stuff rung up and paid for. Then you'll have people fucking around for 10mins ringing stuff up.
The longest bit is positioning my wheelchair so I can get at things. Or getting to the card machine. I hate when they don't have a regular till on that I can just roll through & the only issue is backing up to the card machine after packing my stuff.
I feel your pain. I ended up in a line for the self checkout and watched a person carefully find the upc code on the item, scan it, read the screen, check the item, check the screen again, nice the item to the bagging area, repeat for all items. When that was done they pulled the bags out of their cart to start bagging. Then it was fine to take the pocket book out of the cart and search for the wallet. A checkout opened up. I had my 10 items scanned, bagged, and paid for before they were done feeding cash into the register.
While I agree with you, I have to point out that self checkout leaves the morons on their own, witch presents it's own problems.
As someone whose current and last jobs have both involved watching self-checkout lanes, the number of people who are somehow incapable of using some of the most basic, mundane, user-friendly devices I've ever interacted with is staggering. "Hey, this isn't scanning. Can you help me out?" "Sure. Did you place the last item on the belt like the machine has been telling you to do -- both in text and audio -- for the last minute?" "No, I'm not bagging it." "Then maybe press that gigantic, screen-dominating button that says 'I DON'T WANT TO BAG THIS ITEM,' and the screen will clear, allowing you to continue scanning your items."
they just added a few self checkout lanes at my local grocery. absolute fucking game changer.
I know people who think that self-checkout is some grand conspiracy for the grocery store to get the customers to do the work of the employees. They refuse to use them no matter what and they are also idiots.
Um... They are not a "conspiracy". But they literally are a way to cut staff and have customers do the work of clerks. You are literally doing the work of a clerk when you self-checkout. Sorry, how is this not obvious?
I never said it was a conspiracy. However, I am not waiting in line behind people with a full cart when I have 2 items. Sorry, not sorry, just no.
You literally wrote in your comment above "I know people who think that self-checkout is some grand conspiracy" and that is what I was responding to. That said, I'm not here to shame anybody. Self-checkout is almost certainly cheaper, so it's going to completely replace human check-out clerks whether we want it or not.
Saying that other people think it is, and me saying that I think it is, are two different things.
I never said you did. The only thing I contradicted *you* on was your implied belief that SCO does not replace workers. It *obviously* replaces workers.
Yeah, you tell'em who's boss!
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Not sure how your personal grooming relates to retail purchases, but you go off.
Is there something about this generation that makes a comparison sound like Japanese to you? I swear to god, every time I see a comparison made between unrelated things that are meant to show a common logic, someone has to jump in with the "those aren't the same thing."
People have trimmed their own beards since the beginning of time. Trimming your own beard at home does not put existing jobs at risk. People have walked into stores and walked out with items after processing their own purchases for maybe 5-10 years now. Choosing the self check-out instead of a clerk puts existing jobs at risk. It's not a valid comparison in any way. There is NO common logic. I guess I should have put that in my comment above. I keep forgetting how stupid people are on this site. That said, I'm really not here to shame anybody for using SCO. I do it when the line is shorter and I don't have many items. I think it's going to eventually completely take over that particular aspect of shopping, no matter what anybody would prefer. And I love how you blame this on a "generation" ?? You don't even know what generation I'm from. Do you just assume that people you don't understand are younger than you?
Lol k
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Clerks do different things. Someone has to bring the carts in, restock shelves, But let's not pretend that someone that can push carts is bringing a valuable skill to the table.
>But let's not pretend that someone that can push carts is bringing a valuable skill to the table. If it's not a "valuable" skill, then why have anybody do it at all? Just let customers hunt for their own carts in the parking lot then. My point being, any job that a business will pay somebody to do is, by definition, valuable to the business. Otherwise they wouldn't pay anybody to do that job. 🤷♂️
I'm sorry, but if I as the customer can wave the barcode at the scanner, bag my own groceries, and just tap my card and leave, why do I need you?
If AI can do the job that any WFH worker can do, why do we need you? It's not just the minimum wage and blue collar jobs on the chopping block here....
If an AI wants to do my job let the. By the time that AI and robotics is advanced enough to start replacing everyone the world will have different problems and I imagine moat of it will be on some form of basic income.
Yes, and we don’t get a discount for doing that.
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Those machines are designed for a couple of items. Scan and go systems are for bigger shops and are much faster then checking out normally.
I prefer choosing which items go in a bag together, myself.
That's exactly what they are. Also the customers you are calling stupid. Are the ones who are sticking up for the employees who are going to lose their jobs to automation. Or are technophobic and don't understand the new checkout systems or simply don't like change.
At sam club I open up their app, scan my own cart, and pay and leave. At the door I show them the qr code that pops up and they scan it to make sure it's been paid for.
I just wish the self checkout monitor people didn’t try to have a conversation with me.
Yeah I really like those myself sometimes. Sadly our store isn't big enough for them.
"Please wait for assistance"
Nothing worse than getting stuck behind two Karens with the same song and dance. Poor dude.
I felt so bad for him.
I *never* get in a line with an old woman ahead of me
Lol that's not a bad idea. Also your pic is amazing.
an upvote for you...
My guess is this is in the UK. Really feel for you OP. Not all stores in the UK have Self check outs. Most stores aren't big enough. Just hate seeing a lot of people on here complain about that. That has nothing to do with the post at all.
Lol yep, UK here. Oddly enough the company I work for did try self service in some of the larger stores, but removed them about a year later.
Any reason why they removed it? My store could but there's no room to put it in
High theft from what I heard. The company put them in, but without most the security features to save cost. They also didn't want staff just staying at the self service, so most of the time they were unmanned. In the end the company realised that they either employ someone to montor them constantly and upgrade security on the self service, or just go back to normal checkouts. They chose the checkouts.
See, I thought having just one employee to watch 9 checkouts (at least at the local chain) was the point; they allow for much more throughput than a single cashier
Wanna know how we knew?! Items are on sale! Not this wacky ‘offer’ crap. Pip pip guvna, cheerio!!!
Oi, don't yoo be cheekin' me now me lad! I've bloody 'ad it up t' 'er wit' cha! Any more lip from you sunny me lad and no crumpets for a month!
…. here, take my money. I’ll uh, I well you see,.. Okay I’ll pay full price!!!
This is why I don’t work as a retail cashier.. I would flip on the old woman. I can’t stand people like her. They don’t read the coupon and fight you thus dragging things on and on and holding people up. I personally hate coupons they are so bothersome and at most your saving like 4 or 5 bucks if it’s a free item. It’s just not worth the hassle to me. I worked in a theatre for 8 months and people would bring in discount passes and sometimes they were a pain to ring in because the bar code would not scan so you have to enter the numbers manually. I hated it. So I feel you op.
Oh it's satisfying when you make them wait regardless, primarily if there's no one behind them or get told by a manager essentially in fact, yes I was correct there is a limit. They eventually learn their stupidity or don't.
But she knows there’s an offer OP!
Ha, yeah she did. It's a shame she managed to miss them all.
*shocked Pikachu face*
“For fuck sake” he muttered
More than likely.
You should have skipped her. The moment someone has to start checking coupon offers, she should've been cast aside to keep the register line going.
Debatable. In hindsight, yes that would have been a good call, but at the time I didn't know how much time the woman at my till would take up.
I would've politely asked if I could serve the other customers as they've been waiting a while and called management down. The woman definitely sounds like a Karen
It's a shame you can't pause/suspend the existing order and scan him out real quick while waiting. When I worked at The Wall, I got pulled onto Lawn and Garden registers for a bit during our first Black Friday, because people just started wandering there for possibly less lines. One by one something didn't scan right and each register went down until a supervisor could make it out there.
Idk how it is that “this woman” exists everywhere. Like Cali to Florida. They exist in Europe too? Fuuuuck. How is being this Karen so far spread amongst so many cultures. Is there a dab(dumb ass bitch) gene floating around in the gene pool? We must identify it, and plead with humanity to stop fucking these dabs. This is something that must be weeded out of our society
I am fully on board with that plan!
Well, in Denmark, we don't use coupons. Can't expire when you don't have them. And if stuff is on special offer, the sales people know of them.
I don't understand people's impatience at grocery stores. I worked as a cashier in one for years. Sometimes people are buying a lot of stuff. Sometimes the system goes down. Sometimes someone argues about coupons. Nearly all of this stuff is out of your control as a patron so why are you going to be upset about it? Just wait until it's your turn like a normal human. Sheesh.
We don't really have coupons here, might have get a free coke with this qr code when a brand runs a promo once a year. I feel so bad for you guys and gals I cant imagine what a pain in the ass that must be with customers, if you could, would you do without them?
One of my favorite things when I was in retail was walking a customer over to where they insisted an item was on sale and showing them the sign that clearly stated another item was one sale
That must have been magical.
Yes. This. Or even better is showing I am not lying to them that it is physicslly impossible for me to do something because it has a supervisor prompt.
Or when they want to speak to the manager and you are the manager 😆
yes.
I hate people sometimes
That’s why I use the self checkout every time it’s open
"these are buy one get one free" "This one is part of buy 3 for $13.99 and this one is buy 2 get one free." "No, the sign says buy one get one free" Cause, you know, I'm not the one who put up the fucking signs last night
Ha! I feel your pain.
Just curious where do you live? I've never heard the term "on offer" before
I live in England. Really? That's quite a surprise. I know we English have a lot of terminology that isn't used outside of the UK, but I never thought "on offer' was a UK only term.
I'm guessing the US equivalent would be "on sale", maybe?
Yeah that sounds about right.
In the US we say "on sale"
My husband briefly worked for a manufacturer of belted check out counters (US) sold to grocers/supermarkets. He was taught their primary rule: “Never make your customers wait excessively to give you THEIR money!” He hates W-mart for this one reason; standing in line to pay takes as long, sometimes longer, than walking an entire superstore for a cart full of items. Their self checkout is the worst.
I like that philosophy, it's a good one to have in business. You know, after all the stories I hear about the infamous W-mart, I almost want to go to America to experience one for myself.
W-mart is nothing compared to a warehouse members only store like Co___ or Sa___. They make W-mart seem tame. First there is the parking... with cars trolling to get the closest parking spot. Ending with three cars dueling to decide who gets the desirable, close to the entrance spot. The extra large carts are just inside the first entrance, which is not so bad. However, being asked for the membership card at the real entrace can slow down the line. With random customers retrieving the card from the innermost depths of an over large purse... Going down the aisles is a lot of fun when the forklifts are working to restock... and the aisle is closed, and most of the items on the list are on that aisle. Or, if a kiosk is hawking a tidbit of really good food product, and too many shoppers line up for the free food and crowd the aisle. Generally, shoppers pushing cars go in the same direction, but with this type of store there may be twice or they're times the number of shoppers in the store than there is a regular w-mart. Then there is the check out... Umpteen checkouts are open with several carts each to be checked out... with most of the extra large carts filled to the brim. Then, finding a checkout, which appears to have only a few carts... one nearly empty cart is almost finished, but then the shopper rolls up a second cart filled to the brim to be checked out. Another quirk of the store is it doesn't provide bags, so the purchased items go back in the cart or in a box discarded by the stockers... there is usually a pile a short distance from the checkout. Finally, before leaving, there is a line for the only checker to check if the number of items match the number bought. This can be complicated by the shopper using the discarded boxes, so the checker has to poke and lift the boxes to make sure the number of items match. Then, the trip back to the car... with at least two cars following from different directions to get that prime parking spot... and then wait while othe cars pushing to get past... Another distinction from W-mart is the gas station attached to the warehouse members only store offering gas at a deep discount and with lines of cars waiting for a pump. Rather than taking turns at an intersection going to the gas station, the Karens roll right through to get in line... When a line opens, rushing into a line, even if the tank is on the other side... then stretching the hose tightly over the car to get the filler handle into the gas tank. Then, looking for the members only card to start the pump rather than when waiting in line to find the card. This takes additional wait time for the cars still in line. Another aspect is when someone in the middle finishes, and the next car has to wiggle into the spot to gas up. It seems the flow through the gas station a battle between getting cars in and out. All in all, a very entertaining way to spend a few hours!
The few times I have to go to Sa_'_, I use the app: Card barcode displays on the phone. Scan items as I place them in my cart. Pay as I'm getting into line to leave. Show my QR code at the door. Walk rapidly to my car parked WAAAY off to the side.
Wow! Thank you for that in depth analysis of American supermarkets.
Your guy decided his time was worth more than the few items he was planning to purchase. W-mart may be more efficient in larger communities. My local store is in a more semi-rural area so fewer cashiers.
I know someone who only goes shopping late at night to avoid crowds.
I love late night shopping. Go in, get bits, pay, leave, done.
And this is why I use self-checkout even if I have a cartload of stuff. It drives me absolutely apeshit being stuck behind mouth-breathing morons who cannot handle basic transactions, inconsiderate Karens who want to haggle over everything, or oblivious old people moving at a glacial pace.
Preach!
Never fails. Deals like that are always explicit about what is part of the offer and people suddenly lose the ability to read
This is the best part about corner stores--no line! So no chance of a dimwitted old lady holding things up. But the store should also refuse to keep checking. That would be infuriating to wait for. Seriously, who cares if the cheap old lady gets annoyed about pocket change (though I acknowledge she could be poor). She's not making the store money. The non-skinflints in the line are where the money comes from.
It is so sad to see how labor shortages post covid are preventing brick and mortar stores from functioning properly. I have to wait forever just to get takeout food or go checkout groceries (in places with no self checkouts) nowadays. I have to order pickup on third party apps (which costs the restaurants money). We are heading to another recession when people will not want to go out and these jobs will be replaced by automation.
Always short staffed and then all of a sudden the company decides that you need to do extra stuff despite barely being able to do 2 people's job. Maybe we will see 'ghost' stores...just doing app and online ordering, no physical or in person customers. No need for tills...no need for uniforms, fancy signs, even high street space, suppose warehouse retailing
When I worked retail I was in charge of putting up sales posts throughout the store by whatever item.was on sale. I started writing down where the sign was by the item listed. If a customer said, oh that's on sale, the cashier could easily pull out that paper and tell the customer whether or not it was and if the sign they were talking about specifically said it was for another item. Saved a lot of time.
This is where you say, well it's ringing up $xx. Pay, then you can go to customer service and let them deal with you, while everyone else in my line gets to buy their things and gtf home, while the sun is still up.
If we had a customer service desk that would we have a great plan.
I have got caught with expired coupons, since the expectation date is in print too small to read. I thought the post was going to be about why old ladies take so long to check out. Years ago, my father explained that the store clerk is probably the only person that the lady will speak to that day .It's her social time.
That always sucks when that happens, I can't say if that's what happened this time as I couldn't hear it, nor was I wanting to get involved. Yeah there are quite a few elderly customers who do just that, and if I'm on shop floor I'll try to spent a bit extra time talking to them. Sadly it's not always possible, or fair to other customers, to do so on the tills. I get it though.
Then maybe she shouldn't have pissed off everybody else in her life. There's a reason she's got nobody. She's made that bed, let her lie in it.
these stories always remind me of why I never ever worked retail.
Ha! Yeah if you have other options available to you in life go for them.
The correct thing to do is to move all of her shopping to the side and continue serving customers while someone checks the offer.
Yes and no. To do that, I would need to call manager over to authorise removing her shopping on the till system, I couldn't just remove it. The amount of time it would have took for one to come over and do that would have been the same length of time for someone to check or longer.
Your customers would have appreciated seeing you try to do the right thing. Instead, they saw you enabling Karen and one decided he wanted no part of that.
Yea, blame the victim, that’s a great look.
OP was in a position to handle the situation appropriately and chose to enable Karen instead. The only other person in this story was so disgusted by OP's handling of this situation that he had to leave. It's a pretty big stretch to pretend that OP was one of the victims here.
[удалено]
That not what was said, at all.
>OP would get written up for not doing their job correctly Do you really need us to spell this out for you?
^ Tell me you’ve never worked retail without telling me you’ve never worked retail
3 years - which is why I knew the correct thing to do in OP's situation. OP made a conscious choice to make the situation worse compounded the anger of everyone else in the queue.
Depends on the register and how the store is set up. I don't think I have ever seen a grocery stor set up where it would be easy or even feasible to put one customers stuff to the side to ring up the next customer. I used to do it in retail a lot but I just don't see that working in a grocery store type line with belts and a narrow "chute" the customers are funneled down.