Are waitrose employees the snottiest supermarket staff? Which is the friendliest? Light hearted?

[Mollyringworm]

As I've just commented on a thread regarding the staff at waitrose and then realised it was a zombie thread I would like to start my own supermarket related thread to sate the appetite of all those wanting to have a right go at waitrose (Or indeed, praise it).

The staff at my waitrose are very snotty sometimes, often don't say hello or thank you, look really really bored and uninterested when scanning your stuff (look, I know it's tedious but how hard is it to smile and say hello?), tut when u ask for extra bags (even though I'm paying for them) - one woman regularly gives me 2 bags to load about 10 bags worth of stuff and then looks majorly put out when I ask for more. Once had a member of staff tell my dd to 'get down' with some venom when perching on a low shelf to get some cakes. My dd age5 often asks for 3 of the green charity-coin things cos she's very altruistic and wants to put one in each box. She has been told 'no' on more than one occasion.
A friend of mine has a daughter that worked there briefly and she said she hated it as the customers were so snotty and rude. Maybe the staff are a reflection of the customers.

By absolute contrast the staff in my local co-op are absolute legends, I love 'em. My favourite memory being when my car ran out of oil and two of the guys came and helped me refill it 'cos I didn't know what to do (I will point out here I'm blonde and big of boob - also sorry to conform to stereotype)

I would like to hear all your supermarket staff-related stories and we can later on have a vote on which has the best employees.
Apologies if this is a recurring theme I'm relatively new to mn and wanted to get my growing annoyance at waitrose off my chest (I'd stop shopping there but they're the only supermarket locally selling chabonnel&walker pink Marc de champagne chocolates, to which I am addicted)

Disclaimer: I'm not being sponsored by co-op, honest.

[crunched]

My local (massive) Tesco has brilliant checkout staff. One gorgeous guy asked me, seemingly in all seriousness, for ID when I was buying alcohol; I'm well over 40!
Mind you, the M&S staff are also genuinely friendly, particularly to elderly customers I notice.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Local Turkish supermarket. I think family-owned, local is the way to go.

This was in London. I live in Canada where everyone is "have a nice day did you find everything you need can I help you" fucking awful.

[atheistmantis]

The ones at our Waitrose are lovely, the worst are Morrisons and Aldi. Sainsbury's come close to Waitrose.

[DontTouchTheMoustache]

The waitrose near me (a northern one) has exceptionally lovely staff, I assumed this was a waitrose training thing

[ageingrunner]

My favourite is Aldi. Quick and polite.

[FetchezLaVache]

Same like DontTouch. It's one of the reasons I go there, the staff all seem to enjoy working there (and they are said to be very well looked after).

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Oh, and learn to put oil in your car. I do it and have boobs and blonde hair. It's very easy!

[EverythingEverywhere1234]

The Waitrose staff in my local are delightful. So polite and friendly.
Morrisons, not so much.
TopShop, always awful in my local.
Asda, saved my bacon when my car decided to have a shit fit.

[Highalert]

I find most supermarket staff friendly.

I don't think there's much difference between any of them,they are just people doing their jobs.

[PickAChew]

The staff in our nearest waitrose are lovely.

Safeway used to be the worst for being unfriendly. They usually looked thoroughly pissed off. Sadly, we all found out why, soon enough.

[AutoFillContact65]

I love the Waitrose staff. We don't have co-op.

But I do most of my grocery shopping online anyway.

The delivery drivers are always nice.

[Mollyringworm]

mrsterrypratchett - you're right. I'm just scared of breaking a nail and it's all so...oily looking! (I know, I know)

[GemmaWella81]

Worst service ever was in an Oxfordshire Tesco, some dinner lady-esque type called Val. By far the rudest most obnoxious person ever to serve me, made my day when the manager put her in her place for being rude to me.

Waitrose staff near me are all lovely, this is a shit attempt at reverse snobbery OP.

[lalaloopyhead]

I think our local Iceland staff have been on a customer service course that demands no eye contact, under no circumstance say 'please' or 'thank you', and in an ideal world chat with fellow staff over the heads of customers.

[GizmoFrisby]

I love Sainsbury's
I think m&s can be snotty and the customers often think they are above themselves.

[MiddleClassProblem]

Our Waitrose are lovely, very helpful. Saw two in one trip helping customers shop. One with an elderly lady and another with a young disabled man. Always friendly and have time of my toddler.

Aldi is probably the closest and to poor staff in our area as they just seem to be there to do the job, no eye contact etc but obviously I might have just been unlucky with whose check out I got.

I find Waitrose staff have better product knowledge than Tesco. I've asked for things to floor staff in both and staff in the latter have just said no they don't have it if the don't know what it is whereas in the former they will ask a manager. Again I might have been unlucky with who I asked but it happened a few times in different stores of those supermarkets

[ems137]

I was a manager at a Waitrose branch and I can assure you that we would have seen that as appalling customer service and the staff would have been spoken to and retrained ASAP!

Our staff were super friendly, much more so than other supermarkets. I think that was because Waitrose don't try and cut corners by running on a skeleton staff so they're less under pressure.

I loved my job and I'd say at least 90% of the other employees in my branch felt the same.

[ShatnersWig]

Another adding to the praise of Waitrose staff. They obviously interview well to get the best but I know from friends who have worked there that they are treated very well, get discounts, and of course are partners in the firm.

Our local smallish Tesco store have very friendly staff which can't be said of the two much larger stores a few miles away. Sainbury's staff usually OK, Morrisons and Asda very hit and miss.

Worst are Iceland.

[WaitrosePigeon]

My experience has been Waitrose and Sainsbury's having the most polite and courteous staff. I'm on really good terms with them. They are my local supermarkets and I'm there a lot.

When I've been in into my local Asda they have been disinterested.

[Yankeedoodledickhead]

Our nearest Waitress is 14.1 miles away. Never set foot in there so can't comment.

I find our local Asda staff to be very pleasant and helpful.

Used to shop in Sainsburys but haven't been in since I was shamed by a lady at the till. It was years ago and I was a single mum, I had children under a certain age so got the healthy start vouchers for milk and fruit and veg. I used to use them in there. She asked me how I got them and I said quietly that I was a single mum and she shouted very loudly, "Oh you're one of those are you? Three kids and never worked a day in your life?! Doesn't seem fair." My mum and I both stood there open mouthed. I cried. Kudos to the lady in the queue behind us, she gave her right telling off and caught me up to persuade me to go to the manager about it.

[TheNaze73]

The staff in my local Waitrose are exceptional & a real credit to the company. Never had a problem with them.

[Otherpeoplesteens]

I am on first name terms with the longer-serving staff my local Lidl - they are friendly, courteous, efficient, and really make a huge difference to the whole shopping experience.

Everywhere else tends to depend on the individual. I've had good ones in most places, bad ones in most places. Booths is a close second to Lidl but the local Tesco Extra is the only one where I get a sense that the prevailing culture is that they think I'm there for their convenience.

[PidgeyfinderGeneral]

The staff at my local Waitrose are fab. They are without exception polite, friendly and helpful, and that's including all the teenagers who work there.

[derxa]

Our Waitrose market town Herts has a real mix of staff. In the sense of variation of ages etc. They're very well trained and they are people people. They are infinitely patient with faffers as well.
Coop in S Scotland near where i live too is one of the worst supermarkets for staff ever. There is usually one person at the fag counter and someone always has to be called to go to the tills. Barely civil.
I love Waitrose.

[PJBanana]

We don't have a Waitrose near us, but we order from Ocado every week and their standards seem to be slipping. One of our delivery drivers practically threw our bags through the door the other week, after arriving 50 minutes early with no phone call, barely said a word and didn't tell us our shop had stuff missing/substituted.

Staff in our local Sainsbury's are generally pleasant and helpful.

One member of staff at the M&S Food near my office managed to serve me on one of the basket tills last week without saying one word to me, complete with slapped arse face and everything. Made a point of saying 'THANK YOU!' with the cheeriest smile possible as I left.