..to have complained about the cashier at sainsbury's this afternoon...?

Sheep, I agree the customer should always say thankyou.
People should always say thankyou, no matter how trivial the thing or how pissed off/miserable they are.
When driving for example and someone lets me out I ALWAYS say thankyou. My children ask me why and tell them you should always say thankyou when someone does something for you. It makes evryone feel better.

musr add, i'm a polite customer too

oh come on, how many times bave I been through a checkout at tescos, homebase whereever - and not a word has been said or offered by the cashier - sometimes they have even just pointed at the total, or indicated where I should put my pin number in, folded up the receipt and handed it over. Incredibly rude , minimum wage job regardless, it costs nothing to say a few words - not overboard like they do in North America, but at least a 'that will be amout please/thank you
I wouldn't have reported or said anything, but it does rather annoy me too

not unreasonable she was ignorant, i worked at a fast food place, on shitty wages, very long hours, with morning sickness and was always polite.

see ... people just dont like the script

it dosent cost anything for a customer to say thank you either and many don't.

It doesn't cost anything to say 'thankyou' it's basic manners. There is NO excuse for not saying thankyou. It's crap behaviour.

i think the cashier should have been more attentive, but i don't think you should have reported her. i worked in retail for years and it is a shit way to scrape a living. some people treat you like dirt and it is easy to be dragged down to their level.

I guess she wasn't turning her back but going on to do something which involved her turning her back

doubt if it was soda water fio
isn't that american for lemonade or something

She was probably trained by the same people who train doctors' receptionists. ("Is it a TRUE MEDICAL emergency?????? - No, well call back in 6 weeks").

Off the subject I know but relevant to me this morning!

not unreasonable

being courteous is part of her job

if i do my job badly i get reprimanded ...

but perhaps she didnt have an inkling; manners and courtesy are subjective i'm afraid

perhaps it was a little too much to go to the manager but i understand your frustration ... overall in the uk the service approach just doesnt feature .. good gawd we're the only nation to have a word for waiting in line and we spend our time apologising and 'not making a fuss' even when provoked or justified

compounding that -- you're used to US service which is usually incentivised and the culture is geared for sales assistants to assist you to make a sale or get tips to add to a meagre wage; the uk has assistants who cant top up like that so no motivation

fwiw ... i know the US style seems obsequious to a brit -- but it often is sincerely meant, just that the same scipt doesnt translate here

Well, I have worked as a cashier in an off-licence as well as a waitress. So yes. Although never in a supermarket, Fiofio.

I wasn't directly criticising you personally, simply reiterating the fact that while I do agree that people are underpaid and that they have to deal with shitty customer that is no excuse to stoop to their level imo. Frankly it never occured to me NOT to say thank you or that I should turn my back on a customer.

lol suejonez

interesting, this

50/50 split i would say in terms of responses

yeah thats true fiofio and you can't choose when to take your break either. quite often i had to take my break a couple of hours after i got there which meant i had to go without any other break for nearly six hours, great when you need to eat regularly or you need the loo.

factory workers often get treated better than shopworkers/cashiers. Done that job too.

Go support your small local shops and you will find you get great service and a nice chat and you wil always have a chance to talk about the weather before you leave.
You might not get a receipt!
Buy local produce before the big guys take over and then no-one will care what service you get!

Its not rude. Its thoughtless, and not particularly friendly, but not rude.

Politeness failure is good, i like that!

I think i am getting so het up as about 2 years ago, a good friend of mine was working in a bar. His wife had just left him after a very hard period of time after one of their twins died. He was, understandably, not in the best of moods and was trying damn hard to get through work as he had been given paid time off but had to work 2 more shifts. A woman complained about him, and he got into trouble.

So you never know the full story.

A little bit of rudeness isnt really going to hurt you, but complaining about someone could really hurt them.

I don't know why everyone thinks that being pleasant towards other human beings is ALWAYS false. I don't want my cashier to hug me or have my babies, I just would like to be treated with the same level of common courtesy that I treat them with.

I'm an accountant - I'd be more worried about the lack of a receipt

i worked in sainsbury's for 3 years up until last nov and believe me the wages are shite, if you are on the tills you get half an hours break in an 8 hour shift which is crap as you spend most of the time squinting at the computerised till, fantastic if your a migraine sufferer or having morning sickness like me.

I was generally very nice to customers, but believe me a lot were extremely rude to me, from slamming thier change on the counter to out and out verbal abuse.

It works both bloody ways.

I wouldn't have complained.

BassMama,
"God, i hope she isnt a mum and on here reading this."

WHY? Would it be that awful that she discovers that many people think that at the very least her behaviour was discourteous and at worst she was rude.

If she has suffered a bereavement or any of the other faintly possible excuses for her attitude, then she was obviously acting out of character and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

If she is simply discourteous (or rude) then maybe someone OUGHT to tell her.