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Original poster

To want to shout at check out assistants who...

102 replies

addictedtofrazzles · 05/04/2011 21:37

seem to want to check out your shopping trolley as fast as they possibly can (like there is an unspoken race with their colleagues) and leave the conveyer belt on so that all your food just keeps piling up.

It really gets my goat!

OP posts:
JarethTheGoblinKing · 05/04/2011 23:58

(p.s. I am an ex til tart cashier, so I am allowed to be judgemental sarcastic)

JarethTheGoblinKing · 05/04/2011 23:59

steps101 that's exactly what I say ""Would you mind slowing down? I'm struggling to keep up!"

'tis very annoying

steps101 · 06/04/2011 00:06

If a customer actually says "Would you mind slowing down? I'm struggling to keep up!" then in my opinion the cashier really should slow down. If the customer just makes a tart, "fuck you"-type comment, the cashier is entirely justified in paying no attention.

I have a massive, MASSIVE issue with the whole "customer is always right" thing. No. The customer is sometimes a rude asshole. Minimum wage staff should not be expected to pander to people who treat them rudely, because it perpetuates the idea that it's ok to act like a wanker to people in menial jobs. I actually think it would do society in general a lot of good if wage slaves could react to rude customers as they would if they were in any normal social situation, iyswim.

JarethTheGoblinKing · 06/04/2011 00:14

The idea that the customer is always right doesn't exist anymore, which in a way is a bit of a shame. I don't mean that shop workers are inferior or wrong, but if somebody is coming to a business and paying money for a service, than they should be awarded that service.

I worked in a customer-facing role for many years. I'm very proud that I never lost my temper once, despite being subject to all kinds of abuse. One thing that I did realise very quickly was that customers will generally be nice to you if you are exceptionally nice to them. It takes a special kind of arsehole to be a shit to a happy smiley cashier who's just trying to help them.

steps101 · 06/04/2011 00:21

//The idea that the customer is always right doesn't exist anymore, which in a way is a bit of a shame. I don't mean that shop workers are inferior or wrong, but if somebody is coming to a business and paying money for a service, than they should be awarded that service.//

Yes, they absolutely should be awarded that service. That doesn't involve being spoken to or treated like they are somehow less valuable than the person "paying the money." I think good customer service is important but I also think it's a 2-way street, and I don't think anyone has the right to be treated beautifully if they start a transaction by acting like a prick.

//I worked in a customer-facing role for many years. I'm very proud that I never lost my temper once, despite being subject to all kinds of abuse. One thing that I did realise very quickly was that customers will generally be nice to you if you are exceptionally nice to them. It takes a special kind of arsehole to be a shit to a happy smiley cashier who's just trying to help them.//

Well I guess it was that "special" asshole who came into my restaurant last week, complained loudly to his wife - in front of me - about how small the table was, and then ignored my offer of moving him to a different table twice, so I had to repeat it twice more; and then, at the end of the meal, telling my manager that I was "sarcastic" for having made said offer repeatedly.

steps101 · 06/04/2011 00:22

Aargh - I meant the server shouldn't be treated like they are somehow less valuable than the person "paying the money."

JarethTheGoblinKing · 06/04/2011 00:42

Well yes, Hmm

Of course it's a two way street! Anybody who thinks otherwise is wrong/an arsehole.

No need to get shitty at me though steps..

steps101 · 06/04/2011 00:44

Where was I "shitty"at you?

Valpollicella · 06/04/2011 00:55

Not sure if it's been mentioned above but in Tesco, cashiers have a 'scan rate' they have to beat. The moment they scan the first item the system will start, and then calculate how many items they have scanned and how long it's taken.

If they have taken to long to scan repeatedly...( you know what with older people struggling/a person with a disability/a mother with children/whatever reason packing a bit slower) they get reprimanded as their scan rate is too low...

MavisEnderby · 06/04/2011 01:27

I shop in Lidl and Aldi,yes,I know you will all look down on meGrin

The Lidl ones are VERY fast.I think they have some kind of thing going on from the company where they have to go as fast as possible to meet targets or somesuch.It always makes me chuckle though as I have to try and get my shopping in double quick time.I have never managed to be as speedy as the checkout person as yet but I am aiming to try and do it one day :o

catinthehat2 · 06/04/2011 06:23

'You could.. you know... pack faster? I tend to put things on the conveyor in a way that makes sense, ie all the meat in one pile, all the cleaning stuff in one pile, all the fruit & vegetables in one pile, all the frozen stuff in one pile, etc. Then all I have to do is get my bags ready (you do take your own bags, right?) and once the checkout assistant starts scanning, I can just sling the stuff into the relevant bag, quick enough to keep up - and when I get home, unpacking is a piece of piss'

Er like wow, thanks Steps,brillisnt advice. None of us have ever thought of that.All new ideas for us eh girls?

penguin73 · 06/04/2011 06:45

Not sure why I have to be nice and smiley if you have just thrown a bunch of flowers at me, damaging them, and broken the eggs when you threw them on top of the bread that you squashed in the process....

It is possible to scan/pass things without throwing them so I'm not going to be nice and smiley if you throw them, regardless of what targets you have to meet.

gorionine · 06/04/2011 06:54

DH has noticed that they seem to go much faster when you just answered "no, thank you" to the question "would you like some help with your packing?" as a way to let you know you should definitely have said "yes , please"Grin

TyraG · 06/04/2011 06:58

I don't know how it is here, but when I used to work as a checker in the states, we had to scan so many items per minute or we were written up. It's stupid.

gorionine · 06/04/2011 07:04

I think that is awfull Tyga, for the till person as well as the customer. Agreed that when there is a long queue you do not really want the cashier to talk about the weather or their next holiday but to write of someone because they do not scan x items a minutes is ridiculous. Why the need for everything in our life to go so fast. instead of giving people more time it actually makes averyone more stressed, nervous and unhappy.Sad

52Girls · 06/04/2011 07:22

Blimey, some people are just too highly strung.

Bring back the old Sharp 'enter price manually' tills and Victioria Wood shouting "Kimberly, what price red cabaaage".

0891 · 06/04/2011 07:30

Jareth, I just spat out me cornflakes at "anvil" Grin

Parmallama · 06/04/2011 07:32

I just tell them to slow down when they do that

amberleaf · 06/04/2011 07:41

This amongst other things is why i do it online and have it delivered!

sonearsofar · 06/04/2011 07:42

Like others have said, I don't mind fast check-out staff (better than the women on the tills at our small Co-op who have long conversations about mutual friends and their health - one of the problems of living in a small town) it's the customers who pack really slowly, and have to have everything neatly put away in their trolley before they take their time about looking for their purse, then look for the right card, think about whether they want cash back, seemingly oblivious of the queue snaking back behind them.

ethelina · 06/04/2011 07:56

Well you lot would just hate me in front of you. I am one if those who continues packing at the same rate regardless, I refuse to try to keep up if it's too fast and I don't get my purse out til it's all in the trolley. I'm not leaving my card out til I can give it my full attention.

I'm not deliberately slow but I refuse to be hurried. Smile

onceamai · 06/04/2011 08:14

I didn't know a thing about scan rates and the target pressures check out staff were under. Would just like to say though that have shopped for years at Sainsbury's Putney and Waitrose and M&S too. All the staff are very very helpful and there is never a problem at the checkouts with stuff being whizzed through too fast. It's a little more difficult now we all take our own "green bags" because they need unfolding and standing up before I start packing and it does delay things for a few seconds. I understand now why the cashier often seems to want me to hurry up over paying when I would prefer to have everything packed and stacked in the trolly before doing so becaue then I pay full attention to the transaction and my handbag.

MrsTumbles · 06/04/2011 08:34

Don't all Sainsbury's have the 'zapper' systems, where you scan everything yourself when you walk round and pack it as you go? Everything can go in the correct bag at your own leisurely pace. Then you bypass the huge queues at the end and just hand in your 'zapper' and pay :) It keeps DD quiet too as she loves to zap.

Or go to Morrison?s, they don't care how many carrier bags you take and always seem to go at a decent pace.

I think I'm banned from Lidl after trying to pack my 4 items as they were scanned at the till (I also was not aware of the no packing at the till rule and foolishly tried to argue the system as it took me longer to unpack the items back into the trolley Blush)

GKlimt · 06/04/2011 08:36

Am I alone in thinking that 'service' in supermarkets with checkout assistants under time pressure targets is just another way in which the Tescos etc squeeze every last drop of sweat out of their employees to maximise their already huge profits?

And that in the not too distant future checkout staff will disappear altogether and be replaced by self checkouts for the same reason?

The company's profits override the convenience of the customer and the wellbeing of the employers.

howlonguntiltheweekend · 06/04/2011 08:41

They are a nightmare in Lidl for that. It makes me sort of competitive and I end up packing everything precisely and carefully in the correct bag, placing the bags into the trolley and then hunting around my purse slowly for my card.

I know they have targets and it isn't the checkout assistants fault but it really annoys me that I've just spent my money in the shop and then I'm rushed.