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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be annoyed with the check out man at Sainsburys?

72 replies

LadyOfTheManor · 23/05/2011 17:13

I went into Sainsburys this afternoon as I had a scan due and was killing time without stopping long enough to pee. I picked up some organic snacks, a few tins of soup and a punnet of cherries and 2 loose peaches in a bag.

I got to the til, and there was a man serving. He said;

"Do you need bags?"

I said; "Yes please".

And he gave me one. I then said;

"Can I have another one so I can bag my fruit separately from the tins?"

To this, he glared at me, tutted, looked from me back to the few items I had, shook his head and said;

"The poor environment" and slammed one down.

Now, as far as I'm aware the bags are free and I'm entitled to them. It isn't compulsory for me to take my own bags in (which in all fairness I usually do for a planned shop, which this was not). But I feel that it is none of his damn business how many bags I need, as they are not being paid for out of his own personal packet. I may be hormonal, but is it the job of a shop worker to tell me about the state of the environment?

OP posts:

doley · 23/05/2011 18:12

I think he should have kept quiet .

I don't know why he would even bother giving advice while he was working ?

But,he could have had a very bad day and was done with crappy customers perhaps ? not op

till boy ? that was a joke right ?luvlemon

Original poster

LadyOfTheManor · 23/05/2011 18:16

I just sidestepped LuvLemon....

OP posts:

Bellagio · 23/05/2011 18:23

Tins at the bottom of the bag and fruit on top.
Can't really understand the need to pack the fruit in a separate bag.

amberleaf · 23/05/2011 18:28

YANBU

It pisses me off that shops hand out 4 bags when you have a trolley piled high

When they do this, even though i know its probably what they are instructed to do it makes me feel like saying what the very fuck

The bags are so shit now you end up having to use them doubled up anyway.

They give you one or two and then watch while your bagless shopping piles up, i struggle not to swear.

I speak as someone who worked on a checkout as a teen so im aware of the whole 'rude customers' 'poor pay' etc etc.

doley · 23/05/2011 18:28

The other issue is that as a customer lady had every right to ask for however many bags she wanted .

I dread returning to the UK sometimes as I have got used to very good customer service here in the US ...

Sometimes too many carrier bags though

CoffeeDodger · 23/05/2011 18:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littleducks · 23/05/2011 18:40

amberleaf just ask for more.....repeatedly and politely, they cant say no...it used to irritate me too

northerngirl41 · 23/05/2011 19:47

Can't help thinking that in terms of environmental damage having children is far, far worse than using plastic bags... And yet the supermarkets fall over themselves to stock the cheapest school uniforms, family-sized packs of stuff, baby stuff etc. If they really were doing this for environmental reasons rather than flogging their "bags for life" then they'd not be stocking any family goods would they???

This stance really irritates me. Either the bags are free or they are paid for. But doling them out one bag per customer when I've just spent £50 is entirely pathetic.

amberleaf · 23/05/2011 20:29

Littleducks , yes i do ask for more and they usually give them to me, sometimes 1 at a time though when i clearly need 5! but as i said i do understand that they are doing as instructed.

Coffeedodger Its not always convenient to take my own, i certainly cant reuse the supermarket ones because they are too thin and break, i do use them at home though to wrap stuff etc.

It is also not rocket science to 'get' that if there is half a trolley full of shopping 2 flimsy bags wont suffice....

atswimtwolengths · 23/05/2011 20:47

Oh you have reminded me of an occasion when I went shopping and have to have a lie down afterwards.

I was driving home from work one winter evening and decided to go and do some Christmas food shopping. And no, I hadn't got any bloody bags with me, because I wasn't expecting to go home. I could have driven home and then back again, but surely that would be worse for the environment?

So I got to the store (Asda btw - yes, agreed, not the best for food but still usually good at customer relations.) I had a trolley full of food and drink. I went to the till and the checkout woman, about my own age (ahem older than 50) gave me a withering look when I said I had no bags because I hadn't expected to be shopping.

So she gave me one bag. Bear in mind I spent £130 so you can picture my trolley. I had to ask her for another bag. Then another. And another. Eventually she said "Why are you looking so angry?" and I said "Can you not see that I need more than one bag?" She said, "Well you should have brought some with you!" and - to make matters worse - said, "I always take plenty of bags with me!" Gah!

So then she said that Asda was trying to save the world via carrier bags. I said that I'd read somewhere that the supermarkets were in fact being fined if they used too many bags and this was a completely different matter to trying to save the world. It's like being praised for going into a burning building when in fact you're trying to rescue your own handbag.

I kept having to ask her for one bag at a time until I reached the end. By that time I was ready to murder her. It was a busy shop; I was being pushed around by trolleys and other customers. All I wanted was to hand over my money and go home.

I do not think it's the role of someone on a till to tell you that you should have brought a bag. It's bad customer service and bad manners. It's nothing to do with her being a till operator, it's everything to do with me wanting to get my bloody shopping home.

atswimtwolengths · 23/05/2011 20:47

Ohh feel better now.

wellwisher · 23/05/2011 20:50

He was a bit rude, but he did have a point: you say in your OP that the peaches were already in a bag, so it's not surprising the man thought you were being wasteful by asking for a second one. You're just annoyed that he burst your bubble of smugness (love how you felt the need to specify that you purchased organic snacks).

YABU and snotty :)

doley · 23/05/2011 20:53

I really think it is a disgrace that anyone in a public service postion ,gives any 'cheek' to customers .

Like I said ,I don't even know why they bother ?

I have worked in shop (when I was younger) I would never have dreamed of saying /doing anything that was not in my job description .

It is a waste of time at best !

Original poster

LadyOfTheManor · 23/05/2011 21:01

He isn't paid to burst my bubble of anything. He is paid to scan my shopping and give me free bags. If he isn't capable of doing his job, perhaps he should do something he is qualified to do? (Green Party MP perhaps?)

OP posts:

Flowerista · 23/05/2011 21:10

It would be all well and good if Sainsbo's practise what they preach. I being -a dozy mare Very Busy Person continuously forget the 5,650 Bags for Life I own and have to ask for bags, that I do at least use as bin liners. But when I get my shopping delivered oftentimes there's just one item in a bag. You can imagine the size of the pile in my kitchen after I unload a £150 shop!!!

Original poster

LadyOfTheManor · 23/05/2011 21:12

Yes Flower, I've had Tesco deliveries before now and they have put one courgette in a full size bag. I use them to give to my sister as she does regular car boots.

OP posts:

manticlimactic · 23/05/2011 21:27

I agree he was rude. But he probably had a full day of people putting just three items in each bag so you were the straw. but YANBU - he was huffy and rude going by what you posted and there's no excuse for that.

Tins on the bottom, organic puffy things on the tins and then precious peaches on top .

It pisses me off that shops hand out 4 bags when you have a trolley piled high Yes you're right, we are told to give out so many bags and I had to sign something to say we've been told that, so if I give out more than that I get a bollocking!

I've just done a shop, spent £88 and fit everything in 4 bags and none of them split. The young lad on the till was amazed.

MrsBananaGrabber · 23/05/2011 21:29

Most of you would faint if you went shopping here in North America ( I have been out of the country for 5 years and people are being bollocked for asking for a plastic bag, really). A seperate bag for eggs, check, one huge bag of crisps in its own bag, check.

I would have told him to piss off and give me extra bags for my dog shit.

doley · 23/05/2011 21:32

mrsabanana I am in North America too ,just said the same thing :)

doley · 23/05/2011 21:32

sorry about the extra A in your username .

TheFogsGettingThicker · 23/05/2011 22:08

I would have said, "I am planning on re-using them, you know."

I worked in retail for 17 years and would never have spoken to a customer like that.

And I always end up with more and more bags because I only take a few bags in with me because I consistently believe that this time, unlike every previous occasion I won't be doing a big shop....

porpoisefull · 23/05/2011 22:18

YANBU, he shouldn't be rude to customers - if he wants to do anything he could be extra smiley to the ones who have their own bags.

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