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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be upset with lady on the till at Waitrose

103 replies

stonetheroses · 16/07/2011 22:36

My DH is away and have no family nearby so if I need to go to the supermarket DS1 (4.5) and DD2 (20 months) have to come with me. Today it was a little stressful, being a Saturday it was pretty bust and DD was out of the trolly wandering around. She can now undo the strap on the trolly seat so it is a nightmare as if I turn my back for one min she is up standing on the seat which is dangerous.

Anyway, at the till DS1 is constantly talking to me so I am trying to talk to him, keep an eye on DD2 (a couple of times I had to dash after her) whilst unloading/packing as quickly as I could. The girl on the checkout was not great, I had to ask for paper to wrap two glass vases I had brought and alert to her I was ready to pay.

I turned away to check DD2 was behaving and quickly glanced back as my card was in the chip and pin and caught the girl rolling her eyes and making a face to the girl on the next till. She knew I caught her and quickly gave me a big false smile. I looked at her in a way that let her know I had seen, took my receipt and walk off without smiling or saying goodbye.

AIBU for feeling equally cross/humiliated?

OP posts:
Sidge · 16/07/2011 22:39

Don't take it so personally.

She was probably bored stupid.

glassescase · 16/07/2011 22:40

Could you use old-fashioned reigns to keep her in the seat-might be less stressful. But yes, she was rude- she knew it too.

basingstoke · 16/07/2011 22:41

I think it's a bit daft to still be fretting about it now really. Let it go!

EthelredOnAGoodDay · 16/07/2011 22:42

Very rude. You should have reported her to a supervisor. And at waitrose as well?!Grin

A lot of shop staff are so rude now (although some are great of course). I cannot stand it when you get served in a shop and the assistants don't even break off their conversation to acknowledge you. Tut. (And I have done loads of shop work so I know it can be a rubbish job and some customers are equally rude.)

worraliberty · 16/07/2011 22:43

I wouldn't worry about it. She's only human and may have had a whole morning full of customers in your situation.

Really though, it would have been easier for yourself if you'd strapped your DD in the trolley. She'd be sat in front of you so you'd know if she was undoing the strap and you could have told her no.

AgentZigzag · 16/07/2011 22:43

They might have had an ongoing conversation and it had nothing to do with you, I wouldn't think any more about it.

What would it matter even if she did roll her eyes about you? Hers is hardly an important input to the state of your parenting skills Smile

BimboNo5 · 16/07/2011 22:44

Maybe it was a rolley eyed fuck me get me out of here and down the pub please type face? I doubt it was personal towards you.

Original poster
stonetheroses · 16/07/2011 22:45

Will try that glasses...cheers :-) I dread supermarket shopping on my own with them and do a lot online!

Sidge: bored/silent etc I don't care but to go out of your way to take the piss, especially in bloody Waitrose!

OP posts:
EthelredOnAGoodDay · 16/07/2011 22:47

Perhaps my response was a tad OTT!! Grin

marriedinwhite · 16/07/2011 22:47

You must be exhausted. Two under fives and a full time job which means you have to go to the supermarket on a Saturday when it is most busy. Grin

Sidge · 16/07/2011 22:48

But as Bimbo said it might have been a rolly-eyed face-pulling god-i-hope-my-shift-finishes-soon-as-we're-off-out-clubbing-tonight sort of face.

A Saturday girl (if that's what she was) will have no concept of taking 2 small children shopping, slo why get stressed about her supposed "criticism" of your parenting?

Not good service, no I agree, but not worth wasting brain space on when you could be relaxing in front of the tv with wine!

ninedragons · 16/07/2011 22:48

FFS, if you want to be served by an emotionless robot, use the self-service tills and don't take umbrage at some poor woman on minimum wage facing a difficult public.

Worry less about controlling the behaviour of some stranger with whom you have a five-minute interaction and more about controlling the behaviour of your DCs.

Geordieminx · 16/07/2011 22:49

Reins and online shopping delivered to your door.

Sorted.

Next?

Grin
SmethwickBelle · 16/07/2011 22:51

Mine are round about that age and I just don't make eye contact with anybody these days - the babes are bound to be doing something that irritates someone and I can't be bothered to see the raised eyebrows and I am sure there are a LOT.

So I feel your pain, but don't give it another thought, no worth it. What you are doing is difficult, I know that!

Original poster
stonetheroses · 16/07/2011 22:51

Well Etheired it did cross my mind but I told myself to forget it and get on with getting the kids home.

It seems I am over thinking the situation but being on my own have got no one to have a good moan to Smile. My DH is the calm and rational one!

OP posts:
AgentZigzag · 16/07/2011 22:53

Could you not think of a nicer way to put that ninedragons?

Bluebell99 · 16/07/2011 22:57

Let it go. It may well have been nothing to do with you. Is it because it was Waitrose? had it been Tesco or the co -op would you have minded less? One Waitrose near me has excellent staff but the other has young lads hurling the shopping down the belt. I would keep your dd in the seat too, strapped in next to you as you pack, letting her run around is madness. My friend let her dd loose a bit older than yours and whilst paying her dd legged it out of the shop and across the carpark!

nothingoldcanstay · 16/07/2011 22:58

No way can you get a medal for shopping with two children. If the girl in on the till thought you were bonkers (as she deals with all sorts day in day out) you probably were. Unfortunately even John Lewis is a supermarket. You need to buy stuff and therefore even paying over the odds means you them more than you need them. Can I suggest you go somewhere more suited to families. Lot's of other supermarkets do the same brands but don't mind if you have issues when you shop.

ninedragons · 16/07/2011 23:00

No, actually. Taking two kids to the supermarket is not the same as taking five kids on the Paris-Dakar rally, which is what the OP reads like.

Starting a thread because of a facial expression from a supermarket worker is an overreaction, in my view. Which she appears to acknowledge herself.

nannynick · 16/07/2011 23:05

Did your DS get given a green token? Your DD may even have got one as well (I sometimes find we get given more than one token). When I take children to Waitrose, often the staff are very nice. Mind you, we don't go on a Saturday.

I don't think you got great customer service, so you could raise that with the checkout supervisor or duty manager. Staff are supposed to be helpful, you shouldn't have had to ask for the glasses to be wrapped in my view. She also should be paying more attention to you, not to a fellow partner. Also I'm surprised she didn't offer to help pack a bit if she saw you struggling with two young children. Maybe she was rather new to the job and hasn't quite grasped the expectations of customers who shop at Waitrose.

However it's a bit late now to moan but I hope it has not put you off continuing shopping at Waitrose... vast majority of the staff are lovely. The food is good as well Smile

AgentZigzag · 16/07/2011 23:06

Nothinggoldcanstay, so the girl (if she was eye rolling at the OP) on the tills judgement of the OP must be right because she works in a supermarket and sees all sorts?

Hardly.

And which supermarkets are more suitable for families? I've never heard of a family friendly supermarket, I thought they all were.

thursday · 16/07/2011 23:09

christ, i have DS 4.5 and DD 23 months and i wouldnt be able to let her roam free in a supermarket. she is an escape artist too and if i blink she's stood on the seat trying to climb in a fridge so i sympathise. had i been the checkout girl i'd have been tempted to roll my eyes though as i would as someone queuing behind you.

Original poster
stonetheroses · 16/07/2011 23:11

Bluebell...the reason I mentioned it being Waitrose was mainly because their customer service is usually great, and yes of course I would have felt the same had it been Tescos etc but maybe not as shocked. Yes of course It may have not been directed towards me but at the time I 100% felt it was.

nothingold: I have no 'issues' with shopping however it is stressful with two DC. I am aware others find small children irritating and don't like to cause a nuisance. DD does not run riot, in fact I carried her most of the time and at the till she was near me and wandered a few mtrs away a couple of times. I will invest in reigns now so will not be a prob anyway.

I shop in Waitrose as I believe in their farming ethics. I HATE Tescos with a passion...they are killing our dairy industry and their 'value' meat products disgust me. I will not give them my money. Getting off topic not though!

OP posts:
worraliberty · 16/07/2011 23:15

Regardless of what the supermarket was called

The girl only rolled her eyes. It's quite a human thing to do when you're getting a bit pissed off.

I wouldn't take it personally, she'd have to be super human to not get a bit pissed off now and then...especially as when you leave the store, she's got to deal with other pissed of people in the queue. They're hardly likely to blame you for being held up and will more likely take their mood out on her.

Really not a big deal.

Original poster
stonetheroses · 16/07/2011 23:19

thursday...out of interest why would you be tempted to roll eyes? They are just children and I was being quick and efficient with a couple of 3 second dashes to bring DD back to me.

I have been abroad with dc a couple of times in the last year and the attitude towards them was worlds away from here. There seems to be a real lack of tolerance of young children in this country!

OP posts: