When Cashiers in supermarkets comment on your shopping when it goes through the till?

[crypes]

The other day at one of the biggee Supermarkets i had a running commentary on the items i had bought. I was in no mood to talk and i was starting to cringe a bit about 'that loaf looks nice and healthy' and 'your going to be doing alot of gardening this week'. Sometimes i have even had a cashier read the front of my paper and i thought 'gods sake havent you got a tea break coming up?' I just read in another thread sometimes you may want your shopping items to be private and stay private.

I don't think the op is being that unreasonable. I hate it when cashiers question what I buy. I don't mind nice normal small talk. But the number of times, as a white person I have been questioned for buying Asian groceries! Usually of the kind that are in the specialit section of a supermarket or in an Asian grocers. So I do think the is a limit!

Example, ' oh you make chapatis at home?!' or ' do you know how to make this?' following by very disbelieving look. Nope, I am buying £8 worth of flour for the sake of it (!)

'Hiddenhome you are the grumpiest arse mumsnetter ive ever come across'

Not really, I just don't suffer fools and question everything I come across. I never just accept things the way other people do.

I hate it when people talk to each other

A very young cashier once commented negatively on loads of my shopping 'ooh I can't eat this' and 'ugh I hate handling meat' etc etc it actually made me quite defensive! I got the impression she had been instructed to comment on customers' shopping but she hasn't really got the hang of it! It was quite funny really

I probably seem really rude when I'm in the supermarket, as I don't really respond to small talk. But that's because I am usually scared (Aspergers, sensory overload, crowds, AAARGH!) and want to get the hell out of there. Sometimes I wish I could write that on a badge.

I do most of my food shopping online of course, but if I do have to nip into our local Sainsburys I always make a beeline for one particular guy, he's always at the same till as it's set up for a physical disability he has, and he's really lovely. He is the chattiest person there - but it's genuine. He's so naturally chatty and friendly, it doesn't feel at all forced for him so even though I find it hard to respond, it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable.

As for me, I work in a library, and we are often praised for customer service. We don't tend to make small talk, but we can if we want (book-related usually) - I'm getting quite good at 'reading' whether people are looking for a chat or not.

like storminabuttercup I aim to be friendly and can chat or not, depending on whether I am in a hurry or not. Don't need help packing but thank staff for offering... really appreciate it if they can open a bag or two if I have a pile of stuff to pack as the bags seem to be getting thinner and more awkward to open (if I've forgotten to take a 'bag for life')

Saw one comment "perhaps all these complainents would like to go through the self service tills"

generally I'll go through the self service tills if I have a small number of items, or no security tagged items, but there are times (a few times here, at Asda, and once at Tesco where I used to live) where I've had staff near the self service pretty much tell me (rather than politely invite me) to use the self service rather than a till with a cashier.

I have (at local Asda) told them politely, more than once, that "I intend to use this till thank you" and don't say anything further (it's usually when I want about 3 mobile phone top ups and wish to pay for them with a second card, something the self service tills won't easily accommodate!).

They now seem to have someone whose job is to walk along with a big pointer to show where there's a till with no/short queue, so I assume they consider anyone without a trolley "fair game" to be told to use the self service tills.

While OP has a good point - I don't always want a running commentary - it is worth understanding the cashiers' side too, and while I rarely feel the staff need to be "Sorry you had to wait" (that's what a queue is all about!) I can imagine that orders from on high make much of the "customer service experience" fully trained and marked and subjected to scrutiny, and unless someone is particularly unpleasant/ rude towards me, I have no wish to get anyone into trouble in a shop - they're under plenty of pressure anyway, with a seemingly endless queue of customers, scanners that can prove temperamental, need to be accurate with cash, etc, etc.

Must say that all the staff I've met so far, from Aldi, Argos, Asda, Lidl, Tesco, mobile phone shops and a pile of "pound stores" have been great. Least pleasant experience has been at Wilkinsons where they don't seem to know the phrase "customer service" (at least in the local store - when I lived in N Wales, staff at that store were fine)

Instead of complaining about the individual it would be far better for people to write to the head office of the supermarket, in droves, to say that you don't like the policy. The cashier is only doing their job, as try are told to do it.

chops I've had a similar experience but I was happy about it. I was clearly buying stuff to make a curry from scratch and the lady said 'ooh looks like you are making curry' I said I was and it was the first time as I always use pastes and she gave me loads of advice, I found that lovely.

I really don't mind the comments about my shopping, the other day I'd bought a new range and the cashier asked if I'd had it before and was it nice etc it didn't bother me one bit.

Yes maybe if I was buying immodium and they said 'ooh have you got the squits' I'd be a bit but a cashier that would say that is clearly just not aware of boundaries, you get that with people, all people not just cashiers!

The way supermarkets are going with self serve tills and those scanners to scan stuff as you go round makes me wonder how long it will be before we go into a supermarket and get no staff interaction. Makes me feel quite sad really.

The big supermarkets have obviously invested lots in to research about what the customers want from service or they wouldn't train that way.

When I worked on a till I knew that sometimes I would be the only person that some folk speak to all day, in some cases all week. So commenting that old mrs jones' cream buns looked yummy and her telling me there were a treat because she felt fed up, followed by a bit of a chat seemed worthwhile.

I'd be interested to know from those who don't like the chat if they are generally chatty people in rl? Do you have conversations with the bloke at the bus stop about how the bus is always late or with the postman about the weather? I'll talk to anyone me

Storminateacup, Ive never been given advice though, just gawped at and questioned!
I think it comes down to the manner of the interrogation chat.

Oh yes I agree that would be annoying!

I don't mind a bit of chit chat in the supermarket. I do mind buying tampax/sanitary towels in Boots when clearly I have a small handbag and the cashiers say "do you need a bag for that". I have once or twice said, no thanks I'll just wave them round in the shopping centre and they have looked askance. Of course I need a bag, there is really no need to ask

I worked in m&s food over xmas and tv's Charles Hanson came in and asked me where the hummus was. It was xmas eve, and in my defence I was really tired. I acted like a complete idiot, told him how much I love Bargain Hunt and did not stop waffling on. It was a temporary job so if his wife is reading this tell him its safe to return!

A cashier making an intelligent and genuine comment on my shopping is fine, although I'd prefer cashiers to use their social skills to work out that I don't want to have an inane conversation about what I've bought. I'm like that in real life too - I don't do small talk. My question now is, if I'm a customer who isn't in the mood for talking, is it fair to judge me as rude and unfriendly? That's a question to MooBaa and everyone else piling on the emotive talk about poor old cashiers being human too.

I think I'd rather have a conversation with the checkout operator than listen to her talking to her mate on the next till about what they did last night etc. How rude is that!

I loved working on a checkout. I loved being a waitress and I love working on the market. You don't GET to be served by me and be a grumpy git. The more you have a cats bum mouth, the harder I work to make you smile.
In the restaurant, I'd get given all the miserable tables. They always left happy. I got big tips!
Life is too short.
There are many people out there, whose only human contact is with the cashier, or the stall holder. Being chatted to makes them happy. it makes the cashiers day go faster. It perks up a boring job. You all need to get a grip.

I had one at Morrisons who, after commenting on my purchase of ready made gravy gasped at my total shopping bill and said to my 5 year old ds 'well, I hope that's mummy's monthly bill and not her weekly!'

Argh...this happened to me TWICE in one week back in April. First in Asda where the man commented on the hair colour I had bought exclaiming "OH I BET THAT'S FOR YOU"...the arsehole.

Then it happened in M&S - I went in with DD to buy a birthday cake for DH and the woman looked at DD and said "wow who's birthday is it?" so DD told her, then she replied "why aren't you baking a cake yourself?" At this point I interjected; I pointed at my DS in the pushchair and said "It's a bit hard trying to get into the kitchen with a screaming baby at the moment". Stupid cow. And the annoying thing is I always make cakes myself, but DS really had been a cry baby that day, and I couldn't be arsed to faff around with making a cake.

LOL @ Marriedinwhite and the tampons in a bag!

There's a group on FB called 'Do you want a bag for that? No I'll just shove it up my arse shall I?'

People who aren't in the mood for talking aren't necessarily unhappy SaggyPuss.

Are you the female equivalent of those "cheer up love" men on building sites?

Sometimes i have even had a cashier read the front of my paper

This happened to me recently - she stared intently at the front cover (which was the story of a guy being retried for the murder of his wife) for what seemed like AGES, but probably wasnt. Looked up at me and said something like "I knew her, they should bring back hanging for the likes of him" and so it went on!

Reading the front of the paper is nothing, I had one ignorant moo in the late unlamented Safeway actually leafing through my magazine for a few minutes. She was oblivious to the queue building up and the fact that I was waiting to pay. I had to do sort of cough and "excuse me" routine until she finally gave it to me with a stroppy "SOrry", as if I was causing the problem. She was also arsey when I bought a lottery ticket, and she'd given me the wrong one.
When Safeway shut down, she resurfaced at Sainsburys, and still works there. I still bear a grudge and avoid her till like the plague. However, everyone else who works there is lovely and I like to chat to them as I go through the checkout. I find them very considerate as well, the supervisor noticed the other week that I was on the verge of flaking out with back pain, so marched me into the cafe, gave me a cup of coffee, and then helped my son to do the packing.

The rudest staff I ever encountered were in Kwik Save in Tottenham, they actually had notes stuck to their tills saying "Say Please and Thank You", but never ever did it. They didn't even tell you how much the bill was, just thrust a hand out for the money.

See, I think life is too short to make myself anxious by forcing myself to make small talk :)

That is not to say I don't feel for the cashiers who are just doing their job, but I do think some just don't bother working out if you actually want to chat or not. Heck, if an Aspie like me can learn to pick up on these cues from customers, I'm sure normal people can too :o

I never said unhappy. Actually.
I was referring to those people who want my service, and are rude, truculent, snotty, superior, distant or ignoring. If you want my service, you can be polite. You can be civil, you can say 'yes, the weather is awful' or 'yes, my child/dog/handbag/hairdo is gorgeous' or just, 'yes please/no thank you'! Where's the harm in treating the person who is serving you with a little respect?
I'm not like a builder, no. But I am a living breathing person, and not a robot.