To think one week before Christmas you should expect queues in shops

[MerryChristmasEverybody]

I work in a large well known toy shop and, as you can expect a week before Christmas, it's been very busy today. We have in total 8 tills. 4 "normal" tills, 2 customer services and 2 that are in a specialised section. Customer services serves "normal" till customers and calls them over when they are not busy. The specialised section is mainly for the specialised products, but will often take "normal" till customers when they are not busy.

Today we had people on all 8 tills when it got particularly busy. 10am til 2pm is our busiest time and all tills were covered, or could be covered, throughout that period. Sometimes when it goes quiet one or two people will go and find something else to do, always keeping an eye out in case the tills get too busy.

Anyway, I would say people had to wait 5-10 minutes maximum to be served when it got especially busy. A lady comes up to my till, getting really angry about how she has had to wait 20 minutes to be served and won't be coming back as the service is disgusting and there should be more people on the tills etc. This went on for the whole time I was serving her. I apologised for keeping her waiting, apologised 3 or 4 times to her, said we were very busy and we had all tills covered.

Eventually she leaves, saying first, very loudly "I will NOT be back here"

AIBU to think, if you are shopping one week before Christmas, in a toy shop, you are going to expect queues???

Even if there had been only one till open, is mental to think the person on said till is the one responsible for deciding how many to open. Seriously, if she really was that fed up she should've asked to see, and complained to, the manager.
She was venting Christmas shopping spleen, and you had the misfortune to be on the receiving end - is no reflection on you, from sounds of it. Silly woman (her, I mean).

She was clearly having a stress and you were unfortunately in the firing line! If she carries on like that, she'll probably have exploded by Xmas Day

I don't mind when they have all the tills open and there is still a big queue, I just think "Ah well it's busy, they are doing their best."

What annoys me more is when you go while it's quiet, but they only have one till open with a big queue, and it takes as long, if not longer to pay as it would have done if it were busy. SAINSBURY'S I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

thats why I do most of my shopping online - hate waiting in queues (but would never moan about it to the cashier - have been a cashier myself and understand the crap you get thrown at you sometimes)

I don't shout at the checkout staff though, it isn't their fault.

I don't mind waiting if there are enough till open. When I was a shop manager I always put on enough staff to have 2 on each till, one tapping & one wrapping! I did go in to a shop last week which had 10 tills and 2 staff, I was not impressed as the queue was massive and it's not as if Christmas is a surprise for shop managers!

Yanbu. If a shop ia that busy it clearly doesnt need rude customers like her.

YANBU

Unless you work in one of these stupidy hot shops that have the heating up full blast, while all the staff are swanning around in short sleeves...wondering why the customers are passing out in their warm winter coats and hats.

Seriously, there's no excuse for rudeness but I can see how some customers get grumpy when they're stood queuing in tropical temperatures

Probably because staff are often not allowed to wear anything other than their massively-inappropriate-in-winter short sleeved t-shirts and it gets bloomin' cold stood there all day! I swear its actually warmer outside than in our shop lately.

I don't mind when they have all the tills open and there is still a big queue, I just think "Ah well it's busy, they are doing their best."

yes me too - its when lots of empty tills etc and managers or people on the floor standing round chatting that gets me.

Nat West are my WORST local offenders at this.

Waitrose - hardley ever have queues. I almost wish JL/waitrose didnt exist because all these problems other retailers have - they just dont - proving you just need good training.

In places like yours op - i feel really sorry for the poor management/systems because you do get it in the neck and its not your fault.....

Silly woman what was she expecting.
I worked in Asda when I was in college, I was on the tills and always worked Friday night. We'd have every till open and even extra staff so each one could go for breaks and dinner without closing any tills, queues backed up for minimum 20 minutes or more. Often people would complain usually ones who'd run in for a few things. I just smiled and said "Yes I know, it's always like this on Friday nights, I'd never shop this late on a Friday" by the time I was done they'd be blaming themselves for coming in.

YANBU, given that all the tills were open.

It's when there's big queues and empty tills that I get annoyed, but even then, it's unreasonable to have a go at the till staff. They're not responsible for the staffing levels.

One of the Sainsbury's near my old house was particularly bad for that. I stopped shopping there after the time I had to put an entire trolleyload of shopping through the till that doubled up as the cigarette kiosk / 10 items or less till, because that was the only till open. 10 empty normal tills next to it. It was quite late in the evening, but embarrassing even so.