AIBU to think the person answering their phone at Sainsbury checkout was ignorant

[daisychain01]

As soon as I heard the news item about the checkout assistant in Sainsbury telling the customer (while yabbering on their mobile) that they would only start ringing the items through when the person put their phone away, I felt they were absolutely justified and very brave. And also to think that Sainsbury shot themselves in the foot by NOT backing their employee up (they have since cynically changed their stance).

Checkout people do a great job, despite pretty crap conditions (try staying smiling for a whole 6 hour shift and listening to that bloody beep, beep beep OMG) and they don't need people with zero social skills holding things up and not engaging - instead of jawing they could have at least enjoyed a bit of banter or pleasantries, "how's yer belly off for spots?" anything to re humanise a job that technology has effectively stripped of any skill - they don't even need to add up anymore!

I had a real winner the other day... Not only was the woman in front of me in full conversation, but she completed the whole credit card transaction without looking up at the person serving her, no thank you, nothing, then to top it all, rather than walking ahead and round, she pushed BACK up through the queue with her bags, still talking! Maybe that's why the news story made me fume!! . Oh well, rant over. Sorry its too steamy hot for all this ... Happy Sunday y'all

I have every right to voice my opinion and there are some times where people get to up their own arses it is reasonable to offer another viewpoint. I love the self important tone of "I have reported you" , I am not a troll, I have been on this thing for years and not name changed. Not agreeing with people's views does not automatically make you a troll. I stand by my statement, i think it's all a lot of pompous fuss about nothing and i don't think checkout operatives can force me to speak to them if i don't want to.

Yes and the people who think it is rude are perfectly entitled to thier opinion too!!!

And those reasons were not why i reported you, I stated that making a statement like yours along the lines of not being interested in this subject but only keep commenting on it because your bored and you find it entertaining (I haven't go the energy to scroll back and find exactly what you said but that was how i interpreted it) striked me as a form of trolling. Not because you disagreed with my opinion. Everyone has a right to an opinion, weather its for or against.

enough now, you are getting a little personal and, as you know, personal attacks are also against the rules. I have also reported you for this. Your posts struck me as fairly goady too, not just to me.

I have goaded back at people who have goaded me.

And my last post wasent an attack, was just explaining my interpretation.

Theodorakisses Sun 07-Jul-13 13:44:30
God, if I didn't talk on my phone when I was doing mundane things (and I don't like checkout people who make conversation), I wouldn't get anything done. I actually couldn't care less what people think. I need to be contactable 24/7, it's my job

Completely agree, down to the being on call 24/7 and not liking checkout people who make comment on what I'm buying.

No, you aren't being unreasonable. I really detest how poor manners are now being excused because people are now seemingly too busy or important.

I also wonder what the fuss is about people using phones whilst at the check-out. Clearly some of us can multi-task and some can't! If check-out people are so in need of validation from strangers that they feel the need to command a customers full attention for the duration of the transaction then the sooner someone invents a retina scan that verifies my age so that I can purchase my bottle of wine at the self-serve check out the better! I'll make sure I give it a pat goodbye though. Checkout assistants getting uptight about this is the equivalent of me getting upset everytime a client failed to put DEAR sarahbumbarer or KIND REGARDS on an email!

Agree jaymescglew . I do find and I have also travelled extensively, not just France, Theodora that in this life we get what we put into it e.g. if you acknowledge someone they are more likely (of course not always) to treat you as a human being.

LuisSuarezTeeth - I'm not sure you're in the right position to judge the rudeness and manners of others, given that your nickname on MN is seemingly poking fun at someone's physical appearance.

Or am I missing something?

I think the nickname is in reference to luis Suarez biting another player on the pitch rather than his appearance.

I could be wrong though.

I think the nickname is in reference to luis Suarez biting another player...

Ah ok, if that's the case I apologise to, erm, Luis.

I feel for the cashiers now. A lot of people just dont want to chat but if the cashiers dont make conversation then they get in trouble.
I know cashiers get paid to do their job but they should still have tespect given to them

I wish more people thought like you Kali.

Cashiers in supermarkets, banks, other shops, etc etc all have high targets, demands and expectations of thier employers and its difficult to meet those expectations at the best of times!

I worked in retail for 11 years and i had to speak to every customer. I was always quick but even if the customer didn't want to talk i would be in trouble if i didn't say certain things. You couldn't win. You would stick to company policies so customers would moan and then management would backtrack and apologise.
Maybe as iv been spoken too appallingly that i have sympathy!

Going back to the original purpose of my AIBU it was to say I had a personal experience of rudeness with the woman who ignored the checkout person, didnt even say thank you then proceeded to barge back UP the queue (like going down a one way street the wrong way), Mobile glued to her ear. Then literally days later, I heard the item about the person in Sainsburys.

Whether or not I used the right words (Jessie language evolves and the word ignorant does imply the person does not show good grace - we all choose our attitude!) and whether or not I got every last fact in the article 100% correct, the basics of what I said still holds true and splitting hairs is a waste of time IMO.

Yes there will always be the Theodoras of this world who just want service!!! and are not prepared to recognise there is a person yup another human being --doing their job too. It only has to be thus because its how you want it to be. Being on call 24/7 isnt an excuse. Maybe your organisation has driven you so hard, you cant stop for breath, thats not a place I would like to work in.

And of course I am not suggesting a person needs to give chapter and verse about their life story at the checkout, but common courtesy is not difficult to achieve.

Sigh. It is perfectly possible to show common courtesy, acknowledge the person serving you and thank them whilst also using your phone! Nobody here has said that they would completely ignore their checkout operator or not say please and thank you. People who can't or won't show common courtesy whilst using their phone, probably wouldn't show it if they weren't using their phone. Mobile phones aren't the problem, rude people are.

I think it is down to manners. This wasn't really a 'thing' ten years ago, we as a society are now so used to being available 24/7 that in my opinion it has effected how people interact with other people.

I work in retail and since this story broke the mobile phone users have become more aware that they are on the phone, they are now saying to the person on the phone that they will call them back or give them five minutes. Which in the short term is refreshing whilst it is in peoples minds, but in the long term it will not change a thing.

It is awkward when I am trying to put through a customers purchase and they are so absorbed in their conversation that the transaction times out, I can make hand gestures to get the persons attention, but for me it is so ingrained that it is rude to interrupt someone on the phone. Its a minefield some times

The nickname is a reference to mr Suarez biting another player. I have no idea what his teeth look like, we are not that intimate.

Good grief!

If I'm in the supermarket without the toddler I'm going to use my time to multi task and will be on the phone if I can get in touch with someone I need to speak to. I also use my phone handsfree in the car if I don't have DS. I don't have enough childfree time to be able to just do one thing when I don't have him.

Well that just makes you rude then Jolly.

Apparently so. I also don't remove my shoes in other people's houses, eat with my fingers and talk about money in public. Clearly I'm a lost cause.

Surely the function of Customer Service is to provide a service to the customer.

No doubt some customers enjoy a personal transaction and a little natter about their day and purchases and whatever else they wish to discuss during the transaction.

Others aren't that interested in what the checkout staff think of their choices or appreciate being asked their plans for the weekend.

Bar actively antisocial behaviour, or refusing to answer whether we need help packing, have a loyalty card or readiness to enter our pin, as the customer, my rights triumph.

And I choose, quite often, to take important calls or keep my own counsel.

A professional customer service person with healthy levels of self-esteem will respect that. If not, perhaps they should question their suitability for the role.

I used to work in a coffee shop and found that people would take calls all the time, completely disregarding the long que and the fact that I had to take an order and had to interact with them. I think the issue comes down to the fact that people forget that the people who serve them are a) actually human and b) subject to management having a go for letting the que become excessively long/angering other customers. I would bet anything that the girl at the checkout had been in the same situation so many times before that she just got fed up with being treated like a machine, not a person. Of course it's not the appropriate way to deal with the situation, but I empathise completely.