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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be upset by this incident in Sainsburys?

204 replies

FlobberWobber · 18/09/2013 15:25

I've just been into Sainsburys with DS (2) who I always put into a trolley seat as it's quicker than him walking. Was in a hurry as didn't want to be late for school run and all the checkouts were busy. I only had 6 small things so I transferred them into a basket with Ds still trolley and went to the basket only aisle which was free. The cashier told me I was cheating, I said I had a basket, she said I should go and use one of the other aisles, I said there were none free and I did have a basket.

She huffed and told me I'd have to move DS out the aisle, which was really wide as the till next to it was closed and no one wax waiting in ours. I moved him to the end of the aisle and came back to my basket. She then pointed out her aisle was only for little bits, I said my basket had 6 small items. I felt quite humiliated by this
point, and annoyed especially
as I spend about £150 a week there!

OP posts:
Morgause · 18/09/2013 15:27

YABU.

Either a trolley or a basket, not both.

CaptainSweatPants · 18/09/2013 15:28

Well it does say trolleys only but she did seem a bit jobsworthy

lborolass · 18/09/2013 15:28

I'd be annoyed too but not humiliated, why would you be ashamed because the checkout person is in a bad mood ?

If I had enough time I'd be straight to customer services to complain or I'd have said something to the cashier about her attitude but I certainly wouldn't be upset about it. Cross, yes but no cause for upset.

Sirzy · 18/09/2013 15:29

How much you spend their a week is irrelevant.

If they have a basket only till then it makes sense to ask people not to take trolleys though. I have never understood the basket only logic though much prefer when it is "10 items or less"

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 18/09/2013 15:30

YABU - it is a basket only aisle, not a basket in a trolly aisle. The fact that you spend £150 a week in there is irrelevant, rules are rules. I would be pretty pissed off if I was queuing in the basket aisle and someone in front of me did what you did.

It's not their fault you were pushed for time.

WhatchaMaCalllit · 18/09/2013 15:31

YANBU - When my DD was little, I often used a trolley (to put DD into) and I've used a basket for the actual items of shopping as I found it dangerous to try and balance a shopping basket on the hood of a buggy and DD wanted to be up higher to see around. It made it easier to lift out the basket at the till and still have DD secure in the trolley.

That till operator needs to spend a day in our shoes I'd imagine and then they might be a bit more thoughtful.

picnicbasketcase · 18/09/2013 15:33

YANBU, the whole thing sounds petty in the extreme. If you only had a few things, you should be allowed to use that checkout.

slightlysoupstained · 18/09/2013 15:34

Sounds like a jobsworth - I can see the point of objecting to trolley (though as you point out, it wasn't in the way) but being arsey when you came back with a basket is just rude.

Corkyandviolet · 18/09/2013 15:35

In the Sainsburys where I shop, the till is marked "basket only", but there is never a problem with someone pushing a trolley through as long as the amount of shopping inside is just a basketful, if that makes sense. Elderly people often use trolleys as it's easier. I use that queue if I've got just a few items, I use the trolley to put the baby in (like you did). I don't know if I would have actually complained (I'm a wuss), but I sure would have been annoyed. YANBU.

oohdaddypig · 18/09/2013 15:36

YANBU as you were using the trolley as a much needed pushchair.

Jobsworth.

MrsBungle · 18/09/2013 15:36

Hmm, I think the shop assistant was being petty but there's nothing humiliating about what happened.

piratecat · 18/09/2013 15:36

jobsworth. forget about her.

VBisme · 18/09/2013 15:37

I thought the "basket only" related to the number of items you had anyway? (So check-out staff couldn't get all uppity about people with 11 items).

So no YANBU, you only had a small number of items, how your child was being transported is not the point.

Thymeout · 18/09/2013 15:37

Don't see what you were doing wrong. You were only using the trolley as a buggy for dc. You had a basket with 6 items which entitled you to use that till. Some people's baskets have many more and take longer to go thru the checkout.

Can't see how you were inconveniencing anyone.

TheSurgeonsMate · 18/09/2013 15:37

YANBU. If you are standing there with some little bits and she's saying to you "This aisle is just for little bits" that's just aggravating. What are you meant to do, start arguing about what's little and what's a bit?

Someone who is not prepared to wait for someone else to pay for six items in a basket queue probably hasn't got time to do their shopping at all and should have just proceeded directly to their super-urgent appointment.

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 18/09/2013 15:42

If someone came through the basket only aisle in my work I would serve them but ask nicely if they would use the other tills next time as there are 3 tills together and if one person has a trolley it blocks everyone else. I wouldn't be rude though and would still serve them.

If there was plenty of room and the person had a trolley with a couple of items it wouldn't be a problem though and I wouldn't mention it.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 18/09/2013 15:43

WTF? Basket Only relates to the number of items, not the receptacle you choose to carry them in! People would seriously be pissed off with this? Blimey, I must piss people off on a daily basis then. Goody!

VanitasVanitatum · 18/09/2013 15:44

YANBU. At all. It's basket only because it's for people with only a few items! I can't understand why that would annoy anyone.

Sirzy · 18/09/2013 15:45

No baskets only means baskets only. 10 items or less (or similar) reffers to the amount of items people have.

Most places which have baskets only there isn't really the space to have trolleys (as it seems would have been the case if the other till had been open so it sounds like they just have a no trolleys rule all the time to stop confusion)

buss · 18/09/2013 15:45

total jobsworth
go back to her till tomorrow and fill your trolley up with sherbert fountains
should get a couple of hundred small bits in then

Snelldog · 18/09/2013 15:46

Depends on situation - sometimes the basket only location means it causes obstructions if someone takes a trolley. However, this does not excuse her manner to you. Personally I think that 6 items should be fine (if you were not blocking aisles etc.) I object more to people having baskets completely full and trying to use the "basket only" till as it is meant to be speedy. Either way - it requires judgement and reasonableness on both sides

KellyElly · 18/09/2013 15:47

YANBU, she was a jobsworth. People do this in the Sainsburys I go to all the time and it's never a problem.

pixiepotter · 18/09/2013 15:47

YANBU

FlapJackFlossie · 18/09/2013 15:48

I've never been able to use a 'basket only' aisle as I have to have a trolly to lean on when I shop (medical condition). Even if I've got only 8 items I still have to queue at the normal til. So YABU.

pianodoodle · 18/09/2013 15:48

I use a big trolley for DD rather than get the buggy out if it's only a few things but the quickest way is to go through the self service checkout :)

Saves having a basket and a trolley!