To have refused to do this? (supermarket related)

[LittleRedHenGirl]

Just been to do a huge shop at a local supermarket. Big trolley stacked full.

Got to the till, unpacked it all onto the conveyor belt and the woman at the till asked if I'd like bags. "Yes please" I said, so she handed me one carrier bag. For nearly £200 worth of shopping.

I said "Could I have some more bags please?" and she said that she could only give them out one at a time and that I had to fill one bag before she could give me another. I said that no, this wouldn't work for me as I like to pack frozen stuff together, cold stuff together, tins together etc. She said it still had to be one bag at a time. I said fine, I'd leave it all there then and not buy it, and she reluctantly gave me a load of carriers, whilst saying that in years of working on tills everyone had always filled up their bags one at a time, and it was very unusual for someone to want to pack things in groups.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't want raw chicken shoved in with the bread, and bleach with the bananas!!

Oh, and before anyone says I should have my own bags, I do normally have my own but they are in my car boot, and DH and I have swapped cars for today, hence the need for carriers.

WIBU to want to pack as I did?

Yes, let's all shower hate on the till operator following orders.

I've been in a large variety of supermarkets recently and have not come across this at all. So, I would not just jump to the conclusion that it's a supermarket policy, it's equally possible the woman was indeed being an arse.

And I'm talking about this particular woman, not all till operators as most of them in my local shops are lovely, but like in all places there are one or two who are arses or just plain odd.

We get our food delivered and often have 20 bags used where 6 would have done. The supermarkets should take their own advice

They do this at my local Asda. Although when I asked for more bags they just gave them to me.

There is also a women in my local Morrisons who gives you one bag at a time. We even call her "one bag women" lol.

Some people take their job really seriously, as was probably the case with the op. Personally it wouldn't have bothered me but she sounds a bit odd by telling you that no one has ever packed like that before!

Yes, let's all shower hate on the till operator following orders.

There's no evidence to suggest this is supermarket policy.

There's no evidence to suggest this is supermarket policy.

And you can tell that from a single OP with no mention of which supermarket?

Do you usually think it's OK to insult people when there is no evidence that they are doing anything other than following orders?

Bloody ridiculous! i'd have threatened to leave it all there and walk out too.

What shop was it OP?

Last time i was in tesco the cashier kept offering to separately wrap things like the chicken, the bleach, the sugar and a candle. I kept cheerfully saying no thanks. She was handing out plastic bags like there was no tomorrow!

I keep having this in Tesco recently. I am sure it is a directive to piss people off into always bringing their own bags before the compulsory charge for them comes in.

The other day, the operator had to keep stopping scanning just so she could pass me another one instead of giving me a load in one go. When we had got to the last few bits I asked her pointedly for 2 more bags to finish packing and she did not give them to me but swore that she did. I was thinking I was going mad, looking down my top and everything having held the queue up enormously.

YANBU

I bet it was sainsburys wasn't it OP?!

Doubt it. We shop at Sainsbury's and there is no problem there with bags. We usually take out own and then you get extra Nectar points for however many you have re-used. However, on the occasions when I don't have them with me they just make a whole stack of carriers available fo rme to help myself to.

Oh and as regards boxes - our local sainsburys does still have some boxes available for people to use. They are usually either the ones that had 6 bottles of wine in or the large shallow ones that fresh produce comes in.

to all of you who always take your own carrier bags to the supermarket, what do you do when your bin gets full?

Owl - firstly, is there any need for the mardiness of your post to me there? Might I point out that I have not insulted anyone, checkout staff or otherwise? Take a chill pill. You seem to make a habit of snippy comments to people, it's tiresome.

Secondly, yes, I stand by my comment, we don't know what supermarket the OP is refering to. It's an alleged policy I and many others have never heard of. I would love to know what store this happened in so I can check up their policy on bags. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

All the supermarket bags here have holes in them (Elf'n'safety, dontcha know!) so I couldn't use them in the bin anyway. I have a large bin that I line with purpose bought bin liners (and have done for years).

My DM still hangs a supermarket bag on the handle of the kitchen drawer - and gives out if there is a dripping patch on the floor (usually because of something SHE put in there) when we are visiting. She actually DOES have a proper bin, but cannot be arsed using it.

(Feeling quite smug reading this as I now shop at Aldi where faffing around trying to pack bags at the super quick till is very much frowned upon).

You should have just walked over an retrieved a pile of wine boxes from the stash and packed your shopping into that like the elderly gentleman in front of me in sainsbos this week.

Pack however the f* you want surely?

I have never been given one at a time, they always get a few out. I would have said the same. Would you have had to request each bag every time.?..how tedious!

I practically never go to a supermarket as I get it all delivered, but I was a bit fed up when I was last shopping as the checkout helped packing the bag. I was really grateful that they packed the bag. I was less grateful that they would put very heavy loads in them. I kept having to repack them and explain that I wasn't in a car and couldn't risk the handles going with six litres of liquid in one flimsy carrier.

Next time I am so getting one bag for life and sticking to it.

YANBU - she was probably grumpy and having a bad day. Doesn't make it right though

I pack the same as you, OP. DH is banned from helping to pack

I think some people like to be king of their own little hill.

I was once in a cinema with my husband and as usual I went to buy the tickets while he went to get popcorn. Context: it was a family-friendly film.

Me: "Two tickets for [film] please."

Clerk: "For you and who else?!"

Me: "What?"

Clerk: "I can't sell two tickets to one person!"

Me: "I'm here with my husband and I'm buying tickets for us."

Clerk: "No, I don't see your husband."

Me: "He's buying popcorn."

I wave at my husband. He sees me and waves back but looks confused.

Clerk: [reluctantly] "Oh all right. I just can't sell two tickets to one person!"

Me: "Of course, that makes sense."

I still think it was just the weirdest fucking thing.

It reminds you of your weird cashier.

Shame the OP didn't come back.

I'm pretty sure the cinema don't care how many tickets you buy, so long as you buy them. They only care about how many seats are paid for each screening, not whether anyone sits in them.

I know, right? What if I felt like buying a seat for me and another for all my popcorn? IT'S MY RIGHT.

I hate being behind people who obsessively group things together tidily on the conveyor belt. It takes twice as long for them to unpack their stuff from the trolley whilst I'm standing behind them waiting to unpack mine, and it usually means they take so long that the cashier is twiddling her fingers while they do it and they hold up the entire queue. I just don't see the point when you're going to sort it into appropriate bags on the other side of the checkout, and it doesn't make that sorting process any quicker. I know, I've been sad fed up enough whilst waiting to time it.

Unless, of course, you've got a dozy checkout assistant who thinks you should only pack one bag at a time.