AIBU to think that a cashier shouldn't comment on personal items you're buying?

[catlover1987]

Just home from the weekly shop at Asda. The cashier gave a running commentary on all of my shopping. Oh that looks nice, oh aren't those ready meals handy, oh what is that, I'll need to try that. Mildly annoying but I'm sure she was just trying to be friendly. However, where I think she really crossed the line was when she seen my pregnancy test and said, oh I hope it's a yes! I didn't know what to say!

I once bought a cake with 'Thank You' written on it. Tesco cashier said 'oh what's this for?' I said 'it's my last day at my job tomorrow so just thanking my colleagues for having me' 'oh, what do you do?' she said, 'I'm a solicitor' I say. 'Have you got another job to go to?' she asks, 'yes' I say. Then she says 'I bet you aren't short of a bob or two then'. With a face.

Itshouldhavebeenjess

I know! I can see the funny side tbh.

New M&S slogan -

For M&S, thats not bad

Meadows you are missing the point. I might being ds up to be open with me and his dad. I would expect him to have a conversation about his sore willy on the bus. can you really not see the difference?. Silly me. Imagine not realising talking about a pregnancy test in public is wrong

I agree that commenting on personal stuff isn't on.

"I worked in a shop on a till once and we were told (and spied on) to make 'reassuring comments' on every customer purchase."

What research do they do to come up with the idea that this is what customers want?

Well I suppose some will & some won't.

Same as with small talk.

I can do without it-as long as people are polite.

Can they not even take the lead from the customer, so that they must chatter on inanely to themselves even if the customer isn't engaging with them?

Sorry I genuinely don't understand your point then

fuzzy how rude!

I cant believe some of these comments. Do people have no filter?

I think retail training needs an overhaul.

I like commenting on tops etc. Not all of them, but every so often I see one I do genuinely like/would wear and I say "oh wow, this is really great" or similar. But the tone is like, good choice Mrs. Customer lady! You have some good taste there!

Yes, we do have to learn to read people. If they're in a hurry, they're not up for the banter at all. Contrast with the old dears who are hungry for a little human contact and will happily natter away for ten minutes :) customer service is definitely not a one size fits all kind of job!

Meadows76 There is a world of difference between being open and honest with my son, teaching him about the facts of life and making sure he knows he can come to me... and the way I would talk to a customer, with whom I only have the most fleeting of professional relationships. So yes, I believe in both of those things - open honesty and no taboos with my child, and professionalism and decorum in my job.

You don't see what's so bad about a pregnancy test? Not everyone is thrilled to be pregnant. Some people are terrified. Not ready. Single/alone. Financially unstable. On medication they'd have to go off if they were to sustain a pregnancy. "There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy".

If . Suggest it!

Yanbu!!

I once bought two bottles of wine on a Friday night which were presents. As I was walking out of the door carrying one bottle in each hand to save the carrier bag fee - a worker shouted out in front of everyone, 'enjoy your alcohol tonight love!'

I was felt like the biggest alcoholic out!

I don't mind general chit-chat, but I don't think personal items require comment.

It's hardly unprofessional to mention a product someone is buying when your 'profession' is scanning people's shopping all day. It's totally in context. I can't quite understand what is so hush hush about a pregnancy test? Is it because they know you have been doing rudies lol

jessica. That's my mum's favourite quote! I feel we've bonded - that, working in customer service, and our usernames (although mine refers to a guy....)

Some people desperately want to be pregnant
some people are praying they're not pregnant
most people consider it fairly personal in the early stages

"Been doing rudies"

As someone with fertility problems it's always taken me an enormous amount of courage to buy pregnancy tests (because the results often broke my heart) I would go to supermarket for them to make them less of a focus (in with the apples, not the sole purpose of my visit, honest) if someone had commented on it, I would honestly have probably cried. There is a difference between friendly and a complete lack of boundaries

It's hardly unprofessional to mention a product someone is buying when your 'profession' is scanning people's shopping all day. It's totally in context. I can't quite understand what is so hush hush about a pregnancy test? Is it because they know you have been doing rudies lol

Surely no one is this obtuse.

As someone with fertility problems it's always taken me an enormous amount of courage to buy pregnancy tests (because the results often broke my heart) I would go to supermarket for them to make them less of a focus (in with the apples, not the sole purpose of my visit, honest) if someone had commented on it, I would honestly have probably cried. There is a difference between friendly and a complete lack of boundaries

I don't mind a bit of chat and comments on random stuff I've bought, it's always been obvious to me that the cashier has to do it so I play along. But I would still be massively pissed off if a comment was made on a pregnancy test or anything else to do with my health or personal life.

Ha, yay for bonding! I get called Jay though. I chose "jayisforjessica" because I'm forever being accused of being a bloke because "Jay is a guy's name" (not always, it's my name and I'm not a bloke) "Why don't you just call yourself Jess or Jessie" (because I hate those names) etc etc ad infinitum lol.

Did you mean the little Shakespeare quote is your mom's favorite? I always like to shoehorn a little Shakespeare in wherever I can!

I don't know why retailers train staff to comment on the items customers are buying at all. It's really intrusive. I don't mind a bit of general chit chat, and the occasional comment on a product I'm buying if it seems genuine, but honestly, commenting on each product? M&S are particularly annoying as someone else said, I go in on my way home from work, tired and just want to get in and out. They should concentrate on having enough checkout staff on if they want to give good service, not annoying the customers with a stream of insincere platitudes.

They are just trying to be nice! Management should remind them to keep personal items out of the conversation however.

Meadows76 Last time I bought a pregnancy test, it was to check that I had fully miscarried and my hormones levels were suitably down. Nothing to be ashamed of, but nothing I wanted to discuss with anyone either!

Is it because they know you have been doing rudies lol

Oh my goodness, does it really need explaining... Just in case, I'll do it anyway is it really so hard to understand that the person buying the test may be panicking or nervous of the result and possibly doesn't want to discuss it with a total stranger? That you can never assume that the person wants a positive result? That they might not have been "doing rudies" but might have been undergoing years of fertility treatment? It absolutely fries my mind that anyone feels it's appropriate to comment on anything like this, especially in the context of someone making a purchase in a shop.

As I have said already, if privacy is an issue, the OP should have gone to the nearest pharmacy

I had the pharmacist till operator in Boots - no older than 19 - once comment when I bought some condoms ... "Oh, that's a good deal !"

Given the positions of our ages, gender, and role in the transaction I found it amusingly ironic ...

meadows even with a planned pregnancy I don't want to talk about it with friends and family until last 12 weeks, I certainly don't want to discuss it with randoms in the very early days. I was grateful that when seeking advice from a pharmacist about medication I could take, he passed no comment at all. If you want to talk about early pregnancy, your early pregnancy, by all means bring it up. You might have to accept that you're unusually open.

I feel like the majority of us should email retailers to tell them what we want. For me, I don't mind a bit of innocuous chat from a cashier who wants to chat (and isn't ticking a box to comply with company policy). If I'm not very responsive, or look harassed/rushed/distracted, I want them to back off.

I remember my period being late once so I decided to pick up a test from a well known chemist. Whilst in there, I remembered that if my period was just late, I didn't have any tampax left. Plonked my pregnancy test and tampax down in front of the cashier and she chirps "ooh these two kind of contradict each other don't they" then starts to giggle. I gave her my finest death stare, paid and left. I was really worried about my missing period and didn't really need that.

I always use the self-service tills now!