To think sales assistants should help pack your bag? Too difficult?

[Joannearobinson23]

I was in b&m today they only had baskets.
I ended use buying quite a bit (quilt cover,curtains,lamp shade etc etc.
Get to the checkout and 1 small basket till is on and huge quee of people waiting.
I get to the till and ask for some bags,she rolls her eyes and gives me 1 tiny bag,I ask for anything bigger? She says no and starts quickly scanning my things through.
She piles everything on top of the 1 carrier and as I'm trying to get it from underneath the items she tells me the price.
I pay using my card and then try and fit everything into my carrier bags.
She stands with her hands folded huffing and puffing and says to the line "sorry about the holdup"
Rather than actually helping me ..
Ended up forgetting my bank card.

Dramaqueen I find they are so well trained they pack the stuff in a far more organised and efficient way than I ever could, dairy together, frozen and chilled stuff together, fragile stuff on top etc plus they are very accommodating to the customer's wants. All you'd have to do is say how you want things arranged or that your DH likes to pack the stuff himself and they'll happily do it they way you want and without passive aggressive comments, tuts or heavy sighs.

@stonecircle At this point you fix the shop assistant with a steely glare and say, "sorry - could you wait until I've finished packing please?"

Before Aldi and self service checkouts came about, I would regularly have to tell staff to wait until the previous customer has finished packing (I didn't bother saying "sorry", because I wasn't!) about the poor sod ahead of me who was having their fresh bread squashed by my potatoes flying down the conveyor at them.

Used to get right on my tits, it's not as if the other customer still packing has become suddenly invisible!

I would of just gone extra slow.

I would of just gone extra slow.

YANBU shop assistants are so lazy nowadays, that's when they're not gabbing to Sheila about what Brenda did with Gordon last week.

Would have*

Shop assistants are not lazy but more than likely in a low budget store they are paid very badly. They get customers who go shopping without bags and only ask for a bag when the ringing through has started and who expect help with packing even though there is clearly no space or time to do this. They could of course shop somewhere where the staff are paid well and the service is better - but they won't pay the prices.

I work in Asda and we have to ask if you would like help with your packing EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. If we don't ask and it's a mystery shopper or our manager is watching then we get disciplined.

And I can assure domesticatedidiot that not all shop assistants are lazy or enjoy gossiping, I certainly am not and do not, thank you very much.

OP, you should complain to the manager, that is crap customer service and she should be retrained. Or the whole company retrained, preferably.

You get what you pay for in terms of service. Want John Lewis or Asda/Waitrose levels of service then the obvious choice would be to shop there.

Britain is the only country I've ever been to where you pack your own bags

Err...I've been to several European supermarkets and had to pack my own bags. Or is it because I'm obviously British so they think I can pack my own?

By the way Op YANBU. Before the carrier bag charge most stores would pack for you, now we all take our own bags we're usually expected to do it ourselves. I don't have a problem with it but it doesn't give assistants the right to be impatient and rude.

Where is this place called B&M? I've not heard of it. Does it stand for 'Bolshie and Mardy'?!

How dare she treat you like that, discount store or Harrods, they should be polite and helpful.

Please don't assume that just because you're going to a discount store that you're going to get bad service. I work in one, and always do my best to be friendly and helpful. I wouldn't be impressed with the cashier in the OP if she was a colleague of mine!

i must admit they are usually lovely in discount stores , its just the fast pace i cant keep up with!! i think a lot of mine is age related though.

Duchess
Some of the nicest staff I've encountered have been in our local Poundstretcher!

There is no excuse for rudeness. I have been paid as little as it is possible to get away with. A bad attitude would have cost me my job. Im a customer...how the assistant feels about her job is not my problem.

I encounter too many rude, lazy and miserable assistant's these days...

My local morrisons and Asda pack bags too.

YANBU shop assistants are so lazy nowadays, that's when they're not gabbing to Sheila about what Brenda did with Gordon last week.

Well that's bullshit.

This is why I don't pay for my shopping until I have finished packing. I realise that this approach may annoy some people but it means that I finish when I am good and ready and not when anyone else is.

YANBU. Drives me mad too when the assistant asks how many bags you need when you have a full conveyor belt of items. Like you're meant to guess. I always say 'just keep passing them until we get to the end?' but some still insist on me giving them a number! I assume it's some legal issue based on policy now they're 5p or something.

I admit I do get annoyed though when people refuse to walk away and make space for the next customer until they've packed, put their card and loyalty card nearly back in their purse, zipped it up, put it in their bag, zipped they, got keys, bag on shoulder and then finally walk away. Move across the way and do that shit once you've paid and finished packing! I don't mind with elderly people who might not be confident moving while doing tasks or who may be afraid they'll get their purse taken if it's in their hand, but young fit adult people are being selfish standing there for an extra thirty seconds doing all that stuff with a queue full of people needing to get on with their days.

''YANBU shop assistants are so lazy nowadays''

Hmm. I'd say the majority of the general public are, on the whole, pig ignorant, rude, self centered arse-holes nowadays.

(I'm NOT the cashier in the OP btw )

I know it's not a given but I work for a department store and I would help pack if clearly the person was struggling or bought a lot of items.

Eh, OP? Department stores never let you pack your own stuff. They ask you if you want a bag and then pack it for you.

I have trouble with my hands so can sometimes take a little bit longer to pack. Because this then means I panic about people in the queue behind me, get flustered and forget stuff like my bank card, I've taken to only paying after I'm finished packing. I'm always very grateful when they offer to help me pack.

I've worked in retail and I honestly don't understand where this lack of customer service has come from. Back in the day it was totally expected to treat customers politely and assist when ever possible. Including helping or even completely packing goods.Hence the job title sales assistant.
I suppose it's all down to time and motion bollocks. It makes me a bit sad tbh.

I don't pay until all the bags are packed. Stops the sales assistant whizzing the next customer through.