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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect my bag to be packed for me?

267 replies

Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 16:15

Not after a big shop but if you go to a stand up till with a few items and ask for a bag, would you expect your bag to be packed for you or at least asked if you would like to have it packed?
Before paying for bags came in I’m sure my bag was always packed for me.
A few times I’ve asked for a bag and one is been added to the pile of shopping without me even noticing, which leads to me shoving the items in so as not to hold up the queue.
Having worked in supermarkets, I would never have dreamed of just adding the bag to the shopping without packing the items. It’s not as though it adds anymore to the task.
Maybe etiquette has changed though.

OP posts:
Charolais · 10/04/2018 17:59

Here they not only ‘pack’ your groceries away in bags they also ask you if you need help out to the car. Yep, they will load them into your car/pick-up for you if you want them to.

Just one of the many perks of living here.

londonrach · 10/04/2018 18:03

Are you new to the uk op....its a bery strange thought. Yabu. If i need help as juggling a toddler etc ill ask very politely if the cashier wouldnt mind but i dont for one minute expect it

diddl · 10/04/2018 18:16

I'm not in UK any more but I have a feeling that when I visit & go to Morrisons they always offer-even if I don't buy a bag.

Couldn't say for sure though.

I'm ofter in the 10 items queue the cashier doesn't seem to hurry.

sadeyedladyofthelowlands63 · 10/04/2018 18:21

My local Tesco and Waitrose always ask if I want help packing. I always say no, thank you, because I am VERY fussy about how the bags are packed!

Walkingdeadfangirl · 10/04/2018 18:30

Unless your disabled in some way, I would find it very odd for a grown women to expect someone else to pack their bag while they stood and watched? Are people really that selfish/lazy they cant put a few items in a bag while the cashier is ringing everything up?

I suppose next you will be expecting the waiter to spoon feed you.

LeighaJ · 10/04/2018 18:37

I miss having bags packed for me like they were in the US, but in the UK I never expect that or good customer service in general. :/

So sadly yes you are being unreasonable for expecting shop employees to give a shit in the UK.

Original poster
Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 18:40

It’s not about being selfish or lazy.
I don’t think you’ve read the thread properly but just want to have your 5ps worth! You did have me rolling around the floor with laughter at your comment about a waiter though. Is ‘Witty’ your last name?

OP posts:
Walkingdeadfangirl · 10/04/2018 18:46

I have read the thread and you haven't explained why it is good customer service for a grown woman to stand and watch someone else pack their bags for them? I would be appalled if my children expected me to pack their bags for them every day.

ICantFindAFreeNickName2 · 10/04/2018 18:46

our local sainsburys always to pack, even if you take your own bag.

M0reGinPlease · 10/04/2018 18:50

When I was massively pregnant I used to shop in Waitrose as they would pack my shopping then wheel the trolley out for me and put it in the car! Now that's what I call service!

pinkflamingo121318 · 10/04/2018 18:50

I really only go to 2 little shops as they're on the way to/home from school.

If I have my own bag then I pack, but they automatically pack if I buy a bag.

I worked in a supermarket for ages and would always offer to pack for people.

I don't expect it, but I'm pleased when they do it.. even if I need to rearrange some when I leave!

Doraaaa · 10/04/2018 18:52

I was in a small tesco this week and asked for a bag for a basketful of groceries.

The member of staff handed me a bag and proceeded to scan my stuff at record speed so it was all piling up on the tiny counter space that was available. Some stuff actually fell off.

I eventually had to put the bag on the floor and drop things in one by one.

It was a bit ridiculous and I actually started to laugh half way through. I probably looked like a lunatic, Grin

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 10/04/2018 18:54

I have to agree. It's the expectation that bags should be packed for you. I don't understand that. Confused

If a cashier ever offers to put my shopping in a bag I thank them but decline. I would be embarrassed to stand by when I could do it myself. I'm not paying a till operator to wait on me. Nearly all of them are pleasant and polite. I want to make their job easier for them, not harder.

Original poster
Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 18:56

Then you have misunderstood.

It used to be the norm and now it isn’t always. An observation and obviously a change in customer service since the 5p bag charge. It seems I have been proviliged enough to experience this but is clearly being phased out. I’m about to go to the local Tesco express and will be waiting with baited breath to see if the shop assistant a)offer to pack my bag, b) do it automatically, or c) chuck the bag at me... Maybe we should have a poll? What do you reckon?

OP posts:
m0therofdragons · 10/04/2018 18:58

I'd never expect my bag to be packed but I mostly get it delivered to my door anyway but I can't imagine standing and watching as someone packs a bag for me. Isn't it awkward?

Original poster
Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 18:59

Awkward? Seriously?

OP posts:
Doraaaa · 10/04/2018 19:11

I really don't understand most of the responses.

I'm with you OP.

Walkingdeadfangirl · 10/04/2018 19:13

I remember when you expected someone to open the door for you. Life moves on, you cant demand equality and then expect someone else to treat you like your special.

Cashiers in supermarkets are more often women, the idea that a woman is expected to pack a young mans shopping for him is a bit creepy actually. I see it no different for a woman. I think the change happened long before the plastic bag charge. FYI Tesco's do not sell 5p bags.

xkatie27x · 10/04/2018 19:15

Where I live (not the U.K.) you’re actually welcomed in to the grocery store, asked if you need help and when you get to the checkout someone packs your bags and offers to take them to your car. So much nicer Wink

anneoneill · 10/04/2018 19:16

if I may make an assumption about your age based on username OP, it's bloody depressing to hear someone in their mid 30s with that attitude. I thought such disdain to shop workers was dying out.

Idontevencareanymore · 10/04/2018 19:17

I'd pack your bag if I was serving you at the cig kiosk or petrol station. Assuming you have a couple of items.
I'd only pack for you at the express till if you requested/answered yes when asked. I've actually had abuse because people expected me to pack and hold the line up because it's an express till meaning faster
It takes twice as long for me to scan and pack as it does to just scan.

TatianaLarina · 10/04/2018 19:17

Yes. Waitrose pack your bags for you.

My local Sainsbury’s Metro pack them for me.

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 10/04/2018 19:19

I think it's a bit awkward to have them pack for you when you could do it. You're not paying for a bag packing service so it's unreasonable to expect it as the m.o.
It's such a minor thing to feel disgruntled about.
I don't recall ever having a bag chucked at me though..isn't it too light and flimsy to chuck? It would just float towards you unless they're balling it up tightly Grin

FrancisCrawford · 10/04/2018 19:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gwenhwyfar · 10/04/2018 19:24

"This is where a couple of Belgian supermarkets win hands down. No conveyor belt - the check out person has your full trolley and an empty one with your bags in side by side."

Do you mean Colruyt? The main Belgian supermarkets - GB/Carrefour and Delhaize have conveyor belts, don't they.