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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Dragonglass · 10/04/2018 19:28

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

See, I would hate that. I sometimes avoid shops where they have a greeter at the door. I just want to go in, do what I need to do and get out. If I want help I will ask for it, but if not, leave me alone.

Skiiltan · 10/04/2018 19:30

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?

No. I get fed up of being asked if I'm alright with my packing. I'll pack my own bags, thanks: that way I know what is in each bag when I get home.

Graphista - Never expected nor wanted it as a customer either. The fundraisers I'd donate but ask them not to pack. It's usually younger kids who don't know not to put eggs under cans, bread in first to be squished or not to put bleach in with greengroceries.

I also used to pack my own bags but give them money anyway. Then I realized I was probably making them feel bad, so I now grit my teeth and let them pack, although I might try to grab all the non-food stuff myself and put it into a separate bag. It's important to encourage kids to make a social contribution: they're not going to be skilled straight away. I wouldn't have this consideration for adult fundraisers, unless they clearly have learning disabilities.

AlmostAJillSandwich - If this was in Aldi, they expect you to put your shopping back in the basket/trolley then go over to the table along the wall to pack it in to bags.

That's how I remember all supermarkets doing it in the nineteen-seventies (and I think into the eighties). People with cars would use the bench to pack their shopping into the cardboard boxes that fruit, cans, etc., had been delivered in, which therefore got a second use rather than being crushed and disposed of. It was only people who had to carry stuff home on foot or by bus who used carrier bags.

Walkerbean16 · 10/04/2018 19:32

my local coop staff usually always pack my bag because I have a baby in my arms, the other day one man carried my shopping to the car for me too. im having a shit time at the minute and that made me smile.

Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 19:33

anneoneill - where have you got the notion that I disrespect shop assistants?! Talk about an over reaction. As stated, I have been (or are) one as have most of my friends and family at one point or another.

Walkingdead- how is this about discrimination and equality? If it’s part of your role (which clearly it isn’t anymore) then that has nothing to do with equality. Do you not think your comment about female shop assistants is a little sexist and stereotypical on your part? I can honestly say my local supermarkets are 50:50. What do you think men buy from supermarkets that make a female packing their bag so “creepy”?!

Oh, and I’ve just been to Morrisons. I decided to use the self service till. I wanted to know if this “pack your own” was as good as it’s cracked up to be! I feel truly liberated.

OP posts:
thecatsarecrazy · 10/04/2018 19:38

I work in poundland and most bags are kept behind the till. Generally i pack for the customer but if I've come across them before and their rude i will just give them the bag. I find it very awkward though when im packing and they stand there staring at me.

RavenLG · 10/04/2018 19:46

they expect you to put your shopping back in the basket/trolley then go over to the table along the wall to pack it in to bags.

so not only do they not pack for you, they dont give you room for your items or time to pack.

Yes they do, on the table along the wall you mentioned in your first sentence.

I suspect the cashier is thankful for that little bit of rest, though
You'd probably suspect wrong. They get monitored on scans per minute and you're slowing the entire till down. If you can't follow protocol or pack as quick as they scan please don't shop at aldi. I go to Aldi to be in and out, no faffing. It pissed me off when people faff about at the till and think they are being clever by slowing everyone else down. but then shopping makes me irrationally angry

Also, I don't need my bags packed as I'm a fully functioning adult.

Betsy86 · 10/04/2018 19:56

If its just a few items il happily put it into a bag as im scanning the shopping... aslong as in that moment you are getting your cards/cash/coupons etc out ready to swiftly pay.
Cannot stand being stared at whilst Packing a bag and then on payment its ooooh let me check my bag for vouchers ooooh wheres my card hmmm i need another carrot.

Also people that are huffing in the que because its taking to long... then once its there turn start to carefully unfold all there ‘bags for life’ arrange them neatly in trolley scan there list to check they have everything then say ok im ready. Ummmm how about u prepare your bags and check the list whilst huffing in the que Hmm

But im missing the point of the thread and having a mini rant here.. as you were folks as you were Grin

TheDevilMadeMeDoIt · 10/04/2018 20:03

The whole business of having your shopping packed for you is what's convinced me that even if I won the lottery I could never cope with having servants.

As far as I can remember it's never been a given that the assistant would pack - certainly not in the large supermarkets, though they would ask more than they do now - but the idea of another human being having to do something I'm more than capable of doing myself just makes me cringe. I'd feel like I was taking the piss just to put them in their place. So I've always done it myself. If I get to a point where I can't then I will no doubt appreciate the help, but then I won't be piss taking.

(I've never had a cleaner or a nanny either.)

Lacucuracha · 10/04/2018 20:05

I don't believe that you've ever worked in a supermarket, OP. You sound very entitled.

imnottoofussed · 10/04/2018 20:06

Ive had my bag packed for me and yes I think smaller shops used to do this automatically in the past. Places like co-op and mcolls. WH Smith. Poundstretcher and so on. Basically places where you put the basket on the counter. I'm not sure when they stopped doing this but I've definitely noticed they do it less and less. I find it holds everyone up even more if you are packing your own stuff at places like this. You end up with no room trying to hold the bag in mid air and chuck stuff in it, then they have to wait for you to finish packing before you can get your purse out to pay.

morningconstitutional2017 · 10/04/2018 20:06

A few of the assistants at my local supermarket ask if I'd like help packing but some never do - I often have to ask for help. I think it should be part of the service to at least ask and it doesn't seem to make any difference if the assistant is middle aged or a teenager. As a widow who shops alone I've choice but to pack the shopping.

Working at the checkout is more than just being operate the till but this seems to no longer be taken into account, more's the pity.

Davros · 10/04/2018 20:09

Last week in Morrisons I packed myself while the checkout person did the, er, checking out. But when they'd finished they helped to finish the packing. Perfect arrangement imo. I do get asked if I want help in M&S usually

Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 20:15

TheDevilMadeMeDoIt- That’s an interesting point. I actually quite like the idea of having servants but I would treat them well. However, I couldn’t cope with a cleaner as I was constantly tidying and cleaning prior to her visit to make her job easier. I couldn’t get used to having someone clean after me and would always make sure I was out of the house... So perhaps servants wouldn’t work for me?🤔
I have indeed worked in a supermarket. I have the uniform as proof!

OP posts:
jellyshoeswithdiamonds · 10/04/2018 20:16

I like to pack my own bags.
For charity there were boys from a local rugby club offering to pack bags at the checkout, I declined but instead asked if it was ok for them to push my trolleys out to my car and load it, I had two full trolleys as I shop for my mother as well.

They were wonderful, I'd pay every week for that.

MumofBoysx2 · 10/04/2018 20:18

I wouldn't expect someone to pack my bag, no!

JaimeLannister · 10/04/2018 20:19

I work in a supermarket (not on checkouts though) and we are not meant to offer to pack every customer's bag. If course if they ask or look like they need a bit of help them we do but otherwise no.

At the moment scanning rates are something my supermarket is heavily focusing on.

sockunicorn · 10/04/2018 20:23

i would always expect to pack my own bag. However in my local co-op theres one young boy who will even take your own bags from you to pack. but 99% of the time nowadays in my experience you pack your own. Some offer but I always say no.

Cakedoesntjudge · 10/04/2018 20:26

I have worked for asda for 10 years and since I've been there it has always been a part of our mystery shopper criteria to offer to pack the customer's bag. I do currently work in an asda living store and there I will automatically pack if you buy a bag but only offer to pack a bag for life if you look like you need the help because it seems odd to take the bag for life from a customer!

Interestingly enough, when I worked at the food asda, elderly people very rarely accepted the offer of help. It was more young able bodied people who would say yes and just stand there looking bored while I did it for them - it used to be one of my pet peeves!!

Luckily I leave retail next week so no longer have to worry about bag etiquette Grin

WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue · 10/04/2018 20:31

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.

Incorrect, OP. It may have been the norm in places you’ve been to, but it has certainly never been the norm either in mine or the majority of people’s experience on this thread.

You are a grown woman capable of packing your own bags. To stand there and watch someone do it for you is rude, lazy and entitled.

Susanjeffery1984 · 10/04/2018 20:42

Would it not be more rude to take the bag off the sales assistant when they have already started?
As per previous post, if asked if I wanted help I would decline, however if they’ve already started I would assume they view this as part of their role and are trying to offer good customer service.

For those saying do I not find it awkward when someone packs my bag- no, I don’t. We are normally chatting away and it is in no way awkward.

I am genuinely surprised that some of the posters are claiming they have never had their shopping automatically packed for them at an express till.

OP posts:
Sprogletsmuvva · 10/04/2018 20:51

I’m in my 40s, and the only places I,ve found staff packing to be commonplace was in shops where they’re aggressive about foisting bags on you - either abroad (one Balkan country was terrible for this - eg 5 bags for 4 items, despite my protests) or independent usually foreign-run shops in this country (whom the concept of scaling back bag use seems to have mostly passed by).

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 10/04/2018 21:04

I actually quite like the idea of having servants

Ah that explains!
I'm afraid you have an inner princess Susan. Although quite a nice polite princess, it still expects some royal treatment and views some tasks as beneath her.

SheNumpty · 10/04/2018 21:26

I remember being mortified by a check out woman in the States who stopped scanning my shopping to ask me if there was a problem because I was merrily bagging up my own shopping. I was informed that that was her job, I thought I was being helpful.

halfwitpicker · 10/04/2018 21:29

Awkward? WTAF.

You pay the cashier whilst they pack Hmm

Or load the rest of your stuff on.

Crikey.

halfwitpicker · 10/04/2018 21:31

You are a grown woman capable of packing your own bags. To stand there and watch someone do it for you is rude, lazy and entitled.

Yeah, OP GrinGrin

Take a chill pill wailmer

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