Free bags at work aibu

[Happychicken1994]

Work in a small arcade of shops with one pay station. We offer free paper bags these bags aren’t cheap But we don’t want to offer plastic. We wrap each item if delicate and package things nicely. Aibu to not give people a bag for each item if unnecessary. Some woman asked if she could have a gift bag for each item. I mentioned that we don’t do gift bags but the gift shop does sell them. Oh I don’t want to pay I just want 3 of your nice paper bags so I can give these as gifts. We have thought of charging for gift bags and wrap but people don’t want to pay they expect it for free. Aibu to say no where a small company an these costs all add up

I don't think you ought to be working in a customer facing role in a service industry

Are you okay? You seem to be getting very upset about some paper bags and you've posted this before.

You've been told you're BU but you've made your mind up that you aren't so nothing anyone says will make a blind bit of difference. Let it go OP or find a new job if it's affecting you that much.

Either I'm going mad or I've read this exact thread before.

From what I remember, it didn't end well as the OP was being stubborn.

1. it’s not your business, so it’s, well, not your business to police the bags. Ditto worrying about the neighbouring gift shop’s custom.
2. telling a customer to go and buy her own gift bag is a disproportionately rude response to being asked for bags for each of her items.
3. if three customers had bought the same items instead of one customer buying all three, then you would be giving them each a bag anyway. Why hasn’t the business budgeted for that?

The customer wasn’t rude at all. I think you have a bit of a strange attitude for someone who works in custom service tbh. I should know; I’ve done more than my fair share of customer facing roles myself. Don’t get me wrong. There are tonnes of cf customers around, but I don’t think this woman asking for a bag for each item is cf-ery.

What you'll lose in goodwill by refusing the bags isn't worth the pennies they cost. And yes there was a similar thread not so long ago.

Hotel chocolate won’t give you more than one bag per transaction. It’s really annoying when you’re spending £69 on there boxes for three different people!

I think it would be good customer service to smile nicely and give them the extra bags so they can give them as gifts. It may be the difference between them coming back another time or not. I know this is the other end of the extreme but I used to work on a Chanel cosmetic counter and we would offer to gift wrap and bag every item separately (and then there were all these rules about double folding so the sellotape wasn’t visible... but anyway). I think these are costs which should be swallowed for good customer experience.

You should consider your nice bags as a marketing cost, it may be that is why people return to you. Little things like that matter... that’s why ‘fancier’ stores use tissue paper or nice bags or little boxes without charging.

Of course you can charge for bags. The staff limit is to do with having a legal obligation to charge over a certain size - there is no law that says you can't charge for bags.

(as far as I'm aware - I'm not a legal expert)

You think it’s rude if people want ‘gift bags’ and wrap for free but nobody else does think it’s rude.

Everybody else thinks it is both a part of the experience of buying from these small independent shops and a cost that needs to be absorbed in the prices in each shop.

We can’t change for bags either due to being under the staff limit This isn't true - you don't have to charge for bags like big shops do, but there's nothing to stop you (except what customers might think).

Yabu. Ive done this beforeif gifts. Never been refused. Very bad business sense to say noto a paying customer.

If you display the attitude you have shown on here towards your customers I think the bags will be the least of your problems. It’s not rude. People just want a fancy bag to give their gifts in. Most shops are obliging in this. I’m happy to pay for them.
I said earlier I bought 3 gifts on holiday from a boutiques gift shop. They were for 3 separate people shop happily gave me a bag for each gift. Free, but I’d have been happy to pay. The cost may have been included in the price of the gift. I didn’t care.

How are your paper bags 'not cheap'? Paper bags are less than 5p each, then even less if you really get through enough to buy a few thousand at once, just tell the sellers they need to factor that in to their prices and you charge them accordingly, doesn't have to be a lot of angst. Then either wrap to a 'basic' level only or charge the sellers more if they want a better service for customers, put it onto them.

Don't underestimate the appeal your lovely free wrapping / gift bags give to a customer. One very successful retail company I worked for put the turn of their success to this exact thing. It was their unique selling point!

Why go to x to buy similar to y when y also gift wraps etc. Think about using it as an opportunity for branding, though if you research you may find this is also a reason guests pick you over similar stores already.