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AIBU?

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Original poster

Checkout tills

134 replies

FloraPostalOrder · 04/12/2019 21:23

I've read lots of threads on here, over the years, complaining about women checking out at supermarkets. The complaint, or question, is often "Why do people seem shocked at the end, as if they're surprised that they're expected to pay?" Why do they have to fumble in their bag to get their purse out? Why don't they have their money or card ready? Why do they wait until the very last minute? Why do they keep everybody else waiting?

Answer: They are not surprised that they are expected to pay.

What I'm hearing is "I've only got one item and I'm paying by contactless, so hurry the fuck up"

Well it's confounding me, because even when you don't have children with you (which makes it even harder) you have to unload onto the belt, then get your bags open in the trolley to receive your purchases, then pack as they are flung down the belt, trying all the time to guesstimate weight of items so that bags are of equal carryableness. put cold stuff altogether to avoid thawing.

Then, as you are tucking the last item in the only available place you can find, the cashier tells you that's £92.50 please. Your back is now a bit achy, you stand up straight, to stretch it out a bit while you open your bag for your cash/card. And somebody behind you who has one item and contactless card in hand is thinking "Why hasn't she got the money ready?? Didn't she realise she'd have to pay!!??"

I've seen this complaint so often.

If you have a lot of shopping to load onto conveyor and then pack into bags, are you supposed to do it purse in hand? What is so irritating to see a fellow human being do a huge family shop single handed, and then take an extra 30 seconds to open bag and locate method of payment?

How can you 'have your money ready' when you are engaged in unloading and packing?

I'd like to hear some opinions.

OP posts:
phoenixrosehere · 04/12/2019 23:38

This is why I like the scan as you shop things. Scan as your walking around, straight into carrier bag, so all the fridge stuff is together and so on. Then at the end, just scan a barcode at the till, pay and walk off with everything neatly packed and done.

This. I do this for every shop because it makes things easier especially with kids in tow and I don’t have to queue up to put items on a belt. I put groceries on a certain way (worked in a supermarket as a teen) and it annoys me when the cashier just takes it out of the order especially when they saw me doing it in the first place. Easier to just bag as I go since I can set my bags and items as I like in the trolley and get on with it.

tomboytown · 04/12/2019 23:58

Omg- all this anger at the checkout.
Has no-one got any patience anymore?

PixieDustt · 05/12/2019 00:08

I usually put my purse down underneath the card machine.

Debra at my local asda was flying stuff down the till at me the other day even when I wasn't ready she still kept piling them on. Thought I'd have to stand at the end of the till with my bag for life and just let Deb throw the items in.
Thought I was Aldi for a sec. She's a speedster.

Willow2017 · 05/12/2019 00:32

YourWinter
Yep 9 times out of 10 it is. So rude. I have asked if they are paying for the lady's shopping before. That makes them move out the damm way😁

Willow2017 · 05/12/2019 00:35

Flora using self scan at least they could only blame the machine or themselves for not being fast enough and not the person in front of them😉

Spacebowlisback · 05/12/2019 00:35

On a similar thread, since my local supermarket introduced no plastic bags with delivery (which is great) I rush around like mad trying to shift all the shopping from my doorstep. Apparently though, they’re now timed - so if we rush like crazy, the delivery people are expected to get through more people. Mine was quite grateful for me taking my time and dragging up the average for him!

Willow2017 · 05/12/2019 00:41

What's the reason people are still doing a big shop themselves by going to the supermarket?

Because I like to chose what I buy.

Because I might get a treat I wouldn't look for online.

Because it's not anyone else's
business how I do my weekly shop.

It's a supermarket selling a huge variety of goods (the clue is in the name) for anyone to use and to.buy whatever they chose not a 2 items or less shop!😁

tillytrotter1 · 05/12/2019 01:22

I was once behind a woman who went off to get what she'd forgotten, leaving OH to pack. On her eventual return she bawled him out for not packing properly, emptied and repacked then decided to get her purse out, present a load of coupons and paid in cash, fiddling to get the exact money out. She actually glared at the clearly fed up queue.

melj1213 · 05/12/2019 01:46

it means you put the delicate stuff on top of the rest of the shopping in the trolley.

However, this means the delicate stuff is the first to get packed. It then naturally gravitates to the bottom of the empty trolley

No, when you get to the checkout you put the light/delicate stuff at the end of the conveyor belt furthest from the cashier. This then gives you access to the bottom of the trolley to put the heavy items first, closest to the cashier. You may need to shift the light items back a little if theres another customer first in order to keep them at the end of the conveyor whilst unpacking and ordering the rest of the shopping but it means that it is the last in the trolley, first onto the conveyor belt but last to be scanned/packed. It also has the added bonus of marking the end of your shopping, so if someone comes up behind you while you're unpacking, if your bread is at the end of the belt then they can't just grab a divider and start piling their shopping on the belt, leaving you with no space. They have to wait for you to fill up the belt or finish putting the heavy stuff on and pull your light things forward before they can start unpacking.

Hellofromtheotherside2020 · 05/12/2019 04:48

In Australia, the people who work in the supermarkets pack our bags for us. You need to make it compulsory there too, would definitely solve this problem 😂

my2bundles · 05/12/2019 05:15

People need more patience. I'm not going to have my big shop delivered to appease impatient people. I'm not going to put my purse on tbe checkout while I pack, this is tbe fastest way to have your purse stolen. I'm not going to put my card in my mouth for god sake. I am going to continue to pack my shopping then get my purse from my secure bag and pay. If people don't like that then frankly that's their problem not mine.

PhilCornwall1 · 05/12/2019 05:20

Shop online, then some kind person delivers it to your house and it's job done.

No need to fumble around with a purse then.

my2bundles · 05/12/2019 05:25

Nope not going to shop online. 😂😂😂😂 fumbling with my purse has zero negative effects on me so I will continue. If you carnt wait the extra few seconds that says more about you than the person fumbling.

Bippety · 05/12/2019 05:32

I have a different compartment in my bag for my purse, so I always know where it is and it doesn't require any fumbling.

Juliette20 · 05/12/2019 05:33

I've just loaded six bags worth of shopping into my trolley at top speed (I have Aldi shopping off to a fine art). The people behind can wait a few seconds for me to retrieve my purse from my bag and pay. I only have one pair of hands. If they can't wait, what are they going to do about it?

If someone gets upset about something like that, they are a prime candidate for making themselves ill, and have bigger things to worry about.

PhilCornwall1 · 05/12/2019 05:36

If you carnt wait the extra few seconds that says more about you than the person fumbling.

Seconds? The state of my wife's handbag means it's more than seconds, more like a week. Smile

tigger1001 · 05/12/2019 05:47

People seriously get annoyed by this?? Patience is indeed a virtue.

My purse or phone will stay in my bag until my stuff is all back in the trolley then I pay. If people behind me don't like that, it says more about them than me

Juliette20 · 05/12/2019 05:54

I swap my purse from my laptop bag to a tiny bag at the weekend, so it isn't going to get lost or be difficult to find.

NoSauce · 05/12/2019 06:16

Baffled at the suggestion to keep your purse under your arm or even worse your card in your mouth.

What the fucking hell?

Mickhasnotorso · 05/12/2019 06:22

You're stubborn.

Keepaddingpets · 05/12/2019 06:26

So not only does the OP have to faff around getting her card but she's probably taken longer than normal packing as she's using the shopping trip as a family catch up talking to her sister in law 😱😱

NoSauce · 05/12/2019 06:36

Faff around getting her card out?

How long do you think this actually takes?
We’re talking seconds here.

If people are pissed off at that then they should be shopping on line themselves.

TreestumpsAndTrampolines · 05/12/2019 06:36

But you would've picked your purse up to pay, after you finished packing. So why did you put it down again, instead of shoving it in your bag?

Because as mentioned elsewhere on the thread, what actually happens is they tell you the price and look expectantly before you've finished packing the last bits, so you pick up the purse, put the card in, and pack around entering the pin while it clears, and somewhere along the way, you just forget to pick up your purse, generally because they've started scanning the next person as you pick up your last bag and that person has already moved around and is blocking your view so you forget to pick it up.

NoSauce · 05/12/2019 06:42

That’s why I never pay until everything is packed and all the bags are in the trolley.

It doesn’t save any time for the next customer if you pay while packing or when it’s done, you’re still there in their way.

my2bundles · 05/12/2019 06:51

Nosauce , no they are not in the nextpersons way because it's not their turn untill all shopping is packed and payment is made . People need to learn patience.

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