Asked to move back ..aibu to be annoyed?

[simdd]

I went to Morrison's today.
I'm stood in the queue for the deli counter.
She shouts for my turn so I go over
(Obviously I cant see what I want,so before I order I look at the items )
I'm stood back (not right next to the counter)
She shouts .."can you step back "
(Bare in mind she's behind the deli counter and the counter is quite wide outwards)
So I say "I am back,I'm trying to see what I want to get "
Step back further and block the aisle now ..
Then she throws my meat on the counter.
I go to pick it up and she pipes up again
"I did ask you to step back"
So I reply .."how the hell am I meant to pick it up from on top of the counter without moving forward"
Aibu to think people are getting a bit stupid here and not using common sense.

"Have you ever considered that some people are utterly sick of shops chopping and changing on an almost daily basis?"

Because the guidance and legislation they are operating within is chopping and changing daily. They're not doing it for fun or to annoy customers.

I'm not sure that many of the examples on this thread could be considered rude - being asked to step back, stay behind the line, follow the arrows might sting a bit, because none of us are used to being told what to do really, but it's not rude and only those with the biggest of chips on their shoulders would object.

I'd rather staff enforced the rules than the alternative.

"I think there are a lot of people enjoying their new found sense of power."

A shop assistant asking you to follow the shop rules is enjoying their power? What power?

And to think that all you need to to avoid being told to follow the rules, is follow the rules.

19:06rawlikesushi

I agree with everything you said. Staff certainly dont enjoy the abuse we get telling customers to follow the guidelines set out by the government in stores. Just doing our job the same as a bus driver telling you to wear a mask to travel on the bus. Customers have to accept this is part of shopping kn stores not either they accept them or do online shopping.

And yes to pp saying shop workers think there important. Yes we are we are classed as keyworkers by the government and have played a essential part so customers can get food.
And no were not the covid police by telling customers to follow the new store rules and by shopping in that store you have to accept the rules. If people dont like it I'm sure home delivery is the better option for them.

Similar thing keeps happening in my local little Tesco. They've got plastic shields up but want you to stand behind a line when being served.

When I step forward to unpack my basket I get told off and told to step back (am i meant to throw my shopping at you then?) and the same when I step forward to insert my debit card

At my local supermarket there is a bit where you are supposed to stand while waiting to go forward. I stood there and was going to unpack my shopping when the cashier said really abruptly 'you'll have to wait back there', and pointed back the way. Turns out there was another shopper that should have been standing where I was, but instead was standing next to the cashier chatting to her, while another customer was still packing, but it was me that got barked at.

I looked at her and said 'never mind, I'll go to a different till'. She went to try to say something but gave up, as the next till only had one customer at it.

This made me laugh out loud 😂😂😂
I had similar madness at McDonald's, had to wait at drive through for my order, parked up, member of staff comes out, says i cant hand it to you through window, he puts order on a crate next to car, i wait for him to step away but he doesnt, he says youve got to get out of car and collect( i realised that!) , so i get out of car to pick it up and he is standing literally a few inches away, i mean whats the point of that !!

My local Tesco express can be a complete pain. They have one in one out which is fine I understand why. It’s really narrow down the aisles and I don’t think I’ve been in there once in months and months at different times of day and different days that at least 3 shop assistants were stacking shelves at the same time, with no one on the tills. I’m never sure if I am just supposed to overtake the staff or wait for them (and get shouted at) but the whole system moves so slowly people can’t leave, as they can’t get served at the till or get through self service with no one approving alcohol

I went to Sainsbury’s tonight at 8pm, it was almost completely empty. It shuts at 10, but all the tills were closed and I had to put my large weekly shop through on a self service basket only till inside a tiny Perspex cubicle!

"When I step forward to unpack my basket I get told off and told to step back (am i meant to throw my shopping at you then?) and the same when I step forward to insert my debit card."

My tip would be to watch all of the other shoppers who manage to achieve this without being 'told off' to see how it can be made possible.

Some of the outrage on here is baffling to me. You are asked to do something, or not do something, and consider this 'being shouted at' or 'being told off'. I can't imagine being that sensitive!

@rawlikesushi

"When I step forward to unpack my basket I get told off and told to step back (am i meant to throw my shopping at you then?) and the same when I step forward to insert my debit card."

My tip would be to watch all of the other shoppers who manage to achieve this without being 'told off' to see how it can be made possible.

Some of the outrage on here is baffling to me. You are asked to do something, or not do something, and consider this 'being shouted at' or 'being told off'. I can't imagine being that sensitive!

It's not a case of watch how others do it though

Have you ever thought that some sales assistants are just being overly precious? According to a couple of you, they can literally do no wrong!

And as for the "we're Keyworker we are important" no dear. NHS workers are. Carers are. You sit behind a screen bitching people all day from relative safety. That's why you don't get the same discounts and entitlements they receive.

There in lies the problem though, this is all we will ever what now, some shop assistants lording it over others and claiming to be on a par with nurses and doctors.

There does seem to be a trend with Morrisons on here. I had a incident at the petrol station last week when the member of staff cut off the petrol whilst I was filling up my car.

When I got to pay I asked him whether the petrol had run out and he said “no, he was on a mobile phone” and pointed at my car. I looked over and my son was sat in the front seat of the car looking at his phone while he waited.

I must’ve filled up my car hundreds of times with him sat in the car on his phone and it’s never happened to me before. The guidelines on filling up your car are that it’s not okay to you use your phone around the pump but okay in the car. Though apparently not at Morrisons.

"And as for the "we're Keyworker we are important" no dear. NHS workers are. Carers are. You sit behind a screen bitching people all day from relative safety."

Don't you feel ashamed to write that? I don't imagine any shop assistants consider their role to be on a par with life-saving professionals. But if the pandemic has showed us anything, it is how important many jobs, previously unrecognised, actually are - supermarket employees, bin men, delivery drivers.

It's obvious what's happening it's about status, people don't want to be told what to do by a shop worker because they're used to the shop worker doing everything to please them with customer service and they don't like the contrast, shop workers who usually have to bend over backwards to please them have suddenly got some authority over them and aren't showing them the respect they're accustomed to and they don't like it.

On the flip side I've noticed shop workers who have spent years of pleasing customers suddenly gain some authority and are letting the power go to their head and are enjoying being little jobsworths for a while.

Obviously not all customers/shop workers are the same.

Ilovetolurk, I was recently addressed over the tannoy system for using my phone at a BP garage. I was in my car and using the BP app to pay. The whole forecourt turned to look at me. I assumed the rules had changed or he was a new employee. I didn't consider it a telling off, or a self-important employee on a power trip. I went in to pay instead and he was nice, we laughed about it. I suppose it depends on your world view.

@rawlikesushi I would’ve been very happy to have asked my son to have put his phone away had the member of staff asked me over the tannoy. Unfortunately he cut off my petrol and then let me come in to pay for the small amount I had managed to dispense before leaving me ask why and then informing me rudely using the exact words I put above. The guidelines haven’t changed as far as I can see.

But do carry on defending the clearly unreasonable won’t you

Actually I dont sit behind a screen all day I do something vital so people get there food. Get your facts right you lol

Just to add if it makes you feel better I'm actually a Ex nurse who worked on the wards for 15 years and quit as was fed up with the long long hours.

LadyofTheManners

Really what you say makes no sense dearly. You seem very bitter and think shop workers are beneath you. Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble this is the way it's going to be now for quite a while. Shop workers are keyworkers and that's defined by the government if you like it or not.

@SpiritEssence

LadyofTheManners

Really what you say makes no sense dearly. You seem very bitter and think shop workers are beneath you. Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble this is the way it's going to be now for quite a while. Shop workers are keyworkers and that's defined by the government if you like it or not.

Clearly you missed/flatly ignored where I said I'm ex-retail, I started as a teen shop girl on a Saturday and by the time I stopped because of having a family I was management.

I think people who work in a service industry especially in a customer facing role should be respectful and use manners, not bark orders at the people paying wages. Is it any wonder more and more people are buying online or using scan and go or self checkouts? These things will eventually dispense with actual human workers and all the time customers have had enough of being treated lower than cattle, more of them will chose to bypass tills and the whole process will be a lot smoother for cost cutting companies.

It is inexplicable how two people can go to the same assistant and one is told off and the other not. I wonder if it's because one follows the rules and one thinks they don't have to?

As has been pointed out many times to all the people crying but how do I pay / there's no way to unpack my groceries evidently a number of other people are using that shop and that till and being served by that assistant. Shops seem to always have queues now - it's highly unlikely there was no one in front of you in the queue to pay or collect goods. So therefor either an entire queue is walking out with shopping piled up and not paid for, or a lot of other people are managing to negotiate what you cannot. I'm sorry but I find it very hard to believe that it's the former .....

I see the name calling hasn't let up
Though - a lot of people have already admitted jealousy that shop workers have jobs and they are at risk or have lost theirs. Whilst it's a scary time for all of us having reduced income, being a dick to a shop worker really won't change your situation. All that is likely to happen is you'll end up without food because eventually, you'll get barred for continuously flouting rules, endangering staff and other customers and calling people names.

Are some of you not ashamed of the language you're using? These are actual people - they have thoughts and feelings. They are protecting themselves and mocking and trying to humiliate them for taking precautions says an awful lot about who you are. It's clear a lot of bullies are finally crawling out the woodwork and showing their true colours here.

Follow the rules. Stand back, or behind, or wherever you are told to stand. And then say thank you to the person enabling you to buy food, it's not your right to use that shop or buy those goods. It's the right of the supermarket to allow you to do so actually, which is why right of admission is a thing. I sincerely hope that the supermarkets back up their customer facing staff and make sure they feel comfortable exercising their right to protection in the work place.

It is inexplicable how two people can go to the same assistant and one is told off and the other not

Is it also inexplicable how one person can go to the same shop and deal with various staff members and have no issues every time but one, when one shop assistant decides to treat the customer like dirt?

Come to where I live. Floor markings largely ignored, lack of mask wearing, people blocking aisles having conversations. How we’re not living in a hot spot I’ll never know.

@ChangeThePassword

It is inexplicable how two people can go to the same assistant and one is told off and the other not

Is it also inexplicable how one person can go to the same shop and deal with various staff members and have no issues every time but one, when one shop assistant decides to treat the customer like dirt?

Exactly. And with regards how some can reach to pay/pack/collect, last time I checked we aren't all the same size. Stuff my DP can reach due to his arm span I can't.

But you know, we deliberately want to be spoken to like shit cos life can always get just that little bit more shit because someone else thinks they're superior to others.

Yet we are bullies?

No, I think what you want is for life to go back to normal not to be spoken to like shit.

This is the new normal. Raging against it, calling other people names like a petulant toddler and ignoring rules because you don't want to follow them won't change it.

The only thing that will change current circumstances is transmission rates, vaccines and effective treatments. Telling someone to fuck off or calling them a moron will just make you look like a small minded bully.

We are all frustrated with the current situation, including I imagine a lot of shop workers who really don't get paid enough to be sworn at or called names by grown adults, but sadly we can't force change by our sheer will. Although change will come so much quicker if we do follow the rules and get community transmission lower

I haven't sworn at any shop staff or called anyone names.

But if your new normal is to be spoken to like shit, I'm not okay with that. And business that think that's acceptable for their staff will lose customers.

Totally the opposite at my Aldi

I’ve not left the house for 14 weeks and needed nappies so walked with brand new baby in pram to Aldi last week

The staff and customers were all asking to look at baby and there was as far as I could tell no or worrying about distancing.

They had the screens up on the tills and that seemed to be enough for them