To think sales staff should help you pack your bags?

[terreyyy]

I normally pack my bags without asking for help.
Today I went into the pound shop.
I had my two kids (one is 3 and other is 5) I had 2 heavy bags in one hand and it was raining so had my brolly.
Bought 5 glass pumpkins and got to checkout.
She told me they had nothing to wrap them in so I said no worries can I have some bags and I would put each in separate bag.
She put the bags down (unopened ) then scanned them really fast.
I had 1 daughter screaming,then I dropped my bank card.
So I'm trying to wrap each pumpkin up then put them in my carrier bag.
She is just stood behind the counter arms folded waiting for me.
She then says to the long queue (sorry about this everyone) whilst shaking her head looking at me.
Would it have actually killed her to just help me?
The guy serving on the next till was packing the bag for someone.
Aibu to think she could have helped ?
Rather than stand there and make me feel like an idiot

Reduced contact is probably the main factor - she's actually doing her job correctly and limiting contact. Store assistants can only wash their hands/sanitize so many times during the day, so have contact with many items for lots of customers between doing this. It might only be a few items less they touch, but it helps protects everyone.

I seem to remember seeing a sign in my local Poundland that due to covid they won't be helping to pack bags. I work in charity retail and we're not allowed to pack bags or help carry anything to/from a customer's car.

@terreyyy

Surely it's pretty obvious when someone needs help.

So then you didn’t ask! why didn’t you just clarify that when people were asking you?!

@ifonly4 she had already touched the items when she scanned them.

@OhCaptain I didn't think it made a difference.
She didn't ask if I needed help
She stood with her arms folded and shook her head at me.
I think it's obvious she didn't want to help me.
I found it rude.
Like I say normally I just pack them myself it was just a combination of everything going wrong today.

Eye roll.

Absolutely she should have helped. Or at least offered to. I'm totally with you, OP.

Just ASK.

I have discussed this on many an occasion with shop assistants as I come from a country where your bags are always packed without asking and I couldn't figure out why all shops were so rude in the UK. Turns out they are told not to take the initiative and help unless you expressly ask.

So next time just use your words!

Also, you shouldn't have had to ask. You are the customer! They are supposed to be trained to make you want to shop there again! I don't understand why so many businesses shoot themselves in the foot like this.

Pfft, the sanctimonious twats are out in force today, OP, take no notice of them. If that woman was so thick that she didnt realise helping you pack would have got you out of the way a bit more quickly, then no wonder she's only managing a job on the till at Poundworld. If you see someone struggling, you offer to help. Thats how human decency works.

It's the £ shop so no, they wouldn't have had brown paper or bubble wrap for the purchases, that's one of the reasons they can keep their prices low.

What we have here is a £ shop on presumably its busiest day of the week. A queue of customers and anyone who has worked in retail will know that customers are not always the most understanding of people. A 3 or 5 yo child who was screaming right next to her - a child old enough to be told to pack it in but obviously wasn't. I'm not surprised she was a bit agitated.

@dayswithaY

Lots of retail staff are being told to have minimal contact with customers. Most customers would complain if staff came too close or touched their hand while packing. They really can't win.

👆🏼 This. Most customers don't want us touching their stuff. I've been shouted at by a woman who moaned I wasn't packing her shopping then berated for getting too close when I did try to help. I stepped back and let her get on with it in the end.

And the state on some peoples reusable shopping bags is grim. I'm not touching those to help pack!

I feel for you OP. I think a lot of supermarkets have tried to adopt the Aldi / Lidl approach with fast scanning etc... but it's utterly pointless when there's no alternative packing area!

Our Morrisons started it pre-Covid with a swishy arm in the packing area so they can swipe the first customer aside and move to the next. I get it. But it was utterly ridiculous as there's not enough room for two trolleys and two people at the end - so you either block the main entrance / exit route with your trolley or you're blocking the next till along with your arse.

Also, very jealous you got the pumpkins! I've still not found any!

@funnylittlefloozie

Pfft, the sanctimonious twats are out in force today, OP, take no notice of them. If that woman was so thick that she didnt realise helping you pack would have got you out of the way a bit more quickly, then no wonder she's only managing a job on the till at Poundworld. If you see someone struggling, you offer to help. Thats how human decency works.

I don’t think you’re in a position to peach about decency after that dickhead comment about the girl’s job.

Human decency has been superceded by the 2 metre rule, fully masked or not. OH saw this the other day in Lidl, he was not allowed to step forward to help someone, the checkout operator was not allowed to help rulz doncha know.

Thats exactly why i said it, OhCaptain. The OP said the chap at the next till was helping to pack, so it obviously wasnt some sort of store rule. To stand there tutting with your arms folded, while your customer is clearly struggling, is thick and dickheaded.

If you really feel that strongly about it, go to the store and speak to the manager. Venting on MN and calling her thick/lazy/whatever will not solve the situation. For every customer like you who feels that she should have helped there would be another one who would scream blue murder if she went anywhere near them because social distancing. You wouldn't have to spend very long searching for threads complaining about shop staff being too close to customers in shops.

"Pfft, the sanctimonious twats are out in force today, OP, take no notice of them. If that woman was so thick that she didnt realise helping you pack would have got you out of the way a bit more quickly, then no wonder she's only managing a job on the till at Poundworld. If you see someone struggling, you offer to help. Thats how human decency works."

Arsehole.

OP please ignore a lot of the pathetic trolls on here today. I find myself rarely coming onto AIBU these days because I find some of the people on here that embarrassing - so many just want to get into it with the OP and each other. sad really - theres a place for it on some of the threads where people genuinely need a harsh reality check but not on threads like this.

I can imagine how overwhelming that would of been, especially with a child screaming. of course yanbu to expect some help, I definitley would of offered. corona hasnt half turned some people into dickheads.

@funnylittlefloozie like recognises like I suppose.

Because you making comments like that about someone’s job makes you all those things and more.🤷🏻‍♀️

Christ what a drama

I wouldnt have expected much more in poundland. An assistant rolled her eyes at me because something wasn't self scanning properly on the self service till.

Her five foot long acrylic nails weren't helping the process along promptly either (tapping her code on the screen)

Yes she could have helped you. Clearly she couldn't be bothered.

Its not like you had 2 babies in your arms.you had a 3 and a 5 year old. Also you could have just ASKED for help. Also you expect way too much from a store that is called poundshop. Also take responsibility for what you do, dont blame others for your own shortcomings op.

I’m not the kind of person who minds hands off customer service much, but Poundland is one of the few shops that has consistently shocked me by the rudeness of the their staff. 3 recent incidents that I can think of, one so bad that I made a written complaint, my first ever and only.

@lakesidewinter

In the USA shop assistants pack everything for you, including all your supermarket shopping. I was very taken aback when I first realized this.

I work with a lot of Americans. They will happily hold a queue up and expect the cashier to also pack their bags whilst looking at their phone. They see no problem with this.