Me or Sainsburys staff member?

[HouseofSkullduggery]

My local Sainsburys is in a shopping centre with chargeable parking. You usually have to spend £10 or more to get free parking unless you are also using the pharmacy or Argos which is also inside.
So this morning I had to return some items to Argos that I bought yesterday. I did that no problem and never asked them to validate the ticket as I had a few other things to get from Sainsburys and thought it's quicker to go to the self service tills and do it myself.
I bought items which were just over £7. Paid and started to walk to the machine to validate my ticket. The staff member immediately saw me approaching and stood blocking the machine. She actually had to walk backwards to make sure I didn't go round her.
She then said have you spent £10? Where's your receipt? In a really snotty tone. I explained I'd just been to Argos too but needed other things hence why I was there. But no that wasn't good enough. She said no I would have to pay to park because I hadn't spent the £10.
She was really off and I felt like a naughty child! I just said again I'd been to Argos, I was in a rush and as it made no difference to her please could I use the machine on this occasion. But no she wouldn't back down.
I left and just felt quite bewildered at her attitude. Nobody normally mans the machine. I go in there all the time. Never had any issue. Even going through the normal tills staff have been happy to validate the ticket as long as youve bought something. I feel she was rude and a jobsworth. Aibu?

Well that's escalated! To clarify yes the Argos is within the Sainsburys not separate. The parking is managed by a private company. The staff member has nothing to do with that.
Yes I was ranting but I stand by my opinion that her attitude was wrong and she was definitely snotty!
Her job wasn't just to monitor the machine, she was the only staff member responsible for all the self service tills at that time.
I accept I should have validated it at the Argos counter but like I said, I forgot. It happens. I still don't think I should have been dealt with in that way and I wish I had called a manager over. But I didn't have time so I left quickly....and will be reluctant to return soon. I'll go to the nearby other rival supermarkets instead where there is free parking!

@Staffy1

She is obviously a jobsworth, misery guts, joy-sucking prat. Unfortunately there are a few of them around.

Whereas you sound absolutely delightful

The £10 limit is meant to deter non-customers, not be used to harass actual customers! It makes no sense at all, and it's not something that needs to be strictly enforced, it's not a law.

If this is the case how come the limit is £10 and not £1? If you spend £1 you're still a customer, so why isn't that sufficient? Genuine question. (Fwiw I don't entirely disagree with you @planningtomakeaplan - just wondering what the logic is with the £10 limit).

To clarify yes the Argos is within the Sainsburys not separate.

I can see why you'd just validate it yourself at the Sainsbury's machine then, particularly if you'd used it before.

Did you tell the staff member that you'd just been to Argos and were entitled to free parking anyway?

Personally I think I'd have just made a point of going back to Argos and waved the ticket at her on my way back out, thanking her sarcastically for her help.

YABU. You didn’t actually buy anything at Argos and you were under the minimum spend at Sainsburys.

I imagine that they’ve had a lot of people taking the mick re parking, and some poor sod drew the short straw and was required to monitor the validation machine.

@Sofiegiraffe

The £10 limit is meant to deter non-customers, not be used to harass actual customers! It makes no sense at all, and it's not something that needs to be strictly enforced, it's not a law.

If this is the case how come the limit is £10 and not £1? If you spend £1 you're still a customer, so why isn't that sufficient? Genuine question. (Fwiw I don't entirely disagree with you @planningtomakeaplan - just wondering what the logic is with the £10 limit).

In some areas (like my area, popular with holidaymakers and day trippers) people would buy one chocolate bar and park for six hours while visiting the beach since parking can be expensive. Having a minimum spend plus a time limit deters those people since in the summer season of near Christmas it can be impossible for actual customers buying their shopping to park and they end up shopping elsewhere, like supermarkets away from the city centre. Sainsburys obviously don’t want this.

This is a very good way for Sainsburys to alienate customers who may choose to go elsewhere in the future. I'd be reluctant to return to that store in the future after having been treated like that.

If they've got limited space and are near other facilities, they'll alienate customers by having no parking available, because it's clogged up with people who aren't their customers. So they're a bit stuck either way.

If this is the case how come the limit is £10 and not £1? If you spend £1 you're still a customer, so why isn't that sufficient?

Think of it as a payment for the parking space. If someone's going to leave their car in your car park for three hours while they go round every shop in town, it's better if they spend a tenner in your shop during those three hours than £1. It puts people off making a token purchase just to get the parking.

A lot of you were the ones that ran full pelt for the staff room when the teacher forgot to show up to the lesson aren't you?

@HouseofSkullduggery

Well that's escalated! To clarify yes the Argos is within the Sainsburys not separate. The parking is managed by a private company. The staff member has nothing to do with that. Yes I was ranting but I stand by my opinion that her attitude was wrong and she was definitely snotty! Her job wasn't just to monitor the machine, she was the only staff member responsible for all the self service tills at that time. I accept I should have validated it at the Argos counter but like I said, I forgot. It happens. I still don't think I should have been dealt with in that way and I wish I had called a manager over. But I didn't have time so I left quickly....and will be reluctant to return soon. I'll go to the nearby other rival supermarkets instead where there is free parking!

You have no idea what her job is. Were you present for handover before the shift started? Did you attend a huddle? No, you didn’t. So how can you talk with such confidence that you know every aspect of the role? In our store our customer advisors are often on the till, but they have responsibilities in other areas of the store, too. You have no way to know what her responsibilities for that day were.

Her attitude may have been snotty, but your attitude on this thread certainly is snotty. Not only do you think you have superior knowledge in an employee’s job role and what it entails, you still think you’re in the right despite most people on this thread telling you in 20 different ways that you aren’t.

Additionally, you didn’t forget. You said you were “in a rush”, so what is it? In a rush or you forgot? You remembered when you were leaving Sainsbury’s that you hadn’t spent enough- this wouldn’t have been an issue or even popped into your mind if you had “forgot” to do so at Argos. You knew you hadn’t, but instead of just paying for parking/walking back inside to go to Argos for a validation/going back into the shop to pick up something for £3, you tried to dodge the member of staff and then gave off because she said no.

You don’t think the situation should have been dealt with in that way because it embarrassed you, due to your own doings. Do you often go into stores and expect special treatment? And really, what would have calling a manager over done? I am a manager and I would have backed up my colleague in this scenario, 100%. Why, you might ask-

• if my employee is following the rules and standards set in place in store, I want to encourage that. If I let you off with it, then why shouldn’t I let the next 50 people off with it, too? Being “in a rush” makes no difference- it’s not our fault you’re disorganised
• you actively tried to go around her, which is sneaky and deceitful. That sort of behaviour would have me checking CCTV to see if you had stolen anything from the store as well
• you were complaining and begging for freebies, which is just embarrassing for yourself

You really need to grow up. You sound like a toddler throwing a strop about not being allowed a bag of sweets.

Rules are rules. You didnt follow them. Then complained because you got picked up on it by somebody whose job it was to check folk were following the rules.

@Staffy1

She is obviously a jobsworth, misery guts, joy-sucking prat. Unfortunately there are a few of them around.

I suppose you’d think the same if stores let someone who was “in a rush” dump their car off in a disabled parking space? I mean, it’s only a space and if they’re in a rush then who are you to remind them of the rules? Doesn’t matter if another customer with a blue badge has to park at the back end of a car park. You couldn’t possibly be a jobsworth, misery guts, joy-sucking prat by reminding them that those spaces are for those who have blue badges and require them, and telling them to move their car.

We should just let everywhere be a free-for-all.

OP underspent the requirement by £3, so I’ll maybe try and do one better and when I go into my local Tesco for the weekly shop, I’ll fill my trolley with £200 of shopping and only pay £140. It’s the same percentage that OP didn’t pay, so it should be fine, right? No one would dare be a misery guts and tell me no, I either pay for the goods or put some back.

And when I go into town next, I’ll park my car in the 2 hour only bays, but stay for 5 hours. I’ll track down the parking assistant and give off to them about their snotty tone and demand the ticket be removed because I was only 3 hours over. I mean, I usually get away with it even though I know the rules, so why should I be punished this time?!

You have to draw the line somewhere. I’d imagine Sainsbury’s do have a policy where if a customer has spent £9.99 or a similar amount they’d probably let them away with it, but £3 under is taking the absolute piss. I’d also imagine that the member of staff would have had no issue in OP going back into the store and either buying £3 of goods or going over to Argos for a validation. She instead chose to stamp her feet and whine about it. Here’s a tip for you, though- if you act like a bratty child, don’t expect anyone to help you out.

It really is much easier for everyone involved if you just understand various policies and abide by them, or, failing that, you go elsewhere.

Her job wasn't just to monitor the machine, she was the only staff member responsible for all the self service tills at that time.

You know what her manager had asked her to do that day?

she was really unfair

jobsworth idiot yanbu

You do know that when you say you'll shop elsewhere us shop assistants really don't give a shit we mentally shrug and say good riddance

@PizzaCrust Well said! 👏👏👏

@Chattycatty

You do know that when you say you'll shop elsewhere us shop assistants really don't give a shit we mentally shrug and say good riddance

Hahahah THISSS!

Stroppy customer: I'll be shopping elsewhere from now on!
Me internally : Thank you Jesus!

I accept I should have validated it at the Argos counter but like I said, I forgot. It happens
So you know you were in the wrong but instead of acknowledging you acted as if she should have let you off and even sympathise with you.

Do you ever acknowledge you're in the wrong and apologise? Or is it a case that it's always someone else's fault and everyone should adapt their ways to suit you?

I haven’t read the whole thread but the bits I’ve read are funny. Everyone getting over excited about who is right and who is wrong.
Poor op.

Sounds like a jobsworth, but maybe they've had enough of people trying to claim free parking when they're not actually eligible? They've probably been asked to crack down on it by the car park company.

@Chattycatty

You do know that when you say you'll shop elsewhere us shop assistants really don't give a shit we mentally shrug and say good riddance

I have customers say this to me over issues such as them trying to return an item out of the returns window or without a receipt. As if I’m going to throw myself on my knees and sob ‘no please please don’t go to another shop!’

It doesn’t come out of my minimum wage if you go somewhere else. I’m not on commission. What could affect my wage or job is if my manager stuck me on one of the shit jobs (like ensuring people actually spend the correct amount for parking) and I let them all off ‘just this once.’

You went to argos to return item, the opposite of buying things, so that doesn’t count.

You didn’t spend £10.

I am also taking your view of the discussion with the shop assistant with a pinch of salt. People always make themselves to be the glowing bunny of politeness and the other party the devil incarnate.

Yabu.

YABU. Obviously you realise you should have validated the ticket at Argos, which you didn't do, and the shop assistant had no way of knowing you had been there. YABU to think she should bend the rules for you on your say so. She has no way of knowing who is telling the truth and who is trying it on. If she's tasked with stopping people from validating if they haven't spent the required amount then that's her job and it's not particularly jobsworthy to do so. You were a fair percentage under the limit, it's not like you'd spent 9.99 and she'd said no.

It's tricky to enforce rules that members of the public want to evade in a way that doesn't leave the person who has been stopped from doing what they wanted feeling like the enforcer has an attitude. All your suggestions for how she ought to have handled it involve her doing what you wanted rather than what she was supposed to do. You talk about her walking backwards to block the machine so you couldn't just walk round her (to do something you shouldn't have been doing!) as though that was an affront all by itself, etc. You knew the rules and argued with her when she tried to enforce them. It sounds like you had an attitude towards her. So I think your claim of her having an attitude towards you is probably unreasonable too, though that's more up in the air as sometimes enforcement is handled much worse than it could be.

The whole set up at the shopping centre around parking sounds like it's not very customer friendly. In some areas that's because parking generally is a nightmare and it's the only way places have found to ensure their is parking for centre users and not being used by people going elsewhere and just buying a pack of gum to get the parking. Other times it's all about getting every last penny out of shoppers. But I think that's what deserves your ire or not, the shop assistant was not being unreasonable.

@SweetFelicityArkright

She was right, you didn't spend enough to validate the parking. You should have either got it validated in Argos, spent the £10 in Sainsbury's or paid for the parking. And isn't it amazing how many customer facing staff are 'rude' and 'a jobsworth' when the customer has been told no to something they want, but aren't actually entitled to.........

To be honest I agree with this. You should've just gone back to Argos to get it validated.