No customer service anymore in supermarkets

[Cats234]

In aldi this morning, checkout guy doesn't say hello, barely replies when I greeted him. Then asked if he could scan cat litter in trolley and explained I gave a bad back, he looked pretty unimpressed and begrudgingly scanned it in the trolley. The way he spoke to me throughout was just a bit shit.

Nope, wrong way around. Customers complain and get irate because they're subjected to so much crap customer services virtually everywhere they go and whatever they try to do.

You clearly don't understanding that there's a massive middle ground between being a grumpy sod who doesn't even say hello, please or thank you at one end, and at the other end, some gobby person who wants to tell you their entire life story and expects the same back from you. Most people want the middle ground of just "normal" societal interaction of basic manners, and even more important for the person they're dealing with to be at least semi-competent!

The staff in all my local supermarkets (Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco, M&S & Lidl) are lovely. The checkout people at Asda are really chatty when there isn’t a queue and I’m sure they brighten many customers’ days.

My M&S in particular is woefully understaffed, as is the local Boots, and it’s not always a very good shopping experience but that’s down to the management higher up, not the shop floor staff who in my experience always seem to be doing their best.

I always chat to the checkout operators in my local Aldi. It doesn’t slow them down, they chat and scan. I chat and pack ( very quickly).

It’s what the public want, isn’t it? See how many are ok with ticket offices closing at train stations or staff on the trains and wanting everything to be “automated”.

Sure, you 'clearly' know everything and everyone else needs to just accept that.
Sigh.

Yes, Morrisons in London are great as well.

Nope, @RaeHitsEbSire is spot on, and I say this having both worked in retail and been a customer. The horrible customers really do outweigh the horrible staff. As said, we all have off days, but while working in retail I had several regulars who seemed to have nothing but off days!

@Cats234

Another Aldi-bashing thread YAWWWWWWWWN ... 🙄It's always ALDI that gets bashed on here. Some people are really jealous and threatened by Aldi aren't they? So OP, are you from Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys, Lidl, Iceland, or Waitrose???

I have 3 Aldi stores within 10 miles, and every single one has polite courteous staff who are fast and efficient. Conversely the Tesco staff are miserable, and slow at getting customers through. They have faces like thunder, and the dot-com workers on the shop floor, knock the customers in the store flying, in their attempt to get the shit together for the internet orders!

Morrisons and Sainsburys are overpriced and have to many 'self checkouts,' and Asda and Iceland and Lidl are OK. Waitrose have polite staff, but they are hilariously overrated and overpriced.

I prefer automated because it means I don't have to deal with grumpy, unhelpful staff who often make mistakes and don't know as much about the "product" as I do, such as train tickets, where I can research and buy the most suitable route/ticket for me, whereas in the dark old days when I had to buy at ticket offices, I was often told a particular route was impossible, or a particular service wasn't run, or tried to sell me a more expensive ticket because they didn't know the full range of alternatives!!

I had a lovely (brief) chat with the young man in Aldi this morning.

How old were they?

No, I have 50 years of experience on both sides of the fence. We had a convenience store for 20 years so I've been on the other side of the counter. I'm now working in a service industry. Most customers are absolutely fine if you treat them with respect and do your job properly. I don't argue there are some arsehole customers, but a lot of "normal" ones are at the end of their tether due to crap customer service.

I work in retail and pride myself on great customer service, as do my colleagues. Regular customers shoe here because of it.

I would say rude customers are far more normal these days and most shops are grossly understaffed leading to a stressful work environment. It’s no wonder some staff aren’t cheery.

We have to deal with shoplifting and potential threats of violence.

Again, nope - your experience is very unusual, ask anyone who has worked in retail (apart from you who, intent on pushing your view down our throats).

Can’t say I agree tbh, I shop at Aldi sometimes, Tesco often but usually M&S and the service is good in all three stores, staff curtious and polite but I’m there to get my shopping and go I don’t want to chat to a stranger, small talk is my idea of hell.

You sound a bit like the horrible customers some of the retail staff are having the misfortune to encounter. Of course you might know more about a product you want to buy than someone stacking a shelf, because it simply isn't possible for one person working in huge store to know everything about every product! I was once looking for Arborio rice and couldn't find it beside the other rice - the young man had never heard of it, but did his best to ask questions which might help, and when we found it he said something along the lines of learning for next time! He was polite and open to learning.

The staff at my local Tesco are pleasant, some exceptionally so.

As for train tickets, we get excellent service from the staff at the local station.

They’re fine in my local tescos. The lovely chap on the door wishes me a “good morning” and “have a nice day. sugar” whenever I go in there and treats everyone the same. The young ones on the checkout are happy to chat about their life outside of work while I’m packing eg uni and if they’re going out that night. The older ones are chatty if you want a chat and talk about anything.

but then I’m in a friendly chatty city.

I agree that some customers do themselves no favours.... come in looking for a fight, create drama and since covid, more entitled than ever

Working retail during covid really was an eye opener

I left retail. Customers can be vile

I do. It's hard when you're having a week of tough customers who are ranting at you but then I get the ones who make up for it

One thing I would say is if you get great customer service please leave a review (FB/google/email) with the persons name
So many people complain on reviews, but compliments don't get seen by my manager unless they're actually written down and it makes a huge difference to morale as well

I've had the nicest compliment ever this week but nobody will know about it as it was verbal

The staff in my local Aldi and Lidl are lovely , I even completed an online feedback form about the well mannered checkout member of staff in Lidl.
Not had any issues with bad service in Tesco or Asda either but I don’t hang around chatting , a hello and “ the weathers lovely today isn’t it “ type sentence is enough for me. 😁
What I have seen though whilst waiting in queues at self service checkouts are customers skipping in , customers demanding more checkouts opening , customers being rude to the person manning self service , like clicking fingers at staff and saying “ hey “ etc.
People have no manners or patience.

Staff in my aldi are fine

What ship was it?
If it was Lidl you shouldn't pack at the tills. I have been behind very rude people on my last 2 shops slowly packing at the tills, when there are signs asking you not to do this.
If it was one of the others, then instead of feeling flustered, could you not have (politely) said to the cashier "please don't rush me so much. Shopping with a gold is stressful, thank you"?

There is also the point that the data from the tills is collected and cashiers are reprimanded if they are too slow.

Supermarkets take the piss. You have to find your own stuff, scan your own stuff, pack your own stuff in your own bags, everything costs three times as much as it used to plus is poorer quality. No wonder people are shoplifting all over the place.