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.

What does that have to do with anything?
Should we ask- how old is the OP?!

I find they’re lovely and very chatty in Aldi and Waitrose, less so in Sainsburys.

Supermarkets were invented to replace shops where you had to ask for everything. So the whole point of them is to reduce customer service!
The world is divided into two types of people: those who want to chat with all the staff and make an "event" of it and those (like me) who would prefer to be in and out as quickly as possible, without any human interaction at all. I hate checkout staff who insist on making small talk.
So maybe supermarkets should be split into two, with a chatty "slow" half and a no people "fast" half. Then we'll all be happy.

Aldi and Lidl have always been grim shopping experiences. I tolerate them every so often.
Our waitrose and sainsburys are still nice.
Having a friendly cashier makes a difference when you don't get to interact with people that often.

No, it's not a binary "chat or no chat". The vast majority are in the middle. It's only the extremes at each end who either want a chat free/eye contact free transaction or a "tell me your entire life story" chat. In the middle are the majority of people who just want basic common courtesy of a hello, please, thank you, and maybe the briefest of "nice day isn't it?", but more importantly they want competence and the staff to actually know what they're doing.

🙄

I’m always shocked when I go into Waitrose as they are so slow and so nice at the checkouts that I don’t know what to do with myself. Im conditioned to expect poor customer service since covid.

I think something HAS gone wrong with a lot of the public these days.

I own a flat in a newish modern block and received a letter the other day from the building management about a scheduled check of everyone’s front door to ensure compliance with fire regulations. The building is mostly occupied by young professionals and some mature students. The end of the letter said this:

“please provide access for our engineers and treat them with kindness as they inspect your door. Abusive language will not be tolerated”

What on earth has happened in the past that means this had to be said?!

Reads like it comes down to customer expectations.

I expect a hello or a simple nod, scan my items, pay, I say thank you and leave when it comes to Aldi’s and Lidl.

Self-check out, someone to come over if I need assistance, I thank them, bag my things up quickly and leave.

M&S, scan and pay, show the person at the door, my receipt, thank them and leave.

Chat is highly optional nor a necessity for me, especially when it’s obvious that it is busy and the last thing they need is someone trying to chat at them unnecessarily.

I’ve worked retail and have had an overall lovely experience even during covid and I think it was dependent on the area more than anything else.

I’ve had the opposite in my local Aldi- being shouted at for putting cat litter/ multipacks of water on the conveyor belt.
Once items are on the belt a loudly shouted “you should leave that in your trolley” with an added patronising look doesn’t help.

I've bought all my train tickets online for the last 20 years, and if a supermarket person said "Nice day, isn't it?" then that would be mildly irritating, because then I am obligated to reply. I don't want to talk in the supermarket!
Each to their own, of course, but my preference is to keep these functional transactions as straightforward as possible. I am allowed to have a preference, as are we all.

Yes, but you must know that you are not the norm. Why should everyone’s experience be miserable just because you want yours to be silent?

My Lidl staff are perfectly nice.

I'd like to think I'm not like that, I work at b&m and most days you'll find me red faced as I run round the store helping customers with products
If I have my phone in my hand, it's to scan a product for the price through the app. I do occasionally chat to colleagues but would stop if a customer approached.
I love a natter on the tills if the person looks like they do too.
Sometimes we are under tight time scales to get stock on the shelves so the ticket price doesn't match up to the product and I've been called stupid, a moron, a thick wit 🤨, been told I don't know how to add up, been sworn at, when this isn't my fault. It's 1) the person who put the stock out for not moving the ticket and 2) the customer should double check imho
But I'd definitely like to think me and my colleagues have good customer service. We would be pulled up on it pretty sharpish otherwise

Loads of organisations have the "abusive language will not be tolerated" announcement these days. I don't know what purpose it serves other than to put the person receiving a service on the back foot before any interaction even starts.

No customer service anymore in supermarkets

Bit of an apocalyptic conclusion based on one grumpy guy.

Find your own stuff?! 🤣

Its Aldi not the boutique on Pretty Woman!

But yeah of course that’s all an excuse to break the law 🙄

The Aldi I use, the staff have always been nice and friendly. My local Lidl though, they have always been a miserable bunch.
Some of the staff have been there years too. Every time someone new joins, they don't seem to stay very long Which is a pity because they are always the friendly ones.

One of the reasons I shop more in Aldi than Lidl.

Our Lidl staff are great. They're always helpful and cheery and the craic they sometimes have with each other is often very funny.

I work in a supermarket and I am very hot on good customer service. There is no need for rudeness from anybody.
We have just had a training thing on this very subject and I was asked for feedback and I said I thought it was a shame that colleagues needed reminding to say hello, offer a bag and offer to pack in my opinion it just comes down to manners and should come naturally.
I did recently serve a young lad and he was very
rude so I did actually ask who he thought he was talking to and he apologized, his mate also apologized. I replied "I have pants older than him and it's unacceptable. We all laughed so all good in the end.

On the other hand I was having a shocking day and was quite sharp to the person in the chemist and when I went again the next day I apologized to her, she kindly said she hadn't noticed but I knew I'd been an arse.

I mostly do self service except local AlDI and if anything one of guys in it is too chatty!
I don’t go to the shop for conversation.

I don’t go to the shop for conversation.

Its not about conversation, it’s about being pleasant to others.

A lost skill set.

Must be wonderful to read this when you work in retail -
On minimum wage
A zero hours contract
You Buy your own uniform
On your feet all day
No protection from aggressive shoplifters
Listening to people criticise you with no possible comeback

Get a fuvking grip. Attack the retail owners. Not the staff.

Maybe they just hate YOU. Because you seem kinda hateful

My local sainsburys is fine and still has good customer service