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.

And yet, lots of retail and other workers on NMW manage to be polite and competent in their jobs! In fact there are lots of volunteers who don't get paid a bean working in charity shops, museums, etc who manage to be polite and competent. Being on NMW is no excuse for being rude or poor attitude.

My local M&S has a greeter at the door. Apparently it is to deter shop lifters. It seems that a smile and a kind word stops people stealing.

I know, and look at you, managing to be rude for free.....sigh

Which part of my post communicated that I "seem kinda hateful"? Based on another of your responses, I think it must just be that you work in customer service and are a bit unhappy with it. No need to take it out on others, though.

YANBU.

I lost my bank card recently and had to pay cash in Tesco and the person at the checkout (which I had to queue at for ages as the majority of bloody tills are self-scan that don't accept cash) refused to take the money initially. She said they only accepted card payment now.

When I made it clear that I couldn't pay with card and would be paying with cash, she called over a manager (presumably to back her up) who immediately rang it through the machine, accepted my cash and apologised for the inconvenience.

In my local Sainsburys I've overheard staff complaining about customers being rude. But I often wonder how much of that is because the general levels of customer service has decreased? Chicken and egg, I think.

BUT I have been in Waitrose and M&S recently and the customer service has been excellent...lots of smiling/enquiries about my day/polite conversation.

I do my main shop in Lidl, always pleasant, friendly, our local Waitrose are awful, very rude woman at customer service. For 12 years I have been using our local post office, I dread going in there, the older lady is so rude and downright nasty. Had to take a parcel,was really dreading it, she called me "lovely". I think it's an alien takeover! Morrisons recently completely messed up an order, young man at customer service just walked off,left me standing there.... never said a word, this time I am not going back...that's me done. Sainsbury's,older lady I said "excuse me,where is the long life milk", she turned round and replied "same place it's always been". I think that is damn rude.

Staff in our Aldi are lovely, very (sometimes too!) chatty.

Do you work for Lidl 😁

I don't shop in Aldi except occasionally for the odd thing and I'm nearby. Generally when I'm in a supermarket (or any shop) I'm greeted by friendly, polite staff.

Aldi not there for polite chit chat
Try waitrose
I like aldi for just getting on with it

I think it varies from branch to branch and depends on the manager. The manager of my Sainsbury changed, the service went downhill. It was sad and I felt for the staff. I now go to Tesco. In my experience the Morden branch is better than the Raynes Park one. Wandsworth Sainsburys was always dire, the Putney one excellent. Putney Waitrose awful, Wandsworth and Merton ones great.

At my local shopping centre today I had lovely service in: Jones, Clarks, Waitrose and WHS. For some reason that particular M&S is always a bit hit and miss.

The staff in our local asda are very helpful and friendly as are the ones in our Lidl

The staff in all my local supermarkets (Waitrose, Tesco and Aldi) are friendly and polite, but I know that Aldi staff are under pressure to get shoppers through the checkouts quickly, so they don't have so much time.

And I sometimes to go to Sainsburys a few miles away, they're nice in there, too. Last time I was in the nearest branch, the lady on the checkout commented that she hadn't seen me in there for a long time!

And I'm in the SE, so it's not just a northern things.

This was at Sainsbury's where the vast majority of people do pack at till, and two I had a basket full not a trolley so clearly had to pack there ...

I honestly cannot relate to this. All the staff at my Aldi are lovely.

OP says right there in the very short post that she greeted them and also went on to ask about the cat litter.

M&S and Tesco very understaffed where I live.
Very few staff on the floor in the Clothing and Homeware section in a large M&S near me. Food section is better served, though few tills are manned.
The customer service desk in Tesco appears to be unmanned more than it is staffed with the manager very rarely seen either.
Apparently Tesco are very happy with the shop's performances though.
I as a customer am not ( it's within walking distance hence why I shop there ).

There is a wonderful 'more mature' lady on the M&S tills here in Bath in the food hall. She is quick but always friendly and makes a fuss of some of the old people who clearly want to chat , without holding up queues. I'm in awe of her ability to do this effortlessly

Christ knows why, the Aldi staff are paid around £1 an hour more than waitrose who are on £10.50 an hour, 8p above minimum wage

I've always found Aldi and Lidl staff as friendly as chatty as anywhere else.

I don't think you can generalise after one encounter!

I agree with earlier comments about Aldi - it’s pile it high, sell it cheap, get your stuff, and get out. It’s not somewhere I’ve ever associated with or expected pleasantries.