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AIBU?

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Original poster

Have you ever dumped an entire trolley of food at a till and walked out?

469 replies

sunnydaytoday0 · 07/10/2023 19:56

I was in a Lidl store today and a very long queue built up.. and it became apparent that another till was not going to be opened despite the queue getting longer and many of whom had a big trolley load of food. There are no self service tills.

I then saw a man walk to the front and dump his entire shopping on the conveyor belt of an adjacent till and stormed out.

I'm sure if there was more staff this would've been avoided so it wasn't the fault of the person on the till. I know there is pressure on supermarkets to cut costs, but is this now getting to a tipping point in terms of impacting on customer service? Or is it the case that if you go to a so called 'discounter' type shop then you just have to accept that the service levels will be bit lower which allows them to offer lower prices?

Have you ever dumped your shopping at a till and walked out? I thought if the guy wanted to walk out he could, he didn't actually need to go the effort of unloading it all on a belt in a dramatic fashion in front over the worker and then storm out.

OP posts:
Mumblebeeee · 08/10/2023 20:18

I came close last night. Had to go to Tesco at 10pm (shuts at 11pm) to do a big shop, only self service tills open without much space to pack. I was slowly losing my shit as there isn’t anywhere near enough space to bag everything up without squashing your shopping or having it fall off the pathetic excuse for a bagging area. They were unable to open a manned till, and after a few minutes the self serve till started with the old ‘unexpected item in bagging area’ after every. Single. Item. There was only one member of staff who was helping others so I had to wait for them to assist. It took 12 minutes to get everything scanned. TWELVE MINUTES!! I told myself if there was one more unexpected item I was going to walk out….. luckily there wasn’t and I eventually finished. I HATE self serve tills with a passion 🙃

DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 20:18

HerRoyalGoddess · 08/10/2023 19:10

I work in a supermarket, people dump trolleys of stuff all the time, if it's unavoidable because you've had an emergency we genuinely understand and don't think anything of it. If however you're stamping your feet because unfortunately there's queues we think you're an absolute tosser and you do get laughed about once you've left.

Also people forget their wallets/purses all the time if you let us know most supermarkets will put it to oneside if you can get back before they close.

Perhaps if you valued your customers more, they'd have more respect for you?

Gingernan · 08/10/2023 20:26

No but I usually go after my early morning shift at work and all is good! I did have to abandon a bag once due to forgetting my debit card, Sainsburys kept it for me while I raced home and back. I have Aldi, Sainsburys, Iceland and a small Morrisons near me, plus the Pound shop which has lots of food too, so very lucky.

HerRoyalGoddess · 08/10/2023 20:27

Ok Karen, lmao. At the end of the day there are always going to be shitty customers who think that they're more important than everyone else. The majority of retail staff work bloody hard and are good at their jobs, instead of tantruming at the poor minimum wage workers direct your ire at the bosses in charge of the company, believe me we're trying to get you through the till as fast as we possibly can.

Differentstarts · 08/10/2023 20:27

DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 20:18

Perhaps if you valued your customers more, they'd have more respect for you?

Show quote history

Would you like the staff to bow at your feet when you enter the store 🙄

Tereseta · 08/10/2023 20:32

Seeing this more frequently, especially in our local sainsburys with self service tills. They are really reluctant to put a cashier on a till. I don't buy more than a basket in there now and do a trolley shop next door in aldi.

Tereseta · 08/10/2023 20:32

Seeing this more frequently, especially in our local sainsburys with self service tills. They are really reluctant to put a cashier on a till. I don't buy more than a basket in there now and do a trolley shop next door in aldi.

ScroogeMcDuckling · 08/10/2023 20:33

Yesterday in Lidl. It was rammed. We only needed bread, milk and cheese.

went to Waitrose, got it in five minutes and was significantly cheaper.

Lidls are doing themselves no favours with all the price hikes, they are no longer an inexpensive option any more.

AnotherTeaPlease · 08/10/2023 20:33

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Heb1996 · 08/10/2023 20:36

@DreamTheMoors must be used to it I guess? 😩😩😩

DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 20:38

Shudahaddogs · 08/10/2023 20:07

Well said. They have 20 mins to put your chilled stuff back. Otherwise it's waste. Nearest checkout assistant has to come off tills and put this stuff back. So next time you think of ditching a full trolley as ques too long. You may be adding to the problem.

Show quote history

So if the chilled stuff is no good after 20 minutes how come it's OK for customers to have to queue with it for upwards of half an hour?

MrsMarzetti · 08/10/2023 20:40

I was in Asda with a friend and we had both been in the queue for nearly 10 minutes as the young lady on the till kept turning round to chat to the checkout operator to the side of her, i asked her to concentrate on her job as there was 5 people waiting. She kept drawing me dirty looks and as i was putting my shopping through she mumbled a racist insult under her breath in a language she obviously thought i wouldn't understand, i let her scan my full trolley and when she asked for payment i refused but asked her to ring for her supervisor. After complaining to the supervisor i walked out leaving a trolley full of scanned shopping.

DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 20:40

Differentstarts · 08/10/2023 20:27

Would you like the staff to bow at your feet when you enter the store 🙄

Show quote history

No I'd be happy if they'd provide a polite and timely service. This does not include mocking customers who do not wish to queue for extended periods. This isn't communist Russia c 1982.

Siezethefish · 08/10/2023 20:54

Yep - in Morrisons at their self scan checkout. Just about every other item it failed to recognise and I got fed up calling the checkout person over so left the lot and walked out.

Bignanny30 · 08/10/2023 20:56

Yup I’ve done it! But I love the fact that he made a big point of unloading his shopping then walking out 😂 👍

HelenaTranscart · 08/10/2023 20:58

During Covid, I flounced out of Sainsburys when the manager told me my daughter couldn't shop with me because they'd a one person only rule. I'd started my shop so trolley was half full. My daughter was in her school uniform! Some men like their little bit of power. I now shop elsewhere...

Differentstarts · 08/10/2023 21:00

DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 20:40

No I'd be happy if they'd provide a polite and timely service. This does not include mocking customers who do not wish to queue for extended periods. This isn't communist Russia c 1982.

Show quote history

Sometimes you have to be a little bit patient and wait your turn. You can't expect instant service your not the only customer in the shop. Have you honestly ever timed the wait time in a shop because people seem to lose all concept of time when waiting and think it's 10/15 minutes when in reality it's 2/3 minutes

AnotherTeaPlease · 08/10/2023 21:01

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Differentstarts · 08/10/2023 21:01

HelenaTranscart · 08/10/2023 20:58

During Covid, I flounced out of Sainsburys when the manager told me my daughter couldn't shop with me because they'd a one person only rule. I'd started my shop so trolley was half full. My daughter was in her school uniform! Some men like their little bit of power. I now shop elsewhere...

This was the rule in all shops for everyone. Did you think you where special?

Original poster
sunnydaytoday0 · 08/10/2023 21:14

Bignanny30 · 08/10/2023 20:56

Yup I’ve done it! But I love the fact that he made a big point of unloading his shopping then walking out 😂 👍

I suspect it was because when the one cashier was asked about another till being opened the cashier gave a slight shrug of the shoulders and said 'no' quite assertively, rather than a 'no sorry it isn't possible but sorry for the wait'. I guess using the right tone always helps.

OP posts:
DisquietintheRanks · 08/10/2023 21:15

Differentstarts · 08/10/2023 21:00

Sometimes you have to be a little bit patient and wait your turn. You can't expect instant service your not the only customer in the shop. Have you honestly ever timed the wait time in a shop because people seem to lose all concept of time when waiting and think it's 10/15 minutes when in reality it's 2/3 minutes

Show quote history

Actually no, I think most people are perfectly well able to tell the difference between a reasonable queuing time and an unreasonable one. Why would I spend 30 minutes carefully filling a trolley only to abandon it because I don't want to wait 5 minutes at the tills?

The one and only time I've abandoned a trolley I'd been waiting an hour with no end in sight. If the store had told me on entering that I'd have to queue that long to pay I'd have walked away at that point.

Bignanny30 · 08/10/2023 21:18

Good on you 👍

CrashyTime · 08/10/2023 21:20

Why don`t more people just get their groceries delivered?

qwerty123454 · 08/10/2023 21:20

Pointless really because you're just punishing yourself

You obviously need the food and walking out won't change that

WellDuh · 08/10/2023 21:20

@Tanktanktank
I hate blooming store cards, I’ve whittled them down to just a few because I can’t stand the weight of my handbag on my poorly shoulders. Thus I only shop in a few particular shops now. My mums purse is as big as a paperback book, it’s insane.

I've put all my store cards onto my wallet in my phone! Always have my phone with me for paying anyway so I automatically have all my store cards on there too. So much easier!

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