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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think it is rude to start putting stuff on the conveyor belt......

229 replies

JobStresserxo · 02/11/2023 14:40

at the supermarket before the customer in front has finished loading their shopping?
Happened several times to me just recently. This morning, I had to ask the customer behind me to allow me more room on the conveyor belt as she hadn't left enough space for me to get my shopping on.

OP posts:
myopinionmatters · 02/11/2023 15:44

Yes it is rude and it has also happend to me several times

tootyflooty · 02/11/2023 15:45

I work in Waitrose and I've asked people to back off before, (politley of course), as I can see they are making the customer I'm serving uncomfortable, some people have no concept of personal space!!

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:45

Teachingteacher · 02/11/2023 14:57

I almost always shop at Aldi and I hate this!

Im not sure if they do this in the UK, but a common thing here is for people to leave their trolley/basket in the queue just before the conveyor belt, and then wander around the store collecting the final items. Then, a line builds up behind them and no one is brave enough to push in front of their un-manned trolley/basket.

There was a standoff between two women at Aldi last week, because a woman left her basket on the ground and was gone for at least 3-4 minutes. The next lady assumed she wasn’t coming back, stepped over the basket and started loading her groceries onto the conveyor belt. When the basket lady returned, she screamed at the women that she was ‘next in line, and had left my basket there to mind my spot’ but the other lady wasn’t having it. I paid and started walking out and they were still going at it…

I’m on next lady’s side. you snooze you lose. No placeholders.

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:46

IslandsInTheSunshine · 02/11/2023 15:43

Doesn't your supermarket have those plastic 'bar dividers' that you put on the conveyor belt? They separate out the shopping of the person in front and your shopping. The bar moves with the conveyor belt.

I always scan and pack my own shopping with a handset, but if I can't, use a 'divider ' on the belt.

That’s not enough as the belt keeps moving, so the person behind putting their stuff on it prevents you from moving the divider to add more stuff.

LadyFlumpalot · 02/11/2023 15:46

Yup, pet peeve. I find the thing to do is load from the front of the trolley to the end of your stuff and keep the trolley behind me, which creates a trolley length of space on the conveyor... unless you get a really rude person who stretches to put their stuff up against yours.

IslandsInTheSunshine · 02/11/2023 15:47

What is even worse is when someone 'suddenly' remembers they need their purse/ wallet/ cards and starts ferreting in their bag after packing all their shopping.

Find your blinkin' purse/card before you start unpacking/packing and put it somewhere handy so you don't hold the queue up trying to find it.

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:47

HappySonHappyMum · 02/11/2023 15:42

I just guesstimate how much space I'm going to need and put the divider in the right place before I start unloading - works every time!

Not easy when you have a full trolley as the person in front may be using half the belt as well.

DeanElderberry · 02/11/2023 15:47

It does make me cross, and I will push their stuff back rather forcefully if needed. I usually manage to deploy the trolley as a blocker.

otoh, I am always ready to offer a person with only one or two items the space ahead of me, so not universally horrible.

Ittastesvile · 02/11/2023 15:47

I've never seen this happen! Everyone I've met starts loading once person in front puts down the divider thing. I never shop in Aldi or Lidl though and thought everyone loaded from the back. Why wouldn't you?! Even if you load from the middle, the aisles aren't that wide, my trolley would block anyone from easily loading behind me.

Nonplusultra · 02/11/2023 15:48

I think most people are on semi automatic pilot at the checkouts and are just not thinking. I stand in front of my trolley to unload my shopping and keep the trolley level with the end of the conveyor so that the person behind can’t get started until I have moved out of their way.

And if I have a smaller amount, I just make sure to stay at the back of the conveyor belt until I’ve unloaded, and if necessary push it forward to close any gap.

I don’t think most people do it to be rude - they’re just absent minded. If you or your trolley is in the way, they can’t do it.

IslandsInTheSunshine · 02/11/2023 15:49

That’s not enough as the belt keeps moving, so the person behind putting their stuff on it prevents you from moving the divider to add more stuff.

Not really. Because the end of the belt closest to the till is being emptied, so all you have to do is move your stuff along and more space appears by the divider.

Cas112 · 02/11/2023 15:49

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 02/11/2023 14:42

Just leave the stuff you can’t fit on in the trolley and let the checkout staff use the stretchy bleepy thing.

If they ask explain that you couldn’t fit your stuff on.

Why should OP have to do that when people can't literally just be a bit more patient 😂

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:50

Mochudubh · 02/11/2023 15:28

I think the opposite also applies when you're in the queue behind someone with a loaf of bread and a spatula, who doesn't put it on the belt until the shopper in front has paid and the entire belt is clear. I'm standing behind them eyes boring into the back of their head willing them to "Puuuuuuuuut, the shopping on the beeeeeeeeelt".

Does anyone else passive-aggressively place the divider rather firmly down if the person in front of you doesn't do it when they've finished loading the belt?

Yes, I have done the pass agg divider placement! Where I draw the line is when the third in the line to the till expects me to put a divider down for them too.

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:51

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 02/11/2023 14:42

Just leave the stuff you can’t fit on in the trolley and let the checkout staff use the stretchy bleepy thing.

If they ask explain that you couldn’t fit your stuff on.

Why should the staff do their back in stretching and bending awkwardly when you can just be assertive and tell the person behind to wait?

sollenwir · 02/11/2023 15:52

I sometimes put the divider down a bit along, leaving myself some space, and say to the person behind that they can start loading. If I happen to have a heavy basket then I sometimes start putting stuff on but way back, and always leave space for the person in front to put the rest of their stuff on.

MooFroo · 02/11/2023 15:52

GirrlCrush · 02/11/2023 14:44

Not rude if they can see the items you have left to load and can gauge how much space they will need

This 👍🏽

i do this as some people are just soooo slow and take ages to pack so anything that can speed up the process a bit is great :)

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:53

Slitheringheights · 02/11/2023 15:20

I know it’s not the same, but in Lidl this morning. I walked up to the tills with a box of Rice Krispies. A women with a whole trolley saw me walking up to the till but bet me to it. Now how hard was it for her to let me go in front for just one item? I know I’m crabit just now but dear god, how rude!! She wasn’t In a hurry as she was talking to another mum when she left. Rude rude rude

Why didn’t you just go to the self-checkouts? That’s what they’re for.

For all she knew your partner could have been following behind you with a trolley.

YellowChrysnthemum · 02/11/2023 15:54

I absolutely hate it. I now deliberately leave my trolley at the end of the belt furthest from the cashier so that I can load before someone starts deciding how much space I'm allowed. I put my stuff on the belt in the order of which bags it will go into, which is based on the order in which it needs to be put away at home. I don't want stuff misplaced or squashed just cos some fucker can't wait a moment. It's not like it actually saves them any time.

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 02/11/2023 15:55

I had this the other day at a Tesco self service checkout. I hadn’t even finished scanning my last item when a woman with a baby in a buggy behind me started to load her items from her basket onto the area where you put items ready to scan. I actually asked her what she thought she was doing (as I had 2 items left to scan and 1 was still in the loading area, and I hadn’t paid yet, and told her she was rude. Her excuse “I’ve got a baby with me”. And?!

This never usually happens there but it’s not my usual Tescos (SIL’s area where she lives where I’ve been visiting and helping out).

jupitermonket · 02/11/2023 15:57

@Slitheringheights Sorry, but disagree. First come first served, no matter how many items. Otherwise how would anyone with a full trolley ever get through?!

I probably would have let you in first before me, as it happens, but it certainly isn’t RUDE of someone not to, if they are legitimately there before you in the queue.

entitled entitled entitled!

DeanElderberry · 02/11/2023 15:58

One of the reasons I like shopping in Lidl and Aldi (apart from good quality produce, honesty with suppliers, very good treatment of staff, and great prices) is the fact that the checkout process is quick and the queues are short (and there is no self-checkout).

Messers are rare, and a hard stare usually sorts them out - it not, hurling their stuff back at them will do the trick.

ICanSeeMyHouseFromHere · 02/11/2023 15:59

^Always happens at Lidl for me, our Aldi has self-scan for trolleys so I can avoid it.
Mind Aldi drives me mad with the trolley positioning, it's the only supermarket I have ever been to where your trolley HAS to be at the end of the check-out, it HAS to be in a certain position and it HAS to be pointing the right way.^

ARGH yes - they move my trolly round - but I'm short, I can't reach properly if it's where they put it, so I always move it back...

sollenwir · 02/11/2023 16:00

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:53

Why didn’t you just go to the self-checkouts? That’s what they’re for.

For all she knew your partner could have been following behind you with a trolley.

Edited
Show quote history

We don't have self check outs in our Lidl. I do let often people with a small amount go in front, and ended up letting 2 folk in front of me this week as I had a fair amount. I drew the line at 2 though, as I am not just there for the fun of it!

In another shop (Tesco) an older gentleman came up an asked us to go in front, but there was 4 of us waiting, all with trolleys-full, and he only asked the last two of us, so it was a bit pointless really. We suggested he went to the self service and asked the lady to help him, as they are happy to do that at our Tesco, and he gave us a thumbs up as he was leaving while we were still waiting in the queue!

sollenwir · 02/11/2023 16:01

wesurecouldstandgladioli · 02/11/2023 15:51

Why should the staff do their back in stretching and bending awkwardly when you can just be assertive and tell the person behind to wait?

Show quote history

The staff at many shops actually tell you to leave the heavier stuff/multiples of the same thing in the trolley.

Turmerictolly · 02/11/2023 16:02

This really irritates me far more than it should. They can see I've got a full trolley! I do say I haven't finished loading g yet but often get a sarky retort.

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