To be irritated by Asda card woman?

[ExitSandyman]

At our local Asda there is a woman who hangs around the cards - she’s ALWAYS there. She doesn’t seem to do much other than tidy up the shelves and bother customers. She wears a badge that’s says volunteer.

Anyway whenever you go down the cards aisle she will come over and ask if you need any help. No matter what your answer is, she will ask who you’re buying for and start pulling out cards that you might like.

I personally like to shop in peace. If I’m buying a card, I know the person I’m buying for and I know what kind of thing they’ll like.?having this woman pushing various cards into me is a distraction and an annoyance. Has anyone ever heard of these volunteers at Asda? Is it some kind of scheme? She’s been there well over a year. My heart sinks everytime I need a card and I see her stood there as she just won’t leave people alone.

and yeah I know people will say shop for cards elsewhere but I shouldn’t have to!

Exactly

The scheme is a great idea.

But there still needs to be some controls.

Rotating locations, assigned a "mentor" and partnered with another member of staff, positioned there at different times of the day...

Have some compassion and then view it as your good deed of the day.

User56785I'd rather go elsewhere for my cards if it made me uncomfortable to talk to the volunteer and live in a society where big corporations are implementing schemes like these.

Which is fine - but if the the shops implementing this see a fall in sales then the scheme will not be seen as 'successful'. Bluntly - if they are losing customers. This risks the continuation of the scheme itself - which is an awful and avoidable shame, and the worst outcome for everyone!

The solution is to place people in appropriate situations and implement proper monitoring/training so there is no awkwardness resulting in shoppers quietly going elsewhere.

From the flip side. My sister has severe learning difficulties and the mental age of a 4/5 year old. She works at an ikea where she checks that all the pencils and tape measures dotted about the shop are in order. She loves to chat to people and gets so much joy from someone spending 30 seconds just indulging her. She would be incredibly upset if someone ignored her, but we have taught her that she must leave people to it, if they say no thank you. However, she would still be upset about it.

just a perspective from those ‘Asda card women’ I would hate it if someone was online moaning about the ‘annoying ikea woman’ and calling her nuts. She literally just wants, and deserves to feel like a valued member of society

I'm very reserved and just like to get on with things myself and when they have helpers at the till, usually teenagers, offering to pack your shopping for a donation to their club etc, I always politely say no thank you and explain I'd rather pack myself but I will give you a donation, and I always do. They always seem happy with this. This lady sounds very enthusiastic and I wouldn't want to dampen her spirits, so I'd just say "thanks but I'd rather just look on my own today". She must have had some training and been told that not everyone will want help.

I know she’s being kind, but I totally get you. I have a similar response when I go into Pets@Home.

Every time you go to pay, perhaps with a skittish dog that’s just been to the vet up stairs, they insist upon asking for your loyalty card and pushing you to dig it out. If you say you don’t have one, they push you into signing up, if you do they expect you to fumble around with your phone and find it and/or check for vouchers (while the queue grows behind you). I just want to flipping pay for my bag of dog food and go. I pretty much have to say that now, and hate that it seems rude, but I have better things to do…

I hate self serve tills, but I’m may be coming round to them…

I voted YANBU purely because the ones in my local asda (not volunteers btw) seem to have an issue with shifting so you can actually see the fucking cards. Mind you that mentality applies to most of their staff. 😆

I feel for the volunteer here. Obviously not privy to her circumstances but I’d hope that volunteer positions would be enriching but it sounds more like she’s been shunted off to somewhere quiet out the way.

This is a good point which is often overlooked. I have ASD and this would be extremely stressful for me. I would end up going elsewhere, but that would be very irritating if I was in the OP's situation of being very busy and being able to get everything else I needed in that one store. I have to avoid shops that I know tend to have charity representatives or similar outside, even if it means going far out of my way.

I can see why that would be irritating tbh, if you’ve declined her help and she continues picking out cards. Perhaps you just need to be firmer next time?

I hate making small talk, I don’t want to be rude to people so I’ll smile and nod but I don’t really like chatting to strangers so if it was me I’m afraid I’d just be buying my cards elsewhere.

I think it’s great if Asda are helping people with work experience but if it’s for more than a few weeks then I hope they’re paying them and giving them more variety than just standing in one aisle where people don’t really ‘need’ assistance.

Which is fine - but if the the shops implementing this see a fall in sales then the scheme will not be seen as 'successful'. Bluntly - if they are losing customers. This risks the continuation of the scheme itself - which is an awful and avoidable shame, and the worst outcome for everyone!

But like when some people tried to get Tunnocks cancelled - other people bought more Tunnocks.

I'd go to Asda more to support the scheme and others would go less.

This. Maybe try a bit of kindness. Just say ' no thank you'

The OP has said she has already tried that.

I actually get the feeling that the issue comes down to lifestyle rather than intolerance. OP might be intoleranf of people with certain needs, or may just be so used to not interacting with the world and just having things done as quickly and easily as possible. This is the sad effect of tech and mainly smartphones tbh. They encourage us to see that life is better when you're not talking to anyone, just mindlessly scrolling/ ordering things with ease. It's all a bit Wall-E.

That would annoy me. Luckily I have tunnel vision so I’d just grab the card I needed and leave

1. Get headphones. They don't even have to be connected to anything, put the wire in your pocket and if people approach you tap the earphones, tell them you're listening to a lecture or on a phone call.
2. Buy cards somewhere else. ASDA can't be the only place to buy a card, Moonpig is great and you can personalise them for a bit of fun!
3. Be straight with her. Tell her thanks but no thanks. "Just browsing".

I'm not really "techy" but when I'm out shopping I don't like to be disturbed or talked to either. My idea of riveting conversation would be far removed from what the general public tend to strike up conversations about, always the same things in these kinds of settings. Politics, immigration, the weather..... the most boring of subjects, "small talk" for the sake of it, taxi drivers are the absolute worst of them IMO. When they start ranting about politics and immigrants, my first reaction, with no apology, is to ask them to turn some music on.

People like that I find are just not very bright.

I rarely get annoyed by things on here, but this gets my goat massively. This is highly likely to be a person with some kind of learning difficulties or mental health issues. Their life will be difficult in ways you cant possible imagine, and you are getting annoyed because she is in the card section? How often do you have to go in the card section anyway. Cant be more than a few times a year. And some of the comments 'she shouldn't have to go to another shop' for one. What are you suggesting, that we put 'these people' away somewhere so they don't mildly inconvenience our lives? I appreciate I am emotional about this having a brother who has a learning difficulty and works in a library. I have no doubt that he is slow at times etc, but he does his best and the work gives him huge amounts of confidence and purpose and means he is less likely to have mental health issues (Adults with learning difficulties are 60% more likely to suffer form mental health issues than those without learning difficulties). Adults with learning difficulties have just as much right to function in society as you do, and have less choice. You can go elsewhere, this person can not. You have come across as not a very nice person. I hope that if you do complain your complaint is treated with the contempt it deserves.

We all have shitty lives unfortunately but to spare 30 seconds of kindness?

You don’t have to chat all day, you just say ‘thanks for your help, I know what I need’ and choose a card.

You need to ask them to move. They have shelves to fill, they can’t keep shifting for every shopper that doesn’t know to how to use their words!

Their life will be difficult in ways you cant possible imagine, and you are getting annoyed because she is in the card section?

Not because she is there but because she doesn't give the OP the space she wants when she says "no thank you"

OP doesn't mind the woman there so much as they mind the harassing and bothering of customers who have asked to be left alone

So are you buying cards everyday? Can't you shop elsewhere? I didn't know asdahave this initiative

Agree with this. A lot of people don’t have capacity for small talk with strangers, they’ll have been doing it at work all day or are stressed out themselves. Ask if you can help but it needs to be left at that