WIBU To ask for a different lady to scan my shopping?

[goodoldsussexbythesea]

I do my big shop in Tesco once a week. I usually have around 100 items. I do scan as you shop and I seem to get picked a lot for a random basket check. Fine.
There's one lady who always seems to be working on the self-scan when I go in. She's an older lady and she is incredibly slow. It's so frustrating as I usually don't have a lot of time.
I don't just mean a little bit slow either. I mean about 10 seconds or so between scanning each item. With lots of sighing and breaks and stopping. I think last time she could see the frustration on my face because she said "it's stressful, isn't it?" and I'm like yes... because you are being so slow (didn't say this out loud). I almost asked if she'd like to give me the scanner and let me do it for her but I didn't want to be rude.
Last time, the scanner was telling her she needed to scan over 80 items so it took absolutely forever.
And she puts it all back into the bags wrong too.

So anyway, today I went to tesco, got selected for random bag check and saw this lady was on. My heart sank. I needed to rush home and put it all way and then go on the school run. I didn't need another 20 minutes adding on. She started making her way very slowly towards me and I said, in the politest voice I could muster "do you mind if your colleauge does it?" She looked really taken back so I said "it's just I'm in a bit of a rush, sorry" I tried to look as apologetic as I could but she looked really confused and a bit upset.

The colleague heard the conversation, came over and started scanning. I was out of there and in my care in under 5 minutes.

I feel so bad though. I don't like upsetting people and I keep thinking of her face. I just couldn't do it though, it's so bloody painful.

I don't want to be mean enough to say anything to her supervisor but I really don't think she should be on that section. She should be sitting down on one of the tills, where she's not on her feet and customers haven't chosen a quicker option.

WIBU?

I’ve not once said you haven’t had a tough life, that’s not even come in to it. I’ve also not judged your life, but there are other ways to shop as already explained upthread.

The woman is just doing her job, and for all you know she’s lived a life and a half just like you have and just wants to go to work and feel respected. You said in your OP that a time before this she could see you were getting impatient, next time you asked to be served by someone else saying you don’t have time for her. Of course that’s going to upset her.

YANBU I would have done the same. I have this argument with DH who insists on doing scan and shop and then gets wound up when the girl they have doing it take a ludicrous amount of time to do it and takes everything out and leaves it on the side. He has also left a trolley and is not a shoplifter.

Seriously, just go to the normal til while they are still there, the people on them are fast and its way quicker to pack your self at the end instead of having to repack what the check person has scattered around on the scan and shop. And any time you save by walking around the shop scanning and then having a smooth departure is less than whizzing round, chucking it all in the basket and then sorting it out yourself at a normal til, imo.

Yes they try to take the cost of the shopping at the time you check out so you need the full amount in your account the night before.

YANBU.

OP said she has to shop on a Thursday , and today is Wednesday so I guess that’s where the confusion is…

I don’t have the time - I find ways around my time. Everybody has stuff going on, everyone needs to go somewhere, sort something out, even the retail staff. The understanding needs to go both ways, not just for the customer. There is this attitude that the customer is king and the staff are just there to serve and it has to match everyone’s individual expectation.

I think you were fine to express it the way you did. You politely asked for someone faster because you know this worker to take lots of time, which you didn't have. You knew she couldn't offer you the service level you wanted, which as a paying customer, is fine to speak up diplomatically about.

Honestly if you’re frequently getting stopped for the check I’d just stop using the scan and go and do it as a normal shop, then you can choose which till to go to yourself.

Or, if you get paid on a Thursday then do an online shop to be delivered a Friday.

OK, I can see how you got there. Sorry. This week was a one off. My boss asked me to do a couple of extra hours at the pub I work in at weekends tomorrow (I take my daughter with me to this btw and she sits quietly in the staff room, it's a tiny family pub with a friendly and understanding owner), so as a return favour I asked him to pay me early so I could do the shopping today instead of tomorrow and this has totally thrown me and made me think today is Thursday when its Wednesday.

The rest of the time I work in a school and finish at 2pm, giving me the time between 2pm and 3:25 to rush around doing the shopping. This is the only time available to me.

This site is funny. Everyone needs to get of benefits and get a job.
I don't want to be served by the elderly or disabled they're to slow

Today is Wednesday , you said you have to shop Thursdays

I can't. The time isn't available to me on a Friday. My daughter's SEND school does half days on Fridays. I finish work at 12:30 and have to be home by 1pm for her transport dropping her off, then have to collect the other two by 3:25pm and she can't be in Supermarkets.

Yes, sorry, I explained it further up.

I think you need to delay your shopping by one day and do click and collect

She should be sitting down on one of the tills, where she's not on her feet and customers haven't chosen a quicker option
That's not really how they want it to work at tesco though, they don't just want a check out person, If you keep being picked up for scans it can be because you're adding and removing stuff often or if you don't really have a "normal" shop and it changes often.

Surely just check out at a till as a solution to this "problem".

You don’t need to be in a supermarket to have your shopping delivered on a Friday. You could have it delivered anytime once you are all home on Fridays.

She had to random check 80 items? What happened to 3 or 4?

Drives me nuts when I go to the normal supermarkets - I love the stuff flying at me in Aldi 🤦‍♀️😂

I think you were perfectly within your rights to ask - no one deserves to steal your time

You did the right thing, OP, and you've explained your situation very patiently to people here.

You were assertive without being rude. The slow checker should have the awareness that she's very slow -- clearly the other checker was as far as I can read into your posts.

It might be possible to train the slow checker for another role in the supermarket or establish a 15 items or fewer lane for her and another lane for the faster checker.

I can’t believe the replies suggesting you’re unreasonable.

you’re an excellent customer in the most competitive market in the world. They have identified that customers want speed and convenience and therefore offer scan and shop. There is no way they should have such a slow employee doing the spot check. She can be on the checkouts instead where people are happy to wait and she can scan at the rate customers can pack.

Can you get a credit card and use that to pay for the shopping?

Oh behave. She is being paid to be in a customer facing role. Huffing and puffing and dawdling is not acceptable and a younger person would probably get into trouble for doing it.

Tesco should not put her on this section, its not fair on her either. My local Asda had a partially deaf women on the pizza counter, everyone had to repeat their order several times and it took forever. I felt awful for thinking it but somebody was taking the piss!

You don’t have any time on a Friday to open the door to a pre arranged delivery…?

People are making suggestions to make this easier for you but you seem to keep making excuses of why you can’t do click and collect or have it delivered, or even just use a normal till!