Am I rude?

[air3296]

I had a slightly awkward experience at the supermarket today and would genuinely like to hear what people in the UK think.
It was around lunchtime on a Saturday, and the supermarket was really busy, with quite a long queue for the self-checkouts.
The person in front of me had a fairly large shop. As they scanned their items, they took their time packing everything into bags, repeatedly hesitating and changing their mind about which items should go where.
I didn’t really mind that, as everyone has their own pace.
However, after scanning all their items, they still didn’t pay. Instead, they continued taking their time rearranging everything in their bags, while occupying the checkout and holding up the queue.
At that point, I said: “Could you please pay first? We’re in a rush.”
I wasn’t asking them to stop packing altogether. I just thought they could pay first and then move aside to finish packing, so the next person could use the checkout.
Now I’m wondering whether what I said was considered rude or impolite by British standards.
What’s the general etiquette at self-checkouts in the UK, especially when the supermarket is really busy? Was I being unreasonable, or was my request perfectly fair?
I’d genuinely appreciate honest opinions, even if you think I was in the wrong.

I would also have been irritated by this but I would have kept it to myself.

Theres all sorts of reasons why she might have had to do this (probably budgetary). And you gained nothing by stressing her out further about it.

Yes

Yes you were rude.

They were slow which I’m sure was annoying but your rush isn’t their problem. If you had left it late or tried to pack too much into your day then that’s your fault not theirs

You have no idea if they are just a faffer or if they were feeling a bit unwell, they may have been having a hard day affecting their ability to process and move fast, may have had a physical disability, there are lots of reasons why a person may move and think slower than you would like.

Yes

Nah. I don’t for one second believe everyone was creating long individual queues behind individual self checkout machines. That’s just dumb.

I wouldn’t have said anything. You weren’t really rude though.

Yes I think it was a bit rude.
You were making your tight schedule somebody else’s problem.
They were faffing- so what? In the words of my daughter “it’s a free country”. My mother is 85 and is extremely slow. She can’t help it.
I get that it was very frustrating and you were not unreasonable to feel impatient, but you were unreasonable to interfere with the other person and try to tell them how and when to pay for their shopping.

Why would budgetary issues cause someone to fanny about after they've run everything through the scanner?

OP- I've said similar but it was an aldi or lidl. I smiled and pointed out the long, packing shelf behind them, which the big sign 'Packing area' and suggested they finish packing over there! Drives me nuts.

Same as people that wait till their shopping has gone through, before even thinking about how they are going to pay, where their loyalty card is or opening the app on their phone. Like its complete surprise that they need to pay.

Yes, really rude.

Yes you were rude you were in a rush so not the other customers problem. You could of picked on the wrong person & started aggressive behaviour at the checkout.

My guess is your very own family that witnessed this do think you were rude

Yes you were rude. If you don't have the patience for waiting in a busy supermarket you need to go in the evening or early morning.

Agreed

I’d just have moved to a different checkout.

I get disproportionately irritated by people whose need for things to be just so takes precedence over everything else.

But the only thing that matters to people like this is that things are done their way. They’re not going to respond well to a request to consider the people around them.

So you just need to find ways to get out from behind their intractable fussiness and move on with your life.

No. They were being assholes

Yes you were rude. It’s not their fault you were in a rush.

They were being a see you next Tues then.

You can't always bag things before you have paid for them as the till then glitches and says "please return the item to the bagging area" etc.

At my Sainsbury's we can only start packing once the payment has gone through otherwise the checkout glitches and you then have to wait for the one lone check out staff member to come over.

Yes! Those who spend ages faffing at the end with payment, grr!

The other thing I hate is the car park. So people drive into a car park, park up them immediately start standing around in the road, stopping people driving/parking or they don't look to see where they are going. I mean, they were literally just behind the wheel a moment ago and now they don't seem to think there are any other cars around!

No, it is more rude to go through a self check out and not pack as you go and be efficient. Self check out are designed exactly for efficiency. If they want to faff they can use a manned check out where someone is available to assist them.

I honestly think that people can use the self service checkouts at their own pace. It's not another customer's job to ensure that the queue is quick.

I hate supermarket shopping. That's why i do online shopping. Its cheaper as well as I only buy the things on my list.

Both of you were rude. The other customer for faffing around repacking when there was a queue. And you for telling her to hurry up. Although i think its strange there was only 1 self service checkout working in a supermarket though.

Of course you were rude.

You're not the supermarket pace setter, and as much as you may feel irritated by people you have no right to dictate how they pack or pay for their shopping.

And even if they paid first you wouldn't be able to use the checkout until they'd finished packing.

they gave you

"oh, so you think you're going to tailgate ME? watch what happens next"