To be baffled by buyers who won't pay till they have put ALL their shopping into bags at the supermarket checkout? When there's a queue waiting behind them?

[tigermoth]

I am always baffled when people with lots of shopping pack everything first and pay last at supermarket checkouts.

Why are some people totally oblivious to holding up the queue. Is it due to absent mindedness? selfishness? Or some logical reason?

It really slows things down for all those waiting behind them. AIBU to find it annoying?

That's interesting missdee. It seems to be the usual practice in my local supermarkets for cashiers to move on to the next customer once a previous customer has paid - they don't usually wait for every single bit of packing to be finished. They may wait a bit if the counter is very full, but not if there is space on the counter.

it was v v friowned upon. we were told to help with packing, or if they refused, then to wait.

Ahh - now i understand why my bill has lots of sub totals

I am a slow packer!

'It seems to be the usual practice in my local supermarkets for cashiers to move on to the next customer once a previous customer has paid - they don't usually wait for every single bit of packing to be finished. '

Lidl is the only place where I've heard of this being acceptable practice.

DH has worked tills for years, too, and most of the time, it's grounds for getting disciplined.

Because it's pretty rude to the customer who's a paying patron in the shop.

That's why a lot of larger supermarkets offer services like self-serve checkouts, cash only tills or express lanes for customers are in a rush.

Nowadays, there's competition for punters, too.

we used to have dedicated bag packers as well.

Always pack first and pay after.

I go slower if the cashier scans at 60 miles and hour, leaving you with a shopping equivalent of a car crash.

jenk - I never knew that about scan rates. That's stoopid, isn't it. We sgould all complain to customer servuces

Surely if they packed last then the next customer would have to wait anyway?

Sorry if this has been mentioned.

I do a combination of the two. Pack then pay even if I have not finished. I can't stand checkout people who scan stuff through really quickly!

Yes, I agree that IME in Lidl branches, the counter area for scanned items is very small so the cashier would need to wait till it was pretty clear before sending down another persons shopping.

I actually like it when cashiers scan stuff quickly - not in a rude or insensitive way, but in an efficient way.

Some customes will need more time spent on them, which is fair enough, but I am really pleased if a cashier is does my stuff quickly. I don't want to linger at the cash desk for a minute longer than necessary.

Yanbu - I have a very low fuse by the end of a shopping trip!

If it takes them a long time I will wait patiently, carefully NOT looking like I'm wishing they would hurry up. However in the meantime I have roughly estimated what mine will come to. Checked my wallet is handy and that I have enough cash, opened the bags I brought with me and am ready to start.
Its the one who seem completely surprised that they will need to pay that get to me a bit. The astonishment" "hmm money.. I expect I have some of that... now where would I keep it... maybe in here? no... maybe in there.. "

Since I mostly shop online I only get a small amount of stuff in the shop. The moment I can pay I do so and then anything of mine I push to the side quickly. I realise that's not practical for everyone.

When I say quickly I mean whizzing them through and piling all the things up. There's a happy medium I think, but then I am a fast packer. I even put my shopping on the belt in a certain order, for more efficient packing at the other end

Can I just add that if you are getting this wound up about supermarket queues you need to tell the shop or vote with your feet? A slow checkout is not the fault of the customer, they are entitled to take as long as they like. The supermarkets should have every till open, bag packers and loaders if you're waiting for so long that you get narky. If they don't then they're not using enough of their squillions of pounds of profit on keeping you happy.
Blame Tesco, not doddery old wans.

i am super packer,you find if you pay first the people behind will huff and puff anyway. they feel its their turn.
why do people with a cucumber q behind me with £200? that is truly a mystery.

A few months ago I was unloading my trolley in the supermarket to put it on the conveyor belt, and to my suprise the person behind me was unpacking their shopping on tothe conveyor belt at the same time. NOW thats annoying. Oh, and I was not very polite.

I try and be a considerate shopper, BUT I alwys finish my packing before I pay.
I would be really annoyed if somone elses shopping came firing down at me while i was stillpacking my own. I would complain if that happened.

I don't really mind if I see the next customer's shopping heading down the chute, as long as my stuff is separate. Perhaps I am just odd

I always pay once the shopping is all scanned, as waiting just slows it down if its a card transaction and I just want to get out of there.

I don't mind slow shoppers if its due to their age, abilities etc, but those who are totally oblivious/ignorant to a queue, especially if they continue a conversation with the checkout person or can't find their money (I always have mine ready) get me fidgiting and huffing and puffing (shopping with 2 under 4s isn't much fun and the checkout queue is the worst bit).

Oh, but what gets me more fuming is checkout people who chat and comment on every purchase and make assessments of your lifestyle annoy me much more. The one who opened DDs chocolate treat (the one for enduring the shopping trip) and fed it to her whilst there was a long queue forming was the most annoying lol! As a speedy shopper, I hated that.

Ah, this is why I love Waitrose. They won't start scanning your items until you've unloaded everything onto the conveyor belt, so you can always keep up with them as you pack. Then, as if by magic, you're ready to pay just as they're ready to take your money. So civilised.

They used to have chute dividers didnt they ?
Sou two fo you could pack at once

Oh, the people who look astonished when asked for the money are definitely the most irritating. As if it was a huge surprise that they have to PAY and this has never happened before!

I don't use the self service tills on principle, even if it means waiting longer. They just seem like an excuse to put people out of jobs, and why should I do the scanning myself as if I worked there, when I get no discount for it? I am basically saving the supermarket money by doing the work myself. ( I feel an AIBU thread coming on...)

I like to get everything packed before I pay but if the last few things have to be done afterwards, I will pay so that they can get on with the next customer's stuff. Agree that scanning at the speed of light so that you can't possible keep up and pack everything is annoying.

I also don't like the 'comments' on what you buy. I bought 5 books at Asda a few weeks ago and got asked if my telly had broken! Err, no... I just like reading! Maybe they make similar remarks to people buying haemorroid cream about how they must have been sitting around on their arse a lot lately...

I do this because i hate being rushed, i do not pack my shopping slowly, but it really bugs me if someone is breathing down my nexk, i also hate shoppers behind me standing very close impatiently when i am trying to put my pin in the machine, irritates the hell out of me.

YABU.

And god help any cashier who tries to whip my debit card out of the chip & pin machine for me the second it's approved