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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect to NOT have my shopping thrown at me?

51 replies

oneyummymummy · 30/01/2009 17:13

I just can't stand it when I go food shopping and am nice and polite to the girl/guy on the checkout only to be ignored and then to have my food virtually thrown at me!

I can understand that they have a job to do, so cannot always chat, so I try anyway and get the vibe for if they are in a rush etc.. but then to have my food shopping thrown down the checkout at me is just plain RUDE!

So AIBU to expect the checkout person to just 'place' my things the other side of the checkout for me to bag?

OP posts:
Heated · 30/01/2009 20:52

A bit of an embarrassed confession but on holiday I got narked with a cashier doing exactly what oneyummymummy describes, chucking food down the till at speed whilst juggling baby dd who was upset. Normally I find that if you ask them to go slower they do, which is what I did. But it made no appreciable difference at all. So when the watermelon got bumped at the end of the till, I insisted on a replacement. Tannoy for replacement. Then the squashed bread. Tannoy for replacement. Then the choc muffins... you get the picture By the end of the shop I had the customer services woman packing my shopping and the manager standing over the till operator

VinegarTits · 30/01/2009 20:54

I am shite at packing [slow] so when they ask me 'do you need any help with your packing' i always say yes, that way they cant just lob my shopping down the till, they have to help me pack, even if they are huffy about it

Original poster
oneyummymummy · 30/01/2009 21:07

heated I did feel like doing that but nothing was significantly 'damaged', just really unhelpful and inconsideratly tossed to one side. I did however slow down on purpose so then it all started backing up , but I found myself packing so quickly I was actually panicing, so I felt then need to slow down anyway. I wouldn't normally do that however it just really got to me, and especially when she started to PUSH the shopping, squashing it all up, as there was no more room for her

I don't hink its embarrassing what you done, they shouldn't do it. I pack at quite a good speed and normally don't have any back-log of food to pack, but if someone is being rude and inconsiderate then I too am going to be too. I am sure you wouldn't have kicked up a fuss unless you felt that this person was being inconsiderate to you.

OP posts:
TheYearOfTheCat · 30/01/2009 22:10

Actually, I agree about yoofs (not so much for yoofesses) - they are always quite up for a bit of a chat.

But yes, I hate not having any interaction with the checkout operator.

At our local Tesco I always end up with the same judgemental woman who doesn't gamble for 'religious reasons'. So she makes you feel like a satanist for asking for a lottery ticket.

at the trolley pushing old lady!

queenceleste · 30/01/2009 22:21

LOL TheInnocentBystander!

It's true, the more you pay the less they throw the commestibles at your head!

TheYearOfTheCat · 30/01/2009 22:42

They may throw less food at you in Waitrose, but I actually started heaving the other day in Waitrose when the guy on the customer service desk started waving a 10cm long tapeworm (which I had just discovered in my fish) under my nose, Staff were holding opened carrier bags in front of me for me to be sick into.

[bleurgh]

Ivykaty44 · 30/01/2009 22:45

Try engaging in conversation with them, say hello, how you then and what are you yup to this weekend - pick a boy till as they cant multi task. So when you chat to them they have to work slower

It has taken me three and a half years to work this out

Ivykaty44 · 30/01/2009 22:48

Oh and as for old ladies ramming the trolley into you to get a move on - as they are level with the chip and pin I just smile sweetly and ask are you paying this week?

Then shooee them away muttering you cant see my pin id thief...

MadamDeathstare · 31/01/2009 04:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 31/01/2009 05:53

I'm up for a rant, given it's stupid o clock AM and I've been roused from my chamber by a vomitingchild.

Our local M%S Food. It's not even proper checkouts, just a little shelf next to each till which fits the basket on and a little shelf next to it. If I forget to take bags I get sighed at and even more so if I ask for one of the 10p reusable ones.

When I do take my big shopping bag and put it up on the counter they scan it and put it back in the basket of shopping rather than just hand it to me or chuck it into my bag (I wouldn't mind) This also means I have to keep an eye out to make sure they don't scan something twice or not scan something.

It's a petty grievance i know.

Wallace · 31/01/2009 06:21

YearoftheCat -

twentypence · 31/01/2009 06:52

Yearofthecat - that's horrible. I hope you got lots and lots and lots of vouchers.

MrsSeanBean · 31/01/2009 08:36

Maybe we should all defect to Somerfield - given the TV ads they scan very slowly. And take time to ask about your lovely dress and your dinner arrangements.

LostVagueness · 31/01/2009 13:10

Tell them to slow down. Not exactly rocket science is it?

You will find that if you make a joke of it they will slow down and help you.

If they don't all you need to do is make sure something breaks. pref eggs or milk or something sticky like jam. Somehow it'll break all over the counter and cause a horrible mess.

Not the most mature thing to do but fun!

Boco · 31/01/2009 13:15

I threw some tongue at a customer once, when i worked on a deli counter. She was SO rude, - I didnt' actually mean to throw it, but in my anger I let go too soon, and with too much force. She made a complaint about me to the manager and he said that it's not possible to accidentally throw something at someone and I was told off.

SoupDragon · 31/01/2009 13:29

I always have my shopping delivered or use Waitrose's self-scan but when I do venture into Tescos, I pick a checkout with at least one person in front of me which enables me to unload my trolley in the order I want to pack it at the other end. This makes packing much quicker as all the heavy stuff ends up at the bottom once packed.

MrsSeanBean · 31/01/2009 13:33

but in my anger I let go too soon, and with too much force<

ROFL

Original poster
oneyummymummy · 31/01/2009 13:48

boco

soup Yes I unpack all my shooping in order so that the heavy/large things are first on/first off, then all my frozen together, fruit and veg together and chemicals and such togeher....hense why usually I can pack very quicky and efficiently (sp?) Even this was not enough for this lady, she seemed to just scan-throw scan-throw EVERYTHING and very quickly. So no amount of organisation would have stopped this, she was in a mood I think. Maybe due her break, but still this does not excuse her manners!

Next time I will ask them to slow down, and looking back I can see that this was probably the best thing to do, but at the time I just thought it was bloody obvious to anyone that she was a.going to fast and b.throwing my shopping around. It doesn't take a genius to work out that she should have slowed down a little aand stopped being so heavy handed with my food.

OP posts:
MadamDeathstare · 31/01/2009 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fizzpops · 31/01/2009 16:13

I had the opposite problem today when the checkout guy handed me every single item without putting it down at all! It made me rush to take them from him so I wouldn't keep him waiting which made him speed up in turn... would rather have a sulky teenager in some ways

Original poster
oneyummymummy · 31/01/2009 16:17

madam yes Walmart ones are very good. Doesn't matter how miserable the checkout girl/guy is, because they HAVE to pack the bags, theres no room for anyone else to! Although I think I might get a little upset at their packing skills , Im a bit anal about that! But I like the turntable idea, we should have it over here too, but with a little area so that they can put the items down and I can pack the bags myself!

OP posts:
QOD · 31/01/2009 16:20

i have noticed recently in Tesco that they don't push the food down anymore!
It's scanned and kind of nudged ... and I have to keep reaching for everything. I really notice it as I am so short and paranoid about my handbag which I have put down on the end of the till.
I wonder if they are told to do it to reduce strain on themselves - RSI that sort of thing!

tigermoth · 31/01/2009 16:31

Haha - reminds me of a thread I started a few months ago, on what happens if the cashier starts serving another customer once you have paid for your shopping, thereby opening up the possiblity of someone elses shopping coming down the shute while you are still packing your shopping away.

I don't mind this actually as I like to be quick and get away from the cash desk asap. Lots of people disagreed with me though

oneyummymummy, I don't know if I have ever had things damaged by a cashier and would complain if so. If that is what happens to you then YANBU.

I suspect that you and I approach the checkout with a different mindset. It matters to you, I think, if the cashier is nice and polite (as you are) while to me, it matters more that they are quick and efficient, so if the odd thing gets hurled(a bit) down the shute, I don't see it as the cashier being rude, I see it as the cashier being extra efficient.

12StoneNeedsToBe10 · 03/02/2009 16:51

Slight hijack - I shop at Morrisons and they are nearly always really polite and don't go too fast. But my experience was with the person behind me in the queue. I had done a week's shop and she only had a basket full and her DD holding a few other bits.

Any way, trolley still half-full, she reaches over for the "next customer" separating thingy and starts emptying her basket. I just looked at her... I've not finished yet do you mind? She carried on regardless. So my shopping's moving down towards the cashier, and her shopping's coming up behind it - where do I put the rest of my shopping? I'm not exactly a fan of shopping at the best of times, so I was starting to get a little annoyed. Voice louder - do you mind, I haven't finished yet, where do you propose I put the rest of my shopping?? She just looked at her DD and grinned. Well - obviously that went down like a lead balloon, so I pushed all her shopping back towards her and shouted said forceully, again, do you mind, I haven't finished yet wait your fucking turn.

She was genuinely shocked and walked away in horror.

ruddynorah · 03/02/2009 16:57

do your big shop online.

for little shops tell them you want help with your packing if you can't cope.

if you're in lidl you don't pack at the till, you push things into your trolley and pack at the back where the big shelf/window sill is.

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