quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
I'm more annoyed with the jack that had 15 items in the express 10 items or less lane the the store lets through while there's others in line

That's when I use my "teacher can be heard clearly in the last row" voice, to help them.

Loudly: "Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen."

The miscreant typically gets upset, the people in line behind him / her laugh, and when I receive "the look" I explain, very patiently, "If you run out of fingers before you run out of items, you're in the wrong check-out line."

Oh, at least yours speak English. All of the assholes who do it where I live pretend they can't read or speak English when I point it out to them. Then they pay with their freaking WIC coupons, then Food Stamps, then finally cash.

I've been taking a silent poll lately. How many times I can go through a drive through without actually saying a word to a live human being. After the machine, the money taker is busy taking other peoples orders, and then food hander outer just hands me a bag while chatting with others inside. Twice this week. Kinda like it!

Some clerks work all day and it makes their day go by faster talking and interacting with purchasers.
It is their workplace and most people like to interact in the workplace. I worked in grocery stores throughout my teens and there were many cashiers who could talk a blue streak and it would not slow down their hands. These new registers with their scanning devices are slower than the old cashiers I knew who had to ring up each item.

Was it at least in English?

All I want is a perfunctory greeting, my shit rung up and a thank-you, in a professional manner. If you must chit-chat, your hands had better be moving with my purchases from the counter/conveyor belt to the scanner to the bag at the same time. Grrrr.

The day after I replied to the post about people abusing the "10 or fewer items" express checkout lane ... you guessed it, I stopped by Publix to pick up a couple of things.

I had six items in my hand-held basket, walked up to the express lane, and the customer in front of me had a half-full shopping cart.

As he started to unload his cart onto the conveyor, I reached across, handed my basket to the cashier, and said "Please take this first. This customer has way more than ten items."

The cashier looked flustered, did not seem to know what to do, I pointed at the "10 or fewer" sign, and asked if she needed help from a manager.

She checked me out. The customer who I bypassed was not a happy camper. Not my problem. Deal with it, dude.

My favorite is the ones who ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?"
My response is "I made it too the check out lane didn't I?, And have stuff for you the ring up right?" They usually nod and I say "Here's your sign!"
Dale

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
My favorite is the ones who ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

I couldn't find the dihydrous oxide, so I substituted water for it. Gets 'em every time!

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
The day after I replied to the post about people abusing the "10 or fewer items" express checkout lane ... you guessed it, I stopped by Publix to pick up a couple of things.

I had six items in my hand-held basket, walked up to the express lane, and the customer in front of me had a half-full shopping cart.

As he started to unload his cart onto the conveyor, I reached across, handed my basket to the cashier, and said "Please take this first. This customer has way more than ten items."

The cashier looked flustered, did not seem to know what to do, I pointed at the "10 or fewer" sign, and asked if she needed help from a manager.

She checked me out. The customer who I bypassed was not a happy camper. Not my problem. Deal with it, dude.

Stolen. I'm doing this next time.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
The day after I replied to the post about people abusing the "10 or fewer items" express checkout lane ... you guessed it, I stopped by Publix to pick up a couple of things.

I had six items in my hand-held basket, walked up to the express lane, and the customer in front of me had a half-full shopping cart.

As he started to unload his cart onto the conveyor, I reached across, handed my basket to the cashier, and said "Please take this first. This customer has way more than ten items."

The cashier looked flustered, did not seem to know what to do, I pointed at the "10 or fewer" sign, and asked if she needed help from a manager.

She checked me out. The customer who I bypassed was not a happy camper. Not my problem. Deal with it, dude.

Stolen. I'm doing this next time.

If I were In Charge Of Things, the software would cause the registers in the express lanes to lock up after ten items. That would take the cashier off the hook, s/he could say, apologetically, "I'm so sorry. The register won't let me process more than ten items."

The way it is now, the cashiers are told not to get into a confrontation with the selfish, "me, me, me, it's all about me" customers who just do not give a flying fuck about anybody else as long as their self-centered needs are met.

Cashiers tell me that they are instructed by store managers not to say anything.

Store managers tell me that they get their marching orders from corporate.

Pass the buck. Was it President Truman who said "The buck stops here?"

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
My favorite is the ones who ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?"
My response is "I made it too the check out lane didn't I?, And have stuff for you the ring up right?" They usually nod and I say "Here's your sign!"
Dale

Hard to tell if you're serious or not, but that's a prick attitude if you are. They have to say that stupid shit.

It's a mind numbingly boring, soul crushing task.
Talking a lot helps pass the time.

I like it (not) when I buy just a few items and get a two-foot-long receipt filled with phone numbers or URLs to surveys I'll never take and coupons to shit I'll never buy or use.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:
It's a mind numbingly boring, soul crushing task.
Talking a lot helps pass the time.

I have no issue as long as it doesn't impede progress. Commenting on EVERY SINGLE ITEM is this guys thing, apparently.

His Andre the Giant coworker gets it, a hello and some quick chit-chat while ringing up, but not at the expense of getting the checkout line 1-5 people deep through.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I like it (not) when I buy just a few items and get a two-foot-long receipt filled with phone numbers or URLs to surveys I'll never take and coupons to shit I'll never buy or use.

Oh yeah, this place is one of those - the guy reads the coupons out to you as well.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:
He'll, I am just happy when I get help at a store who is polite and speaks properly and with manners...

Could be worse.

+1 on that. If all I can find to be annoyed about is someone being overly friendly, I consider my day as being good.

Our store (HyVee) seems to hire check out people with just the right balance of chattiness. Yesterday I brought the reusable bags Mrs Sigmund uses and jokingly asked for a discount. The teenage clerk zinged back "You're saving the world, one plastic bag at a time."

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Highway:

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
My favorite is the ones who ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?"
My response is "I made it too the check out lane didn't I?, And have stuff for you the ring up right?" They usually nod and I say "Here's your sign!"
Dale

Hard to tell if you're serious or not, but that's a prick attitude if you are. They have to say that stupid shit.

Agreed. Plus, I don't always find everything. Sometimes I have to give up and check out. Upon hearing this question, I can give an honest answer.

"Did you find everything you needed?"

"Nope. There was no heavy cream. Again. I swear heavy cream is like freaking gold in this town."

quote:

Originally posted by Badkarma 1:
My favorite is the ones who ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

Aldi's. Good prices on stuff, if they have it in stock. Many, many things, frequently the things that I go into the to get, are out of stock. Shelf tag is there, showing the price, but the shelf is empty.

Check-out clerk asks, as they have no doubt been told to ask by management, "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

I just calmly answer, "No." No further conversation about it unless the cashier asks.

If they do ask what I could not find and I tell them, the response is always "The warehouse did not send any." No further information is available. They refuse to give a phone number for the store, which would be useful to save time and gas with a phone call to ask if a product is in stock. The options are take the time to drive to the store, only to find that it is still out of stock, or forget about looking for it at Aldi and go someplace else.

"Aldi customer service" is an oxymoron. They have good prices when / if you can find what you're looking for.

I don't mind a little interaction with the clerks. It has to be a boring job without that, and it generally doesn't cost myself or the shoppers in line behind me any time.

I'll take a little interaction with the clerk rather than screwing around with the idiotic self checkout machines which sometimes can't even manage to get through a couple of items without needing assistance from staff.