General Chat

At the supermarket today we were going through the checkout, we aren’t as fast as we would like to be but the check out person was wizzing our stuff through and we couldn’t keep up, I asked her to slow down but she didn’t and as we ploughed on she was drumming her fingers which obviously didn’t help and she was kept waiting while we continued then she had to contend with some vouchers and looked skyward too.
Anyway rant over, thanks for reading this.

I had the same problem a few years back.
Asked them to slow down and was told they
have to get the goods through fast as they were
timed by management to get shoppers through
as fast as possible.

I told her as she was finished charging me she could help
me pack and get onto her next customer.
That didn't go down well by the look on her face.
I finished packing in my time.

Emma, that is what we did, not that we could go faster anyway, what happens if they are to slow and what do they get if they do as management expect?

We usually try and go to one of three older lady check out people when we go to our Tesco. They are all very helpful and go at our pace, which is steady but not over fast. We were earlier today and the one we had did go a bit more quickly than is comfortable and also kept taking things out of order but the store was not busy at that time so we didn't feel bad at keeping the people behind waiting. I always separate things on the conveyor belt so that they come down in the order they are packed in certain bags. It speeds up the process. But if the girl/or lad decides to take something out of order, it slows ir down as we have to find the correct bag.

Some supermarkets have a required scanning speed which on occasion meant they literally threw my items towards the packing area. Asda in Llanelli was one. When she had finished lobbing delicate items and bashing the cartons I told her she could put it all back on the shelves as I wasn’t prepared to pay good money for items she had damaged. Gave me a great deal of satisfaction to walk away tell customer services what I had done and why.

One supermarket whistle blower suggested that "Till workers who consistently miss the target - equivalent to one item every 3.5 seconds - face performance reviews that could end in their dismissal, according to a former store worker."

Umm, so it is all about money then as if I didn’t know, whatever happened to the customer is always right and should be helped not shoved.

We get fed up with the usual 'what are you doing this weekend' Hubby always replies with ' having erotic sex & then going clubbing' We are both in our seventies LOL

Supermarkets would probably argue that the speed is to make sure no one has to queue for long? The Co op's good, they wait, but most of the shopping I do online anyway.

I must have been lucky when I shop because when I have apologised for being a bit slow, I have always been told not to worry and to take my time.

In Morrisons, where I sometimes shop, they now have a divider on the check out, so that if I am not finished they flip the divider thing and next customers goods go to the other side :-) (Bet I haven't explained that very well :-D :-D )

If it is really busy I sometimes just put all my stuff back in the trolley and fine a quiet corner to pack my bags.

I also shop at the Co-op and they are very good.

Also, like Lindi, I always put the stuff straight into the trolley (it's much quicker) and then pack it into bags straight into the car boot.

The cashier packs as she scans items at the stores we go to here in Canada.

it's only at the self scan machines or in the cheap "no frills" stores that you have to pack your own.

It's very simply organised at the stores we usually use .............. put things in order on the conveyor, she scans it over the machine and puts it right into your bag which she has placed on a lower shelf to the left of the scanner. When it is full, she lifts it and puts it where we can put the bag into our trolley.

The problem we have is that many of them have been trained not to voer-fill bags, so they only fill it half-way. OH now does the shopping, and he is always asking them to "put more in the bag, please".

Same method is used at the very large drug store, which sells everything including groceries and electrical appliances.

I go to America every other year to stay with my friend and whatever type of shop we go into our bags are packed for us even if it is our own bags, over here UK that doesn’t happen all the time.

Sorry didn't reply had visitors :-)

I personaly would make a compliant, supermarkers are big on customer service and the person on this check out needs to retake this course.

As Sylvia said we have stores that pack and a few that don't even Walmart pack!. Likewise some of the ones that don't have the divider so to some degree you can take your time packing. I refuse to self-scan the items if they don't reduce the price all you're doing is increasing their profit :-) I like having a little chat with my regular ladies at the store, they can all scan and talk no problem.

We are asked if we need help with packing. Quite honestly as we are able, we prefer to pack our own. That way we know where things are to unpack at home. Ours too are able to chat and scan with no problem. We usually have a laugh with them.

When our relative moved to the US, initially she tried to refuse a packers help. He explained to her that he was employed to do so - if too many customers refused, he’d be out of a job.
Being the culture it is, part of his pay was made up by tips.

I haven't seen a packer in the stores we use for many years ............. but we did have them.

Most of them were high school students working to earn money, or special needs people who again were earning money. They never expected tips, although some/?many people gave a tip if they happened to also take the cart out to your car and load the car for you.

That might be the difference between here and below the line ........ I seem to remember that the packers expected to take the bags out to the car, it was part of their jo that they were paid to do.

Oooo-err - I like to put the stuff on the belt myself - even the 'driver' is forbidden to do this - then pack it myself.
I put it on the belt in a particular order - to make packing easier.
first is cat food (very heavy), then detergents etc (could go in with cat food), then tins (likewise with detergents), next, vegetables, in order of crushability (ie spuds first), then chilled/frozen, for 'special' bag.
This means, when I get home, chilled/frozen has to be put away.
The rest waits until I can be bothered! :-D