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Whether you buy 5 or 100 items, how does it make a difference? It's not like you don't know what you expect to pay. Aren't you the one filling up your cart (or writing your shopping list)? Even if there are multiple people filling up your cart, you just add the two numbers.
It does matter. You don't need to go to the courtesy counter unless you made the mistake of paying when you noticed a discrepancy. A refund is only available AFTER you've made payment.
I don't bring a calculator to the store with me and add up every item as it goes in the basket.
I also admit that I am not so brilliant as to have a brain that can perform as an 'in-house' calculator for a shopping basket full of items.
Congratulations to you if you can keep a running total of 30 or 50 numbers and also interrupt the calculations to read labels, compare prices, check on salt content, etc.
Or no matter what, they are required to ring EACH piece of something.... I ran into this a Christmas at the Dollar Store. People were buying gift bags by the boat load. And the cashier was NOT PERMITTED to count the bags and enter into the register 35 x1.00, which wold have saved loads of time.... no -- they had to run each and every bag over the scanner and wait for the chime, so we were all held hostage by the slide *boop*, pick up, slide *boop* 35 times. Over and over and over.....with multitudes of people.
That's when I discovered that people have been trained out of annoyance of inefficient staffing, and ridiculous policies -- because almost every single person had their phones out and were texting and reading or sharing videos....or whatever one does with a smart phone.
I don't have a smart phone, so I got to be one of the annoyed. And I made a promise that I would never ever do this again.
It's rather the chicken/egg thing -- is the service bad at places because they know we are enamored of our technology and now they can get away with it because won't complain, or have we become enamored of our tech, because it's the only way we have to cope without going postal?
It isn't inefficient staffing. Each bag has its own inventory code and technology has made it possible to track how many of each bag has been sold to facilitate re-ordering of that particular bag. Unless the 35 bags were identical, the cashier must scan each one separately. Think back to the days when the cashier would have had to manually enter the price and be grateful that it only takes a scan nowadays.
Whether you buy 5 or 100 items, how does it make a difference? It's not like you don't know what you expect to pay. Aren't you the one filling up your cart (or writing your shopping list)? Even if there are multiple people filling up your cart, you just add the two numbers.
It does matter. You don't need to go to the courtesy counter unless you made the mistake of paying when you noticed a discrepancy. A refund is only available AFTER you've made payment.
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Originally Posted by NJBest
How so? It's simple math.
Sorry, no, I do not keep a running total of the cost of items in my cart.
As someone else said, between reading labels, searching for the coupons (is it in the flyer or in the book?), coming up with ideas of what to make based on what's in the flyer....no.
I don't bring a calculator to the store with me and add up every item as it goes in the basket.
I also admit that I am not so brilliant as to have a brain that can perform as an 'in-house' calculator for a shopping basket full of items.
Congratulations to you if you can keep a running total of 30 or 50 numbers and also interrupt the calculations to read labels, compare prices, check on salt content, etc.
You forgot loose veggies - items sold by weight! Who knows to the gram how much those things weigh. Sure they have those hanging scales in the produce area, but that isn't what they use in the checkout.
I can see if you are on a super tight down to the penny budget that you would need to do this, but personally grocery shopping wears me down. I am ready to throw in the towel by the time I get to the checkout lane. LOL - Just take my whole wallet and sack my groceries - please!
I agree with the OP as far as customers having no respect for those waiting in line. Such as:
1) Not starting to write out a check until the transaction has been completed. Then not having anything written in advance on the check (date, paid to). And then making others wait while he/she fills out the check register (jeesh, why not get out of line and fill out the register later?).
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It isn't inefficient staffing. Each bag has its own inventory code and technology has made it possible to track how many of each bag has been sold to facilitate re-ordering of that particular bag. Unless the 35 bags were identical, the cashier must scan each one separately. Think back to the days when the cashier would have had to manually enter the price and be grateful that it only takes a scan nowadays.
It is inefficient staffing when you have 8 registers, and only three are open, one of which is run by the floor runner and she's off and on the register answering other questions and there are at least 65 people in line. I counted.
I worked as a cashier and we had to enter departments, skus and prices... and it didn't take that long. BUT -- our skus were 6 numbers.
And on December 24, yes -- I was out December 24 -- Christmas bags are not going to be reordered and should be ring up using common sense. I knew I was going to wait, and I was prepared to wait, but I thought this was just way over the top wrong.
We've also bought pet food at a place where they had to ring up each can. In sealed flats. Which we buy so I don't have cans rolling around loose. So they opened all the flats. I buy 5-6 flats at a time. I told them right there that was STUPID. And we never went back. And lo and behold a year later, they closed. My thinking is that one inefficient policy led to another and to another and people voted with the dollars.
Let me say if you are complaining that you don't have a calculator, it's called your cell phone. Feature phones have them.
Anyway for my gripe, it is those that don't think to ask if they can let you go ahead if you have two items (and there isn't self-checkout for an option) and they have a whole cart and a half full.
Those that do not have the money and the card to pay for the items and have to have the cashier call for help or call the credit lender at the register.
The only one I am guilty of is the card needing to be swiped twice if there is a jar during my first swipe. Nine times out of ten I try to have things ready to go whether is security scans, checking out or making an order for fast food.
Yes, and when it's worn out, replace it and stop griping that somehow the store is at fault.
This sounds racist, IT'S NOT, but the ones using the food-stamp cards are the worst. They don't tell the cashier that it's a food stamp card and the cashier will press the button for it being a bank-card, not knowing, and when they do now know and tell the person that they need to swipe again, you can hear the customer sighing from 80 miles away or, as they're leaving, talking to themselves "stupid azz can't even process a card." Even worse, when for some reason the card reader has problems processing the card, they starting acting "all ghetto" in no time flat. Their card will have more scratches on it than a 5-year old smartphone that never had a protective case on it, and yet somehow it's the fault of the cashier that it can't be read.
The ones using their bank cards, most of them don't get so bent out of shape when something is amiss. They simply go, as casual as can be, "I guess I need to order a new one" like it's not a big deal, because in fact it isn't.
I got to asking around, and found out that replacing a food-stamp card is very easy and typically it's replaced within the same day. I'm thinking "replace the card already and zip your lip." I will admit I also am thinking, although it's not always the case, "you don't even work and you've got the nerve to come in here yelling at someone who actually IS working, with all the free time you have eating off of other people's hard work don't expect any sympathy about your card having problems when you've got all the time in the world to have it replaced."
We've also bought pet food at a place where they had to ring up each can. In sealed flats. Which we buy so I don't have cans rolling around loose. So they opened all the flats. I buy 5-6 flats at a time. I told them right there that was STUPID. And we never went back. And lo and behold a year later, they closed. My thinking is that one inefficient policy led to another and to another and people voted with the dollars.
I would have started fussing when they STARTED to open the first flat. We would have seen the manager and completed the sale without opening them or parted company with no sale.
And on December 24, yes -- I was out December 24 -- Christmas bags are not going to be reordered and should be ring up using common sense. I knew I was going to wait, and I was prepared to wait, but I thought this was just way over the top wrong.
Err yes those bags do get reordered, the estimates for next years order is based on what's sold this year, so accurate accounting for inventory by SKU is usually heavily stressed, at least they are at every store I've worked.
Some of the replies here are hilarious
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The cashier then proceeds to stare at your receipt, circle how much money you "saved", circle the 1-800 number to some survey I have no interest in taking, etc. Good grief. Just give me my receipt so I can get the hellith outta here!!!
Store policies, trust me, the cashier hates having to do it (all day long, over and over and over) more than you hate having it done. Call the 800 number and complain about the policy.
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A lot of line hold ups are the store's fault. Cashiers who can't or won't ring in certain products. Stuff that scans in at the wrong price, but the cashier can't or won't take the customer's word for it. Bad swipe machines. Stupid loyalty programs that have people digging for their cards to get the advertised sales. Not enough cash registers open.
I'll give you the short staffing, but the rest, seriously?
Cashiers who can't/ won't scan- usually state laws.
Take the customers word on a price? LOL, customers switch tags, switch packaging, pick up the wrong size or brand, misread the ad tags, etc ALL the time.
Bad swipe machines sometimes- more often bad cards or twits who can't figure out how to use the machine and have to make a half dozen tries to figure it out.
Digging for loyalty cards? Well dang me but that's on the customer if they know they have a card but manage to get to the point of paying and don't have the card ready, s'pose it's the stores fault customers don't have their debit cards in hand either?
Sorry, I agree with the OP. Yeah, yeah first world problems and all that but most of the things complained about could be avoided if people simply paid attention to what they were doing.
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