Please tell me I am not the only person annoyed by this (stores, European)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I get annoyed sometimes with the way supermarket baggers bag my groceries. Four bags of potato chips in a single little plastic bag? When I saw that happening I calmly asked the bagger to please put only 2 bags to a sack because he was crushing my chips. He ignored me, so I said more forcefully "Please stop doing that", at which point he rolled his eyes at me then did as I asked.
Another supermarket near me employs mentally handicapped people to bag groceries. I do not have a problem with this. I do, however, have a problem with people bagging my groceries improperly. Some of them do separate chemicals from food but they and the cashiers alike have a tendency to toss my groceries down the conveyor belt and to drop produce into a bag instead of placing it in the bag. I had to bite my tongue when a cashier once dropped a 5-pound bag of oranges on top of a plastic clamshell strawberry container. (The strawberries were crushed and had to be replaced.)
And the thing is....you can't use the self-checkout if you are buying your weekly groceries because it's an "express" lane. You also can't bag your own groceries as they have someone standing at the end of every line. I would actually prefer to bag my own and have said as much, only to have my merchandise grabbed out of my hand by a very eager bagger who said "No, I'll take care of it." Um...appreciate the enthusiasm, but no thanks!
Just today at the supermarket the cashier managed to bruise the only four non-bruised apples I could find in the produce section, wrinkled and tore my Sunday newspaper by shoving it along with other things down the conveyor belt, and the bagger ignored the order in which I put things on the belt and bagged my fabric softener and air freshener in my insulated freezer bag and my frozen vegetables in a regular bag (I always bring my own reusable bags). When she couldn't figure out what to do with the meat kabobs that she had been flipping over on the little "cul de sac" at the end of the belt as she ruthlessly tore through my groceries, she tried to put them in my purse. Yes. In. My. Purse. "They won't fit in your other bags," she explained. Thanks...I really want animal blood in my purse from the now-leaking container of kabobs. I managed to head her off on that one.
On other occasions I have had a bagger nonchalantly plop a six-pack of soda on top of a bag of chips, and a box of instant oatmeal on top of a loaf of bread. When I asked him to please not do that, I got the insincere "Well SORRY" and an eyeroll.
"Just shop somewhere else," you might suggest. Excellent idea. I do my grocery shopping at multiple stores in this area (they are all close to each other) and it's the same everywhere you go.
So...I ask to bag my own groceries and am ignored. Or by the time I finish loading my shopping onto the belt, half of it has been incompetently bagged anyway. I can't use the self-checkout with a cart full of groceries. I can't correct the baggers because they give me nothing but attitude. I can't even put things on the belt in the order I want them bagged (frozen with insulated bags in front, followed by other items grouped with bags with them) because they get mixed up as they are shoved down the belt.
I don't want to have to take it that far but I guess I have no choice. The fact that it seems to be this way everywhere made me question whether I'm overreacting or whether my experience is in any way unique, or is considered acceptable these days.
why can't you self check out? or if it is that important to you bag your own, when they say they will do it say no thank you and do it yourself. it really is not your place to tell a bagger how to do their job especially if they are mentally challenged. playing devil's advocate....I re read your post and this sentence...... the order I want them bagged (frozen with insulated bags in front, followed by other items grouped with bags with them) seems a bit controlling and bizarre. the order the food goes into the bag is really is not important at all. why give a care if a frozen box of peas is in with the bananas...it is going for a ten minute ride back to your house then being unloaded. seems a silly thing for sure
Location: Pelion, South Carolina/orig. from Cape May, NJ
1,113 posts, read 3,493,987 times
Reputation: 1176
I don't care if I have a cart piled up to the sky, if there is a self-checkout available I'll use it. If I'm taking too long, people can just move to another register.
Do you have Save A Lot or Aldi near you? Customers bag/box their own stuff at these stores.
Being in the grocery trade for 23 yrs did see some of the complaints listed here. Yes... I was trained properly and have trained others in the proper procedure.
Unfortunatly we cannot win them all.
I was in a chain store once and the bagger (boy) placed my pie on it's side inside a bag.
I quickly corrected him and said "who taught you how to bag groceries?...when I worked in a mkt we never did that". The cashier looked at the boy and me without saying a word. She knew what I meant and the kid was probably admonished later on.
I might add that a person should empty their baskt on to the conveyer belt with all meat/vegs/frozen etc in a group making the bagging easier for the working bagger. After all they have no idea what is coming from a fully loaded cart.
Being in the grocery trade for 23 yrs did see some of the complaints listed here. Yes... I was trained properly and have trained others in the proper procedure.
Unfortunatly we cannot win them all.
I was in a chain store once and the bagger (boy) placed my pie on it's side inside a bag.
I quickly corrected him and said "who taught you how to bag groceries?...when I worked in a mkt we never did that". The cashier looked at the boy and me without saying a word. She knew what I meant and the kid was probably admonished later on.
I might add that a person should empty their baskt on to the conveyer belt with all meat/vegs/frozen etc in a group making the bagging easier for the working bagger. After all they have no idea what is coming from a fully loaded cart.
I am the same exact way. I've gotten into the habit of putting things in the order I want them bagged if I'm unfortunate enough to encounter a person bagging groceries. But, as you said, sometimes that doesn't even work. I usually just take my cart and then go to an empty checkout lane to re-bag my items the 'right' way after I pay. Food isn't cheap and I don't enjoy smashed/broken/crushed items
I always prefer self check outs. Unless the self checkout specifically says "Express Lane" you can still check your items out there. Even if it does say express lane, still use it. If someone questions you, tell them what you told us, but I doubt anyone would bother you.
I might add that a person should empty their baskt on to the conveyer belt with all meat/vegs/frozen etc in a group making the bagging easier for the working bagger. After all they have no idea what is coming from a fully loaded cart.
Steve
That is what I do, but by the time they get to the bagger they are out of order. Sometimes the bagger ignores the order and sometimes the cashier reaches over the pile and scans items in random order.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hothulamaui
excellent idea!
See above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mchelle
I am the same exact way. I've gotten into the habit of putting things in the order I want them bagged if I'm unfortunate enough to encounter a person bagging groceries. But, as you said, sometimes that doesn't even work. I usually just take my cart and then go to an empty checkout lane to re-bag my items the 'right' way after I pay. Food isn't cheap and I don't enjoy smashed/broken/crushed items
I always prefer self check outs. Unless the self checkout specifically says "Express Lane" you can still check your items out there. Even if it does say express lane, still use it. If someone questions you, tell them what you told us, but I doubt anyone would bother you.
The only supermarket near me with a self-checkout is Kroger and it specifically says "Express Lane." If you stand in that line with a full cart they will tell you you can't use it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hothulamaui
why can't you self check out? or if it is that important to you bag your own, when they say they will do it say no thank you and do it yourself. it really is not your place to tell a bagger how to do their job especially if they are mentally challenged. playing devil's advocate....I re read your post and this sentence...... the order I want them bagged (frozen with insulated bags in front, followed by other items grouped with bags with them) seems a bit controlling and bizarre. the order the food goes into the bag is really is not important at all. why give a care if a frozen box of peas is in with the bananas...it is going for a ten minute ride back to your house then being unloaded. seems a silly thing for sure
Because groceries are expensive and I am tired of having things ruined. It may be only a 10 minute ride but it is very hot here in summer and by the time I get back to my car it's as hot as a furnace inside it. Things melt and melt quickly in this heat. That is why I have insulated bags in the first place. I don't think it's controlling at all. I do think it's my "place" to tell someone that they are not bagging the groceries properly because I am PAYING for them. They are MY groceries and if they are not going to let me bag them myself, the least they could do is bag them sensibly.
In the future I am definitely going to be more firm about bagging my own groceries. I lived in various European countries for years and you always bag your own there. I got used to it. I miss it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
