Supermarket Etiquette

englander

What really gets me at supermarket is

- checkout 'people' who insist on scrubbing my laser/credit card with their grubby nylon uniform - scratching it to b_uggery despite me insisting it works perfectly well everywhere else and maybe they should manually enter it with the keypad before they completely foook my card.

- Was in Marks and Sparks and this woman as thin as a rake proceeded to open her salad in the queue and use a spoon to eat it loudly. And she said very loudly how famished she was. She was still eating it when she got to the counter where they scanned an empty carton. Could have shot her.

- bag packers. Usually GAA kids. I do my best to avoid them as they wreck my groceries and then expect money. Its almost demanding money with menace.

- overcharged. Every week (literally) I have to do battle with local supermarket as they have overcharged me. About 1/5 times does anybody actually apologise.

- just loads and loads of inconsiderate shoppers who have no sense of getting their shopping with minimal fuss and inconvenience to fellow shoppers.

Red Hand

I do find it pretty ignorant to see people wandering about supermarkets using stuff they havent even paid for.

Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Homer uses the excuse that everything he picks up in a supermarket with a cocktail stick (using the excuse of free samples that are on offer cooked sausages etc) is fair game to be eaten without having to pay. I seem to remember him trying to cocktail stick himself a live lobster at the end of his supermarket trawl.:)

Archeron

Well, on the subject of supervalue....

I go to Lidl. They have wide open corrdiors on which three trollies can easilty fit by each other. Go to supervalue, and the already narrow corridors are made even narrower by all these stupid special offer baskets scattered randomly through the store. IF I WANT TO BUY TOFFEPOPS I BLOODY WELL KNOW WHERE TO LOOK!!!

Then add to that the fact that there will always be a staff member stocking shelves on one side of the toffeepops and some old woman gossiping on the other, and that leads to an extremely unpleasant experience. Especially when they give you a dirty look because you've apologised when asking them to get out of the way. If you wanna good natter, go to a coffee shop, not the coffee aisle.

Terry

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote:

I do find it pretty ignorant to see people wandering about supermarkets using stuff they havent even paid for.

Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Homer uses the excuse that everything he picks up in a supermarket with a cocktail stick (using the excuse of free samples that are on offer cooked sausages etc) is fair game to be eaten without having to pay. I seem to remember him trying to cocktail stick himself a live lobster at the end of his supermarket trawl.:)

pinchy.

User45701

there is only one thing i eat in a supermarket and that is the poppyseed french stick they sell im superquinn, if i buy one of those on my wayin at the main door i will munch on that while i go around the shop but im not one of those people who use trollies and spend ages on a job that should if shopping for one take 4-5 mins and shopping for 4+ should take no more than 16 -19 mins.

Anyway ye i like to eat part of a french stick in superquinn

Sad Professor

I work in a supermarket so I've got a lot to say on this subject:

- Customers who stand right over your shoulder as you (or another customer) are trying to enter your pin. They sometimes have practically pushed their trolley through so you can't even get to the pin pad. I mean, can't people see that you haven't paid yet? Get the f**k outta the way you stupid f**kin morons!!

- Screaming kids. I don't care how much child care cost! I don't care you have no one to leave them with! Just keep them the f**k out of supermarkets. Either that or get some control over them for chrissake! Most parents just stand there with blank expressions while their kids are screaming their heads off. Whats wrong with them? I listen to this all day long.

- Customers who only after you tell them how much their bill is suddenly decide they need to use the cash machine and proceed to join the 10+ queue. Why couldn't they have got cash on their way in? Didn't they see it was busy? And then sometimes the ATM isn't working and they have to go outside/down the road/home to get cash. I never go to a checkout with anything, much less €100+ worth of shopping without making sure I have money to pay for it.

- Foreign customers who can't speak English but seem to expect you to understand their language and start babbling on about something they're looking for. I don't f**king speak Romanian/Spanish whatever, f**k off!

- People (usually old women) who don't read the special offer signs properly and want to know why they aren't getting two 7ups at a discount, when the actual offer was for Coke and was on a different shelf. Its not my fault you can't read!

- Stupid people who go shopping for two things on a Saturday in December and want to know why its so busy. They seem so surprised when you tell them its Christmas soon. Idiots.

- People who get load of fruit and veg and don't weigh any of them because they think we do it at the checkout. We don't. You've been coming here for 4 years, haven't you figured that out yet? No this isn't Tesco. Go there instead.

I'm sure I could think of plenty more

As you can see I really love my job :rolleyes:

Terry

Mother****ing schoolkids standing in the middle of the aisle in a big group and only one of the 10 of them is actually buying something piss me off. so much so that i just push them out of the way at this stage. screw them. they're in my way and i'm a paying customer. don't come into the shop unless you're going to buy something or at least rob something. ****.

Tar.Aldarion

Nah, I see nothing wrong with eating or drinking the food you are going to buy.

Dave!

ferdi wrote:

Ok, i recently took a temp christmas job in a local supermarket.

What do you think about people eating food off the shop shelves before reaching the checkout?

Personally, due the way I was brought up - i find this to be the height of ignorance. You have not paid for it, it is not a restaurant - what are you playing at?

They are going to pay for it presumably. If they don't pay for it then they are shoplifters, but if they do then what's the problem? It's not like they're tasting them and putting them back if they don't like them.

ferdi wrote:

the worst is parents giving food to their children - what are you teaching the kid? - its fine to take things without paying - you can have whatever you want NOW NOW NOW and dont let the worry of "paying" distract you from your ultimate destiny of instant gratification. everything on the never-never - I'm worth it and i want it now!

Please that is not going to traumatise the child :rolleyes:

*15 years later*

"Sorry Garda, when I was a kid me ma used to do it, I assumed ye didn't have te pay for it! :eek:"

The child will probably not be finished by the time they reach the checkout, so the mother will take the food off them, pay for them, and give them back. Moral conundrum averted.

That's in my observation anyway.

ferdi wrote:

also - when you see a supermarket attendnt pushing a row of 10+ trollies through the shopping centre/car park - DO NOT walk right infront of him!!! a big row of trollies do not have brakes and it can involves alot of physical pain and effort for the guy to stop them when you casually saunter infront of him. please think!

I woulda thought that was a stupid thing to do regardless of the pain and suffering caused to the person pushing the trollies.

I think you should stop analysing people so much.

Nightwish

I share this hatred for the shopping masses. Although I dont work in a supermarket, I work in a very busy outlet of a well known British catalogue retailer, and have done so for the past 6.5 years. I have issues with:

*Customers with bratty kids-look I know there are many many many good kids out there, but there are also plenty of horrible bratty kids with parents who seem like they dont give a sh*t. Everyday in work, at least 7 displays will be brought down/torn/destroyed/vandalised by kids, and their parents don't care. Also they allow them to climb on the displays, which will inevitably result in poor little Oisín getting floored, and deafening anyone within a 2 mile radius. I've even had a woman have her kid pi$$ on the floor and she just took the kid and walked off. And just this summer, a man left his 3 children in the shop, while he went up to do his grocery shopping.

*Customers complaining about the wait/size of queue - Firstly its Christmas!!! Of course the shop will be mobbed. Secondly you are told when you pay, your estimated collection time.

*Customers complaining about the phone not being answered-look I'll answer the phone when I dont have a customer standing in front of me. I mean how ignorant would it be if I just answered the phone and didnt serve the person next in line. Anyway, thats why theres a special reservation line AND a website.

Noelie

Nightwish wrote:

*Customers with bratty kids-look I know there are many many many good kids out there, but there are also plenty of horrible bratty kids with parents who seem like they dont give a sh*t. Everyday in work, at least 7 displays will be brought down/torn/destroyed/vandalised by kids, and their parents don't care. Also they allow them to climb on the displays, which will inevitably result in poor little Oisín getting floored, and deafening anyone within a 2 mile radius. I've even had a woman have her kid pi$$ on the floor and she just took the kid and walked off. And just this summer, a man left his 3 children in the shop, while he went up to do his grocery shopping.

I'm with you Nightwish, i think Ferdi has a lot more to learn about customers.
when i was working in a spar, a woman was in with her two kids, one looked about 4-6 and the other was about 10, a boy and girl. the shop was mad busy. I looked over the the younger one was throwing bars of margarine around the shelves, obviously since it's margarine it is very soft and each of the bars were getting ruined, I asked the lady, very nicely i will add, if she wouldn't mind asking her son to stop destroying our stock. and she went mad telling me he's only a child and it's what kids do. I said a child his age shouldn't be left unsupervised in a shop to which i was told her 10 year old daughter was minding him!!!

Honestly customers should really be left alone as long as they aren't stealing or breaking anything. as they are doing nothing wrong.

It's the ones who have "The customer is always right" shoved up their ass's you need to look out for as they are usually wrong.Having watched Eddie Hobbs too much on TV and there are plenty of them.

Ickle Magoo

I often give my son a croissant to munch on going round the supermarket...I do tell the checkout girl he's had one. I think if all you have to worry about is what other people are doing during a shopping trip then you really have to get a life - or a job you like, lol! If no-one is stealing anything & it keeps the kid quiet & entertained, where's the harm?

If a supermarket doesn't like me giving my son something then the manager can let me know, if people are so socially intollerant as to not want other people who are not single & only buying 12 items at 100mph around them, then they can take full advantage of the 24hr shopping & go at 3am or use internet shopping.

Mind you, I used to hate parents with anything but exemplary kids doing anything until I had my own & had to accept that even very good kids can act up. The amount of times I said "I'll never....", "my mother...." - I'm embarrassed even thinking about my arrogance (added to the fact that my mother has since admitted she used a myriad of bribery & subduing techniques!).

coffee_cake

Noelie wrote:

I looked over the the younger one was throwing bars of margarine around the shelves, obviously since it's margarine it is very soft and each of the bars were getting ruined

Good kids acting up or not, *that's* not on at all.

Terry

Ickle Magoo wrote:

I often give my son a croissant to munch on going round the supermarket.

well la dee fuckin' da. tell the truth, it's a packet of tayto cheese and onion you give him, isn't it!

CherieAmour

I worked in a supermarket in school & college and have stories the length of the port tunnel. My observations are as follows:

The people behind the counter have a very different outlook to shoppers who have never had to listen to **** all day. On a rainy day every customer who says 'It's a day for the ducks' thinks they're the first when you've heard it 50 plus times. Annoying.

Leaning down into smelly pull along trolleys and massive canvas bags that have been used for 15 years to carry fish, meat, sour milk, rotten veg etc etc. is the most vile thing about packing bags. Don't subject staff to this.

When I was 16 and had just started packing backs, an old lady was getting a trolleyload of crap. I saw her take a tub of fresh cream under her sleeve past the girl on the checkout. My instinct was to say 'are you going to pay for that?'. It took a minute for what I said to register and instead of responding with 'oh my, I do believe I've walked through without paying for this', she roared and screamed and went crazy at me. '...20 years shopping here......ignorant little....why I oughtta' etc etc etc. She got a ton of superclub points and an apology from the manager etc etc etc. I learned a lot about people that day.

What amazed me was how precious people are about groceries. I was never one to put the bread in with the fish or the fire lighters with the fruit, but the amount of ignorant people who literally snatched stuff out of my hands and told me they didnt trust me was incredible. When you're on the tills they practically scan some of the stuff themselves in case you turn it upside down or something.ITS ONLY SHOPPING. GET A LIFE. IF YOU DON'T THINK WE'RE CLEVER ENOUGH TO SCAN A BARCODE/PACK YOUR BAG THEN F*CK OFF SOMEWHERE ELSE!

Tokens - sort them f*ckin out before you get to the till, dont hand over a bundle of ****e that the staff member can't even sort out - often a dishonest way of using tokens for stuff you havent bought.

As far as the kids go, if you can't say no to your kids for 1 hour during a shopping trip then you may as well let them do whatever the hell they want in every other respect. If they're likely to be hungry, feed them before they go. Who cleans up the Liga when your kid throws it out of the trolley and someone trods it into the ground?

I think it's rude to go around the supermarket munching on food and drink, even if you are going to pay for it. Do you not care about what people might think of you? Doesn't anyone have any patience anymore?

Ickle Magoo

bluewolf wrote:

Good kids acting up or not, *that's* not on at all.

I agree - I cringe when I see some kids doing things & their parents just standing there & watching...I just meant when you see a kid screaming in the trolley & their parents pushing the trolley on relentlessly, it could well be that they are having to ignore a tantrum & just get on with the shopping rather than being bad parents...and a child munching on a croissant can be a really good wee boy who loves croissants & is a bit peckish, rather than some sociopath shop-lifter in the making...and that some posters may have greater sympathy when, one day, they innevitably find themselves doing exactly the same things they are condemning others for.

Ickle Magoo

julep wrote:

well la dee fuckin' da. tell the truth, it's a packet of tayto cheese and onion you give him, isn't it!

Lol! It's only because the first counter we come to is the Deli France one! Anyway, I don't give my son crisps - what kind of an irresponsible idiot of a parent do you think I am?! :D

coffee_cake

Ickle Magoo wrote:

I agree - I cringe when I see some kids doing things & their parents just standing there & watching...I just meant when you see a kid screaming in the trolley & their parents pushing the trolley on relentlessly, it could well be that they are having to ignore a tantrum & just get on with the shopping rather than being bad parents...and a child munching on a croissant can be a really good wee boy who loves croissants & is a bit peckish, rather than some sociopath shop-lifter in the making...

You're very fond of the croissants arent you

and that some posters may have greater sympathy when, one day, they innevitably find themselves doing exactly the same things they are condemning others for.

Ah well, some of us aren't necessarily going to have kids
but we'll see, tis true

Ickle Magoo

bluewolf wrote:

You're very fond of the croissants arent you

It's the same wee croissant muncher I am referring to, lol! And I know not everyone will have kids - or kids that eat in supermarkets, which is why I said some...

Sad Professor

CherieAmour wrote:

On a rainy day every customer who says 'It's a day for the ducks' thinks they're the first when you've heard it 50 plus times. Annoying.

Agreed, this really does my head in. I do try to be nice and smile but after I've heard the same joke for the 1000th time all I can manage is a grimace.

CherieAmour

...I forgot to mention, in my top five worst things about working in supermarkets is parents who won't discipline their children. Kids rolling around the floor screaming, throwing food, hanging out of/throwing stuff out of the trolley and their parents say.....

:mad: 'THE GIRL IS WATCHING YOU' :mad:
:mad: 'THE MAN WILL THROW YOU OUT'. :mad:
:mad: 'LOOK, THE GIRL IS GONNA GIVE OUT TO YOU':mad:

This happened daily!!!!!!!!! Parents, face up to your responsibility!!!!! Tell them YOU want them to stop!!

Sad Professor

lol, CherieAmour. I hear this all the time and it really annoys me. I once had a parent ask me to tell HER child to behave. Some people really shouldn't have kids.

Dutchology

I love the lady from the ad on the television who gets down on the ground and screams in the supermarket.... I bet that would work on the kids.... You've got to be mad to try it though... I can be a little nuts sometimes, but that's extreme nuff said....

Black Swan

Don't ye just love it when you find empty food wrappers on the shelves in the market? Who pays for it? The paying customer! If I could catch one of those people, I can see myself stuffing the empty wrapper right behind the food that they stole.

Dutchology

Ickle Magoo wrote:

...and a child munching on a croissant can be a really good wee boy who loves croissants

Croissants are messy, flaky things....:mad: Tasty, but look at the state that good wee boy leaves the floor of the supermarket in! :eek:

CherieAmour

Sad Professor wrote:

lol, CherieAmour. I hear this all the time and it really annoys me. I once had a parent ask me to tell HER child to behave. Some people really shouldn't have kids.

UNREAL!! It's painful isn't it! It makes us out to be villains! :rolleyes:

JohnCleary

While we're on topic, why the fsck doesn't Lidl/Aldi have an express checkout? I hate going in there for one thing, to find myself stuck behind someone with about 3 week's worth of shopping

Ickle Magoo

Dutchology wrote:

Croissants are messy, flaky things....:mad: Tasty, but look at the state that good wee boy leaves the floor of the supermarket in! :eek:

I know, I know, the state one croissant leaves those spotless supermarket floors in - *gasp* The horror! :eek:

I don't think my son lets many crumbs fall tbh - most wee flakes go in his lap & are emptied into the carpark when he is lifted out the trolley...and if they do, well, I can't say you'd notice with all the rest of the muck you see from all the other muchers, wet feet, thrown margarine, dropped eggs & all manner of other things those nasty customers do!

Red Alert

Price arguers: If you want to complain about your receipt go to the service desk, don't hold me up in the Q behind you.

Unnecessairly slow operators: It's ridiculous that I can scan my entire shopping on the self scanner faster than many of the operators can. (Actually on that note, the more mature/older members of staff and the school students are usually much more competent and faster than the gang my age who are there permanently).

Out of control children: I used to work in the kid's clothes department of a store in town, and I've basically seen it all at this stage. My sympathies with anyone who has to put up with kids.

Managers who hate music: Why do supermarket managers have a crap music taste? There was one guy once in the supermarket in ballinteer who used to play great stuff a while back but that's about it. I find weekly shopping a boring activity and enjoy music to listen to a reasonably loud (like SQ Ballinteer do in fairness) yet acceptable level. It will get boring unless the CD's get changed regularly. Where I used to work they sorted out the music problem by subscribing to a digital music service and almost all the managers liked it loud as well, result was great music.

Terry

JohnCleary wrote:

While we're on topic, why the fsck doesn't Lidl/Aldi have an express checkout? I hate going in there for one thing, to find myself stuck behind someone with about 3 week's worth of shopping

if someone comes up behind me in the queue when i'm doing my weeks shopping and they only have a few things, i let them go ahead. if they proceed to pay with a credit card, i follow them out to the car park and stab them in the eye.

Red Alert wrote:

Managers who hate music: Why do supermarket managers have a crap music taste? There was one guy once in the supermarket in ballinteer who used to play great stuff a while back but that's about it. I find weekly shopping a boring activity and enjoy music to listen to a reasonably loud (like SQ Ballinteer do in fairness) yet acceptable level. It will get boring unless the CD's get changed regularly. Where I used to work they sorted out the music problem by subscribing to a digital music service and almost all the managers liked it loud as well, result was great music.

my local supermarket plays the cardigans and bowie on a regular basis, which is nice.