To customers everywhere: Rules for the supermarket

Nala

Just home from work, after a particularly trying day I was thinking, wouldn't it be brilliant if we could have some sort of customer's user guide in the place we work!!! This is purely tongue-in-cheek. Post one up relevant to your job, here is mine for the supermarket.

1. If you hand us a credit/debit card knowing you don't have enough money on it, no, we cannot put your transaction through anyway. We cannot magic money into your bank account/credit card limit. If we could magic money into bank accounts, we wouldn't be working in a supermarket.

2. We really don't like when you let your child run all over the place and especially don't like when they start messing with the PIN terminal. Yes, we know you are pretending you don't see them and when we ask them ourselves to stop messing with our machines, it's by way of a hint.

3. Refunds and exchanges are done at the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK. No, we cannot ask somebody from the desk to come down to you. They are already serving someone else.

4. When we tell you our till is closed, it means we are NOT SERVING. We don't care if you "Only have two things", you will no doubt suddenly realise you have forgotten something and will spend the next 10 minutes looking for it. Besides, the woman with the big trolley that we refused 30 seconds ago is standing at the next till glaring at us.

5. When you come to the self-scanners, please note that we can only look after ONE person at a time. You can shout "EXCUSE ME!!!!!" as much as you want, we cannot clone ourselves and serve you at the same time!!!

6. If you don't look old enough to buy drink, we WILL ask you for I.D. You can keep telling us "I'm 18!!!" til you're blue in the face, if we are caught selling you drink and you're underage we lose our job. Keep telling us to "go on, be sound", as much as you like. Similarly, if a group of you come in and one person is buying a ****load of drink, yes, we ARE allowed to ask who the drink is for and ask them for I.D. Buying alcohol for a minor is just as serious.

7. Believe it or not, as we sell thousands of different things we don't know how much a certain thing is without checking, nor do we automatically know if something is on special offer without checking.

8. We can only accept coupons when you have actually bought the product. No, that coupon for Cadbury's chocolate will not work for Mars. No, we cannot put it through anyway.

9. If you hand us a credit card that has no PIN number and has not been signed on the back, yes we are entitled to ask you for proof of I.D. If someone stole your card and we let them use it without a PIN or signature you would be in causing mayhem. Keep asking us "you hardly think I stole that card from someone", rules have to apply to everyone.

10. When you come to the checkout, and you ask "you don't know if there's any whole chickens/size 7 runners/etc left"?, we don't know because we do not work in that department...

11. When we ask you for 15c for a plastic bag, please keep your remarks to yourself. We don't care if you think "that's ridiculous!!!", we don't care if "that's very mean of you". It's the law, bitch.

12. Please READ the special offers before you try to buy something and then start complaining that "that special offer didn't come off!!!". Yes, that buy one get one free was for the LARGE tins of beans. No, we can't put it through anyway if you decided to buy 2 small tins.

13. When you see us walking through the shop with our jacket on and our lunch in our hand, please do not stop us and start asking where something is. We're either on our lunch or we're going home, either way please give us a break!!!

14. Our legs have pain receptors too, please do not ram your trolley into them and then roll your eyes like it's our fault.

15. Please, if there is a divider at the checkout, USE IT. If you don't, we actually are not going to automatically know what is yours and what is the next customer's. Should we be so incredibly stupid as to not have such mindreading skills please tell us STRAIGHT AWAY that the stuff we are scanning is not yours. Don't stand there watching us and then about 20 items in say "You do know none of that stuff is mine?"

16. We don't care if another supermarket chain do this, or if they will let you do that. Do not ask us "How come in X supermarket you can get/do this/that/etc?". That's THEIR policy. This is OUR policy. If the other supermarket is so great, go there!

17. Golden rule: Please remember, we are only doing our job!!!!!!!

netwhizkid

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Wertz

Rebuke to that list.

Dear supermarket staff:

1: Some people do in fact use hand baskets since we don't do enough shopping to warrant a trolley....kindly replace baskets at the entrance instead of having us have to walk the lenght of the checkouts to find one.

2: Those are my f*cking groceries you're firing at me....some of them are soft and breakable....I've only got two hands with which to fill my reusable plastic bag. Kindly slow it down just a little since you can't start serving the next customer until I've cleared the till anyway.

3. Smiling wouldn't hurt. Please and thank you, likewise, wouldn't cost you that much effort. I don't want your phone number or your hand in marriage....just a little courtesy like I've shown.

4. No I do NOT have a bloody loyalty card...if I had I'd have given it to you already...

5. Please remember we are the paying customer...most of us don't even want to be here but it's the closest to where we live, the parking is usually good and we just can't afford to fly our food in from Harrods so we're stuck with this kip....try and make it as pleasant as possible for us....we'll be gone in 20 minutes...

Nala

that was funny. theres been stuff about working in shops in AH before

Basq

Nala wrote:

8. We can only accept coupons when you have actually bought the product. No, that coupon for Cadbury's chocolate will not work for Mars. No, we cannot put it through anyway.

Not specifically true! Show up with a shitload of coupons, hand them in at the end of the transaction - they won't bother checking. Know load of people who do this!

Ruu_Old

netwhizkid wrote:

.

Its fine here, wouldn't be right to move it to Workeh/Jabs.

Ste.phen

Haha, just home from a 10 hour stretch in presumably a different branch of the same supermarket. Today i dealt with the following of Nala's complaints

Nala wrote:

2. We really don't like when you let your child run all over the place and especially don't like when they start messing with the PIN terminal. Yes, we know you are pretending you don't see them and when we ask them ourselves to stop messing with our machines, it's by way of a hint.

Yup, scales act funny when there's kids jumping on them too.

3. Refunds and exchanges are done at the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK. No, we cannot ask somebody from the desk to come down to you. They are already serving someone else.

Unfortunatley i work on customer services too, I cant always escape with this one

4. When we tell you our till is closed, it means we are NOT SERVING. I don't care if you "Only have two things", you will no doubt suddenly realise you have forgotten something and will spend the next 10 minutes looking for it. Besides, the woman with the big trolley that we refused 30 seconds ago is standing at the next till glaring at us.

*rolleyes* the 'Checkout is closed' sign isn't enough.
THen again, people don't see the '10 items or less' sign either. Turned away someone earlier with upwards of 60 items trying to go through a selfscan checkout designed for <20

5. When you come to the self-scanners, please note that we can only look after ONE person at a time. You can shout "EXCUSE ME!!!!!" as much as you want, we cannot clone ourselves and serve you at the same time!!!

Your customers say excuse me? Mine say 'Ere jung-fleh!'. I think it means 'Pardon me, but could you help me, sir?'

6. If you don't look old enough to buy drink, we WILL ask you for I.D. You can keep telling us "I'm 18!!!" til you're blue in the face, if we are caught selling you drink and you're underage we lose our job. Keep telling us to "go on, be sound", as much as you like. Similarly, if a group of you come in and one person is buying a ****load of drink, yes, we ARE allowed to ask who the drink is for and ask them for I.D. Buying alcohol for a minor is just as serious.

Haha, I love when that happens. The person who turned 18 a few hours ago buying 200 quid's worth of drink

7. Believe it or not, as we sell thousands of different things we don't know how much a certain thing is without checking, nor do we automatically know if something is on special offer without checking.

PPsh, you mean you're not psychic!?

8. We can only accept coupons when you have actually bought the product. No, that coupon for Cadbury's chocolate will not work for Mars. No, we cannot put it through anyway.

In fairness, i've seen demontstrators give customers the wrong coupons and say we'd accept them anyways. and sometimes we DO accept them anyways (where the wrong coupons came in for a demonstration, etc)

9. If you hand us a credit card that has no PIN number and has not been signed on the back, yes we are entitled to ask you for proof of I.D. If someone stole your card and we let them use it without a PIN or signature you would be in causing mayhem. Keep asking us "you hardly think I stole that card from someone", rules have to apply to everyone.

"Eh, well, Can't I just sign it now?"...

10. When you come to the checkout, and you ask "you don't know if there's any whole chickens/size 7 runners/etc left"?, we don't know because we do not work in that department...

In fairness, customer service can check this easily enough, but again with customers thinking we're psychic.

11. When we ask you for 15c for a plastic bag, please keep your remarks to yourself. We don't care if you think "that's ridiculous!!!", we don't care if "that's very mean of you". It's the law, bitch.

THis one made me laugh, haha.
When the bag tax came in we used to have bets on which customers would complain, before they got to the checkout. Fun!

12. Please READ the special offers before you try to buy something and then start complaining that "that special offer didn't come off!!!". Yes, that buy one get one free was for the LARGE tins of beans. No, we can't put it through anyway if you decided to buy 2 small tins.

This isn't always the customer's fault, sometimes people put the wrong signs up. THat said, i had at least 3 today that simply bought the wrong product.

13. When you see us walking through the shop with our jacket on and our lunch in our hand, please do not stop us and start asking where something is. We're either on our lunch or we're going home, either way please give us a break!!!

Take my lead: wear a fleece that covers your uniform.

14. Our legs have pain receptors too, please do not ram your trolley into them and then roll your eyes like it's our fault.

People walking backwards into you is a good one too.

Ste.phen

basquille wrote:

Not specifically true! Show up with a shitload of coupons, hand them in at the end of the transaction - they won't bother checking. Know load of people who do this!

It's true enough where I work, people try that all the time. Unfortunately for them, a lot of coupons are now linked to the products they're for, resulting in some rather annoying beeps from the till when you try to scan them.

"Oh, I didn't realise I didn't have that..." :P

Mossy Monk

Wertz wrote:

4. No I do NOT have a bloody loyalty card...if I had I'd have given it to you already...

very true

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

15. If a particular item is 3c cheaper in Dunnes/Tesco/Aldi/Wherever they why don't you shop there?

daiixi

What's with supermarkets restocking shelves at 6pm at night when the supermarkets are filled with people getting stuff on the way home? They block up the aisles and refuse to get out of the way when you try to grab items and even glare at you when you take an item and mess up their "nice neat product lines".
Also if you're working at the check out you're working. I don't appreciate you slowly flicking through my items while gossiping with the girl three tills over about your hot date last night. Save it for your lunch break!
Finally, wait for me to pocket my change and pack my items before serving the next customer. Bring back the good old days when checkout people used to pack bags I say.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

They pack em in the middle of the night at the 24hr Tescos.

And if the customer is always right, why does the customer need to be bothering me with stupid questions?

Sad Professor

Nala wrote:

1. If you hand us a credit/debit card knowing you don't have enough money on it, no, we cannot put your transaction through anyway. We cannot magic money into your bank account/credit card limit. If we could magic money into bank accounts, we wouldn't be working in a supermarket.

Cards can be rejected for a number of reasons. I once had a guy who after his card was declined went to the ATM (I assumed to get cash) and came back with a mini statement slip to prove he had money in the account, lol. Took a while for the supervisor to explain to him that the bank was deliberately declining his card, probably for using it too many times in the same day.

Nala wrote:

13. When you see us walking through the shop with our jacket on and our lunch in our hand, please do not stop us and start asking where something is. We're either on our lunch or we're going home, either way please give us a break!!!

This drives me nuts. I always take my name badge off when I'm on my break so that if some day I'm in a really bad mood and tell a customer to f**k off they wouldn't be able to instantly identify me

Wertz wrote:

4. No I do NOT have a bloody loyalty card...if I had I'd have given it to you already...

If only more people were like you. This is more of an issue with management; trust me, staff don't like asking this. Where I work I am actually considered responsible for getting a person's clubcard - if I don't ask then the customer will usually blame me for not getting points and the boss will as well. It's ridiculous.

I've experimented with this and have found that many customers are so used to being asked if they want a bag, cashback, clubcard, etc that if I don't ask they'll just stand there staring at me like retards till I do. It's like dealing with children.

Nala

Asking for loyalty cards is part of the spiel we have to say along with do you want cashback etc. If the mystery shopper was to visit and we didn't ask for the loyalty card we'd be docked marks. We hate saying the same things all the time, sometimes I wish I could send my budgie in instead of me, at least he likes saying the same thing over and over!!!

Sad Professor

If the mystery shopper was to visit and we didn't ask for the loyalty card we'd be docked marks.

Oooh the dreaded mystery shopper. I hate those f**kers! They're so obvious - they usually have about 9 billion points and give the impression that shopping for groceries is the highlight of their day (although so do alot of customers). I'm proud to say I've never gotten more than 30% from one. I'm deliberately rude to them. My boss told I'd let the side down *weep* *weep* *sniff* *sniff*

Nala

Sad Professor wrote:

Oooh the dreaded mystery shopper. I hate those f**kers! They're so obvious - they usually have about 9 billion points and give the impression that shopping for groceries is the highlight of their day (although so do alot of customers). I'm proud to say I've never gotten more than 30% from one. I'm deliberately rude to them. My boss told I'd let the side down *weep* *weep* *sniff* *sniff*

how do you pick them out? i've only ever served one once and that was in a fast food restaurant, he was the millionth person that day to order a burger and chips so i couldn't remember him.

walrusgumble

Nala wrote:

Just home from work, after a particularly trying day I was thinking, wouldn't it be brilliant if we could have some sort of customer's user guide in the place we work!!! This is purely tongue-in-cheek. Post one up relevant to your job, here is mine for the supermarket.

1. If you hand us a credit/debit card knowing you don't have enough money on it, no, we cannot put your transaction through anyway. We cannot magic money into your bank account/credit card limit. If we could magic money into bank accounts, we wouldn't be working in a supermarket.

2. We really don't like when you let your child run all over the place and especially don't like when they start messing with the PIN terminal. Yes, we know you are pretending you don't see them and when we ask them ourselves to stop messing with our machines, it's by way of a hint.

3. Refunds and exchanges are done at the CUSTOMER SERVICE DESK. No, we cannot ask somebody from the desk to come down to you. They are already serving someone else.

4. When we tell you our till is closed, it means we are NOT SERVING. I don't care if you "Only have two things", you will no doubt suddenly realise you have forgotten something and will spend the next 10 minutes looking for it. Besides, the woman with the big trolley that we refused 30 seconds ago is standing at the next till glaring at us.

5. When you come to the self-scanners, please note that we can only look after ONE person at a time. You can shout "EXCUSE ME!!!!!" as much as you want, we cannot clone ourselves and serve you at the same time!!!

6. If you don't look old enough to buy drink, we WILL ask you for I.D. You can keep telling us "I'm 18!!!" til you're blue in the face, if we are caught selling you drink and you're underage we lose our job. Keep telling us to "go on, be sound", as much as you like. Similarly, if a group of you come in and one person is buying a ****load of drink, yes, we ARE allowed to ask who the drink is for and ask them for I.D. Buying alcohol for a minor is just as serious.

7. Believe it or not, as we sell thousands of different things we don't know how much a certain thing is without checking, nor do we automatically know if something is on special offer without checking.

8. We can only accept coupons when you have actually bought the product. No, that coupon for Cadbury's chocolate will not work for Mars. No, we cannot put it through anyway.

9. If you hand us a credit card that has no PIN number and has not been signed on the back, yes we are entitled to ask you for proof of I.D. If someone stole your card and we let them use it without a PIN or signature you would be in causing mayhem. Keep asking us "you hardly think I stole that card from someone", rules have to apply to everyone.

10. When you come to the checkout, and you ask "you don't know if there's any whole chickens/size 7 runners/etc left"?, we don't know because we do not work in that department...

11. When we ask you for 15c for a plastic bag, please keep your remarks to yourself. We don't care if you think "that's ridiculous!!!", we don't care if "that's very mean of you". It's the law, bitch.

12. Please READ the special offers before you try to buy something and then start complaining that "that special offer didn't come off!!!". Yes, that buy one get one free was for the LARGE tins of beans. No, we can't put it through anyway if you decided to buy 2 small tins.

13. When you see us walking through the shop with our jacket on and our lunch in our hand, please do not stop us and start asking where something is. We're either on our lunch or we're going home, either way please give us a break!!!

14. Our legs have pain receptors too, please do not ram your trolley into them and then roll your eyes like it's our fault.

15. Golden rule: Please remember, we are only doing our job!!!!!!!

brilliant, i use to work in supermarkets from 16-21 yrs as part time. the horrors. i can sympathise with no 4,7,10,13 and 14. you try to be as helpful and polite as you can and depending on the person you just get unreasonable rubbish spate at you (rarely not literally)

in addition i would also put
1. if you have had too much to drink and decide to pop in to buy more booze, the fact we would rather serve you anyway so you can leave without causing a scene, please dont feel free to urinate in the corner of the store, we see you, we gotta clean it up, its not a toilet, and do expect to be forcefully put out by either us or a security guard and barred.
2. as much as small change (1 & 2c are welcomed and we are sure you would have given us notes are bigger coins if you had them) we would be greatly obliged if you could at least counted how much you have have whilst in the que or hand them to us in a decent fashion instead of throwing them to us.there are other people in the que you know.
3. we know in today's world everyone is busy and they are always on the go, but at least have the courtesy if you come up to us and ask where something is or if we have it and not decide to walk away and leave the store without at least telling someone "never mind i will get it somewhere else" or "i got it" or "i changed my mind i want that one"
4. if you have been barred by a particular member of staff for stealing or attempted stealing, please dont think you can come into the store when that particular person is off duty. the rest of the store has been informed and a picture of your ugly mug is probably on the wall of the office/staff room.
5. if some past teachers come into the store and notice us seem to be working full time, please try not to give us that look of disappoointment that this is all that we have come to, i am sure theres an explanation, like not everyone has the luxury of having mummy and daddy to fund all our college funds or we have finished college just waiting for our cv's to go through to the places/poisitions/job vacancies we have applied for

as much as i was always happy to carry out shopping for people, particulary the eldery (always give proper service to all customers) i use to be baffled when i got to their cars and out steps the husband or elder child, lazy ba**ards, why not go in to help her whn she rings on the mobile and asks if you could come now to help her.(thats if they were physical able to of course) dont worry there are other men in the supermarket too, you wont be considered batty if you enter it or classed as metrosexual

Sad Professor

Nala wrote:

how do you pick them out? i've only ever served one once and that was in a fast food restaurant, he was the millionth person that day to order a burger and chips so i couldn't remember him.

There hasn't been any in while where I work but they usually have an awful lot of points on their clubcard, which is suspicious if they aren't a staff member. They are also very careful to keep eye contact throughout and never offer you their card but wait for you to ask, etc. Basically they seem weird and if your awake (which can be difficult in a brain-dead mcjob like mine) they're usually pretty easy to pick out. Having them pointed out to you by the supervisor doesn't hurt either lol

I'd imagine they would be much harder to pick out in a fast food setting.

walrusgumble

Nala wrote:

how do you pick them out? i've only ever served one once and that was in a fast food restaurant, he was the millionth person that day to order a burger and chips so i couldn't remember him.

if you are working on the shop floor they tend to come up to you about 20 times asking you differnt questions, looking at the floors and shelves checking for dirt/price display and basically taking ages in one or more particular isles looking at everything even where they have not even bougt anything from that isle or look remotely interested in buying it.

Nala

for some reason I always expect it to be a man in a suit even though I know its just gonna be a normal person!!! They can be very nit-pickitty, seems "Would you like help with your bags" and "can i give you a hand with your bags" are two very different things.

Sad Professor

Nala wrote:

for some reason I always expect it to be a man in a suit even though I know its just gonna be a normal person!!! They can be very nit-pickitty, seems "Would you like help with your bags" and "can i give you a hand with your bags" are two very different things.

In a supermarket it will nearly always be a woman. I've never heard of a male mystery shopper. Imagine the shame?

I've never really understood what my motivation for being nice to the mystery shopper should be. The reward for the branch with the highest marks is the managers get to go to disneyland or some crap like that. Gee, I really want that

Wishbone Ash

1. When the customer politely points out that the item is marked at a lower price on the shelves than scanned, please do not be nasty. It's not the customer's fault that the shop is being managed poorly and there is no need to roll your eyes towards the next customer.

2. (To managers/supervisors/owners) If you have a sign advertising that you sell refuse tags, please ensure that they are available or take down/cover the sign. Excuses from assistants like "they are in the safe and only the manager has keys and is not here" are annoying.

3. If you are short of 1 cent coins, please do not say "Can I owe you the cent?". Give the customer 2 cents instead and let them owe you the cent.

4. (To newsagents) At night, please do not try to sell me a newspaper with the barcode removed. I am not an idiot!

Mossy Monk

Wishbone Ash wrote:

1. When the customer politely points out that the item is marked at a lower price on the shelves than scanned, please do not be nasty. It's not the customer's fault that the shop is being managed poorly and there is no need to roll your eyes towards the next customer.

brings me back to a time when i bought Spiderman on DVD in a Tesco in Waterford. said €19.95 on the shelf, scanned in at €24.95

the woman behind the till told me i was mistaken and that the Deluxe edition costs €24.95. funny as it was only the Deluxe edition they were selling. i asked her to come over and look at the price. she refused. manager was called over, got it for free. stupid ****

Attol

Wishbone Ash wrote:

3. If you are short of 1 cent coins, please do not say "Can I owe you the cent?". Give the customer 2 cents instead and let them owe you the cent.

But then all the extra cents they gave out that day will be added up and taken from that staff members pay and the staff member may be disciplined for coming up short. Is 1 cent really that important to you? There may be nothing smaller than 10 0r 20 cent coins. Those would add up very quickly in a busy shop like a supermarket.

Wertz

Mystery shopper?
OMFG
God I hate management/QC bullsh*t like that.

In case there's anyone from a high administrative position in supermarket management reading; for the record, most customers (IMO) would prefer to be served by a human being not by some automaton that's just rhyming off the clubcard/cashback/have a nice day spiel.
Loyalty cards (AFAIK) are in the customer's interest more than they are in thew store's so anyone that's anal about totting up their bloody points should have the presence of mind to hand over their plastic....but if they don't, so what? It's my understanding that you can have the points added manually to the card from the receipt at the CS desk.
Something else I reckon customers want is stock on shelves at the times it's needed and less of the aisle blocking with those metal cages full of packaged stock at busy times....oh and while we're at it, how more of your cheaper own brand/value goods that oddly always seem to be sold out whilst the branded dearer alternative is in high supply right next to the empty shelf space. Very convenient.

I'd last all of 5 minutes working in a tesco or similar so fair f*cks to you all that do...

BTW with the prevalence of self service tills, how long more are we likely to even see checkout staff? I prefer self serve when I've bugger all stuff but I'm not sure I'd like to scan through a big shop. Can the human service be removed totally from the checkout experience?

Wishbone Ash

LadyLotts wrote:

But then all the extra cents they gave out that day will be added up and taken from that staff members pay and the staff member may be disciplined for coming up short

That is not the customer's problem. Should management not ensure that there is adequate change? Why not inform them that you do not have adequate change? Why should it have to come out of staff's wages?

(I realise, of course, that no business is legally required to give any change).

LadyLotts wrote:

Is 1 cent really that important to you?

Well, it seems to be very important to the shop assistant! Why not me? If the shop is unable to provide change for their prices, the customer should benefit, not the shop.

LadyLots wrote:

There may be nothing smaller than 10 0r 20 cent coins. Those would add up very quickly in a busy shop like a supermarket.

Why not round prices down to 98, 95 or 90 cent or round up to the next Euro? If shops insist on pricing items ending in 99c, they should, at least, anticipate the need for, and provide adequate change.

daiixi

LadyLotts wrote:

But then all the extra cents they gave out that day will be added up and taken from that staff members pay and the staff member may be disciplined for coming up short. Is 1 cent really that important to you? There may be nothing smaller than 10 0r 20 cent coins. Those would add up very quickly in a busy shop like a supermarket.

To me it's not, no. In fact in Australia we don't even have 1 and 2 cent coins anymore however, I'm lead to believe, that when the euro came in the Irish population demanded 1 and 2 cent coins be included. Therefore you should give me my goddamn 1 cent and be more organised with your change in future.

Wishbone Ash

Nala wrote:

for some reason I always expect it to be a man in a suit even though I know its just gonna be a normal person!!! They can be very nit-pickitty, seems "Would you like help with your bags" and "can i give you a hand with your bags" are two very different things.

The mystery shopper will behave in whatever way the employing business requires them to. My wife does it occasionally but doesn't usually do supermarkets. She does restaurants, hotels, airports, bookies, sportshops, hardware, furniture etc. The managers will provide her with a list of questions, queries, statements, contradictions, behaviours etc. that she must use while dealing with their staff. You shouldn't judge them on this - that is what they are being paid to do. They are not like that in real life.

Attol

I don't work in a supermarket btw. I just think it's 1 cent that you will probably lose anyway so why make such a fuss to some checkout operator on minumum wage who works for absolute jerks who are so incompetent they can't provide adequate change. Go complain to managers if you feel you're being ripped off. I'm sure they'll give you your one cent and if they get enough complaints they may actually do something.

crybaby

10. When you come to the checkout, and you ask "you don't know if there's any whole chickens/size 7 runners/etc left"?, we don't know because we do not work in that department...

well excuse us for asking a question christ easily upset aren't you

shane86

Worst is getting stuck behind tossers using a credit card to pay for a very small amount of stuff.

hunnymonster

LadyLotts wrote:

But then all the extra cents they gave out that day will be added up and taken from that staff members pay and the staff member may be disciplined for coming up short. Is 1 cent really that important to you? There may be nothing smaller than 10 0r 20 cent coins. Those would add up very quickly in a busy shop like a supermarket.

Several times I haven't even been asked but just handed the reduced change. Please don't assume I don't want my change. No 1c is not that important to me but the principle whereby the server makes that assumption is.

Wishbone Ash

LadyLotts wrote:

Go complain to managers if you feel you're being ripped off. I'm sure they'll give you your one cent and if they get enough complaints they may actually do something.

But is saying to a customer "Can I owe you the cent" officially approved by management? Somehow, I doubt it. It's usually done without waiting a reply and the till has just been shut. Not very professional or customer friendly. Why ask a customer a question if you are not prepared to accept their answer?

Nightwish

I worked in retail for over 6.5 years and the mystery shopper bullsh!t is such a load of crap. You have to say the exact same thing to every customer, ask them a million questions such as "Would you like Replacement Product Cover?" or "Would you like batteries" etc etc, and I hate that kind of crap, pressuring people into buying stupid add-ons like insurance. And then you get some poor sod just off the plane from Poland who hasnt a clue what you're on about, and the manager is watching, and you still have to ask him :rolleyes:

Still, its pretty easy to spot the mystery shopper. They are always female, they buy small cheap things like a kettle or a toaster, and refund it an hour later.

superdudeman007

1) If you're doing a week's shop and a person behind you is only buying 1 item, let that person go ahead of you.

2) Don't queue for self service if you don't know how to use it.

3) Don't queue for 10 items or less if you have more than 10 items.

BostonB

Just have a sign in the shop saying...

"If you shopped online you could be doing something far more fun right now"

dabbler2004

Customers:
When you've asked for an item to be told that we no longer stock it or it's no longer available DON'T then say 'but I got it here yesterday/last week/whenever' !

Stop asking 'Where are the eggs?', you're a regular customer and the eggs have been in the same section for the last 3 years.

Stop asking if the car park attendant is off today, it only costs 30c an hour to park here you cheap pr**k!

When you see staff coming towards you with 20 trollies please don't stop up in front of them to have a chat with your friend especially when you both have trollies/kids/buggies.

Supermarket staff are people too, not receptors for your foul and abusive language, threating behaviour, bad moods and downright ignorance.

Ste.phen

dabbler2004 wrote:

Stop asking 'Where are the eggs?', you're a regular customer and the eggs have been in the same section for the last 3 years.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IMwTEFCC9nk

When you see staff coming towards you with 20 trollies please don't stop up in front of them to have a chat with your friend especially when you both have trollies/kids/buggies.

You're clearly unaware that just becase 5-15 trolleys weighs far far more than the customer's, they can be stopped and maneuvered just as easily. Sheesh!

dabbler2004

Igy wrote:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IMwTEFCC9nk


You're clearly unaware that just becase 5-15 trolleys weighs far far more than the customer's, they can be stopped and maneuvered just as easily. Sheesh!

Ah a fellow sufferer I see

Nala

I had a customer shout at me today, he refused to show I.D. for a cheque. Said why should he, he knows his cheque is his own. i said could you please stop shouting at me, everyone has to have I.D. for their cheque, how am i supposed to know that cheque is yours, if someone robbed it and I let them buy stuff in here with it you'd be in shouting then as well.

Danno

1) You're going to have to do better on the price...
Feck off, it's a €12 toaster you cheapskate, and you are not going to dictate to me how much below the advertised price I am going to give off...

2) Is that all you are giving me off the price...?
Yup, it is a percentage game muppet, that €X is X% of the profit which pays my wages... are you not happy to be recieving discount?

3) I bought this toaster and it's not working...
Fair enough, but please have the courtesy to clean the damn thing first, I don't want to see remnants of your last 6 months worth of breakfasts there... also, don't put cheese in the toaster, you toast bread, not cheese idiot.

4) This item does not work...
SA: "Did you read the instructions?"
CUS: "No"
Well, 99.99% of the times things work and you are supplied with INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL for that purpose. R.T.F.I. Moron.

Rant over.

dSTAR

daiixi wrote:

To me it's not, no. In fact in Australia we don't even have 1 and 2 cent coins anymore however, I'm lead to believe, that when the euro came in the Irish population demanded 1 and 2 cent coins be included...

I can't understand this. What the bloody hell can you buy with a 1 cent coin anyway? Oooh maybe if I save them up for a few months I can take them to the bank like a 5 year old and have exchanged for a crisp note or gold coin and go and buy myself some lollies!

Do retailers seriously think that shoppers are still stupid enough to believe that something sounds much cheaper because its priced at 99 cents and not a dollar! Like daiixi says if something is priced at 99 cents you hand your dollar over BUT simply don't get any change back.

But before you fall off your trolley off claiming all those 1 cent coins added up over the course of a year amounts to thousands...it actually benefits the customer. If something is 93 cents it is rounded down to 90 cents. Likewise if it is 94 cents it is rounded up to 95 cents.

Faerie

God this thread is perfect because I had the worst day at work!

Nala wrote:

7. Believe it or not, as we sell thousands of different things we don't know how much a certain thing is without checking, nor do we automatically know if something is on special offer without checking.

8. We can only accept coupons when you have actually bought the product. No, that coupon for Cadbury's chocolate will not work for Mars. No, we cannot put it through anyway.

10. When you come to the checkout, and you ask "you don't know if there's any whole chickens/size 7 runners/etc left"?, we don't know because we do not work in that department...

11. When we ask you for 15c for a plastic bag, please keep your remarks to yourself. We don't care if you think "that's ridiculous!!!", we don't care if "that's very mean of you". It's the law, bitch.

12. Please READ the special offers before you try to buy something and then start complaining that "that special offer didn't come off!!!". Yes, that buy one get one free was for the LARGE tins of beans. No, we can't put it through anyway if you decided to buy 2 small tins.


15. Please, if there is a divider at the checkout, USE IT. If you don't, we actually are not going to automatically know what is yours and what is the next customer's. Should we be so incredibly stupid as to not have such mindreading skills please tell us STRAIGHT AWAY that the stuff we are scanning is not yours. Don't stand there watching us and then about 20 items in say "You do know none of that stuff is mine?"


17. Golden rule: Please remember, we are only doing our job!!!!!!!

These, I think, should be the rules that everyone should follow!!

Customers who don't use dividers drive me mad!! They just stand there and watch as we scan their stuff in someone else's shopping and then the customers roll their eyes at each other as if we're the stupid ones - you're the retards who can't use dividers and yes I have to get a manager's key to void out all those items! (well where I work you do anyway)

And the stupid 15c bags, people are so tight! It's a law to protect the environment and by the way, stop giving out about the quality of the bags - I don't manufacture tham and I don't give a **** anyway.

To the people who complain about us asking for the loyalty card, well I can't tell you how many customers go mad (yes literally shout at me and one even called me a 'stupid little girl') because I forgot to ask or they didn't hear me ask OR because they were in last week and they weren't asked.

And the final rule, yes we are just doing our jobs. I go to college all week and then have to put up with rude, patronising, STUPID customers during the evenings and weekends so I appreciate it when customers are nice, polite and understanding.

By the way, do any other supermarket workers notice that women are the rudest? Particularly middle aged women and mothers? Men in general are much more polite and much less PETTY.

Blush_01

I don't work in a supermarket, but I work in supermarkets, convenience stores and newsagents. Yes, women, especially so-called middle class, middle aged women, soccer moms with kids in tow and (shockingly) old ladies are usually the rudest. I had a lovely long rant typed out, but I figured the therapy was in typing it, so I deleted it.

Basically, the job of every cog in the supermarket/convenience store wheel sucks a bit, except being an owner. Those guys/gals are making an absolute fortune. They're raking it in and we're the poor stupid fools paying the extortionate rates for what they're selling. The margins on the products... ouch.

Also, I'm quitting my job at the middle of next month... which is only 17 days away! Somebody congratulate me, you guys have made my mind up for me!

bug

ah the tolerance. I'm laughing my ass off at some of the little things in this thread that drive shoppers mad.

So bloody what if someone has to spiel a one liner at you asking if you have a loyalty card? Seriously, is it that taxing having to inhale and exhale to answer yes or no?

Seriously if you find life that difficult, dig a bunker in your back garden and don't get out. Its funny as hell.

dabbler2004

bug wrote:

ah the tolerance. I'm laughing my ass off at some of the little things in this thread that drive shoppers mad.

So bloody what if someone has to spiel a one liner at you asking if you have a loyalty card? Seriously, is it that taxing having to inhale and exhale to answer yes or no?

Seriously if you find life that difficult, dig a bunker in your back garden and don't get out. Its funny as hell.

and in a certain supermarket chain you will now be asked the following at the till;
Do you have a loyalty card?
Would you like some cash back? (Laser transactions)
and
Would you like some mobile phone credit?

I can't wait to see some customers explode

Sleepy

LadyLotts wrote:

But then all the extra cents they gave out that day will be added up and taken from that staff members pay and the staff member may be disciplined for coming up short. Is 1 cent really that important to you? There may be nothing smaller than 10 0r 20 cent coins. Those would add up very quickly in a busy shop like a supermarket.

No business can take money out of your paypacket for monies you've lost their business whilst carrying out your duties. Any that do so are acting illegally.

And if you are disciplined for being 25c short at the end of an evening because you haven't adequate change, that's a management problem tbh.

MarkR

Wertz wrote:

Rebuke to that list.

Dear supermarket staff:

1: Some people do in fact use hand baskets since we don't do enough shopping to warrant a trolley....kindly replace baskets at the entrance instead of having us have to walk the lenght of the checkouts to find one.

2: Those are my f*cking groceries you're firing at me....some of them are soft and breakable....I've only got two hands with which to fill my reusable plastic bag. Kindly slow it down just a little since you can't start serving the next customer until I've cleared the till anyway.

3. Smiling wouldn't hurt. Please and thank you, likewise, wouldn't cost you that much effort. I don't want your phone number or your hand in marriage....just a little courtesy like I've shown.

4. No I do NOT have a bloody loyalty card...if I had I'd have given it to you already...

5. Please remember we are the paying customer...most of us don't even want to be here but it's the closest to where we live, the parking is usually good and we just can't afford to fly our food in from Harrods so we're stuck with this kip....try and make it as pleasant as possible for us....we'll be gone in 20 minutes...

Wow. You must have it hard. You had to look for a basket and the till person was too fast for you?

Bet you'd be the first person to complain though if that same till person was too slow scanning items of the customer in front of you.

I'm 100% sure the people asking you if you have a loyalty card are not doing it for the good of their health. They are obviously doing it as part of their job.

I don't even know where to go with number 5. You just sound bitter!

Attol

Sleepy wrote:

No business can take money out of your paypacket for monies you've lost their business whilst carrying out your duties. Any that do so are acting illegally.

And if you are disciplined for being 25c short at the end of an evening because you haven't adequate change, that's a management problem tbh.

Then report the supermarket or don't shop there! Once again it is one cent. I really pity you if one cent is so important to you. Or else envy you if that's the biggest problem in your life. If it's a big deal to you why don't you complain if you find it happening regularly? Or don't go there? I just don't understand what good bitching about it online then going back and supporting them again does. One cent! How uptight is that. What can you do with one cent?

Nightwish

Faerie wrote:

By the way, do any other supermarket workers notice that women are the rudest? Particularly middle aged women and mothers? Men in general are much more polite and much less PETTY.

I totally agree. In all my years serving people at the Customer Services counter, its middle aged women who go mental over stupid things - want a refund in cash when the paid in gift vouchers, or better still "How come the kettle I bought last week has gone from €15 to €9.99? Why didnt you tell me it's going down in the sale?". Like I know what products out of the 30,000 we sell is going down in price :rolleyes:

Rowley Birkin QC

walrusgumble wrote:

5. if some past teachers come into the store and notice us seem to be working full time, please try not to give us that look of disappoointment that this is all that we have come to, i am sure theres an explanation, like not everyone has the luxury of having mummy and daddy to fund all our college funds or we have finished college just waiting for our cv's to go through to the places/poisitions/job vacancies we have applied for

Bet they would be disappointed if they saw this post.

C+. Must try harder.