Cashier conversations!

Irishcrx · 03-01-2013 12:26PM #1

I'm sure I'm not the only one that this drives demented but I was in the local supermarket last night picking up a few bits and pieces for dinner and had the privelage of spending almost 15 minutes at the cash register waiting to pay even though there was only a que of 5-6 people.

Now , it's 6 O'Clock in the evening, peak time for most with everyone coming in after work and they only have one till open and to make it even better and less convienient the cashier was a bloody chatterbox she spend about 5 minutes talking to this aul one at the till while theres a que of 4 people behind her just staring at her blankly whilen she sits there with the change in her hand yattering away!

' And how's Mary? ahhhh yeeeeeaaaaahhhh that's great , myself and me husband blah blah blah'

Here's a story for ya you twat , your in ****ing work not the pub so shut your pie hole and start working I don't want to be standing here listening to your crap I'm hungry and want to go home....See we don't have this issue with the self service machines she should fear them.

Rant over.

SEPT 23 1989 · 03-01-2013 12:28PM

You need to move to the city

we have no time for chit chat

Dodge · 03-01-2013 12:32PM

My guess is it was about 3-4 minutes at most and you're just an angry person. Seriously, try not to get too worked up about people being friendly to each other. It'll do you good in the long run

DavyD_83 · 03-01-2013 12:33PM

Super Valu by any chance? :P

Penn · 03-01-2013 12:37PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

You need to move to the city

we have no time for chit chat

Sounds like such a magical place...

danslevent · 03-01-2013 12:49PM

I am a cashier. Having the chats with the customer is what makes it for me. €8.65 an hour isn't the best but the pleasantries exchanged with customers make it a lot better!

Lollipops23 · 03-01-2013 12:49PM

I remember when a customer moaned about myself and another girl having a giggle at the counter in work- she had finished being served and was just packing her stuff up. Nothing rude was mentioned etc, but I know we did joke about something or other.

Stuffy bítch told us she didn't come into the shop to listen to our conversation.

Man did she ever need to get laid.

Sauve · 03-01-2013 12:50PM

danslevent wrote: »

I am a cashier. Having the chats with the customer is what makes it for me. €8.65 an hour isn't the best but the pleasantries exchanged with customers make it a lot better!

:mad:

Irishcrx · 03-01-2013 12:55PM

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Super Valu by any chance? :P

Yep , the one and only!

Rasheed · 03-01-2013 12:59PM

Go to Lidl. I've never met a chatty cashier there.
I don't think they're allowed to waste time with such counterproductive activities......

Cupcake_Crisis · 03-01-2013 01:04PM

I find it worse when there's 2 or more cashiers at a till and they're having a conversation with each other like you're not even there. It's very rude, and something i never dreamed of doing when i worked in retail.

kneemos · 03-01-2013 01:04PM

Cough loudly and look at your watch,repeat frequently.

du Maurier · 03-01-2013 01:13PM

Not too gone on employees chatting excessively, or moreso at inopportune times when the place is wedged. Get on with yer business of sorting out some customers and then you can get back to chatting up your fellow employees when there's a lull!:pac:

I don't really mind the customer-checkout staff chat.

ash23 · 03-01-2013 01:14PM

Soooo....it's bad customer service to be friendly to the customers???

Surely the problem is not that the cashier was being friendly and more that the management had only one till open.
If it bothered you that much, complain to management about the lack of staff, not about the cashier being nice.

I feel bad for shop staff because the cost cutting measures mean they are busier than ever but at the same time, they are still expected to give people their time and be friendly and helpful. They can't win.

Either they fly through their work and say very little and people complain/they chat and people complain because they are being delayed/they are slowly replaced with automated checkouts and people complain about having to do it themselves.

Penn · 03-01-2013 01:17PM

Difference between a cashier being nice while completing a transaction and a cashier holding up the queue by chatting with a friend after the transaction has been finished

DAZP93 · 03-01-2013 01:17PM

Pisses me right off, especially if you have a tasty hot chicken roll in your hand going cold..:mad:

ash23 · 03-01-2013 01:20PM

Penn wrote: »

Difference between a cashier being nice while completing a transaction and a cashier holding up the queue by chatting with a friend after the transaction has been finished

A lot of people frequent certain supermarkets for the chat. Might be the only person they get to talk to all week.
The likes of Supervalu can't compete with Tesco and Lidl in price so make up for it by staying old school and relying on customer loyalty. I see it in the town I live and the town I'm from. Supervalu checkouts are much slower but they are way chattier.

Which is why if I'm in a hurry I don't go there. But I know plenty who prefer that to the self service in tesco or the Aldi speed round.

Irishcrx · 03-01-2013 01:21PM

Penn wrote: »

Difference between a cashier being nice while completing a transaction and a cashier holding up the queue by chatting with a friend after the transaction has been finished

Exactly , I have no issue with a bit of friendly chat and banter while your passing through. But ongoing conversations whle people are waiting to be served is downright rude and unprofessional, and she was even looking at us while chatting not giving a flying ****...

Very aggrovating, If I did that to a customer in work I'd be sacked.

Eve_Dublin · 03-01-2013 01:24PM

Irishcrx wrote: »

Exactly , I have no issue with a bit of friendly chat and banter while your passing through. But ongoing conversations whle people are waiting to be served is downright rude and unprofessional, and she was even looking at us while chatting not giving a flying ****...

Very aggrovating, If I did that to a customer in work I'd be sacked.

What she going to do though? Ignore an old lady who might not get a chance to talk to anyone else for the rest of the day? It's only 4 minutes out of your life for the love of jaysus. Chill the fook out, man.

ash23 · 03-01-2013 01:24PM

Irishcrx wrote: »

Very aggrovating, If I did that to a customer in work I'd be sacked.

Our ethos in work is to give our full attention to the person we are currently serving. Different companies have different priorities.

ruthloss · 03-01-2013 01:25PM

Irishcrx wrote: »

I'm sure I'm not the only one that this drives demented but I was in the local supermarket last night picking up a few bits and pieces for dinner and had the privelage of spending almost 15 minutes at the cash register waiting to pay even though there was only a que of 5-6 people.

Now , it's 6 O'Clock in the evening, peak time for most with everyone coming in after work and they only have one till open and to make it even better and less convienient the cashier was a bloody chatterbox she spend about 5 minutes talking to this aul one at the till while theres a que of 4 people behind her just staring at her blankly whilen she sits there with the change in her hand yattering away!

' And how's Mary? ahhhh yeeeeeaaaaahhhh that's great , myself and me husband blah blah blah'

Here's a story for ya you twat , your in ****ing work not the pub so shut your pie hole and start working I don't want to be standing here listening to your crap I'm hungry and want to go home....See we don't have this issue with the self service machines she should fear them.

Rant over.

Do you have a Club Card? No. Would you like one?:(

kneemos · 03-01-2013 01:26PM

Rasheed wrote: »

Go to Lidl. I've never met a chatty cashier there.
I don't think they're allowed to waste time with such counterproductive activities......

It's five hours in the cooler for starting a converration.

Irishcrx · 03-01-2013 01:27PM

ash23 wrote: »

Our ethos in work is to give our full attention to the person we are currently serving. Different companies have different priorities.

Grand , so do that and then move along and serve the next person waiting. It doesn't mean you have to listen to their life story does it?

Annasopra · 03-01-2013 01:28PM

kneemos wrote: »

It's five hours in the cooler for starting a converration.

And evil evil stares for packing your bags slowly

kneemos · 03-01-2013 01:34PM

mango salsa wrote: »

And evil evil stares for packing your bags slowly

Indeed.There's a definite aura of hurry up.

ash23 · 03-01-2013 01:37PM

Irishcrx wrote: »

Grand , so do that and then move along and serve the next person waiting. It doesn't mean you have to listen to their life story does it?

Yeah but if the person I'm talking to decides they want to tell me their life story I have to just smile and go with it.

The person she was talking to was probably someone who is in there weekly and has been for years. They'll spend more in a week than most would spend in a year in there.

Some companies don't operate by the "get em in and get em out". Get over it or if you are going to give out, give out about the logic of having one till open at a peak time. Not about someone who is just being friendly.

Penn · 03-01-2013 01:43PM

ash23 wrote: »

A lot of people frequent certain supermarkets for the chat. Might be the only person they get to talk to all week.
The likes of Supervalu can't compete with Tesco and Lidl in price so make up for it by staying old school and relying on customer loyalty. I see it in the town I live and the town I'm from. Supervalu checkouts are much slower but they are way chattier.

Which is why if I'm in a hurry I don't go there. But I know plenty who prefer that to the self service in tesco or the Aldi speed round.

But again, that's at the expense of other customers, and surely that's bad for business. By all means, chat to the customers while doing your job, but once they're finished, any further delay solely because of chat does nothing but annoy the waiting customers. If there's no-one waiting, chat away for as long as you want.

Giving great customer service to one customer can result in giving bad customer service to another. Wouldn't a happy medium be "chat during transaction and then politely end the chat to deal with the next customer"?

ash23 · 03-01-2013 01:48PM

Penn wrote: »

Giving great customer service to one customer can result in giving bad customer service to another. Wouldn't a happy medium be "chat during transaction and then politely end the chat to deal with the next customer"?

Wouldn't a better solution be "have two checkouts open" so that they can deal with the people who are in for a chat whilst also serving the people in a hurry?

I don't understand any supermarket only having one till open. Some people will have trolley loads and others will have a bag of crisps. That's why there should be a till open for "10 items or less" and another for larger amounts.
I'd be annoyed over that more than I'd be annoyed over the cashier but each to their own.

Pottler · 03-01-2013 01:49PM

"Hi, beep beep beep beep. That'll be 5.99 please.....Thanks, here's your change....NEXT"

cue thread on Boards : "I was in my local shop the other day, and yer wan was as rude as can be, you'd want to hear her, rant, rant, boil...:D

ChubbyHubby · 03-01-2013 01:51PM

ash23 wrote: »

Soooo....it's bad customer service to be friendly to the customers???

You're not being paid to have a conversation and most customers didn't go there to chit-chat. It's bad customer service when most people just want to pay for their stuff and get the hell out.

Surely the problem is not that the cashier was being friendly and more that the management had only one till open.
If it bothered you that much, complain to management about the lack of staff, not about the cashier being nice.

I feel bad for shop staff because the cost cutting measures mean they are busier than ever but at the same time, they are still expected to give people their time and be friendly and helpful. They can't win.

Sorry, you saying you can't be friendly and helpful without having a 5 min conversation with some customer when there's a queue forming? Having a conversation with the customer is hardly in the cashiers job requirement. It's a supermarket, not a local ma and pa shop.

Either they fly through their work and say very little and people complain/they chat and people complain because they are being delayed/they are slowly replaced with automated checkouts and people complain about having to do it themselves.

Who the hell ever complains about some cashier won't chat to them? You saying not chatting is being unfriendly?

leahyl · 03-01-2013 01:51PM

What really annoys me are people who don't even make an effort to pack up their bags as fast as they can if there is a queue behind - you could be standing there 5 minutes and they're cool as you like packing the bags as slowly as possible - that's why I like Aldi and Lidl - you have to lob everything into the trolley and then do your packing away from the till.

It also really annoys me when cashiers don't even help someone to pack their groceries if the person is on their own.

Cashier conversations!

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