So Kathleen runs out to the supermarket the other day to pick up two items. Two items.
She goes to the express lane which says “12 Items Or Less.”
Quick quiz: What’s an item?
For some folks, this is apparently a tricky question. I once brought three six packs of soda (we were having a party) to the Express line, and a woman behind me had a meltdown, accusing me of trying to sneak in eighteen items. “No, it’s three items,” I said. “Three sixpacks, each of which gets rung up once.” The woman snarled at me and threatened to call the manager and even the cashier’s assuring her that I was correct and it was only three items barely assuaged her.
So who does Kathleen get stuck behind?
A woman buying thirty *individual* cans of cat food. Plus a bunch of bananas. And a bag of apples. And a bag of oranges. And a bag of grapes. And a bag of peaches. And laundry detergent, and dishwasher detergent.
To a sane person, this is thirty seven items, three times the limit. To this woman? She very loudly announced to the annoyed cashier that this was three items. Cat food is an “item.” Fruits are an “item.” Cleaning liquids is an “item.” She couldn’t distinguish between units and categories.
The cashier rang her up.
Incredible.
PAD
• 
Every time I get stuck behind a retard like that I wish Foolkiller would exist in real life. Hate those bášŧárdš even worse than the morons who get on a plane with a bag that its clearly too big to fit and they spend 20 minutes trying to shove it in the overhead bin!
Welcome to AK-47 Mart.
Those with ten weapons of mass destruction or less….please form an orderly line so Manager Bush can search your bags and not find anything.
John
The Ultimate “Asshat” Revenge Story.
I was a head stocker at grocery store that closed at night, and it was my job to make sure that all the customers were out before the last checker and manager left for the night. Once we had a frontal-lobed-challenged person who wouldn’t leave, no matter how many announcements we made over the PA. If he’d been shopping, things might have gone differently, but this chump kept right on reading a magazine on the book aisle. When the manager personally told him to get checked out and leave, Mommy-said-I-was-special-and-so-did-the-school-system insisted that he wasn’t through shopping and would leave when he was good and ready. So… The manager told me he was going to lock the bascart doors as well as the front door. He told me NOT to use my key, but to call him at the Waffle House down the block when this jerk wanted to leave. Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, born-without-a-brain comes up front wanting to purchase his single item.
“Sorry, sir. No cashier.”
Numb-from-the-neck-up then walks up the exit, and looks back at me when the doors don’t open.
“Locked up for the night, sir.”
I won’t even try to describe the look of horror on this butt-brain’s face. After about fifteen minutes of fun with empty-between-the-ears, I told him I would have to call the manager at home and wake him up. When I called the manager at Waffle House, he told me to call him back in about thirty minutes and “wake him up” again; he was going to finish his cup of coffee.
At about two AM, we finally let Mr. Wasting-my-oxygen out.
—
Okay, I tried every insult I could think of, and STILL couldn’t beat “asshat”. Pete, I’m definitly stealing that one.
Just wanted to let everyone (who cares) that asshat comes from Fark.com. It’s been in use there for several months at least. It’s used to help keep the site safe for work, since áššhølë could cause problems with some managers.
And a small correction to my first post – it isn’t Waldbaums with the ‘about 10 items’ sign.
**To a sane person, this is thirty seven items, three times the limit. To this woman? She very loudly announced to the annoyed cashier that this was three items. Cat food is an “item.” Fruits are an “item.” Cleaning liquids is an “item.” She couldn’t distinguish between units and categories.
The cashier rang her up.
Incredible.**
You may think this is incredible but it isn’t really. I’ve worked in the supermarket industry for years and it happens several times a day, hëll sometimes it happens several times an hour. You’d be surprised how many people consider 100 cans of an item to be one item. It wouldn’t surprise me if more people think that way then the reasonable way, it very often seems that way to the people on te other side of the cash register. As for why the cashier rung her up, I would have too. In my experience as a cashier, (and it’s been almost a decade since I’ve been a cashier), if the customer goes over the express limit and the cashier refuses to take them and said customer complains to the manager, 9 times out of ten the manager will tell the cashier just to take them, arguing with a rude customer simply isn’t worth it. The general rule for cashiers is to politly point out that it’s an experss lane and if they argue to smile and ring them up anyway, apoligizing to customers behind them if there are any. Basicially the rule is an angry customer, even if the customer is totally out of line, is bad for bussiness. Don’t always agree but very often that’s the way it is.
Also, If you go to Waldbaums, notice that the express line signs now say “about 15 items” instead of “only 15 items”
I work for Waldbaums parent company and am unaware of this. Are you sure this is what the signs say?
Sorry, Peter, but you’re on your own on this one…unless (and only unless) the cat food cans were all different brands. If not, the cashier should have rung one up and then hit thirty into the keyboard and done them all at once. IT doesn’t take that long to bag cat food.
No sorry, you’re wrong. Most supermakets now have automatic online ordering and inventory in those checkout scanners that automatically track inventory on every indivual flavor and varity of a brand. So if a person has 30 cans of cat food and some are liver and some are turky and a few are tuna and there’s one chicken in there, to accuratly account for inventory and to accuratly make out an order so that the store doesn’t run out of that particular flavor, every single can needs to be scanned, (because every flavor, every variety has a different UPC, even if they are the same brand and the same price). In addition some dishonest people like to sneak a 5 dollar can of Tuna into the middle of a pile of 69 cent cat food, hoping that the cashier won’t notice the difference in the simularly colored cans, use the quanty key and they get a 5 dollar item for under a dollar. (happens all the time believe or not). For these reasons and a few others I haven’t mentioned cashier are told not to use the quality key. Some chains have even gone so far as to remove the quanty key from the register so that it isn’t even an option, (we’ve done that in some of our divisions). Bottom line: the cashier was probably doing thier job and 30 cans of something is 30 indivual items, and believing it to be anything else is just justifing bad behavior.
**Even though the self checkout process is pretty darn simple, using it involves computers
I can’t stand the self checkouts. I worked as a checker during my college days, and I was pretty quick when it came to scanning. And the self checkouts are so dámņ slow. I get very frustrated scanning, waiting, waiting, then scanning.
**
I’m not to big on the self checkouts myself, (and I have to work with them, hëll there’s a big one that sits right outside my office). But market research shows people love them. Many people would rather use a USCAN then go to a cashier. Don’t know what that says about people but there you go.
**Just wanted to let everyone (who cares) that asshat comes from Fark.com. It’s been in use there for several months at least. It’s used to help keep the site safe for work, since áššhølë could cause problems with some managers.
And a small correction to my first post – it isn’t Waldbaums with the ‘about 10 items’ sign**
Feeling better it’s not Waldbaums. 🙂
Many people would rather use a USCAN then go to a cashier. Don’t know what that says about people but there you go.
If the regular lanes are over-crowded, then I’ll use the U-Scans. But I’d much rather go thru a lane and chat a bit with the cashier. I’m just funny that way, I guess.
The general rule for cashiers is to politly point out that it’s an experss lane and if they argue to smile and ring them up anyway, apoligizing to customers behind them if there are any. Basicially the rule is an angry customer, even if the customer is totally out of line, is bad for bussiness.
Hmmm…this seems to lead to a Catch-22, as the customers in line behind the one abusing the system are now angry.
So, which is worse for business:
One customer who’s angry because it’s been pointed out he’s in the wrong
-or-
Multiple customers who are angry because the store is letting the first one get away with being in the wrong?
I think I have that beat—-by a clerk!!!
My friend (name changed to protect the seemingly innocent) Stacy was shopping about a couple of weeks ago, and had placed the obligatory plastic divider between her order and the person behind her. After the clerk had scanned all her groceries, she proceeds toscan the dámņ divider.
Yeah.
And she poses, “Do you remember how much this was? I can’t find a barcode on it.”
After Stace rolled her eyes, she said, kindly and completely deadpan, “Oh, go ahead and put that back, I didn’t really want it.”
And, don’t get me wrong—this is no slight against cashiers–many of my best friends are in that profession.
I just wanted to help my fellow PADawans point out that the number of imbeciles in the world is truly unbelievable—even if you start out thinking there are plenty of cretins in the first place.
“Stupidity is contagious?
PAD”
OUCH! Peter, it was just a joke. Come on….really now. Lighten up.
Please note I mentioned peterdavid.net not Peter David.
Love your writing! I am still a big fan. No Dixiechicking here.
God Bless!
**The general rule for cashiers is to politly point out that it’s an experss lane and if they argue to smile and ring them up anyway, apoligizing to customers behind them if there are any. Basicially the rule is an angry customer, even if the customer is totally out of line, is bad for bussiness.
Hmmm…this seems to lead to a Catch-22, as the customers in line behind the one abusing the system are now angry.
So, which is worse for business:
One customer who’s angry because it’s been pointed out he’s in the wrong
-or-
Multiple customers who are angry because the store is letting the first one get away with being in the wrong? **
It is a catch 22. The thing to be aware of is that those multiple customers for the most part will not blame the cashier or the store, they will blame the rude customer. OTOH the rude customer will blame the store and may call the corporate office, where they will insist that they had only 12 items, (using thier logic of 30 cans of cat food is one item) and corporate will give this rude person all kinds of coupons and free stuff to placate them while at the same time calling the store manager on the carpet for being rude and turning away a customer. (I have seen this happen, more then once). This is why managers almost always back the customer and not the cashier, because they know that corporate will back the customer and not them. It is just easier placating a rude customer, (even at the risk of ticking off other customers) then it is to risk your job standing up to a rude customer.
I spent a year and a half working at one of those Super K-mart stores; the big K-mart stores with a grocery store built in.
One of the first things I learned was that, despite the facts that there’s no *room* at the express checkouts to handle a large number of items, that the express checkouts are clearly marked, and that customers are often unbelieveably rude, you don’t turn a customer away.
Since that experience, I’ve always been very careful about how I treat the workers at most stores I frequent, and I’m quick to defend them if I hear another customer being rude.
That said, I love the self-checkouts at most stores — most of the people around here are too stupid to figure out how to use them, so there’s never a line, and I get out very quickly.
I’m a demo lady while between jobs. At Wal-marts, while we are supposed to be signed in at 12, we’re supposed to have our tables set up, all coupons arranged attractively, find every item on a long list, buy it and be ready to go at 12:30. Sometimes, it can take 45-60 minutes to do that. So I do go throught the express lane with as many as 45 items at once. However, I make sure the cashier only has to scan 4-5 items total and hit a little button to adjust the total.
But then the company started giving us checks to pay with and by Sunday, the excessive checks slip would come up and a manager would have to be located and come over to fix the problem….
It is a catch 22. The thing to be aware of is that those multiple customers for the most part will not blame the cashier or the store, they will blame the rude customer
Which is almost as illogical as the customer insisting that 30 cans of cat food is one item. While that customer is responsible for ignoring the rules, they are not responsible for the store not enforcing their rules.
OTOH the rude customer will blame the store and may call the corporate office, where they will insist that they had only 12 items, (using thier logic of 30 cans of cat food is one item) and corporate will give this rude person all kinds of coupons and free stuff to placate them while at the same time calling the store manager on the carpet for being rude and turning away a customer.
Trust me…I deal with this every day, too. I work as a 2nd-level supervisor for a computer extended warranty service. Our department deals with nothing but escalated customers, a great many of whom are demanding repairs not covered by the terms and conditions, and also with store managers & retailer corporate customer relations reps making similar demands. So, I’m familiar with the concept you present. And, even at work, that’s one of my biggest gripes…doing something that shouldn’t be done just because someone’s loud. In most cases, we are able to turn those unreasonable demands down. And, more often than not, it’s by pointing out that, if we make this exception for you, we have to make it for everyone.
So, maybe the solution is this: Tell the person going through the express lane with more items than allowed that, they will certainly be rung up even though they’re breaking the rules…but, the next time they want to come through the express lane within the item limit, they must allow someone with a cart full of groceries to precede them. I say this because it’s been my experience that this type of person, who feels that the rules don’t apply to them, are the first to get bent out of shape when they’re the ones being inconvenienced by someone of a similar mindset.
This is why managers almost always back the customer and not the cashier, because they know that corporate will back the customer and not them.
And, whenever I encounter such an establishment, I choose not to shop there. Heck…based on my experiences at work, I don’t shop at our major client for that very reason. (Sometime when it’s on-topic, remind me to relate the story about when my wife – who worked as one of our phone techs at the time – and I were shopping for a new computer and let the sales geek at our client try to sell us the extended warranty. )
It is just easier placating a rude customer, (even at the risk of ticking off other customers) then it is to risk your job standing up to a rude customer.
And this little bit of Corporate America just never ceases to amaze me…that someone can find their job at risk from corporate by following corporate’s rules. The rude customer (in these express lane examples) is doing something against store policy; the manager is attempting to get the customer to obey store policy. That’s like throwing someone in jail for not stealing.
One of the first things I learned was that, despite the facts that there’s no *room* at the express checkouts to handle a large number of items, that the express checkouts are clearly marked, and that customers are often unbelieveably rude, you don’t turn a customer away.
So, instead, send away the other customers who get sick and tired of the store accommodating those rude customers?
Sending a customer such as we’ve been describing from an express lane to a “normal” lane isn’t “sending them away,” it’s directing them to where they can best be helped.
There are two grocery stores in the immediate vicinity of our apartment–one right across the street, and one a block away. Although the one that’s a block away carries some more of the items that I want, at slightly better prices, I won’t set foot in there again. Why? Because I was in line behind a woman one Sunday who spent at least 10 minutes arguing the price of two large bags of dog food. Despite the growing line, despite my standing with a gallong of milk & breakfast in one hand and a baby carrier in the other, the woman did not excuse herself to the customer service desk, nor did the cashier suggest she do so or even call a manager. I say “at least 10 minutes” because that’s how long I stood there while she argued over a total of $3; she was still going strong when I put down my items on the floor (this too was an express lane with no counter space) and walked out.
The following is a true story!
Once at my local Wal*Mart, I was in a regular checkout line with two people ahead of me.
The first was a family already being rung up. They had the conveyor belt full plus just as many items still in their shopping cart!
The lady between me and them just had what she could carry in her arms: a few bags of produce and a drink she got out of the cooler.
Me? With just my usual week’s worth (being single, about a third of a cart) to buy, I just grabbed a magazine off the rack and started reading, leaning on my shopping cart for support.
At one point, I even noticed that a ‘quick’ check lane had just opened and pointed it out to her. But she said she was fine standing there, so I went back to my reading.
Anyway, the first family finally got finished and the lady ahead of me sat her stuff down on the empty conveyor belt. Next thing I know, she’s waving to someone off in the distance, and then suddenly here comes this guy (her husband) out of nowhere cradling a kid in one arm while towing a shopping cart behind him even MORE loaded than the one that was ahead of us!
Considering it had been almost a good hour for the first one, there was no way I was gonna let anyone pull this stunt and demanded to see the manager on duty.
Next thing I know, her husband is threatening to knock my (censored) white block off and the cashier is calling security!
Now in any place before the previous sentence did I mention color, or did color even matter? Just because I am white and the lady with the few bags of produce and her husband were black did not mean a thing to me. And for the record, the family ahead of both of us were hispanic, but like I asked already, did it matter?
It was the stunt itself I was objecting to. What would any of you had done in my place?
And for those interested, I was rung up at another register and out of there while the manager and security were still conversing with the couple in question; although I held off going to that specific Wal*Mart for a couple of weeks, just in case.
Within the next few years, we won’t need to have this discussion. Microchips are getting so inexpensive that plans are in the works to put a chip in each and every item being sold in the store. They will be more like the microdots of the oldtime spy movies. At checkout, it will take you longer to get your money or debit card out of your pocket than it will for the computer to scan all the items. Even if you have a full cart, the entire scan will be done in a second or two without ever removing the items from the cart. Then you will push your cart over to the nearest bagging station to self-bag your own groceries. No more waiting for ignorant people at the checkout station, but probably still have to wait while they bag their order.
As for those annoying self check out stands, I hate them. Not because I am brainless, or lack computer using ability…but because when the stupid bar code on the stupid product rings up the wrong stupid price…who do I complain to to make it change?
What you do is you scan the item, bag it, walk over and void it yourself (all the stores that I’ve seen them in use the same brand, apparently–it’ll be in the upper-left hand corner of the screen), then press the button in the lower right corner of the section for your machine, which tells the machine that “everything that’s on the scale now is supposed to be there”.
Ah, yes, I’ve witnessed overlimit shoppers in the express lane, but my biggest supermarket pet peeve is with those people who are in such a rush to get in and out that they park as close to the exit as possible — in very clearly signed and painted FIRE LANES.
I’ve complained to managers, who agreed with me, but had all but given up from all the guff they’d taken with no results. I’ve called the police, but don’t know what they could do, if anything — I later heard that since the building and car park are private property, the cops really have no jurisdiction.
I’ve considered making flyers and sticking them under their windshields, saying something like “I wrote down your plate number; if there’s an emergency while I’m in this store, I will sue you for blocking a lane designated for emergency vehicles and endangering my safety” or whatever. I’ve *never* considered confrontation. I’m a wuss like that. ^.^;
Then there was the time I worked for a toy store. When it came to certain particular collectible items, we had in place a limit, per customer, the quantity of any given collectible. In this case, it was a line of 12″ GI Joe dolls. Once, a gal came in wanting to buy all the dolls we had in stock — sorry, limit 2 per customer. In order to skirt the limit, she returned the next day with two friends, each buying two. Even though I knew what they were doing, I didn’t have the will to fight it that day. I just rang them out and moved on.
**Ah, yes, I’ve witnessed overlimit shoppers in the express lane, but my biggest supermarket pet peeve is with those people who are in such a rush to get in and out that they park as close to the exit as possible — in very clearly signed and painted FIRE LANES.
I’ve complained to managers, who agreed with me, but had all but given up from all the guff they’d taken with no results. I’ve called the police, but don’t know what they could do, if anything — I later heard that since the building and car park are private property, the cops really have no jurisdiction.**
Not true, parking in a fire lane is illegal even on private property. (the fire lane is there because of leagal requirments not because the owners of that private property are being nice to the fire department). I have seen many a person get ticketed and towed for parking in a fire lane even in a private lot, (like a retail store). I have even seen employees of private buildings get towed because they blocked a fire lane. The same is true of handicap spots. If a police officer told you they can’t do anything that just means they didn’t feel like doing anything and figured you didn’t know the law enough to question them. Bottom line, having 30 items in a 12 items or less lane is simply rude, parking in a fire lane is illegal. Both bad behaviors but very different levels.
Within the next few years, we won’t need to have this discussion. Microchips are getting so inexpensive that plans are in the works to put a chip in each and every item being sold in the store. They will be more like the microdots of the oldtime spy movies. At checkout, it will take you longer to get your money or debit card out of your pocket than it will for the computer to scan all the items. Even if you have a full cart, the entire scan will be done in a second or two without ever removing the items from the cart. Then you will push your cart over to the nearest bagging station to self-bag your own groceries. No more waiting for ignorant people at the checkout station, but probably still have to wait while they bag their order.
Microchips won’t come as fast as they want you to believe. It will cost millions for retailers to put in the equitment to handle them and in a bad ecomey, (like the one we’re having now), companies don’t want to spend that money. A couple of years is more like a decade or two, (which is how long it took for scanners to become commonplace). Retail stores are notoriously slow at upgrading technoligy.
**It is just easier placating a rude customer, (even at the risk of ticking off other customers) then it is to risk your job standing up to a rude customer.
And this little bit of Corporate America just never ceases to amaze me…that someone can find their job at risk from corporate by following corporate’s rules. The rude customer (in these express lane examples) is doing something against store policy; the manager is attempting to get the customer to obey store policy. That’s like throwing someone in jail for not stealing. **
The thing is when a costomer calls or writes the main office it becomes the customers word againt the employee or the managers, and the people on the other side go by the “customer is always right” rule. Some people who write to the main office are entirly right, they have been treated rudely but some people are entirly wrong and were out of line, or rude themselves, but the person on the end of the complant line has no way of knowing that and thier job is not to launch an investigation to determine who was right and who was wrong, thier job is to do whatever it takes to make the person on the other end happy. As I said it’s a catch 22 but really an understanable one. A privatly owned store can turn away a rude customer because the person turning them away is “the main office or the owner”, in a corporate owned store or even a franchise store things aren’t as cut and dry.
This far down, on this popular subject for rage, it’s unlikely I’ll be read, but what the hëll…
At least, in the supermarket Mrs. David entered, it was likely that the sneaky woman with the cat food would defend herself with the “category” line. If she had done what I would have done – slowly and loudly count out the items on her cart, to show what a creep she was – she’d only have gotten a specious argument about why she deserved to be in the short line.
If she were in a Florida supermarket, especially in a tourist area, you’d get someone speaking Spanish who would pretend that they didn’t understand the item limit sign because it was in English. And if she knew Spanish and counted the items out loudly, using my technique, she would soon find herself in a vicious argument with the line sneak. I have seen people actually throw things when their count was challenged.
So Mrs. David should be lucky she got home without getting into a fight. What do you expect in a “Me generation” that has gone global?
PAD,
You’re failing to recognize the #1 rule, which is “Get rid of the áššhølë customer by any means necessary.”
When I worked retail we had áššhølë customers come in, and demand, for no particular reason, discounts of up to 50%. If they got loud and abusive they got what they wanted. Why? They were loud and abusive. Get rid of them.
I work a company now, with a six year guarantee. I had a customer write twenty letters to state agencies, complaining that his guarantee was not being honored ELEVEN years after his purchase. Multiple, multiple correspondences were exchanged. The Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General told this guy he was wrong. He didn’t even have the product to return – it just got up his ášš one day that he wanted some money, and he went through his mental files of everything he’d ever purchased, and picked on us. The wrangling went on for a full year. EVEN THOUGH our guarantee requires a return of the product within six years…he ultimately got what he wanted, along with a letter telling him it was ONLY because of his obnoxious harassment.
Get rid of the áššhølëš.
Now, it seems to me, that giving áššhølëš what they want is a good way to encourage their behavior and breed more. But stores act that way because it’s the most expeditious action. ATC
>You’re failing to recognize the #1 rule, which is “Get rid of the áššhølë customer by any means necessary.”
There are ways. Years back, when I did retail, late evenings, we’d occasionally wind up with a customer who tried to pay for a 25 cent item with a twenty dollar bill. We’d often give him back his change in the form of a few coins, and a heap of one dollar bills (as opposed to two and five dollar ones) on the basis that …
1 – the poor lad obviously was shy of change
2 – made our end-of-day cash count that much easier.
We COULD have given them piles of quarters, but that seemed excessive.
The worst one was some twit who tried to buy a 13 cent battery (I said it was YEARS ago) with a credit card. We sent him packing. It wasn’t worth our time to deal with the paperwork (this was in the days before electronic gadgets for the transactions) for such a small purchase and maybe he’d learn to have SOME money in his pockets when he left the house.
Either way, those annoyances rarely came back to haunt us. We didn’t miss them.
A sfor incompetent cashiers, there ARE some, as in every profession.
One of the worst looked at a tag on a piece of clothing and called out to another cashier “Hey, how much is ‘one third off’ in percentiles?”
Our glorious school system hard at work for you.
The most obvious solution to the express lane problem: A sign that reads “12 SCANS Only” The word item is removed, no more argument. And set the computer up to do only 12 scans. I know it can be done, since I work and program computers. Amazing how it works.
Going to the corporate office works no matter how outlandish the customers wants are. When I worked at Waldbaums, a lady brought back a turkey after Thanksgiving because she said ‘it didn’t taste right’. The refund was refused because the turkey was picked to the bone. There wasn’t an ounce of meat on the skeleton.
She wrote the corporate office & not only received the refund, but a large envelope of coupons as well, for the inconvience she had.
As long as people know that they will get what they want by either being loud, writing the main office, or both, this behavior will continue.
Going to the corporate office works no matter how outlandish the customers wants are.
Then our company must be the exception that proves the rule.
Unless our client agrees to pony up the dough for outlandish demands, the outlandish demands are denied. And, we’ve got the client’s (retailer’s) backing on that.
The problem with the whole “the customer is always right” philosophy is that the customer isn’t always right.
The retailers know it.
The customers know it.
But both sides still ignore that knowledge.
I used to work at one of the big car dealership families in town. Our owner wrote a customer service book while I was there. One of the big tenets in it was, “The customer isn’t always right, but let them think they are.”
It’s this kind of attitude, forged in an attempt to boost customer service that has actually helped the decline in customer service.
>Our owner wrote a customer service book while I was there. One of the big tenets in it was, “The customer isn’t always right, but let them think they are.” It’s this kind of attitude, forged in an attempt to boost customer service that has actually helped the decline in customer service.
Quite. When I did retail (for a photographic and related equipment outlet) I took the approach of helping someone buy, rather than selling them something. A subtle thing, but, as my late father was wont to point out, an important one.
Whenever I knew the device they wanted to buy would not be adequate for what they wanted to do, I’d say so and many listened to my points and go with my recomendation. Some understandably felt I was just trying to pawn off a more expensive doohickey on them. Interestingly, many of those usually returned a few days later and admitted maybe I was right and could they see that other model after all?
I did a lot of repeat business, so there must be something to that way of treating customers after all.
Some wonderfully informative, diverting and sometimes hilarious stories in this exchange. I’ve now officially adopted Úš-Hëád into my lexicon, although I have a feeling that Fox News will try and trademark it after their lack of success with ‘fair and balanced.’
To the earlier poster who described an accident they witnessed in a parking lot, I experienced a very similar situation some years back. A woman zipped into a space far too fast, crunched the bumper of the car in front, got out, looked at it (the car was scratched and dented), got back in her car and moved it two spaces away. Didn’t leave a note, didn’t try and get in touch with the woman who owned the other car, as I later discovered. I was parked diagonally from her, so I guess I was out of view, but could easily see everything that happened. The woman who had the now-dented car came out about five minutes later, was stunned to see the damage, especially since there was no longer a car parked in front of her. I went over to her, showed her where the bad driver’s car had been relocated (complete with a bit of her paint still on the bumper), gave her my name and phone number as a witness and left her to call the cops. As I left the parking lot, she was already on her cell phone- I don’t envy the bad driver when she got back to her car later on, thinking she’d got off scot free.
And please don’t get me started on people who park in the emergency zone for no other reason than they don’t want to walk the extra 20 paces to their car. My bank is notorious for that- people park in the emergency zone, and run in to the ATM. The same with my local Starbucks- although a few months back, an employee told me that the town police had taken to circling the place, jotting down the phone numbers, and sending out tickets in the mail. It was actually quite nice to sidle up to one of those emergency parkers, say, ‘You know, the cops hide out of sight and take down your license plate number!’ and watch them spill their double mocha frapuccino (with 4 Equals) running out to move their cars. Some choose to live dangeously, but it’s always fun making them wonder if the ticket will be arriving in the mail.
Úš-Hats, I love it. That one made my week.
I think this must be the same lady who shops at our store. Each and every xmas holiday we have to explain to her that the signs indicating 50% off all xmas merchandise do NOT include regular merchandise. Just because we sell microwaves, clothing, electronics, etc during the xmas season does not mean that this is xmas merchandise!
The most obvious solution to the express lane problem: A sign that reads “12 SCANS Only” The word item is removed, no more argument. And set the computer up to do only 12 scans. I know it can be done, since I work and program computers. Amazing how it works.
Mebbe. Most cash registers are just dumb terminals. I don’t know how easy it would be to have it be able to be changed (at a store or register level, as needed, for if they move registers around or during very busy times).
Besides, then áššwìpëš would just say “Oh, I have x orders.”
Mebbe. Most cash registers are just dumb terminals. I don’t know how easy it would be to have it be able to be changed (at a store or register level, as needed, for if they move registers around or during very busy times).
Pretty easy.
Most registers already keep a running tally of the number of items per transaction. Telling it to auto-total after X number of items is the only addition. As far as overriding goes, registers already have override protocols in place, for wrong prices, etc.
Besides, then áššwìpëš would just say “Oh, I have x orders.”
Of course they will. They’ll also have to pay X times, which will inconvenience them in much the same manner that they are inconveniencing those in line behind them who are obeying the rules.
***Going to the corporate office works no matter how outlandish the customers wants are. When I worked at Waldbaums, a lady brought back a turkey after Thanksgiving because she said ‘it didn’t taste right’. The refund was refused because the turkey was picked to the bone. There wasn’t an ounce of meat on the skeleton.
She wrote the corporate office & not only received the refund, but a large envelope of coupons as well, for the inconvience she had.
As long as people know that they will get what they want by either being loud, writing the main office, or both, this behavior will continue. **
I can do better. A woman once brought a gallon of Eggnog, the day after Christmas she returned the bottle, 2/3rds of which was unconsummed, she wanted her money back because she wasn’t able to finish it. And yes she got her money back. Another time a guy brought back a 6 pack of beer, he had drunk all but one can but he wanted his money back becasue the beer was bad, yes he got his money back to. The really sad thing is that the cost of this lost to the retailer is always passed on to the consumer.
**Personally, I find the self-checkout trend to be insulting to everyone. I understand that you can check yourself out faster using them, but lets see why that is…
Retail stores have cut staff as far back is it will go without losing sales. Customer service is gone, so are (in many cases) clean aisles, attractive displays, baggers at every register or people on the floor to offer assistance. This reduction in staff has also made lines at checkout registers worse than ever, and the absolute lack of any power for these poor checkout folks makes even easy “unusual” tasks take forever. “I need a void on 12!” Stores have intentionally hired too few folks to do the job, and are pushing the work onto the customer — at no cost to them. If you check yourself out, and it takes 5 minutes, you just saved the company about $2 in salary that they didn’t have to pay. Multiply that times hundreds of folks a day.
Did the cost of food go down when I wasn’t looking to make up for this? Does the $10 you “earn” for the store each month arrive in your mailbox? Are you somehow adding to the community or helping others by taking $10 out of the hands of the employees and putting it back into the store’s coffers? Can you now enter the store at any time to do your shopping (like the ATM model) since no employees need be involved? What, exactly, did your $10 gain you? Positive reward for the store for not employing the appropriate amount of people? Terrific.
“But it’s faster this way!” Sure it is, that’s because the stores have abused the customers so long that we’re now ready to accept anything. They’re peeing on our sandwiches and calling it mustard.
And I find it offensive.
Posted by Londo @ 09/10/2003 03:54 PM ET**
As a nation we no longer value service and in fact are willing to pay just as much, and ocasionally even more for lack of service all in the name of speed. In my lifetime I can remember going to the supermarket and there being a cashier and bagger on every single lane, (don’t see that anymore), cashiers who actually knew what was on sale and what was taxable and what wasn’t as compared to 16 year olds who don’t even know what the store sells. I can remember when gas station attendants not only filled the gas but also did your windows and checked your oil, they were also pretty good at giving directions, not so true anymore. When the concept of Self Service at gas stations was introduced the gas companies said it would be cheaper and originally gas stations had both a self service and a full service lane and the self service was a few cents cheaper. Now most gas stations are only self serve and even those that have a full serve lane charge the same as the self serve lane, (and full serve means pumping gas, dont’ expect them to check the oil or do the windows and directions are at best a 50/50 chance). That right, people willingly pay the same for less service. When the company I work for started self checkouts, (we were one of the first in this part of the country), I sat in a meeting and asked if we were going to give a discount to customers who used the self checkouts. From the looks I got you would have thought I said “Hitler was a really nice guy”. “Why would we give a discount to someone who uses a self checkout lane?” they asked. I pointed out that inplicient in the cost of groceries is the service the store provides them, namely the cashier who rings them up and then bags the order. If we expected the customer to do those jobs then said customer should get thier groceries at a discounted price to compensate for the service they were paying for but no longer getting. I was the only person in the room, hëll probably the only person in the entire company who had this opinion. I further stated that I didn’t see the self checkout catching on, I just couldn’t see people paying the same for less and man was I wrong. Self Checkouts did catch on and market research shows that many customers would rather use a selfcheckout then a regular lane. Answer most often given, “it’s faster”, willing to pay more because it’s faster even if you don’t get the service the guy next you gets when he pays the same amount. Retail in this country used to pride it self on service. I look though my companies archives at pictures of stores from the 1940 and they amaze me. A cashier on every lane, and not only that but their uniforms were color cooridinated, so that the odd numbered lanes wore pink and the even numbered lanes wore green. You couldn’t even attempt to impliment this today, you simply wouldn’t have the help in the store to pull it off, (not only would you need a cashier for every terminal but you’d need one’s for the shift changes and breaks and lunches and you’d have to have enough extra help so that only a green cashier would replace a green cashier, this simply couldn’t be done today). In many ways it’s sad how much we lost, working in retail now is considered a “lowly” job, there’s no reason for this to be so. People regularly accept the lost of service with no lowering of the price, again this doesn’t need to be. But until such time when the American public stands up and decides that they would rather have it good then fast I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
From DarrenAs a nation we no longer value service and in fact are willing to pay just as much, and ocasionally even more for lack of service all in the name of speed. In my lifetime I can remember going to the supermarket and there being a cashier and bagger on every single lane, (don’t see that anymore), cashiers who actually knew what was on sale and what was taxable and what wasn’t as compared to 16 year olds who don’t even know what the store sells.
Or a how about a cashier that knows how to count change back? If the computer goes down, their screwed!
As for your story about the meeting, I have one similar. I used to work for a video store chain. I won’t give the name but let’s say it’s colors are blue and yellow and it rhymes with SockDuster.
Anyhow, I was in this meeting and the manager of the store was saying how we weren’t allowed to “socialize” with the customers. That is to say that we weren’t to ask them hwo their day was and the like…and the DISTRICT MANAGER says, “That’s right. Treat the customers like cattle. Get them in,get them rented and get them out”.
My jaw dropped and I said, “But how will we know what to recommend?” me being the veteran of two other video store jobs.
“We don’t. We just check them out. They make up their own choices.”
Now it may seem small but when a customer would come in, I’d make sure I got to know them and maybe their kids. Because then you know that even though it’s rated “PG-13” the mom and dad may not let them rent “Critters” or whatever.
Now, to the parking lot? I’m in a wheelchair, so nothing annoys me more than clearly capable people using the handicapped spot. I don’t even use them. I can use my legs a bit and I feel like it should go to an elderly person or someone much worse off then me.
So when I pulled up into the mall parking lot and saw the woman with all her limbs in working order and her 4 kids who were also all pedi-mobile I caught up to her in the mall at the enterance and said,”Maam, you might not be aware, you parked in a handicapped spot”.
“I know, it’s my husband’s placard”, she said as she hurriedly walked away, teaching her kids the value of honesty.
So picture the overweight wheelchair guy yelling behind her “BUT HE’S NOT WITH YOU!”
Oh well,off I go to read Fallen Angel.Then Wildguard. I know PAD won’t mind the plug.
Michael Norton
Darren said… But until such time when the American public stands up and decides that they would rather have it good then fast I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
You addressed one of the points, that people are willing to pay more for less, actually quite a good parallel to comics. What you didn’t touch on is what this does to the community and to the nation. In my parents generation, working retail, that is, workign the floor or register at a local hardware store, was a way to make a decent living. Now, it’s for people who barely show up, get paid squat, and couldn’t care less about the customer. Yet, things continue to cost more and more each year. The Retail envrionment has gotten so bad, that they throw their hands up and say, “If you think you can do better, then do it yourself!” And, like idiots, we do, not recognizing the immense long-term damage we are doing to the millions of folks who work in retail.
I’d wager that the Retail industry as a whole, being the #1 private employer in the nation, has a lot more to do with the division of economic classes than people give them credit for. I think that actions like this only make the gap wider, while raising profits for the stores. Adam Smith, where are you?
You know what I hate the most about every single self-checkout counter I’ve used in the area?
“Please remove the previously scanned item from the checkout area.”
I’ve gotten that on almost every single self-checkout I’ve ever used. Sometimes it’s because I committed the sin of trying to use my own bags (to prevent the grad school syndrome we hit of drowning in plastic shopping bags). Sometimes it’s because I tried scanning quickly, like the Cool Kids who work there, who do it remarkably quickly. Usually, though, I think it’s because the self-checkout programming people hate me and want me to be unhappy, and I have to say that they’re pretty good at their jobs.
And, of course, removing the item never actually fixes the problem. It’s usually easier to abort the whole order and start again. At a line with a human cashier.
— Ed
I’m probably miles away from where I should be posting a gripe to Kool aid, but I am tired of looking! In am a diebetic, which means no sugar. It doesn’t matter what store, department store, grocery, supermarket, I go to, I go to the kool-aid section, and it is always the same thing,10-15 flavors for the sugar people, and always just 2 for the non sugar people. Of those 2, 1 of them is always lemon-aid. The other 1 is going to be either cherry, or fruit punch.I WANT GRAPE!!!! I know there is a gooid market for it(grape), because 1, and only 1 time it became at the walmart in my town. There must have been 50-60, grape, sugar free kool-aid’s, of which I bought 10 of them. The next day, they were all gone!!! never to return!!! I tried ordering them online, but it costs more to ship them than it does for the product itself. I want to know WHERE in the &%#@ IS THE GRAPE!?!?!? If you could help point me in the right direction on this matter, please send an email to mcdude45@hotmail.com, thanks for hearin me-Chuck mcdude