Impatient Customer

[Ironclad Alibi]

The following appeared on the local Yahoo Group for my community, including my response.

Hi all,

Just wanted to follow up previous discussions to say that Safeway has done it again!

My husband stopped by there on his way to work last evening to buy one package of pens. He waited in line behind another woman with a full cart because the other couple lanes open had more people waiting in them. Waited for several minutes then the cashier decides to close her lane right in front of him. He asked her if she can just check him out and then close the lane behind him - after all, he had been waiting there, she saw him and he just had one thing of pens - and she said NO.

REALLY? What happened to the customer service? He ended up tossing the pens down and just leaving the store. This is the second time this has happened to us. It's ridiculous. So now I am doubly ticked at that Safeway and refuse to go there anymore.

What was the name of that new manager?

Thanks,
E. D.

I would have taken the extra minute to find the manager right then and there to lodge a complaint telling him/her that I'm walking out of the store without making any purchase.

B. N.

And do you and you husband like to stay and do “just one more thing” when it’s time to go home? Without getting paid overtime or anything extra? The clerk in question might have already been past their closing time, and might have already taken “just one more customer”, maybe even several times. Clerks can get in trouble, or even be fired, for going over their hours. They are not robots, existing just to serve impatient customers. Have some compassion for the clerks. They are people, just like us.

For more information about how clerks are abused by customers visit: http://www.customerssuck.com

Ironclad Alibi

[dragon_wings]

Gah! I have so many comments but almost none of them are very nice.

[mikoyan29]

Back in my days as a cashier, closing the lane meant that I would have to take any of the customers already in line. I would carefully note the last person and anyone that came in line after that person would be told that I am closing. If the guy was in line when the cashier closed the line, I would say that the cashier should take care of him. But I realize that was a different era....

[Teskeria]

Actually it is very possible that her light was off and that she told him her line was closed and he decided to ignore that since he had 'only 1 item'. Of course we only have his wife's word that is true. It's very possible his only 1 item was multiple packs of pens. people lie. Word! (did I use that right?)

[PepperElf]

bet he has a conniption that someone dared tell him that he was wrong...

[ExArtShopSlave]

Back in my days as a cashier, closing the lane meant that I would have to take any of the customers already in line. I would carefully note the last person and anyone that came in line after that person would be told that I am closing. If the guy was in line when the cashier closed the line, I would say that the cashier should take care of him. But I realize that was a different era....

I would have to agree with you, mikoyan. When I was a Wal-Mart cashier, I always asked the last customer in line to put the 'Closed' sign at the end of belt and shut off my light. For the most part, that last customer would tell other customers "she's closed!"

ExArtShopSlave

[kibbles]

To be fair, the cashier should have advised the man that she was closed and he would have to go to the next line. Most likely, he would have still thrown a fit, but the way it sounds is that he waited in line in full view of the cashier only to be told "oh sorry I'm closed" when it was his turn.

[bainsidhe]

To be fair, the cashier should have advised the man that she was closed and he would have to go to the next line. Most likely, he would have still thrown a fit, but the way it sounds is that he waited in line in full view of the cashier only to be told "oh sorry I'm closed" when it was his turn.

I agree. Sadly, I've seen similar situations, so I'm willing to believe the complaint. I think he should've found a manager and complained. And if it were Ma-Mart, follow that up with an email to corporate if he was still unhappy. When I worked at Mal-Mart, having a customer complain to corporate was BAD. Management took an active interest in fixing things when corporate was involved.

As a customer, I once walked up to an open lane where a cashier was chatting to another associate and YES, I confirmed her light was on. After I set my items down at the register, she turns from her conversation, tells me she's closed, turns off her light and walks away.

[Sapphire Silk]

Sooo . . .

Ironclad Alibi, how many Sucky Customers have flamed you for your response?

[Ironclad Alibi]

Sooo . . .

Ironclad Alibi, how many Sucky Customers have flamed you for your response?

Only one sent to me privately, not to the Yahoo Group:

U were pretty strong there. But I have to agree with you. I have never really had any problem with lines at the safeway. Maybe I understand that they are all doing their best. If thre's a long line, theres a long line. I usually see any employee that can, scramble and open up a register.

Okay, this is what really is so ridiculous. So the guy leaves without buying his pens. Real mature. I had a boyfriend that did that once. Thought it was the most foolish thing. I guess when you're soooo mad...it may make u feel in control or bring the power back into ones own hands for the moment. But really, I look at it this way, once you've come all the way there and shopped, you might as well wait another minute to make the purchase.

It all seems very odd to me that people really think that Safeway is there to serve only them or something. Im not sure? Is it that "entitlement" issue everyone keeps talking about?

And a couple of online replies to my post:

Most cashiers will notify someone that the line is closed or they will tell a customer in line that they are the last one and ask them to tell other customers the line is closed. To not let the customer know, and let them wait in line, is poor customer service. How was the customer to know that the cashier needed to go on break or end their shift?

----

You're right. It is a very unusual situation. They always seem overly polite to me. Perhaps the person had to go to the bathroom or something. I have never had this situation happen to me at the Safeway.

And another reply to the initial post:

I have to say I have been relatively impressed with the Safeway over the last month or two. Generally speaking I have found that in the evenings they have more lanes open and it is often not the express lane. The managers seem much more responsive, watching the lines and opening additional lanes when the situation warrants. Not that any store is always going to be perfect but the situation seems to have improved dramatically over the last two months from what it was 6 months ago.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Probably some missing information in the post of the OP on Yahoo, or by the original customer himself. We can't know since we weren't there...I can understand his annoyance if the cashier never gave him any notice that she was closing, but she might have and he just ignored it. Bleh.

[Pixilated]

Back in my days as a cashier, closing the lane meant that I would have to take any of the customers already in line. I would carefully note the last person and anyone that came in line after that person would be told that I am closing. If the guy was in line when the cashier closed the line, I would say that the cashier should take care of him. But I realize that was a different era....

That's how it worked at my ex-Supermarket. Once I turned off my light and put my 'Closed' sign up, those already in line were served, but newcomers were asked to move to another line.

And yeah, we're only getting one side of the story here. Be interesting to hear the cashier's side.

[fma_fanatic]

Having lived in California up until 10 years ago and having shopped at the Safeways in our area, I'm just gonna say I can believe the story. One of the Safeway stores by the apartment the ex and I lived in had probably the worst cashiers I had ever encountered. I had one cashier watch me as I loaded the belt with my purchases, then tell me "oh sorry, closed", switch off their light and walk off.

I found a manager, pointed to the belt and said that was my groceries for the week and that he was welcome to put them back and walked out.

After that, I shopped only at Lucky's/Albertsons or Nob Hill.