Scan my shopping faster

[scorpionf]

One of the many joys of when I used to work in a supermarket (approx 10 years ago), which was located in a shopping centre, which included 2 hours free parking.

Being an SC, obviously this womans logic was to do her shopping at the busiest possible time (which in this shopping centre was Sunday afternoons), spend her time filling up 2 trolleys with groceries, and then when I start scanning her stuff:

SC: “Oi, you”
Me *looks up*
SC: “Can’t you scan my stuff any faster? I don’t want to pay for parking”
Me: *less than halfway through first trolley of groceries* “When do you need to be out by?”
SC: “5 minutes”
Me: “Sorry, but there is no way 2 trolleys full of groceries will be scanned in 5 minutes” and I suggested she buy herself extra time by running to the ticket machine and validating her ticket (which would have extended the ticket by 15 minutes – it’s essentially the option for people who are just under 2 hours in the car park but know it will take them a few minutes to get out), but no, she did not want to do this. Instead she goes to the manager and complains.

Unfortunately for her, it did not get her anywhere... The best part was, I had finished scanning all the shopping, her husband/partner (whatever he was), paid, and then stood behind her with the trolleys full of packed groceries for over 10 minutes while she still kept demanding that the manager give her money to pay for the car park (because clearly it is all our fault she chose to do her shopping at the busiest time of the day and had to wait over 15 minutes in the line for a checkout).

When they finally left – they had to pay for their own parking!

[flyonthewall]

Telling time is hard. =(

[eltf177]

Let's chant the mantra again kiddies - Failure to plan on your part does NOT constitute an emergency on my part!

If only these morons would take that to heart...

[bainsidhe]

I'd get customers who'd complain they were going to miss their bus. Most people were still fairly decent, and I'd do what I could to scan as fast as I could. There was still no way they were going to walk across multiple shopping plazas and around to the backside of the mall, all within 5 minutes.

The only one who got really snarky with me was a college student buying a huge stack of magazines with, according to him, two minutes to spare. Not gonna make it buddy.

[Bright_Star]

Scanning 2 carts of food in 5 minutes? Not even on Star Trek can they do that....LOL!

[Seanette]

Remember, when they're in line, what the clock says is five minutes is at least half an hour in SC time. Their grasp of time is extremely slippery, you know.

[flyonthewall]

It's so interesting how people take their sweet time browsing and choosing their purchases but when they need to checkout, oh noes! They are soooooo busy and haz no timez!

[Kanalah]

Way back when I worked at the fabric store, I had a lady come in. Told me she was making a quilt and needed help picking fabrics. I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour helping pick out fabrics that she liked, she was very polite and listened to my advice.

Then when we got to the cutting table, she turned into a different person. She called me stupid, and kept insisting that I hurry up and cut faster - not seeming to care that if I get flustered that I might cut crooked (no nice groove in the cutting tables at this store). It turns out that she has a quilt making class at the nice locally owned quilt shop across the street, and to save money she was buying cheapy fabric at the discount place. And she was running late and it was all *my* fault of course.

[RealUnimportant]

The other day, I finally voiced what I've always been thinking when told to hurry up:
"I can only go as fast as the system will allow; now, by distracting me with this irrelevant information you've created your own delay. If you need something done as fast as possible, stop trying to split my attention or break my concentration, and just let me do what needs doing. Oh, and maybe have your money/card out ready instead of hiding in the bottom of your bag?"

Oh boy, it felt good. And it seems to have stuck too, as I've never once had that person come back with such a short interval between when they're buying a ticket and when their train's due!

[Rana]

Usually at my store we get yelled at for going too fast. But even then, on an odd occasion you'll get that one person in a hurry that has to be out the store RIGHT THIS MINUTE ... OMG IMMA LATE.

I had the biggest laugh at the guy, shopping on a Sunday (busiest retail day of the week by a mile), and he has to be out the store because he has to get to see his lawyer in 10 mins time.

seriously ... who the hell does their weekly shop when they know they have to be somewhere at such and such a time? And why on a sunday of all days? You know we're going to be packed to the rafters, so go shopping earlier in the day way before this deadline, or go shopping another day

I still sometimes wonder if he made it and why he decided that complaining at my manager was going to make him any less late for his meeting ... seriously, you're just digging your hole deeper and making yourself later.

[Lace Neil Singer]

That's what gets me about these people; they're in a hurry, but they ALWAYS have time to complain!

[Dreamstalker]

It's so interesting how people take their sweet time browsing and choosing their purchases but when they need to checkout, oh noes! They are soooooo busy and haz no timez!

And sometimes after they say this, they find they forgot something and go back into the aisles Only to resume yelling at you when they get back.