People who make you unload their crap

[rerant]

I'm seeing a lot of replies from people who think that cashiers prefer to unload the items from the basket, and am now wondering if there's some sort of alternate universe I'm not aware of.

[Despina83]

Oh, and the other day a woman set her basket on the belt and her little boy reached up and started unloading it. She moved his arm away and said, "Just leave it alone." Jeez, the kid knows better than you do!

You guys whine about how people don't unload their baskets. My work, people will refuse to unload their CARTS. And they make comments on how it's our job to do it. (We're only supposed to help if we have the extra man power to do it, and most times we don't)

Every day. I get it EVERY DAY. About a fifth of my customers do it.

Lazy self-absorbed bastards. I hate packing carts on the front end.

Huh? Where on Earth do you work??

[rerant]

Huh? Where on Earth do you work??

The deepest reaches of Hell, apparently.

I sincerely feel bad for the person who made that comment about having to unload carts. Some people try to get us to do that at my work and none of the cashiers are having any of their crap.

[greensinestro]

Yeah, I have seen this and to me, it's no big deal, except you do have to wonder why the customer doesn't unload their three or four items themselves.

This is off subject, but I get amused by the customer that will grab a cart, and only put a package of tomatoes, a bunch of bananas, and a loaf of bread in the child seat, then expect the cashier to help them unload! Why didn't they use a basket for this instance? Also, why make the cashier stretch to grab your stuff?

[Gravekeeper]

I scratch my head at this whole topic.

I've never seen a place where they unpack the cart/basket for you. Every place here has a little ledge in front of the belt where you set the basket so you can unload it yourself. If you stupidly plopped your basket right on the belt they'd tell you to take it the Hell off. NOW.

[alogram]

I think the only thing worse is the asshats who unload the basket...

and then insist on handing you items one at a time.

WTF?

That is totally asinine, and used to drive me CRAZY.

[Phone Jockey]

I always try to help unload a basket unless the cashier is already digging around in there. I'd feel strange getting all up in her/his personal space & touching the person. That would make us BOTH feel weird!

[Nakajo]

I work at a membership type bulk store. Warehouse if you will. Only it's not affiliated with Wally World, and it rhymes with Frostro's.

[mattm04]

I hate the people who are in their phone, were unloading is not important to them. Once it was really busy and a lady comes up to the register and stood there on her phone, expecting the cashier to unload it. The MOD saw this and told the lady that she heed to unload it, she never did and walked out. Now how many thing were in the carriage for her to unload, no more than 10 light items, like cereal and canned goods. No soda, water, etc.

[Ree]

I don't think a cashier should have to unload the actual shopping cart, (meaning the thing with the basket and wheels), but I really don't understand the fuss over the hand basket (small basket carried in the hand, no wheels.)

What's the difference between picking it up off the belt to scan, or picking it out of the basket to scan?

As long as I still got my pay for being a cashier and doing what was in my job description, (scanning items in and bagging them), it never really bothered me that people left their stuff in the hand basket for me to ring through.
Guess I've always been too easy-going when it comes to that stuff.

[Special Patrol Group]

Well generally it's a lot harder for the cashier to see what is in the basket which makes it harder to pack. Also because your rumaging in there and can't see it is easier to squash the bread etc. But the biggest problem is, at least in my experience is that I had to stand up on my tiptoes to see, and lean across hurting my back. Given that the cashier normally has to stand in the box thingy that isn't designed for easy unpacking of baskets, most people would have to twist to get to the basket.

Anyway, beside all that it is always much quicker if you unpack it yourself and order it how you would like it bagged. Possible exceptions are if you have only 2 or 3 items in the basket.

[Shengirl]

What's the difference between picking it up off the belt to scan, or picking it out of the basket to scan?

At my store, we are timed, and I personally pride myself on getting customers through the line as speedily as possible. It takes three times as long to rummage around in a basket as it does to snatch things off a belt.

[Ree]

Rummage around in the basket?

I just scanned as I came to it and bagged it as I scanned it through?
To each their own, I guess.

[Andara Bledin]

That makes me ask two questions: 1) how tall are you & 2) how high were your counters.

If a checker were tall enough that the top edge of the basket wasn't any higher than, say, mid-torso when it was sitting on the belt, then it would be almost completely a non-issue. However, if the checker is shorter or the counter is higher, it could become a real major hassle to have to unload a basket, especially if the customer had either packed things in tightly, or bought a lot of rounded items that are hard to get ahold of without looking.

My local store, for instance, has somewhat high belts, and if you set the basket on the belt, the top of the basket ends up shoulder height to me, and I'm taller than average, at five feet eight inches. And when you add in that the population mix of southern California has a high density of both Asians and Hispanics (both of which, on average, are about five feet three inches or so), you rarely have anyone working the checkstand that is really tall enough to be able to easily deal with a shopping basket set, fully loaded, onto the belt.

^-.-^

[iradney]

Rummage around in the basket?

I just scanned as I came to it and bagged it as I scanned it through?
To each their own, I guess.

Ah, but that's if the customer isn't saying
"I want THIS bagged with THIS, and I DON'T want THAT in the same bag" etc etc.