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How is that supposed to be easier!?

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  • How is that supposed to be easier!?

    It's a simple rule. With very rare exceptions, I have to scan or hand key every single item in your cart. That means it is really annoying when you fill up a laundry basket full of things like, say, clothes and act like you were doing me a favor when I have to pull all of those things out because, yes you have small things too and I need to scan those as well.

    Or a candy dish. Or a basket. Or any item you put things in. It wouldn't be so bad if it were four or five really large things, but people do this with dozens of tiny little things. And it's easier to have it all on the conveyer belt than to have to physically sort through each and everyone and risk not scanning something.

    If I didn't care about my job, sure, you can go ahead and "try to make it easier" for me. But since I do care about my job (or rather, I care about not losing it), the best way you can make it easier for me would be for you to stop trying to make it easier.

  • #2
    How would this situation be from your viewpoint?

    Store has a really good sale on soda (6 packs of 710 ml bottles, no limit). Customer comes up with a cart full of soda, puts 2 packs (one Coke and one 7-up) on the belt, and says "I've got 6 of the Coke and 2 of the 7-up"? Is it helpful in that you don't need to handle each of the packs (merely scan a single package twice or 6 times, as appropriate), or a hindrance in that you don't have ready access to each item (even though there are only 2 SKUs involved)?
    Last edited by wolfie; 09-21-2013, 07:02 PM. Reason: Cleared things up a bit
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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    • #3
      If you want the sodas bagged it is easier if they are on the belt. If you plan on carting them out in the cart like that, in my store, be prepared to show a receipt. Don't act bitchy when then you get stopped and don't grab a handful of bags and act pissed I haven't bagged your sodas. That up is frustrating too.

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      • #4
        Stores around here charge for bags, and grocery stores don't have receipt checkers, so both are moot points.
        Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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        • #5
          Quoth wolfie View Post
          (one Coke and one 7-up)
          One of each item will do. If six items have the same sku and I can easily see that there is six of said item, then all I need is one. Bagging varies from individual to individual. I have no problem making things easier for the customer when it is within my power to do so.

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          • #6
            Once, I did this, putting one of each on the belt, and the cashier said "I only needed one - they're the same price". This was when she was scanning the previous customer's order. Before she got to mine, she was replaced (shift change?). I commented to her successor that scanning 2 different items as the same SKU would FUBAR the inventory system - and the successor agreed.

            Some stores keep a "handle" piece of the 6-pack ring from each variety of Pepsi product (includes 7-up) they sell in 710 ml bottles at each cash register (bar code is printed on this piece), so they don't have to pick up the 6-pack itself. Doesn't work for Coke products - they're shrink-wrapped.
            Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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            • #7
              Quoth wolfie View Post
              Once, I did this, putting one of each on the belt, and the cashier said "I only needed one - they're the same price".
              I've seen cashiers do this, and some customers will say "just scan one X times; it's all the same" No...no, it's not. I like to be thorough, and that means scanning/keying everything in as it's supposed to be. Inventory counts get farked up enough and I'm not adding to the problem.

              That gets especially fun with by-weight produce; 2 types of apples in the same bag ('the ones for 99 cents' does NOT help me) or 3 kinds of bell peppers (why don't you just buy the prepackaged ones?). If an SC has tied the bag to where I can't get it open, I just ring everything as the first PLU that comes to mind which may not be the cheapest. Sometimes if there's enough air in the bag I can weigh each one individually, but that's rare and takes a precise set of circumstances to work.

              Anyone who tells me "Oh, they're all the same price" gets each kind weighed, even if it slows things down (99% of the time, they are all not the same price).
              Last edited by Dreamstalker; 09-28-2013, 12:32 AM.
              "I am quite confident that I do exist."
              "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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              • #8
                My favorite was the lady that came thru with some plums and just told me the number and how many. I just looked at her and said I have to put them on the scale. Don't know what she was thinking.
                "They gave me a badge with my name on it. In case I forget who I am." Dr Who - Closing Time

                "I reject your reality and substitute my own." Adam Savage-Mythbusters

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                • #9
                  In winter a few places around here go from weight to item count.

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                  • #10
                    We have 4 different PLUs for plums right now. The prune plums are easy to tell apart, but the 3 that look exactly the same? Ugh. OK, I can see it's a plum. WHICH KIND?
                    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                    • #11
                      I always make sure I bag my fruit and veggies separately; when I bother with a bag at all. (If I just have 1 or 2 spanish onions or peppers, I'll leave them loose; but my weekly supply of granny smith apples gets a bag).

                      I would think that if the heavy/bulky items were easy to see and count, then putting one up and leaving the rest in the cart would be fine. But otherwise I let the cashier sort it out, and try to group like items together while not stacking things up too much so they don't get a mountain of groceries coming down the belt.

                      Then again, I'm just a bachelor buying a few days worth for 1 person, and I don't have a car, so I usually only have a small amount of items regardless.

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                      • #12
                        Large items that don't have barcodes (watermelon, pumpkin) can be left in the cart. If a big flowerpot has a barcode I still need to see it; you don't have to put it on the belt (and I'd prefer you not) but I do need to scan the code. 4 of the same soda? Just put (or hold) one up. 4 different sodas? Yes, they're the same price but I need to scan each code.

                        I'm noticing that the cashiers that cut corners like that have consistently high IPM. What's more important, metrics or inventory? Now if we were able to track who did this and connect the dots when inventory on soda or catfood is screwed up, we would probably get more people doing it the right way.
                        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
                          3 kinds of bell peppers (why don't you just buy the prepackaged ones?).
                          in my case - 1. The bagged ones they charge more for.
                          2. The bagged ones are usually almost trash, soft and going rotten for at least 1 in the bag.

                          however, I bag them separate bags per color because that makes it easier for the poor cashier.
                          Last edited by EricKei; 10-03-2013, 08:37 PM. Reason: fixed a broken quote tag

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
                            I'm noticing that the cashiers that cut corners like that have consistently high IPM. What's more important, metrics or inventory?
                            Yes.

                            That is always the answer from Corporate when you are faced with two mutually incompatible goals such as high speed and 100% accuracy. "Both, of course!" also works.
                            "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
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                            • #15
                              Quoth EricKei View Post
                              Yes. ... "Both, of course!" ...
                              .. and you also need to do this ...
                              I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                              Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
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