Failed 2 mystery shops due to stupid shit

[Dreamstalker]

ASM was talking to all the cashiers and baggers on Thursday night about how we failed two mystery shops in a row. I was aware of the most recent failure, but had no idea it was the second this year. I could see that ASM was possibly scared for his job; he's usually pretty chill and I'd never seen him that agitated.

The only reason we failed? BOB. 'Bagger interaction' was a close second, but a number of our baggers either don't speak English well enough to (or just don't want to) converse with customers, customers ignore the bagger other than to yell about how they suddenly want it in triple plastic and double paper, or some other reason I can't think of right now.

One thing about fixing BOB: if the cashier doesn't see it (a possibility, some of our cashiers are physically too short to be able to properly see the mirrors we have installed, I'm 'too tall' and sometimes need to crane my neck to get a good view), the bagger's vantage point is worse as they may not catch it until the customer is already through the lane. A few of them just can't do the bending required to get something out of the bottom of the carts; and if a cashier needs to go around and get items out (which they can't do if the next lane is occupied) that slows things down. If a customer is using a S-it gun and reusable bags, BOB (in a sense) is stupidly easy to pull off and an audit may not catch it.

The way I see things, the primary BOB issue is not ASM not doing his job, it's that people either forget, don't care, or...there's something going on. If we had a way of tracking BOB occurrences with each cashier, that would figure out who needs a refresher (or who is doing something odd). I don't think like corporate though.

[BeeMused]

BOB?
Boy of Bangladesh?
Microsoft Bob? *shudder*

[Dreamstalker]

Sorry, I should have defined it.

BOB=Bottom of basket. Customers sometimes put large items in the underside of the cart. Stuff like TP or paper towels are big enough that almost anyone can see them, but 12-packs of soda are long and flat, therefore hard to catch unless you know exactly how to look at the mirrors on the side of each lane. I've even seen gallons of milk under the cart. Even if we notice the items, they still need to be removed and scanned...which is where the issue of not having enough baggers comes into play. Even if there isn't a bagger, a cashier still isn't supposed to leave the register so how are we supposed to do this?

[BeeMused]

Oh, OK. Thanks for explaining.
Let me guess, the SCs are complaining when you make them put the stuff on the belt.

[DerangedHermit]

I hate when people come on my line with either the kiddie carts with the car in front, or the huge gray plastic carts like you'd see in Walmart. It's very hard to see if they have anything underneath either of those. Thankfully I'm rarely a cashier anymore. I can move around on self-scan and look for BOB much more easily.

Do you guys have walkies? We sometimes wear them, and they help with BOB a lot since the FE person will walk around and ask.

[Dreamstalker]

Oh, OK. Thanks for explaining.
Let me guess, the SCs are complaining when you make them put the stuff on the belt.

Yup. Mostly "I have a bad back and can't bend down"...then how did you put it under there in the first place? That, or they think the cashier should do every little thing for them (even when it's clear we can't). Even if the item is turned so that I might be able to get the barcode with the scan-gun, the wire of the cart won't let it be read correctly. We have a few of the gray plastic carts (which should be for returns, trash and damages only; I still see SCs using them as one of the not-too-bright cart guys regularly puts them back outside) and the kiddie-car ones...I think everyone hates those. On one hand when I'm doing self-scan I can walk around and check for BOB myself (and clue in the cashier), on the other hand I'm now being told that I should not leave the self-scan area O_o

DH, I've suggested walkies a few times, and I know there is a rack up in the manager's office, but I never see them being used on the floor.

[sms001]

Can't have customers pull them up when seen.
Can't leave register to walk around and do it yourself.

Well Dreamstalker, you're evidently a very poor cashier.

Levitation is clearly the answer. Simply grasp the item firmly with your psychokinesis, float the object to the scanner, and then return it to the BOB. If I were the ASM, I'd be worried for my job as well, he clearly isn't leaning on you slackers hard enough to implement what is obviously corporate's solution to this negligible problem! An added benefit to stretching those paranormal abilities is that your mind reading would sharpen as well, then you wouldn't even have to look to see if there were items hidden from view.

[Dreamstalker]

Hah, if I had telekinesis I wouldn't be using it in front of a customer; then they'd be expecting us to magic something over from a store halfway across the state 'because that store has it and I want it'. Could be amusing if an SC can't see me though...want a cleaning bucket on the top shelf? Sure, I'll just have our resident poltergeist grab it. Or I'd be able to beat them with produce and honestly say I didn't touch anyone

[sms001]

Hah, if I had telekinesis I wouldn't be using it in front of a customer;

hehehe! Which reminds me of my favorite SCliche rebuttal:

"Which ticket would you like?"

"Gimme da winnin' one, hyuck yuck yuck."

"Sir, if I could pick out the winners, I guarantee I wouldn't be standing here doing this."

And you're right - they'd want more immediately. "Oh, I forget the lettuce, zap one up here. (zap) No, that one looks wilted, get me another one......"

[dalesys]

... No, that one looks wilted, get me another one......"

(zap) Ooops. Sorry, ma'am, didn't think a cabbage would fit "there!" First sign of "too tired" is my aim goes to hell...

[Kristev]

One trick I've learned is that, if I have something on the bottom of the trolley, such as a bag of cat food, that writing down the upc number on a page of my notebook makes it much easier for cashiers. They just type.

[Chromatix]

A long time ago, my parents would buy dog food in bulk from the supermarket. It keeps a long time, so it's easier to pick up a whole cardboard tray full of cans. They're heavy though, so...

Instead of lifting the whole lot onto the counter, we'd point them out in the trolley, let the cashier count them, and hand just one tin over to be scanned. Every time.

[Dreamstalker]

(zap) Ooops. Sorry, ma'am, didn't think a cabbage would fit "there!" First sign of "too tired" is my aim goes to hell...

After a few occurrences of that (which would provide endless entertainment for hospital break rooms I'm sure), customers might become less sucky...

Kristev, some stores tell cashiers to try scanning an item 2 or 3 times before typing in the number. If I know it won't scan (smudged ink/shrinkwrap seam over barcode/packaging oddity/etc) I'll just type it in or ask the customer to read off the number. I prefer typing it myself as so many people forget the leading or check digit. It's getting scary how many codes I can input just from looking at the item.

If a customer has multiples of a single item and I can tell they're all the same, I'll tell them they can just put one up (so much faster with the hand scanner!). The problem when people grab a shrinkwrapped case of something off a display is that often the barcode on the box is not scannable by us, and to get the real code I need to open the case or ask them to do it (which causes them to flip out "Why do you need to open it?"). Usually if I notice it soon enough I can ask someone to run and grab one of X to scan.

Once I got a woman with about 6 different types of catfood (all the same brand thankfully)...in a reusable bag. She threw a fit when I sorted through the cans--luckily not finding anything else--and scanned one of each kind. "Everyone else just scans one 20 times!" That's probably why the catfood inventory is always off...which raises another question about shrinkage; how much of that loss is theft/scams versus honest error (customer has 1 case of Coke and two other sodas, cashier scans three Cokes)? Answering that question would probably help with training.

[Chromatix]

It should be possible to answer that question - if one item is high while another is low by the same amount, then it's a mistake. Deviation from that balance indicates theft.

[EricKei]

If a customer has multiples of a single item and I can tell they're all the same, I'll tell them they can just put one up (so much faster with the hand scanner!).

I have seen some stores where this is done, but I have also been to many more where -- for the reasons you described -- cashiers are *required* to scan each and every item, even if the custy have 20 or 30 of the exact same item.

It is a little annoying, but easy to deal with (on the few occasions I've done this, I'm prepared to wait) and it does slow things down a bit, but keeping control over inventory is more important...of course, I'm sure that Corporate ALSO wants them to keep checkout times to a bare minimum, despite these two things being mutually exclusive.