In future, lady, do NOT come in here 48 hours before a major holiday (kinda long)

[Pixelated]

Business was pretty brisk today. Not crazy, thankfully, although there were a few times when it edged pretty close to "crazy" territory.

This was one of those times.

Elderly woman comes up to my line with a small buggy -- overloaded to the point of collapse. I ask does she need reusable bags. After some humming and hawing (note: she was far from the only one to do that) she said yes. I rang up three bags even though, looking at her massive collection of "stuff", I knew she would need more than that (you get a bit of a discount if you buy three bags at once). I ring stuff up and start bagging. She finally empties her cart and moves down towards me. I assume she's going to start loading the bags and stuff into her cart.

Nope. She starts fiddling with her cellphone.

I finally run out of room so, midway through ringing her stuff through, I walk around and start putting bags and cases of pop into her buggy. This is nicely slowing down the whole lane, including the two customers waiting in line behind her.

I go back to the register and ring the rest of her stuff through.

She's still fiddling on her phone, poking at the buttons with a stylus. Poke, poke, poke.

I ask if she's got her rewards card. She mumbles something. Poke, poke, poke.

I stop addressing her at all.

Finally she looks up and I give her the total. She mumbles something. I tell her I can't hear her. She mumbles again. By this time I have had enough and I just want her GONE. I give her the total and she pays.

THEN ...

She asks how many rewards points she has. I have no idea. Eventually I realize that she seems to think that just because she was poking at her phone (presumably signing in to the app), somehow the machine has read her phone and put that info on the receipt. I try to explain she has to TAP the phone against the touchscreen to do that.

Her: *blank look*

Oh, and NOW she asks for carryout help. Well, yeah, I'll call somebody, lady, but I hope you've got 10 minutes or so to wait, because the people doing that are the cart wranglers and there's no telling how many are on today, nor where they are when I make the announcement. If they're out in the parking lot collecting carts, they won't hear me. This is why -- hear me out on this -- you ask for that at the start of your transaction.

And of course she's still mumbling about her points. I spot a higher-up going around the corner towards the office and run after her, and say quietly "Will you please come talk to this fucking idiot about her points?"

Higher-up draws the customer away from my till and talks to her. Later on the higher-up comes to me and says, "You know, in future you really should use your ESP so you know when the customer wants to know about their points ...."

Apparently the woman had been complaining and the higher-up said, "Did you TELL the cashier you wanted to know about your points?" Customer indicates no. Higher-up: "Then how is she supposed to know?"

I'm sure the woman walked out of there still feeling hard-done-by but really ... DILLIGAF??

[EricKei]

"You know, in future you really should use your ESP so you know when the customer wants to know about their points ...."

Just tell them that there's no point in trying to read an empty skull.

[Dreamstalker]

True. Mind reading only works when there is something to read.

[AkaiKitsune]

This was one of my pet peeves when I worked in a grocery store. Like, I'm not asking you questions because I want to hear myself speak. And the only reason im here is to collect a paycheck, not because i actually want to be here. But if you don't answer the fucking question how the hell am I supposed to figure out the answer? I still get this all the time. It's worse when they have the card in hand or the scan code on their phone but won't give it to you unless you specifically ask. And then bitch whine and moan if you ask and they aren't paying attention.

Honestly if it was made a condition of graduating school to work in customer service you'd see manners skyrocket.

That, and people who won't answer when you ask if they want/have reusable bags so you pack in paper while they watch as if you're going to steal something when they aren't looking....and then "oh, I have reusable bags". Well then wtf were you doing watching me pack them in paper? Why didn't you speak the fuck up when I asked of you had any? They stopped doing that when I started just putting the paper bag into their reusable one groceries and all.

What I don't get is that presumably this isn't their first time in a grocery store. They should know by now what they need to do and unless they're super old, shouldnt have to be prompted for every single step. I've literally had customers stare at the pinpad as it says insert or tap and they wont pay until you actually tell them to use their damn card. The instructions are literally right on the screen. I've had to talk people through what buttons to press and when. How do some of these ppl even function at a job or manage to pay their bills?

[Rayndel]

Honestly if it was made a condition of graduating school to work in customer service you'd see manners skyrocket.

Sadly, you'd probably still have just as many jerks with the mindset of "Well I went through hell, so now I get to be on the other side."

[Slave to the Phone]

unless they're super old, shouldnt have to be prompted for every single step. I've literally had customers stare at the pinpad as it says insert or tap and they wont pay until you actually tell them to use their damn card.

I am super old and I don't need to be prompted for every step. I am able to have my card in the reader and phone number tapped in without help. My husband is even older than me and he can handle it. We can both do cash without digging for pennies after the drawer opens. IMHO if someone is too old to be able to figure out how to do something they have done at least once a week since forever, they should be driving to the store anyhow.

[Nunavut Pants]

Sadly, you'd probably still have just as many jerks with the mindset of "Well I went through hell, so now I get to be on the other side."

There are a lot of people who do seem to want to "pull the ladder up after themselves".

Speculation on just whom I am referring to is something best taken to Fratching, so I'll just shut up now.

[EricKei]

True. Mind reading only works when there is something to read.

I've had that sig line here and elsewhere for years for a reason ^_^

[Pixelated]

Just tell them that there's no point in trying to read an empty skull.

Ooh, I have to remember that!

This was one of my pet peeves when I worked in a grocery store. Like, I'm not asking you questions because I want to hear myself speak. And the only reason im here is to collect a paycheck, not because i actually want to be here. But if you don't answer the fucking question how the hell am I supposed to figure out the answer? I still get this all the time. It's worse when they have the card in hand or the scan code on their phone but won't give it to you unless you specifically ask. And then bitch whine and moan if you ask and they aren't paying attention.

Honestly if it was made a condition of graduating school to work in customer service you'd see manners skyrocket.

That, and people who won't answer when you ask if they want/have reusable bags so you pack in paper while they watch as if you're going to steal something when they aren't looking....and then "oh, I have reusable bags". Well then wtf were you doing watching me pack them in paper? Why didn't you speak the fuck up when I asked of you had any? They stopped doing that when I started just putting the paper bag into their reusable one groceries and all.

What I don't get is that presumably this isn't their first time in a grocery store. They should know by now what they need to do and unless they're super old, shouldnt have to be prompted for every single step. I've literally had customers stare at the pinpad as it says insert or tap and they wont pay until you actually tell them to use their damn card. The instructions are literally right on the screen. I've had to talk people through what buttons to press and when. How do some of these ppl even function at a job or manage to pay their bills?

Good solution to the paper/reusable bag situation!
Luckily we have only reusable bags (no paper option) so either they bring their own, or they pack it all into their car (or in the bags in their car), or they buy something reusable. I had one customer the other day, when I asked if she wanted to buy a reusable bag, said "No, plastic's fine." Me (thinks): "Lady, you haven't been here in a while, have you ...."

I had a customer the other day who stared at the pinpad as though it had suddenly transformed into something from the control panel of the Enterprise.

The ones who really annoy me are the customers who stare into the void while I ring their groceries through and pack their stuff ... and then I ask them if they've got their rewards card and suddenly the light goes on (feebly) and they start a frantic search for the thing.

I am super old and I don't need to be prompted for every step. I am able to have my card in the reader and phone number tapped in without help. My husband is even older than me and he can handle it. We can both do cash without digging for pennies after the drawer opens. IMHO if someone is too old to be able to figure out how to do something they have done at least once a week since forever, they should be driving to the store anyhow.

It's not limited to old folks by any means. I had a very young customer (early 20s, would be my guess) who asked "What does ... 'cashback' mean?"

[EricKei]

"What does ... 'cashback' mean?"

It means we give you cash, but you care only allowed to look at the backs of the notes. No peeking!

[dalesys]

It means we give you cash, but you care only allowed to look at the backs of the notes. No peeking!

It's like the back up copy of your disk.