I was in the Express Lane (10 Items or Less) in my local supermarket. At one point, I happened to notice that the lady ahead of me had 14 items on the belt.
Frankly, I didn't care. But I was little curious to see if the cashier (or the manager, who happened to be standing nearby) would say anything to her.
Well, when it was this lady's turn to be rung up . . .
Cashier : [Looks at the customer's items for a moment] Ma'am, this is the Express Lane. 10 items or less, only.
Customer : That's fine. I have 8 items.
Cashier : *Blinks* Ma'am, you have 14 items.
Customer : No, I have 8.
I glanced again at the items that this lady was purchasing, and realized right away what she was talking about.
Basically, she was purchasing more than one of certain items, and she was counting those multiples as single items. So, for example, two cartons of Tropicana orange juice would be counted, by her reasoning, as just one item, rather than two.
If you looked at it that way, she really did have 8 items, rather than 14.
Now, when the lady stated "No, I have 8," the cashier looked at her items again. And judging by the expression on the cashier's face, I'm pretty sure that she realized right away (just as I had) what the customer meant.
The cashier then looked over at the manager, who had been standing nearby the whole time, and had clearly seen and heard the whole thing. He just sort of sighed and shrugged.
Without another word, the cashier rang up the lady's purchase.
The rest of that transaction was perfectly routine. The usual "Do you have a discount card? . . . Your total is $XX.XX . . . Here you go, thank you very much, have a nice day" spiel, in other words.
When I was looking at that customer and her purchase . . . I had the distinct impression that arguing with her wouldn't have done any good.
More importantly, I believe that it would have taken a lot longer to argue with her than it would to just ring up her extra four items.
I'm pretty sure that the manager and cashier both got the same vibes about her, and that's why they just gave in.
I'm just curious . . . Who do you think was right here?
Personally, I'm inclined to side with the store.
After all, two items with the same bar code still need to be scanned separately, just the same as two items with different bar codes. Unless your register has a "Quantity" key . . . But, in my experience, that's really only useful if it's a large quantity of a single item, like 5 or more. If it's just two items, then scanning one and changing the quantity can take just as long as scanning them both.
And even if you don't have to scan them separately, you still need to bag them all. And the process of bagging several of the same item is surely no faster than the process of bagging several different items.
So, in my opinion, multiples of a single item should be counted as separate items, just as the cashier indicated.
I don't know if that lady counts as a sucky customer, exactly . . . She remained perfectly calm, she didn't make a fuss or anything . . . Then again, the store did give in to her almost immediately. There's no telling how she would have reacted if they had tried to argue the point.
As for the cashier and manager . . . I think it's unfortunate that they gave in when, in my view, they were in the right . . . But I honestly can't think of any better way they could have handled it. It would have taken longer to argue with her than it would have to just ring her up, after all. Oh, well.
Frankly, I didn't care. But I was little curious to see if the cashier (or the manager, who happened to be standing nearby) would say anything to her.
Well, when it was this lady's turn to be rung up . . .
Cashier : [Looks at the customer's items for a moment] Ma'am, this is the Express Lane. 10 items or less, only.
Customer : That's fine. I have 8 items.
Cashier : *Blinks* Ma'am, you have 14 items.
Customer : No, I have 8.
I glanced again at the items that this lady was purchasing, and realized right away what she was talking about.
Basically, she was purchasing more than one of certain items, and she was counting those multiples as single items. So, for example, two cartons of Tropicana orange juice would be counted, by her reasoning, as just one item, rather than two.
If you looked at it that way, she really did have 8 items, rather than 14.
Now, when the lady stated "No, I have 8," the cashier looked at her items again. And judging by the expression on the cashier's face, I'm pretty sure that she realized right away (just as I had) what the customer meant.
The cashier then looked over at the manager, who had been standing nearby the whole time, and had clearly seen and heard the whole thing. He just sort of sighed and shrugged.
Without another word, the cashier rang up the lady's purchase.
The rest of that transaction was perfectly routine. The usual "Do you have a discount card? . . . Your total is $XX.XX . . . Here you go, thank you very much, have a nice day" spiel, in other words.
When I was looking at that customer and her purchase . . . I had the distinct impression that arguing with her wouldn't have done any good.
More importantly, I believe that it would have taken a lot longer to argue with her than it would to just ring up her extra four items.
I'm pretty sure that the manager and cashier both got the same vibes about her, and that's why they just gave in.
I'm just curious . . . Who do you think was right here?
Personally, I'm inclined to side with the store.
After all, two items with the same bar code still need to be scanned separately, just the same as two items with different bar codes. Unless your register has a "Quantity" key . . . But, in my experience, that's really only useful if it's a large quantity of a single item, like 5 or more. If it's just two items, then scanning one and changing the quantity can take just as long as scanning them both.
And even if you don't have to scan them separately, you still need to bag them all. And the process of bagging several of the same item is surely no faster than the process of bagging several different items.
So, in my opinion, multiples of a single item should be counted as separate items, just as the cashier indicated.
I don't know if that lady counts as a sucky customer, exactly . . . She remained perfectly calm, she didn't make a fuss or anything . . . Then again, the store did give in to her almost immediately. There's no telling how she would have reacted if they had tried to argue the point.
As for the cashier and manager . . . I think it's unfortunate that they gave in when, in my view, they were in the right . . . But I honestly can't think of any better way they could have handled it. It would have taken longer to argue with her than it would have to just ring her up, after all. Oh, well.
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