Scatter Coupons and other grocery store games

[Jory]

I agree with the above posters. Bags first is easiest.

I'm totally down, even happy to have people bag their own groceries. Makes the process faster, and it eliminates the whole Art of Bagging complications we've been discussing. Honestly, I wish more customers would bag their own groceries... but that's not Legendary Customer Service, is it? Who coined that term anyway? Nothing in the grocery store is ever legendary.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Wait wait wait, all cashiers are secretly Evil Overlords with island lairs and Minions?

DAMMIT, I'VE BEEN RIPPED OFF!

I have no Minions, and the closest thing I have to a lair is my bed, if I wrap my comforter over my head and pretend it's a fort.

I, too, am an expert at Grocery Tetris. I'm fortunate in that the wholesale club doesn't use bags, but we'll supply boxes for people who want them. And it makes me cry when people bring the boxes up after I've already loaded half the cart. Because now I have to take a little bit longer to do it, making sure to not load the boxes too heavily, and just mentally shifting out of auto-pilot to process the new scenario.

I've even had people comment that "You must be great at Tetris." "Kinda. It's 3D Tetris I'm a wizard at."

[Snowbird]

I'm probably not going to win any fans with this question, but maybe the OP could ask for coupons and green bags at the start of the transaction? I know there'd still be some SC's about it but it might trigger memory for those that forget until everything is done. Please don't kill me! Just a thought!

As to bagging, I had to stop a bagger this week, if only because he was about to put a 10 pack of pop on top of a bag of chips and bread.

[Jory]

Possibly, Snowbird, but[list of all the things that would go wrong with that scenario which would of course happen and then lead to another post]. Heh, but really...

Sometimes, I do ask for coupons first, though, since there've been many painful experiences with not doing so. The look of dismay on my customers' faces is quite pleasing, as they realize we are not going to play Scatter Coupons this round, and sullenly pick through all their items to retrieve their cleverly hidden coupons. (unless there isn't a line, and you can catch people before they start to set up the game, this scenario is unavoidable)

If I see that my customer has green bags, I'll wait or ask for them, but if it's not obvious (like their bags are under a hundred items like one poster said) and the majority of my customers don't have them, I won't ask.

Now, for unfettered ranting: I hate how the customer service industry has turned grown adults into irrational ridiculous little children, who need to be prompted and coddled like no other natural existing creatures. It should not be my responsibility to adopt every customer as my own child, and rear them in the ways of the grocery check out procedure, all the while taking every bit of blame for every error of their own devices. (because srsly, if they were my child? ahaha... we won't go there) Why does everyone need their hand held? Why is the proper response to error or delay either rage or pitifully lost confusion?

Ahh, but all that doesn't have anything to do with green bags or coupons. Well, not specifically anyway. That's just the accumulation of my experience as a checker, which is more commonly known as the complete destruction of faith in humanity.

No worries, Snowbird, if you were on my list of To Kills, rest assured, there are far far too many people before you.

[Chromatix]

There are signs on many Finnish supermarket checkouts saying, essentially, "Don't put cash, cards or coupons on the belt." This is clearly the reason why...

[Applerod]

Speaking of bagging, is it horribly sucky of me that sometimes I want to bag it myself?

No, most cashiers love that -- particularly if we're shorthanded on baggers at that moment. Every day I run into at least a half-dozen large orders without a bagger. I certainly don't mind doing everything, (that's my job,) but I love it when the customer helps out because it makes things much easier for me, and the responsibility of keeping eggs intact, soup unspilled, chicken grease contained, produce protected, breadsticks unbroken, meltables unmelted, and bags unripped is no longer mine.
On the other hand, re-packing a bag is usually quite rude unless the bag is actually packed very poorly. If the contents are particularly important to you and you have specific ideas about the way you want it packed, either give specific instructions or pack it yourself.

Now, for unfettered ranting: I hate how the customer service industry has turned grown adults into irrational ridiculous little children, who need to be prompted and coddled like no other natural existing creatures. It should not be my responsibility to adopt every customer as my own child, and rear them in the ways of the grocery check out procedure, all the while taking every bit of blame for every error of their own devices.

I think I know what you mean. I've made mistakes bagging which resulted in ripped or broken bags, but what kills me is when people handle properly packed bags improperly which causes them to break and then they come back complaining about how the bag just fell apart in their hands.
For example, a couple days ago it was storming. A gentleman bought (among other things) two large containers of fresh hot soup with the plastic lids. I placed both containers inside a plastic bag and tied it off, then placed the plastic bag in a medium-size paper bag to reduce jostling in the car. Naturally, the paper bag mysteriously got soaking wet and ripped apart somewhere outside and he came back, (understandably?) exasperated. In retrospect I might have put the soups in a larger paper bag but it was as if I needed to explain: "Oh, and when you get outside lean your upper body slightly over the bag; this will act as a protective shield against the rain. Also, try not to carry it by a single corner, and use more than two fingers to grip the bag."

[tollbaby]

Am I the only one who HATES using cloth bags specifically because of grocery tetris? The last time, the cashier packed SO much stuff into ONE bag that I couldn't even lift it. Trust me, I have enough of the bloody things that they can safely spread my stuff out over several bags, but for some reason, they always try to pack it into the first one

[ArcticChicken]

There are signs on many Finnish supermarket checkouts saying, essentially, "Don't put cash, cards or coupons on the belt." This is clearly the reason why...

That and they get pulled under the belt. You put it on the belt and lost it? Too fucking bad, I'm not diving under there because of your screwup.

Am I the only one who HATES using cloth bags specifically because of grocery tetris? The last time, the cashier packed SO much stuff into ONE bag that I couldn't even lift it.

Most people want all their groceries in their cloth bags, and get snarky if you spill over, so you immediately go about trying to stuff the bags full, without stopping to consider the number of bags. I can't remember who observed that all the conventional aesthetics of bagging tend to be ignored when using green bags (and I'm too lazy to go back and look) but just as cleaners tend to go in with groceries, weight is also one of the considerations that tends to get left by the roadside in a dusty cloud of environmental enthusiasm.

[fireheart]

In regards to the "stuff on the conveyor belt" issue: While we don't have signs up (yet), I always tell people not to put cash on the belt even if it's not moving. Ditto for credit cards and reward cards. Unfortunately, magazines and those thin recipe packets go falling too.

Regarding the weight issue with cloth bags: Our competitior has signs up on the registers stating that the checkout staff can only lift a certain weight and that the bags need to be clean. I want one on my checkout But I get around the weight issue by filling it up as best as I can, shifting it over to the carousel area and then if the customer wants more, I'll chuck more on top.

And finally, it is a ginormous PITA but while we still can, if I'm handed green bags and there are only a few cleaning/bathroomy type items that can leak, I usually pop it in a plastic bag and THEN stick it in the green bag. Our plastic bags will usually hold the leaking stuff...as I've found out often.

The only bonus I give on customer service regardless of whether the customers are stupid or not is I check the eggs to ensure that there are no cracked ones.