Why don't you just do my job for me??

[CheckoutChick]

I work for a supermarket chain, one of the two biggest in Australia. We have store loyalty cards, which give you points for every dollar you spend. At the end of a year, we send out vouchers that you can use at any of our supermarkets. These cards have a barcode on them, which is scanned like any product barcode. The customer can give me their card to scan at any point during the transaction, and if they haven't offered one, I ask if they have one once I'm done scanning their items.

It amazed and pisses me off how many people think its ok to reach around and scan their own loyalty card. Our registers are set up so that I stand facing the customer, with the register between us forming a barrier. There's a big screen facing me at eye level which is straight above the scanner, and a casing around the scanner itself, and its set waaay onto my side of the barrier. Plus, being that a usual shift is 6 to 9 hours of standing in the one spot, I'm often leaning against the scanner so I'm almost over it. So, in order for a customer to scan their own card, they have to lean over and reach around the screen and scanner casing, into my personal space. And given its usually when I'm in the middle of scanning things, so they never fail to get in my way and throw off my groove.

I find this so incredibly rude, its a massive pet hate of mine. It makes me feel like saying, if you think its ok to scan your card yourself, why don't you scan all your **** items and I'll just stand here??

On that note, another pet hate. Middle aged ladies (they're always middle aged ladies) who feel the need to micro manage my packing. They're doing their fortnightly grocery shopping, so there's usually a hundred odd items to be scanned and bagged. I am consciencious about what I put in a bag together, I try to pack them so that they're easy to unpack when you get home, and not too heavy, without wasting bags by only putting one or two items in them. But these ladies just don't appreciate that this is my job, I do this every day, so I know a thing or two about how to do it. They stand there and tell me what to put in what bag with what, and actually tell me off for putting certain things into certain bags. ('You can't put washing up liquid in the same bag as baked beans!' 'The baked beans are in a can lady, nothing is getting in there. At any rate, you wash your dished with washing up liquid and then eat them - its not going to hurt your precious food!!')

*End rant*

[emax4]

1. For personal space, start to bend your arm and put your hand by your face, but then turn your face away to sneeze at the person invading your space. They probably won't do that anymore.

2. I'm assuming "washing up" is laundry or dish detergent, and it's generally not a good idea to mix the edibles with the non-edibles, except for maybe napkins and canned goods. It would suck to come home and find dish detergent on my can of baked beans, knowing I have to wash off the can next. If the can has a paper label, that makes it worse because I'd have to take the label off, then not know what's inside unless there's an indicator elsewhere.

[kpzra]

I HATED when they would reach and scan their card when I worked at the grocery store. I nailed on lady pretty good when a can when she did it and I didn't see since I was reaching up the belt and pulling them towards the scanner. I felt a little bad, but her husband told her she shouldn't have done that. I also hated when they would enter their phone number on the pin pad mid order, since it locked up the register until you cleared/acknowledged it.

[Draco]

I have never really minded it. Except in the cases where their card is a battered husk so they keep waving it around in front of the scanner and failing. That's when I get annoyed.

[fireheart]

Welcome by the way

So which one do you work for? (try and be vague as possible)

As an ex-employee from that, I also give you a BIG helping of cookies and brain bleach

[Lyse]

Geez - the few times I have needed something bagged separately, it has never been an issue. Otherwise, I let them get on with it unless the store is packed. There is no way that I am faster at it than someone that does it for hours a day for a living. Even when I help, I usually manage 1 bag for every 4 the cashier/bagger does.

[bainsidhe]

Everybody has peeves and not everyone has the same ones. *shrugs* I usually didn't mind bagging instructions or when a customer rebagged everything after I finished, so long as they were nice about it. I myself am very picky about chemicals and food and don't want them mixing. I don't really care if something is in a can or bottle, I still keep them separate. And I know a lot of people who want things bagged a certain way because they have a system that works well for them. I was a pretty easy-going cashier, LOL.

I never had to deal with the loyalty cards when I cashiered. As a customer, I admit I feel bad when the scanner is RIGHT THERE and I hand over the awkward keychain to have them go *blip* and hand it back. I mean, I'm right beside the scanner and am ooooh so tempted to scan it myself. Customers scanning it themselves probably wouldn't bother me as a cashier, so long as they weren't in my way or slowing me down. I take personal space seriously, however, and reaching into my personal space bubble (especially since you say you lean over the scanner) would annoy the hell out of me. So I think I'll continue to hand over my awkward keychain and keep the cashiers happy.

[kpzra]

If they waited until the end I didn't care, it was when they did it mid order since the machine would lock/freeze until you cleared it. Once you get going (especially when we had clothing coupons with no barcode and it was back to school), or being in the middle of keying in a barcode it would throw you off, BAD.

[Cooper]

I always found it amusing when customers tried to scan their items themselves. Especially the new push-pops, considering that their barcodes are tiny, and at a diagonal, meaning that you have to roll it at the right angle to get the scanner to read it. I haven't even mastered scanning those suckers yet.

But I'm new, and work at a very small store.

[thehuckster]

They used to do it at CVS, although the scanner was in a position that was more "inviting" so to speak. They didn't have to reach around or enter my personal space to do it, and therefore it never bothered me, although I always found it a pretty "bold" thing to do.

[Arwyn Q]

Since I am pretty anal retentive about my bagging, I hate when stores have baggers or the cashiers do it because I end up either trying not to look like a total ass or spending ten minutes rearranging everything. I have an order things go in and I only have two bags I use for shopping, so I hate having to inflict my need for order and routine on someone else.

[Teefies2]

Since I am pretty anal retentive about my bagging, I hate when stores have baggers or the cashiers do it because I end up either trying not to look like a total ass or spending ten minutes rearranging everything. I have an order things go in and I only have two bags I use for shopping, so I hate having to inflict my need for order and routine on someone else.

Speaking as a long-time cashier, I don't mind people like you, if you tell me! You want your cookies and crackers in the same bag, but not the granola bars, I'm down with that. JUST TELL ME! Not you, Arwyn, customers in general.

I am also pretty anal retentive about my bagging, but I don't think I'm sucky about it. All I ask is put food with food and non-food with non-food. As in, motor oil shouldn't go in the same bag as cans of vegetables. I realize, they're in cans, but it skeeves me out, okay????

I usually tell the cashier that I'm particular about my bagging and that I do so to make it easier to unload at home. I try to make a joke about being so and most (most!) cashiers laugh and appreciate that I've told them my preference. I find also that they generally will do what I ask!

[kpzra]

I have a hard time getting them to not put canned goods in with the bananas

[Lovecats]

I have a hard time getting them to not put canned goods in with the bananas

I usually will put bananas in a bag by themselves or at the worst with other fruit. We are instructed to not put chemicals with food, etc. A lot of people want their chicken separate, stuff like that, I don't mind, if I know.