Spillage At Aisle Three

[yuppie11975]

Hey!
I work at a store as a cashier, and I'm fourteen, and there's something I'm dying to vent about. Recently, I had a customer come through with a massive trolley of items, I think in total it was about six hundred and fifty dollars. Anyway, I'm about three quarters of the way through, when she's walking through tp the loading end, after finishing loading the items onto the conveyer belt. She lifts up this 2L bottle of cordial, to try to ask me to put it through last (for some weird reason.) However, as you probably predicted, she drops it somehow, and it lands on the floor, busts open, and sends cordial EVERYWHERE. I'm not actually in a positon to see it currently, because the counter was blocking my view. I ask her how bad it is, because I have paper towel next to me, and a customer across from the other register says "It's VERY bad." My heart sinks...
I walk around, and practically see a tsunami of green cordial. I walk back around, and ring my bell, for assitance to get a mop. The manager, and an assistant come over, and begin soaking it up with paper towl, while someone goes to get a mop. The customer, then lifts up the bottle of cordial, with about 1/6 left in it, causing it to pour out of a hole and says "Wow, this is leaking pretty bad..."
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I never knew that madam.. Thank you for alerting me! I'll go call for help.. oh wait..
So, as I grit my teeth, and continue scanning, The manager tells me to close down my register, because the spill is a safety hazard. We get to the end of the transaction, which was quite a large one. About 250 items...
She asks to pay by card, I put it through, and as much as I'd like it too, this tale of disaster does not end here. "Error, funds not sufficient, contact bank."
Customer: "Oh, I'll have to go run to the bank..."
Me: Okay, I'll save it, and see you when you get back.."
So, I stand at the register, as cordial begins to seep towards my shoes, and watch as everyone cleans up, and I assist in throwing away towels, passing them down, and moping cordial up. She comes back, and bluntly informs me "Oh, I only have enough money to pay for $150 dollars worth..."
I then, had to unbag items, and void them off, (this is a tedious process of clicking three times, scanning the item, and repeating. I loaded the items back onto the conveyer belt to be put away, and continued for about ten minutes until the total amount was low enough for her to pay. She runs her card, takes the recipt, smiles, and walks away. Did I mention there wasn't a single apology through out this? Customers SUCK.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Did I mention there wasn't a single apology through out this?

She wasn't very cordial, was she?

And welcome to the Customers Suck forum.

[downforit2008]

I would have been filling your head with apologies and even offering to clean it up. Sorry you had to endure this kind of crap. UGH!

[XCashier]

Did I mention there wasn't a single apology through out this?

Of course not. You should be thrilled beyond measure to have the privilege of serving the Almighty Customer and cleaning up any mess they make with a happy subservient smile on your face! [/sarcasm]

to I think you'll feel right at home here.

[Dreamstalker]

If a customer is genuinely apologetic about needing to void items I don't have a problem with it, and on occasion have even kicked in a little out of my own pocket if they were only a dollar or so short and didn't get SC-ish about it.

But a few times that I've had to void items due to lack of money (we have these self-scanner guns that were probably designed for shoppers on a budget because it tells you the running total as you scan items), they get all smug and cutesy ("Ooops! Haha, I guess I'm not buying these then!" ). Invariably said voids are perishable/frozen items that need to be returned to the cases immediately and I either a) look like an idiot holding up customers trying to flag someone down to do it or b) get yelled at because someone sees I didn't do it immediately (um hello, I can't leave the register and have a line).

Above $10, the register locks up and needs a manager to unlock/approve the void. I'm sure it also goes on the cashier report, as I was audited for a few shifts after the last time I was roped into voiding half an order (not...my...fault).

[Kristev]

That was a real mess. And then she goes and spills everywhere. Tsk tsk tsk. Bad shopper. No store for her.

[BroSCFischer]

Cordial is a word used for chocolate covered cherry's as well as a certain alcoholic beverage. Other than those uses, I don't think it can be used as a noun.

SC

[Cazzi]

I walk around, and practically see a tsunami of green cordial.

Was it Lime cordial by any chance?

Very refreshing when added to water on a hot day.... darn sticky on its own!

[CheckoutChick]

Cordial is a word used for chocolate covered cherry's as well as a certain alcoholic beverage. Other than those uses, I don't think it can be used as a noun.

SC

In Australia, cordial is a word for fruit concentrate drinks - much like fruit juice except containing lots of sugar. Some (mostly older) Australians also call soft drink cordial.

[bainsidhe]

Invariably said voids are perishable/frozen items that need to be returned to the cases immediately

You store is lucky, WM writes it off and throws it away. And since the voids are almost always perishable items, those add up quick. Nothing makes me want to breathe fire like seeing some SC act all surprised that their $150 worth of goods cost more than $50 and then have to put all the frozen/refrigerated stuff back. Never the chips and cookies, always the perishable stuff.

[Dreamstalker]

The theory is, they get returned to the cases immediately before anything has gotten a chance to thaw/warm up. Actual practice is somewhat different (I swear I'm the only non-manager who actually cares about stuff like that).

Too many times I'm running returns only to find a tray of raw chicken or frozen item way at the bottom of the cart. The only option then is to damage it out; if I catch non-frozen produce or dairy in time they can be returned to the cases but if meat or frozen reached room temp, forget it (not that I haven't caught CWs trying to reshelve perished perishables).

[Lovecats]

Where I work (think bullseye) anything dairy or frozen is damaged out. The thinking is that we don't know how long the customer has been walking around with it in their cart.

[flybye023]

Cordial is a word used for chocolate covered cherry's as well as a certain alcoholic beverage. Other than those uses, I don't think it can be used as a noun.

SC

Actually your description is the noun. Ironclad Alibi used the adjective form which means warm and friendly, sincere.

You are cordially invited to our party.

[Shalom]

You know, something inside me wonders if maybe she dropped the green stuff deliberately, as a distraction or something. Possibly she knew damn well that she was over her limit and thought she might be able to grab some of the merch and fade away while you guys were cleaning it up. Or maybe I'm just a suspicious b@stard, I dunno

(Back in the 1890s, the famous illusionist/escape artist/locksmith, Harry Houdini, wrote The Right Way To Do Wrong, a monograph on the various frauds prevalent in his day. Some of these are still around today, like the 419 fraud (which although he doesn't call it by that name, says it dates back to the 1600s!). The one that "sticks" in my head was one he says was around in the Old West: two con-men would walk into a general store with a huge cowboy hat, colloquially referred to as a 10-gallon hat, and tells the storekeeper that they had an argument over how much molasses the hat would hold, and they'd pay for the molasses if he'd fill it up. When he does, they slap the hat over his head, and rob the till and depart before he can extricate himself from it. So I hear stickiness and SC in the same breath, that's what I think of...)

[Dreamstalker]

Where I work (think bullseye) anything dairy or frozen is damaged out. The thinking is that we don't know how long the customer has been walking around with it in their cart.

At my store, if it's cold enough when found (hard to describe, but if the item feels roughly like you just took it out of the case it's ok) it gets put back. I have damaged out frozen veg that felt cold enough initially, but was mushy. Leaky or open meat gets damaged out whether or not it's still cold.