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Hi guys, first post of what will probably be many XD
A bit of background; I'm a cashier at a large well known supermarket chain. I mainly work on a manned checkout and as a self-service host. Self-service (henceforth to be called SS) is... 'fun' in my store. We have 10 machines and the way they are laid out means you really need 2 people to be able to keep an eye on them and to help all of the customers when they need us. However, SS hosts are frequently left on their own whilst the person supposed to be assisting is hauled off to do other jobs.
I was put on SS on Sunday, I opened up at 10am. I was alone and had no phone (even though I repeatedly asked for one), but it didn't get off to too bad a start...
Then I get a middle aged couple come over. They have a trolley of items, maybe 15-20, and they head to the machines designed for baskets. We even have signs over them saying 'less than 10 items'. There are some machines designed for around 20-30 items, where I try to send all the trolleys, but they ignored those, so I kept a close eye on them (our customers often have trouble using the small machines for a lot of items, because they are incapable of realising they can take bags off, they don;t need to stack it all in that tiny bagging area).
The couple get off to a good start, I'm flitting about helping other customers in the mean time. They have some large plastic boxes which will clearly not fit on to the bagging area, but I assume they will have the sense to choose the 'don't bag this item' option. I see them scan one, then I run off to help another customer, and when I come back the guy has left with the trolley, and the woman is waiting for her receipt to print. I am immediately suspicious, because he left pretty quickly, so I pulled up a re-print and see they only scanned and paid for one box, yet walked out with all three.
Straight away, I reach to phone Security-and realise I have no phone.Happy Days. From where I am, I can see the security stand, but they guy on it is busy looking at the cameras so, after a quick glance around to make sure the customers on SS can manage for 30 secs without me, I run off to security and set the guard on the couple. He hauls the guy in with the two unpaid for boxes, and stands over him to make sure he pays properly. All the time, the guy is saying 'well, they're on offer, so she (the wife) thought it would know we had 3 and give us the offer!' I suppress a snort at this, it's a load of rubbish, and the guy finishes and gets his receipt. Then the best part; 'They're on offer, 3 for *some amount*, can I get the discount?' After trying to steal two? I think not :/ I told him because it was two transactions, there was no way to get the offer. I *could* have sent him to customer services for a refund on the 3 boxes, so that he could buy them all together and get the dicount, but after walking out with two I was just like 'GTFO!'.
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It's very common on SS for customers to try to get away with not scanning items. One couple stick in my mind very well, from a few weeks ago. The woman was heavily pregnant, and stood back, they guy was scanning. They had a lot of baby products with them, and I was watching them like a hawk without looking like I was. I see the guy scan 1 item...then drop 2 in the bag. He does this a few times, I'm just watching, and waiting because I know eventually...'Unexpected item in bagging area!'. I swooped at this, reached immediately for the items he hadn't scanned (about half of what was in there) and go 'oh look, this doesn't seem to have scanned properly...or this...or this...or this...' I scan it all through, meanwhile he's cursing away, blaming the effing machines, saying they always do it to him, and I'm juts thinking 'stop trying to steal things and we won't have a problem!'
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One last tale for now, this time from a checkout. In my store we keep open only as many checkouts as are necessary. We have enough to keep queues down, but not so mnay our cashiers are twiddling their thumbs. On this day, it's fairly busy, we have open maybe 15 checkouts, leaving just 5 closed. I haven't had a chance to even breath, it's been customer after customer for nearly 3 hours, no break in between any of them.
This old lady comes up, snatches a few carrier bags, places them on the belt, then puts her shopping on the bags. I raise an eyebrow but say nothing until her turn to be served. Before I can even start with the opening script, she says 'your conveyor belt is disgusting, don't you damn people ever clean anything in this store?'I look over the belt and see a few damp patches where frozen items have sat, and a tiny puff of flour. Nothing life threatening, nothing even really gross. I've had a lot worse spilled on my belts. I want to tell her to stuff it. Unfortunately, I would get into a lot of trouble, so I say 'Very sorry ma'am, it's been busy today, I haven't had chance to clean it yet.'
OL; 'Not good enough! I'm a customer, I expect the belts for my shopping to be clean!'
Me; 'Normally we do clean them when we have the chance. You can see we have cleaning supplies right here *gesture to cloth and spray behind me* but like I said, it's been too busy.'
OL; I'll be putting in a complaint about this, I normally shop at *other store*, THEIR belts are always spotless! They know how to treat customers!
I'm sat there thinking, 'eff off to *other store* then if you like them so much. All I can actually do is smile and nod. It really annoyed me because had I asked her not to load up so I could clean the belt, guaranteed she would have moaned I was holding her, the customer, up for no good reason. Also, I know she doesn't normally shop at the other store at all, she's a regular and always moans at every cashier about their belts.
Of course if there is something gross on my belt I will clean it right away, but there was hardly anything, she was just a grumpy old bat.
If she did put in a complaint, I never heard about it. I always say communication sucks in my store, but *sometimes* that works to my advantage XD
A bit of background; I'm a cashier at a large well known supermarket chain. I mainly work on a manned checkout and as a self-service host. Self-service (henceforth to be called SS) is... 'fun' in my store. We have 10 machines and the way they are laid out means you really need 2 people to be able to keep an eye on them and to help all of the customers when they need us. However, SS hosts are frequently left on their own whilst the person supposed to be assisting is hauled off to do other jobs.
I was put on SS on Sunday, I opened up at 10am. I was alone and had no phone (even though I repeatedly asked for one), but it didn't get off to too bad a start...
Then I get a middle aged couple come over. They have a trolley of items, maybe 15-20, and they head to the machines designed for baskets. We even have signs over them saying 'less than 10 items'. There are some machines designed for around 20-30 items, where I try to send all the trolleys, but they ignored those, so I kept a close eye on them (our customers often have trouble using the small machines for a lot of items, because they are incapable of realising they can take bags off, they don;t need to stack it all in that tiny bagging area).
The couple get off to a good start, I'm flitting about helping other customers in the mean time. They have some large plastic boxes which will clearly not fit on to the bagging area, but I assume they will have the sense to choose the 'don't bag this item' option. I see them scan one, then I run off to help another customer, and when I come back the guy has left with the trolley, and the woman is waiting for her receipt to print. I am immediately suspicious, because he left pretty quickly, so I pulled up a re-print and see they only scanned and paid for one box, yet walked out with all three.
Straight away, I reach to phone Security-and realise I have no phone.Happy Days. From where I am, I can see the security stand, but they guy on it is busy looking at the cameras so, after a quick glance around to make sure the customers on SS can manage for 30 secs without me, I run off to security and set the guard on the couple. He hauls the guy in with the two unpaid for boxes, and stands over him to make sure he pays properly. All the time, the guy is saying 'well, they're on offer, so she (the wife) thought it would know we had 3 and give us the offer!' I suppress a snort at this, it's a load of rubbish, and the guy finishes and gets his receipt. Then the best part; 'They're on offer, 3 for *some amount*, can I get the discount?' After trying to steal two? I think not :/ I told him because it was two transactions, there was no way to get the offer. I *could* have sent him to customer services for a refund on the 3 boxes, so that he could buy them all together and get the dicount, but after walking out with two I was just like 'GTFO!'.
---
It's very common on SS for customers to try to get away with not scanning items. One couple stick in my mind very well, from a few weeks ago. The woman was heavily pregnant, and stood back, they guy was scanning. They had a lot of baby products with them, and I was watching them like a hawk without looking like I was. I see the guy scan 1 item...then drop 2 in the bag. He does this a few times, I'm just watching, and waiting because I know eventually...'Unexpected item in bagging area!'. I swooped at this, reached immediately for the items he hadn't scanned (about half of what was in there) and go 'oh look, this doesn't seem to have scanned properly...or this...or this...or this...' I scan it all through, meanwhile he's cursing away, blaming the effing machines, saying they always do it to him, and I'm juts thinking 'stop trying to steal things and we won't have a problem!'
---
One last tale for now, this time from a checkout. In my store we keep open only as many checkouts as are necessary. We have enough to keep queues down, but not so mnay our cashiers are twiddling their thumbs. On this day, it's fairly busy, we have open maybe 15 checkouts, leaving just 5 closed. I haven't had a chance to even breath, it's been customer after customer for nearly 3 hours, no break in between any of them.
This old lady comes up, snatches a few carrier bags, places them on the belt, then puts her shopping on the bags. I raise an eyebrow but say nothing until her turn to be served. Before I can even start with the opening script, she says 'your conveyor belt is disgusting, don't you damn people ever clean anything in this store?'I look over the belt and see a few damp patches where frozen items have sat, and a tiny puff of flour. Nothing life threatening, nothing even really gross. I've had a lot worse spilled on my belts. I want to tell her to stuff it. Unfortunately, I would get into a lot of trouble, so I say 'Very sorry ma'am, it's been busy today, I haven't had chance to clean it yet.'
OL; 'Not good enough! I'm a customer, I expect the belts for my shopping to be clean!'
Me; 'Normally we do clean them when we have the chance. You can see we have cleaning supplies right here *gesture to cloth and spray behind me* but like I said, it's been too busy.'
OL; I'll be putting in a complaint about this, I normally shop at *other store*, THEIR belts are always spotless! They know how to treat customers!
I'm sat there thinking, 'eff off to *other store* then if you like them so much. All I can actually do is smile and nod. It really annoyed me because had I asked her not to load up so I could clean the belt, guaranteed she would have moaned I was holding her, the customer, up for no good reason. Also, I know she doesn't normally shop at the other store at all, she's a regular and always moans at every cashier about their belts.
Of course if there is something gross on my belt I will clean it right away, but there was hardly anything, she was just a grumpy old bat.
If she did put in a complaint, I never heard about it. I always say communication sucks in my store, but *sometimes* that works to my advantage XD
)
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