I've just had a very unpleasant experience in the freezer shop - I'm not naming them as I don't want to give them a bad press based on the actions of just one unhelpful and rude employee. Suffice it to say that it's a big shop (supermarket sized) selling mostly frozen food, with some fresh foods, tinned & packet and some household goods. We shop in there about once every 3 months or so, to stock up the freezer - we like it in there as they have wide aisles, sell larger size packs and it's generally not at all busy. I do have to be selective about what I buy and read labels carefully - some of their frozen meat, for example, isn't British, and I prefer to buy British where possible. But that's just a personal consideration. They also sell quite a lot of ready meals and what I'd call rubbish food (cheap carb or sweet stuff with no nutritional value, aimed at kids mostly) - none of which I buy. But they do have good offers on frozen fish, seafood and veg, in particular.
Today the shop wasn't busy, as usual, but by the time we'd got to the checkouts there was a big queue and only one till open. The cashier did eventually ring for another operator, but had to ring again after a few minutes of no response....another person (I won't call her a lady as she certainly wasn't!) did eventually arrive, scowling - perhaps she'd been on her teabreak 😒. She plonked herself down with a big sigh and opened up.....the man in front of us in the queue said we could go to her as he was next in line to be served on the original till. Big mistake!
Our system is that I take everything out of the trolley, husband goes to the end and packs it all - he's a bit obsessive about packing everything carefully into the right bags, so I let him get on with it! In this shop you're not supposed to pack your bags at the checkout, you put everything back into the trolley and pack your bags at the long shelf at the front of the shop. However, as we were the first customers at this till and I was unloading the trolley, husband did begin to pack some of the stuff into bags. I had my back to the till woman whilst taking stuff out of the trolley, so didn't see what she was doing - apparently she was working very fast and piling everything up on the small area at the front of the till, much faster than husband could pack. I heard a noise and turned around to see a huge pile of our food all balanced precariously on the end of the till, with some of it falling off! I said to her "Can you stop please?" then carried on unloading the trolley. She didn't stop, or even slow down, she simply continued scanning stuff really fast and adding it to the massive pile. Which annoyed me so I said "This is ridiculous, how are we supposed to put food back into the trolley when I haven't finished emptying it? And there's no room and you're just making it fall on the floor!". She gave me such a filthy look and just huffed, although did slow down marginally. Anyway, we got through the till, went to the shelf and started to pack.
And that would have been the end of it.....until I heard her say to the next customer "Did you hear that woman having a moan? Stupid woman(!!)". She clearly hadn't noticed me at the shelf, as her mouth dropped open and she flushed deep red with embarrassment as I marched back to the till and said "Yes that was me! And I 'had a moan' because what you were doing was ridiculous. And if you wanted to complain you should have had the decency to do it to my face, or at least wait until I was out of the shop!". She had the grace to look ashamed, although didn't apologise.
I did briefly consider asking to see the manager, but immediately discounted that idea - in this day and age people need their jobs and I didn't want to risk her losing hers. And, who knows, she might be having personal problems or had something on her mind, so I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt. She wasn't even a youngster, she was around 40, so should have known better really. But at least I stood up for myself and told her what I thought!
Anyway, we won't be going back to the shop for another 3 months or so, and as they have a fairly rapid turnover of staff she most likely won't even be there next time.
I am finding that the older I get, the less likely I am to suffer fools gladly and if something or someone annoys me or there's some injustice, I will say so.
How blimmin rude. You were very restrained. I would have chewed her head off
ReplyDeleteI always take my time packing and make them wait. I recently heard of a woman who broke down in tears because the operator was going so fast.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the matter with the world, I for one am sick of it all.
Briony
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Good for you confronting her! I wouldn't have been so tolerant regarding reporting her! Hopefully you gave her enough of a shock so she won't be so rude ever again!
ReplyDeleteI have walked out and left my shopping at the till.
ReplyDeleteGood for you. There's no place for rudeness. I think I'd have asked for the manager (although hubby would be cringing), or at least sent a snotty email to them. I've been Victor Meldrew for years, although what I say is a bit stronger than "I don't believe it!" xx
ReplyDeleteGood for you sticking up for yourself. She could at the very least have had the grace to apologise for her rude behaviour. Perhaps filling in the store survey that is usually advertised at the bottom of your receipt would highlight the incident to head office and be trickled back to the store manager. You do not need to name names, but the store manager will be able to see who was on the till at the time you passed through. She would not lose her job unless she had been this rude to other customers beforehand and was already on a written warning.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely hate it when the things are pushed through the till at break neck speed! I've calmed down a bit now though with it all - I pack at my own pace and wait until I've packed before sorting out the payment. I think it's very rude for the cashiers to do this, although I think at the 2 main German supermarkets, they have to act quickly to fulfil their contractual agreements. I can remember the days, not that many years ago, when there was an assistant at the end of the checkout offering to pack for you or asking if you needed help packing!
ReplyDeleteHow extremely rude of her. Maybe she HAS to get through a certain amount in the time - although the chances are she was just in a stroppy mood and took it out on you.
ReplyDeleteGrrrrrr
xx
I think her biggest crime was discussing one customer (you) with another I would have thought till staff would have been trained to keep their comments to themselves - not at all professional. I think you should give yourself credit for giving her the benefit of the doubt - we do all have our off days.
ReplyDeleteHow very rude of her. You were very restrained I might have said more.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Next time, load more slowly. This will force her to scan more slowly. Why do they not have a second cart for loading the purchases and then your empty cart becomes the next customers paid cart of purchases? Very backward system from the sound of it. No wonder everyone is p.'d off.
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