was I sucky?

[Sarlon]

I went to the store yesterday to pick somethings up for dinner, when my sweet tooth jumped out of my mouth, slapped me upside the head and DEMANDED that I buy it some chex mix....

ok not really but I was still craving it. So i finish my shopping, and head to the aisle where I think it should be (snackage aisle). Can't find it....go down a few different aisles...still can't find it. so I go up to the register that is empty of customers, and set my basket down, the cashier starts ringing me up and I ask where the chex mix was.

she gave me a confused look and I spoke a little louder since it was noisy and I did speak kinda softly. She mentioned that it was in the cereal aisle...I politely said "but its a snack not a cereal." She then got one of the bag people to go help me find it and we went down the aisle that I had orginally looked. At first I thought...ok maybe I didn't see it, as sometimes it CAN be right under my nose and I still not see it.

but loe and behold...its NOT there! so I'm not as blind as I think I am...we can't find it...and he doesn't know where it might be...at this point I'm ready to just cut my looses, pay for my food and leave. Well, another coworker comes up and asks what I was looking for and says "oh it might be over with the nuts and chips".

So away we go to the ONE aisle that I didn't go down, and there is the chex mix...I VERY heartily appologize to the gentleman who was kind enough to help me go look for it and for taking up his time.

So I get my snackage, and walk back to the register, only to find out that there is a guy behind me that gives me the DEATH glare that I cut in front of him with my purchase to pay the nice lady. I quickly pay for my things and leave....and hot damn if he didn't say some snarky comment about being forced to wait for me!

I'd of probably told him a few things if I hadn't had to rush home to start dinner at that point...I mean come on I didn't ASK them to hold my purchases while we went in search of the snackage ><

[bigpedaler]

A little bit sucky; the cashier isn't the one to ask, 'where's...?' And your other items were held because in so MANY stores, it's easier to do that than do a transaction cancellation. It WAS cool that you were thankful to those that helped you.

[Music Mo-Gal]

I don't think you were sucky. You asked where something was and another employee helped you. You were polite. If the customer behind you is pissed off that he had to wait, that's his problem. Also, another cashier could have rung you up, or the first cashier could have voided out your sale and rung the other customer up if the wait was that long.

[rerant]

I don't think you were sucky I think the situation was. Surly the cashier didn't anticipate the search for the elusive Chex Mix to take so long and that someone else would show up in her line (although had it been me working cash I would have told the customer I was waiting on something and it would be faster to go to another line).

[ArcticChicken]

Also, another cashier could have rung you up, or the first cashier could have voided out your sale and rung the other customer up if the wait was that long.

That's not necessarily true. At my store the transaction has to be voided by a manger, and at the wrong time of day it can take up to five minutes to find someone with keys. Though we are getting better at that. As for having another cashier ring Sarlon up, I'd still have to have a manger void the order off of my till. Another cashier could on the other hand, have rung up the second customer, if there was another cashier there, but there are times when I'm the only cashier in the store.

As for your behavior, Sarlon, I got the impression from your post that you didn't really intend to have someone help you find it right then, to I'm coming down on the side of 'not sucky'.

[freeatlast]

That kind of happened to me at Dollar Tree last week. I had lost my coupon organizer (left it in the cart at Wally World when I put it in the corral) and I had seen them before at DT. I looked in all the logical places and could not find them, so when I went to pay for my other purchases I asked if they carried them. I thought if they told me where to find them I would get one the next time I was in. As soon as I asked the question, the cashier told me she would go get me one. As soon as she left, a couple got in line behind me. I apologized to them and said that I did not expect her to go after the item. She came back empty handed and another cashier who was not on a register went to look. I told the couple behind me to go ahead as I didn't want them to wait any longer than they had to (and they had been very nice about the wait.) Turns out that they were out of them at the time and were very apologetic about my waiting while they looked. I was afraid the people behind me would think I was sucky but I think they were OK with it.

[nomorecarts]

I'm gonna go not sucky. asking a cashier where something is when there's no line is not rude, or inappropriate, just don't expect them to leave their register and it's fine

the cashier should have voided each item individually, there shouldn't have been many items by the time you left, then hit total, verified that it read $0.00, then hit cash, and helped the next customer, but it sounds like it was pretty slow, so the cashier thought you'd be back before another customer got to her, probably finished scanning your items while you were gone, and you can't fault her for that, unless you only had a couple things

[bloodrose]

A little bit sucky; the cashier isn't the one to ask, 'where's...?' And your other items were held because in so MANY stores, it's easier to do that than do a transaction cancellation. It WAS cool that you were thankful to those that helped you.

When I check out, I often get the "did you find everything you needed?" from the cashier... and, most stores don't have enough people so the only person you can find is a cashier.

[bigpedaler]

Well, folks, the reason I don't ask cashiers where things are is because their job is ringing up purchases, which requires them to stay up front, not roaming all over the store finding out where things are. I don't EXPECT cashiers to know the whole store! Sure, it's tough lots of times to find floor help, but most cashiers simply don't have opportunity to learn these things...ok?

[AdminAssistant]

but most cashiers simply don't have opportunity to learn these things...ok?

But it never hurts to ask. If that had been me, I would've done much the same thing, because I have been in that exact same situation of hunting the elusive floor employee. So, it doesn't hurt to ask, on the off chance that the cashier might know where to find the shinys you want - but it is sucky to expect the cashier to know...if that makes any sense.

I got that all the time when I was working the service desk, and I worked in a relatively small department store. Well, I mostly got asked where the bathroom was, but I digress....

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

There was nobody on the salesfloor you could ask?

It's not sucky of you to ask the cashier where things are, and it doesn't hurt to ask, but you do have to be realistic about their product knowledge or lack of it. Bigpedaler's right; cashiers are there to to check out merchandise, not tell you where it is. At my store, cashiers are not taken out to the salesfloor and given a brief introduction to the different departments and the items located in them as part of their training. So unless the particular person you're checking out by has salesfloor experience, they're not going to know where the item you want is.

And that can lead to an awkward situation such as this. I always hunt high and low for salesfloor people if I need help, and if I can't find one or the item I want I just go without.

That being said, you were nothing but polite during the whole thing, and hopefully the cashier didn't get reamed too badly by the second customer. So all's well that ends well.

[edible_hat]

In supermarkets, when something I want isn't where I expect it to be, I think of the least logical place for it. Most of the time that's where it turns out to be, thanks to the idiots who write planograms.

[erasily_ani]

: off topic : But I want to apologize for your craving. My family (cousins, mother, ect) have a very bad habit -- we don't have cravings when we are pregnant. Someone else has them for us.

We hadn't figured out yet who was having my cravings. It appears it might be you. I apologize profusely, as does Baby! It'll be over in about 7 months.

[RetailWorkhorse]

That kind of happened to me at Dollar Tree last week. I had lost my coupon organizer (left it in the cart at Wally World when I put it in the corral) and I had seen them before at DT.

If you're ever in my store, you'll find them down the second aisle from the right (pretend you're reading backwards) in housewares. Middle of the aisle on a clipstrip. Can't miss 'em.

Well, folks, the reason I don't ask cashiers where things are is because their job is ringing up purchases, which requires them to stay up front, not roaming all over the store finding out where things are.

Then ring the bell at the cashier's station if you're ever in my store and don't see me. Because I'm pushing freight, backstocking, helping other customers find stuff, fixing the wall again because the stupid slats fell off under the weight of the merchandice, taking the trash out, and making sure that kids aren't running around screaming.

If any of my fellow cashiers ever just stood at the register they'd have their hides verbally tanned and set to work. We ARE required to know everything in the store, where it's at, and an alternative if it's unavailible.

If you (the customer at large) stand at the register and see the bell, but don't ring it even though there's a SIGN STATING YOU ARE TO DO SO, then don't be pissed off at me because I didn't know you were up there while I'm on the other side of the store helping someone find a certain brand of shampoo. You will get a verbal smackdown from me and I don't fear Corporate or any complaints lodged against me because people like that force me to stop caring about my job.


Can you tell it happens a lot?

[Midnight12]

Actually, SOME stores make it a point of handing out a laminated sheet of alphabatized general items list. So that should a cashier be asked said cashier doesn't have to memorize everything in the store but refer to said sheet. However bigpedlar has a point, not all stores train their cashiers to know where everything is.