No, can't do it.

[cpux]

This was a common occurence at my store. You see, most grocery stores will be able to look up your store club card by phone number. My store, despite being in a major chain in the mid-atlantic, could not. All the other stores in the chain could, but we couldn't. All the other grocery stores in the area could, but we couldn't.

This of course brought about a lot of frustration and anger.

SC: I don't have my card with me. Here's my phone number.
Me: I can't look it up by phone number.
SC: Yes you can.
Me: No I can't. These machines aren't capable of doing it.
SC: Yes you can. I've done it here before! (either a lie or a mistake; the latter wouldn't surprise me)
Me: Certainly you haven't, as these machines can't look up card number by phone number.
SC: Get me someone who knows this better than you!
::Front end supervisor comes over::
FES: What's up?
SC: Look up my card! Here's my phone num...
FES: I can't do that.
SC: Whaddaya mean you can't do that? Of course you can!
FES: No I can't. The machines won't do it.
SC: Machines, machines! Get me the manager!
::Manager comes over::
SC: Look up my card now!
M: How do you suppose I do that?
SC: My phone number.
M: That doesn't work here.
SC: OF COURSE IT DOES! WHAT KINDA CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THIS?
M: If you settle down I can...
SC: *#%^ YOU! I'M OUTA HERE!
::SC storms out, leaving groceries on the belt for us to clean off and return::
Next Customer: Yeesh, how hard is it to remember to bring your card? If it was such a big deal I could've lent her mine.

Sadly, this scenario played out more times than I can remember.

[blas]

Ours couldn't either at the grocery store. You'd think being such a big bad corporate place, we could have.

How many times would someone walk up to my register, I could barely get a "Hello" in, and I'd get cut off with a brisk "IDONTGOTMYCARDONMEMYNUMBERIS8765309!"



Of course, just as in your situation, none of the customers believed it. Not even management could convince them.

Those little cards (and keychain things) are a pain in the butt. They are good to have and discounts are always good, but why is it that every customer I got that had a card always insisted on throwing it onto the conveyer belt, or even worse, whipping their entire keychain at me? (kind of like how SCs at the gas station whipped their money and CCs at me). It got very annoying after a while.

And then of course there was always the customers....every single item in their cart was an item that was on sale ONLY with the discount card, and they'd pull the same crap every time they'd come in. "I left it in the car!" "My husband's sister's boyfriend's uncle's dog's pet rabbit has it!" and you knew they never had one to begin with, so I'd have to send my bagger to go find the manager for the courtesy card. I wish we didn't have a courtesy card for people like that.

I always wanted to say too bad.

[Mixed Bag]

What I don't understand is why your store couldn't get the same kind of equipment everyone else has and save you all those complaints; I don't blame people one bit for thinking they don't need to clutter their wallet or keychain with yet another card when every other store allows numbers.

I'm sorry to say, were I denied such an alternative as a courtesy card, I'd hold up the line by applying for a new one.

As for rattling off the number really fast, maybe they had an experience like I did the last time I went to the market closest to my home; every other store in the chain asks during or after scanning for the card, but here the checker assumed I didn't have one because I didn't speak up first. I've rarely gone to that one store because, both before and after it changed hands via the one chain absorbing another, every time I went I had a different kind of flaky experience--however minor--that rarely happened elsewhere.

[thelong1]

"IDONTGOTMYCARDONMEMYNUMBERIS8765309!"

Thats too bad, Jenny always seemed like such a nice girl, and now she's an SC.

[JustaCashier]

Thats too bad, Jenny always seemed like such a nice girl, and now she's an SC.

It would really be bad if Blas' customer was a guy.....

Blas: "Ok, I have your info on my screen. You're Jenny's husband?"

C: "No, I'm Jenny. You gotta problem widdat?!?"

[Jester]

Must be a different Jenny.

The Jenny *I* remember had a number of 867-5309, NOT 876-5309. I mention this as Jenny always told me "for a good time, for a good time call." So I just cannot picture her becoming an SC.




FOUR DAYS TILL VACATION!!! :BOUNCE:

[cpux]

What I don't understand is why your store couldn't get the same kind of equipment everyone else has and save you all those complaints; I don't blame people one bit for thinking they don't need to clutter their wallet or keychain with yet another card when every other store allows numbers.

Well, you see, the story I was told was that store management thought it was corporate's job to handle upgrades, and corporate thought it was store management's job to handle upgrades. Ergo, nothing got upgraded. I'm guessing at other stores, store level management took the initiative.

I'm sorry to say, were I denied such an alternative as a courtesy card, I'd hold up the line by applying for a new one.

Sadly we couldn't do that at the register either. That was done at courtesy. Of course, you'd have to wait for the thing to come in the mail because, unlike JUST ABOUT EVERY FREAKIN STORE WITH A CLUB CARD IN EXISTENCE, the new number couldn't be pulled up right away.

Yes, the confines of my store date back to the Dark Ages. And as a tech junkie, I cry on the inside.