Just went on and on and on ...

[Sandy]

One day, we were super super busy at the supermarket. It was 5 deep with customers at every open register, and I was on express and the line was LONG! When we get busy, the baskets that the customers use build up behind our registers where they pay. When we get a chance, or when we notice a lot of customers asking us for baskets because the rack is empty, we take a load of baskets out to the rack. When it's super busy, sometimes we forget to do this, as serving the customers is the top priority. We are only human after all.

Anyway, this one lady with a 4-5 year old girl walks up, and the conversation goes like this (this happened a while ago, so I'm doing my best to remember).

L=Lady
S= Subash, my workmate

L: I want to complain about the bad service (to me, angry)
S: (smiling, trying to lighten the mood) The bad service?
L: I'm not talking to you. I've been waiting and there are no trollies blah blah blah. Will you pass that on to your manager, Sandy?
Me: (thinking, lady, the lines we can't help, everyone is doing their best, what can the manager do? As for the trollies, you have to wait for the trolley man to bring them up, not the manager's job). It'd probably be better if the complaint came from a customer rather than me. (I mean, what will I say to the manager? 'Hey, the queues are too long. I know all the registers are open, but the queues are too long. What will you do about it?' All we can do is go as fast as we can)

L: I don't want to spend my Saturday waiting to complain to the manager (right, so you'd rather complain to someone who clearly has even less control over the situation. And on that note, if you don't want to waste your precious Saturday, why the flip did you choose to come shopping on the busiest day of the week?)

I don't say anything at this point, I'd rather just get her finished and out of the store.

The lady then shows me her red arm

L: Look at my arm because there were no baskets ( her groceries had been resting on her arm)

Me: (a bit miffed) If you wanted a basket, why don't you just ask for one? (I indicated to the baskets behind us)

L: Oh, that's where they are! Thanks *name of supermarket* (sarcastically)

She starts to walk off in a huff. I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it, but I said cheerily,"BYE!"

Her response? 'F*** off!'

OK, if she saw that the lines were huge, and there were no trollies, and no baskets, WHY DIDN'T SHE HOT FOOT IT OUT OF OUR STORE AND GO TO OTHER SUPERMARKET IN THE MALL?

[COMINATCHA]

OK, if she saw that the lines were huge, and there were no trollies, and no baskets, WHY DIDN'T SHE HOT FOOT IT OUT OF OUR STORE AND GO TO OTHER SUPERMARKET IN THE MALL?

Because she's an attention-seeking, cry-baby moron, it's just what they do.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I feel your pain... I'm getting this at my supermarket right now. Sometimes, we only have one supervisor on the floor cuz the others are either on breaks or doing breaks for cashiers, so they can't spare any time to empty baskets! Sometimes the trolley boys will come and do the baskets for us, but they are busy nonstop too!

Plus, we had 7 person queues on Sunday... and I got a couple of whiny people going, "Why don't you open more tills?" The schedule is nothing to do with me firstly, secondly there just isn't enough staff. This was at lunchtime when all spare floor people were busy doing lunches which takes priority over opening more tills as cashiers can't work all day without a break. Try telling that to Mr Whinger or Ms Moaner tho.

[Phone Jockey]

Whoa, again, you're assuming our logic is the same as SC Logic. It's not. It's always OUR fault when THEY can't find/do something. Didn't you know that? LOL

[Becks]

If I'm crazy enough to do my shopping on a Saturday, I expect lines. If I don't see any available shopping carts, I'll go back out to the parking lot to find an empty one waiting to get picked up. If I need a basket, instead, and there are none in the front lobby, I'll go up to the registers and get one.

Oh, wait...those ideas MAKE SENSE!!!!

[dragonflygrrl]

In the mornings, I have our store all to myself. Which is nice, except when customers decide to mount a mass invasion. (I don't care what anyone says, I know they plan these things.) The other day, I was activating a new line for a customer that wasn't particularly tech-savvy, and being sure to explain everything clearly. While I was doing that, another customer came in. I smiled, made eye contact, and said, "Hi, I'll be with you just as soon as I can!" Then I went on helping my first customer. Customer #2 paced around, sighed loudly, checked his watch, eyed the clock, and was roundly ignored. Finally, he burst out, "Come on, how much longer are you going to take?" I fixed him with my "oh, look, a bug," smile and said, "I will help this customer until I have answered all her questions and met her needs. If you would like to wait just a bit more, I will be happy to do the same for you. When it is your turn." Then I returned to helping my original customer. There was no more "hurry up dance," from that particular SC that day.

[Brighid45]

Who doesn't know to look under the checkout conveyor for baskets if there aren't any in the rack? (It's that way in most places in the States anyway, in my experience.) And if you can't find any--ask politely where one might be acquired. Sheesh! People love any excuse to whine!

If an empty basket rack was the worst crisis in my life, I'd be one happy woman.

[chainedbarista]

If an empty basket rack was the worst crisis in my life, I'd be one happy woman.

god, no kidding; i try to plan shopping as best as i can-avoid paydays, getting many items when they're busy, etc.

this doesn't always work, so if i'm stuck going on a busy day, i simply deal with it, there are worse things, after all.

[ThinMick]

I got a couple of whiny people going, "Why don't you open more tills?" The schedule is nothing to do with me firstly, secondly there just isn't enough staff.

See, that's when you say something like, "Oh, how nice of you to offer to open another till for us! We really don't have enough people and your offer to help us out is just what we need. Why don't you just head on over to the Customer Service desk and pick up an application."

But, then, I'm just that kind of a bastard.

[Primer]

See, that's when you say something like, "Oh, how nice of you to offer to open another till for us! We really don't have enough people and your offer to help us out is just what we need. Why don't you just head on over to the Customer Service desk and pick up an application."

I'm glad I read through the whole thread before replying to the OP. I was thinking the same thing, but I would not have been nearly so diplomatic about it!

[Broomjockey]

If I'm crazy enough to do my shopping on a Saturday, I expect lines. If I don't see any available shopping carts, I'll go back out to the parking lot to find an empty one waiting to get picked up. If I need a basket, instead, and there are none in the front lobby, I'll go up to the registers and get one.

Oh, wait...those ideas MAKE SENSE!!!!

I do that too!

But yesterday, we got slammed in concession for the late shows, which go from 9:20 to 10:20, so people arrived from about 8:50 to 10:30, which is when we close. Anyway, we had huge line ups, and because it was a Sunday night, only two people in concession.

One lady asks why we don't have more people working. I explain as I fill her order that corperate considers Sunday nights to be slower times, so they want fewer people working to save on payroll. She says that's stupid and the managers should put more people on.
I agreed (I know, big mistake) but told her that if the managers go over on payroll hours, they get yelled at by their bosses. So what she should do is on her way out, grab a comment card from our stack at the front. If enough people start complaining, they will do something. She seemed fairly happy with that suggestion, and I hope she did it too. Customer complaints actually mean something to this company, I just hope she phrased it correctly

[Mixed Bag]

Why is it a mistake to agree with a customer? I have vastly more respect for a company that allows its employees to be frank about their constraints than I do for one who expects me to assume everything is being run with infinite intelligence and there's no need to suggest improvements. Of course, some have been annoyed by my suggestions and they have a right not to comment on their decisions... and we have a right to draw whatever conclusions we wish from their choice not to answer. Being given a good reason why a company can't do something I think they should be willing to do might make the difference between an appreciative, frequent customer and one who thinks management is rude and clueless.

Employees know companies have bad policies, as other threads here have attested. If companies believe in their policies, why shouldn't they want to explain them to employees and customers? Some won't understand or will resent that the company doesn't find them worth catering to, but companies that don't want to deal with this are cutting themselves off from the respect and appreciation of wourthy customers and employees--and deservedly so. Inviting feedback on policies might even give management ideas for fulfilling the goals of the initial policy while being flexible enough to better meet the needs of others who don't need the restraints.

[Lace Neil Singer]

See, that's when you say something like, "Oh, how nice of you to offer to open another till for us! We really don't have enough people and your offer to help us out is just what we need. Why don't you just head on over to the Customer Service desk and pick up an application."

But, then, I'm just that kind of a bastard.

I'd love to do that, in fact, I'm considering suggesting it to management. We could even keep a stack under the till to hand out with a big smile and "Be a part of the solution, not of the problem!"