Mildly amusing, but still annoying

[aurelemsrealm]

I get lottery customers all of the time who inform me that they want lottery tickets, then just look at me with that blank, expectant stare.

(Okay........... please tell me more.............)

Then, I have to remind them that they must continue with specifications so that I might know what kind of lottery tickets they would like. Sometimes, they make it really fun by not knowing what kind of lottery tickets they want. So, I find myself reminding them that I can't possibly know what they want if they don't know what they want. As handy as it would be, I'm not a mind reader. Even if I was, there'd have to be a mind to read first.

(Dear customer, this is the point at which you tell me whether you'd like a scratch-off ticket and which one(s), a Powerball ticket (with or without the Power Play option), Lotto 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, etc.)

With some, I literally feel like I have to play 20 questions lest they not get what they don't know they want. Honestly, I just want to tell some of them to get a clue or just get lost.

[poofy_puff]

The lottery, or rather, the lottery CUSTOMERS, used to drive me crazy when I worked at Store 24. Especially fun was when someone would win $10 on a scratch ticket after the machine went offline and you couldn't give them their money because there was no way to scan the ticket. Only if they won $1 or a free ticket could we put it in the register and give them their ticket or dollar; any more than that and they would have to wait until the machine rebooted. Much confusion.

[chops]

(Dear customer, this is the point at which you tell me whether you'd like a scratch-off ticket and which one(s), a Powerball ticket (with or without the Power Play option), Lotto 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, etc.)

The Vermont Lottery is pretty hardcore about asking customers if they want Power Play. So much so that they decided to throw in a nag screen so the clerk has to ask, even if you put in a slip that doesn't have the Power Play option marked. In New Hampshire, even though Vermont's software was pretty much lifted from theirs, they don't have the nag screen.

[cinema guy]

Customers with non-specific requests drive me up the wall. "I'd like a drink please." GRRRR!

[aurelemsrealm]

Oh yes, the good ol' nag screen..... We have those on our machines in Tennessee, too. Unless they request it, I usually just hit no and move on. I get tired of explaining it, and have found that most customers don't want it anyway. So, no specific request means no Power Play as far as I'm concerned. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "You can tell me what to do, but you can't make me do it." That really does sum up my attitude at work most times.

Cinema Guy, next time someone says that without further specification, you should point them to the nearest water fountain. After all, water is a drink. I've noticed that such mildly sarcastic comments seem to spur the customers to make a decision faster than just asking them.

Like I said, I'm not a mind reader, but if I was there would have to be a mind present to read first.

[Bank Lady]

I hate when I ask customers how they would like their cash and they say "green." That doesn't help me, people. It's fine if you don't really care, but half the time I count out the money and the customer hands bills back for different denominations. If you wanted fives and tens then you should have said so when I asked.

[Dorath]

Only if they won $1 or a free ticket could we put it in the register and give them their ticket or dollar; any more than that and they would have to wait until the machine rebooted. Much confusion.

You were lucky. When ours went down, all redemptions had to wait.

[aurelemsrealm]

I hate when I ask customers how they would like their cash and they say "green." That doesn't help me, people. It's fine if you don't really care, but half the time I count out the money and the customer hands bills back for different denominations. If you wanted fives and tens then you should have said so when I asked.

I now use direct deposit, so I rarely go inside the bank. About the only time I go inside is when my change jar gets full, or I decide to cash a bunch of change in for another reason. If I need cash, I just go to the ATM at the main branch's drive-thru unless I happen to be near one of the other branches.

When I used to cash a paper check, though, I always made sure to ask the tellers not to give me any $50 or $100 bills unless I planned to make a big purchase. I always requested $20 bills or smaller up front. Aside from that, I really didn't care how they gave it to me. All money spends the same, but we know the difficulties in changing big bills.

[Freemage]

Meh. The lottery is a tax on stupidity, anyway, really--the payoff would usually have to be on the order of 10x to a 100x bigger, in most cases, in order to be even close to a 'fair bet' (if you're not playing a 2 billion dollar jackpot, for instance, six numbers from 1-40 is a horrible bet). Furthermore, since more people play as the jackpot increases, you actually increase the chances that someone else will also pick the same numbers, resulting in a reduced payout.

Picking on lottery players for lack of thought is a bit like picking on a sloth for lack of pep.

EDIT: The above comments do not apply to people who pick up a spare ticket without any expectation of actually winning--the rush from that sort of purchase is probably comparable to the pleasure I got from buying comic books, after all.

[Bank Lady]

When I used to cash a paper check, though, I always made sure to ask the tellers not to give me any $50 or $100 bills unless I planned to make a big purchase. I always requested $20 bills or smaller up front. Aside from that, I really didn't care how they gave it to me. All money spends the same, but we know the difficulties in changing big bills.

See now, "20's or smaller" I can use. That gives me a direction.

[PorkChop]

In Arizona, we have the nag screen too. It's so annoying, especially when 10 people want lotto at the same time.

What gets me is when customers ask me which scratcher wins the most. I don't know, I don't play! I like to keep my money! Every once in a blue moon do I play a $1 or $2 scratcher and I lose!

[chops]

What gets me is when customers ask me which scratcher wins the most. I don't know, I don't play! I like to keep my money! Every once in a blue moon do I play a $1 or $2 scratcher and I lose!

People don't understand that there are several factors that can affect that answer...the people who buy at location A and cash at location B, the people who bring them home and scratch them (I tend to do that on the rare occasions that I buy scratch tickets)...but how silly of me, that would be asking the customer to think. At least most lotteries tend to post lists of unclaimed winners...that helps a lot.

Another favorite of mine was "what number is _____ on?" People honestly believe that the number on the ticket can affect whether the ticket's a winner or not, no matter what you say. That's why I love the automatic ticket machines...you get what it gives you.