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From the Thursday shift....
How Dare You Uphold Policy!
I started out the shift on the register directly across from (and facing) the cigarette registers, making it one of the busiest registers in the store--all the customers coming from the store (which is on the cigarette side of the Front End/register area) see that the cigarette register and 11 are open and go to them first, even so far as to be the fourth or fifth customer in line, without realizing that there are three registers over by the self-checkouts that have no lines and no waiting and a very bored cashier standing at them.
So anyway, once I enticed my first customer over, things were happily busy. A lady came to my line with a cartful of items and unloaded them onto the counter as I finished out the customer before her. The woman then came up to the register itself and began grousing about the wait at the cigarette line. Apparently there was an old lady over there arguing over every little price in her own basketful of items, right down to the $.40 items. I glanced over and saw Cashier Ann's expression of exasperation and figured, fair enough. Come to my line and I'll get you out faster; that's what I'm here fore.
Well then the woman mumbles something while still unloading her cart about needing cigarettes, and I think I heard a specific brand name mentioned in the mumble. Didn't catch it all, though, and asked her what she'd said. She looked right at me and repeated the request for a pack of cigarettes.
I am not on a cigarette register, and therefore can't sell her them. So I politely explain this.
Me: I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I can't sell you cigarettes at this register. You have to get them at Register 13.
SC: But that lady's taking forever, arguing over every little price, and I didn't want to be standing there for who-knows-how-long. I need X-brand cigarettes.
Me: (trying the I-don't-make-policy,yes-it's-annoying approach) I'm sorry, but I can't sell them to you here. I can sell you everything else (indicating her items), but not cigarettes.
SC: I think it's ridiculous. You can't just walk right over there and get them for me? (sounding quite fed-up)
Me: (a bit stern now, since I've repeated myself already) I'm sorry, Ma'am, but this register won't allow me to sell them to you.
That's when she looked right at me, like it's my fault the policy exists, and says, "You don't have to be rude about it; I just want my cigarettes."
This actually had me shaking with suppressed emotion--if I didn't control myself, the next thing I'd do would be to either snap at the customer (the "look, stupid!" approach) or burst into tears (the "victim" approach)--so I gritted my teeth and apologized, a simple "sorry," and began scanning her items. At some point, the woman got fed up with everything and decided she was getting her cigarettes elsewhere, even though I pointed out when I handed her the receipt that Ann's line was nonexistant (just finishing up a customer, no one else in line) and she could go get her cigarettes quickly. The lady seemed pleasant enough toward me by the end of the transaction, at least, but the other customers in the store agreed that it's not nice to get grouchy at your cashier just because they're not allowed to sell cigarettes at their register.
The Self-Checkout's Insulting Me!
Had a customer today who called me over to her self-checkout for some help (why do customers not think to use the HELP button on the register, and instead stand there and stare at you and wait for you to finally notice them?). She was holding two bags of cough drops in her hands, and I remembered clearing a bagging time-out followed by a weight addition (common occurrance on the self-checks) for her transaction. So I approach with my usual self-check greeting.
Me: What seems to be the trouble?
SC: (gesturing to the screen with one bag of cough drops, where I can clearly see both cough drop bags on the handy list of rung items, one with an "Item not bagged" notice) This says one of these isn't bagged, but I put it in the bag!
Me: Oh, that's because the bagging area is a scale that weighs the items when you bag them. If you take too long to bag them, or press "Skip Bagging," that shows up. It doesn't really mean anything. You can keep shopping.
SC: But I bagged the item! And I didn't hit any button!
Me: (attmepts to explain again, rewording it in case she didn't understand me the first time)
SC: (repeats herself again)
Me: (sighs) It's fine, Ma'am. Just keep ringing up your items. (puts the items in the bags and clears the weight complaint on the screen)
Thing is, she's not the first customer to act like "Item not bagged" is a personal insult. This is almost as annoying as the customers who scan an item, hit "Skip Bagging," then bag it and go to scan the next item, and do this for every single item without realizing the problems they're causing.
Let's All Stand in the Doorway!
Why does everyone who sets off the security alarm on the exit doors feel the need to stop with their cart or bag right in the doorway, thus blocking the exit for any customer who wants to leave after them and setting off the door alarm another five or ten times before the door greeter is done checking their items? Move out of the security stands, people! Leave room for others! ::makes shooing motions at the clueless:: And while we're at it, there are also the ones who blithely ignore the alarm calling out to them ("We're sorry you set off the alarm, now get your butt back in here so we can make sure you're not stealing!") and walk out at a fair clip and force the door greeter to chase them outside. Thing is, these are never the ones who are actually trying to shoplift. ::sigh::
Attempted Self-Check Scammer, or Just Clueless?
While standing at the self-check podium, one of the other cashiers came up to me as she was on her way to take her break and warned me of a pair of women who had just entered the store. Apparently, these women had previously attempted to scam some DVDs through the self-check by leaving them on the bottom of the shopping cart, covered with clothes, then claiming they'd been rung up later (they were caught on it, but apparently not prosecuted). With the heads-up, I kept an eye out for them, since the cashier mentioned they rather liked the self-checks (for obvious reasons).
So when they came to the self-check, I tried to keep a surreptitious eye on them. They chose one of the more difficult registers to watch, but the bagging area and where they placed their cart was still in view. I made sure to keep the same level of attention on all three of the open registers (one was down with a malfunction), so they couldn't claim I was watching them exclusively (especially as they appeared to be Hispanic and I didn't want to be accused of racial profiling; dang it, I've seen just as many Caucasians attempt to shoplift as anyone else).
Well, not long after they arrive at the checkout (and seem to be watching me furtively too), the daughter in the pair comes up to me and says there's an OJ spill in the food aisle that they caused. Well, thanks for telling me, I think, and assure her I'll take care of it. She goes back to her checkout and I use the handy phone at my station to page maitenence to the food aisle to clean up the wet spill (especially as another customer came over from a completely different register and confirmed the spill just as I was paging), and then I inform a passing CSM so she can run some caution cones over. I then continue to watch the ladies.
Fortunately, they only had three weight issues on their screen, all for relatively legitimate reasons, and there didn't appear to be any "extras" lining the bottom of their cart. Unfortunately, I couldn't really watch if they happened to turn with a freshly-removed bag and stuff it with a few extra items. I figured if they were stealing DVDs or CDs, they weren't running them over the security mat and would thus set the door alarm off.
With one of the weight issues, though, I did manage to foil the almost-theft of a box of cereal. Yes, cereal. I don't know if this was really attempted scamming or just cluelessness, but the girl scanned one box of cereal, then swiped the second box over the scanner (while the screen was still instructing to bag the first), and then bagged both at the same time. I noticed, and saw on my screen that only one box had scanned, so I went over and explained and they happily (almost sheepishly, maybe?) scanned the second box of cereal.
They didn't set the door off on their way out, though the girl approached me again and asked if the spill was already taken care of, which I assured her it was. She appeared nervous, but that might just have been me looking for the shoplifter that I was warned she was. :
: But later I regaled (in brief) my valiant rescuing of the cereal box to one of the other CSMs.
Another Potential Self-Check Scammer
This guy was already at the checkout when I took over the cashier podium (for one of the CSMs, which means it wasn't well-monitored before then), so I don't know if he'd started a legitimate transaction or not. I saw the barest flicker of the end of a transaction on the screen before it disappeared, waiting for the next customer. The guy had a pile of items on the belt next to him, and was bagging them into the rack with what appeared to be exaggerated swipes over the scanner (but not close enough to actually scan). Because a transaction hadn't been initiated, the bagging scales weren't active to warn me of weight issues.
Now, I couldn't tell if the guy had scanned his stuff and skipped the bagging on it all, instead piling it on the belt again, or if he was actually pretending to scan in and actually just bagging it to get it all free. I also couldn't tell if he was one of our slightly mentally challenged customers (he had that look on his face), or not. ::sigh:: I ended up giving him the benefit of the doubt and letting him go, though I do wish now that I'd gone up, offered help, and asked to see his receipt. Pity he didn't take any security-tagged merchandise.
---
And I really do dislike the people who complain about how unnecessarily complicated or frustrating the self-checkouts are when they don't bother to read the screens, or just happen to be one of those customers who ends up with an age prompt, at least one void approval, several weight issues on the bagging scale, and a signature comparison on a credit card. I had a customer who had all of these come up (all requiring me to clear stuff on the screen and requiring the customer to wait), and it was actually her late-teens-early-20s daughter doing all the grousing about how complicated the self-checkout was. You want "uncomplicated"? Go to a regular register where a cashier can do all the dirty work for you! Of course, she'd probably be complaining about how complicated the signature check was anyway, or demanding to know why the signature prompt came up (because you spent more than $100 on one transaction, genius).
How Dare You Uphold Policy!
I started out the shift on the register directly across from (and facing) the cigarette registers, making it one of the busiest registers in the store--all the customers coming from the store (which is on the cigarette side of the Front End/register area) see that the cigarette register and 11 are open and go to them first, even so far as to be the fourth or fifth customer in line, without realizing that there are three registers over by the self-checkouts that have no lines and no waiting and a very bored cashier standing at them.
So anyway, once I enticed my first customer over, things were happily busy. A lady came to my line with a cartful of items and unloaded them onto the counter as I finished out the customer before her. The woman then came up to the register itself and began grousing about the wait at the cigarette line. Apparently there was an old lady over there arguing over every little price in her own basketful of items, right down to the $.40 items. I glanced over and saw Cashier Ann's expression of exasperation and figured, fair enough. Come to my line and I'll get you out faster; that's what I'm here fore.
Well then the woman mumbles something while still unloading her cart about needing cigarettes, and I think I heard a specific brand name mentioned in the mumble. Didn't catch it all, though, and asked her what she'd said. She looked right at me and repeated the request for a pack of cigarettes.
I am not on a cigarette register, and therefore can't sell her them. So I politely explain this.
Me: I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I can't sell you cigarettes at this register. You have to get them at Register 13.
SC: But that lady's taking forever, arguing over every little price, and I didn't want to be standing there for who-knows-how-long. I need X-brand cigarettes.
Me: (trying the I-don't-make-policy,yes-it's-annoying approach) I'm sorry, but I can't sell them to you here. I can sell you everything else (indicating her items), but not cigarettes.
SC: I think it's ridiculous. You can't just walk right over there and get them for me? (sounding quite fed-up)
Me: (a bit stern now, since I've repeated myself already) I'm sorry, Ma'am, but this register won't allow me to sell them to you.
That's when she looked right at me, like it's my fault the policy exists, and says, "You don't have to be rude about it; I just want my cigarettes."
This actually had me shaking with suppressed emotion--if I didn't control myself, the next thing I'd do would be to either snap at the customer (the "look, stupid!" approach) or burst into tears (the "victim" approach)--so I gritted my teeth and apologized, a simple "sorry," and began scanning her items. At some point, the woman got fed up with everything and decided she was getting her cigarettes elsewhere, even though I pointed out when I handed her the receipt that Ann's line was nonexistant (just finishing up a customer, no one else in line) and she could go get her cigarettes quickly. The lady seemed pleasant enough toward me by the end of the transaction, at least, but the other customers in the store agreed that it's not nice to get grouchy at your cashier just because they're not allowed to sell cigarettes at their register.
The Self-Checkout's Insulting Me!
Had a customer today who called me over to her self-checkout for some help (why do customers not think to use the HELP button on the register, and instead stand there and stare at you and wait for you to finally notice them?). She was holding two bags of cough drops in her hands, and I remembered clearing a bagging time-out followed by a weight addition (common occurrance on the self-checks) for her transaction. So I approach with my usual self-check greeting.
Me: What seems to be the trouble?
SC: (gesturing to the screen with one bag of cough drops, where I can clearly see both cough drop bags on the handy list of rung items, one with an "Item not bagged" notice) This says one of these isn't bagged, but I put it in the bag!
Me: Oh, that's because the bagging area is a scale that weighs the items when you bag them. If you take too long to bag them, or press "Skip Bagging," that shows up. It doesn't really mean anything. You can keep shopping.
SC: But I bagged the item! And I didn't hit any button!
Me: (attmepts to explain again, rewording it in case she didn't understand me the first time)
SC: (repeats herself again)
Me: (sighs) It's fine, Ma'am. Just keep ringing up your items. (puts the items in the bags and clears the weight complaint on the screen)
Thing is, she's not the first customer to act like "Item not bagged" is a personal insult. This is almost as annoying as the customers who scan an item, hit "Skip Bagging," then bag it and go to scan the next item, and do this for every single item without realizing the problems they're causing.
Let's All Stand in the Doorway!
Why does everyone who sets off the security alarm on the exit doors feel the need to stop with their cart or bag right in the doorway, thus blocking the exit for any customer who wants to leave after them and setting off the door alarm another five or ten times before the door greeter is done checking their items? Move out of the security stands, people! Leave room for others! ::makes shooing motions at the clueless:: And while we're at it, there are also the ones who blithely ignore the alarm calling out to them ("We're sorry you set off the alarm, now get your butt back in here so we can make sure you're not stealing!") and walk out at a fair clip and force the door greeter to chase them outside. Thing is, these are never the ones who are actually trying to shoplift. ::sigh::
Attempted Self-Check Scammer, or Just Clueless?
While standing at the self-check podium, one of the other cashiers came up to me as she was on her way to take her break and warned me of a pair of women who had just entered the store. Apparently, these women had previously attempted to scam some DVDs through the self-check by leaving them on the bottom of the shopping cart, covered with clothes, then claiming they'd been rung up later (they were caught on it, but apparently not prosecuted). With the heads-up, I kept an eye out for them, since the cashier mentioned they rather liked the self-checks (for obvious reasons).
So when they came to the self-check, I tried to keep a surreptitious eye on them. They chose one of the more difficult registers to watch, but the bagging area and where they placed their cart was still in view. I made sure to keep the same level of attention on all three of the open registers (one was down with a malfunction), so they couldn't claim I was watching them exclusively (especially as they appeared to be Hispanic and I didn't want to be accused of racial profiling; dang it, I've seen just as many Caucasians attempt to shoplift as anyone else).
Well, not long after they arrive at the checkout (and seem to be watching me furtively too), the daughter in the pair comes up to me and says there's an OJ spill in the food aisle that they caused. Well, thanks for telling me, I think, and assure her I'll take care of it. She goes back to her checkout and I use the handy phone at my station to page maitenence to the food aisle to clean up the wet spill (especially as another customer came over from a completely different register and confirmed the spill just as I was paging), and then I inform a passing CSM so she can run some caution cones over. I then continue to watch the ladies.
Fortunately, they only had three weight issues on their screen, all for relatively legitimate reasons, and there didn't appear to be any "extras" lining the bottom of their cart. Unfortunately, I couldn't really watch if they happened to turn with a freshly-removed bag and stuff it with a few extra items. I figured if they were stealing DVDs or CDs, they weren't running them over the security mat and would thus set the door alarm off.
With one of the weight issues, though, I did manage to foil the almost-theft of a box of cereal. Yes, cereal. I don't know if this was really attempted scamming or just cluelessness, but the girl scanned one box of cereal, then swiped the second box over the scanner (while the screen was still instructing to bag the first), and then bagged both at the same time. I noticed, and saw on my screen that only one box had scanned, so I went over and explained and they happily (almost sheepishly, maybe?) scanned the second box of cereal.
They didn't set the door off on their way out, though the girl approached me again and asked if the spill was already taken care of, which I assured her it was. She appeared nervous, but that might just have been me looking for the shoplifter that I was warned she was. :
: But later I regaled (in brief) my valiant rescuing of the cereal box to one of the other CSMs.Another Potential Self-Check Scammer
This guy was already at the checkout when I took over the cashier podium (for one of the CSMs, which means it wasn't well-monitored before then), so I don't know if he'd started a legitimate transaction or not. I saw the barest flicker of the end of a transaction on the screen before it disappeared, waiting for the next customer. The guy had a pile of items on the belt next to him, and was bagging them into the rack with what appeared to be exaggerated swipes over the scanner (but not close enough to actually scan). Because a transaction hadn't been initiated, the bagging scales weren't active to warn me of weight issues.
Now, I couldn't tell if the guy had scanned his stuff and skipped the bagging on it all, instead piling it on the belt again, or if he was actually pretending to scan in and actually just bagging it to get it all free. I also couldn't tell if he was one of our slightly mentally challenged customers (he had that look on his face), or not. ::sigh:: I ended up giving him the benefit of the doubt and letting him go, though I do wish now that I'd gone up, offered help, and asked to see his receipt. Pity he didn't take any security-tagged merchandise.
---
And I really do dislike the people who complain about how unnecessarily complicated or frustrating the self-checkouts are when they don't bother to read the screens, or just happen to be one of those customers who ends up with an age prompt, at least one void approval, several weight issues on the bagging scale, and a signature comparison on a credit card. I had a customer who had all of these come up (all requiring me to clear stuff on the screen and requiring the customer to wait), and it was actually her late-teens-early-20s daughter doing all the grousing about how complicated the self-checkout was. You want "uncomplicated"? Go to a regular register where a cashier can do all the dirty work for you! Of course, she'd probably be complaining about how complicated the signature check was anyway, or demanding to know why the signature prompt came up (because you spent more than $100 on one transaction, genius).