Does the express line really live up to its name?

[AFpheonix]

Hmmm......perhaps we should suggest the hiring of express lane bouncers?

[booger]

We're not allowed to turn away goons with cartfuls of stuff at the express lanes where I work. *sigh*

[powerboy]

When I go shopping at walmart or anywhere that has the 10 item or less lanes, I always get stuck behind the jerk, that has a cart full. I love using the self checkouts, if I have a few items.

[Lehk]

10 items or less lanes should have a cumulative $0.10 fee for items above 10

.10+.20+.30+.40+.50+.60+.70+.80+.90+1.00 = $5.50 fee for 20 items

.10+.20+.30+.40+.50+.60+.70+.80+.90+1.00+
1.10+1.20+1.30+1.40+1.50+1.60+1.70+1.80+1.90+2.00 = $21.00 fee for 30 items

then make it official policy that the only way to void that fee is to void the entire order and ring it up at a normal register.

and it comes to a $46.50 fee for 40 items
...and $82 for anyone nuts enough to bring 50 items through

just call it the "more important than everyone else tax"

[Pagan]

At the Albertson's near me, they're actually really good about kicking people out of the express lane that have more that the limit. I mean by a lot. I think it's 10 items, but if you have like 11 or 12, they'll let you go. But if I'm behind someone in the express lane with a cart full, you bet I'm going to point it out to them! That limit's there for a reason, you idiot!

[batmoody]

The best thing is when the customers behind says something. Usually the checker doesnt want to rock the boat, and I think SC's know this. If it is another customer, then there isnt a thing they can do about it. So if you see someone in front of you disregarding the rules, say something!
Examples....(in total earshot of sc.....)
"Oh wait, I thought this was the express lane."
"Honey, do we have less than 15 items?"
"Gotta love the express lane"
or if you prefer to be very blunt....
"Hey lady, did you make it past preschool? You soooo have way more than 15!"

Oh the things we(cashiers) wish we could say.
The only thing I usually do when faced with this predicament is call for another EXPRESSchecker. Once the customer sees that it is me that is calling, they quickly realize the back up is their fault.

Also about the 20 items that are the same thing, so it must be only counted as one item.
I hate that.
sc: I have 20 items but its all yogurt.

It doesnt matter. We have to scan each and every item individually. Back in the day we could punch in 10*qty* and then scan one item. But they took that away from us. We really do have to scan each and every one and yes, that means you are over the limit.

[stickycoins]

Here's a little hint my Mom told me years ago. If express has a long line, go to a regular checkout that has mostly men in it. Doesn't matter if they have a cartfull. They almost ALWAYS pay cash. This has served me well.

[MadMike]

We're not allowed to turn away goons with cartfuls of stuff at the express lanes where I work. *sigh*

One of the cashiers where I used to work had no problems doing it. I'm not sure if she was actually allowed to do it, but she had been there awhile, and daytime people were in short supply, so she was able to get away with a little bit more than the nighttime people.

[rvdammit]

Looks like there needs to be 3 things to run an express lane right:

1) Cash only
2) Item limit of 10 to 15
3) Bouncer to kick over limit people out of the line, and remind people it's cash only.

[Dips]

In the grocery store I own in my mind, I'd employ the playground slide rule in the express lane:

Cashier: I'm sorry, you have forty items. This lane limits you to ten.

SC: Oh. I'll just break it up into four orders.

Cashier: OK. [Rings through first ten items]. Thank you for shopping. I'll take the next customer in line please.

SC: Hey! I have another order!

Cashier: Oh? The back of the line is right there.

SC: What?

Cashier: You had your turn. Now everyone else gets a turn.

SC: This is ridiculous!

Cashier: The longer you stand here talking to me, the longer the line is getting.

SC: I'm not going anywhere.

Cashier: I really don't want to get security involved here and I hope you don't either. It's really up to you. I'll take the next customer in line, please.

I know. Not a likely scenario. But I can dream, right?

[Lace Neil Singer]

What I'd like to do is this:

Me: (hands over limit customer a flyer for a local Adult Education centre) I think you'll find this useful.
Customer: Wha?
Me: (pointing to sign) Well, you can't read or count, so I think you need to go back to school.


In reality, we're encouraged to kick over limit people out of the queue... and customers usually oblige in helping us. Altho cuz of my bad back, I can't go on those checkouts, I'm totally crushed as you can imagine. XD

[greensinestro]

I love it! Too bad the managers are not the ones who think of scenarios like this.

[danegrous_21]

dont know if somebody posted on the second page since i failed to read it and skipped to the end, but has anybody seen the new mr. T reality tv show commerical about this? in the commercial they show a lady in a express line with like 15 items, the sign says 10, everybody is looking at her, she says something but i forgot, then you see mr. t walk up then grab the express sign and throw it down on the belt, and yells at her saying" it says 10 items or less, its not a suggestion, its the rules" then you see her start grabing her items. wish mr. t was there when i worked at a grocery store and had express duty sometimes. i hated those people. and the people that would grab the picnic looking hand baskets load it up to the top then come to the line and just plop it down on the belt. i wish they would just unload it like everybody else. i hate people

[Kogarashi]

and the people that would grab the picnic looking hand baskets load it up to the top then come to the line and just plop it down on the belt. i wish they would just unload it like everybody else. i hate people

I actually didn't mind those people, usually because the ones who empty their baskets out then set them down on the floor somewhere where other people trip over them. If they don't unload the basket, I can empty it out in whatever order I want (that I can manage) and then put the basket somewhere I prefer. When the basket ends up at the far end of the belt, people take that as a place to dump unwanted merchandise, which I also hate. I prefer they hand unwanted stuff to me so I don't have a mess on my impulse racks.

Our store's express lane is 12 items or less. Because of its placement, though (on the far side of the self-checkouts, backed up against the indoor cart corral (small Wal-Mart), it's a virtual no-man's land. When it's open, we have to page something like 10 times an hour to notify people that they don't have to wait in the 5-customer-deep lines over by the cigarette lanes (other end of the register area).

And for some stupid reason, whoever redesigned our front end put express-lane-length counters on the cigarette registers instead of full belts, despite the fact that we're not supposed to turn away large orders at those registers (since they're the only two registers in the store that can sell cigarettes and some cigarette customers have large purchases and don't want to wait in two lines). The Supercenter I used to work at was smart at least and put a full-length belt on the cigarette lane.

[Becks]

I think stuff like this is why lots of places have signs that say "About 10/15/whatever limit or less".