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So a few more things from the past few days, plus lots of things I've jotted down in my notebook or on scraps of receipt tape.
Alcoholism and U-Scan
First, big purchases on SCO are annoying. Second, alcohol purchases on SCO are annoying. Third, SCO purchases composed entirely of items too large to bag are very annoying. Managing a triple crown of irritation here? SC.
Two guys, for some reason, decide to come through SCO with their beer. Normally not too bad, except they have 14 cases of it. And I mean 24-count cases. I had to ring it all through for them with the hand scanner because that much weight would have broken the bag scale.
Time for an intervention
So I think I've mentioned our wine steward before, as a customer. Despite working the front lines of retail, when she shops, she is a pushy, irritating, first-class EW. But that's not the concern this time. See, the wine shop is right next to SCO. So whenever WL (Wine Lady) makes a large sale, she brings them over to SCO to check out, and gets them started, all for the customer's convenience. Difficulty: her large sales are huge.
This one in particular included 120 bottles of a $9.99 specialty wine (bonus points: specialty wines have to be entered by hand), 8 of one regular wine, and 4 of another, bringing us to 132 bottles of wine, on SCO, which is effectively an express lane. And a $1,357.97 purchase.
Now, a sale this large will inevitably need an override on the payment, because the people who make these purchases will, for some reason, inevitably pay with a check. The difficulty arises in the fact that the SCO runs it's checks on the podium station, but you have to scan things with the handheld remote, and it only lets you use one at a time for the same order. So to do an override, we'd have to back out of the check payment. At which point we can't override it because, well, we're no longer running the check. So we wind up suspending the order and sending it down to a regular lane to finish anyway.
Sucks for the customer instead... or maybe not
A customer approached the front desk about 8:30-9:00 with a fully loaded buggy and asked them to hold it for her, because she needed to get a second buggy to finish her shopping. So they put a sign on it saying not to put it away, but about an hour and a half later, we notice it's still there, and haven't seen any sign of this woman since she made the request. So the office worker paged for her to make sure she was still in the store. Turns out she was, and from what I hear, chewed out the office worker for making her "come all the way from the back of the store when she's been on her feet all day and her feet are just killing her" etc. Whatever, we know she's here, so we leave her buggy in peace (though at this point her hot deli items are cold and her refridgerated items are reaching room temperature).
Anyway, she shows up at the checkout with her second buggy around 10:30. Now, this late in the evening, most people have gone home. There's just one cashier, the office worker, and me on SCO. And I still have to do a till count with the office worker before we leave at 11. So the two of use try and help the cashier out by bagging, and get done with just enough time to get the till count finished. Total wound up being almost $670.
So, since out time clock rounds off to the quarter hour, you can duck out 7 minutes early with pretty much no penalty (unless you're on SCO at night because it doesn't have the shift overlap that the 3:00 rotation does). The cashier that night would do this any chance she got. So once that order is done, the cashier was out of there, and we were doing the count. So the customer takes the first cart out by herself. Unfortunately for the customer, it had started raining in the meantime. Hard.
And double unfortunate, by the time she came back in to ask for help, the office worker had already left for the night, and I was the only person available on the front, and I didn't know who was available in the back. And since I couldn't leave SCO unattended, I had to leave her to take the cart out herself, which I felt kind of bad about.
Until today, when I found out the customer in question is suspected of using a stolen credit card to pay for that giant order. I don't know the details because I hear it from the office worker, who was asked about it by a supervisor, but apparently the card belonged to the local fire department. So... if that's true, I don't feel so bad anymore.
Second Opinions
Customer: "Where are your canning supplies?"
Me: "Aisle 8."
Customer, in a tone of utter confusion: "That's what the other girl said..."
So then why are you asking me?
More Canning Fun
Note: Aisle 8 is magazines, greeting cards, office supplies, canning supplies, and candy.
Customer: "Where are the canning supplies?"
Me: "Aisle 8."
Customer: "Not candy, canning."
Me: "In Aisle 8. It's next to the candy."
Customer: (leans down close to me, like I must be deaf) "CAN. NING. Like mason jars!"
Me: "Yes, that's Aisle 8. Let me just show you."
And finally after walking her there, she understood.
Not how paying works
Customer on SCO gives me a check, and...
Me: "Sorry, I can't run this just yet. I had to reboot the main station and I can't run any checks until it's back up."
SC: "Well how about I just come back when it is up and pay you then?!"
Fortunately, it was only down a minute or so...
Learn to WIC plz
A customer has a WIC voucher for baby food. It allows only fruit and vegetable varieties, and only certain brands. Customer was trying to use it for a bunch of Turkey and Rice flavor baby food. Her argument? "Rice is vegetables too."
Skip bagging abuse, yet again
So a customer engages in the typical idiocy of pushing "Skip Bagging" and then bagging the item anyway. And it alerts me, so I go over to check.
SC: "I pushed skip bagging!"
That you did. Thus the first half of the problem.
SC: "It's all in there!"
So it is. Thus the second half of the problem.
SC: "I'm not stupid, I know how to work this thing!"
I beg to differ, on both points.
SC: (while I help her unload her bags to get her out faster, and pick up her bag of bread) "YOU'RE CRUSHING MY BREAD!"
You're the one who bagged it like that, lady.
Security?
So there's been a rash of thefts from SCOs in our stores lately. None in my store, but others in the area. Apparently, people who know how to work the till have been waiting until no one is watching the SCO, opening the drawer, grabbing money, and just walking away. So among various new pointless security procedures, there's one that makes sense. At least until supervisors interact with it. We've been given a key, and need to keep the till locked when not actively using it. Pretty basic stuff.
Personally, I keep the keys in the pocket of the store jacket/smock I wear, so I know where they are at all times. Unfortunately, I'll occasionally forget I have them in there when I go to break or lunch, and my cover can't get into the drawer when they need to. So I've been told by one of the supervisors that I need to keep the keys in the drawer under the till, where we keep coupons, PLU lists, spare pens, and the like.
So... after locking the till, I am to leave the keys next to the till, in easy reach of basically anyone.
I like this plan. I'm happy to be a part of it.
Avocado
Here's a frequent occurance for me. Customers put avocados on the scanner, flip through the picture menu a minute, then hit "Item not shown". I go over to show them where it is, and upon me hitting the proper menu, the customer will ineviatbly remark, "Oh! It's a fruit!"
I... thought that was obvious. Is this really a common thought? Are avocados frequently considered a vegetable anywhere?
Monopoly
So it's senior citizen discount day, and three elderly customers ride past on our electric carts, apparently together. One stops and gets my attention, requesting a different electric cart, because hers was nearly out of power. I had to inform her that we only had three of the things, all of which she and her companions had already claimed.
From the way she glared at me after that, I don't think she believed me.
Toopaze!
And older man walks up to me, apparently in a hurry.
OM: "Toopaze!"
Me: "Excuse me?"
OM: "TOOPAZE!"
Me: "I'm sorry, I don't..."
OM: "TOO. PAZE."
Me: "Oh, toothpaste? That's over in the pharmacy."
And he rushed off to find it.
Language barriers
I try not to be too critical of people who don't speak English as a primary language, or who have strong accents, but when you suspect a price is incorrect, I'll need something more than "Price, price. This price. Last week price no? Price?" And when you decide that you don't want the item in question, something beyond "No. This no. No. No." would be appreciated.
Oven Mitts
While I understand your frustration at being unable to find any form of hand protection meant for kitchen heat aside from a $15 fireproof nonstick wonderglove, I don't think this merits a five-minute rant on the evils of corporate America, chemical companies, and The Man trying to keep you from enjoying good home cooking.
I guess that's your choice...
Me: "Do you have your Kroger card?"
Customer: "I don't have one."
Me: "You don't have it with you or don't have one at all?"
Customer: "No, I just don't want to save money on groceries."
And she didn't run a card or alternate number for that order. So... I guess that's an option, if she wants.
You have chosen poorly
To the male half of a young couple in my line today: Good sir, a word of advice.
No matter where, when, or under what circumstances you met your girlfriend, you do not, I repeat DO NOT, refer to your relationship as "a match made in Hell" in her presence. To do so is most unwise.
Alcoholism and U-Scan
First, big purchases on SCO are annoying. Second, alcohol purchases on SCO are annoying. Third, SCO purchases composed entirely of items too large to bag are very annoying. Managing a triple crown of irritation here? SC.
Two guys, for some reason, decide to come through SCO with their beer. Normally not too bad, except they have 14 cases of it. And I mean 24-count cases. I had to ring it all through for them with the hand scanner because that much weight would have broken the bag scale.
Time for an intervention
So I think I've mentioned our wine steward before, as a customer. Despite working the front lines of retail, when she shops, she is a pushy, irritating, first-class EW. But that's not the concern this time. See, the wine shop is right next to SCO. So whenever WL (Wine Lady) makes a large sale, she brings them over to SCO to check out, and gets them started, all for the customer's convenience. Difficulty: her large sales are huge.
This one in particular included 120 bottles of a $9.99 specialty wine (bonus points: specialty wines have to be entered by hand), 8 of one regular wine, and 4 of another, bringing us to 132 bottles of wine, on SCO, which is effectively an express lane. And a $1,357.97 purchase.
Now, a sale this large will inevitably need an override on the payment, because the people who make these purchases will, for some reason, inevitably pay with a check. The difficulty arises in the fact that the SCO runs it's checks on the podium station, but you have to scan things with the handheld remote, and it only lets you use one at a time for the same order. So to do an override, we'd have to back out of the check payment. At which point we can't override it because, well, we're no longer running the check. So we wind up suspending the order and sending it down to a regular lane to finish anyway.
Sucks for the customer instead... or maybe not
A customer approached the front desk about 8:30-9:00 with a fully loaded buggy and asked them to hold it for her, because she needed to get a second buggy to finish her shopping. So they put a sign on it saying not to put it away, but about an hour and a half later, we notice it's still there, and haven't seen any sign of this woman since she made the request. So the office worker paged for her to make sure she was still in the store. Turns out she was, and from what I hear, chewed out the office worker for making her "come all the way from the back of the store when she's been on her feet all day and her feet are just killing her" etc. Whatever, we know she's here, so we leave her buggy in peace (though at this point her hot deli items are cold and her refridgerated items are reaching room temperature).
Anyway, she shows up at the checkout with her second buggy around 10:30. Now, this late in the evening, most people have gone home. There's just one cashier, the office worker, and me on SCO. And I still have to do a till count with the office worker before we leave at 11. So the two of use try and help the cashier out by bagging, and get done with just enough time to get the till count finished. Total wound up being almost $670.
So, since out time clock rounds off to the quarter hour, you can duck out 7 minutes early with pretty much no penalty (unless you're on SCO at night because it doesn't have the shift overlap that the 3:00 rotation does). The cashier that night would do this any chance she got. So once that order is done, the cashier was out of there, and we were doing the count. So the customer takes the first cart out by herself. Unfortunately for the customer, it had started raining in the meantime. Hard.
And double unfortunate, by the time she came back in to ask for help, the office worker had already left for the night, and I was the only person available on the front, and I didn't know who was available in the back. And since I couldn't leave SCO unattended, I had to leave her to take the cart out herself, which I felt kind of bad about.
Until today, when I found out the customer in question is suspected of using a stolen credit card to pay for that giant order. I don't know the details because I hear it from the office worker, who was asked about it by a supervisor, but apparently the card belonged to the local fire department. So... if that's true, I don't feel so bad anymore.
Second Opinions
Customer: "Where are your canning supplies?"
Me: "Aisle 8."
Customer, in a tone of utter confusion: "That's what the other girl said..."
So then why are you asking me?
More Canning Fun
Note: Aisle 8 is magazines, greeting cards, office supplies, canning supplies, and candy.
Customer: "Where are the canning supplies?"
Me: "Aisle 8."
Customer: "Not candy, canning."
Me: "In Aisle 8. It's next to the candy."
Customer: (leans down close to me, like I must be deaf) "CAN. NING. Like mason jars!"
Me: "Yes, that's Aisle 8. Let me just show you."
And finally after walking her there, she understood.
Not how paying works
Customer on SCO gives me a check, and...
Me: "Sorry, I can't run this just yet. I had to reboot the main station and I can't run any checks until it's back up."
SC: "Well how about I just come back when it is up and pay you then?!"
Fortunately, it was only down a minute or so...
Learn to WIC plz
A customer has a WIC voucher for baby food. It allows only fruit and vegetable varieties, and only certain brands. Customer was trying to use it for a bunch of Turkey and Rice flavor baby food. Her argument? "Rice is vegetables too."
Skip bagging abuse, yet again
So a customer engages in the typical idiocy of pushing "Skip Bagging" and then bagging the item anyway. And it alerts me, so I go over to check.
SC: "I pushed skip bagging!"
That you did. Thus the first half of the problem.
SC: "It's all in there!"
So it is. Thus the second half of the problem.
SC: "I'm not stupid, I know how to work this thing!"
I beg to differ, on both points.
SC: (while I help her unload her bags to get her out faster, and pick up her bag of bread) "YOU'RE CRUSHING MY BREAD!"
You're the one who bagged it like that, lady.
Security?
So there's been a rash of thefts from SCOs in our stores lately. None in my store, but others in the area. Apparently, people who know how to work the till have been waiting until no one is watching the SCO, opening the drawer, grabbing money, and just walking away. So among various new pointless security procedures, there's one that makes sense. At least until supervisors interact with it. We've been given a key, and need to keep the till locked when not actively using it. Pretty basic stuff.
Personally, I keep the keys in the pocket of the store jacket/smock I wear, so I know where they are at all times. Unfortunately, I'll occasionally forget I have them in there when I go to break or lunch, and my cover can't get into the drawer when they need to. So I've been told by one of the supervisors that I need to keep the keys in the drawer under the till, where we keep coupons, PLU lists, spare pens, and the like.
So... after locking the till, I am to leave the keys next to the till, in easy reach of basically anyone.
I like this plan. I'm happy to be a part of it.
Avocado
Here's a frequent occurance for me. Customers put avocados on the scanner, flip through the picture menu a minute, then hit "Item not shown". I go over to show them where it is, and upon me hitting the proper menu, the customer will ineviatbly remark, "Oh! It's a fruit!"
I... thought that was obvious. Is this really a common thought? Are avocados frequently considered a vegetable anywhere?
Monopoly
So it's senior citizen discount day, and three elderly customers ride past on our electric carts, apparently together. One stops and gets my attention, requesting a different electric cart, because hers was nearly out of power. I had to inform her that we only had three of the things, all of which she and her companions had already claimed.
From the way she glared at me after that, I don't think she believed me.
Toopaze!
And older man walks up to me, apparently in a hurry.
OM: "Toopaze!"
Me: "Excuse me?"
OM: "TOOPAZE!"
Me: "I'm sorry, I don't..."
OM: "TOO. PAZE."
Me: "Oh, toothpaste? That's over in the pharmacy."
And he rushed off to find it.
Language barriers
I try not to be too critical of people who don't speak English as a primary language, or who have strong accents, but when you suspect a price is incorrect, I'll need something more than "Price, price. This price. Last week price no? Price?" And when you decide that you don't want the item in question, something beyond "No. This no. No. No." would be appreciated.
Oven Mitts
While I understand your frustration at being unable to find any form of hand protection meant for kitchen heat aside from a $15 fireproof nonstick wonderglove, I don't think this merits a five-minute rant on the evils of corporate America, chemical companies, and The Man trying to keep you from enjoying good home cooking.
I guess that's your choice...
Me: "Do you have your Kroger card?"
Customer: "I don't have one."
Me: "You don't have it with you or don't have one at all?"
Customer: "No, I just don't want to save money on groceries."
And she didn't run a card or alternate number for that order. So... I guess that's an option, if she wants.
You have chosen poorly
To the male half of a young couple in my line today: Good sir, a word of advice.
No matter where, when, or under what circumstances you met your girlfriend, you do not, I repeat DO NOT, refer to your relationship as "a match made in Hell" in her presence. To do so is most unwise.
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