Cashiers!!!

[JennyFromTheRock]

I plan on making bread this weekend, so tonight at no frills I bought a huge bag of flour ( 20 pounds I think?? I don't know flour that well lol ) , there was an older lady working the till and hated the thought of her lifting it. They didnt even have a hand held scanner. She said a lot of them had gone through this week since those bags are on sale there this week. I suggested that they photo copy the upc for them to keep at the till to scan.... I hope they do it, she was too sweet of an old lady to get hurt lifting 20 pound bags of anything.

[harley]

What I don't get is that when customers buy "heavy" items. They can put them into the cart, they put them into the car, they carry them into their house and they move them to wherever it is they are going to use them but ask them to put the upc up so you can scan it and it is all of a sudden tooo heavy. The 12 packs of bottled water are the items that irk me. They weigh about 10 lbs. Who can't lift 10 lbs.

[DianneS]

Elderly people may not be able to lift 10 pounds but most younger people are. But I guess that's why some shoppers prefer stores like Safeway or Save-on-Foods where they offer service to the customer's car. They'll load the groceries into the trunk and then when the shopper gets home they hopefully have a kid or spouse to do the heavy-lifting. The prices are higher at those stores and "full-service" is part of the reason why. For myself, I find that it's not putting a bag of flour down into the cart that is the hassle, it's lifting the 20 lbs of dead weight up out of the cart....but I'm short so maybe it's a little more awkward. I also have a neck problem that kicks in when I lift something too heavy. I would never survive as a cashier! Kudos to those of you who stand on your feet and lift heavy items all day. You have my respect.

[KK7]

At the Food Basic's were I work they offer carry out also and we have low prices ; )
Also with the flour all the employee has to do is write down the upc of the flour I just did that when we had the huge bags on sale

[thriftygranny]

I have the same routine every time I shop. I great the cashier and tell them I have coupons and ask if they would like the coupons on each item or at the end, if they want them at the end I tell them if I have FPC's and keep those items for the end so they don't have to dig in the bags for a price or check the till tape. If I have heavy items I tell them what I have and ask if they want them on the belt or in the cart.If they want them in the cart I face the UPC to them so they can scan it or read it.Seems to work for me and I very rarely have a grumpy cashier.I cannot imagine what these people have to put up with on a daily basis.

[r0c0upons]

I'd like to think of myself as a pretty polite person, and I usually greet my cashier....at my local store the cashiers are definitely not used to being treated with respect, because they are more often than not shocked to hear me asking how they're doing! I think many cashiers are hardened after being disrespected too much. We should all be more polite to each other, imo.

[harley]

Elderly people may not be able to lift 10 pounds but most younger people are. But I guess that's why some shoppers prefer stores like Safeway or Save-on-Foods where they offer service to the customer's car. They'll load the groceries into the trunk and then when the shopper gets home they hopefully have a kid or spouse to do the heavy-lifting. The prices are higher at those stores and "full-service" is part of the reason why. For myself, I find that it's not putting a bag of flour down into the cart that is the hassle, it's lifting the 20 lbs of dead weight up out of the cart....but I'm short so maybe it's a little more awkward. I also have a neck problem that kicks in when I lift something too heavy. I would never survive as a cashier! Kudos to those of you who stand on your feet and lift heavy items all day. You have my respect.

I agree completely and should have been clear. I never ask elderly people or anyone who appears to have health issues to lift anything even slightly heavy. Anyone that falls into that catagorie I not only lift it but will load all of their groceries back into the cart and ask if they need help out with them. I was referring to people that easily can lift but its just easier for them not to because they think they shouldn't have to

[DianneS]

I agree completely and should have been clear. I never ask elderly people or anyone who appears to have health issues to lift anything even slightly heavy. Anyone that falls into that catagorie I not only lift it but will load all of their groceries back into the cart and ask if they need help out with them. I was referring to people that easily can lift but its just easier for them not to because they think they shouldn't have to

Yup....not being polite or helpful enough to tip the 12-pack of water forward so you can scan the UPC is pretty lame!

[KK7]

my biggest pet peeve is when perfectly healthy people plop their darn baskets on the belt thinking I have nothing better to do then unload may not seem like a big deal but try bending your wrists fifty times and lifting it upward dosn't feel nice after a while. I have gotton to the point to puttin it on the side and tilting everything out then they seem to get the point.

[lekate]

my biggest pet peeve is when perfectly healthy people plop their darn baskets on the belt thinking I have nothing better to do then unload may not seem like a big deal but try bending your wrists fifty times and lifting it upward dosn't feel nice after a while. I have gotton to the point to puttin it on the side and tilting everything out then they seem to get the point.

I would do that too. It hurts the shoulder and neck with the strain.

[i_forget]

I wish that they would put 2 or 3 dividers at each cash....and pushed to the end so that they can be reached.....I AM BEGGING!!!

[KK7]

We have 2 and always push them Walmart is bad for not doing this

[aussie]

Yes that annoys me!!!! or when they stand there and tap their card or keys... tapping will NOT make me scan faster!

my biggest pet peeve is when perfectly healthy people plop their darn baskets on the belt thinking I have nothing better to do then unload may not seem like a big deal but try bending your wrists fifty times and lifting it upward dosn't feel nice after a while. I have gotton to the point to puttin it on the side and tilting everything out then they seem to get the point.

[KK7]

oh yes that is so much fun lol I scan slower then ; ) Same as I open bags for all my customers but if your rude t me I make sure not to open them because I know their a pita to open lol I am so mean

[preza]

It's awkward with the way most cashes at those stores are built. My store had a hand held scanner that went far enough to scan items in a cart, I personally preferred to write the UPC down or pick it up out of the cart myself. I pulled the muscles in the left side of my shoulder/neck. I never went anywhere to get it fixed, but doing simple things like that, asking customers to empty bins or baskets, or for the really dumb/rude customers I'd walk to the other side and empty it myself. I didn't care what they thought, the fact that reaching into the bin aggravated my shoulder was enough for me to do this.

Honestly, the job itself is easy, tedious, but easy. But the customers can just be so awful. I don't shop much, I think I'm weird like that. I'd much rather have enough for the week than to stockpile. But where I live now I don't really have a choice (have you ever seen how small a Korean apartment is ???).

To be fair, I cared about my store, but they didn't care about me. Once a manager tells you of how replaceable you are, you just stop caring. In my 8 years at Loblaws, only two managers said that they loved having me work there. That's great employee moral right there. And the last place I worked at told my manager that I'm just replaceable and they wouldn't care if I left. Although, funny story they've been terribly understaffed at least 8-9 moths of the past 1.5 years. I was so happy when I quit, although sad that when I did that meant there was only one employee left.

When customers yell at you because of a price issue, you stop caring.
When customers yell at you for not reading their mind in terms of bagging, you stop caring (and I was pretty good at it).
When customers yell at you because they can't read sale signs, you stop caring.
When customers yell at you because they can't use simple logic, you stop caring.

I don't understand how these things happen, I've never once ever had a problem at a store. I've never once felt the need to call someone dumb, or yell at them. I just do not get it.

Your post makes me feel a lot more grateful about my retail experience. I really do have great managers.