Tesco's '10 items or less queue'

vicky_kidder

Viper_7 wrote: »

Quite often find people using the 10 items or less queue also pay by cash, which slows things down as they count out their pennies..and hunt around for that 13P to 'help' the cashier with regards to change, and then "oh sorry" I don't have it"

He he, I used to work on a till and this really used to make me laugh. I used to think "How on earth is it helping me? Do you think I will have trouble trying to figure out the change if I dont?". It's usually to help them so that they get a note back instead of a load of change. We know that, you know that, so lets stop pretending you're trying to do us a favour, lol. Don't get me wrong, it's a reasonable thing to do, I do it, but it's the whole pretending they're being so altruistic!

uktim29

vicky_kidder wrote: »

it's a reasonable thing to do

Providing you know exactly where it is!

It use to do my head in when they'd find a quarter of it, then locate another 10p in another pocket, then try somewhere else but no luck but they still have another 10 places to look! I'd politely say "it's ok" when it went on for too long.

vicky_kidder

uktim29 wrote: »

Providing you know exactly where it is!

It use to do my head in when they'd find a quarter of it, then locate another 10p in another pocket, then try somewhere else but no luck but they still have another 10 places to look! I'd politely say "it's ok" when it went on for too long.

Haha, yeah me too. To be honest, I generally just used to say, "oh no ir's ok, but thank you very much" in my sweetest voice as soon as they offered, as, we both knew it was for them really and not me, but after me saying that they didn't want to insist.

I guess that is a bit mean, but it made the shifts more interesting.

moggylover

Well, found myself reading this thread (cos I can't get to sleep and needed something to do) and having read the posts from the cashiers - I really feel the need to put the other side of the counter to you.

I do know that you do not have the most satisfying and well paid jobs in the World - but think this one through.

I suffer from agoraphobia, and a trip to the shops is like climbing Mount Everest for me: I spend the entire journey around the shop fighting my panic level to keep it within control so that I do not pass out (there is always someone who wants to call an ambulance then - and it is sooo embarrassing:o ). The panic attacks are made worse because marketing policy dictates that shops need to move everything around so that people have to look for it cos they spend more on impulse buys then! I often go home with things missing from my list when they do this cos I just get too panicky to find them:mad: . By the time I get to the till I am really tired from fighting off the panic - and I have to admit that I look for the 3 MEN on the tills in Cardigan Tesco that I KNOW will not rush me through at break-neck speed!

Nothing worse than your stuff being piled high at the far end of the runway whilst you are still struggling to get the rest of it out of the trolley in some semblance of order so that you do not end up with a flat loaf of bread and squashed mushrooms and salad by the time you get home - the same reason that I do not like to let someone else pack it for me. These three nice guys also do not spend the entire time that they are scanning my goods and serving me, talking to their friend on the other till!!!:mad:

Even though I have a carer with me to shop at all times, I often DO get flustered at the till - and yeah, I do like to make sure that I have all my money put away, or my credit card - but I have still managed to leave two or three Tesco cards behind!

I also HATE all the vouchers that get shoved at you with receipt at the end of the transaction - I consider that the shop should just get on with giving those extra points on the item across the shop and not just to those that remember to find and use the coupon at their next shop - but that is not your fault!

Lastly, yeah I do talk to the cashier - it is one of the coping skills one learns in dealing with agoraphobia - talking to someone keeps you focussed and stops you from panicking. I had never thought that that might be such an annoyance to someone who was serving me - I usually manage to make them laugh - and any laugh during the day must be better than sitting there counting the mins till clocking off mustn't it?

I sympathise with you over the screaming kids - they frazzle me as well - but I sympathise more with the mum who is trying to cope with them whilst she struggles with the shopping, and hope you have better luck with your own when you get them - and as to the change thing - I think it probably goes back generations to when shops did not always carry such large amounts of money and often were grateful for the right change!

I hate, loathe and detest shopping - but it does have to be done. I could, of course, do it on line and then I would not have to cope with it - but then, I hardly leave the house most of the time, and it would mean that my one definite "social outing" of the week would be gone and I would see no-one but my kids, my carer, and the one or two friends who pop in regularly - and even less of the outside World than I do now.

Anxiety problems of the kind that I suffer are far more common than you know - I do hope you never have to find out how disabling they actually are for yourselves: but I also hope that you might look differently at some of the less "together" customers that pass through your tills in future.:D

I do try to always be smiley, chatty and friendly to all the staff - and to be fair allmost all of the staff in Cardigan store and a fair number in Carmarthen are really super (and will even stop to chat if I see them outside the shop) - most of them know that I have problems with the whole idea of even leaving my house cos it seems better to me to be straight and say something like "can you take it steady cos I suffer from agoraphobia, and get pannicky if under pressure" - and I have only twice ever been sharp and that was with cashiers who had already been asked politely to slow down for a moment but had made no attempt to do so.

The fact that the staff at my local stores are so nice is the main reason why I do not go to Aldi or Lidl very much - they really do rush you there and will stand demanding payment several times whilst you are still trying to pack. In fact on one occasion I left all my shopping at the till, awaiting payment and walked out of Lidl because the girl was so unpleasant.

Until someone comes up with a better system at the manned checkout (and I do not think the self-service ones are particularly brilliant) I suppose we will each have to put up with the annoyance that they can bring - but at least they are jobs! Thank you for doing them well if you do - go work somewhere else if you do not!:D

vikingaero

moggylover wrote: »

Nothing worse than your stuff being piled high at the far end of the runway whilst you are still struggling to get the rest of it out of the trolley in some semblance of order so that you do not end up with a flat loaf of bread and squashed mushrooms and salad by the time you get home - the same reason that I do not like to let someone else pack it for me.

Sometimes I deliberately choose a till which is already in use to give me a chance to load all the stuff on the conveyor rather than one that is empty.

But doing back to the original question of 10 items or less/fewer/whatever supermarkets should apply the following regime:

10 items or less - OK
11 items - cheeky but OK
12 items - pushing it but if no-one else is queuing (they input queue length at some supermarkets at the beginning of each transaction) otherwise charge as 13 items
13+ items - add 10% to the total bill
15+ items - add 25% to the total bill
20+ items - add 50 % to the total bill - sirens go off, lighting dims slightly and a spotlight illuminates you, customer services some on the tannoy to highlight to the rest of the store what a selfish shopper you are, everyone stares at you and criticises your outfit............... :rotfl:

IvanOpinion

moggylover wrote: »

Nothing worse than your stuff being piled high at the far end of the runway whilst you are still struggling to get the rest of it out of the trolley in some semblance of order so that you do not end up with a flat loaf of bread and squashed mushrooms and salad by the time you get home - the same reason that I do not like to let someone else pack it for me.

You think thats bad ... I can't get those flamin plastic bags open. I try to grab them like other people who seem to end up with a stream of open bags simply by looking at them whereas I end up with the bag that seems to be glued together around every edge. By the time I have totally destroyed 3 or 4 bags and am still wrestling with another the cashier has squeezed the entire contents of a full trolley into a single carrier bag that can not be lifted and has my loaf of bread, eggs and cream buns at the bottom ... plus anything that says 'this side up will be the wrong way up.

Ivan

andyrules

IvanOpinion wrote: »

You think thats bad ... I can't get those flamin plastic bags open. I try to grab them like other people who seem to end up with a stream of open bags simply by looking at them whereas I end up with the bag that seems to be glued together around every edge. By the time I have totally destroyed 3 or 4 bags and am still wrestling with another the cashier has squeezed the entire contents of a full trolley into a single carrier bag that can not be lifted and has my loaf of bread, eggs and cream buns at the bottom ... plus anything that says 'this side up will be the wrong way up.

Ivan

Ivan - my sentiment entirely - and I'm a hardened shopper;) Whenever they ask if I want help packing I always say 'no, thank you, but please help open the bags' ! I believe they are glued together, you know, it's actually a conspiracy theory to encourage us forgetful ones to bring our own:D

Seriously, if you pull the handles apart slightly (not too hard or it rips) the top separates enough to get a hold.

Poor moggy, that must be difficult - don't shop at M&S (not that I do very much;)), they fling it all through so fast and and demand payment that the last person is still just starting to pack. Checkout girl tried to give the woman in front of me half my shopping at the weekend in an attempt to hurry her up. Ended up slowing things down more as we then had to separate it again.

HC_2

andyrules wrote: »

Poor moggy, that must be difficult - don't shop at M&S (not that I do very much;)), they fling it all through so fast and and demand payment that the last person is still just starting to pack. Checkout girl tried to give the woman in front of me half my shopping at the weekend in an attempt to hurry her up. Ended up slowing things down more as we then had to separate it again.

Yes, it's odd that M&S, with their reputation for great customer service, hurry you through the tills in the way they do.

Andy and Ivan, you should be taking your own reusable bags. Tut tut!

IvanOpinion

HC wrote: »

Andy and Ivan, you should be taking your own reusable bags. Tut tut!

To be fair I do take my own reusable bags with me. It is when I arrive at the checkouts that I remember that I left thm in the boot of the car ... on the plus side however the bags have lasted for years

Ivan

HC_2

IvanOpinion wrote: »

To be fair I do take my own reusable bags with me. It is when I arrive at the checkouts that I remember that I left thm in the boot of the car ... on the plus side however the bags have lasted for years

Ivan

Yes, me too, actually.

When that happens I pile everything back in the trolley and pack when I get back to the car. Hopelessly inefficient! :rolleyes: