Numpties at checkouts

Azari

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

The other thing is when I go to self service checkouts & the person in front is slow but doesn't put a single thing in any bags as they go (I'm not on about people who use rucksacks etc either). They then pay then pack the whole lot, why??

One possible reason for that is that the giant brains that organise supermarkets always seem to put the fresh fruit and vegetables as the first thing you pass.

Thus you have the squidgy items, that you want at the top of your shopping, sitting in your trolley until you put other things in bags, first.

This in turn may mean there's no room for you to lay your bags out to pack as you shop.

I know that about one time in four I end up at the self scan checkout with nothing packed for this reason.

duchy

esuhl wrote: »

It would be useful if it was quick, effortless and perfectly reliable. I suppose you're like Rain Man when totting up your shopping?

It's generational
Past 45, 50ish people were taught mental arithmetic at school (and weren't allowed to use calculators for O levels/GCSEs as that didn't start til about 1978). They tend not to need to add up at the till as they have the capacity to do it in their head as they go round. Nothing to do with autism and everything to do with basic maths and cognitive skills which you apparently don't have.

My maths is terrible I failed O level maths but I can tell you close enough within the nearest pound what my total will be for a large supermarket shop.

People who can't/weren't taught to use mental arithmetic tend to have to sort of problems you do with shopping. It's a bit like the girl who when I worked in a bar asked me to void her transaction as she'd entered the tender as five pounds and not ten and couldn't work out what change to give !

Money-Saving-King

Azari wrote: »

One possible reason for that is that the giant brains that organise supermarkets always seem to put the fresh fruit and vegetables as the first thing you pass.

Thus you have the squidgy items, that you want at the top of your shopping, sitting in your trolley until you put other things in bags, first.

This in turn may mean there's no room for you to lay your bags out to pack as you shop.

I know that about one time in four I end up at the self scan checkout with nothing packed for this reason.

You don't have to pack all soft things in the same bag. I just put a few heavy things in first then soft things on top. It's not hard to reach 40 cm down your line on the conveyor belt to find something heavier if you want to put that in first. Then you don't need loads of bags laid out.

MothballsWallet

Spider_In_The_Bath wrote: »

If I take out my purse I then have to hold it in my hand as most womens' clothes do not have pockets. This means I am now one handed.

So I may have the money ready to pay, but it will take twice as long to put everything on the belt and twice as long to pack one handed than it would to just get out my purse at the end.

This is why my wife brings me along for the shopping: she's now got 4 hands to pack everything as well as paying for it all

Azari

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

You don't have to pack all soft things in the same bag. I just put a few heavy things in first then soft things on top. It's not hard to reach 40 cm down your line on the conveyor belt to find something heavier if you want to put that in first. Then you don't need loads of bags laid out.

You were talking about self service. No conveyer belt involved.

In fact, we were talking about self-scan (as that's the only time you have the option of packing before you reach the check out).

As I explained; the fact that you have a trolley half full of soft items means there is no room to lay out bags to take the more robust items - hence the need to pack at the end of the shop.

Cycrow

Azari wrote: »

Weird, isn't it?

The very worst person to have in front of you is someone who stands doing nothing whilst the checkout operator is scanning her articles, then, once that's all done, starts packing her items into a dozen different bags according to some complex and time consuming algorithm, then has to root around to find something to pay with. Once all that's done she will not move (so the operator cannot begin processing the next customer), but carefully re-file her card and file the bill into separate compartments. She'll then continue blocking the aisle whilst placing her myriad bags in her trolley.

Admittedly it's rare to encounter someone quite this dozy/selfish so it's almost amusing when it happens.

And it (and most other checkout annoyances) are a thing of the past if your supermarket has self-scan.

Sounds like a customer i used to serve when working at Tesco.
Althou he did it on purpose to be as slow as he possibly could. He had some hatred for Tesco, so would be deliberately slow so they had to wait to get his money, and dent their profit margin. Of course what he was doing didn't affect Tesco at all, they still got his money, it only really effected the customers waiting behind him, and sometimes the cashier having to put up with angry customers

Money-Saving-King

Azari wrote: »

You were talking about self service. No conveyer belt involved.

The self service tills in the Supermarket I use have them.

aileth

I suppose this sort of thing does annoy me, although it's only really properly annoyed me once.

Doing a small shop in Sainsbury's and the woman in front brought out about 10 of those little plastic bags you get from the bank. She asked for all of her change in coins and then began to sort coin per coin into separate bags for each amount. I kept myself sane thinking that it was some sort of comedy show prank!

philatio

People trying to self-checkout whilst at the same time having a conversation on their mobile phone.

There will be an entire department of Hell reserved for such people.

Zedicus

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

The self service tills in the Supermarket I use have them.

Intriguing. I've seen self service in quite a few supermarkets over the years and have never seen any with conveyor belts. Most have a packing area too small for anyone to cause annoyance by stacking scanned items unpacked.

Can I ask which supermarket this is, and where?