5 things supermarket employees find really annoying about customers, #3
Grocery shopping is apparently a source of major and minor annoyances, as shown by the discussions on Facebook in response to this article. Literally thousands of responses! You all nearly tripped over each other; each annoyance more irritating than the last.
Many complaints are similar. There is no attention. What? AT-TEN-TION! Customers want attention for their questions, their debit cards and their deposit-return receipt, while checkout employees want attention for their questions about loyalty stickers and the receipt.
Supermarket employees’ irritations
Come on, people, with a little love and attention, the supermarket can turn into a warm bath of friendliness, compassion and perfect mandarins. Which annoyances were mentioned most often?
Cashiers who pay no attention to their customers
Super customer-unfriendly: checkout employees who simply keep talking to their colleagues, even when people are waiting at the checkout. ‘When two cashiers are gossiping about the customer who was just served before you,’ Prisca names as her main supermarket complaint. Janny agrees: ‘Cashiers who talk to each other while you’re trying to pay; in between the conversation, the amount is mentioned, almost as an afterthought.’ Shauni does have an explanation: ‘You see one cashier who doesn’t answer, while they see hundreds of customers who don’t answer every day.’
Customers who pay no attention to the cashier
Whether it’s an urgent phone call precisely when they need to pay (‘What did you say? Inflamed? And contagious, too?’), or absolutely no attention to the items rolling off the conveyor belt: checkout employees need love too. ‘When customers don’t say anything to me, are impatient and then start complaining as well, that’s it for me,’ says Lysanne.
The pace is too slow
Customers have all the time in the world, Ada notices. ‘People calmly pack their bags at the checkout while there’s a line stretching from here to Tokyo.’ And forgotten something? Then the rest of the line has to wait too, says Jacintha. ‘All of this customer’s groceries are already on the belt and the checkout line is getting longer. And then the customer asks: “Oh, I forgot something else! Can I quickly go and get it?”’
… or it’s actually too fast
You need to do a week’s worth of shopping, everything is on the belt and half of it is already at the packing table, piled on top of and crashing into one another. One of Jacqueline’s pet peeves, among other things. ‘The cashiers push everything into one pile, the crisps and the cookies, which damages a lot of the groceries.’ A tip for Jacqueline: put things on the belt in the order you want to put them in your bag, so put those crisps last and the five kilos of cat litter first.
Next customer, please
Customers who cut in line, oh dear… that really makes cashier An see red. ‘When another checkout is opened because it’s busy, people standing at the back simply walk over to the open checkout, and don’t let the people who have already been waiting longer go first.’
Read also:
- 11 products supermarket employees have no idea what you’re talking about
- Here it is: the super-difficult professional kitchen knowledge quiz
- 11 supermarket things that are genuinely hilarious
