Exactly, just say "Hi", a little eye contact, and I will take it from there. But I am chatty anyway. (that sounds like picking up in a bar) But anyway - I'm pretty friendly and frequent the same stores and I'll even bring you a recipe the next time I am in if you comment on the items I am buying. I can't stand being rung up by kids that barely acknowledge you and chit chat with each other the whole time, it is just unprofessional. I also hang up my phone in line - I have heard some doozies waiting in line. :shock:
hmmm...if I hand you the list will you go up and down the aisles and get my stuff?? :jester::jester::jester:
Courtesy Having worked in customer service for more years than I care to count, I expect decent treatment. Most of my work the last several years was all by phone. My employer once gave us all mirrors to sit next to our phones so we could see our facial expressions as we answered a call. It was not mandatory but if you have even a hint of a smile it carries across to the caller. That being said I expect at least a hello and I want to be asked for the little card they provide that gives me the lower total bill. I prefer they not participate in their social tete a tetes with other employees while checking me out...That way I know they are paying attention to my purchase. I really expect a thank you. That one really bothers me----I have this attitude---This is not the only store in the area...I don't have to shop where my buisness is not appreciated... You asked...You got it...
Yeah, I'm not all that hard to get along with, but at least acknowledge the existance of the customer. I HATE it when you go the whole transaction and the cashier NEVER speaks, just looks at you and waits for you to get your total from the little screen. I don't get it? How hard is to say "hi" and start ringing? Look, I've done it, I've worked fast food, worked behind the counter at a convenience store, even worked as a cashier at Sam's (that sucked beyond words) but I always spoke to the customers and was polite. The day goes a whole lot better with a little manners thrown in.
We look for T&A thats what.. get the prettiest ladies scantilly dressed and us guys will show up..:jester:
:lol::lol::lol: Not today! It's just a peeve, it happens at Walmart, fast food, you name it. Never at Lowe's Foods though, they generally have awesome cashiers. I've never had a bad experience there. Which is why I do the majority of my grocery shopping there. :mrgreen:
Comments about my purchases I do not like it when a cashier or more often, the "bag boy" starts to make comments about items I purchased. It has happened to me a few times and it has always been a smart-alec teenage boy. I'm not talking about "hey, these are really good green beans", but the comments are more personal...you know, the items you are embarrassed to buy, but ya gotta. I appreciate it when they don't give me grief when I give them coupons. If they ask me paper or plastic, don't make a comment when I pick paper. I had one guy tell me it was much better to use plastic!! Uh, no, buddy. Not for me. I like it when they greet me and say thanks when handing me my receipt. I don't require a lot of conversation. I'd prefer that they not be talking with their buddies, but if they do, I don't want to hear about parties or boyfriends/girlfriends or how someone is a jerk. I definitely don't want to hear about how some previous customer was a jerk!
It is possible. I picked up some fast food on the way home last night. The woman at the drive through took my payment and was telling me the benefits of one of the options other than the one I took, which is not bad service. But, when I thanked her and told her that was spicier than I liked she went into detail on how my choice was too sweet and how anyone could get all of the sweet they needed from their beer and you could always have more spice in their life ...all while holding my receipt and credit card. Now the three or four cars behind me might not have been happy but I stopped in this particualr palce so the food would still be hot when I got home and I could see cooling at the next window waiting for me. Being nice and friendly is always welcome, but do not hold onto my credit card to keep me there and let me get on about my business. Oh, and do not get too personal in the discussion. I hate to hear how their boyfriend is acting creepy or cheating on them or whatever may be happening with their relationships while I am trying to check out.
reasonably friendly, though not so friendly you chat with the person in front of me and find out there entire life story and delay my check out. umm don't fill my bags with so much stuff that when I take them into my house they break open. don't think that to much to ask. Is part of the job training for working at a grocery store how to pack so much stuff in one bag it will not break until you get it home?
And make sure there are enough people to take care of the order! I went to FL one day and bought quite a few things and there was NO bagboy in sight so I started bagging my own stuff. The cashier said, "you don't have to do that" and I told her I did not want to be in there forever. Well, she had rung up a few 6 pks of soda first, which I put on the bottom of the cart. Then she had the nerve to tell me to hand her the sodas because she had not rung them up yet. I told her she had, she said no she didn't. Then another cashier came over and was looking at the receipt and said she didn't see them on there. So then I told her, "OK, you rang them up first, could not find a barcode and had to twist the bottle around, etc. RE-MEMBER??" So she looked at the top of the receipt and guess what???? So....I will NEVER bag my groceries again, I will stand there till hell freezes over until someone takes care of it and I have never been in that lady's line again! I was HOT!!:banghead:
I expect the cashier to be polite, to look like he/she enjoys their job (not like I'm an inconvenience) and to happily do whatever it takes to do the job properly (take coupons with a smile, answer questions, eye contact, hand me my receipt with a thank you). Also, one of my pet peeves is when they ask you a question (one you can tell they're required to ask) and then don't even listen to the answer. Also if I'm at the customer service desk, don't have entire conversations with another employee while I'm standing waiting for you to acknowledge I'm there. if you HAVE to finish a conversation, at least look at me and acknowledge me and then get to helping me as soon as you can. Always remember that I'm the customer and that I should be assumed to be right, not assumed to be wrong. Know your own companies policies. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell employees, even managers, what their scan guarantees or coupon policy was (which goes back to assuming I'm right instead of rudely telling me I'm wrong). If it's raining, and I have 2 little kids and a lot of groceries, I REALLY appreciate help to the car.
That "welcome to Food Lion" greeting will once again be in full force, although we have been hoping for its quiet demise. I work at FL, and we were told since there is now a new district manager who cares VERY MUCH that we enforce that mandatory greeting (the previous one didn't care so much), we will now be sent home if we are observed not saying it. Which means I guess we must interrupt our transactions with the customer in front of us to say "Welcome to Food Lion" to each and every person who walks in the door. God forbid someone "sneaks in" and we don't see them because we are doing our job of cashiering. Or we risk losing our jobs. We also must ask if you would like to donate money to Easter Seals, or get in trouble for not doing that. I always am friendly to my customers, and being told by my superiors that I have to say "SEE YOU SOON" instead of "enjoy your day", or some variation of my thanking my customer does not set well with me. So please understand that we do not mean to annoy people, but are under pressure to do these things or face dismissal. As a cashier, I agree with the customer about one of us chatting with the bagger. I think it is rude; my customer is who I focus on. I do catch items that ring twice accidentally right away, and I pull off the coupons that are on packages. I do not complain about coupons; I use them myself when I food shop. When I do not have a bagger helping me, I try to bag as we go along, to avoid crushing stuff at the end of the belt. Plastic or paper? We are trained to use plastic, unless you request paper. No problem for me. I bag your groceries with common sense and care, as if they were my own. I do know that some teenagers are clueless about what is too heavy or how one shouldn't put onions with bananas. I also ask if you have your MVP card; we are supposed to ask you. But we are told not to offer a courtesy one unless the customer asks us to. But I do ask if they want to sign up for one; I have them right there in my drawer for newcomers. I need to tell you, if you are chatting on your cell phone and I ask you, and you ignore me, it is not my responsibility to scan one for you. It is disconcerting to try to communicate with a person who is distracted by another conversation when we need to know something. Please do not treat me as a subhuman, who is only here to serve you. I chose to be a cashier because i enjoy people; I am not less educated than you (I am college educated), and am providing you with a service. I believe working with customers should be a mutual respect thing. I always treat my customers the way I would want to be treated. Unfortunately, there are a lot of cashiers that act like they don't want to be there, and that gives a lot of us a bad rap. My customers are the reason I have a job, and I can appreciate that. I do hope the customers in my line have good experiences, so they want to come back. A lot of our customers have become familiar faces to me, and I'll tell you, sometimes they are the reason I stay there. Dealing with management can be disheartening, but my "regulars" come in and make me smile! :hurray:
Most of my experiences with the local grocery stores have been positive ... However, about 2 weeks ago, I did run into a situation that was a little annoying. First, I had to wait behind 4 other folks because things were a little busy ... but not all the registers had cashiers. I hate to have to wait in a long line to pay. In any case, apparently the cashier on duty was feeling a little rushed. I gave her my discount card. Even though she took the card, she forgot to scan it. When I pointed it out the error to the cashier she just said "oops, there's nothing I can do about that now". She said there was nothing she could do and I should pay more attention to wether they rang the card or not next time. Honestly, I didn't feel like I needed to make sure she did her job. In anycase, I had to go stand in line at the customer service desk. They ended up unbagging everything, returning it & then reringing the entire order. I know it was a pain ... but the reason most of the stuff was even picked up was because it was on sale. The cashier acted like I was being unreasonable for wanting my discount. For some it may not have been worth "bothering" the store personnel after they made a mistake ... but the savings was over $25 and it was worth the trouble to me.
I could be one of your regulars:lol::lol: Hey I think the greeting thing is ok, I can see it gets contagious as far as lightening the mood with all that hear it, most I noticed smile about the greeting. There is different protocol with managers and ideas they have for buisness it's hard to agree with all the policies of them but in time if its bad ideas they come to light and may be changed. Good Job by the way. :cheers:
