Chow.com has an interesting debate, sparked by writer Helena Echlin: What are the worst transgressions by supermarket shoppers?
She interviewed store employees in a couple of places and came up with descriptions of people writing the wrong bin number to score cheaper buys on high-priced goods, people dropping crumbs while eating things they're going to pay for later, small children roaming the aisles, cart-moving (sorry, sometimes that one is necessary) and of course, the dreaded cell-phone blockages.
Interesting observation from one store manager: Sometimes people act irrationally because they come in hungry and their blood sugar is low.
How about you? Can we come up with a list of the things nice shoppers don't do to other nice shoppers?
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Grocery store etiquette: Gaffe on Aisle 5?
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105 comments:
My grocery store peeve is when people park their cart on one side of the aisle and look at things on the other side. Thus making it impossible to pass. Argh! Simple solution? Keep your cart on the same side with you.
My peeve: Being a total clueless idiot in the self-checkout line.
This line is not for moms with a shopping cart full of groceries, people with small kids running around, or retirees who've never seen a computer before.
When you grab a cart full of items, make sure it's your cart! I've had someone else walk off with my half-full cart, leaving me to have to basically reshop for everything.
I am bothered by inconsiderate people who leave perishable items that they decide they don't want on random shelves that may not be discovered by store clerks till who-knows-when; then I wonder whether the clerks just return these items to the refrigerated or freezer sections to be bought by unbeknownst shoppers, or have they been instructed, hopefully, to throw these items out.
I can't stand when people try to argue a coupon or their change or whatever with the cashier. Just make them aware and move it on to the customer service counter that is what its there for. Oh I also hate when people try the oldest trick in the book by saying that they gave the cashier a $20 after they get the change back from the $10 that they actually gave. I wish people who scammed would use their cunning for something productive.
NEVER touch another person's cart without saying something first! I was grocery shopping one day, I have my purse open to my coupons, and I stood back to look at the aisle and this old man just walked up and moved my cart with my purse in it without saying a word! Just plain rude. I got the feeling he wasn't from around here.
They need to ban those stupid huge car carts made for kids. If they were made to entertain the kids and keep them quiet, they obviously don't work! All they do is get in my way. Don't let your kids roam around the store and get in my way either. If your kid is having a temper tantrum meltdown, take him home and away from my ringing ears.
Don't wear your foul-smelling perfume in the store. Trying to get a man or feel pretty? Do it somewhere else--I'm here to buy food, not smell your stanky cologne.
Hey lazybutts! Put your cart back where it belongs, and don't leave it in a parking place where it can hit my car!
People who still pay with actual checks. Even worse, the people who pay with actual checks but don't pre-fill the parts of the check that you already know while you're being rung up. The name of the store, the date, the memo, and your signature are not going to change between when you arrive and when you get the total. BE PREPARED. You are not the only person in line.
Some people don't even think to LOOK for their checkbook in their purse before the total is rung up.
People who leave their empty cups on random shelves.
And anon, don't leave your purse in your cart. You're just asking for trouble.
I'm totally in agreement with luv2cknbk. If you decide you don't want something - put it back! Particularly perishables. I was speaking with an employee at Walmart - they throw them away, but who do you think pays for them in the long run? The customers. I also hate people leaving their carts, but honestly, some lanes are just too small to manuever - which I hate more. NEVER leave your purse, I blame that person as much as the theft who takes it. And the carts in the parking lots - put them away. It seriously can't kill people to take 2 more minutes to move their carts out of the way to the holders, but they are too lazy.
Ever cashier at every store does not enforce the express lane. Twelve items is twelve items, not fifteen, not twenty. I wish for once a cashier would call these people out instead of checking them out.
I've got a coupon for that!!!!!
Checkbooks and people who camp out at a sample stand. Just have one and move on you lardbucket! It's not a buffet, it's a sample.
You know those carts with the squeaky wheel, or is out od alignment and wobbles down the aisle? I intentionally try to use those so the biddies who think they are the only person in the store can hear me coming. People make fun of the stereotype of women drivers, well they prove the myth in the stores by just stopping in the middle of the aisle with no way around them, or they see you want something blocked by their cart, but they ignore your "excuse me", or can't decide what they want from the deli. Make up your mind or step back and think about it.
Oh, and I make a big stink in the express lane when they bring 30 items, then decide after the total to write a check.
I hate when I am standing at the "pay station" while the cashier is ringing up my groceries, and the person next in line comes over and stands RIGHT BESIDE ME. I obviously am still having my turn and am waiting for my totals, so please get out of my personal space and don't stand right next to me. I'd like some elbow room and some privacy while putting in my pin number.
I despise those "shopper in training" carts and the parents who will not / can not control their children. Those things are a menace! The grocery store is not a play ground for children.
Ghoul, please don't generalize. There may be some women who act as you described, but there are also men who do the same. I'm a woman who most certainly does not walk around the store acting as if the whole place belongs to me.
Those of you who have a problem with those of us who use coupons can kindly get over it! Companies provide them to be used, and if I can save some of my hard-earned $ by using their coupon, you can bet I'm going to do it!
Finally, I hate those who leave their carts out in no man's land in the parking lot. Take them to the holders, please. I really don't want to come out to my car only to find a big scratch on it because you were too lazy to put your cart where it belongs!
There are two things people do ALL the time that drives me nuts and I have no idea why. First of all when they walk in to the store they STOP right in the entrance way, blocking anyone behind them. Then when it comes time to pay, after they sit and stare at the cashier scanning and bagging all their stuff, they looked stunned and surprised when it comes time to pay- fumbling for their wallet or worse yet checkbook as some other posters mentioned.
To the lady who said "NEVER touch another person's cart without saying something first!" your shopping cart gets moved because you left it in the way. Just because you compounded your mistake by leaving your purse wide open in it has no bearing on the man's right to get by. Take your purse when you turn away from your cart.
I'm guessing you're the lady who starts fishing for her checkbook at the bottom of her enormous handbag AFTER the cashier tells her how much she owes.
Those of you who insist on writing checks, fill it out while the cashier is ringing up your stuff...please!
My my - a lot of angry people in here! Can't say i blame them. My wife and I came out to find our brand new car w/ a nice new dent in it thanks to a shopping cart...
Honestly - i have kids and i can put the cart back. Unless you're handicapped, put the dang cart away.
Incidentally - I regularly see little old ladies and actual disabled people returning their carts...
In Ireland, where i'm from, you have to insert a 1-euro coin into a little device on the cart to release the cart from the stand. When you return the cart, you get your money back...
This works great as greed tends to trump laziness for most inconsiderate people - they return their cart! and if they dont-then there is almost always some enterprising young boy or girl happy to do it for the change...
Don't park your cart in front of the displays while you decide whether you prefer beef or chicken for dinner. Park your cart away from the display and have the decency to allow people access to what they need.
Get a life people, you are posting comments about grocery stores...come on, websites like this drive me crazy!
If you have one or a small amount of items and I am in line with my cart full of groceries, don't look at me with sadness or ask to cut in front of me. That is what self-check out is for. And if you step out of line to try and catch a shorter line and that doesn't work for you...you have to go to the back of your original line, you are not supposed to cut in front of those now there just because your plan failed.
After unloading your cart onto the conveyor, please put your cart in front of you. When you walk away and leave the cart in the aisle in front of me so I have to push it over to where it belongs, I am basically having to pick up after you. Also, it is in my way to help speed up the checkout process. If I can get to the conveyor, I can put the separation bar down and start unloading my cart while you are checking out so that everything can go faster for all customers and the cashier!
HokieTT, while I understand your feelings, your advice to sign a check before you get to the store is just plain irresponsible. A pre-signed check is like CASH. There are a lot of people who still write checks because they don't trust ATM cards (for good reasons). I don't have a problem with checks per se... but I would prefer that they NOT be accepted in the Express Lane. The "express" lane should be cash or debit only, not even food stamps should be accepted there. It should also be no cigarette purchases either. If the cashier has to go to locked cage for the cigs, there is nothing "express" about it!
My biggest gripe is the person who gets up to the checkout counter and then decides what they really want to buy. I work at a local store and I am not exaggerating we have some people that will hand you 20 to 30 items that they have decided they don't want to get. If money is an issue carry a calculator and use it!!! Another big pet peeve reusable bags. Great idea but the are a pain in the rump to load and take much longer to do so that a typical plastic bag. Grab a bag and start helping the cashier load your stuff. Not only will they appreciate it but the people in line behind you will thank you too!!!
John, I think I was misunderstood. What I meant was that while you are standing there and being rung up, you should start writing your check. I would never suggest someone walk around with a blank, signed check. You're right, that would be irresponsible. Sorry for the confusion.
And to the person who said 'get a life' to the rest of us, you're on here, too. I guess you should take your own advice. Complaining about people complaining (especially when we were asked to) doesn't put you on any higher a pedestal than we're on.
I've never been angrier than the day I was behind two people who used EBT cards to buy their groceries and then just stood there until the cashier placed their bagged groceries back into their cart.
It seems that all retail stores (not just grocery stores) are quickly becoming playgrounds for kids. Some parents have the mindset that once they are inside a store, they can let their kids run free and unsupervised. I have news for these folks. The next time little Johnny or Mary get in my way while I am shopping, they might find themselves inside one of the freezers. If you can't control your kids, leave them at home!!!! And by the way, for those that love to have their family reunions in the aisles, finish your shopping first and meet outside of the store.
Let me tell you the worst check-writer offender I witnessed a month or so ago. The lady not only did not start writing her check while the cashier was ringing up her groceries she...honest to God...had to write the amount in her register and balance her checkbook before she would leave the check stand. I am not exaggerating! I'm pretty patient with folks, but I came very close to telling this lady to "move on" in not-so-nice terms
1. People who don't put their buggies in the return area in the parking lot.
2. People who put items where ever they are at the moment when they decide they don't actually want them (especially perishable items).
3. An extension of #2: people who actually open food items, eat some, and leave the open container on the shelf. I can't tell you how many times I've seen ripped open bags of chips or pretzels lying on the shelf.
4. In regards to the "express" lines at places like walmart (the lines at the end that have a short counter and no conveyer belt): if you can't fit all of your items at one time onto the counter, you don't need to be in that line! It's meant for people who have a few items so they can get through the line quickly without having to wait for people in front of them with $200 worth of groceries to buy.
Out-of-control kids are definitely the worst. I had a kid run smack-dab into me one day and start screaming at me for being in HIS way. I just looked at the parent, and told her that she better get her smart-butt kid out of my way and pronto. She looked at me like "what did my precious do?"
If you're going to churn them out...parent them...or leave them at home.
I hate people who are in my way. It's simple: get out of my way.
1. How about those carts in the cart corral with used kleenexes in them?
2. checkout people that move at pace of a turle.
3. stores that don't have a single bagger...or they start bagging then walk away to do something else.
I once had a grocery store manager describe to me how on Sundays some people would come into the store and ransack the stack of newspapers for sale to pilfer the coupons...a grab and go move. This was after we had gotten home after purchasing a paper only to find all of the inserts were missing. He sounded as exasperated as we did.
OK, folks, I need to step in here. It's a crowded planet and we all do things to annoy one another. I started the topic this morning so to get insight into the things we do that make life difficult for people around us.
But name-calling and stereotyping doesn't add to clarity, and this isn't the place for vulgar language.
Please, stay focused on the topic and share suggestions we can all benefit use.
There is no award for exact change nor will the "Exact Change Fairy" suddenly appear and grant your every wish. So please don't root around in your suitcase sized purse for that super-special penny so you can give exact change. Move on.
Complain about the car carts or the kids running around, but don't complain about both in the same paragraph! The car cart is the solution to the problem of kids running around. As a mom, I hate the car carts, but I use them to benefit the other people in the store (not for my benefit). It keeps my kids contained so they aren't under your feet.
If there is not a bagger and you have a lot of groceries, rather than stand there watching them pile up at the end of the belt, get over there and bag your groceries.
I also totally agree about the express lane. The store clerk should be enforcing the rule. The customer should not be left to stew or police for you.
If you see a cart in a parking spot on your way in, rather than just complain about it, grab it and use it or put it away.
If you see a mom in the parking lot who has finished unloading her cart and you are able to - offer to take the cart and put it away for her.
I park next to the cart corral when I have my kids with me even if it means parking further away as I am not comfortable leaving my kids alone in the car - call me paranoid if you will, but I don't want to be the crying mom on the evening news.
One of my "favorite" grocery story moments was woman at the store with her 4yoish granddaughter. I watched the Grandma grab a container of donut holes, eat them, and then place the empty container on some random shelf a little while later and walk away. The granddaughter asked "Aren't you going to pay for that Grandma?" No response "You ate that Grandma, you have to pay for it." Still no response. The girl kept asking the same questions, getting louder and louder. Finally the Grandma pinched the girl on the arm and told her be quiet and to "mind" her. I thought that was a terrible thing to teach a young person. I did tell a clerk about the donut holes, not sure if anything came of it.
All of the items mentioned are just inconsiderate and frustrating that people have such lack of consideration...one gets accustomed to that these days though...seems like nobody says excuse me any more, just stare at you looking peeved, go figure.
One thing that was not mentioned that gets on my last nerve is people having a lively, loud conversation on their phone while shopping, better yet...the SPEAKERPHONE !! Guess what...NOBODY wants to hear you're trifling conversations...trust me on that one....we don't have a choice.
Hi! So glad someone else has brought up "grocery store etiquette" -- a MUCH needed lesson for some...my biggest pet peeve is people who stop their carts in the middle of the aisle while looking for things and are oblivious to the fact that I'm standing there behind them with my cart, waiting to get through. Need to find something? Pull it on over! Also: please done talk on the cell phone in the store unless you need to ask about an ingredient or something.
One time I had a semi-full cart of groceries and when I walked by the express lane, the cashier asked if I was ready to check out. I told her I had more than 15 items and she told me she hadn't checked anyone out in almost an hour and would be happy to help me. Of course as soon as she started ringing up my items, 3 legitimate express customers lined up behind me. I felt so bad! I told the first customer the cashier offered to check me out, but after seeing the nasty look he gave her, I thought it was best to take the silent wrath from the others.
1. Paying with a check - YES!!! We encountered this while shopping last night. An elderly woman was paying with a check, so she stood there forever filling out the check, THEN could not produce the ID they were looking for, she was trying to use all these other forms of ID that were not accepted, etc...she was holding up the line for a loooong time. With checks, it takes time to stand there and write it, rip it out, etc. Drives me nuts, very inconsiderate to the people behind you.
2. People yapping on their cell phones while paying for their groceries. I just think this is incredibly rude to the cashier and others in line (no one needs to listen to you blab about your personal business). At least put the phone down for a few moments to say hi, yes I found everything, thank you.
3. People who crowd you when you are trying to pay. Oh..my...gosh. I dont know what it is, or why people need to be so close that they are practically on my hip when I am trying to sign the dang credit card slip or swipe my card. I actually got into a fight over this with a guy at Lowe's Foods one time, I was unloading items onto the belt, then standing there waiting to sign the slip, and the whole time he had been up my behind, breathing down my neck (literally). Had someone looked at us, they would have thought we were shopping together (and probably living together, he was close enough to be my beau). I shot him a nasty look and someone behind him said, ooh she mad at you, I dunno what you did. So I said, well if you would give me some SPACE maybe I wouldnt be mad. Then he started yelling at me, etc. it was bad, I left and made a beeline for my car! I go out of my way to give whoever is in front of me at the checkout PLENTY of space.
I think there is a misconception of what the "self check-out" is... It is not an express lane. It is for whomever wants to check out their own groceries no matter how many there are.
Since I have been in the grocery retail business for 10+ years, I have seen several 'peeves' that really irritate me. For starters, seeing open packages thrown behind other merchandise on the shelf (i.e. a box of donuts behind a toilet paper item) is a common occurrence at the Harris Teeter I work at. It is like the customer (well they really ain't customers since they did not pay for it) assumes workers like to clean their mess up.
Last year I had major hip troubles and the only way I could grocery shop was to use the battery operated cart. What a blessing this was for me. It was interesting, however, to observe the reactions of others to me in my little cart. Many times people would see me coming and dash in front of me trying to get there before me. Those carts have no brakes. Only way to stop is to let go of the on switch.
On the other side - I was recently hit by one of these carts, full speed while I was standing still, on the injured hip that is just about healed. Hurt like the devil. And the driver just said oops and went about her way.
So give the carts a wide berth and pay attention to where you are going when you need to use one.
I have to disagree with the idea that self checkouts are for anyone who has however many items. They are meant to get people in and out of the store quickly and usually those people are the ones that have a couple of items and don't want to wait behind the individual who is doing their weekly grocery shopping. Even the size of the belt should indicate that it is for a smaller order. It takes soooo much longer to use those checkouts than just standing in line when you have multiple items. Save them for the people who have just a few things. I also can't stand to see someone use self checkouts and allow their children to check out the merchandise when there are other customers waiting. If no one is in line behind you fine but if someone is waiting tell the little ones they can play store when they get home.
My Pet Peeve: Women with huge handbags that insist on searching for exact change, sometimes for 5 or more minutes. They'll take stuff out and set it on the counter while they continue that fruitless search. Just give the cashier an extra dollar and be done with it, already!
My biggest grocery store pet peeve is people who take shopping WAY to seriously. You're not in the army. You're not at work. You're out shopping. Slow down. Lighten up. Your time isn't THAT valuable. The store isn't out to cheat you. You're not any smarter or more important than anyone else shopping. You're not the only one on the planet. If something goes wrong? Guess what? You'll be back at the store in like two days. It's called coping. It's what adults do.
1. Parents who let their kids use the electric scooters as toys.
2. Roller skating in the store.
3. Closing down all the registers and having all customers use the self checkout (are you listening H-T?)
4. Those stupid child grocery carts.
Candice and anon 1:29 stole my thunder about people who eat stuff and walk away (grapes are a popular target of this at the Galleria Walmart).
But how about people who see that an item is on sale and take EVERY SINGLE ONE? Countless times my wife has come home from grocery shopping and said to me something like, "Honey, I know you just love Totino's pepperoni pizza rolls, but they were on sale and this chick in front of me took all 15 bags they had."
I also must echo others. If you're going to pay by check, fill in the store name, the memo line, sign, and write in your register WHILE YOUR GROCERIES ARE BEING SCANNED, NOT AFTER! And please know your surroundings - don't park your cart and position yourself so no one else can get through. And knock off teh cell yell. If you can't hear the other person, you yelling won't help. If they can't hear you, hand up and wait until you get outside.
People who write checks. Don't ALL checking accounts come with a debt card? USE IT!!
ShoppingIsEasy - If you have nothing to contribue (the author WAS asking for grocery store pet peeves), why post at all? Time to remove the stick, buddy.
If you have a coupon and the clerk returns it to you cause its expired, PLEASE just buy the product and go on. The time it takes for her to dig it out of your bags and take it off of your purchase is MY TIME.
I used to live in Houston.
One of the worst things I used to see on a regular basis is shoppers open sealed jars of things like jam and sniff them.
Each time it was some recent arrival from over the border who, apparently, wasn't accustomed to shopping in the US.
I accidentally took home a few jars of stuff that had been opened by these morons and so stopped shopping anywhere they favored.
And I started testing all my jars to see if the seal had been broken.
Nasty.
My biggest pet peeves are about the stores themselves. The baggers often seem to have no rational system and will look put out if I object to frozen peas with cardboard boxes in the same bag yet with produce (which might be on the bottom, under a canned vegetables or something else that would smash/bruise it). So, I always bag my own items, but that seems to annoy the bagger and/or cashier, even though I am faster and more effecient with my items (which I group together in the cart and on the conveyer). Another pet peeve is when the store offers something on sale but then doesn't have it in stock or runs out the day after the circulars come out/the sale starts ... then, customer service managers seem to look at you as though you are evil or trying to perpetrate fraud by asking for a raincheck (and then again, when you want to actually redeem the raincheck). Third, so many people with a zillion items who shouldn't be checking out on their own are doing so because stores like Lowe's have replaced most of their full-cashier stands with the self-checks (which you can't use if you have coupons ... which further annoys other shoppers in line who have to wait behind you, when you could have effectively and quickly scanned your items and your coupons and been on your way).
And one more thing ... don't judge handicaps by how a person looks physically. I have a cardiac issue, so you can't see it. Furthermore, my son recently had a major surgery, but you can't see his scars or his reconstructions. There are many kinds of disability.
I worked in the H-T on Carmel @ Quail Hollow some years ago and we had a regular who used the motorized cart and would scream and cuss if it wasn't charged, broken, or in use by someone else. Now she was not handicapped, just fat and lazy. She was always rude to the cashiers and wanted the baggers to carry everything to her car (once she tipped a kid $0.10 for a cart full), people would all want to go on break minutes after she arrived.
One day she was being her miserable self to the cashier in front of me, when the lady behind her, another regular, laid into her, telling her to watch her mouth in public, get off her lazy @ss and do something for herself. When the fatty left, we all applauded. She never came back.
Anon 4:16 made me think of another:
The baggers who put my pie in the bag on it's side!
My peeve: people who park their car right in front of the store entrance. The handicap spaces aren't even that close to the store, you lazy bums. I think the fire department should have off-duty firemen standing in front of grocery stores ready to write $100 tickets to jerks who park in the fire lane and block the store entrance from the rest of us.
those handicapped parking passes aren't just for driver's either. my neighbors have one because their child (4 year old) has cerebral palsy. whether they abuse the privlege if the child is not with them I don't know.
there are a lot of diseases people can have that don't outwardly show a handicap.
My only hope is that some people, who can't maneuver their grocery carts, don't drive that way. Maybe they should give out traffic tickets in stores.
Charlotteans in general have no situational/kinesthetic awareness when driving their cars or their carts. MOVE ALONG. There are other people in the world besides you.
Just a word of advise from someone with a bad experience....
NEVER pay for one of those gift cards (the ones they sell for every store and restaurant imaginable) at the self-checkout. What a PITA! An hour later, I finally exited HT and found out later that one of the cards still wasn't activated.
Go ahead, laugh! After reading some of the comments, you deserve a good laugh.
It almost makes me laugh how much this happens.
I'm in an isle looking for something. The entire isle is blocked. I see that someone wants by so to be nice I move up right next to the shelves. Then the person I'm being nice to stops right behind me trapping me like oh sure I wanted to stand here face planted against the canned veggies.
I've started putting random things in people's carts when that happens.
Hey it's good for people to try new things.
While we're all just so worked up, why oh why does HT at Morocroft have the soup and vegetables on the same isle? That is always the most crowded place in the store.
I just ram anyone that gets in my way. If they have a problem with that I just growl at them and start howling.
-Stopping stop right at the door to grab a sani-nap and spend time wiping down their cart, reading the flyer, or chatting with someone they know exiting.
-Switching/cutting you out of line or simply not offering to let you with less items to go ahead.
-Unsupervised herds of children.
-Setting perishable items on the shelves. You lazy...
-People racing through the lot like the grocery store is on wheels and they have to chase it down. It's not a hospital and there are no food emergencies.
I love walking through the store grazing on anything I can get my hands on. If I see something I like in your cart, I just grab it and eat it. I sometime walk around drinking out of a gallon of milk, if you see me, just say hi, but you'd better not let me see what's in your cart.
While not many people pay with cash these day, I get annoyed when people try to play the change game, you know add some money to what you give the cashier so you get like 50 cents or a dollar bill back instead of 37 cents or a quarter. Drives me crazy. Another thing that bugs me are cashiers who have a full on conversation with another store employee and never, during the entire transaction recognize that the customer is even present. I don't want to be best friends with these people but pay attention to what you're doing and quit the mindless prattle with your work buds. And a "thank you" would be nice but those are as rare as honest politicians. In general, of the cashiers I run across at grocery, home centers and discounters, only 1 in 3 are adequete, the rest should be fired immediately and only 1 in 10 or 12 could be deemed excellent.
I throw a hissy fit when my favorite store runs out of my favorite pate. I just go off on the nearest person I see, I don't care if they work there or not.
For me, it's theft (obviously) and rudeness (nasty looks or remarks).
What makes things hard is that stores now put displays in the aisles! So, when choosing stuff, you either block the aisle or leave your cart 30 feet away (hard to do with kids).
I do shop with my kids. Yes, I have 3. I am teaching them to behave while shopping, which they have to learn in the store (and, we do eat food so need to shop). Mostly, they are very good- we do our very best not to annoy you. People around here are almost all kind, which is a real blessing.
I did swear as a teenager that I'd never leave a cart in the lot and haven't, though it means I have to park right next to the "corral" every time (3 small kids). It's not at all rude to park there, but if you want to help parents, you can leave those spots free for us.
As a grocery store employee for over 21 years, Ive seen it all. I've been with a major retailer here in over 15 stores in Charlotte. Here's what we see:
1. People who chew you out over their expired coupons
2. Family reunions in the aisles, or in my way, I'm trying to work
3. People who let their kids eat my produce, how are you going to weigh that half eaten banana?
4. People who drop something on the floor, or see something fall, and walk over, or around it. Pick it up!!
5. We are not your maids, clean up after yourselves, especially in the restroom.
6. The no cash back after 10 sign is for our safety, and yours!!
7. Cart corrals!!
8. Screaming kids, please take them outside to disipline them.
9. We are human, and control mother nature, sometimes we CAN'T get an item in, screaming at us isn't going to help.
10. We aren't all idiots, it is great money, but we can never tell you no, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT-Yeah, I wish!!
(1) The two men who eat donuts at the HT on the Plaza while shopping. (2) Anyone who talks on the cell phone while trying to pick out groceries and push a cart.
I have alot of peeves. I read alot of them here.
But since I'm a solution oriented person, I like to do mean things to the people who peeve me the worst:texters and phone talkers.
They are always in the way and they are never paying attention. They don't even get off the phone when they check out. Rude!
I put things in their cart like tampons, $30. bottle of wine, hemmerroid cremes. You know, the usual annoying products. They never catch me either. Dummies.
As an employee it's the people that complain no matter what you do. It's never good enough for them. They DEMAND discounts or free items like we, the employee, control the store.
As a customer, it's a tie between slow check writers and the people who obviously have no idea what they want but are still going to take up as much space as possible on the aisle while they try to figure it out.
Oh, and I almost forgot. The people that break things and don't tell anyone. Is it that hard to find the first employee you see and tell them? Not like they are going to force you to pay for it. As the fellow said earlier, "the customer is always right."
Oh how I dislike that phrase.
One thing I think many people here may be unaware of regarding the number of items in an express checkout (not self checkout). I have worked in both grocery and other retail, and it is a hard and fast rule that a cashier may NOT do anything to enforce the number of items allowed at an express checkout. You aren't even allowed to make the customer feel uncomfortable about it, let alone say anything about it.
If you have a problem with a customer taking too many items to express, you need to talk to the manager and ask that the cashiers be allowed to police this, otherwise it will not change. The cashier is not in control of it.
I've always suspected that Charlotte has been over run by mobs of rude intolerant transplants. The comments here don't surprise me, they simply embarrass me.
It's a grocery store, not your office or your backyard so lighten up! Shopping for my dinner is always fun, because I could care less how you shop, where you leave your cart, if you write a check or if want to show a picture of your new grandbaby to the cashier.
The kids make me laugh, and if you leave you half filled cart unattended and I load it up with Oreo cookies and instant grits by mistake you should thank me.
I'm trying to be solution-oriented here.
To Anonymous @ 5:16 pm:
"Stopping right at the door to grab a sani-nap and spend time wiping down their cart" - I'm a sani-nap wiper, but I usually go straight to the dispenser & get the nap before even selecting my cart. This way I can wipe it down as I'm pulling it out.
"Not offering to let you with less items to go ahead" - I have to disagree here. If people with full or even partially-full carts let EVERYONE with fewer items than them go ahead, they'd never get to the checkout. If you want to check out more quickly, go to the store at a less-busy time, pick a different line, an express line, or do the self-checkout. Asking to cut in front of them or worse yet EXPECTING them to let you cut in front is ridiculous.
I can't stand it when some grocery punk stock boy tells me to quit eating all the kid's cookies at the bakery. I am doing those fat little pigs a favor by eating their cookies. I just start knocking over stuff and tell them to pick it up, because it is in my way!
People who stand around in la-la land while their giant order of groceries piles up at the end of the belt. If there is no bagger please take the initiative and start putting away your own stuff! Packing groceries is not rocket surgery, have some courtesy for others that are waiting.
People definitely have passionate feelings about this! As with everything, I'm sure that there is a converse to each observation.
1. People who think that Aisle 5 is the PERFECT spot to park their buggies for a quick 30 minute catch up on life in general. It's hard to resist, I know, whether you're a 9-5er, working mom, stay at home mom or dad or WHATEVER you do during the day but 5.30pm at the Harris Teeter is just not the time.
2. We've all done it but, even with a list, when you get to the checkout and realize that LAST (and usually most important) thing you forgot. Then trilling 'I'll be right back' as you go on a 10 minute hunt for that jar of whatever. Even worse, send your child. We're all guilty. Admit it. At least sprint and look pained as you do so.
3. Not using re-usable bags. It's green, it's hippy, it's whatever. Try living in Europe. Most countries A) Charge you money per bag B) Make you feel like you are personally choking the baby dolphins (see PETAs campaign to re-name all fish 'sea kittens') and C) rarely help load your bags beyond the first one. It's a pain to try and remember the bags but doable.
4. Haranguing stock boys and girls over pricing, availability, brand and nutrition. They didn't pick the items so why are you yelling at them?! Find a manager who is at least paid to listen and then ignore you :)
To be honest, I hadn't thought about the purse in cart thing. Why it annoys others than the person who left it is beyond me. Unless you're the beleaguered manager handling the police report. Or the police. Or the child of now hysterical woman. Leaving cart in parking space....grrrrrrr. Most of the time there is a stock person who'll meet you halfway, make a little effort!
Ah, for the space-age set: using your iPhone app to look up and compare the price of EACH ITEM before you put it in the cart. Yes it's very cool how the camera reads the bar code but if you continue to scan every can of peaches before deciding to buy them later I will personally dismantle your phone.
This was fun and makes me feel better about my life. I have to go to the grocery store tonight because I live the life of a rock star and who wouldn't want to spend Friday night at HT. I find myself hoping that someone gets in my way so I can sneak something in their cart.
The best thing Wal-Mart ever did was install u-scan lanes. I don't mind shopping there now because I can get in and out, because the average Wal-Mart shopper isn't smart enough to know how to use u-scan. Education, isn't it a terrific thing!
Well, I am one of those 'dinosaurs' who still writes checks, but I always fill out the check with store name, date, and sign my name, BEFORE I go in to the store. I also fill in the check register at the same time. Since my checks have a carbon, I can fill in the amount of the check in the register AFTER I leave the store. It doesn't take any longer for me to write in the check amount after the total is rung up than it does for someone who is using a debit or credit card to pay for their food or whatever. Oh...and I always have my store discount card and checkbook in my hand when I get to the resgister for checkout.
For me, it has to be leaving the shopping carts outside the store. I've seen people spend more time trying to put the cart up on a curb than it would have taken for them to actually take the cart to the corral area. To me, it's just rude and inconsiderate to not spend the extra minute to return the cart.
I always hate to see someone on their cell phone in the checkout line. It seems so rude to the cashier.
On the other hand, if some stores would open the self-checkouts they have closed all day, it may not be an issue. Regardless, you should hang up the phone when face-to-face with another human.
My peeve are parents with just one kid who use the car carts. Then I arrive with my twins and need two carts to do my grocery shopping. Yes, my son loves them too, but when I have just 1 kid with me, I leave the car carts for someone who actually needs it.
Thanks for bringing up this topic, Kathleen, the comments made for great reading! I can't complain of pet peeves because everything that really bothers me, I have found myself doing at one point or another. And I didn't until this moment realize that since I have only one child, I am not supposed to be using the car cart even though my child enjoys riding in them. I always thought those were first-come-first-served. I guess that people with two children are allowed to corral their children, but I'm expected to raise my one to be so well-behaved that he doesn't need the car cart. Good to know!
Any public place will get you some annoying person, but this is all just a day in the life. You wake up and feel good , you been granted another day on earth, be happy for it and don't sweat the small stuff folks.
WOW. All of you need to take a deep breath, look around and have a little forgiveness for everyone. Ironically, YOU are not the only one in the grocery store either. Though we ALL wish we WERE, let's face it, we're NOT. NO, that mother with her 2 screaming kids can't leave them at home with a babysitter every other day when she needs to go to the store. Taking kids to the store is incredibly hard, in case you've never tried, so perhaps you could try helping her?
WOW. All of you posting comments here need to take a deep breath, exhale, and then practice a little forgiveness. Though we ALL wish WE were the only ones at the grocery store, that's not the case. I doubt that mom with 2 kids can leave them with a babysitter every other day when she needs to go to the store to get groceries. In case you've never taken kids to the store before, it's not that easy. AND if you have 2 kids, where do you put both of them and groceries in one of those normal sized carts? Hence the huge race car carts that I despised too before I became a mom. SO how about next time, giving that mom or that old lady a little bit of help. Forget that you are not ever going to be the ONLY person at the grocery store and have a little patience.
aisle
Those "customer in training" or "shopper in training" super tiny carts with the big flags that parents think are so vitally necessary to teach their kids or keep them well behaved, pretending they're shopping! What's really pathetic is when the "little" kid who's pushing one of these stupid things is like 8 years old! Gee, when I was 8, you couldn't have fooled me with one of these stupid things. When I was 8, if I wanted to feel grown up, I'd want to push a REAL, adult shopping cart, not a plastic little toy cart.
Kids got by very well BEFORE these stupid things came along. Now, the only purpose they serve is to block people in the store because the stupid parents don't monitor their kids, and the kids are all over the place with these things. DUMB parents. One of these days I'm going to pick one of those things up and carry it away from the child. I swear, no joke, it's only a matter of time. Idiot parents.
Ran into someone today who decided to block the aisle, and tut at me loudly that I tried to get by after saying excuse me.
Okay, here's a tip. If you're looking at something on the left side of the aisle, position your cart on the left side. Don't stand on the right side of the aisle with your cart while looking at something on the left side, then tut at people for wanting to get by.
The aisle is for everyone.
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