Monday, July 5, 2010

In the Grocery Store: Snarky Cashiers and Grabby Baggers

There's one market we shop at every week; it's like a Whole Foods but that's not the name of the store. And like most places now, you're encouraged to bring in your own bags and get a few cents off for each bag you bring in.

Every time we go in there, we bag our own groceries. We do this because we've had such awful experiences with the people who bag; it's incredible! One of our own bags is an insulated cooler type bag; which would tell anyone with a brain that perishable items go there. But nope, they'll toss any old thing in there. They might put, say, the fish in there but then on top of that, they'll put tomato cans. Speaking of cans, they also put all the cans in one bag, all the glass bottles in another, etc.

So instead of coming off like uptight mean people, (because no matter how nicely you might say something to the person bagging your groceries, they take it the wrong way...) we gave up and just started bagging our own groceries.

A typical encounter goes like this:

I set up the bags at the end of the counter. Person comes over to start bagging, or the clerk will start to bag. I'll say, very cheerfully, very friendly, something like "Oh, thank you, but we'll bag our own stuff," and sometimes make a joke or something. Almost always, the clerk will say something like 'OH, well, by all means..." super sarcastically. I've had the baggers just stomp off! What kind of customer service is that?

To top it off, I've had baggers come over when I'm done, and I'm putting the bags in the cart, and the person will take a bag from out of my hand!!!! and put it in the cart. I'll say, "I have it thanks," but they ignore me. Ignore me! They either stomp off again, or act all offended.

I don't want to be rude but next time some clerk or bagger cops an attitude about me, the paying customer, bagging my own damn groceries, I'll tell them why it's so. Because you all don't know how to bag stuff using common sense.

2 comments:

Migrainista said...

I'm so with you on this! My biggest gripe is how they will try to pack all the groceries into the oversized reuseable bags. I always bring a lot more bags than what is needed because I have 3 flights of stairs to carry them up and when one bag has stuffed full of all the heavy items (and the bread-why would they put bread in with the heavy stuff?)it's really hard to carry. Why can't people think! WHY CAN'T PEOPLE BE PLEASANT!

LesleyinNM said...

Everyone at my grocery is super nice. I shop there all the time and they all know me and talk to me when I come in and they have never smashed my bread or eggs. That said, they do always put all the heavy things in the same bags. From what I can tell that is how they are taught to do it because they do it everywhere that I have ever shopped for groceries. I also keep extra bags in my trunk to split up the heavier bags a bit. Thankfully I don't have stairs to go up, but it is a long way from my driveway to the kitchen.

And is it just me or do people seem super snarky lately? I have had several run ins over the past 2 or 3 weeks with people that were just downright rude and for no reason.