Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space has been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space has been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.

I HATE THEM. I want them to stop talking to me. The voice is usually 2 steps behind my actions. They tell me the same thing time and again (please enter quantity)- hundreds of times. I get it. They accuse me of forgetfulness and other character flaws (please check your cart for items you may have forgotten). It asks me if I want Spanish or English - the cashier doesn't. It gets all confused by small produce (1 jalapeno), cloth bags (ok, so does the cashier), alcohol, and gives me cash back in five dollar bills (Wal*Mart).

I'm ready for a new generation of smarter self check-outs.

your post is also amusing as you call other people dense because they have different opinion than is yours. your lack of self-control when judging others for this is also amusing. if the customer does pay when leaving, as is also with a restaurant or a dancle club, then i say live and let live.

but i do say, i agree 1000% on your statements for the noisy voice on the u.s.a. self-checkouts! please let me turn this off! :p

My peeve is when an unthinking cashier places hot and cold items in the same bag (such as frozen food in the same bag as items from the hot deli).

I watched that happen a while back while waiting in the express line. A couple was taking their time and the woman between them and me was having fits that the line was not moving faster. When they started to look for a penny, this woman got into her purse, found one and practically shoved it in their face saying "Here's one, take it!" I found it all pretty funny, but if I had been in a hurry that day I would have been impatient too.

Self checkout opportunities
 

The OP started out with a discussion about a cashier not knowing the difference between say, zucchini and cucumbers.

Aren't there some possibilities here when self checkout is used?

For example, if one produce item costs 60 cents per pound, and another costs $4.00 per pound, suppose a poor flustered confused consumer presses the wrong button and ends up buying the $4.00 item for 60 cents? Because even professional cashiers are easily confused by the multitude of produce items, I can see how it would be reasonable for an ordinary consumer to also be confused.

There would appear to be no enforcement mechanism here because the only "check" is the weight of the item...and of course a pound of feathers has the same weight as a pound of lead.

Ditto. On the rare occasion I'm home long enough to buy Groceries, I have this complex about other people touching my food (I know they stock the shelves, but I don't see that). Something about a cashier sneezing in hand and then touching my orange just gets me.


Oh, and to go with the above statement, I wish like heck that EarthFare would add self checkout.

Self-checkouts aren't completely unmanned. In every store I've seen that has them, there is 1 cashier assigned to all of them (4 or 6 or however many there are) that checks IDs for alcohol purchases, scans coupons, etc. S/he has a computer at his/her little station that tracks everything going on at all of the self-checkouts, and they are (sometimes) paying enough attention that they'd be able to tell if you try to buy shiitake mushrooms for the price of lettuce or something like that.

That blocking of the aisle thing really bothers me. Also walking slowly down the middle of the aisle, whether it be supermakrets or whatever. WHn I go to the store, I know what I need. Being single and living alone, I don't cook too much, so for me shopping is a breeze. Get in, grab the essentials, get out.

About those "loyalty" cards. I've never filled out an application for them. When I move to a new area with a new grocery store, I wait until a busy time, go to a checkout line, ask for an application after everything ha been rung through, and the person lets me have the card if I say I'll drop the app off later. ;)

Edited to add: One more pet peeve. Didn't happen at a grocery store, but Fry's Elctronics, so still a stor with carts. I hate it when people get close to me when waiting in line. Granted I have personal space issues, but I think this situation was ridiculous. The lady pushed her cart next to me and she was physically a foot behind me. The line moved, I moved, she moved, and that darn cart was right next to me again. I like to give the person in front of me plenty of room, unless the line is so backed up I threaten to block the walkway (I'm looking at you, Costco on Tatum in Phoenix AZ at 11am who had 2 checkout lines open).

Reminds me of an old Emo Phillips routine ...
 

"Eternity is a long time, my friends. It's hard to imagine how long it is.

Imagine you are at the supermarket checkout line and there's 15 people ahead of you ...
and each one has a full basket of groceries ...
and none of the items are marked ...
and everyone wants to pay by check ...
and it's the girl's first day on the job ...
and she doesn't speak English.

You take a few minutes off that, and you start to get an idea of how long Eternity is."

Up till this last Thanksgiving I worked at Safeway. We were graded on our secret shops and if we missed something like greet, offer to take to an item, thank by name (checkers), offer carry out (baggeres and checkers) and a few other things we'd get called into the mgrs office and get yelled out (seen it with multiple mgrs). Safeway is awful with this and yet another reason why I wont shop there or work there ever again.

Actually, for the type of account I have, my bank charges a fee if I use a teller instead of the ATMs, so in essence I do get a discount for that. :)

My biggest grocery store pet peeve is when the bagger puts all the heavy items together in one bag and the light ones in another. :td:

More Peeves
 

• Similar products priced using different units of measure. My favorite(?) is green bell peppers are priced per pound and red bell peppers are priced per pepper. Another variation on this is when the store uses different units of measure on the price tags so you can't do price comparisons easily. The worst was when most of the ice creams were listed as price per gallon and one was listed as price per quart. Aargh. I think Safeway is the most deceptive in this respect
• Aisles being blocked by personnel stocking the shelves. The worst offenders are the DSD guys who put their carts diagonally across the aisles

Safeway is also the worst when someone does not have their stinking loyalty card. I have tried to loan people in the line my card (false info on the card, of curse) but have been sternly rebuffed by the checker. They must take their data mining seriously. That is why I get a new card every few months (and don't shop there much!)

I've seen parents allowing their brats to eat an entire package of whatever and throw the empy away, WITHOUT paying for it. So supporters of this practice of allowing children to graze get over yourselves. Further, if you child is such a problem, do what our parents did - leave them home with the babysitter.

People who wait to fish out their checkbooks from their massively overstuffed purses until AFTER the total is tallied. Then, they search for 10 minutes only to find that they have no pen and need to borrow one. What, you think that you won't need to pay for it this time? While we are on this - getting to the car, fishing for the keys, unlocking car, DROPPING THE KEYS BACK IN PURSE, get in car, fish for keys some more - all while people are waiting for parking.

Computer idiots thinking they can use the self-checkout

Leaving line to shop some more, but expecting others to allow your cart to maintain your position - that's my worst!