I used to work on checkouts. I still, 20 years later, recall the mother who triumphantly handed over a pile of sweetie wrappers 'to put in your bin, my child ate them around the store'. Except the sweets were priced by weight.

She was rather less triumphant when she had to wait while I called for assistance to get the exact same sweets (identified by the wrapper) to the checkout so I could add the cost of them into her shopping bill. Sorry, don't blatantly steal in front of me and try and get away with it.

I never had a problem with people who started snacking, but sometimes what I was handed to scan was gross :(

My pet peaves:
- clueless men with shopping trolleys who don't realise that waiting in the middle of the aisle for their partner is not the way to avoid everyone else
- people (particularly men) who drive too fast around the car park - it's a pretty random place, too many kids and unattended trolleys. Idiots.
- staff who prefer to talk to co-workers than serve me (this was a huge no-no where I worked!)
- getting 3/4s of the way around the store to remember I've missed something vital which is by the entrance :o

Okay, if you insist. ;)

- people (particularly women) who will block a parking lot row and hold everyone up while they wait for someone to walk to their car and pull out of a parking space, rather then take the open space only 30 feet further away.

Take that! :p

1) Self Check-out machines,
2) Self check-out machines that then complain and seek staff intervention when you have to remove a bag of groceries in order to fit any more onto the bagging area.
3) Check writers.
4) Bible verse on the bags. Price-Chopper in KC you know who you are. Since when do i go to a grocery store to have some store manager (or maybe corporate) start shoving their religious views around my edibles and drinkables. Good job that's not my local store.

Last night, after getting home, I realised the checkout person charged a higher price on a marked-down item. (No offence to curent or former 'chicks')

No big deal, but a pet peeve nonetheless. ;)

How about cashiers who forget to give you your change? One of the local stores has a scheme to combat those who lie about not getting their change. The cashier has to mark the receipt with a blue highlighter as they hand you your change (and receipt).

Or how about cashiers that don't load all your bags in the cart as you're headed out the door. You get home, swear you bought milk, find it on the receipt but it's back in the store or in someone else's refrigerator.

Speaking of change, I dislike those automatic change dispensers. Checker hands me dollar bills in change and receipt then I have to fish around in the metal dish to pick up the coins.

Pay with a card. Problem solved!

Seriously, is this a form of tipping creep?

(Now I have to confess, the only way I can tie this into diningbuzz is that on occasion, the local supermarket oligopolist has a person pushing their premium butchery products and of course I try to make these visits a 'dining' experience. :))

I don't understand the bolded comment (my bolding). She gave you the wrappers and presumably expected that they could be scanned individually (didn't she? or when you said, "put them in your bin", did she mean your trash bin? - if so, then I understand) and didn't realize they were sold by weight. I'm not condoning her mistake, but I don't see where she was "blatantly stealing". She tried to pay and made a bad assumption. She waited while someone got the same quantity of candy and you weighed them. Where's the theft or intent to steal?

I suspect this is the case. In British English, 'bin' almost always refers to somewhere you put trash (litter, rubbish, whatever you want to call it).

Ah, okay. Makes more sense now.

If the grocery shop accepts cards, I don't understand why a FTer would not use a card and earn a few miles. :)

On my last statement I have to confess that I spotted a 66c transaction. :eek:

Check writers that wait until the very last minute to dig through their bags to look for their checkbooks.

Once saw a woman lined up with her cart, left it there, continued shopping and then came back about 10 minutes later when her cart was already next in line. Somehow, the guy behind her cart kept pushing her cart forward. Thank goodness, I was on another long line.

:rolleyes: People still use cheques? :rolleyes: Livin' in the Seventies? :p

In defence of smash & grab shopping trips on a credit card:

Terminals at these shops can read the card before the checkout person has finished ringing up the total.
It only takes a second or two to get the approved printout to sign. Retailers seem to prefer cards anyway.

Using a card, swiped while the operator is swiping/packing the goods, there is not a wait for people who scrounge through their wallet/purse for exact change. :rolleyes:
If you have a few LOLs who shop at your local grocer, you might understand. ;)

deleted, duplicate. see next post. sorry.

Hah@! Reminded me of my Truly Major Pet Peeve and why I don't use credit cards if under $20. Groceries on conveyor, clerk checking, items being bagged, I swipe my card and return it to my purse.

Message comes up to wait for checker. What? While she/he is swiping my stuff I've unloaded the cart, opened purse and wallet, swiped credit card, returned card to wallet, zipped, and closed purse.

Cashier now asks credit or debit. And would I mind producing my card again and re-swiping? I think he/she didn't push whatever it takes to open the transaction before starting to scan stuff. Doubles the time spent in line and makes us all angry. How to deal with this?

Good news is my local market doesn't ask for a signature if under $25.

Bad news was woman, younger than I, carefully and slowly writing check and making detailed entry in her check register. Glad she was being fiscally responsible, but good lord, I haven't used a check register since circa 1970.