Into Santander Bank, to get some cash,. Assistant takes me out of the queue to tell me how the cash machines work.
Call at WH Smiths to get a Birthday Card. Arrive at the tills to find there are no staff, you’re expected to scan your stuff, drop it into a bag, shove your card in & pay. No shop assistants at all! I put my purchases back on their shelves and walked out (exaggerating the Huff). Hope they were “watching”.
Call in Sainsbury’s, on the way home. Staff person grabs my trolley and me, and takes me over to the pay on exit tills, where she checks all items through, for me.
Now, you might think I’m being a fuss pot, but I do treasure my independence.
At this point the cashier has taken me for an idiot, so it’s time to have some fun. I play stupid and addled and make them work machine for me, Then when they say put the PIN number in I act as though I’ve forgotten it or better yet “What’s a PIN?”.
It is exactly the same in my local branch of Nationwide. If I wanted to use the ATM’s I would do so, but I much prefer the personal service and do not mind joining a short queue. Sainsbury’s are a tad too helpful and asking for something out of reach can produced a trolley jockey to speed me around the store and I do not hurry anywhere when I go shopping with my detailed list(s)
Awww, be kind to them all…they have likely had instruction (and training) from on high for improving customer service!
With regard to WH Smith - its the same in my local branch…which is now also a post office. So when I am asked if I want to use the machine, I smile ever so sweetly and say I prefer keeping people in a job. For some reason they always think I’m being sarcastic
[quote=“PixieKnuckles, post:4, topic:86269”]
Awww, be kind to them all…they have likely had instruction (and training) from on high for improving customer service! [/quote]
I am, I always try to be as polite as possible. Sainsbury and Tesco are definitely customer orientated, unlike Aldi and Lidl where service must be a dirty word. We’ve tried both (once in each store) and I’d rather pay say 50p per trolley more and shop elsewhere.
What makes me feel old. I went to the pharmacy to buy vitamins. I settled on vitamins for people my age range. What’s in them, well they’re made for seniors, but to read the ingredients you need a microscope. Is it just me or the older I get the smaller the printing is?
It’s the same with most things these day. I was given a new tablet to try (actually it’s a quartered already tiny tablet) where the micro instruction/advice sheet is impossible to read and even the hospital pharmacist couldn’t read it either. She advised me to look on-line
If you had more than a couple of things in your trolley I think you would pay more than 50p more in Sainsbury or Tesco than in Aldi. Both stores are advertising Aldi price matches but it is only on a few items.
But it can become ridiculous. I always use the self scan at Tesco, so I don’t know if they still do this. At the till they would always ask if you needed help with your packing. Even if you went through with only one item, they would still ask. I think that is a thoughtless policy, it must make the checkout staff feel absolutely stupid sometimes.
Yes, especially when they have to ask you for ID because you are buying a vegetable knife, and you have been peeling potatoes longer than they have been alive!
The only thing that makes me feel old is that the middle aged women working at the supermarkets chat to me like an old friend because I remember them starting as a nervous 15 or 16 year old straight out of school.
Chance would be a fine thing. I have never been asked this which is a relief because the whole point of being at that till is so that you can avoid direct personal interaction. As well as having the time to pack things without being annoyed by the next shopper waiting.
Perhaps they have been told to hurry shoppers along by being “helpful” to reduce queues?
this is the future of shopping. There are shops converting to scan tech with no staff. Not sure but it may also be linked to smartphones. I guess it will just be cheaper to shop there.
same here LD, I find no need for a smartphone I can speak, I can text and take photos on my little Alcatel and I do not have to walk around like a zombie staring at it all the time.
