Check out operators?
 

Has anyone noticed that check out operators in the UK all have a nice comfortable work area, i.e. a chair to sit on ... whilst in the US they all have to stand?

My husband says that the employers think it will make the workers lazy if they give them a chair to sit on ... or that the customers will think it is lazy? When he came to the UK he was shocked that all our check out operators were given nice comfy chairs to sit on ... oh, he was also taken aback by the fact that they don't generally pack your shopping for you either!

I tend to think that having to stand all the time could cause problems, i.e. if you have ciculation problems, such as varicose viens, then it is against medical advice to stand for long periods of time. So, if you work for WalMart and have varicose viens, could you sue them for aggravating your condition, or does having varicose viens result in you being unfit for the job?

ps I have no idea what the pc name for a check-out operator is these days, but I'm sure there must be some fancy name for it!

Re: Check out operators?
 

One other thing I notice ... when you get to the check out area in Albertsons, the assistant always says, "Did you find everything okay?" On one occasion I hadn't been able to find something and told her ... she paused for a minute, looked a bit awkward and then mumbled something about having a word with someone about it.

Seems to me that are given a line to recite to every customer, but aren't told what to do if the customer actually has anything to say back?

Re: Check out operators?
 

I get to hear that phrase at my Harris Teeter all the time. It's recited like a parrot and the cashier doesn't exepect a negative response (or any response perhaps).

Truth be told, I sometimes don't find what I'm looking for in the store (mostly because it's in an odd location or it's out of stock) but I always answer that I have found everything OK 'cos I know the cashier can't handle anything but a positive response to the question.





NC Penguin

Re: Check out operators?
 

When I worked for a drugstore we weren't allowed stools or chairs either, because "it meant we didn't look ready to serve the customers". I tried pointing out high stools so we'd be at the same height, but it didn't work. Apparently they didn't see anything wrong with my sitting on the counter at the end of the closing shift (10.30pm and no customers) but a CHAIR?? Good heavens, no!

Re: Check out operators?
 

I think that it is because they are expected to bag your stuff. The quickest way to make them happy is to do your own bagging.

Re: Check out operators?
 

Well, I only asked once and now I know that it causes confusion for the assistant I wouldn't do it again!

Funny thing is ... go to Sainsbury's in the UK and the assistant won't ask you anything, but tell the assistant that you couldn't find something and invariably they will get someone to go and find the product for you while they continue scanning your goods.

The assistants in the UK might not have all the huge smiles and jolly lines, but they seem more able to help, or do something out of norm without getting confused.

:)

Re: Check out operators?
 

Where I live it isn't really possible to pack your own shopping. In WalMart they have those carousel things that are only accessible to the assistant and in Albertson's they have one person to scan the goods and a second person to pack. If everyone packed their own shopping, half the assistants in Albertson's would be out of a job! ;)

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Or they'd actually have enough assistants to check you out in less than 40 minutes. Why they always have three times as many cash registers as cashiers, I'll never know....

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That's interesting, so the employers here think that if you sit down you look as though you aren't ready to serve a customer? How odd! After all, the assistant is stuck behind the very place where they have to serve, either they are there or they aren't ... I really can't see the difference between whether they are sitting or standing. I still wonder how the employers deal with the issue of some employees having a medical condition which could be aggravated by long periods of standing?

Re: Check out operators?
 

It's a pain over here waiting in the queues when the place is busy and someone just waits to get there stuff packed for them, well it pisses me off...I prefer bagging stuff myself anyway, do it quicker and know where the stuff is...I know they mean well, and they do often do a good job, but I always cringe when I get that weirdo, very friendly fella, but he's hopless, spuds on top of the bread and stuff...

And I hate those rehearsed lines...doesn't mean anything because if you couldn't find anything, they don't do anything about it anyway...

Re: Check out operators?
 

...or while you wait for said person to write a check, when you can see they have a perfectly good debit card next to the licence they use for ID....

Re: Check out operators?
 

I was in Stater Bros the other day and was getting irritated by the long queue at the check out. It wasn't that the assistant wasn't doing her job, but she was also expected to answer the telephone whilst serving customers! That one really surprised me, and I felt sorry for the girl at the check out because she was having to handle one telephone call after another .. when I got to the front she was so busy giving a potential customer directions to the store that she was unable to scan my goods at the same time. As soon as she finished that phone call, another telephone rang at a check out that was closed ... she had to run off and answer that call before serving me! She apologised for the wait (which certainly wasn't her fault) ... I felt like having a word with the manager of the store, after all, surely they have office staff somewhere that should handle all incoming calls?

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they get sacked...or have to stack the shelves instead...Right to fire and all that...

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That drives me nuts too ... or the person who has not got one clue how to use the debit card machine and wants a full blown chit chat with the assistant while they work it all out! :mad:

Re: Check out operators?
 

Hmmm, wonder if the application for WalMart includes the question, "Do you have a medical condition that prevents you from standing for long periods of time?"

I have no idea what the employment laws are in the US, but it seems rather unfair to get sacked for not being able to stand at the check out when a chair would solve the problem!

Re: Check out operators?
 

The question that sometimes keeps me awake at night ;) is: what on earth do people do with all those plastic bags? :confused:

I seem to be the only person who brings her own :( :mad:

Re: Check out operators?
 

We do our big food shop on Base, always two trolley's, of course there are packer's but really they piss fart about so slow I end up packing most of it my self, they take it out to the car and pop it in the boot and in exchange you are expected to give a tipp so I feel $2 is enough.

Re: Check out operators?
 

In my case ... they come in very handy for collecting all the doggie deposits in the garden each day!

Saves buying poop collecting bags! :D

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I do try to reuse my bag's, but sometime's the cuboard explode's :eek:

Re: Check out operators?
 

I stood waiting my turn at Pick n save the other day and the couple infront of me were soooo slow it was driving me mad. No packers that day unfortunately. The lady then wrote the slowest check for the shopping while her husband packed. She then proceeded to fill out her entire check book...I was getting really frustrated as by then the assistant started ringing up my goods and putting everything on the rear area, I asked the lady if she could move so that I could get around the back to pack my goods and she looked at me as if I was really rude. She didnt move so I asked again if she could let me pass and she tutted and moved out the way. I then packed my goods at a rate of knots to prove a point. I paid and left while her husband was still packing their stuff.

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Only yesterday my hubby went ape shit to a checkout women who was very rude to him by saying "cant you read" when he was inquireing about a price, well he through more than a few F**k's at her, then she had the cheek to say "have a nice day" his words were "well I was till now" :mad:

Re: Check out operators?
 

Customer Service Representative. That was my official title when I worked at Sainsbury's in the UK. :D And yes we did have the cushy chairs to sit on (can't imagine how they do it here...yikes!) but when I worked there, right before we moved back over here, they had just instigated packing for their customers. What a pain in the royal bum that was!! Most people were so accustomed to packing for themselves that you had to literally pry the shopping out of their hands. Other people were quite defensive/independent whatever and absolutely wanted to do it themselves. I don't blame them, I always preferred to do it myself as well. It took some getting used to when we moved over here, I wanted to wrestle my groceries out of the check out clerk's hands as well. :D

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depends on the state......but it's not like walmart have a great rep for being good employers anyway...

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Errr...I use them as bin bags mostly...but did wish they would have those 10p bags for life thingy like they had at tesco's and sainsburys...you do get a discount of 5c if you bring your own cotton bags though...

Re: Check out operators?
 

I'd love to reuse the grocery store bags but they're so thin that some of them don't make it home with a tear in them and I've lost very small items of shopping that way.

I do recycle my carrier bags and there's bins at the entrance of grocery stores where you can drop them off.

I do like the idea of Waitrose, back in the UK, where you pay 15p (?) for a very strong grocery store bag, and it's replaced when it wears out free of charge.




NC Penguin

Re: Check out operators?
 

Sainsbury's (and maybe ASDA) is like that as well. In fact Sainsbury's would give you 2p a bag back in cash if you brought your own bags. Most people put their refund back into a charity box at the front of the store. A great idea in my opinion.

Re: Check out operators?
 

There seems to be a big difference in the attitude of checkout staff between the UK and the US. My (US) fiancee loves going to the supermarket in England mainly because they have plenty of checkouts and the staff work quickly and are helpful. Here in the US you usually have to wait in line for 15 minutes before being served.

Re: Check out operators?
 

You have to be joking me!! You tip the bag-packers?

I would never tip a person who was doing something that I felt more than happy to do myself for free.

I have to agree that the store checkout staff are not the most customer focused bunch of people... I went into a store (Wegmans) a couple of weeks ago and picked up a four pack of beer (I didn't notice that it was before 8am).

I went up to the counter and I got a dirty look from the lady behind the counter... My purchase disappeared under the counter very quickly and she proceeded to rant at me about how you can't buy alcohol before 8am. When I said that I hadn't seen the sign (I hadn't) she started the whole "can't you read?" speech.

I was f***ing fuming! All it would have taken was for her to simply say "I'm sorry, but you can't buy alcoholic beverages before 8am!".

Wierd thing is that my wife is always going on about how America is sooooo much more into customer service than England.

Re: Check out operators?
 

My husband was the same, when he came to England he said he thought everyone was rude in the shops. This only being because when you enter a store in the UK you don't have 'greeters' and the check out assistants don't have parrot lines to recite to every customer with a huge smile thrown in!

My take on it all is that in the UK if you get good service it's because the assistant actually wants to help you ... in the US they all have lines which give the impression that they want to help you ... but if you actually need help it can result in total confusion, maybe because the training didn't include anything beyond how to smile, etc?

I tend to prefer the UK version where a smile is genuine, rather than the false version dished out here. But then again, when you go into a UK store and the assistant behaves like you are really inconveniencing him/her by buying something you can't help but be annoyed ... they are paid to do a job and if they can't be bothered to do it well they should get the push.

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"Hi there, how are you today?"

Are you supposed to answer this question or not? I always answer with "fine, how are you?" and am usually ignored but on the odd occasion I don't reply they repeat the question until I do answer. Then I'll get a checkout operator who gives me her life story which pisses off the person behind me.

"Thanks, Amanda and have a great day/afternoon/evening". What's all that about, they don't need to say my name, in fact a simple "bye" would be OK.
I then find myself saying "You too" in a cheery voice. If my friends could hear me they'd wet themselves I think.

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This annoys me more than anything. I do some shopping at Safeway (although not exclusively) and my name is printed on register receipt. As it is being handed to me the checkout person will look down at the receipt and say "Have a good day Mrs. X." I'm taken aback, because I surely don't know them, how do they know me. I don't see why its necessary to use proper names. Saying to someone "Have a nice day." or just giving them a smile and thank-you should be enough. But, I suppose for what they charge in grocery stores these days, they ought to be putting on a damn floor show for you at the end. :rolleyes:

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I have visions of Calendar Girls. :scared:

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:p :p :D

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If they don't thank you by name at Sam's club they have to give you a dollar...hmmm...rather they didn't bother, and rather they didn't have the stoodge at the exit check the contents of your trolley against your receipt.

Re: Check out operators?
 

Do they double it if they mispronounce your lastname? :D




NC Penguin

Re: Check out operators?
 

I prefer the term, "Cashier" as it sums it up. But in the US, people like to feel important so you could use Sales Technician, Public Relations Accountant or Scanner Operator. Should make them feel good about turning up to work the next day.

Re: Check out operators?
 

My stepson works on the checkouts at walmart, and says his official title is "associate" lol! After an 8-hour shift he (who is 18 years old and not at all overweight) says his feet are killing him. He also says that they are supposed to give a greeting to each customer like "Did you find everything all right?" or "Is everything going all right today?"

He has had very rude customers swear blind that the jeans they are buying were on sale for $5. He scans them and if there's a discrepancy, he calls the 'redcoat' aka Customer Service Manager, who tells them the real price, and deals with the problem for him, but then they leave and the customer often takes out their frustration on him.

All this for the princely sum of $5.80 an hour :D

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I now have an ambition to be a "Scanner Operative"...makes you sound like Lt Uhura off Star Trek: "Scanners report no signs of intelligent life captain. Thank you scanner operative."

I have actually perfected the stateside shopping experience into a humerous adventure...I use every Britishism and sarcastic irony I can think of to confuse and confound the operatives, all in a Pierce Brosnam/Prince Charles kind of voice. Its a great way to pass the time.

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I know it's terrible isn't it! :mad:

I've seen pregnant women made to stand at Wal- Mart...give the poor cow a chair!! :mad: :mad:

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Black cashiers always pronounce my surname correctly but the white ones have trouble with it and end up calling me by my first name. It's a fairly common english surname so I don't get why they can't pronounce it properly, even teachers and doctors say it wrong. :confused: