Guelder Rose

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!

Guelder Rose

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?

NC Penguin

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

licon

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!

AdobePinon

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.

Guelder Rose

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.

Guelder Rose

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!

AdobePinon

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....

Guelder Rose

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?

Bob

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...

AdobePinon

...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....

Guelder Rose

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?

Bob

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

Guelder Rose

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!

Guelder Rose

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!