Are checkouts that bad? (3 Viewers)

[_muse_]

i wouldnt have a clue... our administration manager left us about 3 weeks ago to go work at steggles (HAHAHAHA i know its funny)... and atm we have no admin manager, so we dont have anyone doing rosters or granting/declining leave.. we also dont know when our retail classes begin again OR whether our 'teacher' has been sacked (we dobbed to in to authority cause shes bad and she smells and shes not a teacher ) so yeah... iano!! im lucky if i even get my contracted hours each week.. this week i only have 4 hours which is tomorrow night

 

[biggles04]

Are they really that bad?

Yes .

 

[biggles04]

It's the customers that can get to you, especially when it's busy as you can't get an inch. And the under-sevens and over-sixties are the WORST.

But the worst thing is the Catch-22. You spend six hours serving people non-stop wanting just two minutes' paece and quiet, but when you get it you're bored 30 seconds later and want something to do.

Agreed.

We have two express registers, both of them are on the service desk with the cigarettes.
I'm a department manager but I also work on registers.
Here's the problem:
I ALWAYS end up on an express lane, usually the only one on an express.
This means:
I have to serve the line, serve the line at the 'kiosk', try and take my phone calls that always come in, all in between keeping myself sane, keeping my scan rate up, keeping my draw from overflowing, doing change runs, and attending to anyone who needs a supervisor's code.
Impossible.

 

[_muse_]

We have two express registers, both of them are on the service desk with the cigarettes.
I'm a department manager but I also work on registers.
Here's the problem:
I ALWAYS end up on an express lane, usually the only one on an express.
This means:
I have to serve the line, serve the line at the 'kiosk', try and take my phone calls that always come in, all in between keeping myself sane, keeping my scan rate up, keeping my draw from overflowing, doing change runs, and attending to anyone who needs a supervisor's code.
Impossible.

....and im sure u do it very well biggles

 

[biggles04]

....and im sure u do it very well biggles

Not at all....

 

[_muse_]

I get stuck on the one register everyone hates because they don't want me there. It's the one register that MUST have someone on it at all times with NO exceptions, which is bad because I'm one of the few who can actually do invoicing and orders, all the newer models of juniors suck at it.

Plus we have these two car-shaped novelty trolleys that kids sit in and roll the steering wheels loudly while screaming at the top of their lungs when ever they think it's getting too quiet in between asking their parents "can I have can I have?"

The over-sixities are all technophobiacs, they hate EFTPOS and the conveyor belts and consequently can't follow instructions on the EFTPOS screeen and wait until the belt stops holding everyone up. They also think they know how to do my job better than me and so tell me what I should put in each bag. It got so bad at one stage the other day that I just stopped and asked the customer to let me handle it because I've been there 2 1/2 years and should know what I'm doing by now.

The supervisors don't want me there ebcause I'm a bloke and they insist it's a female-orientated job, which is the biggest load of cr@p I've ever heard, there isn't a single supermarket in town that doesn't employ guys on their registers.

I'm thinking of giving it up.

aww dont give up!! just yell at them... (supervisers not customers ) i yelled at my superviser before she left cause i knew she hated me cause when i brought in my medical certificate she didnt believe what was written on it and questioned me about it.. forcing me to get really angry and then remove my bandages and prove to her that i had been in surgery a few days before (stupid bitch)... then she decided that when the leave ran out she wouldnt give me any shifts.. even though i was rostered on for a few days, she rang up and said 'theres no point u coming in if you have such a poor sore foot' stupid sarcastic bitch... i went off my head.. saying how she couldnt treat me like this and that i had every right to bring in my certificate and not be questioned.. after that.. she treated me good even though shes left now... all the supervisers know how mean i can get when they dont treat people right...
seriously, dont give up, if they treat you differently to other staff members because they 'dont want you there' then id have a word to ur union delegate or if that wont work, have a quiet work in the supervisers ear about how u dont like how their treating you..

and as for being a female-orientated job? thats bullshit.. there are more guys working on registers at my store then there are us girls.. the guys are much more highly respected on the registers than we are and are constantly praised by customers.. so i definetly dont see how it could be female-orientated.. sure maybe it was in the 1980's but this is 2005 for christ sake!!


haha and technology-illiterate oldies make me laugh 'its not working, why isnt it working?, what? i just pressed that button!!' hahaha they crack me up

*cough* /end rant

 

[biggles04]

It pisses me off how customers think they can just scan their card without saying "it's on my card." Am I a fucking mind reader? Give me time to press the fucking eftpos button
Then they get pissed off because they didn't wait for me to press the button and so they have to scan it again.

The other day I had a lady shaking her head at me and I tell you, fuck was i in a bad mood that day. I couldn't give a fuck what anyone heard, I turned and said so fucking loudly that the other end of the supermarket could hear, in the most sarcastic tone I have ever used
"WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC AFTER, MA'AM."...
YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH, FUCK YOUR FUCKING SELF..grgrgrgrgrRRRRRRRRRRGR

FUCKING HELL
FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK
FUCK.
I'M FINISHING THIS POST LATER, FUCKING CUSTOMERS HAVE PISSED ME OFF NOW THE STUPID FUCKING FUCKS




...anyway as I was saying, I hate that. I also hate it when customers reach over into MY OWN PERSONAL SPACE to scan their flybuys card. It is not their scanner, so it pisses me off and ends up in me being rude to them.

 

[cro_angel]

lol @ biggles
hmm some of my customer annoyances..
* yes the ones that put their card in before i say 'enter ur card'
* the ones who bring like one green bag and have things from the laundry section.. perishables and fresh food sections (so you end up using like 3 plastic bags)
* customers who decide to rearrange everything in the bags right in front of me (when im often complimented on actually being able to pack things right)
* HOME DELIVERIES especially when people like come with their retirement villages and u do like 5 in a row
* the same people being able to bludge and go on express every single time they work
* supervisors who just wander off or decide to have a conversation when you need help (then i cbf waiting and give it to the customer for free)

there are some good things about checkouts though..
* usually the bulk of workers are on checkouts in a store.. make lots of friends and can always find someone to swap a shift with
* some customers are nice

but yeh for me location is the main thing that keeps me there.. driving 2 mins to work.. my shifts can always be adjusted to whatevers going on in my life and the pay is alrite.. guess it depends on the person really
and its always good to have it on your resume... because so many jobs need to deal with other people and if you have had experience in customer service its good

 

[acmilan]

Checkouts are not bad, whats bad and annoying is when checkout supervisors bother us at the IT department because there is a problem with the checkout

 

[biggles04]

I hate it when they can't use EFTPOS, as the following excerpts proves:

Them: Can I put that on my card?
Me: Would you like any cash out? But I have to warn you, I don't have much in my draw.
Them: I want $400.
Me: I'm sorry, I don't have that much money in my draw. I can do $100, maybe $150, but I can't do any more.
Them: Can you get some more? (pointing to Customer Service Desk)
Me: I'm afraid I can't as I've already have to pay them back $500 so I'm not allowed to borrow any more.
Them: But I want $400, can't you get it from somewhere else?
Me: I'm afraid there's nowhere else I can get it from (customer storms off without buying anything)

Them: Can I put that on my card?
Me: Would you like any cash out?
Them: Can I get $100 please?
Me: If you'd just like to enter your card and select you account ... sorry, we don't give cash out on credit (how the hell am I supposed to automatically know they havea credit card? Am I telepathic and I don't know it?)

Them: Can I use EFTPOS?
Me: Would you like any cash out?
Them: Er, no thanks.
Me: OK, just a second please while I set this up (customer enters card and wonders why it doesn't work) ... I'm sorry, could you just give me a second? (they continue to ignore me)
Them: Why isn't it working? It says it's 'Ready'.
Me: That's because it's on, but I haven't finalised the transaction yet ... OK, I'll just get you to put your card in ... no, wait, it goes in the other way (I demonstrate how to put it in correctly and they ignore me) ... sorry, you just have to turn your card over like that. OK, can you just select your account (customer tries to enter PIN)
Them: Why isn't it working this time?
Me: You have to select your accout first - cheque, savings or credit? (they ignore me and try to put in PIN number again)
Them: It's still not working (I take machine to do it myself)
Me: OK, what account was it? Savings? Right now I'll just need you to enter yyour PIN number (they ignore me, so I speak up) Can you please put your PIN number in?
Them: I've already done that.
Me: Sorry, I just need you to put it in again because you did it before you selected yor account.
Them: I've already put it in twice, I'm not going to do it again. Why do you need me to do it again? Are you trying to find out my PIN number so you can steal my money you good-for-nothing high school drop-out?!
Me: Actually, I finished Year 12 last year. I'm not trying to rob you, I'm just trying to serve you as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Them: Well, I'm going to complain because you're hardly efficient.
Me: Can you please put your PIN number in and then maybe you won't have to (they finally do it) ... OK ... any time now ... any time ... what do you mean "transaction timed out"?! OK, back to square one. Can you please enter your card?
Them: What?
Me: Sorry, our line's gone down, it happens whenever a transaction takes too long.
Them: Well, you've got no-one to blame but yourself for that.
Me: How about I just suspend it and send you around to someone who can help you (and has a bit more patience)?

All of those were real, I kid you not, and all were with people aged over 60.

omg, they remind me of exactly my experiences.

 

[_muse_]

My supervisors are all hopeless, all the good ones are going to uni so they need replacements and so picked out a set of juniors whn there were a lot of way better cashiers out there. One girl is about thirteen and hadn't even finished off induction when she became a full supervisor because she's the head supervisor's daughter. She's totally unreliable and her word is basically law because she's the only one her mother listens to, so all the new batch are absically her friends. There's a stong anti-Amber (the 13-year-old) leage going on led by my brother and I but we aren't egtting anywhere because the previous leader was fired when she complained about the girl. So we can't win, but I think that if I jump ship I'll take a lot of people with me.

WHAT?! thirteen? and a superviser?? thats just bloody wrong.. and i see u cant complain cause her mothers there.. thats crap....

 

[_muse_]

i had one person tell me they weren't going to enter their pin. they told me several times that they "never disclose their pin" (obviously not even to the EFTPOS machine, lol).

they proceeded to inform me that they always sign for things on their EFTPOS card. Funny, I always thought it was a PIN number for cheque/savings and signature for credit cards.

of course, they still expected me to process the transaction without them entering their pin number

i had one guy who was disabled (he came through with a scooter thingy and it was clear he couldnt use his hands), hes come through a few times before, paid both cash and card and both times he has come through me i have had to get his money and/or card out of his wallet for him, he has given me full permission to do so but i was just wondering whether this is allowed or not? because other register users in my store do it but i feel wrong whenever i do it...

 

[biggles04]

i had one guy who was disabled (he came through with a scooter thingy and it was clear he couldnt use his hands), hes come through a few times before, paid both cash and card and both times he has come through me i have had to get his money and/or card out of his wallet for him, he has given me full permission to do so but i was just wondering whether this is allowed or not? because other register users in my store do it but i feel wrong whenever i do it...

I've been asked to do that before too, and I feel exactly the same way.

 

[soha]

LIKES
pay
shifts
nice customers
friends on chekouts
scanning can be fun
handling money can be fun
sumtimes its dead quite and u do jack shit



DISLIKES
carrying big thinsg like coke slabs
chroline buckets..etc..
bitchy customers
bludgy skanky co-workers
bitchy supervisors
when its busy
sore feet and back
can get boring doing the same thing over and over

 

[biggles04]

Fuck, she's thirteen, she's gonna go home and cry.

But seriously, I thought you worked for ColesMyer?
How can she be a supervisor at 13 at a ColesMyer brand?!
What shit is this? Give me your store's phone number, I'll make a personal complaint if you like.

 

[biggles04]

I'm not ColesMyer. I'm at a smaller indepentend chain of West Australian-based supermarkets with a connection to New Zealand called Acton.

Action Supermarkets?

Well you should post a new thread "please pretend to be a customer and complain about this girl"
... seirously!

 

[_muse_]

awww man thats like the best idea ever haha... ull have to post and tell us all what happens k??


anyway i thought u had to be 18 to be a superviser? cause ur dealing with the cash drawer and everything like that? but i could be mistaken...

 

[_muse_]

yeah SDA have never been very fast getting back to our complaints either... but there hasnt been anything as bad as what you have just mentioned then.. thats shocking!! is the manager aware of all these happenings??

 

[biggles04]

"Screw the Law" is our motto - every day we violate about seven different ciggarette laws because we sell them at all registers as opposed to one, we have underage operators selling them and I'm sure we've sld the m to under-18s to make money; four alcohol laws because staff under-18 are allowed in (but we don't sell), and I've seen underage people walk out with booze; twelve different OH&S laws because we don't use Wet Floor signs; and about three different sanitation laws becuase sometimes things aren't cleaned properly and I've seen gus in Deli without gloves. I've called the SDA and the store's Head Office to find out more and report it but they ahven't gotten back to me.

Okay, that's a fuckload of problems in your store...

And I thought our store was bad...at least we follow safety precautions, we just don't do any sales, the competition in this town is huge. Especially because we have to compete with a 'Coles New World' which is thrice the size of our store.

One thing I did notice in your post, however, is

we have underage operators selling them

There's actually no law for selling cigarettes. You can be any age to sell them. However, baring in mind that many companies have a policy that says they only want people over whatever nominated age to sell them. Our store doesn't. Many stores don't.

 

[Benovista]

Gee im kind of rethinking things now lol. I dunno, the money thing scares me abit cause Im not the best at maths but I need more experience with cash handling and customer service.
Im really looking at this mainly to build a better resume and experience/confidence. Im 18 doing tafe fulltime so I dont see this as a long term thing, Just a way to earn some money.

How many shifts do you normally get a week (hours wise?)