To expect shop staff to be trained NOT to use a certain phrase?

In our Waitrose the staff are very helpful and even the security man goes off to find the right departmental assistant for us.
We use the gun blipper at weekends because we're too busy to pass tbrough the long queues at the tills. The silly thing is they've now combined the quick pay tills with self check, so today I had to wait ages while a customer scanned everything.

Thanks, Nina. Curiouser and curiouser.....

Sorry, bikergran, hadn't read all the posts . You are exactly right. Can't blame the till staff.

Please bear in mind that it may be the policy of the supermarket that till staff chat to customers. It can be forced on them, some do it with more ease than others and more or less appropriately according to their personality.

Personally I'd rather pack my bags in peace and sometimes say something like 'I hope you won't think me rude but I need to concentrate' usually the staff member quietens down and often looks relieved. Ive been known to feed back my irritations about personal questions to central management, you never know if enough of us do it they may listen.

"It's not my department" just means, 'It's not my responsibility," imo, phoenix. It was silly of that fishmonger not to just point you to someone who could help you since that's what you asked. But the other staff member did fine, imo, by thanking you and saying she would refer the matter to the manager.

I don't mind staff being "friendly and chatty." But I do mind when one of them gets into long conversations at the till while other customers and I are waiting. If a talkative customer starts it, that's not the staff member's fault, of course. But we have one till lady who starts these lengthy conversations herself. Grrr!!! Some folks love her for it, but most of us shoppers avoid her.

Eloethan to that one I always reply 'Well, you won't be able to say that in future!'

Another one that annoys me is "No one else has complained about it".

I got stuck behind one of those garrulous old ladies at the till yesterday - and I was running late so was not amused. She had paid her bill but made little effort to pack her stuff away and as she had a shopping trolley the assistant couldn't help her. She just stood there chatting away with her change in her hand and her purse in the other oblivious to the queue building up behind her.

The young woman on the till was obviously embarrassed but doing her best not to look uncomfortable or bored. I had to try very hard to remember that this old person probably lived alone and had no one to talk to at home.

A blast from the past!

www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/a1210526-Supermarket-staff-engaging-with-the-customer

The "doing anything nice ...?' question bugs me too. Not quite as much as the cold callers on the phone who ask me if I am having a nice day, though!

Thanks, bikergran, for given us a view from 'the other side'. I have shopped in our local Co-op for many years and the staff have always been friendly and chatty, but it's relatively recently that they have started asking questions like 'Doing anything nice for the rest of the day/weekend/'. I feel it's a bit impertinent or even nosy and would rather they just helped with the packing. I always place my bag in an open position so they can put the scanned items straight in, but they don't get the hint!

It is for me Blinko the word 'never' in your post is in italics

Nope, the italics thing isn't working.... GN please note.

Ah, on the topic of other organizations and their response to issues raised by 'customers' (to use the phrase widely), my pet gripe is the BBC. On their Newswatch programme hosted by Samira Ahmed, the Beeb are never wrong. Ms Ahmed frequently grills directors and/or producers and they have always thought everything through, taken a balanced view, weighed up all the issues, and their judgement is invariably spot on...in their own opinion. Grr!

Perhaps I've been lucky in supermarkets but if I smile and say hallo it seems OK from then on. However dealing with Government or council departments is another issue altogether - it RARELY seems to be a problem of their own making and RARELY do they take responsibility - and I admit to being fed up being passed from pillar to post however polite they are.

bikergran I absolutely endorse what you're saying after things told me by my DD from working behind the till; she also had a couple of regular customers who would engage inlengthy (sometimes embarrassing) conversations, but was expected to be patient with these people, who were often elderly.

Can I just say as (a person who works on the checkout at a well know supermarket) When we had our induction it was drilled into us and still is..to engage in polite conversation with the customers(we have! to be seen and heard to be doing this as we are monitored) We also have ! to ask " would you like any bags and would you like help packing) obviously if we see our customer has bags, we have no need to ask, but we must ask do they want help packing. We try to keep the conversation light and friendly, and I myself tend to let the customer chat away and not to ask tooooo many questions otherwise one can get into a deep conversation and we must try and end our conversation once the customer has paid and been given their receipt. As by that time we need to be focusing on our next customer. Who could be drumming their fingers on the belt/tutting/huffing n puffing whilst I am having a little chat to the man who has told me he couldn't find certain things as his wife used to come and she has just passed away! and has tears in his eyes, same goes for the ladies or anyone that has had a bereavement or bad news they just want to talk to someone.It could be it is the first time they have stepped out their home to do some much needed shopping.
As for the customer,many a time I have customers come through chatting on their mobiles not even making eye contact /hello/thanks and pointing at the bags (meaning give me a bag) customers throwing their bags at you and saying "pack" thankfully the latter customers are few and far between..but it has certainly been an eye opening for me! I never underestimate checkout/till operators .Of course you do get the customers who just don't want to talk and you pick up the vibes and get them through the checkout as efficient as possible.

Jane

I use two different supermarkets on a weekly basis in both I know which cashiers to avoid. The miserable old bloke that can't crack a smile, the girl that throws the goods down the conveyor and the 2 that are far to chatty "So, what are you doing for the rest of the day ?"
I just thought I'd go run naked through the park, what do you think of that idea ? ?

I had to really kick ass with Ikea earlier in the year. This was my kick up the backside to them .

Please will you pass my comments here onto your Swedish head office.
I received your reply about the problems with the Ikea Lycksele sofa bed. I am not at all happy about the response.

I have looked into this for you and unfortunately the hinges are not sold separately for us to be able to replace these for you.

(Me )
This is nonsense! Someone, somewhere in the world, is producing these particular hinges for the Lycksele sofa bed. Then someone else is picking these hinges out of a bag and fitting them onto the frame, or putting them in a plastic bag for the owner to assemble.
You are buying from them, you must surely be having some contact with the other companies that supply components to you.

Ikea is a major international company. You are able to transport your products all over the world making good profits, but then you seem not to be bothered to pursue an issue about providing essential maintenance items.

If I cannot get these parts the whole bed frame is rendered completely useless. Then it would need to be dumped for recycling and that would be dreadful waste of resources . As it is the hinges in question are an extremely vulnerable part of the whole construction.

It appears to me that your company have never considered the issue of these broken hinges.
Just to reply " I have looked into this for you and unfortunately the hinges are not sold separately for us to be able to replace these for you." is not acceptable.

This sounds to like a "no can be bothered attitude." Perhaps someone should think about saying "I will try and find out more about the product and see what can be done."

There must be someone in your company who knows, or can find out, or can be set the task, of getting these hinges provided as spares.

This worked PDQ
(I am hoping the sofa bed will. )

In LA once I buying shoes for my son. I had a nice assistant in the shop's uniform. All went well until I asked about US shoe sizes as compared to UK ones. He then just told me that he didn't work there and swiftly disappeared behind the staff only door. He could have just said he didn't know!!

I've just returned from the UK, and did some shopping whilst there. I encountered an array of customer service. Brisk, chatty, bored, slow, efficient, kind, monosyllabic, smiley.

I wonder what it would be like if robots took over at the checkouts

I think the idea of 'customer service' needs to be taught. I have lost count of the times I am served at a till where the cashier doesn't even make eye-contact, talks to a colleague / friend whilst in the midst of serving and / or seems irritated if I ask a question. No friendly greeting, no small talk. In my head I expect to be made to feel of value as a customer - after all, surely the aim must be to want you to return? But the element of engagement seems very lacking at times. It is not an age thing - just a lack of inter-personal skills, some of which can come more naturally to some, but a lot can be taught as good business practice.

ffinnochio I rather think you are missing the point that I was trying to make.

I do not want a bow, curtesy or any such thing, quite happy with a smile and efficient service.

Yes, of course they are "just doing a job", to use your own words, but if you are doing a job that is customer facing, then surely it is not too much to expect them to have certain inter personal skills?

I hate it when you ask for something and the member of staff barks "Anything else" at you.