Supermarket staff - engaging with the customer?

HildaW we did n't in those days whereas now a 10 year old would be more clued up than we were then.

I had a similar experience HildaW. I too worked in a chemist in a Saturday morning and a man whispered to me "Packet of 3, please love' . 'Three what?' I replied. This went on for a few agonising seconds whilst I hunted around for what looked like 3 of something until in desperation the poor man asked for the manager. He of course knew and when the man left explained kindly what they were! I was 16 at the time. I think 16 year olds today are rather more savvy wouldn't you say?

I was suffering from severe anxiety at the time due to A level stress and the doctor advised my parents it would help me to do something like a Saturday job to help with the stress!!!

Oh goldengirl....glad it was just not me then. Yes we were too sheltered in a way. My father was a throw back to a Victorian age...in as much as he believed that if you did not talk about anything it did not exist. He used to huff and puff when Jon Wayne kissed a girl on the Saturday night cowboy films....even turning the off if he felt particularly offended.
This meant that as a 16 year old I was quite vulnerable, thankfully the other girls at Boots filled in a few gaps without making me feel too stupid, but woe betide me if I had let him know what they taught me. The daft thing was that learning a few 'home truths' kept me safe....it did not corrupt me.

phoenix you are hilarious. In my small town, I have one market that recognizes me after 25 years with a quick greeting, and the other does not. I don't like that market.

Many years ago when I was much younger and less confident in chatting with people, but in a "customer facing" role (as it is called now), I was doing professional and efficient (having come from a larger branch) but the manager felt that we should be being more customer-friendly as it was a small community branch.

I was serving a friendly local man and had to call up his record on the database - I noticed his family also on the database and in an effort to be chatty remarked that his daughter had an interesting name.

It turned out that his did not like the name, his wife had chosen it, it was still evidently a bone of contention between them so he proceeded to launch into a loud rant about this for a very long time while I looked embarrassed. I went back to being professional and efficient for some time after this!

Boy did I need a laugh today. Phoenix you have done the trick I have had checkout operators (or whatever they are called these days) ask me, when buying alcohol, 'are you sure you are old enough to buy this ha ha ha'.
Very bloody funny.

I have learnt which assistants are too chatty in my local Asda and would rather stand in line than use their till even if they have no customers.

I suppose it is preferable to the miserable girl who 'served' me in another supermarket this week. She was very glamorous, but if she'd smiled I think her face would have cracked ! I got the impression she thought she was too good for the job.

Pheonix Thank you for making me laugh yet again!
Your observations on life are wonderful.

^Pheonix Thank you for making me laugh yet again!
Your observations on life are wonderful.^

Indeed. Maybe Phoenix would consider starting a thread on her observations and give us all a weekly (at least ) lift!

You're all mad very kind!

I still haven't completely given up on the idea of a blog, but it comes down to time in the end. (Added to the fact that I am a techno-numpty, if anyone can point me in the direction of "The Idiots Guide To Setting Up A Blog", preferably with pictures, it would be appreciated)

Perhaps you might like to re-cycle some of the old stuff in the interim? It'll no doubt be in the GN cupboard under the stairs where you bung all the stuff you don't know what else to do with archive somewhere, along with the anti macassers and the "50 ways to customise your zimmer frame" leaflets, complete with free cut out transfers.

[Grin]

I read your post phoenix and it reminded me that when I have purchased things in M&S lately, the staff often comment with "what a lovely colour" the garment is, or if more often than not it's marked down it's common to hear "oooh that's a bargain". I'm absolutely sure they are told to say something favourable to the customer.

Anyone remember Caroline Aherne as a cashier in the "Fast Show" announcing every item in a loud voice, particularly when for example it was something like haemarrhoid cream!

That's better!

Phoenix, please issue a warning that it will be necessary to use the loo before reading one of your posts.

As she zapped the bar codes of 24 cans of cat food, the check-out assistant at the supermarket asked me, "Have you got a cat?". To which I naturally replied, "No".

absent

Hilda, your "naïve Saturday girl" post rang a bell with me because when I was one myself, I had never heard of the word "contraceptive" so when a man came in and asked for them, I shouted up to the pharmacist in his screened off section at the end of the counter "Where are the contraceptives?" He said "In the bottom drawer" so I bent down to get them and when I stood up, the counter was deserted. As I STILL didn't know what they were, I was surprised. The pharmacist then took me to one side and gave me a little chat.

What innocent times those were. Even though it was the 60s, they hadn't reached the small market town where I grew up.

Check out in M&S today, the woman was way past retirement age and spending an age on scanning each item and also commenting on many of the items. The queue built up and we were all muttering, when she reached us she thanked us for waiting and DH told her what he thought of M&S and how it had taken us five times as long to get through the check out as it did to shop, she actually thanked us for the comment Service was worse than Sainsbury's and that is saying something.

Yes, it seems to be part of the M&S training too. The assistant always comments on clothes I buy, as if she's never seen the item before and I was really clever to find such a stylish garment! Once you realise that it's part of the training it takes away from the conversation. It's so insincere.

Well, I'm [shocked] and more than a bit

Re the GN newsletter, I suppose it must have been the GN equivalent of what might be called a "slow news week", however and thanks!

Oh heck, yet again I've buggered up me emoticons!

Note to self- it's not [shocked] ......

Hold the phone....was at the new Waitrose today....see my previous ramble about the over garrulous and rather inefficient staff.....and was served by a delightful young lady who was cheerfully polite, efficient and conversationally to the point....oh and of Eastern European extraction!

phoenix
The best way to customise your Zimmer, is the same way I deck my luggie!
Fairy lights, tinsel and streamers! I shall do so for my 70th birthday on board the QE in December

I would expect no less Galen no less indeed!

Or as Mr P might put it (and often has, usually in an admonishment way)

"Standards, darling, standards"

And he not even wearing a smoking jacket OR a cravat when saying it!

At least now I know I'm not going mad, after various staff engaging me in conversation I was beginning to think I was the best bargain-hunter they had ever come across, wondering how come none of them apparently had no idea what stock they carried as they all seemed so excited when it appeared on their conveyor belts, and all of them seemed to be permanently hungry and drooling over my food purchases.

I wondered what was going on. Is it a backlash against the self-checkout tills, I wonder.