Being a moany cow!

The media have called it the "Ukipization" of the Tory party

oh dear, how did that appear on this thread?
I was pasting it on another thread.
Please ignore

All the others are lovely. I can only imagine that she's new and hasn't picked up on the ethos of the place.

The staff in our Aldi are so quick it's impossible to pack everything away. I just throw it all in the trolley and pack it afterwards.

Dare I say 'these days' some shops think it is adequate for staff to know how the till works and little else. People skills are important too.
At my local supermarket some of the assistants ask, 'are you all right?' rather than specifically, 'do you need help with packing?' which is more to the point. If they don't offer I always ask for help otherwise I'd end up in your predicament Jane10 which gets you flustered.

Its a weird one isn't it? I think Aldi staff are under pressure to get the stuff through. What you gain in value , you lose in nice customer service. Waitrose food is lovely but the staff are indifferent.

Marks and Spencer are ok but should do away with their hideous clothing.

Putting the boot on the other foot - I always long for check out staff to sit with their hands in their laps if customers are carrying on a mobile conversation saying ‘Please do finish’ and sit and wait.

I think that in Aldi and Lidl checkout staff have to scan x amount of goods per hour and the number is quite high! Which is probably why the whizz things through so quickly. Having said that I prefer moving away from the checkout to pack my bags in my own time on the packing shelf. I’ve always found that in both stores the staff are always polite and friendly whilst high-speed scanning.
In Tesco these days I scan and bag as I shop which saves no end of check out hassle.

It wasn't Aldi or Lidl.

My ds is a senior district manager with one of the big chains and is responsibile for 22 stores. The staff are trained to not say how much is due until the customer is fully packed. Also if there is still some packing to be done they should help the customer. If he saw otherwise the store manager would be pulled about it. There is a chain of command and a store manager is very much held to account for the standards in their particular store.

In a different store chain I have been known to say to the rude till operator..... "" If it is too much trouble for you to be pleasant and civil while serving me, I suggest you go get the Manager and he/she can complete my transaction. ""

I have done this several times and their back soon straightens up

I also have checked a name badge and mentioned to the team leader what an asset a particular staff member is.

Yes that's important too coolgran I always try to pass on to management if a member of a staff has been particularly helpful, works both ways.

You are notBU . I hope next time you can avoid being served by this rude checkout person.

The public are quite impatient too and when there's a hold up to get something changed or priced, the queue can get restless, at least in our local Lidl.

I have heard complaints about Tesco but I must say the staff at our local one are (mostly) nice, helpful and very chatty.

I'm lucky too with all our local supermarkets, where the staff are, with the very rare exception, helpful and really friendly, even when they have to deal with awkward customers. You do remember those exceptions though. The one loudly insisting I used the self-service when I really didn't want to, the other who commented on some of the items I'd bought. When I opened my mouth to answer, I realised she was talking across me and discussing my shopping with her colleague at the next till, as if I wasn't there.... Oh, and I still remember years ago an assistant taking against the floor polish I'd bought and telling me I must have more money than sense - that went down well!

I can honestly say that I have never had any problems with checkout staff in any store. Like all people some are very outgoing and friendly, some are quieter, but all have been polite and kind in my experience. They also seem to appreciate it if I make any comments, for example about how busy it seems or ask questions, such as how much longer their shift is.
* jacq10* My young grand daughters aged 9 and 6 have been fund raising through bag packing to help pay for some their Gymnastics Club members to go to the World Championships in the USA. I am amazed at how generous some people are even if they don't want their bags packed. I have always donated to others but I now realise how difficult (and boring) it is for these young people to do this job and may well be more generous in the future!

It depends what sort of mood I'm in as to how I'd react under such circumstances.

Normally, I might say, 'Are you having a bad day love?' or ask a humorous question, 'On piece work are we ?' (as I wrote that it occurred to me that today's girls would have no idea what piece work is!)

But if I too have had a very bad day, I'd react exactly as M0nica would.

I usually try to allow for others who are in pain, or unhappy, bereaved or under stress as I don't want to add to their misery.

We are very lucky here in Australia in that the staff scan and then pack your goods for you. All you need to do is pick up the bags and put them in your trolley. Whenever I come back to the UK I find it really hard to empty the trolley and then scoot to the other end and start packing. My stuff is usually piling up at the other end before I have got everything out of the trolley! The only place they don't pack is Aldi but the trolley is put right next to the checkout and you are expected to load everything back in the trolley and then take the trolley over to the packing table to pack up your stuff. I think they frown on anyone trying to pack as they goods come through as it slows up the queue,
We lived in Dubai for a while and I was totally spoiled as there is someone who takes your stuff out of the trolley and puts it on the conveyor belt and someone at the other end who packs it up and then carries it out to your car! I nearly had a nervous breakdown when we went back to England and was trying to do the shopping with a toddler in tow in the basket!

The staff in our local independent supermarket are all very helpful and chatty and seem to know their regular customers quite well. I think it’s one reason a lot of people shop there. The manager doesn’t seem concerned - he’s just as bad! In a hurry - go to Tesco up the road, they’re much speedier!

Yes but surely one puts one's personal feelings aside at work Bradfordlass , maybe that's an old fashioned view now.

Slightly different, but my car stopped at a T junction and I couldn't get it started. The man behind me started to hoot constantly which made me even more flustered. In the end I got out of my car and tapped on his wndow. When he opened it I said "How about you try to get my car started and I'll sit in your car and hoot at you!". He stopped hooting!!

Brilliant reaction*Fugazi*. In similar circumstances I was petrified as the angry motorist came right up and screamed obscenities at me.
I my passenger managed to get his number and phoned the police and he was visited by them. A course on anger management at least was called for.

You were right. My pet hate is when the checkout people are taking to each other whilst serving me. Oh and I do let them know. At my local Aldi the staff are fab. I have been known to say Ready Steady GO when it's my turn in the packing race. ?

I find it really annoying that Lidl staff wear headsets and carry on a conversation with someone we can't see. Many times i have responded, thinking they're talking to me. I can't understand why Lidl allow this.

Perhaps she was on some sort of speed test that day or she had something terrible happen to her or she had to meet some speed criteria? Who knows I don’t understand why people need to come on here and re-live trivial things and hold onto those emotions. It’s gone now. It’s not doing you any good holding onto those negative emotions and then coming on here and looking for validation for said feelings. Now you will feel vindicated and are still re -living that experience but this time not as the victim but now as the victor. Was it really worth it . Same with the AIBU question. If at our age we don’t know, then when. Don’t understand how people need other people to answer that question. It’s giving up your own power in your own decision making to a group of people who will have different views.

No you weren't. Yes we have lovely Aldi staff but a lady in Lidl once told me that they have to get through a certain number of customers per hour.

Some of our Aldi have a sign can't remember what it actually says but it is asking you to basically put the goods in your trolley and pack in the packing area.

I don't think you were. This seems to be more of a problem than it used to be and I wonder if they are timed per customer and that it is one of the problems with computers.
I was in Sainsburys recently and the person ahead of me was very frail and so was taking time. The cashier started pushing my stuff through before I could get in front of it and so there was already a backlog but she kept working at pace neck speed. She said the amount and I carried on packing for a few seconds as otherwise I would be even more rushed and she repeated it three times. It was obvious that I was struggling to keep up and I can't pretend that I look young any more. I was very cross. I didn't say anything but did do the survey on the till receipt and wrote a comment about it. I don't know if they get told about them or not.