Being a moany cow!

The way around it if you dont like it is to use self check out, then you can go at whatever rate you like.

All supermarkets have scan rates their check out staff have to stay within. And its monitored.

Some have deliberatley slow rates others have deliberately high ones.

The checkout person just didnt want a warning/to get fired. Customers cant change the scan rate the checkout person has to stay within.

How so? If people are poor and under pressure and working for minimum wage they may be less customer focussed than people doing it to add to a pension for example?

Not usually yours Lily65!

But that one was a classic

i await news of ny other ridiculous posts.

I won't shop at Lidl's any more. I have a bad back so shopping is already painful but to have to put it all in the trolley, get it out to put it on to the checkout, then to put it back into the trolley so I can get it out to repack it into bags is just too much. I tried to pack the shopping straight into bags but the shop assistant told me off and directed me to the packing area. I explained my problem but she was adamant I had to pack, "Over there!" That was the last time I shopped there. Aldi's are much more friendly.

I am always reminded of a brilliant scene from Only Fools and Horses, where Del Boy retorts to a surly assistant ‘ you should ask for a refund’. When she asks what he’s on about he replies ‘From the charm school’. One day I’ll say it!

Sorry but what exactly do you mean by" Another ridiculous post?"

Where are the others?

It seems obvious that people struggling to survive might be slightly less chatty than somebody doing a few hours to get out of the house and take advantage of the staff shop?

Yes

Of course, it could be different where you live ……. in which case I apologise.
However, I have lived in several places, go to supermarkets in several locations - and worked in a supermarket - and never realised that the staff fit into those particular categories.
With very few exceptions, I have always found them to be pleasant and friendly.

is that to me please?

Another ridiculous post.

Well I guess it depend where said store is, if it's full of middle class older ladies doing a few hours or Sam and Ned adding to their spending money, the staff will be pleasant. If it's some poor sod on zero hours who has just wrestled 3 kids into school, possibly on a short fuse.

Sainsburys expect the checkout person to maintain a speed of seventeen items a minute and they're questioned if it falls below that more than a couple of times.

Annaram1 That person was not a Librarian. she was merely a counter assistant without the qualifications of a proper Librarian

Then why was she doing a Librarian's job? YOU certainly have the typical attitude of the old fashioned Librarian, demanding respect while expecting someone else to do all the actual work.
This is probably to make up for the fact that the Great British Public (including the person who triggered your response) simply do not appreciate the high intellectual standing of a Librarian, and think that if you work in a library you are perforce a Librarian.

And the person behind the desk was in all likelihood a volunteer anyway...

The staff at my local Tesco are lovely. It’s a small store and has a friendly atmosphere and the staff enjoy working there.
We also have a Morrisons, which is a lot bigger and busier , so we don’t get the same friendly service and why do they put staff on the check out with a streaming cold, which I always seem to catch? It doesn’t seem very hygienic.

^ Waitrose food is lovely but the staff are indifferent.^

Is it just us?
The staff in our local Waitrose are lovely - as are those in others we have visited.
In fact, we never seem to meet anyone, anywhere, who has more than about 4 degrees of separation.

My daughter (special needs) always shops at Asda and they g out of their way to help her. Getting her a trolley, helping her select her shopping, packing and giving her a chair to sit in while she waits for her taxi. They even took her home one day when she couldn't get a taxi. Excellent helpful service.

One of the low cost German supermarkets is notorious for the speed at which the checkout staff pass shopping through. There was a joke going around that if you wanted to have a breakdown then go and be served at A..i. You were not unreasonable and if you experience same again continue to complain.

I always find the staff in Iceland lovely. They are usually quite young and are quite happy to chat with you if you want and help you pack your things away. They never rush you to pack and are always most helpful.

Not at all, aside from the rudeness displayed towards you there will be others who would be totally intimidated by that behaviour and maybe not shop there again- well done you

It is a pleasure to shop in my local Wilkinson’s. The staff are always cheerful and helpful. Once I was late for my bus and couldn’t find what I wanted. The assistant ran to the back of the store to get it for me. They are all absolute stars.

No you weren’t being rude Jane10.
There is no excuse, but I do know that a lot of people are rude to supermarket cashiers.
I try to smile, say thank you and ask them about their shift.
I think they appreciate being treated as a human being.
It cuts both ways.

I've found that staff at Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are always polite - asking how you are and if you want any help with your packing, even putting meats/fish into separate bags in case of leakage.

On the other hand, the staff at Aldi and Lidl - although still polite - don't engage in conversation and flash the items over the scanner so quickly that you just can't keep up with them. There isn't even any space where the items can 'sit' while you're trying to load them into a bag/basket/shopping trolley.

I'm no slouch but will not shop in Aldi or Lidl for this very reason, that their staff scan my goods far too quickly leaving them to pile up on tiny little ledges and sometimes falling to the floor.

The Scientific Management methods of Frederick Winslow Taylor are very much in evidence there. From what others say, in other chains too. It's quite possible they are using a rank and yank system described in this link.

rationalwiki.org/wiki/Taylorism

It's the reason I use stores which have self-service checkouts. These have been discussed here in the past and seem unpopular with many. I like using them because they allow me to scan my goods at a speed I feel comfortable with and in the order I want so that I can pack efficiently.

Anyone here who has read the dystopian nove We by Yevgeny Zamyatin will recognize that we are heading towards that kind of society much faster than Zamyatin predicted.

That's odd kwest, at our local Morrison's the cashiers always ask if I want help with my packing.