Grocery Store Pet Peeves

[happygirl]

It weird that people say Walmart has cluttered aisle. Unless it the bread, pop or chip asiles. Walmart does there stocking on overnights

 

[Christopher Robin]

4. Groceries cost a fortune. I am not self checking anything. Hire some cashiers. Someone has to monitor the self checkout anyway. Put them on a register. When you give me a discount for doing the job then i will check out the whole store for you.

this!

 

[Princess Dolly]

Are you agreeing that I am a princess or are you laughing at the joke I made because of what another poster said? I am not sure how to interpret this smilie.

 

[Shmily1]

I'm sorry, people do what now?

I saw you said people show up in pj's and I assumed you meant like here, where sometimes someone in a deli obviously just ran downstairs and is in like, sweatpants. I now suspect that is not what you meant.

Yeah, they would show up with no shoes and/or pajamas. It's pretty disgusting and the other shoppers are most grossed out by it, as well as the employees.

How is this even allowed? What ever happened to No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service

It shouldn't be but I guess it wasn't really enforced then.

Also, another pet peeve was people that keep their money in their bra or other articles of clothing besides their pockets then take it out and think the cashier wants to touch it. Just ewwww....

 

[sbell111]

My Pet Peeves include:

Those stupid car carts. Man I hate those things.

We have two toddlers. Those car carts are the one thing that allow me to grocery shop with the kids. They allow both kids to safely sit in the cart, they help entertain them a bit in the store, and they are designed in such a way that if one of the kids tosses down an item, it lands in the bottom of the cart, not on the floor.

What is it about them that their very existence bothers you?

 

[msjprincess]

People that don't wear shoes in the grocery store usually end up with black gunk on the bottoms of their feet from walking through the parking lot, then in the store and it's just gross.

Ewww. You've seen this more than once?

 

[Philagoofy]

Also, another pet peeve was people that keep their money in their bra or other articles of clothing besides their pockets then take it out and think the cashier wants to touch it. Just ewwww....

Don't really care for it when people lick their fingers to moisten them so they can count out dollar bills. I really don't want to touch it after that. Yes, I know all of the places money has been but if I don't see it....
Recently, a cashier used the sweat from her forehead to moisten her fingers so that she could get the plastic bag open for the person in front of me. Not sure if I made a face, but she looked at me, shrugged & said "it's good for something" (meaning the sweat).

 

[ckay87]

I'm sure some of you do this, so don't take it too personally. I get irritated by people who bring the whole flippin family to the grocery store. I know they mean no harm, but grocery shopping isn't a family event for us. It's a painful chore for me to endure. I try to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. I'm glad the families are (seemingly) enjoying themselves, but I'm not. Step aside!

 

[tink20]

Mine is: It seems that I always in up with the misfit shopping cart. You know the one with the one crazy wheel or better yet the one that sounds like a freakin train clicking and clacking down the track and everyone stares at you when you walk by. I swap out sometimes, but for some reason our WalMart has the worst carts, so sometimes I just can't get a good one.

 

[marthachick]

Recently, a cashier used the sweat from her forehead to moisten her fingers so that she could get the plastic bag open for the person in front of me. Not sure if I made a face, but she looked at me, shrugged & said "it's good for something" (meaning the sweat).

 

[sbell111]

I also hate it when a store has not trained their employees to specify exactly which customer can should get in the newly opened line first. I hate it when they just say "I'll take whoever's next in line", and the person in the back of the long line leaps into the newly opened line first even though there are people in front of them who have been waiting longer. Now THAT is rude .

My feeling about this is that each register has a separate line. As I approach the registers, I try to choose the one that will get me out quickest. Sometimes, I make a good choice. Sometimes, not. If a new register is opened, then that is a new line, not an offshoot of any existing open register's line. As such, the first person who enters that line deserves to get served first. This is true regardless of whether that person was 'second' in an existing line, 'last' in an existing line, or had not previously been in an existing line, at all.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

My pet peeve is when the customer waits until the cashier indicates the total before digging thru their purse/pocket looking for their wallet! Seriously, couldnt you have your wallet in your hand at least while the cashier is ringing the stuff thru? That way when s/he says "thats $78 please" you can whip out your cash/cards quite quickly! Instead, youre holding up the line cause you cant find your darn wallet. Grrrr!!

Agreed. It's as if they are surprised that they will be expected to pay, so they haven't thought to get out their money. Then they dig through their giant purse to find their wallet, and then dig through their wallet to find the right card to pay for their groceries. I also get annoyed when they wait until the last minute to write their check. Obviously you don't know the amount while everything is being rung up, but you could start writing the name of the grocery store, the date, the memo line, and sign it while waiting for the total.

People who don't return their carts, either to cart corral or the store. They take up parking spots... grrrr!

AMEN! These people annoy much more than I really should let them. I have actually gotten into online arguments with people who do not return their carts because they think that they have a legitimate excuse and I disagree. Most often, they use their children as an excuse, which I find disgusting. Don't use your children like that. They tell me that they can't take the cart to the cart corral because they have children who cannot wait in the car because in teh 15 seconds it takes to put the cart back, their child with either get heatstroke, frostbite, or someone will break into the car and steal it. And, for whatever reason, they were able to get their child to the cart corral to get the cart, but is unable to get the child back from the cart corral after putting it up. Not sure how it works one way but not the other.



Other people have touched on bagging your own groceries vs. people being paid to do it. For me, I have no problem allowing a bagger to bag my groceries. However, if they are all busy helping other guests, I'm not going to sit there and wait for the checker to ring up my stuff and then start bagging everything. I'm going to help him/her out and start bagging. More times that not, someone else comes and asks me if I would like him/her to finish up for me and I take him/her up on that offer. However, if no one does, I've at least saved the checker some work and the people in line behind me some time.

 

[sbell111]

Why are the people with 1 or 2 items even in line with me and my big basket of groceries? They belong in the express lane.

I actually HATE when a person with 1 or 2 items lines up behind me in the regular line, giving me guilt (I realize that they are secretly hoping I will wave them ahead of me. Why else would they do that?)

When I shop, I choose the line that I choose. Sometimes, that means that I choose a 'regular' line even though I only have a few items. This may because the express lines are backed up and I think that the regular line will go faster, because I want some candy or a soda that is in that line, or even because I didn't notice that the express lines were open. It is not because I want you to let me in front of you. In fact, I always feel a bit uncomfortable when someone suggests that I get in front and would just as soon that people do not make the offer and instead mind their own business.

I have often just turned to them and nicely advised them to go wait in express.

I think that another customer suggesting that I go somewhere other than where I had chosen to go is presumptuous and rude.

 

[sbell111]

I refuse to use the self check outs , that lets company's know they can stop hiring more people , as the customer will do it themselves. We need more help in this economy as it is. Not less work.

Self check outs allow the company to serve it's customers while reducing staff. This helps keep grocery prices down. Lower grocery prices helps families who struggle in this economy much more than hiring one more minimum wage employee would.

 

[ckay87]

When I shop, I choose the line that I choose. Sometimes, that means that I choose a 'regular' line even though I only have a few items. This may because the express lines are backed up and I think that the regular line will go faster, because I want some candy or a soda that is in that line, or even because I didn't notice that the express lines were open. It is not because I want you to let me in front of you. In fact, I always feel a bit uncomfortable when someone suggests that I get in front and would just as soon that people do not make the offer and instead mind their own business.
I think that another customer suggesting that I go somewhere other than where I had chosen to go is presumptuous and rude.

I don't suggest it in a rude manner. In fact I do so exactly for the bolded reason above, quoted from your post.

I don't think you were the poster who suggested that not letting people with 1 or 2 items go ahead is rude. So actually you and I are good.

 

[DeniseinNS]

My biggest pet peeves at the grocery store:

-Someone gets to the checkout, unloads their groceries onto the belt and suddenly remembers something that they forgot when they are almost rung through so they run to get it which holds up the line.
-People who eat food that you pay for by weight while they are shopping. That $3 bag of grapes now only costs $1.50 because you ate half of them while shopping. That's stealing!
-The cashier at Walmart that left me standing there before ringing my stuff in because she went to get a stool to sit on while she worked!!!
-I hate the cashier bagging my groceries and not using common sense when packing the bags. Eggs with canned goods, bread with dish soap, etc...then they give me a dirty look as I start unpacking and rearranging stuff. For this reason I LOVE LOVE LOVE self checkouts and use them as often as possible.

 

[sbell111]

With as poorly as cashiers get trained now a days, I much perfer to check myself out. I can ring it up, pack it in less bags, and do it 10 times faster than 98% of these people who's job it is to do it.

The other 2%, are cashiers that are the same age as me or older and have cashiered for years and know how to sack groceries. If I get someone under the age of 40 - for the most part - I end up with 2 to 4 items in a bag that I can pack with 10 to 12 items in it.

Decades ago, I worked part time at Kroger. We were trained to put no more than something like 6-8 items in a bag and not to 'pack' the bags as we used to pack paper bags.

With plastic bags, it's not really about using less bags as a person can carry more than one or two bags at a time. Instead, it's about not over packing the bags so that they don't fail and so that the items within are not damaged.

 

[Shmily1]

Ewww. You've seen this more than once?

Unfortunately, yes. It's awful. Makes me wonder how they ever get their feet clean, or if they do. It's just nasty!

 

[sbell111]

Here's one about a cashier that hasn't been mentioned yet. You know how they start bagging your stuff then you start taking your bags and putting them back into your cart? I had one that wouldn't LET me put them in my cart. She stopped me when I started to take the first one, and I asker her why...she said when it came back around she would put more items in it!! Seriously?! I had NEVER seen THAT done before. I just had to stand there, while she loaded up my bags and then when SHE deemed they were ready to be taken, THEN I could take them! Thankfully we don't live near that store so I don't think I'll ever encounter that particular cashier again.

I assume that she was bagging using one of those 'lazy susan' things that have four to six bags hanging from it. If so, I am on her side and I'll explain why.

Most will agree that there are a few important skills to use when bagging groceries. Chief among these is to try to keep wet stuff away from boxed stuff and chemicals away from food. When a separate bagger is used, this is accomodated either with a bagging station that allows him to bag multiple bags at the same time or he will allow the groceries to 'stack up' after being scanned so he can pick and choose items that belong in the same bag (or more accurately, he can not choose items that don't belong with other items).

When the cashier is bagging as she is scanning, this is more difficult as her station only gives her easy access to one bag at a time and she doesn't have the space to let alot of scanned items go unbagged. Using the 'lazy susan', she is able have multiple bags in process to keep your meat with your meat, your frozen foods with your frozen foods, your dry goods together and your chemicals together.

Therefore, be patient. She's trying to give you superior service.

 

[anniemae]

The. Deli. Uhg.

I hate going to the deli. The workers at the store I go to move at the pace of molasses. They are so slow! They also act irritated when taking your order and heaven help you if you happen to need multiple cold cuts. I always ask to slice the meat thin, we just like thin cold cuts at my house, and they always slice them thick. I think it's because it takes less time.

Once two workers were goofing off singing to the radio instead of working, and there were about 7 people waiting while they danced around. I could go on and on about our deli. It's always staffed to the hilt, but still so slow.