Grocery Store Pet Peeves

[marmalade]

At the stores I shop, the cashier may only put things straight into the bags if you have a few items. Large orders are scanned and moved along to the end of the counter.

My pet peeve comes in...when people just stand there and let the cashier scan everything and then bag everything. I think you should start bagging your own stuff while they are scanning your order. It just seems like the polite thing to do!

That's not how it works here (except for Wal-Mart, and I don't grocery shop there). At Publix (my go-to grocery store), the cashier scans and a bagger bags. Sometimes a bagger is not available, so I'll start bagging myself (I worked as a cashier in high school and during college breaks). Usually though if a manager seems me bagging my own stuff he or she will come over and do it for me until a bagger shows up. Love Publix.

Interesting!

I was a cashier at Wegmans while in high school and we had to bag our own items without the help of baggers. I have probably only had a bagger a handful of times in my grocery shopping career and it was because it was an extremely busy time and the lines were 6 people deep with full carts.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Not sure if it has been mentioned but I hate it when the shoppers go charging out of the aisle into the main aisle without hesitation. It's common sense that you have to be aware of others. I look at it as rules of the road. The main aisle has the right of way and the others need to be cautious when entering the roadway.

 

[Tralliam]

So I'll add one that hasn't been mentioned before.

People that park in the "customer with child" spots .... without children. My favorite was just last week. A car pulls in and from behind the wheel a teenager gets out. I'm thinking stupid kids think the rules don't apply. Then from the passenger side out comes, their mother. Luckily there was another close spot so I didn't have navigate my 4 yo through a busy parking lot in 105 degree heat.

 

[Stefjp]

I take my own bags to the store - its better for the environment that regularly using and disposing of the stores ones

 

[Diznygrl]

The main grocery stores I go to are the kind where the customers bag their own groceries. The cashier rings up the groceries and sends them down a conveyor belt and you go down to the end and bag them. Does no one else have these types of stores? I mean, we have plenty of the other kind (where the cashier or the baggers bag for you), but I rarely go to them anymore because the groceries are considerably cheaper at the "bag your own" stores. I actually prefer to bag my own anyway because then you can be sure that they are bagged properly.

 

[sbell111]

We have a nearby Aldi. There, the cashier rings your stuff up and deposits it into a new cart. You then roll the cart to a nearby counter where you put it into bags that you bought with you, actually purchased from them, or in boxes that you scavenged as you shopped.

 

[tvguy]

The main grocery stores I go to are the kind where the customers bag their own groceries. The cashier rings up the groceries and sends them down a conveyor belt and you go down to the end and bag them. Does no one else have these types of stores? I mean, we have plenty of the other kind (where the cashier or the baggers bag for you), but I rarely go to them anymore because the groceries are considerably cheaper at the "bag your own" stores. I actually prefer to bag my own anyway because then you can be sure that they are bagged properly.

We had them, they were in fashion in the early to mid-1980's when the economy tanked. Warehouse grocery stores. They were hot before Walmart expanded out here in California the early 1990's. They all went away because Walmart had lower prices AND would bag your groceries for you.

 

[Coconut36]

The main grocery stores I go to are the kind where the customers bag their own groceries. The cashier rings up the groceries and sends them down a conveyor belt and you go down to the end and bag them. Does no one else have these types of stores? I mean, we have plenty of the other kind (where the cashier or the baggers bag for you), but I rarely go to them anymore because the groceries are considerably cheaper at the "bag your own" stores. I actually prefer to bag my own anyway because then you can be sure that they are bagged properly.

Nope not really. WinCo is new here and they have this approach to bagging groceries but their presence here is small..the "main" grocery stores all have clerks that's job is specifically to bag your groceries (doing that was actually my very first job). Prices do not appear to vary based on bagging or not bagging your own groceries so it doesn't influence my decisions..selection, sales, brands..etc do.

ETA-I have to say my experience with this method at WinCo was less than favorable. I found the lines were horribly slow and that the cashiers (to try to keep things moving) would start on one order before the previous person was even done bagging so then both parties are trying to get their stuff bagged and make sure they don't end up with each others stuff. I don't care to wait on the person who takes hours to bag up their order so I wasn't overly impressed with the concept but it's not so bad I wouldn't shop there because of it.

 

[bankgirl05]

The amount of plastic bags used. People should bring reusable canvas bags. Sometimes only 3-4 items are put in a plastic bag, for a week's worth of groceries, just think how many plastic bags are used, especially when doubled up.

Also, people who leave shopping carts in the parking lot instead of walking them back to the store or to the provided corrals.

I have about 30 reusable bags, problem is I never remember to bring them. I do reuse/recycle as often as possible though.

 

[Talking Hands]

The amount of plastic bags used. People should bring reusable canvas bags. Sometimes only 3-4 items are put in a plastic bag, for a week's worth of groceries, just think how many plastic bags are used, especially when doubled up.

Also, people who leave shopping carts in the parking lot instead of walking them back to the store or to the provided corrals.

Since we have 2 grandchildren in diapers our plastic bags are recycled. We also line our small trash cans with them.
Whether I walk the cart back or not really depends on how I am feeling that day. If I am in pain I may not walk it back but most of the time I try.

 

[bankgirl05]

this made me:

 

[Scurvy]

Also, people who leave shopping carts in the parking lot instead of walking them back to the store or to the provided corrals.

This is my major peeve. I've seen people hit by carts that were rolling around the lot (I even saw someone knocked down once) and I've seen lots of cars scratched or dented by carts, all because someone was too lazy or otherwise self centered to bother putting the cart in the provided cart corral.

It also bothers me when people let their children push their carts but they don't make sure the kids watch where they are going. I can't count the times I've seen little kids whack into other customers or knock over things with their carts while their parents are oblivious or seem to find it cute.

Some of the other things in this thread do bug me, but it's the ones that can cause actual injury to other people or damage to their stuff that make me truly furious.

 

[denisem]

I live in a predominantly retirement area and was told once by a cashier that they were directed to pack less things in the plastic bags due to complaints of overpacking.

I much prefer to bag my own in canvas (since starting to purchase at Aldi's), but that doesn't work at the "carousel" stores such as WalMart.

Funny story about retirees and "visiting" in the aisles. I rarely shop there, but the local Winn-Dixie near a retirement community (complete with golfcart parking) has a long table & chairs between the deli and wine area where a bunch of old guys hang out. My DH swears he once heard them talking about which widows in the community were easy!

 

[aprilgail2]

1.- people to lazy to even walk the shopping cart back to the corral.

2.- check writers- seriously this isn't 1980 anymore!

3.-the "family affair" shopping trips- mom, dad and the three kids - all walking next to the cart and taking up the whole aisle every aisle they go in! Seriously there is nothing I would least rather do than take the whole dang family food shopping LOL.

 

[mickeysgal]

I hate it when people bring their coffee into the store in throwaway cups and just leave the cups on any shelf they happen to be standing by when they're done. See this more and more.

Or the ones who decide they don't want that perishable item and leave it on a shelf by the check out. If you don't want it, give it to the cashier so he/she can get someone to take it back to refrigeration.

Didn't get very far in the thread before finding my #1 pet peeve. For the life of me I don't understand people who choose not to buy the product and stash it somewhere else in the store. If you don't want it, please give it to the cashier on the way out or put it back yourself (the horror!). Don't put perishables in the card department (saw this the other day with a cup of yogurt that was sitting by the gift bags/tissue) or stuffed on top of the soups, or on clothes if they have a clothes department in the store (Walmart). Not only is it rude, but that store has to absorb that loss because someone was too lazy to do the right thing.

 

[BeachLove]

I guess I just don't get frustrated easily. I don't care if the person ahead of me has 50 items and I have 2. Don't really need to go ahead of you. People digging for change doesn't bother me. Waiting until your order is complete to find a card or check? Don't give a crap about that. I don't care if someone doesn't use a recycled bag, whatever, I use them (Recycled). Don't care how slow a cashier is or if I need to bag my own stuff.

 

[mjantz]

I have about 30 reusable bags, problem is I never remember to bring them. I do reuse/recycle as often as possible though.

I use to be really bad. Now I make myself toss them back into the van after they're emptied. The fact that a few of the stores I frequent give you a nickel off for every bag they use doesn't hurt either.

 

[mickeysgal]

We take bags of empty bags back to the store where they recycle them OR we take them to the dog park for people to use to clean up after their dogs. Not one of our bags ends up in the trash.

 

[aprilgail2]

I hate it when people bring their coffee into the store in throwaway cups and just leave the cups on any shelf they happen to be standing by when they're done. See this more and more.

Or the ones who decide they don't want that perishable item and leave it on a shelf by the check out. If you don't want it, give it to the cashier so he/she can get someone to take it back to refrigeration.

LOL--my grocery store has a Starbucks in it and the shopping carts have cupholders so people just leave their empty cups in the cupholders when they are done shopping and you have to toss them away if you want to use that cart!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I just got back from the grocery store and discovered that I have a new grocery store pet peeve. I was going to park in my usual spot but I couldn't. Now, normally this wouldn't bother me. We don't have assigned spots at the grocery store - that'd be weird. But, the reason I couldn't park in my normal spot was annoying. There was a truck there. But not just parked in my normal spot, oh no. He was also in the spot next to mine. And the spot in front of mine. And the spot diagonal to my regular spot. Yeap, he was taking up four spots. One wheel in each spot. Wasn't even a new car. It was a truck that looked to be at least 10 years old. Really, why do that?