Picking the Wrong Line at the Grocery Store

[wowsmom]

Ours removed ours a few years ago. It was a sad day when they left

That would be very sad! Our Costco is ridiculously busy - always - so it's nice to have the self check option when we've only popped in for allergy meds or something like that.

 

[amberpi]

Reason number elventy that Instacart is amazing...especially now that they added Aldi's! And when I need a Publix delivery they will even bring you wine/beer!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That would be very sad! Our Costco is ridiculously busy - always - so it's nice to have the self check option when we've only popped in for allergy meds or something like that.

I know. Ours are busy too. When I'm just picking up milk or chicken even just toilet paper it was so nice to get in, go to the self-checkout and go.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

True, but there are plenty of clueless people using cash or cards who don't seem to grasp the idea that they need to pay until several seconds after the cashier announces the total.



I often see people lined up to get gas where it is 2 cents cheaper than the place across the street. Even if you have a 20 gallon tank, is saving 40 cents worth the wait?



Bagging. A regional chain that closed down several years ago (Pathmark) used to have one or two checkouts labeled "Bag Your Own." The platform right after the register was extra wide and long, and had a divider and two belts so that the cashier could scan the next customer's items while you were bagging your own groceries.

Aldi's puts your stuff back in a cart and then you go to the bagging table after you pay. Those checkers are quick. Can't self check nearly as fast as they are.

 

[mmouse37]

I guess it is a fact of life that we all pick the wrong line at one time or another (or as some posted....always!). I am usually pretty lucky in line except for when everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I knew the Chase Pay was new so I did understand when the cashier said he didn't know how to do it. I was just hoping he would figure it out before the app timed out on my phone and I had to sign in again. Chase Sapphire Reserve is doing a 10X points promo if you use Chase Pay at Shop Rite now through Feb 4. Stop N Shop has self check out and I try to use those when possible. They are very sensitive and I usually wind up yelling at it. Shop Rite also has some self checkouts but not with Chase Pay. They have one with a nice long belt so you can use it when you have a bigger amount of items.

As far as gas and Costco we live a mile from the border of New Jersey and the gas is always cheaper than NY, even Costco's gas prices. Plus there is always a 10 car line at each pump at Costco. And....in NJ you don't have to get out of your car to pump gas they have the attendants do it.


MJ

 

[focusondisney]

My luck to get the slowest line too. But I have finally gotten smart. There are 3 absolutely fabulous cashiers at the store I go to most often. Now I just keep going down the row of registers til I find one of them & get in that line. Even if it looks a little longer initially, I know it will be the best option in the end.

The cashiers there bag as they scan. And since I always have my Disney Dooney & Bourke plus own Disney themed bags with me, they all remember me as the Disney lady. Has made what used to be an aggravation into a pleasant experience.

 

[KPeterso]

My luck to get the slowest line too. But I have finally gotten smart. There are 3 absolutely fabulous cashiers at the store I go to most often. Now I just keep going down the row of registers til I find one of them & get in that line. Even if it looks a little longer initially, I know it will be the best option in the end.

The cashiers there bag as they scan. And since I always have my Disney Dooney & Bourke plus own Disney themed bags with me, they all remember me as the Disney lady. Has made what used to be an aggravation into a pleasant experience.

We know the checkers at our store and know which are the best and will always choose to go to them. The line may look a little longer, but they always move. But it seems a lot of people know us - the dairy manager even knows us. And they always ask us Disney questions or advice too.

 

[tvguy]

Wow people still accept cheques these days?

I use self check out whenever possible to avoid this

Yup. Our newly inaugurated Governor's first act last week was to get the wheels rolling to get the DMV offices to start taking plastic. Now it is strictly cash or check. The best part, you CAN use plastic if you do your DMV business on their website.
And down payments for cars, strictly cash or check. No plastic.

 

[lynxstch]

We live in a fairly small city, where we don't have a lot of options for grocery shopping. We have a Martins (Giant), Save a Lot, Aldi's, Walmart Super Center, and Weis (but that is farther away). Aldi's cashiers are the fastest I have ever seen. Even if there are lines, you are out of there in minutes. Our stupid Walmart, just took out most of the normal registers and made them all 'u scans'. Left a whopping 4 regular registers in operation. I think there used to be a total of 19 registers. They still have a few of the 20 items or less ones at either end. They claim that the new u scan ones can be turned into regular ones if necessary, but we won't see if that can happen until next Christmas, lol. I know which cashiers are the quickest , and I know which ones are the slowest. There are some I just refuse to use, even if I have to stand in a longer line. Last week they had NONE of the new u scans working, 2 of the olds ones were open, and 2 regular registers. The lines stretched from the registers thru the ladies dept. Half of us ended up taking our stuff to the lawn and garden dept and checking out thru there. I don't mind using u scan if I have a small order, but we only shop every other week, and I always have a huge order when I go.

 

[bcla]

There's something to be said for having a single line to get in and then going to the first open cashier. I've seen this at some fast food places. One place where this is standard is Fry's Electronics, even when they have as many as 40 cashier stations. Costco was mentioned. It's not necessarily that case for the cashiers, which are difficult to handle that way, but the food court ordering line is a single line where one waits for the first available window.

The worst is when a new cashier just opens and people start flooding in trying to be out faster. I've seen where I thought a fight could have started until a manager came in and took just that one customer to try to separate two people before they started going at each other.

 

[mummabear]

Yup. Our newly inaugurated Governor's first act last week was to get the wheels rolling to get the DMV offices to start taking plastic. Now it is strictly cash or check. The best part, you CAN use plastic if you do your DMV business on their website.
And down payments for cars, strictly cash or check. No plastic.

Wow, here in NZ no one accepts cheques as standard (there will some exceptions for business etc) but you certainly cant pay for your groceries with it

 

[tvguy]

Wow, here in NZ no one accepts cheques as standard (there will some exceptions for business etc) but you certainly cant pay for your groceries with it

Cash registers here are even setup to fill out the check for you. YOu just hand them a check, they print the amount and store name on it, they hand it back, you sign it, you hand it back.
I think most folks use plastic. Not sure the breakdown between cash and checks. I see ALOT of people peeling off $100 bills at the grocery store.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wow, here in NZ no one accepts cheques as standard (there will some exceptions for business etc) but you certainly cant pay for your groceries with it

Checks aren't as common as they used to be here but they are still accepted for things here and there.

To tvguy's point you used to insert the check and it printed specific information on it and then you'd put it in your drawer and then it was deposited into the business's account, etc. But nowadays you're a lot more likely to find the stores run it through the machine and the check is handed back to you-a more streamlined expedient process.

 

[AndreaDM]

Ugh, we have this one cashier who is bound and determined to tell shoppers how best to use their perks! It slows the line waaayyyy down! It's Giant Eagle for those of you familiar, and you can use perks on gas and food. She asks everyone what they use their perks on then proceeds to tell them how she buys gas, saves up her perks, etc. That is what customer service is for! Meanwhile, I've got a pint of salted caramel gelato melting away! I don't like to be rude, but I'm very short with her and try to get the point across that I've been using that perks program for years.

 

[CdnCarrie]

So glad cheques are basically extinct here especially in retail outlets.

 

[Squirlz]

A couple times at Kroger we've pushed our full cart past the empty Express line only to have the cashier say "I can take you here." Then people with 10 or fewer come up behind us and give us the stinkeye!

 

[kimblebee]

That would be very sad! Our Costco is ridiculously busy - always - so it's nice to have the self check option when we've only popped in for allergy meds or something like that.

I wish our Costco had self checkout. These lines are the wooooorst, even when they have all lanes going.

Wow, here in NZ no one accepts cheques as standard (there will some exceptions for business etc) but you certainly cant pay for your groceries with it

As @CdnCarrie said, cheques are pretty much obsolete here. I don’t even know if tv/hydro/water can be paid by cheque. I haven’t used a cheque in probably 10 years and I only had them to pay rent. We had to teach this landlord how to accept an etransfer lol

 

[tvguy]

As @CdnCarrie said, cheques are pretty much obsolete here. I don’t even know if tv/hydro/water can be paid by cheque. I haven’t used a cheque in probably 10 years and I only had them to pay rent. We had to teach this landlord how to accept an etransfer lol

You have several options to pay your property taxes here. Checks being the only one that does not have a service charge.

Here is the explanation from their website why there are fees:
"Why do I have to pay a convenience fee if I pay by credit card or e-check?
The cost of processing a check mailed to our lock box (remittance processing operation) is far less expensive and more efficient than the cost of handling an electronic check payment or credit card transaction. Our high speed NCR remittance processors handle thousands of transactions per hour and automatically match the check to the bill, scan and endorse the check, create a file to update the taxpayer’s record, and prepare the checks for deposit.

Debit card and credit card transactions require special handling by tax collector staff to update the customers account. In addition, the processing company and credit card companies charge the merchant (in this case the County) a percentage of the transaction (2.29%) for credit cards and debit cards when paying by phone or online.

• The convenience fee charged for credit and debit card transactions online or by phone will be 2.29 percent of the payment transaction amount, with a minimum charge of $1.95 per payment transaction.
• The convenience fee charged for debit cards (with a PIN) in-person at our office will be $1.95."

Given that property taxes here are usually thousands of dollars a year, that 2.29% fee can add up

 

[kimblebee]

You have several options to pay your property taxes here. Checks being the only one that does not have a service charge.

Here is the explanation from their website why there are fees:
"Why do I have to pay a convenience fee if I pay by credit card or e-check?
The cost of processing a check mailed to our lock box (remittance processing operation) is far less expensive and more efficient than the cost of handling an electronic check payment or credit card transaction. Our high speed NCR remittance processors handle thousands of transactions per hour and automatically match the check to the bill, scan and endorse the check, create a file to update the taxpayer’s record, and prepare the checks for deposit.

Debit card and credit card transactions require special handling by tax collector staff to update the customers account. In addition, the processing company and credit card companies charge the merchant (in this case the County) a percentage of the transaction (2.29%) for credit cards and debit cards when paying by phone or online.

• The convenience fee charged for credit and debit card transactions online or by phone will be 2.29 percent of the payment transaction amount, with a minimum charge of $1.95 per payment transaction.
• The convenience fee charged for debit cards (with a PIN) in-person at our office will be $1.95."

Given that property taxes here are usually thousands of dollars a year, that 2.29% fee can add up

I get that. I’m not the one who makes the rules though lol

 

[kaytieeldr]

It'd be my luck that I'd be fed into the slow as molasses cashier lol. That was one thing I dislike about certain stores during Black Friday. They really do try to make it as stream-lined as possible but it works the best when all the cashiers are ready to do the task. It only takes a few slow slow transactions to start the grumbling about why it's taking so long.

I'm gonna say customers as much as cashiers.

Well you've got things that are contained in some fashion to prevent theft, you've got alcohol depending on state laws, etc

I worked a a chain where the self-service registers accepted/transacted only cards.

Stop N Shop has self check out and I try to use those when possible. They are very sensitive and I usually wind up yelling at it. S

Of course they're sensitive! You would be too, it people yelled at you for issues that were programmed or used error!