Monday 13 August 2018

I'm a bit chuffed. Vid added.

It's the little things which makes me smile. I had a nice surprise this morning. The lovely Lauren who checked my shopping through the till on Thursday night left a lovely comment for me on the yellow sticker post. We chatted as she zapped everything through the scanner at a nice leisurely pace. Unlike another supermarket where the assistants barely have time to speak to you as they push things forward and you hurriedly move them into your trolley, and fumble with your purse to try and pay at the same time.

I like to be treated as a human being when I go shopping. I have never found a rude or grumpy staff member at Tesco Extra Scunthorpe.. They are all pleasant, have good manners, and are helpful. The checkout staff are super friendly and are always smiling.

Mind you, they can keep their self serve tills, their hand held scan as you go zappers, no I am not a robot, I will not do their job for them. I want a human to serve me, someone who appreciates that if their shop had no customers they would not have a job at all. So treat me with respect and I shall keep going.

Now off to Crafty Club. Cheerio

PS. A video added.



27 comments:

  1. I was in Asda last Christmas and I approached the till with my trolly and there was nobody on the checkout. I was motioned towards the self service. So I looked at the trolly and back at the women and said no thank you. I promptly vwalked away from trolly and said. Perhaps you can spare the time to put everything back if you can't spare someone on the checkout. She ran after me and said she'd call someone to serve me. Do they not realise they're giving away jobs? It makes me sad that you can go through a day with no interaction.

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    1. Good for you. I would love to dump my trolley if they didn't open a manned checkout for me.

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  2. My local Asda removed the majority of their manned tills and replaced them with self service machines with conveyor belts. The one time I used them, it took me about 30 minutes to get through it with me leaving a few items behind as they wouldn't scan or not part of the self service menu. Every 5 minutes, there was an unexpected item in baggage area error... Incredibly frustrating and won't repeat.

    I also now avoid big shops at Aldi and Lidls as I hate being rushed and particularly don't like my food to be thrown at me or in my trolley just so they can serve quicker. I would rather pay more.

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  3. hi ilona mayze and heidi - we are lucky here in swansea the staff of tesco xtra are so helpful kind and stop to chat - it makes shopping so much more pleasant. since following your blog i always head for the fruit and vegetables nuts and seeds etc. thank you for your great advice on nutrition. have a good day. love liz amy and benny.xxx

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  4. My local couple of grocery shops are pleasant to go to, the staff get to you know you, and it's a pleasure to browse the shelves whilst talking to the assistants. They have passed on good tips: when a certain product is coming in; if anything gets marked down and what times etc. I shop of course as locally as possible as living in the countryside it's more fuel and therefore we try to combine with other things. Only one of our supermarkets does mark-down at 8am and 5pm (the 8am is 10% off and we are going to try the 5pm one, but told it is gone very quickly).

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  5. Yes I have always found the Tesco staff to be helpful and three cheers for them reducing their items with yellow stickers as I never find any 'bargains' in the other supermarkets.

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  6. I prefer using manned tills, however unfortunately I think it's only a matter of time until paying for shopping will be fully automated.

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  7. Important to realise that when you do use self service etc that is a human beings job gone and they might just need it...

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    1. joan in michigan13 August 2018 at 19:23

      Agree! I never use the self checkout at my local Kroger. I always wait in line for a clerk. Those are good paying union jobs with benefits (health insurance, retirement plans and paid holidays).
      The banks are getting to be the same way. My local Bank of America has 6 teller windows but only one is open at a time. They have added a new position however. A member of staff with a tablet computer goes down the line asking each person what their business is at the bank and tells you if you could do it yourself at the ATM machine. Um, if we could and if we wanted to, we wouldn't be in line now would we.

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  8. I have had nice chats in Tesco with the staff at checkout too Ilona.I explain how I'm trying to eat cheaply & how I want to stretch my money & they are very friendly x

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  9. Count me in too, I refuse to use the self service checkouts.
    I will not contribute to someone getting put off and loosing their pay or depriving some eager young person of their first job.
    It comes down to saving money, no wages, insurance, superannuation , staff facilities and personnel problems.....too bad managers, I would rather pay a little extra for staff to keep jobs.

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  10. Hi Ilona, I couldn't agree more about having adequate staff in supermarkets. Seems to me that the supermarkets will do anything to cut staff numbers. My response is always to go to a member of staff, even if I only want one item. Further, I always pay by cash because this has to be accounted for by cashiers in the back office then taken by a security firm to the bank and then accounted for by bank staff. In short my trips to the supermarket involve the employment of four sets of people.

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    1. I bought an ice cream yesterday at Poundworld. I went straight to the staff member and asked her to scan it through for me. I use cash most of the time when shopping.

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  11. I will use self scan when the supermarkets pay me to do their job for them. Like Colin In Kent I always use cash too.

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  12. I avoid the self service checkouts whenever I can.

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  13. I refuse to use self serve too, but recently a member of the staff was trying to 'herd' customers to the self service tills, I refused to go saying I didn't like them and didn't intend to learn how to use them, she said, that's a shame because everyone will have to use them soon, because that's all there will be.

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    1. What a darn cheek. I would have complained to the manager, that is the wrong attitude.

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  14. I dont use the self serve either.I have tried them but something always seems to go wrong and then I have to wait for a member of staff..who are then helping someone else who is also having problems with scanning their shopping.It always takes me twice as long!,At my local pound shop they have about 7 self service and one person on the till...if your lucky!.I hate this way of doing things.Its the same everywhere.At Leicester train station there used to be about 8 counters where you could go and buy your tickets.Now machines are where these people used to work.And just one place to get information or buy tickets.If this is progress,they can shove it!!,xx

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    1. Buying a train ticket is a nightmare. I arrived at a station to find a machine and didn't have the correct money, and couldn't pay by card. Someone told me I could pay on the train, which I did.

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  15. Rebecca (England)15 August 2018 at 10:26

    I agree with the comments about self service tills, I don't use them because they take longer as they're always going wrong or not recognising items. I have arthritis in my hands and back and need to be finished with my shopping as soon as I can because of the pain. It's all very well for some customers having a nice leisurely chat on the check out however you should be aware the next person standing behind you may be in pain because of standing there. Sometimes I've had to abandon my shopping because the checkout was taking too long due to a leisurely chat with someone in front of me and leave the store just so I can get back to the car to sit down to ease my back. The staff aren't there to pass the time of day, they're there to do their job. A friendly hello and offer to pack your bag is fine however I'm not able to stand and listen to someone going on about their holidays or how well their offspring is doing at school.
    I may sound to be a crabby old bag but standing too long causes pain like toothache in my back.
    Those of you who are fit and well enough to stand about should have a little thought for others behind you in the queue.

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    1. Thank you for your comment. Some stores have wheelchairs that customers can use. Most stores cater for physically disabled customers and will provide a member of staff to assist.

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  16. I too dislike this trend of self checkout, it's popping up everywhere in the US, it's another way to cut jobs and increase profit. When I have checked out this way something always goes wrong, especially with produce.

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  17. Rebecca (England)15 August 2018 at 17:21

    I'm perfectly aware of the facilities available for the disabled. I don't need to be patronised thank you. If both customers and staff were more aware of others instead of themselves there wouldn't be a problem. This morning in the supermarket there was a young woman telling the checkout cashier all about her recent holiday abroad, the checkout operator was replying telling her about her holiday in the Lakes. In front of me was an elderly man with a walking stick obviously uncomfortable waiting. Are you suggesting someone perfectly able to walk around the store (with a stick) should ask for a wheelchair? Not everyone wants to draw attention to themselves when it shouldn't be needed. A little thought for others in the queue behind you is all that's needed. If there's nobody behind you chat as long as you like.

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    1. I hope you feel better now that you've got that off your chest.

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    2. Rebecca (England)16 August 2018 at 09:24

      In the same way as you do when you've had a rant?

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    3. See the smile on my face, my rants are not really rants, they are jokes. A bit of light hearted banter designed to get people going. And it works :o)

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  18. As someone who was in retail for 20 years I always try to be kind to the shop floor staff - it’s not their fault the self checkouts have been introduced and they are on the front line whereas the management don’t have to face the complaints. It must be awful to be the one on duty having to keep an eye on 6 or 7 of these machines at once. Unfortunately unlike humans the machines don’t get ill, or need holidays, maternity pay or compassionate leave. I am certain more and more of them will appear everywhere because they are always going to be cheaper than employing human beings. The ones at my local post office are dreadful, no one can work out how to use them, they are just too complicated! Automation is everywhere and it is making for a very lonely and aggressive world, people don’t interact any more and I find it a bit sad and frightening. I’m glad I’m retired now and out of the coal face of retail, it has changed beyond all recognition and is no longer a job people can rely on.

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