|
stella41b -> RE: Biggest pet peeves or "what people do that really piss you off" (4/19/2008 3:25:56 PM)
|
Oh right, just in case I forgot.. shopping on Saturdays.. especially in supermarkets..
Stella's Top Ten Supermarket Peeves.
1. People who try to sever your feet from your leg with a supermarket trolley whilst looking at something behind them.. 'Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you..' Really? I'm just short of 6ft, 290lbs, standing about erm 3 metres in front of you. Ever thought about a guide dog?
2. People who block aisles with their trolley whilst they walk 20 yards back down the aisle to check out an item they walked past.
3. Supermarkets which keep changing the order of where their products are kept, or who keep them somewhere illogical. Now you'd think that you might find sugar and sweeteners together. Not always. You might also assume they're somewhere near tea and coffee. Not necessarily.
'Excuse me, could you please tell me where the sugar is?'
'Certainly, you'll find it in the homebaking section.'
'And the sweeteners.?'
'I don't know, I work in the meat section.'
I've seen aisles with bin liners, then toilet rolls, then breakfast cereal, then pasta. I know of a London supermarket which stocks blank CDs three aisles away from where they stock blank DVD discs.
4. Vanishing supermarket assistants. You know the ones. You ask them to remove the security wire so you can take one of the products and they go off.. and leave you standing there like a lemon for twenty minutes or so.
5. People who have just about finished unloading their trolley at the checkout, everything has almost gone through, and they realize they've forgotten tomato ketchup. What's more, they just have to have that tomato ketchup.
6. Supermarkets which don't code their items properly. It said 49p on the shelf, but according to the checkout it's 59p. The major inquisition involving at least three members of staff which happens as a result.
7. Cheapo plastic carrier bags which you can't open, especially under pressure when the checkout assistant is quickly checking through the items of the customer behind you. This includes the cheapo carrier bags which fall apart if you dare to put more than a couple of tins, bottles or jars in them.
8. Smaller supermarkets which will wait until the queues to the only two checkouts open both reach a quarter of a mile before they ask some of the twenty or so staff filling shelves to open some of the empty checkouts. Supermarket managers who think that opening one more checkout solves the problem, together with the crush that results.
9. Precarious aisle and shelf filling techniques. It's like playing that kid's game of the 1960's/1970's 'Buckaroo'. You only need one bottle of shampoo, but five others drop off the shelf. You pick up a bag of potatoes, and four bags drop on your foot.
10. Stroppy self-service checkout machines..
You walk up to the machine and it starts as soon as you put the basket down. 'Please scan your first item or press start.' You press start. 'Unexpected item in bagging area. Please wait for assistance.' You haven't even looked at the bagging area, or you're still struggling to open one of the cheapo carrier bags. In my case an assistant comes over and deftly opens the carrier bag, making me feel as if I've got Parkinson's Disease. I turn back to the basket to get my first item. 'Unexpected item in bagging area. Please wait for assistance.' Assistant comes, and I don't know why or how, but they just look at the machine and it corrects itself. I swipe my first item and put it in the open carrier bag. 'Have you swiped your Nectar Card?' I ignore the machine and continue scanning the items. Every second item you get 'Unexpected item in bagging area. Please wait for assistance.'
Then somehow you get through. Time to pay. 'Don't forget to swipe your Nectar card'. I have a Nectar card, I don't use it. Why? It never shuts the machine up. More commands. 'Please select payment method.' 'Insert coins or swipe your payment card.' 'Change is dispensed in the coin tray, notes are dispensed below the scanner.' 'Please take your receipt.'
Now you'd think you've got through. No. Twice I've paid and heard 'Unexpected item in bagging area. Please wait for assistance.' 'Please take your bags' 'Thank you for using the self service checkout'. Self service? How many times do you have to 'wait for assistance'?
|
|
|
|
