Reply to: How our government solves problems: more tax

[BoredBloke]

If somebody behind me in the queue had done that I would have waited until I got towards the end of my shopping and then 'realised' that I'd forgot something meaning a slow walk to the back of the shop.

It bugs me the way some people feel that their time is more important than mine. Last week while driving home, in some road works a woman tried to barge into the queue of traffic in front of me rather than joining at the back as I had done. The sign telling her which lane to get in was way before the back of the queue. I could have let her in but instead decided not to as the the woman behind me and the person behind her.

[51st State]

So, I intercept the cashier scanning in the customer's vouchers and asked the following question politely: is this going to take a long time, or is it worth me moving to another checkout?

I sigh heavily, start to whistle and drum my fingers on the checkout

To the reasonable and intelligent cashier, this would be a reasonable question, requiring a reasonable answer along the lines of: 'no madam [sir] this won't take long, just a couple of minutes, I'm sorry for the hold up...'

Did I get this type of answer? No.

Did I get the answer that I wanted?

What I got was this: 'I'm serving this customer [as if I didn't know this already.] The customer then glared at me [as if I had said to the cashier in a loud voice 'can you hurry this twat up you idiot.] He then didn't apologise to me, as any reasonable person would have for having so many coupons to pay with, and instead turned to the cashier and said "just take as long as it takes."



So I was none the wiser about how long I could expect to wait for. Now that was very friendly, informative and helpful wasn't it? Not only was I not given the information I wanted, I was made to feel guilty as if I had imposed on the cashier and the customer in an unreasonable way.

Now, I don't know what kind of training these cashiers get, but clearly it has nothing to do with customer satisfaction or being helpful. Concepts that are alien to the young these days, in far too many instances. Why it is even remotely possible to level this degree of ignorance and rudeness to a paying customer with impunity is beyond me.

So I just switched queues anyway. But I fully intend to ring Tescos head office to give them a piece of my mind and get them to drag these ignorant numpties into a training room and introduce them to concepts they are clearly unfamiliar with: good manners and a helpful attitude to answering perfectly reasonable customer queries. Hopefully, they will take action, and perhaps send me a voucher for some free goodies too, by way of an apology.

FFS woman, why should the customer apologise to you for having a strip of coupons and holding you up from your busy schedule? Are you saying that Tesco shouldn't honour the coupons they issue, in case they hold up important people like yourself?

And of course they thought you were a tw@t for interrupting the cashier. Do what any normal person would have done and make a judgement call on whether you would be better of waiting, or whether you would be better off moving to another till.

From reading a large selection of your posts, you seem to believe that everything that's said to you that doesn't agree with your own, at imes perverse, view of what's right is a personal attack on you. You're the biggest "victim" I think I've ever met, either in cyberspace or the real world.

Take a chill pill, get some exercise or a new boy/girlfriend.

Oh, and well done for getting someone disciplined, or even worse sacked. That will be some other poor sod that you can complain about elsewhere on the boards for taking all of the taxes you work so hard to pay, no doubt...

[PAH]

I find swearing a lot helps with bin bags... it doesn't go down quite so well in Tesco's.

Depends which language you swear in.

[PAH]

I can never open the plastic carriers, so look appropriately dim...

They usually end up calling me "love"...

Pity is a terrible thing...

Same here, unless they've got them set up correctly where you just pull on the middle to free them.

For the same reason I hate those rolls of bin-bags. Takes me ages to get into them. Maybe there's some trick of the trade we could do with finding out?

[PAH]

If we are going to have a smoking licence then why not an alcohol licence ?

It would make sense.

Fair in the sense that all the drinkers who don't smoke and yet villify smokers get their turn with the naughty stick, and can be villified instead.

It's only fair

I read on another forum that the permit/licence idea may just be a way of getting ID cards in through the backdoor. Start with smoking, then move onto other stuff, so in the end everyone needs an ID card anyway.

Also, it could be a way for the government to compile a database of smokers so they can later refuse them treatment on the NHS. I wouldn't be suprised if they introduce mandatory annual health check-ups that are chargeable (like dentist check-ups are), then if you don't have a recent 'MOT' they can decline services, such as if you are obese.

[PAH]

I had to wait in a queue in a petrol station today whilst both cashiers closed up the tills (that may be the wrong term). Petrol stations really piss me off because you can't put back what you've bought and storm out if the queue is too long.

I've started using the pay at the pump option where available. Other than that I pay with cash and try to make sure I've got the right amount, or fill up to a nice round figure.

I don't mind the till ladies in supermarkets (never seems to be blokes for some reason) giving me a hand. If I decline their offer they usually scan everything through twice as fast as I can pack the stuff, to make a point!

[Platypus]

So, it appears the customer services manager could see my point of view as well.

decided to humour me before having a good laugh with her colleagues

[shaunbhoy]

I didn't have time to wait and it was around 7pm on Friday evening and I needed to catch the hopper bus that was just ready to leave when I did leave the shop, which drops me right outside my house. If I'd missed it I would have had to wait another 30 minutes for the next one. I didn't have enough shopping to justify a taxi and even they can take 15 minutes to arrive.

You need to plan your life a bit better denny. I thought you women could multitask?

[Denny]

Yeah and I bet you're both on the same medication.

FFS, slow down, don't let life pass you by! Get off the train and smell the flowers!

Your posts always smell like manure though.

[Denny]

Why wait. You should have gone straight to the manager. My wife once complained about the service at one of the ASDA cafe's (which arn't actually run by ASDA eventhough everything in them says ASDA and the staff have ASDA name tags) and got a free meal for the entire family. I would demand that your next shopping trip be on the house - be sure to fill your trolley up as high as it can go!

I didn't have time to wait and it was around 7pm on Friday evening and I needed to catch the hopper bus that was just ready to leave when I did leave the shop, which drops me right outside my house. If I'd missed it I would have had to wait another 30 minutes for the next one. I didn't have enough shopping to justify a taxi and even they can take 15 minutes to arrive.

[lilelvis2000]

I was very tempted to walk up to the front and tell them I'll come back and pay tomorrow (I only had cards), but I imagine you'd be in trouble for doing that.

Wife did that once too. She had forgotten her debit cards and had nothing to pay with. They gave her a credit note and took her details. She paid the following day.

[lilelvis2000]

So I just switched queues anyway. But I fully intend to ring Tescos head office to give them a piece of my mind and get them to drag these ignorant numpties into a training room and introduce them to concepts they are clearly unfamiliar with: good manners and a helpful attitude to answering perfectly reasonable customer queries. Hopefully, they will take action, and perhaps send me a voucher for some free goodies too, by way of an apology.

Why wait. You should have gone straight to the manager. My wife once complained about the service at one of the ASDA cafe's (which arn't actually run by ASDA eventhough everything in them says ASDA and the staff have ASDA name tags) and got a free meal for the entire family. I would demand that your next shopping trip be on the house - be sure to fill your trolley up as high as it can go!

[Churchill]

I had to wait in a queue in a petrol station today whilst both cashiers closed up the tills (that may be the wrong term). Petrol stations really piss me off because you can't put back what you've bought and storm out if the queue is too long. Whilst waiting, chav boyfriend of one of the cashiers walked straight past the queue and left them the cash. I was very tempted to walk up to the front and tell them I'll come back and pay tomorrow (I only had cards), but I imagine you'd be in trouble for doing that.

But why can't you? I've made myself available for a reasonable amount of time for them to take the money, and they haven't.

In Tesco, they always say "do you need any help with your packing" every single bloody time, which they've obviously been told to say. So far I've managed to hold back from saying "No, do you need any help operating the till?" But I will, one day I'll snap and no doubt the cashier will think I'm being offensive.

So I think I'm actually with Denny on this one.

Yeah and I bet you're both on the same medication.

FFS, slow down, don't let life pass you by! Get off the train and smell the flowers!

[VectraMan]

I had to wait in a queue in a petrol station today whilst both cashiers closed up the tills (that may be the wrong term). Petrol stations really piss me off because you can't put back what you've bought and storm out if the queue is too long. Whilst waiting, chav boyfriend of one of the cashiers walked straight past the queue and left them the cash. I was very tempted to walk up to the front and tell them I'll come back and pay tomorrow (I only had cards), but I imagine you'd be in trouble for doing that.

But why can't you? I've made myself available for a reasonable amount of time for them to take the money, and they haven't.

In Tesco, they always say "do you need any help with your packing" every single bloody time, which they've obviously been told to say. So far I've managed to hold back from saying "No, do you need any help operating the till?" But I will, one day I'll snap and no doubt the cashier will think I'm being offensive.

So I think I'm actually with Denny on this one.

[OwlHoot]

Professor Julian Le Grand, chairman of Health England ..

Wasn't this Le Grand guy peddling the same idea a few months ago, with the smoking permit costing £200 ? I seem to recall he also suggested employers should be obliged to enrol all their staff in an "exercise at work" scheme like Chinese tractor factory workers lined up outside doing arm swings to martial music.

The guy is a crank, pure and simple, and I gather he was sacked from his former role as a Government health advisor, probably as a result of all his embarrasingly potty proposals.

P.S. and "libertarian paternalism"? Do me a favour - It's a contradiction in terms!