This will be a slightly bizarre post, considering the pseudo lovefest I've been posting about recently (the idea of being more selfless, etc.)
While that's all definitely true, still; I do have my own sense of "justice" that I adhere to -- mind you, I don't go out of my way to hurt people; never have. But, when there are instances when I feel "wronged," I'm not above enacting my own passive-aggressive version of justice.
Today there were two such incidents.
I went to Taco Bell to get something to eat after food shopping (because, let's be honest, who *doesn't* get hungry while food shopping?). I went to the drive-thru and placed my order. Pulled to the window and gave the gentleman my money, and awaited my change ($1.03) back.
First, the gentleman disappeared. This is the first thing I disliked -- if I'm there, and you've taken my money; give me back my change so I have time to put it in my wallet. But, in fast food, there's precious little attention paid to customer service; it's all about efficiency. And, I'm okay with that, in principle; but not when the efficiency infringes upon me and makes my life less convenient.
So the guy returns with the bag of food and gives that to me. Now, as everyone knows, you need to check to make sure your order is correct. But, no -- not this time, because there he is with the change, semi-impatiently holding it out the window (strike two). So, I throw the food next to me (I'll look at it in a minute) and I reach up to grab the change.
If I ever find the person who decided it made more sense to hand change back to people with the bills on the bottom and the coins precariously balanced on top, I may pelt him to death with all the pennies I've lost over the years. The physics of the equation is ridiculous. I'm already below the window, I have to reach up, and now balance the entire pile without actually seeing the top.
So, the cashier poured my change into my hand; of course, one of the pennies dropped, and he said "oops," knowing he was wrong. I sat there and asked, "my change?" Now, he's in a pickle. He can tell me *I* dropped it (which means -- since I can't open my door, I have to pull forward, he has hold the other car behind me back, so I can walk up and get my coins that *he* dropped.
Instead, he went and got a register key from the manager, and gave me my penny. Petty? Absolutely - but I resent the implication that I'm at fault when all I've done is reach out my hand expecting coins; and instead I get a balancing act that becomes *my* problem to handle.
However, I can't help but wonder if this is due to my food shopping experience before. There are about 6-7 different grocery stores in the area, and I visit most of them. Some are higher-priced (Stop & Shop, King Kullen) but they try to make up for it with supreme service. Shop Rite is probably the cheapest overall; and it's where I do most of my shopping. Again, I don't expect Nordstrom-like service; but I don't expect to be inconvenienced either.
Normally, I bring my own canvas bags, and I bag my groceries rapidly while the cashier runs the items. I'm normally just about finished bagging when she finishes scanning coupons. It's a very efficient process; and one I don't mind doing.
A few weeks ago, Shop Rite instituted a policy where you can no longer stand near the register and bag groceries. You have to go down to the very end of the area, and let the groceries come TO you. Making matters worse, there's not even enough room there for you and your cart (and, if you put your bags in your cart, waiting to be filled, you basically have to pick up the item and walk around the corner of the conveyor belt back to your cart to put the item in there). Then, you need to move the cart past you and squeeze past it to get to the credit card machine.
So, now, I don't bag until the very end; and I bag one item at a time. I no longer bag at a feverish pace. I take my time, and I bag AFTER I've paid (and, of course, since Shop Rite reimburses for canvas bag use, the cashier can't even speed up the process by bagging). They have to sit there and wait.
Today, two things happened to further tick me off. First, they had a great sale on an item, but it required a $10 minimum purchase. No problem; I had that. But, they had run out -- which I'm also okay with; sometimes you budget less than you should have. They were offering rainchecks, so that was fine. I got onto the raincheck line (about 10 people long) and finally worked my way up to the desk. She asked to see my receipt.
(As an aside, this DOES make more sense -- a lot of times, the rainchecks mandate you spend the $10 on another visit; here, they were giving you credit for spending the $10 on THIS visit). But, of course, I hadn't checked out yet (after all, since the store is so freaked out now by people bagging items near the register, I couldn't imagine they'd want people walking through the store after checking out). And, as luck would have it, the woman says, "You need to check out first."
Why can't there be a sign there? Why couldn't someone make an announcement?
So, fine - on to a line. I have 4 cases of soda cans, 2 large packages of paper towels, 2 large packages of toilet tissue. I put one of each up on the conveyor belt and told the cashier "2 each of the paper goods; 4 of the soda."
"Can you put all the items on the belt?"
"Why? There's 4, 2 and 2?"
"But, I need to scan each item"
"Okay, so scan the soda 4 times and the paper goods twice..."
"No, I actually need to scan each item"
Wow - so, I have to now MOVE the person who's already started putting items on the belt behind me - I have to move his stuff backwards; unload the same &^%*&%* items from my cart that are already on the belt, and let her scan each of them separately. Then, they all got put on the belt to go to the end of the line (since, again, I'm not allowed to bag where the check-out actually takes place). I paid, and took my very sweet time repacking my cart (and, since nothing was "baggable," she had to sit there while I picked up each item (and for a few seconds, "agonized" over the receipt).
Of course, then I had to get BACK on the raincheck line (10 deep again) and kill another part of my day I'll never get back.
I've long said I don't *need* supreme service; and that's true; but I also don't need new "innovations" to make my life more inefficient and inconvenienced. I pride myself on my organization and efficiency; and I really do resent when something is introduced that serves no purpose other than to make your customers less likely to shop at your store. Great prices only gets you so far.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
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7 comments:
And there is the Chris that his family has been missing.
You and I are vastly different when it comes to this sort of thing. You have now spent over three hours agonizing over something that was about 20 minutes long. Is it worth it? No, not in my eyes. If it is something so egregious, don't go back. You've often said, you get what you pay for. Less expensive groceries, less expensive fast food, less service is expected.
Sometimes, you just gotta let things go. because I can guarantee they aren't spending that much time thinking about you. If you want to make a difference, write to the managers,etc. Don't take it out on the poor kid that's just there to make some spending money so she can pay for her Uggs and texts...she doesn't care. Don't take it out on the fellow customers either, it's not their fault and you just look like the nut that took too long. Go to the source of the problem.
I will politely invite you to please stop making sense on my blog. There is no place for that here.
We go to shop rite - with the two toddlers in tow, and I do not appreciate any changes that make the shopping experience in any way longer and less efficient.
An addition to drive through annoyance - I hate that the first window receives your money, but doesn't give you the receipt. You have to go to window #2 to get that. Why bother? The whole purpose of a receipt is to have proof that you paid so that when window #2 screws you over, you have a nice little piece of paper to protect your fast food dining experience.
ugh.
Jenn - re: Shop Rite, I don't really understand the recent changes. They don't eliminate shoplifting risks (for example, the other day, after paying and bagging my groceries (at the end of the line), I had to go to customer service, with my receipt. From there, I could leave. There was *nothing* preventing me from going up and down aisles, throwing additional stuff in bags and leaving -- I had a receipt already (and, no one was checking those receipts). Well, one thing prevented that -- the fact that I have a conscience! So, I really don't understand the changes.
I've not encountered the situation you're suggesting at drive-thrus. Normally, I get the receipt with the bills and coins (normally the receipt is on the very bottom. Even still, I'd check everything before you pull away - people behind you be damned.
A number of years ago, I received my food, and thought one of the burgers felt a little "light." When I opened the packaging, sure enough, I had everything *but* the meat (kinda important). I'd already pulled away, so I had to go in (thus, completely invalidating any efficiency of drive-thru. I don't think that was poor "service," necessarily - just an "oops" - still, I now check everything before I pull away.
Okay, here's what I have been doing when the cashier offers me a pile with bills on the bottom, receipt in the middle, and change "nearly neatly" stacked on top.
I approach carefully, so they don't try to dump the whole thing on my hand. I carefully pick the coins off of the top of the tower and put them in my change purse. I take the receipt and put it in the bag, and then I take the bills and put them in my wallet. They're puzzled, and I know why this is from googling about this problem.
The real reason they are puzzled is that cashiers no longer "count change" in the "old-fashioned" way. (Coins first, counting up from the sales ticket amount to the first whole dollar amount, then bills from smallest to largest, ending in the amount that the customer "tendered".)
Their bosses probably like it when they just pull the change out of the cash register. And I don't care if they use the quaint old custom of counting change, but I think the training department should tell them to give coins first, bills second, and then ask if the customer wants the receipt in the bag.
But a secondary problem is that some people in entry level jobs are pretty resentful, I think, and are looking for a little scrappy-doo with us, the customer!! After all, we are the ones causing all their dismay, with our petty demands for payment interactions!! (They are often inexperienced people, and haven't really got "the big picture" in mind.)
Drive-thrus. So convenient, so iffy.
@Tiger - you may have thought this out even more than I have -- that's scary :)
I agree 100% with your point though - the training department SHOULD tell them to give coins first, then bills, then receipt in the bag.
I applaud your passive-aggressive manner of dealing with this!
I'm a cashier. The reason I personally put the coins on top is because it seems like they would more neatly slide off the top of the bills into a change purse (and being the most "annoying" thing to have to worry about...it seems like it should logically be taken care of first). I also don't work in drive-thru, though. My customers bring things directly to my counter. Bills seem easy enough to just slip into a wallet, or fold up and put in your pocket without all the change rattling around in your palm. That's how I PREFER to receive my change, so that's how I imagine most people would prefer to receive theirs.
That being said...I also try to pick up on cues from the customer and hand them money according to what their body language is saying or what I imagine might be easier on them. If they're holding open their coin purse and pushing it toward me, I drop their change into it and then hand them their bills. If they are elderly and shake a lot, I carefully give them the coins first...wait for them to put them where they need to go, and then hand them their bills. If they only have use of one arm, I do the same thing and try to hand them the bag with the handles arranged so it's easier to grip it.
Unfortunately, you can't please everyone and you can be wrong about what you imagine is making someone's life easier. My peeve is when I clearly hold out my hand to receive the coins, and the customer scatters them all over the counter, so I have to re-count them to make sure it's all still there (even though I counted it in the first place as they were gathering it together to save us both some time) and then have to pluck it off the counter, or slide it off the edge of the counter into my hand and try not to drop it again (because it's always a larger amount of change than necessary). My passive aggressive response to this treatment is to just neatly put the money on the counter when they hold their hand out to me so that they have to pick up money from the counter instead of me acknowledging their cue.
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