Tips From a Cashier/Cashier Rant

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Replies

  • the_journeyman
    the_journeyman Posts: 1,877 Member
    I've worked in a grocery store as a cashier & bagger. I also sold electronics at Circuit City.

    I appreciate this list!!!

    JM
  • Laner07
    Laner07 Posts: 100 Member
    I once worked at an ice cream shop and every night at 5 mins to closing a bus load of campers would show up. After we had already cleaned everything. Of course the campers would make a mess and we'd have to redo everything and usualy end up leaving 2 hours later than we were supposed to.
  • Ireshgurl
    Ireshgurl Posts: 559
    .I totally empathize with a lot of the complaints and try not to be guilty (I NEVER lift heavy things onto the belt, and if I'm behind someone who does it, I'll often tell the person it isn't necessary and that the cashier has a scanning gun -- one jerk actually told me that wasn't true -- but sometimes cashiers make their jobs harder on their own.


    ...... Actually, I'm a cashier and we don't have scanning guns...... so maybe that "jerk" was telling the truth. I get that kind of response all the time at my work. My thinking is if you can lift it to put it on your basket... guess what? Then you can lift it to put it on my counter because I don't even have the luxury of a revolving belt..... and my counter is sooo small, most people end up putting everything INFRONT of the scanner embedded in the counter.

    If your buying clothes that come on hangers, take them off. It takes you no time at all and helps us out a great deal. Also, if you don't take them off, don't fold multiple clothing items in half because it's that much harder and takes that much longer to get them off. We're trying to be quick and efficient for you, don't make our jobs harder please.

    One of my pet peeves is when they come into the store to do returns and come up to my register.... and they passed Customer Service along the way. And I have a name tag for a reason. Use it. I'm not your "Honey", "Dear", "Doll", or "Babe".
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member


    I realize I probably come off like a ***** but... being a cashier changes you. It shows you how people really are, makes you bitter. =p

    Since you already realize this, I won't have to point it out. You are in the wrong line of work.
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
    Bump for later
  • catshark209
    catshark209 Posts: 1,133 Member
    I work specialty retail so 99% of my customers are regulars, but every once in a while I get "normal" people in. Anyway, this is my list.
    1. I don't care if you are Judge So-and-So's wife, husband, partner, lover, mistress, whatever and you got credit cards and cash falling out everywhere, you WILL NOT, repeat, WILL NOT get special treatment nor will I wait on you before everyone else that has been waiting patiently in line. I cannot stand people that feel entitled to special treatment due to their "VIP" status. Sorry buster...no can do. Yes I know I am the help and below your social standing but you are in MY store.
    '
    2. I have absolutely no control over what a vendor does with your order once we place it and is out of our hands. Yes they said 5 business days, but if God forbid there are delays in UPS, Fedex, or USPS, then there is nothing I can do. Don't scream at me.

    3. My pricing is what it is. Go anywhere else and they charge double for the same service. My regulars don't mind paying. So you can pay it too.

    4. If you aren't a cop then don't say you are, I can tell what you are. Yes yes we all know it was a conspiracy and you were set up and it isn't fair you never made it out of the police academy...oh wait look, there's a black helicopter on the roof over there!
  • LuLuSUPER
    LuLuSUPER Posts: 189
    *Don't ask me if I'm 'open'. I'm standing right here, my light is on, I'm looking at you, YES I'M OPEN.
    I can't tell you how many times your light ISN'T on. I respect it and go wait in a longer line. There are people who pay NO attention to the light and walk right up and start putting their items on the belt. You (generic cashier you) are open but just never bothered to turn on the light. Bugs me when I follow the "rules" when no one else does.

    So if you're gonna get snarky when I try to ask politely if you're open, I'm gonna give attitude, as well.
    I agree, I only ask to see if you are done with the transaction. Its worse to start piling up gorceries and you gotta go see the manager.

    I never have been a cashier but I have been a waitress and the service industry sucks major. Needless to say I got fired EVERY WEEK but they kept taking me back so I did some things right lol!
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member
    Have you ever stopped to think that a customer might...just MIGHT...be trying to be considerate? When I ask "Are you open?" I'm checking to see if you're going on break or not because I know how it feels to have my break taken by a customer. Or maybe you're standing there with a dumb butt look on your face winding your gum around your finger & I have to ask "Are you open?" to snap you back to the reality that a customer is directly in front of you needing your assistance. We all have job annoyances but the bottom line is you're in customer service. If it's that obnoxious become a medical transcriptionist so you can work from home.

    :drinker:
  • phoenixoncemore
    phoenixoncemore Posts: 196 Member
    Some people are getting so angry about this thread! Don't you ever complain about your job? It's just venting!

    Also, for most people being sat on a checkout is not a career choice. I think most people while I was working in the supermarket were either:

    1. A student working to pay for their degree (as I was)
    2. A new parent doing part time work to make ends meet while the kid/s are young
    3. Older, but not ready to retire just yet, doing part time shifts to keep their hand in

    So, probably no need for the "You shouldn't have chosen this line of work if that's how you feel" snipes. Mostly you'll find they have little choice.

    Just for the sake of balance for my earlier post - I still remember some of my awesome regular customers (and a few irregulars!) who often made up for the downright rude/scary/threatening/creepy/ignorant people. And, I have to admit, after so many years of having to work in customer service - I will not tolerate bad service. However, I do try to make sure I don't do anything to provoke that sort of response.

    I just wish everyone treated people how they wish to be treated themselves :flowerforyou:
  • mnishi
    mnishi Posts: 419 Member
    Some of the stuff you mention, however, isn't going to go away just because you change jobs. People will always comment on your weight if, as it appears, you're a full-grown woman who weighs less than the average-sized cocker spaniel. I was shocked when I saw your profile and your pictures. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. So are the people who go through your line.

    I was going to defend the OP but then I looked at her profile. You're 5'5" and your goal weight is 75 lbs? PLEASE PLEASE go see a psychiatrist before you kill yourself.
  • catshark209
    catshark209 Posts: 1,133 Member
    Some people are getting so angry about this thread! Don't you ever complain about your job? It's just venting!

    Also, for most people being sat on a checkout is not a career choice. I think most people while I was working in the supermarket were either:

    1. A student working to pay for their degree (as I was)
    2. A new parent doing part time work to make ends meet while the kid/s are young
    3. Older, but not ready to retire just yet, doing part time shifts to keep their hand in

    So, probably no need for the "You shouldn't have chosen this line of work if that's how you feel" snipes. Mostly you'll find they have little choice.

    Just for the sake of balance for my earlier post - I still remember some of my awesome regular customers (and a few irregulars!) who often made up for the downright rude/scary/threatening/creepy/ignorant people. And, I have to admit, after so many years of having to work in customer service - I will not tolerate bad service. However, I do try to make sure I don't do anything to provoke that sort of response.

    I just wish everyone treated people how they wish to be treated themselves :flowerforyou:

    Its because we're "the help" and its simply just inappropriate that we have our own thoughts and opinions! The nerve of us!!!!
    But yeah, I too do not tolerate bad service...and I don't do anything stupid as a customer either.
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member
    [/quote]

    Its because we're "the help" and its simply just inappropriate that we have our own thoughts and opinions! The nerve of us!!!!
    But yeah, I too do not tolerate bad service...and I don't do anything stupid as a customer either.
    [/quote]

    Sure...you've never done anything ridiculous that anyone in customer service would dare speak negatively about... :huh:
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member

    Its because we're "the help" and its simply just inappropriate that we have our own thoughts and opinions! The nerve of us!!!!
    But yeah, I too do not tolerate bad service...and I don't do anything stupid as a customer either.

    Sure...you've never done anything ridiculous that anyone in customer service would dare speak negatively about... :huh:

    ETA: Quotations
  • amuhlou
    amuhlou Posts: 693 Member

    I realize I probably come off like a ***** but... being a cashier changes you. It shows you how people really are, makes you bitter. =p

    I agree! This definitely brings back memories.

    I'd add - *You are not better than me and I am not 'JUST A CASHIER.' You have no right to talk down to me or act better than me. If you would have asked, I would have told you that I am cashiering on the summers between getting a DEGREE. Don't assume you know about me.

    And for grocery store cashiers specifically -
    *If you pick up a piece of produce, be prepared to remember what it's called because while I know A LOT of items there are still some I'll need to look up. I'm not a walking vegetable dictionary.

    * I will have to handle your produce if you mix varieties of the same item in a single bag. They're different items and could be different priced. I try not to take them out of the bag but I might have to. Great example is green bell peppers vs red. Almost always green are per pound while red are by quantity.

    * Along the same lines as above, don't try to pull crap with me. I look at the numbers on produce and while peaches and nectarines 'look' the same, they're not. And I know this. If they're in the same bag I will separate them out so you pay for what you actually got.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    *Don't ask me if I'm 'open'. I'm standing right here, my light is on, I'm looking at you, YES I'M OPEN."

    I'm sorry (ok not really)... but I feel even worse at making you postpone your break than I do asking you if you are still open... especially, if you are counting money or cleaning up your drawer... Because, when I was working cashier, the only time I would do either of these was when I was fixin' to go on break or leave for the day.
  • Musikelektronik
    Musikelektronik Posts: 739 Member
    No but if I post all the complaints than nobody else will have anything to add. =P I don't know how much it varies. That was just my experience at Target.

    Let me suggest, as diplomatically as I can, that you should consider another line of work, if you haven't already. Clearly, you don't have the temperament to work with the public.

    Some of the stuff you mention, however, isn't going to go away just because you change jobs. People will always comment on your weight if, as it appears, you're a full-grown woman who weighs less than the average-sized cocker spaniel. I was shocked when I saw your profile and your pictures. I'm sorry to say that, but it's true. So are the people who go through your line.

    What you do about that is up to you.

    *sighs*

    Why did you have to pick on that one thing in the whole of the OP? Needless and rude IMO.

    Because her goal weight is 75 lbs. Read her profile. Look at the pictures. You'll understand after you do.
  • MissTattoo
    MissTattoo Posts: 1,203 Member
    I think everyone should have to work in some kind of service job once in their lives. I use to work as a cashier and a waitress. It has made me a much better consumer.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    .I totally empathize with a lot of the complaints and try not to be guilty (I NEVER lift heavy things onto the belt, and if I'm behind someone who does it, I'll often tell the person it isn't necessary and that the cashier has a scanning gun -- one jerk actually told me that wasn't true -- but sometimes cashiers make their jobs harder on their own.


    ...... Actually, I'm a cashier and we don't have scanning guns...... so maybe that "jerk" was telling the truth. I get that kind of response all the time at my work. My thinking is if you can lift it to put it on your basket... guess what? Then you can lift it to put it on my counter because I don't even have the luxury of a revolving belt..... and my counter is sooo small, most people end up putting everything INFRONT of the scanner embedded in the counter.

    If your buying clothes that come on hangers, take them off. It takes you no time at all and helps us out a great deal. Also, if you don't take them off, don't fold multiple clothing items in half because it's that much harder and takes that much longer to get them off. We're trying to be quick and efficient for you, don't make our jobs harder please.

    One of my pet peeves is when they come into the store to do returns and come up to my register.... and they passed Customer Service along the way. And I have a name tag for a reason. Use it. I'm not your "Honey", "Dear", "Doll", or "Babe".

    He wasn't. It was in Walmart and they have scanning guns there.
  • catshark209
    catshark209 Posts: 1,133 Member

    Its because we're "the help" and its simply just inappropriate that we have our own thoughts and opinions! The nerve of us!!!!
    But yeah, I too do not tolerate bad service...and I don't do anything stupid as a customer either.
    [/quote]

    Sure...you've never done anything ridiculous that anyone in customer service would dare speak negatively about... :huh:
    [/quote]

    I try to be as considerate as I can.
    I am so sorry my post offended you so:laugh:
  • kaeelle
    kaeelle Posts: 24 Member
    Just because she has a rant doesn't mean she's not suited for the job. As a person in retail for the past four years, I sympathize and relate with all of these. Working with the general public sucks, in general. However, I loved my retail job. And we get to laugh about all of these behind closed doors. :)

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