I love Christmas. I love shopping. But shopping for Christmas...blech. I spent a few hours yesterday trying to get around the mall on a Saturday; to get a camera that sold out already...boo. I am able to get the camera somewhere else, but I am waiting until Tues. when the stores are less crowded, when this damn storm passes, and when I have time.
I work in retail, and I hate it a lot. If I didn't need money to pay my bills and for school (that my parents don't pay for, unlike the majority of the lucky bastards of my school.) I would leave. But anyways, I'm going to list a number of ways to make it less hellish to shop.
1) Try NOT to shop during rush hours, ie. when the store first opens, lunch hour (like 11am-1pm), and dinner (5-6pm).
2) If you want to get out faster, and have a few things, go to the service desk or another department's checkout lane. (If you are at a grocery store and you have produce, don't do it, they don't have a scale to weigh things.) If you know how to use self scan and you
don't have items that are
weighed or
markdown, use them. If not, AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. You will be there longer if you have no clue what your doing and if it's busy guarantee the person watching them is going to be busy with other people. Grab the person at selfscan's attention, but don't bitch and complain if they are taking too long. They could be dealing with a huge problem, or everyone needs him/her at the same time. Wait patiently, and if you can't wait just let them know that you are taking the items somewhere else, or that you are not bothering with them. Don't just leave or we will think your stealing. And it makes it 10x harder to void the item(s) off. A typical person at selfscan is dealing with at least 4-5 selfscans at a time. You are not the only one on this planet.
3) Speaking of weighed items, DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD EAT THAT BANANA, OR APPLE, OR PARTY COOKIES. Those items have to be weighed, we can't just "put in a banana". I can't ring up something that no longer exists. If you insist your child to have some piece of fruit or a party cookie (those small cookies at the bakery), buy them before you do your regular shopping and hold on to the receipt. Either that or just buy those animal crackers my mom bought me as a kid, to shut me up and keep me occupied. It costs $1.19.
4) Speaking of children, please don't let them run self scan. Do not stick them on the counter to be funny. Do NOT let them wear Heelies in the store. They are forbidden. Most stores cannot be held responsible if they fall. There are signs for a reason. Do not hit or scream or use profanity in front of children. And always, ALWAYS pay attention to your child. I am not your damn babysitter, and you couldn't pay me enough to do it anyways. Please don't let your child or you for that matter push stuff up a belt. It moves for Christ's sake.
5) Speaking of belts, do not stick money, cards, or anything really thin on the belt itself, even if its not moving. The belt has a sensor and stops when something is blocking it. If I were to move something and your money is there, there's a chance that the belt will move; and if I don't catch it in time, it's a goner. There is a trap underneath, but most of the time it won't come out, or even land in the trap. And if the belt is moving just put that bottle of ketchup on there, it will stop. I love how you people try to hold on to the bottle for dear life and hope the belt will stop when you put it on there. It will eventually. Let go of the damn bottle.
6) Do not jingle your keys in my face with the card, or talk the whole time on your cell. It's rude, and you should be paying attention, so I don't hear "Oh, I thought that was on sale." or "I want paper in plastic." Keep your distance from the other person in front of you, don't stand behind them while they are using their card, or block their way of getting to the machine. Again pay attention. And wait for them to be ENTIRELY done putting up their order before you put yours up. It's just rude and it takes up time if the person in front of you has to wait either for me to ring a few items up or push your crap back so they can stick more stuff on the belt.
7) There is no order in putting stuff on the belt. It all goes down to the same place. I won't squish your bread; I have a system to keep things from breaking, etc. You don't need to separate your cold stuff from cans or soaps or whatever. It all goes down there. And don't put one thing up at a time. We are timed by how fast we scan, and waiting for you slows down our time and then we get yelled at and sometimes punished. So please...
8) Don't tell me how to bag. We all know how, or we wouldn't have jobs. The only time I want you to tell me how to bag is if you want paper and plastic or double plastic or whatever. Or you want certain items put together because its going somewhere else. Don't tell me to put all the cold stuff together. No shit sherlock, we already know. And tell us in the beginning that you want certain things a certain way, or I'm going to tell you to bag your damn self. I don't rebag things. If you can't be bothered to tell me right away those first few bags are not going to get redone. Not by me anyways. And please grab the bags at the register you are at, not the register that is behind you. I hate when people take my bags from my register when they are at the one behind me. They do have bags at their registers. Stop being lazy and actually walk to the bagging area. And if you don't see paper bags, ask; don't take from the other register. It's annoying and rude.
9) It is not that difficult to use the card machine. It isn't rocket science. There is a picture that is usually white on how to use it. That long stripe you see on the sample? Thats the strip. That's how the strip goes. If its on the left side of the "card" you slide it to the left. Same if its on the right side. The only place that I know of where you slide your card upside down is CVS. The rest of the time the stripe is facing down or to the side. And why would you slide your card on the numbers side? That's stupid, because you are just going to wipe off the numbers that way. If you slide it and it feels scratchy and bumpy when you slide the card, you put the wrong side in. The stripe is what holds all your info, duh.
10) Most stores have a website. If your not sure if the item is there (say your buying a camera) a lot of stores do ordering online and ship it to the store. Or you can call the store if your looking for a specific item to see if they have it. And most stores if they don't carry a certain product, you can ask them to order it so they do carry it. It will save you time from driving to the store only to find it's not there.
11) Please have your money or type of payment out ready or accessible. If your waiting in line especially get your things out to pay; you have time. That includes store cards.
12) Avoid buying those stupid American Express, Visa, and Mastercard gift cards if at all possible. Those are a pain in the ass and a cashiers worst nightmare. If you are using those cards to pay, you have to know exactly how much is on there, or close enough (not over, under the amount). Please write down how much you used. We cannot check how much is on there, and the card won't work if you have a $20 order and only $10 on there unless you tell me. I have to put it in as $10 EFT in order for it to work. Those things have ridiculous fees, just give the person cash or a check. Save money, jeez.
13) This is my biggest pet peeve. Please empty out the baskets. I'm not your maid. I don't empty out your cart and I sure in hell don't empty your basket either. Don't stand there and stare at me, take your hands and pick it up.
14) Refrain from saying phrases that we heard a million times like for example picking on our names or saying "you must hear it all the time" when you ask a general question or make a comment. Yes we do, so shut up already.
I will update this more when I think of other things. This so that you don't annoy the cashier, the bagger, or anyone else, and it makes shopping more smoother.
