And all the while you were thinking
:smack:
:dubious:
When I go shopping I like to find everything in the same place every week.
They don’t want to give you something for nothing- by filling out the card and giving them some information, they get better marketing and demographic information and you get lower prices in exchange.
It’s kind of like a coupon, only they get more out of it than just selling things to people who wouldn’t otherwise buy them.
It’s a grocery store. They typically don’t attract Nobel Laureates to manage them, much less run the registers. This is a case where you shouldn’t attribute something to malice that is
almost certainly due to stupidity and ignorance.
**
Coupons are easy. Grocery stores want to sell everything for the highest price that people will pay for, right? So they set their everyday prices at what they think is that point. Most consumers will buy at that price, but there is a price-sensitive segment that won’t at that price, but will at some other price. By setting up a somewhat inconvenient coupon, they’ll entice the cheapskates to buy the product for a lesser price, and sell even more than they would have without the coupon.
Let’s use shaving cream as an example, and say that Foamy is $2 per can.
Let’s say that the grocery store makes $0.50 per Foamy can sold at $2.00, and that they typically sell 100 cans/month at that price. Total store profit is $50.00
By having a $0.25 cent off coupon, they could sell the same 100 cans at $2.00, and a further 50 at $1.75 (coupon clippers) that they wouldn’t have sold because the coupon people deemed Foamy too expensive at $2, but fine at $1.75.
Store profit becomes $50.00(regular sales) + $12.50 (coupon sales), giving us $62.50 in profit instead of just $50.
I know there are things like cannibalization, the cost of the coupons, etc… but we can ignore them for this example.
Considering what I’ve read about your kids Isabelle… kind isn’t the first adjective that springs to mind.
As a cashier for too many years you are right I don’t care about your day but if I don’t greet you according to store policy then I could get disciplined for it. I am also required to tell you to have a nice day and thank you for shopping at our store. This is as much a part of my job as scanning and packing your groceries.
Isabelle, “How are you?” is simply a convention. It is not an invitation to tell how you really are, nor it is a reason to screw around with somebody by lying about cancer. It’s real meaning goes something like, “We have nothing to talk about, but I am signaling that I mean you no harm.”
You know, kinda like telling a stranger to have a nice day. It’s none of your kids’ business if the clerk has a nice day or not. Your kids don’t really care if the clerk has a nice day; why bother saying it? Well, because it’s just a convention- it’s the polite thing to do.
Now, even though I am a former grocery store clerk who was forever dealing with irate customers who seemed to think that I both priced the items and maintained the database in the scanner, I’m with you here for the most part. I hate those customer savings cards, and I won’t waste time clipping coupons, which are never for staples anyway. The nearest grocery store has its cashiers thank you by name* when they hand you the receipt and change. Ain’t that just a boon to stalkers?
My only beef with the savings card is that the cashier always insists on having it before she begins scanning my order, even though I know that it will calculate my savings even if she scans it in the middle or at the end. It’s kind of a hassle to try to load up groceries and stop to shuffle around my purse for the card.
That said, it’s not really enough to ruin my day, just a minor irritation.
I also enjoy pleasantries with the cashier. It’s much nicer to have someone say hello and be friendly than to ignore you completely until they announce your total. I go to the same store pretty much every time, so they know my face and I know theirs. I like friendly people, but maybe that’s just me. haha.
You can’t base your decision for 4 other children just because the 17 year old is a pain in the ass and is self centered. Besides I don’t take him to the grocery store. He loads the cart with stuff we don’t really need.
And the older daughter you booted out of the house at 19 for not respecting your home’s rules?
And the 15 year old who doesn’t seem to have a problem lying for the 17 year old to help him keep his job?
That’s 3 out of 5.
I was beginning to think I was the only person who did this. My grocery store alias is Anastacia Beaverhausen.
Maybe it hasn’t begun in your market yet, but Albertson’s went to the courtesy card scenario here about six months ago.
And the older daughter you booted out of the house at 19 for not respecting your home’s rules?
-----This kid is great. Kind hearted. Works 2 jobs and goes to school (paying her own way) Has many wonderful qualities.
Yes I kicked out out because she enjoyed pot. That is the only flaw I find with this kid. Truthfully does this one flaw make you a (fill in the blank) child? No I don’t think so. We just disagree on this point.
And the 15 year old who doesn’t seem to have a problem lying for the 17 year old to help him keep his job?
------You have to know the 17 Year old. He can manipulate you into almost anything. I don’t fault the 15 year old. If the truth be known he was probably threatened. Was the 15 year old wrong for lying? Yes. But it is forgivable. All kids screw up once in awhile. Just because he lied for his brother no way implies that he is short with the store clerks.
But the point was “kind” wasn’t the first adjective you thought of. I don’t think this is a fair assesment. Can we please not take personal jabs at my children? Afterall it was “me” that is not as considerate as others in this post to the clerk, not the kids.
It is “me” that is complaining about my local grocery store not my kids.
Thanks
Hate to burst your bubble, Shayna, but the Albertson’s here just started their Preferred Savings Card, so it may be coming your way. They send out circulars with all kinds of great bargains - if you use the card.
Here, the Publix has no card. They used to, but it disappeared about 5 years ago or so. They’ve also got the cleanest stores and their prices aren’t bad at all. And their bakery smells so yummy…
You also said your kids were kind because they know how to say ‘have a nice day’ to the clerk…
What I am saying is it takes more than knowing how to make idle chitchat to be a kind person.
Especially when you say how you set the wonderful example of trying to trip up the clerk with your ‘I have cancer’ lie to prove a point to these very children.
Yes I was wrong to say “I had cancer to the clerk” I was in a bad mood at the time and just acted impulsive. I wouldn’t do that again. Looking back it wasn’t a smart thing to pull in front of the kidlets. They probably knew I was being stupid at the time.
My kids are kind in general. I think saying “have a nice day” and talking to the clerks just make them better then me. I think it is one way of them showing kindness. Maybe it is not as much kindess as when we go to the Alzehimer’s unit to visit the residents but every little bit counts I guess.
I seriously doubt any cashier would force conversation on you more than required. We always remember the rude ones.
This is why I keep my keytags in my wallet. My SO has the full-sized cards.
Holy crap that’s funny.
Right on. What a lot of customers don’t seem to realize is that being polite will get them much, much further with any clerk than being an asshole will.
** Isabelle, ** would it kill you to simply respond “Fine, thanks” and have done with it? As others have pointed out, this is a big part of the cashier’s job. We constantly have programs and campaigns revolving around customer service. We go over it in meetings. It’s a large portion of our performance evaluations, which affect our much-needed raises. Am I going to do my job, risk annoying you, and increase my chance for a raise? You’re damn right I am. If it bothers you that much, talk to the store management about toning down their customer service delivery. I’m sure they’d go for it.
When I worked retail and had to process those applications, my rule was “Only ask for the license if they want to write checks”. Our store used the same card to approve checks as it did for the savings plan.
If they just wanted the discount, I wasn’t going to harass them for an ID. After all, a few disgruntled employees had filled out applications in the names of characters from the movie Clerks.
I have one card with my real name and one with the name Caitlin Bree. 
Mine is Aloisious Macgillicutty.
And my address is that of the store.
Knowing someone who has worked for an Albertson’s subsidiary for several months now, and having listened to him complain, I have learned three things.
-
Just say you forgot the damn card. They have to scan the store card, and I bet the cashier doesn’t care if you do it every time (management might if they notice).
-
If the item is rung in incorrectly you get it free (almost all stores have a policy of some sort like this).
-
They make their employees sign all sorts of inane promises, including what each cashier is required to say to you and what the customer service people must say each time they answer the phone. It’s truly ridiculous. I’m sure the cashiers don’t actually care how you are doing, Isabelle, but they might have signed a piece of paper saying they’d ask.