Yeah, I appreciate people who don’t assume just anyone near a register is running it .
At my store the registers also function as a time clock. So you’ll get someone going to an unused register clocking in or out and a customer comes up and starts unloading their cart and gets pissy when the person says “I’m just clocking in/out, not opening the register”.
Or I’ll be trying to figure out if a register even works and some one shows up. I’ll say “Please wait - we’re not sure this machine is working properly” and they’ll get pissy about it. Well, FINE, unload at register that’s flaking out and you’ll just have to move when we find out the thing is busted.
If I’m just starting for they day I’ll tell people they can start putting stuff on the belt IF
I am working as a cashier that day
I am certain the machine is fully functional
but I’ll say I’m still setting up, give me a minute to make sure we have bags and everything else we need to make this work. Usually, folks are OK with it and some appreciate my efforts to communicate what’s going on, but others… well, some people seem determined to be unhappy no matter what you don.
Sometimes a manager may open a register temporarily to check stock or pricing on an item. As stated above. The rule is, if the light’s not on, the register’s not open.
That said, it’s irritating when the cashier forgets to turn on their light (and no one knows they’re open), or forgets to turn off their light while they closing the till or walk away.
I won’t say it’s stupidity, just poor cost cutting and planning.
When supermarkets and general stores like CVS have just one cashier between 6-8 am. Umm…these are hours when people are going to work and in a rush to get that bottle of water or fruit before heading to work. No, I don’t have ten minutes to wait in line when the person in front of me decides to do their weekly shopping.
I understand your gripe about early morning staffing, however, MOST mornings (speaking as such an early-shift cashier) we don’t have much traffic and may be standing around 10 or 15 minutes with no customers. And businesses HATE having staff stand around doing nothing/waiting.
Another problem we have is finding people who can reliably show up at 6 am. We might schedule 3 people, but if only 2 or worse yet only 1 shows up…
And yeah, cost-cutting. At my store you at least have an option of self-serve and the attendant there will help you if you need it.
Even if we do have sufficient cashiers invariably someone is upset because our customer service desk is not staff 24 hours a day, “just” 16 out of 24. I can try to call a manager for you, but honestly, at 6 am there aren’t a lot of people in this place, we’ll get you someone eventually but it may take more than a minute or two.
Don’t you have to do busy work within your area? I see cashiers replenishing their bags, wiping down the belt and their area, etc?
What perplexed me about my favorite supermarket, was that the second cashier shift (the store opened at 5am) came in at 8am. Hmm…being that most people start work between 8-8:30 in the morning, it seemed strange. Oh well, as you stated, I don’t see downtime. Though it always seems there’s 2-3 people in front of me when I’m just buying my donut and banana.
You would hope so- but I remember an old thread where the issue of carding everyone in the party/selling alcohol to an adult accompanied by a child came up. One person said that while she has sold alcohol to an adult who had an infant with him/her, other clerks might not for fear that the infant would get into the alcohol and end up in the hospital with the clerk getting blamed. And another would have sold me beer if I was with my 10 year old son but would have either not sold it to me or asked the manager if I was with my 19 year old son.
They’re wary of secret shoppers that are sent into the store to check the store’s compliance. Too many violations and their liquor license can be pulled. And liquor is a high markup item compared to most other store items.
Sure - and it takes all of about 10 minutes to get that all done, then what is there left to do? We can’t go wandering off across the store to keep busy because then we won’t be at the register when you step up to it.
Not having enough cashiers baffles me. I’m a first cashier, and I always have at least one second cashier and often two (they do price, restocking the shelves and doing returns when it’s not so busy). And several of the aisle workers are knowledgeable enough to ring up and bag items and take credit or debit cards (no cash!).
Another big bug of mine is people who put stuff at the register before I’ve finished ringing up the current person’s items, and everything gets all mixed up.
Yesterday I had one of the crazy customers from hell: She brings a full cart to the register, and doesn’t buy about a quarter of the items. An hour later, she’s returning about another quarter of the items she bought. What a mess.
And I live in America and I only speak and understand English. If you don’t speak and understand English, don’t assume I can talk to you in your language. That is hubris extremus.
When they first came out, I thought self-checkouts were amazing. Now, about half the time I use them (which is rarely), I spend more time re-scanning, removing that double scan and waiting for the person watching over them to fix an error, than I would have in the regular checkout.
One morning I saw a line at the single cashier. Hmm…I’ll save time using the self-checkout. For some reason the checkout errors and a message and flashing light on the top comes on to wait for the manager to clear it. I give up and go to the cashier. Just as I’m finished, I see the manager finally come to check the machine. Would have been faster to use the regular cashier in the first place!
Yes, people who think cashiering is an unskilled, easy job have never done it. We lose trainees because they are amazed about how much work is involved, and how stupid people can be.
If you aren’t there at all you won’t be at the register when someone steps up to it, either. In a public facing job there are going to be times when you might be doing nothing but being available. But being available for the next customer IS doing something, even if it’s boring, even if some permanently n00b manager just looks for constant movement.
Granted, if you’re one of the too few cashiers on duty, the upset customers should be communicating with the manager (or higher if necessary) instead of taking it out on the ones who can’t do anything about it.
The prime rule for a first cashier is to be at the register at all times. I can price items or clean up the register, but I stay at the register, ready to ring up anyone who comes by. If I want to go in the back of the store for any reason, I have to notify the second register to stay at the register and open if anyone comes.
I can read a newspaper in Spanish & German and get the gist, even if not the details. I can ask where the bathroom is, how much a item is, for another beer, not to mention wishing people good day, thanks, you are welcome, and such.
But if a Mexican fires off a long sentence or two in their very fast dialect, I am lost. “No Habla” “Un Poquito”.
