# Your grocery store complaints **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830 "2011-07-30T13:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/21 "2011-07-30T17:22:58Z")
At checkout when using my debit card I would like a receipt, you know, maybe 3 inches of paper with the items and price. What I get is about 2 feet of paper with all kinds of crap on it and an additional couple of printed coupons I didn’t want. I really just want the price to put in my wallet so I can balance my account later. If I pay cash then I get the change in bills, coins on top, and 2 feet of fucking receipt/coupons. So I have to stand there and sort that shit. Put the bills in my wallet, coins in pocket and receipt in one of the bags. “Mr. Jones you saved .03c shopping at Safeway today!” No, I am not Mr. Jones, I didn’t give you my real name for your stupid extortion card. And no, I do not want to round up to the nearest dollar and give that money to your pet charity-of-the-week so that Safeway can deduct that contribution from it’s corporate income taxes. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/22 "2011-07-30T17:37:49Z")
-People who take 950 items, most of them produce, through the self check-out, forcing the rest of us to stand there for 15 minutes while they try to find “rutabaga” in the pages of possible produce items that the self check-out user interface displays, then weigh them, then repeat for their turnips, carrots, 20 bunches of bananas, etc. Inevitably something will malfunction and they’ll have to call a clerk. And then they bring out the coupons. ARRGGHHH. Lots of produce and complicated coupons are NOT conducive to self-checkout. -Express Lane 15 Items or Less means just that. You cannot count 10 boxes of Froot Loops as one item because they are all cereal. And while renting the Rug Doctor is technically only one item, the amount of paperwork involved violates the spirit of “express lane.” Please stop. -Salsa is not pasta sauce. Why is it in the pasta aisle? ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/23 "2011-07-30T18:10:49Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > And no, I do not want to round up to the nearest dollar and give that money to your pet charity-of-the-week so that Safeway can deduct that contribution from it’s corporate income taxes. Another excellent one. I give plenty to charity, and I don’t like to be put on the spot so that a huge grocery store chain can trumpet how much fucking money that THEY raised on it’s behalf… ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/24 "2011-07-30T18:15:23Z")
When you give me change, don’t try to pile the coins on top of the bills and receipt. Do it correctly, and hand me the coins first!!! ---
**Author:** ![JoThrive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@JoThrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoThrive)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/25 "2011-07-30T18:47:56Z")
I get irritated at the people with 49 items who get in the check-out lane that says clearly - LIMIT - 20 ITEMS!!! And there I am, standing behind them with my one can of stewed tomatoes, and I’m in a bit of a hurry!!! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/26 "2011-07-30T19:08:21Z")
Same chain, different locations all over town. I walk into one on one side of town looking for, oh, let’s say, Goya brand coffee. Some stores have it in the coffee aisle, some have it in the “ethnic foods” aisle, some have it in the “Hispanic foods” aisle. Some have a stand-alone end-cap Goya display. I don’t feel like wandering through a space the size of a 767’s hangar hoping to eventually run into the Goya stuff. So when I ask you, Customer Care Person, where the Goya coffee is, don’t give me that, “How-retarded-are-you-don’t-know-where-it’s-located?” look. And especially don’t shrug and give me that condescending “okay-whatever-you-say-Ma’am” smile when I tell you that your company stocks the same products in different locations based on the ethnic/economic demographics of the store’s location. [rant]And I would _really_ appreciate it if you believed me when I told you that your company doesn’t stock the exact same items at every store and that I truly did buy {product} at one of your stores and would like to buy it here and do you have the [#%^@] product or not and don't tell me to go look for it in Aisle Whatever because I've already tromped through this [%#%@!!] Hindenberg-sized barn and can’t find it, unless for some reason known only to your manager, you’ve chosen to stock it behind the sacks of kitty litter based on a blog he/she read in _Slotting! the Weekly Magazine of Organizing Your Shelves and Getting Kick-backs For It_.[/rant] There’s other stuff, but I have to wait until my blood-pressure comes down a little. And yeah, I know, I know, totally a “first-world problem”. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/27 "2011-07-30T19:11:11Z")
My local grocery store allows teenage groups (like sports teams) to bag groceries and collect donations and receipts. They get a percentage of the dollar amount of every receipt they collect. I’m fine with the whole charity bit, but man oh man, I hate them bagging my groceries. They do it even in the “You Bag” lines. I’m particular about how I bag things, thus I almost always are in the “you bag” line. It seems horribly rude to tell that 13-year-old girl in her brightly colored soccer jersey to please keep her dirty hands off my groceries, so I just let her do it. Inevitably I end up with smooshed veggies and what could easily fit into 3 bags spread out over 5 or 6. I hate it. I wish I could pay them NOT to touch my groceries, but then I’d be rude. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/28 "2011-07-30T19:20:15Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Here’s something I encounter every single trip to the supermarket: people parking their shopping carts in a manner that essentially blocks the entire aisle. Mother of mercy, yes to this, a thousand times. There is something in the collective human consciousness that makes every last person hell bent on blocking the hell out of the aisles. If you really are conscious about it, bless you, but odds are you do it too. Everybody does it. What really drives me nuts is that even when an entire aisle is almost empty damn near every person will park their carriage in the worst possible spot. (ie, where an employee is stocking something) Even when that is not the spot they where whatever they are buying is. I have seen it again and again. And no, they don’t realize they’re doing it. > [@Dolores\_Reborn](#): > > Quit moving stuff around! I understand why you do it, so I’ll see new stuff you want me to buy, but I want to go to aisle three, left side to find my item! yes, grocery stores are so hard to navigate. ☹ When they move things around it’s not as if 90% of them stick to the same basic principles of keeping like items together and you can find X item but finding the like things. I get so lost when everything moves around because I am incapable of remembering previous patterns. On that note, when you’re mad things have moved, if you have to complain to someone, unless you are shopping at a mom and pop or a co-op, write a letter to corporate. Any major chain, the employees are following a plan-o-gram handed down to them from on high. Don’t bitch at them. Also when you use the phrase “but why would you stop carrying that? I BUY IT” the employees will make fun of you later. A more helpful tip: a lot of places will special order items if you’re willing to buy a case. Ask about that. If you desperately need that one particular type of detergent that Store X has stopped carrying because only you bought it and it sat on the shelf gathering dust and they kind of want the space available to, I don’t know, make money from things that sell, be willing to buy in bulk. As much as you’ve been spoonfed to believe you’re always right and should have whatever you want RIGHT NOW your preferences are a drop in the bucket, friends. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/29 "2011-07-30T19:29:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > People who sit watching the entire order being added up and then, when the total is finally announced, _then_ begin to take out their wallet or purse and start gathering up their money. Did they think they weren’t going to be asked to pay for things? IME, it’s usually the little blue-haired lady who’s arthritic trembling hand reaches into the giant purse and slowly pulls out the dreaded CHECKBOOK! ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/30 "2011-07-30T19:32:21Z")
Additionally, if you are the sort of idiotic dickbag that pulls things off the bottom of a display because your tiny brain has worked out that they must be fresher, then please stop wasting oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@Nikki\_Tikki\_Tavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nikki_Tikki_Tavi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/31 "2011-07-30T19:39:33Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I thought I was the only one who noticed—Even when I unpack them gently on he conveyor belt, half the time the cashier tosses them in the bag with no concern about heaviest stuff going in first. > > Might be a small thing to some, but squashed kiwis or bruised pears and apples really sucks, especially after me taking the time to carefully choose the best looking pieces of fruit available. This is why I love the self-scan. I can bag my groceries properly, no kiwis under the potatoes or soup cans on top of the apples. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/32 "2011-07-30T19:40:35Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > IME, it’s usually the little blue-haired lady who’s arthritic trembling hand reaches into the giant purse and slowly pulls out the dreaded CHECKBOOK! Or she’s going to use her ATM card _for the first time_. Or the 600th time and she doesn’t remember how. Or her PIN. Or she tries to pay with a gas card. Or Macy’s. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/33 "2011-07-30T19:55:46Z")
Or the person who _insists_ on paying exact change, when their total is $57._ **98** _. ---
**Author:** ![BrknButterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BrknButterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrknButterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/34 "2011-07-30T20:14:11Z")
I use to work as a cashier through high school through some of college. My complaints on that side of the counter where some that you guys have already mentioned. I was told back then that each register is set up as ergonomically correct as much as one could. Looking back on that now, I’m not sure how truthful that was. Though people coming up to the express lane with their basket full but refuse to empty it. After a few times of unloading it and scanning it, your arm starts to hurt. After a while, (to get my point across) I would wait till the customer in front of them were gone and then empty their basket for them while they watched. Working the express line, clearly labeled 14 items or less and a customer comes up to the register with noticeably more. Before I can can say something, they say, “I know I have more but you weren’t busy.” :rolleyes: As the customer: The cashier and the bagger talking without acknowledging me really annoys me. I know you don’t care about my day, but I’m dropping a 100 dollars in your store. Please act like you care. When I worked as a cashier, if we were caught talking to anyone but that customer about anything that wasn’t work related; we were written up. Customer Service was taken very seriously. People that stand/block a section of the isle while they look for that certain box. When I know exactly what I want that is right in front of them, I say excuse me, but still get the look of death. People speeding to get to the the empty parking spot closest to the store. You can have it buddy. I have no problem getting a little more exercise. People that you the self scan but have a carriage full of food. (Not those big self scan, the small ones where it is obvious it is for small orders) People that are at the self scan but have nothing but produce and don’t know the names of the stuff they are buying. This making their 5 minute check out close to 15 minutes. And people that write checks! Argh. I understand there are some people that haven’t bought into the debit card world and that is totally fine. I just think it would be helpful if you had prewritten your check minus the amount. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/35 "2011-07-30T20:27:00Z")
For those of you who know what they are and have experienced the joys of either being behind someone using them and/or having been the checker who is forced to deal with them, all I have to say is: WIC checks. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/36 "2011-07-30T20:56:42Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > For those of you who know what they are and have experienced the joys of either being behind someone using them and/or having been the checker who is forced to deal with them, all I have to say is: WIC checks. They were the bane of my existence back in my cashiering days :head desk: Look, lady, WIC checks are for **specific** items and those items **only**. It does not mean you can substitute. It does not mean you can purchase more than the number of said item(s) stated clearly on your check. Do us both and that ever-growing line behind you a favor and JUST DEAL WITH IT, alright? Thank you ever so much and have a great day! (and no, I never actually said this to a customer. But oh god did I want to.) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/37 "2011-07-30T21:08:57Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > …“Mr. Jones you saved .03c shopping at Safeway today!” No, I am not Mr. Jones, I didn’t give you my real name for your stupid extortion card… I used “Jesus McHitler” on the last loyalty card app I filled out. Sadly that place doesn’t bother with the whole “use the customer’s name” thing. One place I used my actual name, one’s a spare keyring card from Mom, & 2 other’s are just random ones I found on the floor. Of course lately I’ve been doing alot of my shopping at **Aldi** and they don’t bother with any of this crap. I like Aldi. > [@Athena](#): > > …I’m particular about how I bag things, thus I almost always are in the “you bag” line. It seems horribly rude to tell that 13-year-old girl in her brightly colored soccer jersey to please keep her dirty hands off my groceries, so I just let her do it. Inevitably I end up with smooshed veggies and what could easily fit into 3 bags spread out over 5 or 6. > > I hate it. I wish I could pay them NOT to touch my groceries, but then I’d be rude. . I don’t have a problem with the cashier bagging my stuff, but I _despise_ those charity drive things. Most of the baggers just suck at bagging. Even when I was a cashier I hated it. I hated having any seperate bagger; it always forced me to go slower (& I saw the IPH scores so it wasn’t just something I imagined. God help you if use your own bags (like I do). One time I actually ended up standing right there at the end of the register after I payed to unpack all of my groceries because the bagger insisted on putting everything in a plastic bag _before_ putting in the cloth bag. And it was an actual store employee bagging (judging by the cashier’s lip-biting it was _a manger_ :)). I’m only 26. > [@runner pat](#): > > Or she’s going to use her ATM card _for the first time_. > > Or the 600th time and she doesn’t remember how. Or her PIN. Or she tries to pay with a gas card. Or Macy’s. When I worked at a gas station I had once had an old guy flip out at me because I “refused” to let him pay with his AAA membership card. > [@DCnDC](#): > > For those of you who know what they are and have experienced the joys of either being behind someone using them and/or having been the checker who is forced to deal with them, all I have to say is: WIC checks. OMG those were a huge fucking pain in the ass (with the caveat that the majority of users were perfectly pleasant, knew what they could get, and sperated their orders)! I got into so many arguments with customers who’d literly start screaming when we wouldn’t let them get stuff like frosted cereal, individualy wrapped cheese _product_ slices, peanut butter with mix-ins, soy milk (thought they could get if if it actual said “soy milk” on the check), or organic anything. Or the ones who’d try to use them either before the start date the check, or after the expiration date (I once had a customer show up with _4_ checks the day after they expired). Or they’d show up with a check made out to a different store (after Katrina checks started getting made out to “Any WIC partner” IIRC). ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/38 "2011-07-30T21:48:25Z")
I’d much rather bag my own groceries, for a very good reason. I don’t drive, so when I shop everything has to fit into the large canvas bag which I have strapped to a luggage cart. Over the years I’ve learned the best way to pack things into the bag, which includes having the weight distributed so that I can lift it onto the bus without having it spill. Last week I carefully centered the 14 lb container of cat litter in the bag so it was fully supported by the cart’s platform, then had to stop and swipe my credit card. While I was doing so a bagger (after I stopped him from putting the rest of my groceries into plastic bags) shoved the litter to the side so he could put all the canned goods to one side of it, instead of distributing them on both sides. This unbalanced the load enough that the cart tipped over the minute I started to roll it away. I had to repack the whole thing, and almost missed my bus. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/39 "2011-07-30T22:16:11Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > For those of you who know what they are and have experienced the joys of either being behind someone using them and/or having been the checker who is forced to deal with them, all I have to say is: WIC checks. Oh yeah, I remember those… I was a grocery store cashier in high school. The store I worked for only let certain cashiers handle WIC transactions. I was one of the lucky ones. So I had to run from register to register to authorize the transactions for the other cashiers. Real efficient there… My store also had these ill-advised child sized shopping carts. Yep, you read that right, toddler sized shopping carts. I’m sure you can imagine the carnage caused by a couple dozen kids racing around with mini-shopping carts that would hit the average person in the shin. They didn’t last very long, some kid knocked down an old lady who threatened to sue the store and the mini-carts mysteriously disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/40 "2011-07-30T22:36:26Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Another excellent one. > > I give plenty to charity, and I don’t like to be put on the spot so that a huge grocery store chain can trumpet how much fucking money that THEY raised on it’s behalf… Especially when I have no reason to believe that it’s going where they say it’s going. No reason not to, either, but how do I know that 21 out of those 22 cents don’t go towards some overhead or something? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830.md?page=3)