Grocery store etiquette

[ChrisH]

For all those reasons I do my grocery shopping online, at either Tesco or Asda, from the warmth and comfort of home. It's extra great Christmas time.

[pomtzu]

The aisle blockers are my biggest peeve - 2 people going in opposite directions just have to stop and chat and get annoyed if you politely ask to get by. Maybe they would relate more to being rude to them.
The out of control screaming kids being screamed at by their out of control screaming parents. I don't know which is worse!!!
The "ankle busters" - following so close behind you that when you stop - you get rammed with their cart. OUCH!
And of course don't forget the baggers with not an ounce of common sense who pack the cleaning products in with the food products, or the shampoo in with the eggs - only to discover when you get home that the top of the shampoo bottle popped open. Get the picture on that one???

[Pam]

Here in B.C. we have to pay for our carts. At one store you have to put a quarter in the slot and at another, it's a dollar coin. It really works because everyone puts their carts away so they get their deposit back. And any carts that are left in the parking lot are quickly scooped up by people who want a 'free' cart or the coin they'll get when they return it to the corral.

There is a Shop Rite about two miles from me that does that and I think it is a terrific idea. The little slot only accepts quarters so you have to make sure you have the correct change before you go shopping. I now keep a quarter in my console just for shopping and I get it back when I am finished shopping if I return the cart.

Getting back to Medusa's first post, I would have had to look and see what book that girl was reading! It must have been quite good to hold her attention like that. I would have to go out and buy it!

[Ginger's Mom]

Worst one I ever saw?

I was checking out at a store and the entire time the CASHIER was on the cell phone. I had to lean over to see her display just to find out my total. She never once acknowledged me.

Yes, that has happened to me, too. I am still not sure how I managed to walk out of the store without demanding to see the manager.

[moosmom]

Where I work, we are not allowed to have our cellphones on the floor. That means, not in our pockets turned off...NOTHING.

Another BIG peeve of mine is when someone comes up to my register talking on the cellphone and expects me to unload their cart. I refuse to wait on anyone who is on their cellphone not paying attention. I'll just stand there and stare at them. When they look at me, I simply say, "That must be important, I'll wait till you're done." You should see how fast they hang up. I think it's rude. I don't do it when I'm shopping so I expect people to give me the same courtesy.

I've noticed that Americans have become very lazy. Having worked in retail for 3 years, I think I've seen it all. From what you guys are saying, I guess I have yet more to learn.

Only in America.

[Medusa]

I had no idea of the can of worms I was opening up. Well, maybe it's good that we get these things off our chests, eh?

[Scooter's Mom]

I use coupons a lot. When I get to the register, people behind me huff and puff about having to wait an extra 1-3 minutes while the cashier rings up my coupons that save me anywhere from $10-$40 per order. I try to be courteous and tell the person in line behind me, "I have coupons so it may take an extra moment." Sometimes they huff and puff and leave the line! In today's economy, you'd think that everyone would be couponing! It really saves a ton of money.

[RedHedd]

Plastic bags have now been outlawed in San Francisco. I never did like them - the crackling drives me nuts! The few times my store ran out of paper bags, I ended up with 20 bazillion little plastic bags that just flop around all over my trunk.

When S.F. made the switch to no plastic, the stores were handing out cloth bags for us to reuse. I learned my lesson there - the baggers thought they were being oh-so-helpful trying to load my whole order into one bag. They became so heavy I couldn't lift them! So now I reuse the paper bags and the stores are using sturdier paper bags that can be reused many times.

I miss the old days when the clerk unloaded your cart, counted the change back to you properly, bagged your order and offered to help you out to your car. Now only Trader Joe's will unload your cart for you.

[kitten645]

I work at a grocery store and can attest to all the above It really all comes down to being oblivious to those around you and downright rudeness.
I can add the the list with the kids running thru the store picking up things and dumping them wherever. Stepping on things, opening packages Running up and down the handicap ramp. Mothers completely oblivious.

Additionally, the people that stuff their faces on samples from one end of the store to the other. People with 12 empty sample cups walking around. Better yet, the ones that dump the empty cups anywhere they please..in magazine racks, counter tops, bread bins. It's just disgusting. Empty or half empty coffee cups as well.

A friend of mine once told me "Working retail, you soon realize that Americans SUCK! " LOL. Well, there are the nice ones too. We have customers that make us cakes and stuff. Sorta funny being in a grocery store there's tons to eat but it's the thought

[caseysmom]

Plastic bags have now been outlawed in San Francisco. I never did like them - the crackling drives me nuts! The few times my store ran out of paper bags, I ended up with 20 bazillion little plastic bags that just flop around all over my trunk.

When S.F. made the switch to no plastic, the stores were handing out cloth bags for us to reuse. I learned my lesson there - the baggers thought they were being oh-so-helpful trying to load my whole order into one bag. They became so heavy I couldn't lift them! So now I reuse the paper bags and the stores are using sturdier paper bags that can be reused many times.

I miss the old days when the clerk unloaded your cart, counted the change back to you properly, bagged your order and offered to help you out to your car. Now only Trader Joe's will unload your cart for you.

Here in the sacramento area we have bel air/raleys and their customer service is really great ...the prices suck though... they do unload the cart and ask you about ten times if you need help out

[Medusa]

They hardly ever ask if we need help loading our groceries into our car. We have to ask them. I hardly ever ask for help because it's usually teenage kids who are so slow that they make me look like the Roadrunner. If I have an unusually large order and the weather is brutal, I may ask for help but I usually go it alone. I don't even care about that, really. It isn't the store employees that give me cause for complaint. It's always been shoppers who are oblivious to the fact that other people exist.

[shepgirl]

Another big one that I forgot is when I'm trying to get my groceries done and parents have these wailing kids in tow who run into people until they are put in the basket, then the screaming starts, so to quiet them down the moms take a bag of cookies, chips, or whatever off the shelf, open it and let the kids help themselves. This disgusts me to no end.

[sumbirdy]

the moms take a bag of cookies, chips, or whatever off the shelf, open it and let the kids help themselves. This disgusts me to no end.

Actually Sam Walton likes people to do this in Wal-Mart (as long as you pay for it of course) Supposedly makes them shop longer. We learned that from a cashier. We sometime let Nathan eat some goldfish crackers in Wal-Mart if we run over time and shop through lunch. The only thing I find disgusting is when parents do this and then put it back on the shelf half empty. Don't even pay for it or anything. But if you're going to pay for it anyway, and no one's dropping it all over the floor, then why not?

[Catlady711]

Dang!!! That would never be allowed at our store! At our store, you don't even get a "warning" any longer, if they are caught texting or talking on the phone, they just get sent home. It is mostly the teens who have issues with this.

Actually the one I distinctly remember doing this was in her mid 30's or so. But then again now-a-days age and cell phones doesn't matter. Recently I saw a lady at a park walking around (not watching traffic and other people of course) yabbing away on her cell phone....age??? Appeared to be about 55-60 years old!

Bagging is an issue for me. You can't please anyone any longer. I have some people who insist on using paper bags, which we are "discouraged" from having out. I have others who insist on paper in plastic. Fine, whatever. I have others who insist on double paper and double plastic together. That one, I don't get. It's a waste.

BTW when I was working the grocery store we were told to hide the paper bags and not ask 'paper or plastic'. However on the night shift we didn't have a big supervisor there so we put them out anyways for our customers we knew wanted paper to make our lives easier not having to rummage under the counter for them. If more stores would give the discount for reusing bags or bringing a canvas one in, I think it would solve alot of those problems. Only one store I shop at actually gives a 5 cent per bag discount, the rest sell the canvas bags but you get no discount for using them.

As for the bagging requests you get, I can explain a couple of those to you because my mom and I have requested a few of them ourselves.

The paper bags in plastic is because paper bags stand up, hold more stuff, the plastic bags have the handles. If they still made paper bags with handles this probably wouldn't happen much.

The double paper or double plastic is for those people who have way too many times encountered the cheap made bags that like to bust all over in your car on the way home, or the worst busting just before you get to your door with them causing your eggs to break and milk to spill everywhere.

I'm not quite sure what the double paper in double plastic is except a combo of the first two. Never heard of that one before.

I have some people who insist on putting the frozen foods in a paper bag. UMMMMM.... is it just me, or do the thawing packages not make your paper bag a big soggy?

Ok I and my mom have done that one freqently. In our case, by asking for frozen in a special bag we don't get people putting the frozen mixed in with cereal boxes. The paper is a better insulator than the thin plastic and keeps the food cold longer if it's well packed. Unless you have a long drive home and it's hotter than hades, neither mom nor I have ever had a soggy bag when we got home.

've had other people take a bunch of folded paper bags home because they needed "recycle" bags. I've had others who take a bunch of the plastic bags that haven't been used, just rip them off the bagging area. Ummm... can you say cheap. Everything extra adds up to higher prices that the stores are going to charge.

This is a similar problem in fast food places where people scarf up handsfull of napkins, ketchup, straws ect. I was recently in a KFC and the sign on the wall read 'extra condiments will now have an additional charge'.

I could see where something is messy you might need an extra couple napkins or maybe an extra straw or fork, but a whole handfull? That's just rude and cheap.

[Catlady711]

But if you're going to pay for it anyway, and no one's dropping it all over the floor, then why not?

I personally don't have a problem with that as long as the kid is not making a mess or anything. But technically until you've actually paid for it, it's not yours to eat or use. The store has no way of knowing which people are going to pay and which ones aren't. Plus alot of people do that with things that are priced per pound like grapes/produce. As a cashier I had people hand me an empty grape bag full of stems and expect me to ring it up. Oh I rang it up alright but I guarantee you it was priced as if they had about 10 pounds of grapes.