Males on supermarket tills.... what do you think?

Chris P. Bacon

7Sins wrote: »

So I won't name names here, but there's a supermarket chain where the staff are not allowed serve people they know, keeping in line with the policy of staff working on tills not being allowed talk to customers

Lidl are the same i think,i remember a woman walking out of there because she said hello how are you to the checkout girl,and she just blankly ignored her.

4zn76tysfajdxp

biko wrote: »

1938 is calling you OP, best pick up.

I'll take that.

...

What's that, prime minister? Peace for our time? Oh hallelujah!

Forest Master

Forest Master wrote: »

And with drive like that, I'd say you've gone really far since your checkout days.

You don't need to take the hard and rough route to accomplish things.

cassid

Does not bother me who works on a till. When I was in my early teens, probably would have been a bit embrassed if a bloke served me if I was buying "ladies things" like sanitary towels or tampax.

I often buy a sambo for lunch in M&S in Dublin city centre and after a few weeks, you get to know who is slow, who nearly reads the ingredient list as the swipe an item through. There are one or two people I avoid, if am in a hurry and have to get to work asap.

Mickeroo

7Sins wrote: »

So I won't name names here, but there's a supermarket chain where the staff are not allowed serve people they know, keeping in line with the policy of staff working on tills not being allowed talk to customers

My local(not a dunnes) is the same, I didn't know about the not being allowed to talk thing though? that sounds bizarre. I think they just enforced the no serving people you're pals with because of a fe people who were putting stuff through for free.

Lady Chatterton

I, along with three of my closest friends were checkout girls in Dunnes Stores during our school/college days. It was a great job, we would have loads of craic with the customers and the banter with the guys working on the shop floor was really great.

We mostly worked the weekend shift which was great, we'd love Thursday and Friday nights especially as that is when the guys would come in to buy their shower gels, deodeorants, energy drinks, beer etc.. We used to use it as an opportunity to chat them up and find out there they were hanging out etc. It was our very own form of speed dating actually We used to get invited to loads of parties, it was mighty craic.

Anyway to answer the OP's question, my local supermarket, Supervalu has quite a few men working on their checkouts, I live in a small community so I tend to know all the staff and it is nice to have a quick chat at the checkout while I'm packing my shopping.

7Sins

MrsD007 wrote: »

I, along with three of my closest friends were checkout girls in Dunnes Stores during our school/college days. It was a great job, we would have loads of craic with the customers and the banter with the guys working on the shop floor was really great.

We mostly worked the weekend shift which was great, we'd love Thursday and Friday nights especially as that it when the guys would come in to buy their shower gels, deodeorants, energy drinks, beer etc.. We used to use it as an opportunity to chat them up and find out there they were hanging out etc. It was our very own form of speed dating actually We used to get invited to loads of parties, it was mighty craic.
.

What year was all this boisterous fun to be had :pac:

Lady Chatterton

7Sins wrote: »

What year was all this boisterous fun to be had :pac:

Late 90's unfortunately. John Spillane even wrote a song about a Dunnes Stores girl :pac: :pac: :pac:

7Sins

MrsD007 wrote: »

Late 90's unfortunately. John Spillane even wrote a song about a Dunnes Stores girl :pac: :pac: :pac:

Ah, could be things have changed a lot since or maybe it's just my local one.

Lady Chatterton

7Sins wrote: »

Ah, could be things have changed a lot since or maybe it's just my local one.

Things have definitely changed.

I think that some of the larger supermarkets only have a handful of staff on the checkouts because they are busy trying to cut costs instead of providing decent customer service.

With fewer people on the checkouts, the assistants that do work on them often find themselves under pressure to keep the queues down, while also having to deal with some irate customers who feel that it's the staff who are responsible for increased prices and longer queues.

kfallon

MrsD007 wrote: »

Things have definitely changed.

I think that some of the larger supermarkets only have a handful of staff on the checkouts because they are busy trying to cut costs instead of providing decent customer service.

With fewer people on the checkouts, the assistants that do work on them often find themselves under pressure to keep the queues down, while also having to deal with some irate customers who feel that it's the staff who are responsible for increased prices and longer queues.

How would you know, you get it all delivered......with extras

Lady Chatterton

kfallon wrote: »

How would you know, you get it all delivered......with extras

I'm off................. the Tesco Delivery man has just called :pac: :pac: :pac:

7sr2z3fely84g5

i rather if the person behind the counter didn't acknowledge me,im fed up in some places of people deciding to have a full blown convo about life and holding up the queue.

kfallon

MrsD007 wrote: »

I'm off................. the Tesco Delivery man has just called :pac: :pac: :pac:

A baby oil and nutella delivery was it??? :pac:

AnneElizabeth

No one should have to work on tills, they should all be self-service.

spider guardian

The real gods in retail are those that are multiskilled, ie those who usually work on the shop floor stacking shelves or whatnot but are called up to work on the checkouts when the store is busy. I know this because I was one of them. Nothing girlie about being dexterous (or arrogant)

Mike 1972

ballsymchugh wrote: »

the lad at the till in dunnes earlier seemed to go out of his way to put the change down on the counter

This whole hand -V's- counter issue seems to pop up regularly on boards and Im always suprised how worked up people can get on the issue.

In Poland theyve the whole thing sorted a long time ago. The shops all have these little glass things on the counter and money gets left on it.

They still havent cracked "the great toilet seat debate" though.

landsleaving

73Cat wrote: »

No problem with a fella on a till. But a fella bag packing, NOOOOOO!. Tins of beans on top of yoghurts, and fruit etc:mad:

Many of the girls collecting money for... things... by packing bags would like to dispute your claim. Unfortunately their manner for doing so thus far has been to crush my bread and other soft items into oblivion under tins of fruit and cartons of milk. Recently a deaf man packed my bags and got it right. Soon before that a man saw fit to destroy my apples with some olive oil. And yet, on another occasion a young lady packed my bags with such care and attention they might have been her own.

People packing bags, in my experience, need to have spent some time packing their own shopping bags. So I'm ageist, rather than sexist.

Big Nasty

I don't care what sex they are but admittedly I would pick a longer queue if the cashier is in anyway hot and worth closer inspection (and a girl).

Has anyone noticed that there is a much higher percentage of Irish cashiers of late, even in the likes of Lidl where it was almost if not totally foreign staff initially?

astonaidan

I tend to also go out of my way to go down the hotter girl route no matter if its longer:D

Abi

If there are women on all the check-outs I go to self-service. I don't want a chat, I just want to buy my stuff and get the hell out of there. I'm sure the people behind me would appreciate being served quicker too.

Dudess

SuperInfinity wrote: »

"you discriminatory chauvanistic bastard

(inb4 feminazis: "you sexist bastard pig, a woman's place is at the till? she is not happy it's torture").

That babble is in your (over active) imagination dude. It's extremely rare you'll read comments like the above. All it takes to constitute a "feminazi" (derp) around here is a woman who defends women from the constant women-bashing.

Mike 1972

Abi wrote: »

I don't want a chat, I just want to buy my stuff and get the hell out of there.

While Id generally be in agreement I find the incidence of over-familiarity or commenting on ones purchases by checkout staff in the real world to be a lot rarer than some on this thread are suggesting. It wouldnt rank highly in the league table of first world problems.

IIRC Male Checkout staff were a rare site in Ireland prior to about 1990. Their first appearance in any significant numbers was in Quinnsworth although Dunnes seemed to have been intent on holding out until well into the decade.

mackg

Abi wrote: »

If there are women on all the check-outs I go to self-service. I don't want a chat, I just want to buy my stuff and get the hell out of there. I'm sure the people behind me would appreciate being served quicker too.

I worked on checkouts from time to time when I was in retail. I never chit chatted with customers unless they started it. Some regulars always went to my till whenever I was on there because my queue moved fast since I was just going as fast as I could so I could get back to whatever I was doing once the queues were cleared. A lot of fellas you see on tills are actually on the floor and just help out when it is busy, in my experience.

As for men not judging, I had an old woman walk up to my till with just a cucumber and a jar of vaseline and I laughed my ass off right in front of her.

Abi

Mike 1972 wrote: »

While Id generally be in agreement I find the incidence of over-familiarity or commenting on ones purchases by checkout staff in the real world to be a lot rarer than some on this thread are suggesting. It wouldnt rank highly in the league table of first world problems.

That maybe so. Though I shop in Tesco, and they've had the same dolly birds on the tills for years. These aul ones aren't content with you just bagging your stuff in silence, they have to make some sort of comment to kick off the conversation which eventually turns into nosey questions. It depends on the mentality of the town you're living in I guess. I was with a guy for years that is actually related to most of the town in some way shape or form, and immediately that means they had to know everything about me. Ridiculous.

mackg

Abi wrote: »

That maybe so. Though I shop in Tesco, and they've had the same dolly birds on the tills for years. These aul ones aren't content with you just bagging your stuff in silence, they have to make some sort of comment to kick off the conversation which eventually turns into nosey questions. It depends on the mentality of the town you're living in I guess. I was with a guy for years that is actually related to most of the town in some way shape or form, and immediately that means they had to know everything about me. Ridiculous.

There was a guy who worked on tills where I worked and a teenage fella walked up with condoms, you could tell the kid was embarrassed we've all been there, the guy on checkouts scanned the condoms and then asked the kid did he forget the wine and flowers. The kid went scarlet, it was funny but it's not his job to take the piss out of customers. Same fella always felt the need to lecture students about how unhealthy what they were buying was. It's not just the aul wans that are at it I'm afraid.

EdgarAllenPoo

I'm the only male on till where I work, don't notice a difference from female customers but males do tend to appreciate the minimum chat maximum speed approach which suits me fine, i have learned to do the whole chitchat waffle bit too though.....always wanted to run a shop like i saw in through episode of the Simpson were Apu takes Marge to the shop with a "single man" checkout.

Cill Dara Abu

PseudoFamous wrote: »

I bought dogfood, condoms and motor oil recently, I got a glare from the woman on the till. Granted, funny things to buy together, but I'm not making more than one trip for them.
When buying nappies for my uncle's child, I got asked "What would you be needing nappies for?".
When buying cigarettes, I got asked "Does your mother know about you smoking? I'll be talking to her about that the next time she comes in."

When you go to a man on a till, they don't care enough to say anything about what you're buying, and when you go to self service, it can't say much more than "PLEASE PUT THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA". Thus, I prefer men and self service machines, because women cashiers are too nosey and gossipy from my experience.

You bought food for your dog, then you bought oil and then condoms.

Poor doggy:(

DominoDub

My Local EuroSpar has only Men on the till ...but thats maybe due to location (Dublin 2):o

Mike 1972

mackg wrote: »

There was a guy who worked on tills ......

I note with some approval the usage of past tense.

Sacked I hope ?

mackg

Cill Dara Abu wrote: »

You bought food for your dog, then you bought oil and then condoms.

Poor doggy:(

At least he bought him dinner first:D

mackg

Mike 1972 wrote: »

I note with some approval the usage of past tense.

Sacked I hope ?

Nah! Past tense as in I used to work there, he was still there last time I was in there.

PseudoFamous

PseudoFamous wrote: »

Women on tills seem to judge me on what I buy. Men don't give a toss. Self service isn't sentient.

I was in a shop in Belfast a few months ago. Had some sterling left that I wanted to get rid of, about £3, so bought a few chocolate bars. The woman at the till says to me "so is that your dinner?" Cheek! :mad:

tallaghtmick

My first day as manager for Dunnes involved me sitting in a suit on the tills because I needed to know how they worked.....up walks bill o herlihy "jaysus you're very well dressed for the till" had a good chat with him anyway:D.

SuperInfinity

Karsini wrote: »

I was in a shop in Belfast a few months ago. Had some sterling left that I wanted to get rid of, about £3, so bought a few chocolate bars. The woman at the till says to me "so is that your dinner?" Cheek! :mad:

Once I was at the checkout with only fresh and healthy foods, which I do sometimes, and the woman there looked really amazed and as if she felt compelled to come up with some comment. In the end she said: "very serious today aren't we?" and I just said nothing, I don't know what I could have said. I've highly tried to avoid her till ever since.

It may seem harmless, but whether we like it or not we're all a bit influenced by others. This is why sometimes in the past I've actually thrown junk into my trolley/basket that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, so as not to stand out, and that's a very bad situation. You wouldn't appreciate if a complete stranger came up to you and starting commenting on your clothes, or some food you've gotten in a restaurant, so why is it okay at the checkout?