I'm one of the few people I know who can actually say that they really like their job. I'm a cashier at Kroger, and there are lots of reasons I love my job: I get to talk to people all day, I get an employee discount, and whenever something gets the slightest dent in it, we can't sell it, so the employees get it for free(we had about 10 cakes one day in the break room); however, some days there are customers who make me want to punch them in the face. Hard. I consider myself a patient person, but some things just really get under my skin and everyone else's too. So, here are 10 things that annoy cashiers.
10. Complaining about prices.
I don't make the prices. If I did, they'd be paying me MUCH more than what I make now. Complaining to me about the prices does nothing. The highest manager in the store doesn't even determine the prices, so what could you possibly think I can do about it??? Even worse? Saying that you can get something we have for cheaper at a different store. If you can get it cheaper there, then GO THERE!!! I'm not forcing you to be here, so if the prices are lower, then go there. Just know that the customer service is probably gonna be crappy though. *gives Wal-mart the side eye*
9. Complaining about the pinpad questions.
Scenario: You swipe your card and type in your pin number. As you try to grab your groceries and leave, the cashier reminds you that there are still questions to be answered. Your response: "Ugh, how many questions does this thing ask???" Two. It asks two questions. Do you want cash back? Do you accept the total? DONE. It's not rocket science. If you hate those two short questions that much, then press credit or pay with cash. Otherwise shut up because YOU chose to pay with a card. Not me.
8. People who come in right before we close.
I've just done my 5 minute announcement. It was great. I'm wiping down my belt when suddenly, a customer walks in. And grabs a cart. WHY?!?! I know you heard my announcement from outside. Even worse? There's another store down the street that's open 24 hours, so why would you come here knowing we're about to close. This is literally one of the most inconsiderate things ever. Even worse is when we do the "we're closed' announcement and someone who was already in the store continues to leisurely shop like we're not all ready to go home. This is SO inconsiderate. Cashiers have lives too. And sleep to catch up on. And homework.
6. "I forgot something. Can I just run back and get one more thing?"
NO! The majority of people that do this are either at the front of a long line of other customers, or they let me get in the middle of the transaction before saying something. Then, I have to avoid eye contact with the other customers behind them while we all wait on them. Worse, if I've already started the transaction, I need a manager to void it, and they usually miraculously disappear when this situation happens. It's rude to other people, and annoying. My advice: make a list, and if you still forget something, buy what you have and then get back in line. You're wasting mine and everyone else's time.
7. "So it's free right?"
NO!!!!! This one really irritates me. Just because something doesn't ring up right, doesn't mean that you automatically get it for free. If a tag is expired and you get more than one of that item, you may get one or two of them for free, but if we gave away every item that didn't ring up right the first time, we'd be bankrupt. It's an honest mistake and easily fixable. If you're trying so hard to get an item for free, chances are you don't need to be buying it anyway, but that's none of my business.
5. Trying to give me change after I've closed the drawer.
Example: Your total comes to $25.32. You give me $30 and I type that in and start getting the change. Just as I'm about to close the drawer, you say "Oh wait I think I have the 32 cents." No. You should've said that as soon as you handed me the bills. Now I have to count what's in my hand, add your change to your FIRST total, and recount your change. There's a lot of room for error there, and it's just rude to wait until I've already counted it out. What's even worse is if you try to give me more change than what you owe, like giving me 50 cents instead of the 32. I have to mentally add that up now because the receipt has already printed and it's annoying. Next time, you'll just be out of luck.
*Me when a customer tries to give me change after I've closed the drawer*
4. Asking for cigarettes at the end of the transaction.
There are a few problems with this one. #1: You could've gone to customer service and gotten the cigarettes BEFORE you came to my register. #2: You also could've asked me for them BEFORE I started the transaction. If you do that, I can get my bagger to get them while I start the transaction. #3: Smoking is gross and you shouldn't be doing it anyway. That last one was more of a personal opinion, but you get the point. Stop wasting people's time.
3. Not emptying your basket.
If I have 3 people in front of you, 17 dividers, and there's room for your entire basket to be on the belt, WHY HAVEN'T YOU EMPTIED IT YET?!?! It makes me SO angry when people have been waiting in my line and when they get to the front, they just expect me to empty their basket for them when they could've EASILY done it themselves. Warning: If you come up to my line and do this, I'm dumping all of your stuff out in one swift motion. You've been warned.
2. Ignoring me.
This grinds my gears so much. If I greet you, RESPOND! Even if you're upset, it's still common courtesy to respond when someone greets you. If you didn't wanna talk to anybody, you should've went to self checkout. If I ask you if you have any coupons, not saying anything is not an answer. I'm gonna keep asking until you say yes or no. Looking at the pinpad and waiting on me to realize that you don't have any coupons is not gonna do anything, so your best bet is to just answer me so we can both be done with this transaction. If I ask for your rewards card, don't look down at the conveyor belt where you sat it. TELL ME THAT YOU SAT IT THERE. I'm not looking for it to be sitting on top of your groceries. Use your words.
And the number one thing that people do to annoy me is.....
1. Throwing the money on the counter.
Oh. My. God. Words cannot describe how much I despise people who throw the money on the counter rather than put it in my hand. ESPECIALLY if my hand is already out. Because I usually have a line when this happens, I scoop the money up anyway, but just know that I won't be serving you anymore. If you're a money thrower, don't come to my line. It's rude and it makes me feel like you think I'm unworthy of having money handed to me.
I'm gonna be honest. It took me a couple of days to write this because I kept getting too angry to finish it; however, I finally made it through it and I hope you guys enjoyed this fun post. I hope you check out some more of my posts and I'll see you next time :-)
