Well, there's a reason for that. Its been sort of . . . . . . . interesting, lately.
Had one day last week where there was an accident on the local highway that backed up traffic TERRIBLY. We had most of it coming past us because the highway was closed for such a long time. We actually had a lot of people that just pulled in the parking lot and figured they'd get the shopping done instead of just sitting still. Made for a very busy afternoon. A lot of people were asking US for updates and if we knew what was happening.
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Then we have a couple of cashier issues. Now I am trying not to get involved in this crap but when it affects MY performance I'm going to say something.
1st: The cashier that used to be on customer service. I wrote about her when they first chose her to do the job. At that time I thought it was a wrong choice and then, later, said that I was mistaken when she turned out to be very good at it. I was pleasantly surprised at what a responsible young lady she turned into. Well, since hours have been cut and she doesn't get to do that any more she has gotten very, very bad. I am not sure if there is something else happening in her life that is causing the change but she does not give a DAMN about this job anymore. She comes in late, is very tired, was texting at the register ( a big NO-NO), sits on the bag holders, lies across the belt, disappears at times, flaunts the rules. Something drastic has changed in her life to cause this. She is behaving so out of character.
2nd: We have a new cashier who is a teenager as well. She is trying to do her job but is trying TOO hard. She doesn't go anywhere without running, she is too apologetic, too helpful to customers, almost to the point of being pushy. Its hard to describe. She had a loaf of bread the other day that wouldn't scan because the label was slightly askew. So she then tried to punch in the numbers on the label. In the meantime she has opened this customers loaf of bread up to get to the label, she is trying so hard but you can see the customer trying hard not to just grab it right out of her hands. I finally told her to just punch in the value of the bread and hit the bakery key. So then she starts to apologize to the customer and did she want another loaf of bread "I didn't touch this one" and on and on. I told her to just listen to the customer when she said no and to move on because she was taking up a lot of the customer's time.
Then she has a bag of eight limes and punches in the code for them and puts them in the customer's bag. Except that limes are each not per pound. So she didn't charge for 7 of them. I told her about that which got me thinking of earlier in the shift when she had asked about mangoes, another per item price not per pound. And I began to wonder how many items have gone through her without being charged correctly. This kind of thing should not be an issue if the cashier keeps an eye on what comes up on the register. You HAVE to do that. Its how you learn prices for the odd time something comes through that does not scan and you can't get a grocery clerk to price it for you.
The running thing is just a bad idea, because running in a store or any work place implies that there is a reason to run and therefore people can get panicked. Running should only be done for emergencies.
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We had a floor walker for a whole weekend. He actually caught somebody stealing and then we didn't have him any more. A few days ago Head Grocery Clerk noticed a buggy sitting with a fair number of items in it. He asked Head Cashier if she knew what it was about and told her that that was the second buggy he had found. Well not an hour later doesn't he just HAPPEN to walk past the exit and catch someone heading towards the door. The couple quickly covered by saying "did you leave your wallet in the car again?" And left the buggy to go get the "wallet". Of course they drove away. The buggy had almost $250.00 worth of meat in it.
They must have been testing the waters with the first two buggies. When they thought it was safe they tried and luckily our guy was there. Except that he feels very bad because if he hadn't just happened to have been there we would have been robbed. Again!!
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Maybe its just me, but I don't see how cutting the hours of cashiers and others is saving money when it means you have less eyes in the store watching for these things. The BIG Boss likes to see everyone 'busy' and not standing around, but I'll tell you when I'm "just standing around" I am looking at customers and watching how they act. You get to know your regulars and when there are strangers you watch them more. You can be looking down different aisles. I find that the 'older' cashiers are more aware of people and how they act. The kids are too busy just getting them through and out, then they go back to their cell phones or magazines, or eating, yes STILL eating, at the register. They are not looking at what is happening around them.
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Its a shame we don't hire more mature people. Maybe they'd actually do the job and do it well.
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