frustrating grocery store experience
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Anonymous
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I am 15 weeks pregnant and very sick. Went to the grocery store today to grab maybe 7 things and ended up getting behind a woman who was paying with food stamps (I know that's not what it's called anymore but I don't know the name.. food coupons?). It was such a disaster. The clerk had NO CLUE what to do and took a good 15 minutes to ring this lady up. Everyone else in line was getting pissed and moved to other lanes. I didn't because a) I felt bad for the lady in front of me and didn't want to make a big deal of it, and b) didn't have the energy to find a new basket, take my stuff of the conveyor belt thingy, etc.
Finally a supervisor helped out and the poor woman in front of me finished. I felt so sorry for her because everyone was being such a jerk in the line and we all assumed it was her fault that we were being held up. I got through and the clerk was just a mess. She rang my asparagus up as avocados and when I brought it to her attention, she then rang it up as black avocados instead, and green avocados one mor etime, and charged me for all of it! Trying to get her to remove the charges was a whole other ordeal, and the whole thing repeated itself when she double charged me for my red and green peppers. Everyone in line was pissed off at me b/c it looked like I was the difficult one (like the lady ahead of me). I eventually just said screw it b/c I thought I was going to vomit, paid, and left. Got home and of course I had one extra red pepper charge and two random avocado charges. I am going to go back tomorrow to get my money back if only for the principle. Would you say something about how bad this clerk was? I don't want to get anybody fired but this girl was just AWFUL at her job. |
Anonymous
| Yes, you should say something. If she is bad at her job that means she was not properly trained and/or is she's not a good fit for that particular task. Either way, the person who bears responsibility for having untrained and incompetent people on the line is the manager. |
Anonymous
| No, I would not. Likely, she was doing her best at a low-paying, thankless job that she needs. Why cause her trouble if you do not have to? Give her a break! It was not like she was being rude. Perhaps she was new at the job? Not well-trained? It is not all about you. |
Anonymous
| It's possible she was just having a really bad day or something, but yes, I would call the store and say something. Or, if you're going there anyway, ask to speak to a manager and explain what happened. It's holiday season; if she can't handle a relatively simple transaction, she's going to F everything up on Wednesday when people are Thanksgiving shopping. |
Anonymous
| I think you should wait until next week to return the extra peppers. |
Anonymous
| No, but in the future if the clerk isn't trained to do food stamps and having difficulty with basics, then I'd go to another line as then who knows what other system features they don't know. Food stamps are very common. |
Anonymous
| Say something. She might need better training. I feel bad for the woman with the food stamps. Fwiw, when there us a delay or problem I don't always assume it's the customer. And I've been a grocery store cashier as well as a customer stuck with a clueless cashier. |
Anonymous
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Are you sure it was food stamps, and not WIC?
The food stamp program now, is on a plastic card that looks like a debit card or credit card...and is mostly automomatic at the register. WIC comes in vouchers for specific items. I was a grocery store checker many years ago when I was in college, and processing WIC vouchers were a PITA. Each item had to be rung up separately. Items had to match the type/flavor/size/brand etc. that was written on the voucher EXACTLY, and a lot of times the WIC recipients either didn't understand that, or understood it fully but tried to get away with getting a different brand/size/etc. |
Anonymous
| Yes, I'd say something. Try to think of one or two nice things to say about the clerk to balance out this criticism. |
Anonymous
How is this all about OP? The poor woman who was using food stamps must have been mortified by the line. Maybe OP can afford to pay for avocados she didn't buy but lots of people can't. If the clerk had a good attitude, OP can tell the store that when she recounts the problem. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
No, you should find something productive to do with your time. On principal 
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Anonymous
| Dear lord, sounds like your day was just aweful! Poor, poor poor you!!! |
Anonymous
Just because someone is more fortunate than others doesn't mean their money is worth less and can be thrown out the window. Why should OP be charged more for her food, double charged, and mischarged for items simply because the person in front of her was on food stamps? That makes no sense. |
Anonymous
It's OP's post. The woman in the line with the food stamps probably was mortified, or maybe she wasn't, but this isn't her post. This post is from the OP's perspective & how the cashier was not competent to ring up the customers in her line, then overcharged OP. Doesn't make OP a bad person just because the person in front of her was receiving gov. services. Sheesh. |