Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's one thing about Trader Joe's; they are meticulous with their packing. With that said, I don't really care.

I often end up with overly heavy bags at our local TJs. It seems to be their goal to use the least bags possible which means I’m struggling to get them to the car.

Just tell the cashier that you need lighter bags and don’t mind paying for more bags.

I walk to/from Trader Joe’s with all my groceries, so I always let them know I need the weight balanced in all the bags, and they’re great at it. Much better than I would be. It’s one of the reasons I shop at TJs vs. going to a place where I’d have to pack the bags myself.

I don't really care because our personal chef does all this for us. I don't have to waste time at the supermarket.

Yes, in the last couple of years, I swear most of the people working at grocery stores are actively trying to either destroy the groceries or be as inefficient as possible. I cannot even fathom how they can put something like eggs or bread in the bottom of a bag and then throw cans on top. I used to just do self check out but now they all have limit. Now I try to aim for a line that has one cashier and no baggers so I can bag my own.

I wish I could let it go, but it hurts to see my fresh bread and vegetables be destroyed. Sometimes I will do several “runs” intro the store so I can go through self check out several times. It is ridiculous that I have to play these games, but food is too expensive to have it ruined. There have always been good and bad baggers at stores, but now it is really bad at the places near me.

You cannot complain about employees that get paid minimum wage and get evaluated based on how many customers they check out per hour. Blame the managers and the owners, do not blame the cashiers just trying to get through their day. You would be SHIT at their job because it would take you an hour to get one customer through.

I don’t think OP is unreasonable at all. I’m often buying for 2 households — some groceries for us, some for my elderly mother. Bagging 2 cartons of eggs in the same bag — when they have clearly and deliberately separated on the belt, with bags in between them — is just annoying. Rather than being able to just drop my mom’s one bag at her house, I have to unpack and repack all the bags in the trunk of my car in her driveway to get all her stuff into the same bag.

Life is too short.
Take a chill pill.

I’m like you OP in that I try to organize my items on the belt so they are bagged like with like. I do find it annoying when they randomly start filling bags but I can live with it. What concerns me more is when they put something fragile or easily crushed under heavy items or decide to place raw meat in a bag of produce. I try to speak up politely but often I find myself repacking as I step away from the register. I think the employees lack training. Nowadays, I just do self-checkout which turns out to be a headache since I’m very slow and I always end up triggering an alarm and then need to wait for someone to come help me.

I can’t be bothered with this given all the hungry people in the world. I stand there thankful that I have food and the both me and the cashier are employed. Have a blessed day.

Anonymous wrote:That's one thing about Trader Joe's; they are meticulous with their packing. With that said, I don't really care.

I often end up with overly heavy bags at our local TJs. It seems to be their goal to use the least bags possible which means I’m struggling to get them to the car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loathe self-checkout because it puts people out of work and me at the mercy of an unforgiving and frequently unreliable robot. It really pisses me off to be expected to look up, e.g., produce codes that even a minimally competent checker would have memorized.

I put my stuff on the checkout belt in the order I want it bagged.

It drives me crazy when the checker takes things out of order to bag them some other way. Particularly since they’re now charging for bags, and the bags typically are astonishingly fragile.

Two other off topic things that degrade my shopping experience are aisles jammed with stand-alone displays, merchandise waiting to be shelved, people shelving during the day, etc.; and expired food still offered for sale so that I constantly have to check things before buying.

You should bring your own, reusable bags.

Full of e-coli and other bacteria as studies have repeatedly proven? No thanks. Paper bags are a renewable resource that keeps people employed and are also great for providing biodegradable home wastebasket liners.

Don't eat your reusable bags?

Quite a bit of energy when into harvesting the trees to make paper. It should be recycled into other paper products. Compost something else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loathe self-checkout because it puts people out of work and me at the mercy of an unforgiving and frequently unreliable robot. It really pisses me off to be expected to look up, e.g., produce codes that even a minimally competent checker would have memorized.

I put my stuff on the checkout belt in the order I want it bagged.

It drives me crazy when the checker takes things out of order to bag them some other way. Particularly since they’re now charging for bags, and the bags typically are astonishingly fragile.

Two other off topic things that degrade my shopping experience are aisles jammed with stand-alone displays, merchandise waiting to be shelved, people shelving during the day, etc.; and expired food still offered for sale so that I constantly have to check things before buying.

You should bring your own, reusable bags.

Full of e-coli and other bacteria as studies have repeatedly proven? No thanks. Paper bags are a renewable resource that keeps people employed and are also great for providing biodegradable home wastebasket liners.

I hate how they pack stuff at Wegmans since they switched to paper bags. The lady put my doughnuts in sideways since that is the only way the box fit in the bag and they all got smushed. And they jam so much in. Terrible!

I just start packing my own groceries (but DH and I usually shop together on the weekends so he can unload from the cart).

I do use an insulated bag (we usually go to multiple stores in one long trip) but on those occasions I don't bag my own stuff, the cashiers (who are sentient life forms) understand the concept of the insulated bag and know how to pack it.

Anonymous wrote:I loathe self-checkout because it puts people out of work and me at the mercy of an unforgiving and frequently unreliable robot. It really pisses me off to be expected to look up, e.g., produce codes that even a minimally competent checker would have memorized.

I put my stuff on the checkout belt in the order I want it bagged.

It drives me crazy when the checker takes things out of order to bag them some other way. Particularly since they’re now charging for bags, and the bags typically are astonishingly fragile.

Two other off topic things that degrade my shopping experience are aisles jammed with stand-alone displays, merchandise waiting to be shelved, people shelving during the day, etc.; and expired food still offered for sale so that I constantly have to check things before buying.

You should bring your own, reusable bags.

I just repack as necessary before I put my bags in the car. I'd rather monitor the register to make sure they are charging me the right amounts. You'd be surprised how often mistakes are made and lower prices/promotions are missed.