You were in line for 5 minutes!!!

[jackfaire]

I used to have to pay with checks before they came out with Debit Cards. It was 2001 and you know what I did. As I waited in line I filled out the date, name of the store and signed it. Then I added the amount when the cashier told me to. This is not a new thing and people have been making jokes about this for a very long time.

So then why lady in line ahead of me who was there for 5 minutes did you not fill it out in line, why did you not fill it out while the cashier was checking you out why did you in fact not start filling out the check until she had moved on to ringing up my groceries why when I had finished paying and you were still filling out a check did you feel a need to set down your purse so that it blocked my groceries forcing me to wait for you to finish paying and move your purse before I could get my groceries and leave. (It's a grocery store with self bagging and they have two sides so that the cashier can ring out one person and then while that person is bagging their groceries she can check out another ideally she flips back and forth on each belt with customers quickly bagging their stuff and leaving)


Check lady held me up and then everyone in line with us because she couldn't be bothered to fill it out before reaching the cashier.

And I know at least one person here is going to defend not filling out check until they hit the counter and I will let you know normally this wouldn't bother me. I could roll with it. But that store has 20 registers and 4 self checkouts. The wait time at self checkout was rolling around 3 minutes. All but 2 of the other 20 registers were open. Not just open but so filled up with lines that it was like one long traffic jam with lines curving in and around each other. If you wanted to move to another store aisle you had to go to the back of the store to do so. You would reach the end of the aisle have to turn around and go back the way you came cuz the front was crazy with people trying to check out.

So here's my thing if you walk in and it's visibly that busy and you know you're paying with a check and you know you're unwilling to even start filling it out until the cashier is finished with their part then why not leave and come back later when it's slower?

Seriously I wanna go all Ask Ashley on this one.


EDIT

PS Sorry about the old ass reference novel I am working on is set in 90s so been playing 90s music and researching tings from the 90s to make sure any joke or reference the characters make in 1995 isn't from after 1995.

[Mr Hero]

To me this sounds like common sense. When I filled out checks, I filled as much out as I could. And it wasn't even to be considerate of people behind me. It was so I didn't have to be in the store longer than I had to.

[jackfaire]

To me this sounds like common sense.

It does last time I spoke up and said something to a fellow customer that was holding me up they gave me a lecture about people using signed blank checks. To which I pointed out unless the person's name happens to be (name of store) then they can't cash a check that is only blank in the dollar amount.

[s_stabeler]

to be fair, it depends on how much you trust the store. Theoretically, a signed cheque with no amount could have any amount filled in if the store got their hands on the cheque before you added the amount. it's technically safer to just fill in the name of the store, then add the amount when you get it, THEN sign it.

[jackfaire]

it's technically safer to just fill in the name of the store, then add the amount when you get it, THEN sign it.

Agreed and I wouldn't mind if she just hadn't added the amount and signed it but she hadn't even located the checkbook in her large over-sized purse. Me I had my Debit card out of my wallet and in my front pocket ready to slide as soon as my groceries were rung up so I could bag and go.

[HYHYBT]

The thing is, there are reasons other than rudeness and paranoia for doing this; they just don't apply as often as it happens. Though, come to think of it, they grow relatively more likely as check-writing in stores declines.

Come to think of it, I did this just this past Saturday, though thankfully without much of a line behind me. It was at the souvenir/snack stand on a train. They only took checks or cash, and until I got to the counter there was nowhere to set down the items I wanted to buy or to rest the checkbook for writing... nor was I absolutely certain who to make it out to; there were at least two clear possibilities.

In a more normal store, you might forget you're paying by check until it comes time to do it, especially if you normally don't (say, you've lost your card). You might not be physically able to navigate your purse without a place to set it down. You might not realize the total will be more than the cash you have. You might have lost your pen. And so on...

It was downright embarrassing, seeming so incompetent the other day. Some people react to that type of embarrassment apologetically, but others go for the "the best defense is attack" method: mean attitude to discourage comment, nasty response as if you're in the wrong if you dare make one anyway.

[mjr]

I used to be an advocate of "no checks" lines. If you pay with cash or CC, you can use those lines, and if you're paying with a check, don't use the "no checks" lines.

Of course, as is evident from CS, people don't read signs, and it would just cause problems.

I've got a similar attitude about "Express" lanes. 10/15/20 items isn't a suggestion for the max. It's the max. More than that? Put stuff back, or GTFO of line.

I was in a Wal-Mart once, in an express lane. The lady in front of me had TWO separate "orders" (i.e. one group of items, then another). I let out an audible disgusted sigh, and went to a different lane. Guess who finished first...

[Gravekeeper]

To me this sounds like common sense.

Well there's your problem.

[HYHYBT]

It makes more sense to treat them the way people (including the police) treat speed limits. If the limit is 45 MPH, and you're going 47, nobody cares; why make a fuss if your ten items turn out to be eleven?

[jackfaire]

It makes more sense to treat them the way people (including the police) treat speed limits. If the limit is 45 MPH, and you're going 47, nobody cares; why make a fuss if your ten items turn out to be eleven?

I agree. Sure if someone comes up with an overflowing cart send them away. But usually the people with too many items fall into the "weren't sure how many" category and if we are going to be anal about every single item over it's going to take even longer forcing every person over 10 to repack their trolley and head to another line and for the cashier to 0 out the sale. Quicker for the cashier to just finish.

Most of what seems to take more time in express lanes from my experience is that more people seem to try to have full conversations with the cashier in that line than any other. If you want fast service don't go to the express lane. I know it seems counter-intuitive but having more items gives both the checker and the customer a greater sense of urgency in getting out.

The only thing faster than either of those is self-checkout which is my preferred method because most days I am really not very good at small talk most days.

[mjr]

I agree. Sure if someone comes up with an overflowing cart send them away. But usually the people with too many items fall into the "weren't sure how many" category and if we are going to be anal about every single item over it's going to take even longer forcing every person over 10 to repack their trolley and head to another line and for the cashier to 0 out the sale. Quicker for the cashier to just finish.

Well, then you start getting into the Sorites paradox (i.e. when is a "heap" not a "heap").

So, when does an "ok number of items" turn into "too many items" in an express lane?

[s_stabeler]

I think the basic principle should be "are they buying substantially less than most people do"- if, for example, you have a full shopping cart, then you should probably use a normal lane. ( this is one reason why I like how I have sometimes seen it labelled- basket-only.(basically, if your shopping will fit into a shopping basket rather than a cart, you can use the express lane.)

Also, bear in mind the express lane is intended for people that have quick transactions to be able to skip the need to wait behind people who take ages. As such, if (for example) you are using a lot of coupons, please use the normal lanes.

[mjr]

I think the basic principle should be "are they buying substantially less than most people do"- if, for example, you have a full shopping cart, then you should probably use a normal lane. ( this is one reason why I like how I have sometimes seen it labelled- basket-only.(basically, if your shopping will fit into a shopping basket rather than a cart, you can use the express lane.)

Also, bear in mind the express lane is intended for people that have quick transactions to be able to skip the need to wait behind people who take ages. As such, if (for example) you are using a lot of coupons, please use the normal lanes.

Sure, I understand that. But to what's been a discussion in this thread, how many items over the "limit" is OK?

If the limit is 10, and someone shows up with 15, is that OK? How about 14? 13? 12? I don't know that "it depends on the items" is OK in most circumstances, unless it's 15 of the same item, and the cashier can scan just one and then hit "x 15" on the register.

I know we start to get into "reductio ad absurdum" territory there, but I think it ties into the paradox nicely.

Aside from that, you'd be surprised at how many things people can cram into one of those small, hand-held baskets.

[jackfaire]

Well, then you start getting into the Sorites paradox (i.e. when is a "heap" not a "heap").

So, when does an "ok number of items" turn into "too many items" in an express lane?

When the person knows for sure it's more than the limit said on the sign. I get what you're trying to say each person thinking "well but I only have more than a few items than that person" and so on. But that's why their is the baseilne on the sign. IF it's visibly clear they have more items than the baseline on the sign then they SHOULD be sent to another line.

That sign is important because it's a fixed point. The limit is always 10 or 15 items depending on the store (those seem to be the most common express lane limits) Sure if the cashier was to ignore the sign and just check out every single person coming through their line that would in a way destroy the sign and turn the line into just every other line.

However we are talking a fixed point here. The Cashier is the keeper of the fixed point. If they can visibly tell that the cart coming in exceeds that fixed point send it away. If they cannot check it out. You don't have to have too many more items to make it obvious to most people unless they are small items which isn't going to take much longer anyway.

At no point during the day should two heaping full carts of stuff come through the line because it clearly doesn't mesh with the fixed point.

[mjr]

That sign is important because it's a fixed point. The limit is always 10 or 15 items depending on the store (those seem to be the most common express lane limits) Sure if the cashier was to ignore the sign and just check out every single person coming through their line that would in a way destroy the sign and turn the line into just every other line.

You are correct, and your statement about it being a "fixed point" is valid. However, posts on Customers Suck tell us a few things:

1. A lot of customers don't read signs.
2. Customers that DO read signs will sometimes disregard them if the information on the sign is inconvenient.
3. Customers will complain.
4. Spineless managers will cave in.

I get your point about the "X items or less" being a fixed point, but given the four enumerated items above, it's not as "fixed" as we'd like it to be.