Oblivious People Holding You Up

[Rageaholic]

Just today I was in line at a drug store just buying a bag of chips. This lady ahead of me was taking her sweet time. First she was negotiating the price on some product or something. After what seemed like forever, she continued to dilly dally the rest of the purchase. All with this "dear little old me" attitude that drives me NUTS!

Now, I know I shouldn't have too much of a problem with people like this. After all, they are only taking a few minutes out of your day and have the right to be there for what ever reason. Heck, I've probably been that person before. BUT GODDAMN IF ISN'T ANNOYING. Especially since they all act so innocent and completely oblivious to those being held up. I mean, how hard is it to make and purchase and GTFO?

[HYHYBT]

Normally, of course, not hard at all. On the other hand, whether there's a line or not has no bearing on whether I should speak up if I think an item went through at the wrong price or the cashier scanned it twice, and if anything, trying to hurry out of the way makes people *more* likely to enter their PINs wrong, drop their money, fill in the wrong store name on a check, etc.

[bara]

Only thing that really gets to me is those annoying lotto scratchers at the gas station.

Get the hell out of the way jackholes.

[Rageaholic]

Normally, of course, not hard at all. On the other hand, whether there's a line or not has no bearing on whether I should speak up if I think an item went through at the wrong price or the cashier scanned it twice, and if anything, trying to hurry out of the way makes people *more* likely to enter their PINs wrong, drop their money, fill in the wrong store name on a check, etc.

True, but this seems to happen alot. Also, I doubt the mistake is always on the store.

Only thing that really gets to me is those annoying lotto scratchers at the gas station.

Get the hell out of the way jackholes.

Oo I hate those. Why don't they just scratch the tickets in their car and then come back to see if they won? That's what I do.

Then there's those people who buy 50 daily 3's and 4's, each ticket with different numbers. I wouldn't mind them so much if they would simply FILL OUT THE DAMN PLAYSLIPS! It's much faster than having the the clerk type them out invidually on the machine. Sure, you lose your place in line while filling out the slips, but at least the line MOVES.

[DrFaroohk]

Normally, of course, not hard at all. On the other hand, whether there's a line or not has no bearing on whether I should speak up if I think an item went through at the wrong price or the cashier scanned it twice, and if anything, trying to hurry out of the way makes people *more* likely to enter their PINs wrong, drop their money, fill in the wrong store name on a check, etc.

This depends, I used to be a cashier, and sometimes people were just NITPICKY.

Did I scan your soda 10 times? By all means bring it up. Did the price tag that said 1.29 actually scan in at 1.39? Seriously? you're going to hold up 6 other people for 10 cents? Just take the fucking dime out of the change tray and leave me alone.

Or if you have some major policy you want to debate. Don't hold up the line. Either speak with the manager, or wait until the other people are done and I'll be able to help you, if it's not a dumb question.

Living near the border (about 50 miles) of canada, we got a lot of people trying to spend their monopoly money in the store. No biggie, except the way we did it was just convert it to american.

Some people would get pissed, because if the item was only 2 dollars, and they gave me a 5 dollar bill, why does the other 3 dollars have to get discounted too? Because we don't give back canadian change, I guess. Sometimes they'd get so wound up in questions I'd get confused and just be like "Look....this item is 2 dollars. That 5 dollars you gave me equals 3.50. That's how it works, either take it or leave it."

Noooo, let's hold up the line and debate some more!

[Sableonblonde]

What is there to discuss or negotiate when you're checking out at a store? In all my years of shopping, it's just been the same routine...stand there while cashier rings up items, pay, then leave. I hate people who dispute prices, or have issues with coupons. I've had items ring up as more expensive then I thought the sign indicated, but just sucked it up and bought it anyway.

[Andara Bledin]

Just because you're willing to allow the store to charge you more than the advertised price (since you never dispute it, you have no idea whether you're paying too much or not), does not mean that everybody should be willing to just "suck it up." It's their money and nobody else should be allowed to dictate whether they keep what they are entitled to keep or not.

It's a shame when you get stuck behind someone who is asserting their rights, but it baffled me that you are willing to suck up the potential that the store is stealing from you, but not willing to suck up a few minutes of waiting while someone else defends their right to not be stolen from.

^-.-^

[the_std]

It's a shame when you get stuck behind someone who is asserting their rights, but it baffled me that you are willing to suck up the potential that the store is stealing from you, but not willing to suck up a few minutes of waiting while someone else defends their right to not be stolen from.

Calling it "stealing" is inflammatory and generally incorrect. Usually when these pricing errors occur, it is just that - an error. The store is not generally posting one price and then charging you another on purpose. Stealing implies the intent to take extra money that they were not owed, and in most cases, that is completely untrue.

However, that being said, I don't know that I understand the "don't rock the boat" mentality. Sure, if the price difference is ten cents, I'm not usually going to make a fuss about it, but I'm not going to grumble at those who do - for someone living on a very strict budget, every little bit adds up. However, if Sableonblonde is ignoring larger dollar amount discrepancies, I have to wonder if that is a wise choice - is standing up for yourself too inconvenient? Or are you willing to pay whatever the extra amount is for a reduction in conflict and a little more convenience?

[DrFaroohk]

I was a cashier for several years in a convenience store, and a lot of people enjoyed rocking my boat. I wouldn't say I really did anything vindictive to them, but if they were real "sticklers" for everything, then so was I.

For instance, our store had a policy that if you were under 40 you had to show ID for alcohol and tobacco. If you were known to me as someone who was always douching it up trying hold up the line, then guess what, I'm going to start ID'ing you every time. Hey, I'm within my rights too. Doing my job according to policy.

I'm not saying one shouldn't complain about 10 cents...but don't hold up the line for 5 minutes to do so. It's an honest mistake (or better yet, you could be one of those people who deliberately looks for the mismatched item in the back that has the wrong price on it so you can complain) and shit, most people in line would GIVE you 10 cents just to get the fuck out of the way.

Other things not to hold up the line for - picking out lottery tickets and cigarettes, or deciding since you know nothing about phone cards, now would be the perfect time to get fully educated.

[Rageaholic]

Just because you're willing to allow the store to charge you more than the advertised price (since you never dispute it, you have no idea whether you're paying too much or not), does not mean that everybody should be willing to just "suck it up." It's their money and nobody else should be allowed to dictate whether they keep what they are entitled to keep or not.

It's a shame when you get stuck behind someone who is asserting their rights, but it baffled me that you are willing to suck up the potential that the store is stealing from you, but not willing to suck up a few minutes of waiting while someone else defends their right to not be stolen from.

^-.-^

I won't argue there. There are times when the store is in the wrong and it's worth correcting them. Like that time when I was supposed to get 3 things of candy for 3 bucks, but the clerk rang them up for $1.39 each. I corrected her, thinking she'd simply check and realize her error, but she ended up having to ask other people and redo the transaction. In those cases, I blame sucky store policies, systems, and even the cashier sometimes (though this wasn't the case here). So I've been on the other side, but either way, it can be annoying, especially when it happens so frequently.

[HYHYBT]

I was a bit embarrassed the other day. I love jordan almonds. There is only one place I know to find them on at least a semi-regular basis, and that's Cracker Barrel. But they don't always have them, and when they *do* have them, they're not always in the same place. Sometimes they're on the table of candy (last display table before the dining room entrance), sometimes they're on the wall between that and the restrooms, sometimes they're in the racks on the customer side of the registers, and sometimes they're on the wall *behind* the cashiers. And, as I said, sometimes there are none to be had at all.

So: how I held up the line. Before getting in line at all, I looked over the usual spots and found no jordan almonds. Right after I got in line, several other people did as well. When the cashier asked if I wanted anything else, I said, half-joking, "only if you have some jordan almonds hidden back there," thinking either she'd say "no, sorry," or else pull out a bag of them. Instead she told me where I'd missed them out on the floor and sent me over to get a bag, which was a bit embarrassing because I hate doing that sort of thing. I believe people ought to have all their stuff together before approaching the register, and always do my best to do the same. (It also meant cutting through the line behind me. But on the other hand, if I'd said no and that I'd get them another time, that could easily have led to a "that's OK, just go grab them" type conversation that would have taken longer.)