Annoying things customers do

0bliviate · Member

Annoying things customers do

Date: Apr 18, 2013

I work in a kroger that has a bottle room (bottle return, recycle center, whatever you want to call it). Anyway I use shopping carts to keep the cardboard separate from the trash. Occasionally I'll have a customer that thinks he's doing me a favor by putting all the cardboard in the regular trash and pushing the carts in a stack. Essentially he undid all of my previous work and I had to re-pick the cardboard out of the trash. Ever since that day I stood right by the carts with the cardboard sorted out so that I can prevent someone from "being extra helpful" and screwing with my work.

Date: Apr 19, 2013

Talking on there cell phones, i will not scan anything until they get off the phone

SayWhat · Guru

Anonymous wrote:
Talking on there cell phones, i will not scan anything until they get off the phone

How can you get away with that? We can (and do!) refuse to help someone until off of their cell phone because of potential HIPPA violations. But in the checkout lane? Seriously?

techelite · Guru

SayWhat wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Talking on there cell phones, i will not scan anything until they get off the phone
How can you get away with that? We can (and do!) refuse to help someone until off of their cell phone because of potential HIPPA violations. But in the checkout lane? Seriously?

Meh. If they even start to complain I would call someone on the checklane's phone and have a nice conversation, while I take motherf$%*@#$ forever to get around to doing each part of the order and ignore anything they say. Hand them their reciept and go on to the next order, without looking at them once.

It might be extreme, but it gets the point across. We may be here to provide good customer service, but that by no means gives a shopper the right to walk all over us or demand treatment from us that they won't give in return.

nocturnia · Guru

Anonymous wrote:
I work in a kroger that has a bottle room (bottle return, recycle center, whatever you want to call it). Anyway I use shopping carts to keep the cardboard separate from the trash. Occasionally I'll have a customer that thinks he's doing me a favor by putting all the cardboard in the regular trash and pushing the carts in a stack. Essentially he undid all of my previous work and I had to re-pick the cardboard out of the trash. Ever since that day I stood right by the carts with the cardboard sorted out so that I can prevent someone from "being extra helpful" and screwing with my work.

You reminded me of something from when I was hourly and sometimes helping push carts: I'd be huffing and puffing with an already full-ass line of shopping carts, and some twit would run across the lot with three more---"Here ya go buddy!!" with a big goofy grin strapped to the front of his head. I know they think they're being helpful......But all they're really doing is giving you MORE WORK.

"Leave 'em. I'll come back."

styles · Guru

DO YA GOT ANY BOXES

Date: Apr 19, 2013

i hate customers who put each coupon with corresponding item on the belt when they are checking out.

SayWhat · Guru

techelite wrote:
SayWhat wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Talking on there cell phones, i will not scan anything until they get off the phone
How can you get away with that? We can (and do!) refuse to help someone until off of their cell phone because of potential HIPPA violations. But in the checkout lane? Seriously?
Meh. If they even start to complain I would call someone on the checklane's phone and have a nice conversation, while I take motherf$%*@#$ forever to get around to doing each part of the order and ignore anything they say. Hand them their reciept and go on to the next order, without looking at them once.
It might be extreme, but it gets the point across. We may be here to provide good customer service, but that by no means gives a shopper the right to walk all over us or demand treatment from us that they won't give in return.

I don't think someone being on their phone going through the line is a customer walking all over someone. I totally disagree with this. When you do this, you are being much more rude, IMO. This is terrible service. Who gives a damn if they're on their phone? Acting like you usually do is a better way to handle it. Ask for their Kroger card, tell them the same info you would had they not been on the phone (you saved XX amount, and have XX gas point, have a good day!) is MUCH better than being passive aggressive and jerk-like.

I don't even act like that when I'm not even supposed to help someone when they are on their phone. I say that due to HIPPA I cannot help them while they are on their phone, and could they please step aside so that I can help someone else. A lot less drama, and actual laws backing me up. Not being butt-hurt.

Date: Apr 19, 2013

There are four sides of the banana pyramid..there are three other sides, don't crowd me old people(doesnt apply to the good looking females), the ones on my side are the same as the other three sides. This happens CONSTANTLY.(doesnt apply to the good looking females)

and by the way..there is a whole stack of single bananas, quit ripping more off the bunchs.

Date: Apr 19, 2013

When they ask for you too collect boxes, after you just crushed them.

When they check the eggs and do it too fast and drop them

When they move a barricade (shopping Carts) blocking them from going down an aisle that has a huge spill/ trying too slip on purpose after removing barricade and beling warned not too.

Customers that think $ 3.00 for a gallon of milk is better deal, than a half gallon for a $1. ( when on sale) * Managers favorite customer*

But the best is when the idiot get 1k fuel points and only gets 2 gallons of gas. So you spent around $500-1k too get 2 dollars back... Depending on if you bought giftcards or used the pharmacy.

nocturnia · Guru

Any produce stockers on here? How about this one:

You're just trying to load the banana wall and people will crawl ALL OVER YOU to snatch up the bunch you literally just laid down. They'll actually follow you around the table. I always wanted SOOO bad to say "Look: they are ALL THE SAME. They came off the same shipment. We do NOT have a banana maker in the back room!!"

Date: Apr 19, 2013

"No fish today???????"

--said seriously by many customers when they come in at, say, 7:05am! Naturally a full service seafood case takes a couple of hours to get all set, and in a lot of stores, nobody even shows up till 8am to open seafood! No, no sir, theres no fish today. Everything that was here yesterday has magically disappeared. In fact, there never will be any more ever, we just woke up this morning and said No Way Buster.

Date: Apr 19, 2013

I hate it when people follow me around like vultures when I'm trying to do markdowns in the bakery. What's really bad is when people hand us stuff and ask us to mark it down. I had one woman literally stand by and guard a cake for twenty minutes until someone had time to get the RF unit and the printer and do the markdowns. We don't do markdowns at the same time each day. When we do them all depends on when we get our other work done.

store815 · Guru

I hate when people say I've done it here before. They said some guy in the service desk did it. I am the only guy and I know what I do and don't liar.

techelite · Guru

SayWhat wrote:
I don't think someone being on their phone going through the line is a customer walking all over someone. I totally disagree with this. When you do this, you are being much more rude, IMO. This is terrible service. Who gives a damn if they're on their phone? Acting like you usually do is a better way to handle it. Ask for their Kroger card, tell them the same info you would had they not been on the phone (you saved XX amount, and have XX gas point, have a good day!) is MUCH better than being passive aggressive and jerk-like.

Oh I don't actually do what I said. I just wish I were ballsy enough to do it. What I actually do is more like what you said. Just keep talking to them ever so slightly on the loud side of normal. Ask for things and when they don't respond, ask for it again like they didn't hear me the first time.

I don't give a damn whether they're on their phone if they can multitask properly, but if (like most) they can't divide their attention enough to check out reasonably... Well it's common knowledge that it's rude to be on the phone while you are interacting directly with another person regardless of the situation, but if someone chooses to do so, and my checkout interrupts their conversation, they get what they deserve 100%

Date: Apr 19, 2013

"Can you cut this bread for us?" Dear customer, we are not the bakery, we are the deli. The bakery is literally like maybe, 5 steps away? You'll know them, because they don't have meat in their display window, they have cupcakes, donuts and bread. I know it may be extremely difficult to identify the bakery from the deli, but there are ways to tell!

"Can you cut this meat for me? It came from the meat department!" Dear customer, they have their own slicer in the meat department, why didn't you ask them first? To be fair sometimes the meat people send them to us for whatever reason, but according to the manager, we're not allowed to cut meat from the meat department in the deli.

People who stand directly in front of the deli after they're done with their order and start catching up with an old friend who they ran into while they were waiting in line. Sometimes it takes them a really long time to stop chatting. One time we had someone barely move out of the way of the deli and chat for an hour and a half! Go sit down at Starbucks or something. They don't take the hint when you try to get them to move either, like for instance, if various employees ask them "can I help you?" Or if a customer tries to get around them to see what the deli has, and they just say "oh, sorry!" and keep standing there. Or if you directly say "can you please move so that we can tell who is waiting in line and so that our customers can see what we have?" and they glare at you like you're in the wrong and maybe take one whole step back. What's even worse are the customers who haven't yet ordered who were waiting in line and start doing this. Sometimes when it's their turn they totally ignore you. Or they just grunt what they want at you and good luck getting them to pay attention when you try to show them how thick the slice is even if they glance at it and nod. (At the end of the order they're outraged and say "I wanted it thinner/thicker!")

People who are on their cell phones are in a similar category and act like you interrupted their conversation when you try to give them the service they were waiting in line for. We skip over people on their cell phones now. If they get mad we just say "sorry, we didn't want to interrupt your conversation."

gualwer · Member

I have these three really annoying customers that are always coming later at night trying to get things marked down. I work in the Deli, but since I work in a small store after bakery closes at 5 pm or sometimes even at 4pm we (deli clerks) have to do bakery stuff like taking orders or writing on cakes. So these customers are always coming trying to get us mark down cakes or bread for them when on the label you can clearly see they are still good for 2 or 3 more days! No matter how many times we explain this to them, they keep coming and asking us to call the manager and see if he can do something about it.

I really like the people that come to our store, but for some reason most of the elderly people are very annoying asking about mark downs, coming to us complaining about prices going up in the store or telling us Publix or walmart are way better than us! it just drives me crazy! dont they know that we're not kroger's owners and there's nothing we can do about it!

Date: Apr 19, 2013

Stop you when you're clearly in a hurry. One day I was rushing for the door because I had to get to college. I had my coat on, zipped up, and was carrying my Kroger hat, not wearing it. I was almost to the door when some old woman said "you have a Kroger hat? Are you an employee? Can you help me??" I just kept walking and said "sorry I have to go ask the front desk." Another time I was on break, and was standing in the check out line, and I had someone start pestering me to find something for them. I explained that I was on break and trying to check out and they kept nagging me that they needed help. Eventually I told them that I would look once I was finished checking out. Apparently that wasn't good enough for them, because when I finished they had walked off. Sorry, but I get 15 minutes for break, I'm not going to get out of line, help you, and then have to stand in line again and have 5 minutes to eat. They could have easily found someone else to help them, I was just right in front of them.

4hourrush · Guru

Anonymous wrote:
"Can you cut this bread for us?" Dear customer, we are not the bakery, we are the deli. The bakery is literally like maybe, 5 steps away? You'll know them, because they don't have meat in their display window, they have cupcakes, donuts and bread. I know it may be extremely difficult to identify the bakery from the deli, but there are ways to tell!

Easter Sunday, I had at least 3 people stop in the bakery and be like, "Is this where I go to pick up meat/fruit/whatever platters?"

You see a display case filled with cakes and pies, yep, CLEARLY we have meats and fruits down here. Try walking a few steps over why don't you?

As for the markdowns, I had a lady a few days ago, somehow a markdown sticker got put on the wrong item (whether she did it or not idk) and it was really an item that was good for a couple more days. When I told her this, I said this one here is being marked down today - same item. She's like, "but I don't want one with that date! I want this one, it's fresher!" So I'm like, "ok but that one can't be marked down today." and start taking off the sticker.

She practically rips it out of my hand and is like "THAT'S ILLEGAL TO CHANGE THE PRICE ONCE IT'S ON THERE" and I'm like ok, let me go ask my coworker. I take it to her and she says the same thing to the lady, that it can't be marked down today. This lady's like, "Well there's other places I can go shop!" and stomps off.

The funny thing about it was that the item was one little slice of pie.

Date: Apr 19, 2013

4hourrush wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
"Can you cut this bread for us?" Dear customer, we are not the bakery, we are the deli. The bakery is literally like maybe, 5 steps away? You'll know them, because they don't have meat in their display window, they have cupcakes, donuts and bread. I know it may be extremely difficult to identify the bakery from the deli, but there are ways to tell!

Easter Sunday, I had at least 3 people stop in the bakery and be like, "Is this where I go to pick up meat/fruit/whatever platters?"
You see a display case filled with cakes and pies, yep, CLEARLY we have meats and fruits down here. Try walking a few steps over why don't you?

As for the markdowns, I had a lady a few days ago, somehow a markdown sticker got put on the wrong item (whether she did it or not idk) and it was really an item that was good for a couple more days. When I told her this, I said this one here is being marked down today - same item. She's like, "but I don't want one with that date! I want this one, it's fresher!" So I'm like, "ok but that one can't be marked down today." and start taking off the sticker.
She practically rips it out of my hand and is like "THAT'S ILLEGAL TO CHANGE THE PRICE ONCE IT'S ON THERE" and I'm like ok, let me go ask my coworker. I take it to her and she says the same thing to the lady, that it can't be marked down today. This lady's like, "Well there's other places I can go shop!" and stomps off.
The funny thing about it was that the item was one little slice of pie.

What's funny is that you tried to take the sticker off. Was it really worth pissing the customer off just to get that one piece of pie sold at regular office?

Date: Apr 19, 2013

Anonymous wrote:
4hourrush wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
"Can you cut this bread for us?" Dear customer, we are not the bakery, we are the deli. The bakery is literally like maybe, 5 steps away? You'll know them, because they don't have meat in their display window, they have cupcakes, donuts and bread. I know it may be extremely difficult to identify the bakery from the deli, but there are ways to tell!

Easter Sunday, I had at least 3 people stop in the bakery and be like, "Is this where I go to pick up meat/fruit/whatever platters?"
You see a display case filled with cakes and pies, yep, CLEARLY we have meats and fruits down here. Try walking a few steps over why don't you?

As for the markdowns, I had a lady a few days ago, somehow a markdown sticker got put on the wrong item (whether she did it or not idk) and it was really an item that was good for a couple more days. When I told her this, I said this one here is being marked down today - same item. She's like, "but I don't want one with that date! I want this one, it's fresher!" So I'm like, "ok but that one can't be marked down today." and start taking off the sticker.
She practically rips it out of my hand and is like "THAT'S ILLEGAL TO CHANGE THE PRICE ONCE IT'S ON THERE" and I'm like ok, let me go ask my coworker. I take it to her and she says the same thing to the lady, that it can't be marked down today. This lady's like, "Well there's other places I can go shop!" and stomps off.
The funny thing about it was that the item was one little slice of pie.
What's funny is that you tried to take the sticker off. Was it really worth pissing the customer off just to get that one piece of pie sold at regular office?

Office = price. Darn autocorrect.

krogerman77 · Guru

Up until this past week I was the only guy in the deli. And last month a person came to pick up a tray that we didn't have a order form for and they claimed they called and talked to a guy in the deli and he took the order. Just one problem. I was off the day before and they got pissed when the deli manager told them this. Idiots came to the wrong store to pick their stuff up.

4hourrush · Guru

So if someone puts the wrong upc on an item its not commiting fraud? Let me go walk in a walmart, grab a tv, slap a sticker from a dvd on it, then go pay for it. Same principle. I don't care about sales figures but I'm not getting in trouble for giving people free markdowns.

Date: Apr 20, 2013

when i have to take things back to deli or meats to get a price tag and i get back and they say something like "did you have to go to the perdue factory to get the price" in a condesending manner yet jokingly and friendly enough to not look like too much of an ass so that i would look unreasonable if i flipped **** on him/her

when customers try to push the smaller carts into the jumbo carts

when they leave their cart in the middle of the foyer after getting their bags, especially when they have only 2 bags and could easily push it into the others or at least out of the way. or they could unload their cart like.. not in the middle of the foyer. what if every fking customer did that. nobody could get in or out. inconsiderate ****z

when they just need to go to the bathroom when im cleaning it. btch i hold my piss all the time when im slaving on the clock. you caan wait 2 minutes

when they get impatient in line behind a wic person and make it blatenly obvious to the person with wic that they are displeased, its actually very sad

when they want to bag their own groceries. anal retentive much.. id rather bag a 600 dollar order than when i walk up to them nicely and say "i can help you with this maam" and they immediaatley say "NO, id prefer to do it myself"

and my #1... when they leave the line and say "thanks for the HELP" bi*ch.. the "HELP" no my job is not help. it is how at my young age i am slaving to pay my bills and to get thru school. the "help" is what slaves and indentured servants were called, think about that

Date: Apr 20, 2013

dont talk to someone thats on their phone. thats what i was taught from a young age and thats what im stiking to. it is very rude to talk on your phone in the check out lane and IMO in a grocery store or any store in general unless its a quick call like "hey do we need peanut butter"

store815 · Guru

I found this about a store in my division. This is crazy reason to stop shopping.

I will never enter this Kroger store again. I was in there tonight, on December 13, twelve days before Christmas, and in a display near the check out they had Easter candy, with a sign that said " spring is just around the corner". Are you serious?!?! Never ever again, especially before we even have a real snowfall. Never!

Date: Apr 20, 2013

lean on the scales at self-checkout while they're waiting for the person they're with to check out. put the empty basket on an adjacent scale or their own scale. put their stuff on an adjacent scale before they start while somebody else is checking out. not press 'card' on the screen and ask why it says "Please continue checking out" on the pin pad and demand to know if they're being charged twice.

shop at the register. you know your ebt budget is less than two buggies worth. don't decide what to keep and what to send back as it's being scanned and you see the prices. don't be yelling ebt! ebt! ebt! ebt! at me as you see the total going up. yell at us because you forgot your pin three times and you're locked out for 24 hrs.

Date: Apr 20, 2013

1. i hate when a customer has 3 carts of food but says they only have 100$ on thier ebt card so they eagle watch the scanner and then get to 75$ and start picking and choosing food and then have the nerve to say sorry... What ? Huh? did you honestly walk in here and not know your account balance ? ...

2. I hate with a passion when i have a full row of carts and a customer is all " Can you take this one?" some dont even ask , they just push it at me . I have a full row and im in the middle of the street with cars coming and your gonna ask if i want the cart ... really?

3. I hate when customers rush me to fix the bottle machines , if you had somewhere to be you wouldnt be here rushing me ... CHILL OUT ! you will get your 5.00$ .

4. I hate when i clean the bottle room from top to bottom and a customer comes in right as im finishing ... and thier cart is leaking all over the floor . And they step in it as its leaking so the floor goes from white to brown in -30 seconds.

VWguy90 · Veteran Member

The one thing that gets me is when they try to cheat us with coupons.

One day last week, a lady had coupons that were stuck onto packages of Kraft cheese. The coupon reads "Save $1.50 when you buy this cheese, and a package of Kraft Fresh Take chicken starter (something along those lines)."

She didn't have the Fresh Take things, and she still was arguing with me about it, saying "They let me do this all the time!"

I took the coupon and the cheese to my Front End Manager just to appease her, even though I knew my manager would back me up. She left angry and cheese-less.

-- Edited by VWguy90 on Saturday 20th of April 2013 11:20:28 PM

-- Edited by VWguy90 on Saturday 20th of April 2013 11:22:55 PM

nocturnia · Guru

One time I took a call for management; it was a guy who said he was out in the parking lot. He wanted me to pay for and bring him a bottle of Jack Daniels. Said he'd reimburse me. He was very descriptive about what car he was in and where he was parked. I kept waiting for the punch line of what I just knew HAD to be a joke! But he was dead serious.

I was like "Whaaaaaaaat???? I can't.......I don't even........Naw man, we don't do that here!"

0bliviate · Member

II had a customer get mad because I wouldn't let her son take a lady her wallet that she left.

If she had came back in the store and I didn't have her wallet, nor did I know where it was, it wouldn't be very good.

I simply asked her if had she left her wallet, would she want me to let someone I didn't know take it, not knowing if they knew should to give it to or anything..

She shut up after that.

Date: Apr 21, 2013

I get annoyed when someone a customer is supposedly with comes from behind and says that they'll take the cart. It's like you didn't pay for it and how can I know if you are her friend or spouse. You could be someone stealing her just paid for groceries.

Art Vandelay · Member

We have a guy that gets in the moto-carts and drives them all over the store until the battery dies, gets another one

and does the same thing all over again. I have seen him doing circles and figure-eights on the sidewalk by the exit doors, run it down

then waddle to get a charged cart.

Then there's the ones that when asked how they want their Deli meat sliced they say, "On that machine/slicer right there".

You say, "Excuse me" and 1)They look at you like you are in THEIR way. 2)Just stand there while you try to manuever around

them with an L cart of 10 cases of Deli chicken.

Date: Apr 25, 2013

One lovely evening at Kroger fuel center a ladt pulled up to the pump. She got out unscrewed the gascap paid for the gas and started pumping. Git back in her car while it was pumping. For some reason when It got full it did not stop pumping. She pumped like $30.00 worth of gas on the ground because it was over flowing. She called the store the next day and wanted a refund on the gas she wasted. I guess she used a charge card. But the reason she got back in and did not pay attention is she was on her cellphone.

Date: Apr 25, 2013

There's a lady in my store that does this. Not only that, but she'll eat a bunch of food off the salad bar and out of the deli. She'll be there for hours and sometimes as much as 4-5 days a week. She'll purposely run into workers and start making faces and rude comments. I learned the hard way just to avoid her. Half the time I don't think she even buys anything. I never see more than about 3 items in her basket.

Cathy · Guru

-People that talk on their cell phone and then get mad because I didn't take their Kroger plus card or coupons.
-People that pay with a credit card and then say "Oh! I have coupons!" "You'll have to take it to the front desk because I have already finished your order." "Well, Can't you cancel it out?!"
-People that flop their basket full of stuff on the belt and don't unload it. "Well, I just thought this way was easier." "Explain how!"
-People that shove their shopping cart to the very back of the parking lot instead of just leaving it where it is. You're too lazy to walk it to the cart corral, anyway. Why be an @$$ and shove it where I have to walk 50 more feet to get it?
-People that cut through the parking lot and act like their shouldn't be anyone in the crosswalk at all. This is a shopping center... which means that people actually "shop" here!
-People that want you to do something only the service desk can do, and then get mad when you send them there. "I don't have time!" "Well, you had the time to bug me about it, and besides there's no line." *customer walks out of the store"

And my #1:

-Quickchange artists "Get a ****ing job, and stop disrupting our business with your petty bull****!"

Date: Apr 26, 2013

Cathy wrote:

-People that shove their shopping cart to the very back of the parking lot instead of just leaving it where it is. You're too lazy to walk it to the cart corral, anyway. Why be an @$$ and shove it where I have to walk 50 more feet to get it?

I am guilty of that. I don't park far from the store and usually its on the curb I leave it. I just don't feel like walking down to the corral and put it their and also usually there is someone out gathering carts.

Date: Apr 28, 2013

"Hey! Those are supposed to be 4 for $5, but they are ringing up $1.25 each. That means I get them for free!"

Date: Apr 28, 2013

DO YA WORK HERE