My experience with bagging has been ok. It depends on the customer really . You got those joyous Customers who are very nice and everything and then you have thoseee customers (Dunna Dunna Dunna ). For example I can't stand when customers want me to use thier bags. It takes too long because I have to play Tetris to fit all 3 carts they have in 2 bags . Half the time the bags are beat up and falling apart so I'm trying to hold the bag together . I also hate when the customer doesn't tell me they bags but then catches an attitude cause all their stuff is in plastic . I'm a bagger not a mind reader sir and or mam.
When I was bagging and the customer brought only 2 or 3 bags for a cart full of groceries, I'd ask them if they had a preference as to which groceries were to be packed into their own bags.
I did not even attempt to try to squeeze all their groceries into their inadequate supply of bags.
The worst is when they take reusable bags through express. I've spent entire 8 hour days on express on senior day. Those were bad days.
Another thing is that our store has racks of new bags in the bagging area, where they take up tons and tons of room.
I wiggled them all loose, and like to put them on unused registers to free up some space (as does everyone else), but the store manager caught on and makes us put them back. They are gone as soon as he leaves.
If he were a critical thinker, he'd stuff them in some dark corner of the back room. They never sell, so they just waste space in the bagging area. And, even though we theoretically make money by selling them and saving plastic bags, they paralyze the lines even worse than paper bags. Any theoretical savings are completely eaten up by the money lost on wasted time.
One of my secret joys is packing reusable bags with 40 pounds of canned food. The best part is when you can see handle stitches start to strain and loosen.
The co manager at my store has been pushing the "no bagging as you go" crap where the cashier can't have a bag rack to bag groceries when the customer's order s over. He's forcing them to go ALL THE WAY around to the bagger area to finish up a persons order, wasting time. They say it's to improve ELMS but all it really does is piss customers off because they have to wait to get out and sometimes the cashier is just trapped there if it's busy and because of QVISION we don't have enough baggers to make it work. The whole thing is just one big mess.
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Would you like fries with th... I mean, your milk in a bag?
I just started bagging and my biggest pet peeve is the customers with the reusable bags. It takes longer to bag them and it's harder to keep them open and you have to be strategic about what to put in first. Sure it may lead to less trips from the cart to the car and from the car to the house, but plastic bags are much easier because you can keep everything safe and certain things (like household cleaners) separate from food without damaging it.
Bagging paper bags are just as hard but I can understand using paper bags around the house such as recycling newspaper or paper trash, which I get. It just is harder to bag them.
When I am in express, I just lay the bag on the top of the bagging area, and put the groceries there too. Then, I wait until I hand them their receipt to bag anything. They usually just pick up the bag and start bagging it themselves.
I personally love reusable bags.(Unless they're the stupid cloth ones). When I was a Bagger, I could not stand them. Now, having moved up. I don't mind them. It takes me a good hot year if I'm having to bag one. But I notice that since I ba them in such an organized way, the customers are stunned and leave with a good impression. The ELMS for the cashiers aren't as great. But who really cares? If the store isn't busy, I love to sit there and play Tetris with the bags!! Too bad idiot bag anymore though. Unless you count breaks I have I give!! Lol
