I stopped at a Walmart a few days ago to get two items for Mom. Walmart is right at the freeway exit. Right turn, left turn, left into the parking lot. I quickly found my first product, a vitamin in a two bottle set, or at least something very close to what I wanted, but I did not find the second product. Well, I was already there so I took the one product to checkout. This store has 16 or so registers and four self-checkout registers but I so rarely shop there that I forgot about the self-checkout. I found a line with just one person who only had a few more items to be scanned. Then the fun started.
The customer had items on hangers but the cashier was pretty adept at removing the hanger, scanning the tags, and getting things into bags. Then there was a pair of jeans without a tag. The cashier tried to enter every number she could find on the jeans and finally the customer said that she would run back and get another pair, which she did, and very quickly I might add. Then the cashier thought the new pair which had been brought in for pricing only might be more expensive than the pair being purchased because it had some ornamentation on the pocket. The customer didn’t care. She had found jeans that fit and she wanted them even if she was being over charged a bit. Whew! Let’s move on. I’m annoyed that things are taking so long but, well, what can you do at that point but breathe and wait.
Everything is bagged, the total comes up, customer puts her credit card into the chip slot and they wait, and wait, and wait. I can see the screen the customer sees and at no time had any of the items come up on the screen. Customer takes card out and reinserts it. Still nothing. Then I heard this brilliant statement from the Cashier, “you know, there was a sign saying not to use this register”. What? You opened a check stand that had a sign telling you that it was not working and you opened there anyway?
I’m partly very annoyed and partly wondering how this is going to work out, all the while thinking that I’m going through this for the purchase of a two bottle set of vitamins. The cashier called a supervisor and tells her that the register won’t accept the credit card. Supervisor says that the register is fine, that it wasn’t working yesterday but had been fixed overnight. The supervisor comes over and put in her magic fix-all key, hits some buttons and nothing happens. No one seems in a hurry or really concerned. They try several things to fix the register. Nothing happens. Cashier says she is sorry but she will have to cancel the sale, take everything to a new register, and start over. She looks at and speaks only to her current customer. I have 2 bottles of vitamins in my hand and before I can ask the question in my head the people behind me ask it, “We are paying cash. Can we stay in this line?”. Sorry. No. They begin to reload their items into their cart as do the people behind them. Everyone turns around and heads to the next and neighboring check stands. The people behind me graciously point to me to go ahead of them. I decline and say that I realized that I had forgotten something. I put the vitamins back on the shelf and leave, deciding to go to the local CVS and get both items. On the way out I see the self-check area. I decide not to go back and get the vitamins. I’m afraid to tempt fate.
Frustrating and annoying, right? You must have had a situation like this happen to you. Tell me!
Every Day Is A Good Day. VJ
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