Express line etiquette?

[txdon]

Am I the only one that thinks if a store was doing a good job of keeping up at the checkouts there would be no need for the express lane?

Exactly! I usually take longer to check out than to shop. The managers are not managing their stores to customer service. At HEB the checkers always ask if I found everything. I tell them no, I didn't find a short checkout lane.

 

[dmccarty]

JMC,

I don't think what you did was wrong or rude. It is not rude to point out that someone else is being rude.

Will the "lady" do it again? Who knows. There are many people that it won't make a difference. Then there are others that it will change her behavior. I would bet she drove home "complaining" about you and that may make her think twice next time.

But people are pigs.

Later,
Dan

 

[J_J]

People are people, and as such, you should expect anything. I have been on both sides of the equations, staying in the long line with 15 items, while watching 10 customers go through the 10 item checkout line. The cashier rang up about 100 items in the quick line. So I watched new customers come and go, finishing their shopping, while I waited in the long line. I have also jumped in the quick line with more than 10 items. You do want the cashier to earn their money. I hope that some of you understand that life is not always great, and you do what you have to do to make it easier on yourself and everybody.

 

[LBrown59]

I've also seen the old joke, many times, of the person going to the express line with a cart full of groceries and the clerk asking, "Which 15 items do you want?" It may make a good joke, and I'd love to see it done, but I doubt any store would ever do it because they don't want to antagonize
*that customer.

*If I was that customer I'd simply walk out of the store with out saying a word leaving the cart setting right there.
That's probably why stores don't or won't do that.

 

[DocHeb]

Happened just today - a woman with a half-full cart was waved over by the express line cashier that had no customers. She came over, and 20 seconds later a <15 item person came to the line and was buckin' and snortin' and carryin' on. He looked pretty foolish.

Life is to short to get your boxers all wedged up.

 

[LMTC]

If they're going to have "express" lanes, then they should adhere to the guidelines. However......my resolution has always been this....just like banks used to use in the lobby....ONE line. Period. One line feeding the checkout area, no matter how many registers are open. As any given checkout becomes available the next person in line goes to it. No penalty for picking the line with the slow cashier, or the line with the person who cannot, after looking 5 times, find the credit card they want to use. Everybody gets the same odds and chances. When an additional checkout opens, everyone gains the same advantage as the single line moves quicker. If someone with 10 items wants special treatment, let them go to the corner convenience store and pay the high prices. Why should someone spending $25 get better/faster service than my wife who is spending $150.00?

Seems just obvious to me, but no one does it. I suppose the appearance of 30 people in line would just send some people to the exits, even if the line was moving well.

 

[jayste]

was buckin' and snortin' and carryin' on. He looked pretty foolish.

Life is to short to get your boxers all wedged up.

This thread is gettin' me to buckin' and snortin' and gettin' my boxers all wedged up! :laughing:

No, actually I'm the guy who, if I've got a basket full and you've got a few items in your hands, I'll let you go first. Be warned though, if I've got 10 items I'm going through the express lane. Heck, I've even gone through the "self-checkout" lane before! :shocked:

 

[dave1949]

If they're going to have "express" lanes, then they should adhere to the guidelines. However......my resolution has always been this....just like banks used to use in the lobby....ONE line. Period. One line feeding the checkout area, no matter how many registers are open. As any given checkout becomes available the next person in line goes to it. No penalty for picking the line with the slow cashier, or the line with the person who cannot, after looking 5 times, find the credit card they want to use. Everybody gets the same odds and chances. When an additional checkout opens, everyone gains the same advantage as the single line moves quicker. If someone with 10 items wants special treatment, let them go to the corner convenience store and pay the high prices. Why should someone spending $25 get better/faster service than my wife who is spending $150.00?

Seems just obvious to me, but no one does it. I suppose the appearance of 30 people in line would just send some people to the exits, even if the line was moving well.

That all makes a lot sense. I have seen that system used somewhere besides banks and don't remember where. Could it have been a BX/PX ?
Dave.

 

[Bird]

I have seen that system used somewhere besides banks and don't remember where

Banks (which I never go into anymore), U.S. Post Office, County Tax Collector (renew vehicle license plates), and our local Best Buy store.