This boils my fucking blood out of my skull. When I walk up to a cashier, if I'm on the phone I hang up right away. If my phone rings, I reach into my pocket and silence the ringer. Why do people find it acceptable to carry on a conversation the entire time someone rings them up? It's as if the cashier doesn't exist. This goes doubly so for people having a conversation in a foreign language. Like it's ok for them to talk on the phone and ignore the cashier just because they're speaking Spanish and the cashier is plainly white. As a cashier at a cafe, I've seen it all. I have called people up to order and have them totally ignore me as they talk on the phone. I've had people walk up to the counter and proceed to continue their conversation for several minutes while they just stand there ignoring me and hogging the register. I've had people do the previous, while also holding their finger up when I ask them to step aside. I've had people answer the phone mid order and then be offended when I continue to talk to them to try and finish taking their order. I've had people let their cellphone ring in their pocket very loudly while I am trying to hear what they're saying. I've had people walk up while talking on the phone and just interrupt the call for a second to spit out the name of a sandwich, and then throw their credit card at me. These people always had an issue with a modification after they got their plate and were done talking on the phone. It's as if they expect the cashier to know that they didn't want mayo on that sandwich when they were too busy ignoring the cashier to actually say that. When I am in public as just another person, I object actively to this behavior. If I'm in line behind someone who is hogging the register while they talk about their day and ignore the cashier, I'll walk up and say something like "Hey bud, we're all hungry back here and seeing as how you're a jackass with a very important call, why don't you step aside and let us all order ahead of you." The person usually gets very offended and walks away from the counter. When I did work as a cashier, I would punish these people for their rudeness. I'd ring up the order as expensive as I was allowed. If they said they just wanted a sandwich and salad (with no specific size or mods), I'd ring them up for a whole sandwich and the largest salad available. In contrast to the package deal where you save money by combining the two together. Seeing as how they were too busy with the call to pay attention to me, I wouldn't bother asking for size clarification. If I had been authorized to discount things that day by the manager, I wouldn't discount anything for them at all. I called it the "jackass tax." Thoughts? I'm willing to bet everyone who agrees with me has worked as a cashier and has had this happen. If YOU do this, shame on you.:eusa_naug
It kind of just comes with the territory of customer service jobs. There are tons of things that customers do that aren't very polite, but then it's a setting and a consumer society where the customer is always right and the customer usually is self-centered, for better or for worse. It's unfortunate, but until businesses stick up for their employees, it might just continue that way.
To be honest if I am on the phone when I get to a register I tend to just tell whoever I am on the phone with that I am ordering and put the phone to one side while I talk to the cashier. Working in retail it can be awkward if someone does this, but it was always worse for me when someone had their earphones or now I work in a petrol station they just walk in, throw money at me and leave without telling the pump or anything. It's a fucking hassle.
In the job I currently occupy, we are able to put folks in their place. If they cross the line they are thrown to the gutter (figuratively). Too much to do and not enough time to deal with constant d-bags. The best part is when they call back and want to retain our services again, we get to tell them no, you're an a-hole and we don't have time for you. Good day.... I said, good day!
Well, I have mixed thoughts. If they only speak a foreign language or are with someone who only speaks one language (e.g. Spanish) then I can see how that would not exactly be rude to the cashier. If I were to go to Italy and I am speaking to my dad in English, I hope the cashier doesn't think I'm being rude :lol:. However, if both people (I'm assuming there are at least two people in the party since you need two people to hold a conversation) have spoken English and then use Spanish or some other language to hold a separate conversation, it does seem rude to the cashier. I've had a few situations where people assume I don't speak Spanish when they hear me talk first English and proceed to make some comment and then I have to interject and make them aware that I know what they're saying before they suffer from foot-in-the-mouth disease :lol:. Regarding talking on the phone, yes, that's very rude. My best friend worked at Subway and he told me how bad it feels when you work in the service industry and the people treat you like you're just a cog in the system, a tool, not a human being. Giving everyone the dignity of your full attention, especially when you are requesting a service be done to you (like a cashier, oil change, maid service, whatnot). Just because you pay for a service does not make them servants same like just because your boss signs your paycheck mean that you are their slave. There are, of course, exceptions and emergencies do happen. That said, seeing how you treat waitstaff and cashiers is a good indicator of your nature. I think taking a date to Subway and seeing how he treats the Sandwich Artist might be a good barometer to their character. At least, it would show if was raised with some manners. Honestly, though, I don't think I'd have the courage to be as brave as the OP and tell the person hogging the line to skedaddle on out. Well, if I'm pissed, who knows :evil:. I am generally very mindful of cashiers and waitstaff because I know how hard their job is (my best friend's family has a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant and when they have huge events I help as waiter/cashier/food prep). Plus, I know that pay is not that great for a lot of stress. There have only been two instances where I sort of "lashed out" at the people. One was at McDonald's where the cashier was gossiping with a coworker next to her as she told me to keep on telling her the order. She got the order wrong so I basically told her in front of everyone that if she hadn't been gossiping, she might have gotten the order right. I swear you could hear crickets. The other time was at Chilli's when the waiter brought the drinks and my straw was actually tampered with. I asked him for a new one Coke and explained the situation (not pointing the finger at him or anyone), but he got very defensive and made me uneasy. I did the same to him. Let's just say it was a very tense dinner. Regarding the "jackass tax" :eusa_clap. That said, if it were me, I would listen in to the conversation and judge how "important" the call was. If it was something dealing with childcare, healthcare, appointments, I'd give them a pass. If it was talking to your girlfriend and talking about leisure, ring them up to the hilt :lol:.
I understand some calls are important. I see it like this though: If you are getting an important call from someone, step aside and take it. If you made the call while standing in line, hang up because you shouldn't have made that call until after you had gotten out of line. If it's uber important life/death, drop what you're doing and take it. My coworker was helping me do some work on a car. He got a call on his cell which is rare. He answered it and hung up quickly. I asked him if something was wrong because he never answers his cell. His said his grandfather was about to die and his sister wanted him to leave work and go be there. He told her no, he has to close the shop and can't leave me alone without an alarm code. I tried to get him to leave and call another coworker to come in and finish closing, but he wouldn't leave work undone. So, he stayed and finished his work at the shop, while his grandfather was dying at the hospital, but these irritating mofo's calls are so important that they have to hog the register and continue yapping till they finish. You know what I mean? If it's that important, leave. If not, fucking hang up and be polite. It just rubs me the wrong way. That's why I say something when people do it. If they're going to be rude and yap, I'll be rude and tell them to GTFO.:tantrum:
I worked as a cashier, and I think it's very rude to not at least suspend the conversation over the phone for however long you're interacting with the cashier. When a customer checked out at my register while still on the phone, the customer won't have their 10% credited to their rewards account and lost the option to have an emailed receipt (it's amazing how many people were shocked by the fact that we needed to enter their email address to email their receipt to them).
I'm a nerd and on the phone a lot and usually multitask, so I am usually wearing my hideously uncool headset with boom mike while wandering around at the store. But as soon as I get to checkout, I always have the person I'm speaking with hold, move the boom mike up to the top of my head, and give the cashier my full attention, often making conversation. I'd want nothing less if I were a cashier so having a double standard is unacceptable to me.
If they were obnoxious about it, I'd serve the next customer, then get back to them once they got off the phone. Luckily the supermarket I worked in had such horrid reception that calls would drop out when walking in the door.
:rolle: Ever had someone talking on TWO mobiles at the same time? One in each ear. I have seen this!!
I don't do this--I'm not really much of a phone person--but it never really bothered me back when I occasionally worked a register. I guess I just never really expected that I would be having any kind of deep, human interactions at the register. I do think it's funny now when I meet clients how mortified they are when their phones go off while we are meeting. I always say "take it if you need to" and very rarely do people take it. When they do, they are usually brief--and intensely apologetic. The one that I do think is a little amusing is that clients seem genuinely perplexed that I do not answer my office phone while meeting with them--people are always saying "don't you need to get that?" No, I really don't. I'll talk with them when I'm done talking with you.:lol:
For most of my working life, I was a cashier. I actually found it to be relieving when a customer was on the phone because I didn't have to speak to them. However, I do have severe social anxiety, so that's probably why. In addition, if the customer on the phone was loud or rowdy or using excessively profane language or being "dirty," then I'd usually take offense to that.
This always rubbed me the wrong way, too, when I worked in retail. Mostly because it almost always ended up holding things up because the person couldn't be bothered to pay enough attention if there were any issues with their purchase, or even to be significantly aware that they were rung up and needed to pay. And they'd make ME feel like the rude one for interrupting their call :rolle: . It was just another expression of the fact that many people completely forget that those working in the customer service industry are indeed human beings with thoughts, feelings, and lives. Not robot servants built to bend over backwards to serve your every need. Certainly not all people behave like this, but many seem to act as though those in this industry are lower than them, and it's fine to treat them like dirt because of that.
I've never worked as a cashier but I think that talking on the phone while being rung up is extremely rude. Or when you are at a restaurant and the waiter is taking your order. Is it really so hard to make your friend wait for three minutes?
Oh my goshhhhhhhh I have been waiting for a thread like this! *puts down flag*. First of all, I think that it's because the person doesn't realize that they're being rude. Secondly, it's because that they think that they're the most important person in the room and the center of the universe. Thirdly, they clearly never fully learned social etiquette and what not to do when you're in a checkout line. I see this all the time and I know that, coming from my brother who works as a cashier at a local drug store, it happens frequently and it grates peoples' nerves. I think that this is why I could never work in retail. So many stupid people would cause me to snap at someone for being an idiot and I would lose my job. Seriously, folks! You can call them right back. Put down the damn Iphone and wait a few minutes :bang:. I think people having their restaurants out in a restaurant texting/calling when a server is wanting/waiting for them to order is just as freaking rude!!
