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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Cell phones and express lines
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now I’ve seen everything.
I was at the Publix on Peachtree Industrial on Sunday. The registers were busy, but I was fortunate enough to get in line behind one lady who was, like me, purchasing only a few items. Friends and neighbors, beware of the short lines.
As I got in line behind her, I noticed that she was talking on a cell phone. Mistake number one. In situations like this, I usually start scanning the other counters, seeing if I could leave this line and move into another. Seeing nothing else available, and noting that another person had moved into line behind me, I figured that I would just wait it out.
The cashier had finished her scanning, and announced the total to the customer. The customer, engrossed in her conversation, did not acknowledge the cashier’s request. The cashier announced the total again. Still, there was no response from customer.
Eventually, the cashier tapped the customer on the arm and politely indicated that she was ready. The customer held her finger up in the air, as if to say “wait a minute,” took her time, then ended her call, put the cell phone in her purse, and then closed it up.
She then turned her attention to the cashier, who patiently and politely reminded the customer of the total. So, the customer opens the purse that she just closed, fidgets around in her purse for her checkbook, opens the checkbook, fidgets around for a pen, finds it, starts writing, finds the pen out of ink. She starts rummaging around again in her purse for another pen. The cashier says, “Here, I have a pen.” The customer replied, “No, that’s okay, I have a pen here, give me a second.” She eventually did find another pen, wrote her check, filled out the register in her checkbook, got a receipt, but the receipt in her checkbook, closed the checkbook, put the checkbook back in her purse, fidgeted around for her car keys, found her car keys, then closed the purse. She started to walk away, but stopped after three steps, and came back to the counter to get the bags of groceries.
There ought to be a law that says if you are not ready to pay for your bill at the time the cashier is ready, then you should be bumped to the back of the line, and wait your turn until you get back to the cashier. There are other things that it could think of (and actually did). That would make this point more effective, but that’s a start. We could all stand to be a little more courteous and aware of the people around us.
Did you have any customer service tales of woe?
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