What is wrong with Store Clerks?

I went to a Dollar Store and bought the following:

1 box of crackers 2 candy bars 1 quart of motor oil 1 pack of 4 AA batteries 1 one liter bottle of soda 1 pack of cold cuts 2 average cans of canned soup 1 package of beef jerky 1 small plastic jar of peanut butter 1 small glass jar of pickles 1 four pack of toilet paper

I easily walked up to the counter with all of this in my hands, except the soda which was under my arm.

I checked out, paid under $20 for this stuff. I ended up with SEVEN of those crappy plastic store bags.

It was packed this way.

1 bag just for the motor oil 2 bags (doubled) for the bottle of soda 1 bag for the toilet paper 1 bag just for the cold cuts 1 bag for only the pickles 1 bag for everything else

I asked the clerk why she could not put it all in one bag. She said oil cant be put with food, soda needs a double bag because of it's weight, glass jars cant be put with other stuff, anything from the cooler (cold cuts) must be bagged separately, and the toilet paper was too big to put in the same bag as other stuff.

I could see the clerk was pissed, as I emptied all the bags on the counter. I put everything in one bag, except the toilet paper and the soda. I told her that the soda is easier to carry without a bag, and the toilet paper already HAS a bag since it's sealed in plastic.

I left the store ONE bag, plus the toilet paper and soda un-bagged. Before leaving, I handed her the unneeded six bags and told her to reuse them. Instead, she tossed them in the garbage.

Then we wonder why we create so much garbage..... and why we're told we must recycle.

I was really pissed that she tossed those extra bags in the garbage, so when I got home, I phoned the company and complained about their clerk being wasteful. They said they require all the things she said, such as the oil not being placed in a bag of food and cold cuts separated, etc. I told them I DO NOT appreciate having to make 3 or more trips from my car to my house, when I get home, particularly when it's winter (which it was)......

Reply to
Jerry.Tan
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In this instance you were the PITA, and the cause of being wasteful. There's no reason you can't have 3 plastic bags in each hand...did you get yourself some diapers?

Reply to
bob_villa

bob_villa:

So you support stores' bagging policy, even if it wastes resesources.

Well I bring my OWN bags to the super market, and I bag them myself - HEAVY. So there!

Reply to
thekmanrocks

You need to get pissed at the government , not the clerk. By law, or store policy the items must be bagged in certain ways. After items were placed in the bags, they can not be reused.

As Bob said, buy your self some diapers.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

They gave you bags? Wow. That is unheard of around here.

Reply to
taxed and spent

So you berated a minimum wage clerk for following store policy. Hope you are proud of yourself.

While I don't agree with the policy completely, I'd put the blame where it belongs. Not do I want the clerk to use the bags you may have contaminated.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I agree.

There is no way I'd have motor oil in the same bag with food, etc

Reply to
philo

Forgot to mention:

Most of the time I go to the store I bring my own bags from home to keep the waste to a minimum. Some stores even give me a credit for the bags .

Reply to
philo

philo wrote: "- show quoted text -

There is no way I'd have motor oil in the same bag with food,"

Wimpy 21s century. Just tro' my stuff in the bags so I can put them in my car and drive home. IZZAT too much to ask? \:-o

Reply to
thekmanrocks

A troll who is proud of hogging a newsgroup with his moronic issues for the sake of attention is just as proud of berating a minimum wage employee for doing what she's supposed to do for the same sake of receiving attention.

Reply to
Meanie

You were the guy complaining about spilling a quart of oil on your pants but don't mind mixing it with your food ;)

Reply to
Frank

The clerk did WHAT SHE WAS TOLD TO DO. You are a complainer. Smarten up. I managed grocery stores for years.

Reply to
Roy

Well, I am going to have to defend Jerry on some of this as clerks don't re ally think of how wasteful they can be.

I was at one of Dollar Stores a few months ago and I bought a can or two of soup and a box fabric-safe bleach. She was going to put these items in tw o separate bags and I told her put those 3 items in one bag. She seem surp rised and asked if I really wanted them in one bag and I said yes. She was n't thinking is all I can surmise; how can a box of fabric-safe bleach harm /contaminate two metal cans of soup?

I've used reusable fabric grocery bags for years and am starting to use the smaller reusable cloth bags for those quick trips to Wal Mart and these 'd ollar' stores.

Reply to
ItsJoanNotJoann

It's not the clerks - it's company policy!

Are you going to blame our sodiers for invading Iraq 12 years ago - or Cheney & Rumsfeld?

Reply to
thekmanrocks

What I spilled on my pants was in a drain pan. The quart at the store was SEALED. If it was leaking, it would have leaked on the shelf before I picked it up.

Reply to
Jerry.Tan

Forget the plastic bag issue.

Have you considered what the junk food you bought is doing to your metabolic health?

Reply to
Buck

I like the way they pack. The only thing I do require separate packing are spray jugs with hazardous soaps and cleaners, which can leak, or even sealed clorox jugs.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

They probably have a great big recycling bin for bags; at least, grocery stores have them. If you bring your own bag, then YOU won't be wasting bags and you have fewer to carry. I keep mine, with my umbrella, in a door pocket so I can grab them on my way into the store.

It's been a long time since I had a gripe about any store clerk; local businesses here, whether chain or not, seem to have customer service as #1 priority...they offer to help as soon as yer in the door. Only exceptions I've noticed are Sears and KMart, and they seem to be worried about paying the light bill...rarely find a clerk free to assist, although they are really nice when one is located. Their stores are dark and depressing. Local Kroger is not one of the biggest, but sure know how to manage...day before blizzard or on NY Eve, every cart was in use, but the shelves were stocked and there were no long lines. I mention to the clerks how much I like the store and appreciate their help. I suspect that when it comes to bagging groceries, there are plenty of griped...don't squash the bread, keep the pie right-side-up, don't make that bag so heavy....

Reply to
Norminn

I don't think you should have done that in front of the clerk. For one thing you hold up the line. And the clerk's job is unsatisfying and low paid enough that he doesn't need the implied insult. Complain to the management instead, as you did.

I'm not surprised to hear that these are the rules, since the supermarkets do the same thing.

They all changed at roughly the same time. They used to pack the bags so that they weighed about the same. Now they will put two 48-ounce bottles of something in the same bag, while putting paper napkins in another bag.

Other than separating frozen food from hot food, or maybe keeping froen food with milk and other cold food, I wish they would go back to the old rules. I wish they woudlnt' use a separate bag for the newspaper, and sometimes I say that, but I don't like to interrupt their routine, even in a way that might seem to be making their life easier (like putting two things in one bag), when changing their routine almost surely makes their life harder. It's one more thing they have to do.

For a while I was saving the plastic bags and bringing them back to the container they provide, but I've switched to recylcling paper. And recently I added all those illegal plastic advertising signs I take down, when I learned they're recyclable. And I'm considering adding plastic bottles, though I use very few of those not counting milk Actually recycling is a big pain in the neck, even when it's curbside, but it's gotten hard for me to through the newsppare in with the garbage.

Why 3 trips? The one big advantage of plastic bags is that once you your hand in the handles of a bunch of them, you can carry 5 or 10 at once, as long as the total weight is not more than two arms can carry.

Reply to
micky

AT my store, it's not big at all. 18" x 18", with an opening that's 12" in diameter. A pain.

A problem would be that the ones they sell seem too small, and not knowing how many to bring in with me, since I never know in advance how much groceries I will buy.

They have advertised on tv some bigger ones, that stand up on their own, but right now my home-replaced rear window is letting all the rain into my trunk. Maybe after I fix that.

Reply to
micky

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