Thursday, June 5, 2008

Once, shame on you. Twice, shame on me.


Ok, so I don't post. However, I need to vent and I saw that there is actually a label created for venting, so I thought great.


The first time: I sometimes shop at the Target, it is less then two minutes from my house and I can just run and grab stuff. My beef is not with the stuff they sell or their prices, I have a raging problem with the whole check out situation. My question is do they bag it and put it in your cart or are you responsible for doing it? I went to Target for the "day after Thanksgiving sale" and I was putting my bags in the cart and the checker was like, "your total is... you can swipe your card now". So, I stop and return to the card machine to swipe, pin , enter. ( you know the drill) The checker finishes putting my bags in (or a least she acted like it), so I get my cart and push it out. It is not until later that I notice two bags are missing, because she bagged them and then just set them on the low counter at the end of the check out. Ok, I call and I tell the story and the customer service manager actually had a log with items left and paid for, so I brought in my receipt and got my stuff. I left not feeling bitter.

The second time: Two days ago I went to Target at night to get some gifts for my son's birthday the next day. I go to check out and I start loading things as they are being scanned. Same story, I go to pay and she continues to put stuff in the cart (I think). As I get my reciept, the next shift cashier takes over and my girl walks away. I check the little counter at the end of the check stand and everything is packed up. I go out in the dark parking lot (9:00 pm) and hurry to my car with my keys. I throw everything in the back seat and go home. As I unload the bags I go through and there is a bag missing again! I searched everywhere because I don't want to look dumb if it rolled to the back of my van while driving home. I yell to my husband that I have to go back to Target, and leave. I check the parking lot for my cart and it is gone I talk to the "cart guy" and he hasn't seen anything. I talk to customer service and the new shift checker (who doesn't remember me from five minutes ago) and no one saw an extra bag of stuff. Here's what I think happened : I think she must have put the bag under the cart when I was paying. I was in a hurry and it was dark and I didn't look under the cart because I didn't put anything there! I was very bitter this time because I know someone took it when they saw it in the parking lot.


My vent: Ladies, what is the deal, do you bag and tell them not to touch your stuff. Do you look like a snob and make them do it and then check their work right in front of them? Most of the time I'm trying to keep my kids for opening up the candy in the check stand instead of keeping track of what the checker is doing. I don't know, I'm sure now that I have typed this out I sound psycho, but that is what venting is about. Maybe this random stuff only happens to me.

Just a note: I have liberty to say what I want about checkers, because I worked retail for ten years:)

5 comments:

Kirsten said...

Hey man, vent away! It feels good. I agree with you that Target's check out system needs work. I love Target for other reasons and would shop there if it were closer but I would be pissed if they were responsible for me not having everything I paid for. And in your case they are. Walmart has little spinny bag tables where they bag it and spin it and you grab it yourself and put it in your cart and I have not gotten every bag several times because when I'm done paying the part facing me is empty. But I've got bags on the other side facing the cashier. I don't usually realize it until I'm home and dealing with cranky kids and putting everything away and the last thing I want to do is load them back up and trek back to the store. Lately I just ask as I'm ready to walk away, "Is that everything?" and they look and it's saved me a few bags that would have been left otherwise.

knitaholic310 said...

Shame on the checker. She should have told you that you she was putting it below the cart. Shame on me too because I have left bags/items that I paid for at (gasp!) Walmart. They have always set them aside for me to pick up later though. I also managed to accidently shoplift a packet of zucchini seeds (97 cents) which I later paid for when I was picking up something I had left there. As I was explaining to the customer service person how I accidently shoplifted them because my daughter was laying on them in the cart, blah, blah . . . I look over and standing next to me is the Bishop's wife. She started laughing and said that she and her husband almost left the grocery store with all their groceries bagged up, but not paid for. They actually started walking out of the store when the cashier got their attention and asked if they were planning on paying.

I use my own bags so I can see when one is missing. Also, some stores give you maybe a nickel off your groceries for each of your own bags you use. IKEA has the best reusable bag. It is made out of tarp material and is really huge and strong. Trader Joe's also makes some really strong and cute reusable bags. I just bought their newest one, it is blue and looks kind of tropical and bohemian at the same time. I love it!

I let Ian (he is usually the only one with me) pick out one small treat right when we get to the store and tell me that is all he is getting so when we get to the check out he isn't grabbing everything in sight. This cuts down on him asking me for stuff all through the store too so I get done about 20-30 minutes faster.

The Gomes Family said...

Shame on Target. I would rather shop Target than Walmart for a variety of reasons, lower traffic, cleaner isles at Target versus Walmart however, Walmart is significantly lower in price. Here (Turlock) they always put my items in my cart, which they should, that is there job as a customer service representative. I have not yet had that problem, however, I might when she is up and walking getting into the candy isle (shameless marketing tactic). I would be miffed too if I had to venture back to retrieve items. You may want to talk to the manager of the store or higher up and explain your situation, ask if it happens often... and then say, what can you do for me? Let them know that you will shop at the competitor's if this should happen again. Shop on sista!

Robyn said...

Lisa, in Modesto, Walmart is such a scary place, especially compared to Target. I don't blame you for never setting foot in a Walmart there. Yikes! In Springville, the Walmart was SO nice that people from Orem would come there to shop. Kirsten knows, right? It's a really nice one. Here at the end of the world (South Texas), people turn their noses up at Walmart, as if they're too good for it. I've overheard people at church events talk about the "kind of people" who shop at Walmart, as if we have caste system here. At baby showers, you'll never find anything from Walmart (which is sad because their return policy is so easy). These people shop at Target instead. So at Target, the isles are a mess, it's crowded, babies are constantly screaming, parents are not attending to children, nothing is organized, the shelves have been pillaged and not restocked, and there are never enough employees. However, next door at Walmart, where the shoppers are obviously more humble in appearance, the isles are clean, the shelves are stocked, the customers are polite and attentive to their children, and the employees are helpful. I'm a "people watcher" and I'm constantly amazed by this small study of mine. The people who are too snobby to shop at Walmart here in South Texas are also like the worst people on the planet. I'm really glad, actually, they congregate to Target, because it makes my cheap shopping experience at Walmart so much more pleasant. The whole situation just confirms to me that South Texas is such a strange place, culturally.

Kirsten said...

Yeah the walmart here is great and I use reusable bags too so I don't have the problem of not getting all my stuff anymore. The target in orem is nice too though but it's not as cheap as walmart. There are new walmarts here in the valley that are crazy nice. Nicer than the Albertson's I used to shop in Provo. I used to think Walmart was trashy and maybe a lot of them are but I love them now. The Oberts served their mission in Oklahoma and the nicest grocery store in the city was a walmart grocery store. It didn't have all the other random stuff that a regular walmart has, it was just groceries and it was nice. Walmart's come a long way I think.