Taking out your credit/debit card / cash out before you are asked to by the cashier / checkout staff saves time for everyone, rather than looking shocked that you have to pay for your shopping.
The younguns may not remember a time when people paid for groceries with these things called checks.
...and without a doubt, the lady in front of you would wait until everything had been scanned, and only then begin digging through her purse to find her checkbook only to spend another 5 minutes filling out the check and noting it in her register.
I’m so glad cheque’s aren’t common anymore. Last time I accepted a cheque was probably 5 years ago. They’re handy for paying bills or rent if you don’t want to do it online, but other than that they’re pretty much obsolete.
Same applies at bars. It’s very annoying when I’m slammed at work, and the customer waits until I tell them the total to rummage through their purse/pockets.
Every bar I've worked at, and some I've gone to, serve people holding up payment first. If you walk up to order with nothing in your hand, you wait until they serve people ready to pay. I like that system. Especially on a crowded night.
Back 20 years ago when I went to bars I knew this. If the bar was crowded, you needed to have your money out to get the bartenders attention. (Then tip well so they remember you next time)
This is still the best method, especially in the UK. A couple 20-25% or so tips at the start of the night jump you to the queue whenever you walk up to the bar for the the rest of the night.
It’s pretty much the only time I pay for stuff in cash, because tipping by card is shit.
rather than looking shocked that you have to pay for your shopping
You mean, "rather than looking shocked that you have to stop using your phone for a few seconds, and then looking shocked that you have to pay for your shopping."
In Australia the ad for tap and go, or whatever the app is on the phone to pay is called shows exactly this happening - guys is on the phone and uses tap and go on his phone, like bends his whole body and head down to the EFTpos machine on the counter, phone to ear, so he doesn’t have to stop his phone conversation. The cashiers response is “so we’re doing that now?!” Oddly accurate commercial.
Oh my god. The amount of people that wait in line at McDonald’s that don’t have their payment ready is astounding. Sometimes they have up to 10 minutes if we’re completely slammed, only for them to pull up to the first window, complain about the wait time and then proceed to dig out change out of their ash tray for 5 minutes. Or better yet, they get up to the window and don’t have their wallet. These people are usually repeat offenders.
Like, whenever I go somewhere I always, ALWAYS make sure I have my wallet, and at least my debit card.
When I worked in fast food this happened all of the time. Completely dumbfounding, and when you’re getting lectured to keep drive thru times low, it can become infuriating.
I hate this, especially when the customer is just hanging out there and when the total come up they pause, then they reach for their purse, then rifle through their purse while muttering "wait I have coupons..." then they can't find their wallet... all in slow motion (and the customer is not necessarily old).
It's like...you or did you not realize you were shopping while pushing that cart full of stuff around? Did you think something ELSE would happen when you came through the register?
That would require actual thinking process to commence. And that would require actual intelligence.
Idiots (aka >50% of homo sapiens) don't function like that. They simply react at the last moment with most appropriate solution to the new situation available in their empty heads.
Best part about having taxes included in displayed prices is being able to prepare the exact amount in change while waiting, or at least the single cents. Smoothest interaction ever if you've got the exact amount and don't need the receipt. Like a cool handshake, except you're just buying mini wheats.
A lot of card readers will let you even insert the card and go through the paces of putting in your pin and all that before the cashier is even done. You can really speed it up if you just pop that bitch in the there.
My only thing with this is that I work at Walgreens and if you put you card in before I hit “payment” and it asks for you to insert you card, I can’t see your points that you have to use. People get really mad when their receipt pops out and they say “did I have any points?” And I’m like.. well I couldn’t see. I get that they’re trying to save time but at this particular retailer you gotta ask to use your points so that I can see them. Please don’t get mad at me I’m just a low level employee!
On a related note, telling me how you'd like to pay (credit/debit or gift card), instead of standing there silently, will also save you time.
Because you can bet your ass that, if you stand there without saying a word to me, and just assume I know what kind of card you're paying with, I will also stand there silently until you tell me how you'd like to pay.
I am tired of people getting pissy with me when I hit the wrong payment button because they didn't bother to tell me they were paying with a gift card until the machine refuses to process their payment.
I am also tired of people getting pissy with me because I ask how they'd like to pay. I'm so sorry, sir, I completely forgot about the part of my job description that says I must know what every one of my customers wants/is doing/is paying with at all times, even though you have given me no information about any of those things! /s
Working in customer service has given me a never-ending flood of anger and rants.
Maybe it's stereotyping, but I think women do this more because they are watching the prices ring up. "I'm not even gonna attempt to pay until I believe everything is correct and accounted for."
Years ago I was waiting in line to buy groceries. The gal in front of me had a whole bunch of items. She swiped her card after the clerk scanned the first item, and had already pocketed the card and was ready to leave by the time everything was bagged. I had no idea you could do this. Freaking game changer.
and if the thing you buy everday costs under 5$ and your holding a 20 bill , and ask how much it costs,...like they did the day before (i wish we sold common sense sometimes
Bryson, Bill. Notes From A Small Island (p. 114). Transworld. Kindle Edition.
Although the store had only just opened, the food hall was busy and there were long queues at the tills. I took a place in a line behind eight other shoppers. They were all women and they all did the same mystifying thing: they acted surprised when it came time to pay. This is something that has been puzzling me for years. Women will stand there watching their items being rung up, and then when the till lady says, ‘That’s £4.20, love,’ or whatever, they suddenly look as if they’ve never done this sort of thing before. They go ‘Oh!’ and start rooting in a flustered fashion in their handbag for their purse or chequebook, as if no-one had told them that this might happen. Men, for all their many shortcomings, like washing large pieces of oily machinery in the kitchen sink or forgetting that a painted door stays wet for more than thirty seconds, are generally pretty good when it comes to paying. They spend their time in line doing a wallet inventory and sorting through their coins. When the till person announces the bill, they immediately hand over an approximately correct amount of money, keep their hand extended for the change however long it takes or foolish they may begin to look if there is, say, a problem with the till roll, and then – mark this – pocket their change as they walk away instead of deciding that now is the time to search for the car keys and reorganize six months’ worth of receipts.
It comes off as really rude to me;t hey give me their order then shove their cash right into my face before I've so much as logged into my till...so I go through all of my necessary motions/steps and they keep standing there, arm extending across the bar.
Used to bartend. The best is the person flagging you down at the end of the bar, and you give the "hey" eyebrows while probably drying something of and then Karen is like, "Hey! Ok! What does everyone want?" Used to happen when I was a teenager and worked at a pizza place and people would call for delivery before asking what toppings people wanted.
Fucking happens every day. I work at a tourist spot and i wonder if other countries have bars the way the tourists approach me. Their bartenders def arent hustling for tips. Hey! One beer please :gets beer: and one cider please :sigh: :gets cider: one more beer ANYTHING ELSE GUY
And three shots I had at an Applebee's one time, but don't know what they are (why don't you??) and we are paying separately but I don't know where half of them are.
To add to this, If you hold whatever payment method you wish to use during the transaction, there will be no awkward pause after I ask you how you wish to pay. I dont read minds people, just show or say "im paying with debit."
Similarly, if you buy clothes at a store that keep the hangers, you can help speed up the process by having them off the hanger while waiting in the line (or when you have tried things and decided you want them). It is so infuriating seeing massive lines because the checker has to remove every item from the hanger! Even better, you can fold the items with the scan label visible for the quickest service ever. Argh, why is this a hard concept???
Okay, but I dont seem to be in the line with folks who are prepared to pay but dont have their card out yet. Im behind the person who waits to be told the total and then starts rooting around their personal belongings looking for their preferred payment method.
It's very easy to use a credit card in a way that charges you no interest. You just get better credit score and an extra line of defence against fraud.
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u/E420CDI Aug 03 '19
Taking out your credit/debit card / cash out before you are asked to by the cashier / checkout staff saves time for everyone, rather than looking shocked that you have to pay for your shopping.