[Closed] Being served in a shop while on your phone... wrong, right?

DrP - spotted the message on the human's monitor? 😀

"Manners maketh man..."

You'd be surprised how you can make someone's day by being 'a bit more than polite' to them.

This is a machine:

I also said this:

A please & thank-you absolutely

Not polite enough for you?!

Thumbs up for the shop-worker!

I do find myself saying "please" and "thank you" for other people which has earned me some dirty looks but so far nothing worse.

[i]I do find myself saying "please" and "thank you" for other people which has earned me some dirty looks but so far nothing worse.[/i]

Sarcasm I presume, not very polite.

theres this great italian family owned deli in London I used to go to, did proper good pizza slices and pastas, queue out the door every day etc.
They would practically throw people out the shop if they tried to order whilst on the phone, it was hilarious!

almost fell foul of it myself once, then remembered my manners 😀

DrP - spotted the message on the human's monitor?

Not polite enough for you?!

DrP

I don't serve people in the pub on the phone. I just say politely 'I'll wait until you're finished'...

How hard is it to just say 'hold on mate I'm just being served' to the caller then resume the conversation 60 seconds later..?

i agree 100% with the check out person, plain and utter arrogance on the part of the person using the phone. good manners, please and thank you seem to have died a death in this country.

im getting old now and to be honest fekin hate mobiles and wish they never been invented!!

im getting old now and to be honest fekin hate mobiles and wish they never been invented!!

Its nothing to do with getting old. I no longer take my phone on rides and often just leave it in the car as a fancy carphone now. Its just a pain and you constantly check it as well.

You can nominate the checkout person for an award

https://www.sainsburyscustomerawards.co.uk/nominate/

in France I've often been behind some arse who is bagging his groceries while on the phone and doing it slowly so it holds up the queue.

I invariably get stuck behind:

"Would you like help with your packing?"

"No thanks."

*proceeds to bag really slowly, so that there's a week's worth of unbagged groceries still piled up at the end of the till when everything's being scanned*

When they finally get to serve me I'll need help with my packing as my fingernails are stuck fast in the trolley handle.

I spend a lot of time on the phone and if I got a call while in a social situation it would depend where I was.

There is an etiquette to using your phone, just apply normal good manners.

The Independent says 1 in 6 have used phones at funerals 😯 I find that hard to take in.

Also the article says "speaking of her ordeal" now come on that's when I though its just a load of bollocks. Shit journalism sensationalising a non new item.

Its good to see that the majority of people who have commented on this thread have manners.
Pebblebeach et al, you should be ashamed of yourself.

[i]Pebblebeach et al, you should be ashamed of yourself.[/i]

And you should learn to read. I refer to my first post on page one, go have a look and learn some manners yourself.

Pebblebeach...you better get back to your business calls, someone might be needing their loft insulation improving 🙂

Is shame an emotion you're familiar with? 😀

[img] [/img]

Actually DrP, I'm not sure that is a human?

I'm drawn to suspicions that her head has been photo-chopped onto that body.

And you should learn to read. I refer to my first post on page one, go have a look and learn some manners yourself.

The one where you explained how much more important you are than anybody who works on a checkout who despite all the ignorance they suffer still tries to be pleasant enough to engage you in friendly conversation?

[i]someone might be needing their loft insulation improving[/i]

You may think that's funny, I don't understand what you're attempting to say.

er no, this one [i]'Fairly rude and I wouldn't to it myself'[/i], but its fine if you want to be selective.

I used to work on a checkout... the thing to remember is that the people on mobile phones who ignore the checkout staff because they're on the phone are the same ones who would be a t**t even without the phone.
They're the ones who the next day will be in for a loaf of bread with an MP3 player blasting music into their ears.

Some people are just rude, it's the way the world is... but it's easy to forget that they are outnumbered by the nice, polite, friendly people so really we shouldn't worry too much about it. 🙂

And you should learn to read. I refer to my first post on page one, go have a look and learn some manners yourself.

It could have been the bit when he further endeared himself to everyone by stating that people giving up their time to raise money for charity are also a PITA that get in his way, as he manfully thrusts himself about in an oh-so-important businesslike manner on his way to his awaiting Range Rover

Good on the shop worker for taking a stand .it is rude and ignorant to talk on the phone like that ,just as it is to take a call when you are already talking to someone .Also one of my local pubs has a ban on mobiles being used and there is a bakers in Bath that wont serve you if you are on the phone

There's been the odd occasion where I've done it when I've been in a rush but I felt like a proper tool.

[i]his awaiting Range Rover[/i]

I keep that at the country pile, I prefer something more sporty around town.

I don't get many people on the phone, but the one that does irk me a bit is people who don't hand me money, they put it on the counter, which means I have to scrabble about to pick it up again.

I'm not infectious or anything, and that rash has cleared right up.

by stating that people giving up their time to raise money for charity are also a PITA that get in his way

TBF, I do find them a bit awkward to deal with. No problem throwing some shrapnel in a bucket for the local U11 team, but faced with a 9 year old who will either pack everything so slowly and so badly, I have to resist the urge to jump in and take over, or look at their little rejected faces and moments of awkward-ness if I do it myself, , I just collapse mentally and find myself either walking out with 4 pints of milk and a bag of potatoes balanced on top of a piece of cod, or with the knowledge I've contributed to the mental downfall of a youngster who may well go 'postal' at my local Asda in a few years time.

Just say 'No thanks' pack your own stuff, then chuck some cash in. Its worth it to keep them off the streets, vandalising bus stops, and drinking cider in parks

I like to believe my job is really important I can be called 24 hours a day 365 days a week by clients police officers and colleagues. I have taken calls when on holiday and in social situations .

I side with the checkout assistant. It costs nothing to be polite and interact with the person trying to serve you and is unacceptably rude to continue a call while being served. My last real world experience of this was a judges clerk calling me regarding the urgent listing of an emergency application it took nano seconds to establish who was calling explain it was inconvenient to take the call and that I would call back in 5 minutes.

I certainly believe you can judge character by the way people behave to those around them especially those perceived to be in a menial job. I would not employ any one who was rude to waiters, receptionists or cleaners .

I am also going to nominate the check out assistant on the link above .

[i]I would not employ any one who was rude to waiters, receptionists or cleaners.[/i]

Do you employ people who are rude to people in other jobs then, traffic wardens for example?

Its worth it to keep them off the streets, vandalising bus stops, and drinking cider in parks

When you put it like that, it's like denying them a right of passage!

I have taken calls when on holiday

Spotted last week;

[img] [/img]

🙂 Not one person on the beach on their phone. Was blissful!

I am also going to nominate the check out assistant on the link above .

I just did that as well

Why would you be rude to a traffic warden?

Aye Now I've thought about it bearnecessities, I'm not going to do it again.

Its sending out completely the wrong message. Would it be wrong to buy them ten Bensons instead?

Absolutely, with a 3L bottle of the cheapest white cider and some frazzles. 😀

"Do you employ people who are rude to people in other jobs then, traffic wardens for example?"well we pay our staff to be confrontational with authority figures .

I do still say thank you to a shop assistant whilst I'm on the phone, I'm not the type to completely ignore someone and I do believe in manners but........ why should I hang up on my mate to punch in 4 digits to pay for my 80 quids worth of fuel and a twix. Like I say I do smile and make eye contact and say thanks. It's only a phone call ffs, like someone else said, not like it's a funeral.
busy at work today, otherwise would have replied to all my haters earlier. Peace Love \/:o)

Sorry.... were you saying something? I'm just on the phone 😉

Im siding with the checkout operator.

I've not read through the whole thread but to put the boot on the other foot.

How would you feel if the checkout operator was gassing away on their mobile whilst serving you? If its not acceptable for the shop staff to do it, then it certainly isn't acceptable for customers to do it.

I'm home/field based and all of my work calls are via mobiles. If I'm busy, meeting with a customer or talking to somebody, I never answer my phone in those situations. However I'm shocked at the number of times other people answer when I ring and then tell me that its not convenient or that they are in a meeting. If its not convenient don't answer, I'm more than capable of leaving a message!

And yes at 41 years of age, I really can see the Grumpy Old Man syndrome sneaking in! 😉

you may say that being on your phone is anti-social, but only to the people around you who you most probably don't know. they're probably being very social to friends, or at least to people they almost know on Facebook.

jekkyl - Member
why should I hang up on my mate to punch in 4 digits to pay for my 80 quids worth of fuel and a twix. Like I say I do smile and make eye contact and say thanks.

Erm because, the implication is, you are using your phone on the forecourt and you shouldn't be?

Erm because, the implication is, you are using your phone on the forecourt and you shouldn't be?

The amount of petrol stations I have visited in Leeds and Bradford, where the cashier is babbling on their mobile, is probably a dozen.

And...................?

And...................?

Nothing; your vernacular prowess has beaten me! 😉

Beeb reporter said it in one 'would you like it if someone came into your work and did they same to you'?

We ALL have customers. Even the folk who pay 450 @ month to hire an Audi to look 'important' to their neighbours.

hora - Member

Beeb reporter said it in one 'would you like it if someone came into your work and did they same to you'?

We ALL have customers. Even the folk who pay 450 @ month to hire an Audi to look 'important' to their neighbours.

I don't get the Audi haters. I'd like an Audi. You'd like an Audi I guess??!

This thread is silly. Treat people nice is all this amounts to.

If you catch yourself having a conflab while being served; apololgise, be nice, fumble through the 2 transactions to make sure both parties are ok and don't feel offended, and move on!

piemonster - Member
Im siding with the checkout operator.

+1

But I was brought up in a generation who did not have mobile phones.

I dont hate Audi's. I think they attract the wrong-type.

I hope Mre Mobile doesn't come to my local Waitrose. She sounds more like an Asda person to me.

My wife has an audi. We don't pay 450 a month for it though. We bought it, with money.
I don't think she thinks she's important in it either. She has a rule. The speed limit is a limit, not a challenge. If she feels like doing 25mph in a 40mph area, then 25mph it is.

I should imagine this goes down immensely well with people behind her. I'm assuming so anyway, they're always waving at her, she tells me.

would you like it if someone came into your work and did they same to you?

my clients are always checking their Blackberrys in meetings for really important emails like those ones telling them that the Fungspan server will be off for 2 hours on Saturday, and the one from the COO saying that Jackie Meyer-Fishbomb has been appointed Regional Client Bottom Polisher in Alaska.
I'd care more, but they're paying for my time, so they can waste as much as they like.

I work in aldi on avarage it takes around 30 seconds to get served at the till, if you cant ask someone to wait for 30 seconds on the phone or wait till you have finished on your phone before coming to my till, you'll have a much bigger wait for your shopping,i will walk off, and return when you have the common decency to treat me with respect,yes my job may not seem important to you but you'd all be screwed if we just sacked you off and stayed closed.

Its come on decency and I will judge you as a absolute Piss bucket ****er if you cant give someone serving you a little bit of respect.

I've worked in Tesco, Marks and Spencer and also Dillons (The Newsagent) in the past and can honestly say people being on the phone didn't bother me.

As long as they're not holding up the queue so you can keep serving people what difference does it make?

It's just a supermarket at the end of the day and you're being paid to scan the goods and maybe bag them, not forge a relationship. I don't understand why the checkout girl in question here would take it personally- it's really not a personal slight at the end of the day, or I never thought it was anyway. Context is everything and imo in this context there's really no need to enforce some kind of advanced etiquette. It's not a funeral ffs.

To be honest I never found it that bad when it came to the customers, can only really remember one or two isolated incidents where people were really rude and both times they involved kids/teenagers rather then adults.

It's not just bad manners, it also tends to be inconvenient for other customers. People who insist on having a conversation with someone on the phone whilst they are being served generally take longer as they attempt to jiggle two separate conversations with two different people at the same time, forcing everyone else in the queue behind them to wait as they fart about unnecessarily.

Purchase something, or, make a phone call. Life is full of choices.

I've had the misfortune of working on tills for a large supermarket chain and have actually had a customer ask me to pack for her while she checked her twitter. I asked her if she was winding me up, fired her items at her and bid her farewell. You wouldn't believe some of the dick heads you meet in retail.

The irony of the multi-tasking scenario being that they have to do both as they're living such busy productive lives. In reality the woman in question was likely to have been doing both so she could get the ready meal and bottle of rose in quickly so she didn't miss Hollyoaks

I hate this sort of behaviour and have adopted a somewhat zero tolerance to it for the last 18 months or so, specifically:
1) People who answer the phone and then say they are in a meeting. They lose points immediately for that sort of behaviour and if possible I'll ask them not to answer but let me leave an informative message next time. If someone does it to me in a meeting I will enquire if we should schedule another time as obviously something important has come up. As an aside I interviewed someone last week who answered their phone during it and it wasn;t a death or some hideous accident.
2) In meetings if someone checks their phone I leave. Have been doing this a lot, if the meeting isn't that important then i don't actually need to be there. Checking your phone indicates that it isn't important unless you have pre-warned me that something may need dealt with (death, taxes etc.)
3) If i turn up to a meeting internal or external and nobody arrives for 5 minutes I leave. Same thing, i know people get held up but I am never late, never. Bad manners and bad planning.
4) If someone tries to talk to me while they are on the phone I refuse, multi tasking isn't possible.
5) People driving with Bluetooth headsets must be the Prime Minister. Nobody is that important that they can't miss a phone call.
I don't want to sound pious about it because I really am not. I just hate the lack of basic manners around phones and decided that my life on this planet is limited so I won't wait for others to fanny around on phones. I'm not big or important, just like to treat people the way I would expect to be treated. With respect and basic courtesy. Funnily enough it has resulted in my colleagues and team actually talking to each other more face to face and our staff survey had a 100% positive rating around engagement which was interesting.

if they act like an 11th century lord of the manner

:O)

I go into people's homes to talk to them about their weddings and convince them to hire me to be their wedding photographer. Increasingly, younger couples think it's perfectly normal to respond to texts mid-conversation and even take calls.

The first few times it happened I was gobsmacked. So bloody rude! Now, I just stop talking until they look up questioningly. People like this tend not to book me...

:O)

I think atlaz meant to say "if they act like an 11th century lord of the bad manners".

At least that's how I read and it made perfect sense to me.

I work in aldi on avarage it takes around 30 seconds to get served at the till, if you cant ask someone to wait for 30 seconds on the phone or wait till you have finished on your phone before coming to my till, you'll have a much bigger wait for your shopping,i will walk off, and return when you have the common decency to treat me with respect,yes my job may not seem important to you but you'd all be screwed if we just sacked you off and stayed closed.

Its come on decency and I will judge you as a absolute Piss bucket **** if you cant give someone serving you a little bit of respect.

Agree with this

It's just a supermarket at the end of the day and you're being paid to scan the goods and maybe bag them, not forge a relationship. I don't understand why the checkout girl in question here would take it personally- it's really not a personal slight at the end of the day, or I never thought it was anyway. Context is everything and imo in this context there's really no need to enforce some kind of advanced etiquette. It's not a funeral ffs.

Disagree with this. For me it's an interaction with another human being, they deserve to be treated with a bit of respect. Acknowledging their existence is part if that. It's only a please and thank you and maybe a smile.

You wouldn't believe some of the dick heads you meet in retail.

Oh, I definitely would 😉

I remember a while back.. answering a call as I was at a counter in some shop. I had been waiting for the call for a few days and they finally got back to me. I said sorry to the guy at the counter and walked outside to take it. Once the call was over I felt so bad and explained about waiting for it. I told him how I hate when folk do that to me while I'm at the counter and that I was really sorry. He was fine and had a laugh so all seemed good.

I hope Mre Mobile doesn't come to my local Waitrose. She sounds more like an Asda person to me.

I doubt she'd be welcome in Waitrose TBH.

Its nothing to do with getting old. I no longer take my phone on rides and often just leave it in the car as a fancy carphone now. Its just a pain and you constantly check it as well.

[url= http://www.****/news/article-2222282/Well-mannered-shop-County-Stores-Taunton-bans-customers-mobiles.html ]http://www.****/news/article-2222282/Well-mannered-shop-County-Stores-Taunton-bans-customers-mobiles.html[/url]

not going to read all 5 pages, but jekkyl and pebblebeach... really? you're kidding right?

business call...in sainsburys? cant it wait? if not dont shop yet. or if in the queue have the decency to leave for a moment.

have we forgotten politeness? Whats with this attitude of - they are paid to serve me so i am king and can do whatever i want? They are human beings you know?

Scotia +1. The level of ignorance is incredible.

Plus boop! Boop! Quite audible it'd sound annoying/unprofessional

Scotia, nobeer, hora: are you employees or self employed?

what difference?

kb - are you polite?

Yeh I don't get that either. Why would that make a difference?

I'm an employee and I can manage it, and by far and away the politest people I know are those that are employers. Of well known (locally) retailers to boot.

i think kb is referring to the fact that if self employed then work is 'more precious' (not really but i can appreciate what is meant).. but seriously that is just rubbish and a poor sign of the times.

glad im no longer in the money grabbing culture of the uk..

Surely it just boils down to common courteousy, its almost on a par with people who don't remove sunglasses in a shop.
Eye contact is so important

Scotia, nobeer, hora: are you employees or self employed?

Employed but my mobile is with customers and I've been known to text/receive calls even on a Friday pm/weekend.

As I said earlier, would you want someone to come into your business and do the same to you?

What it boils down to is people see staff on checkouts and (unless they are pretty) in shops as beneath them.

I remember once I was talking to a senior bloke in a defence company, he said he was in a bank, 'hang on I need to get a pen' then
"you, give me that pen" (those words). Gobsmacked. When he called reception he used to be really blunt/bordering on rude then polite when put through to me.

NZCol is my new hero! Being late for meetings and appointments is one of my bug bears too - unless the person immediately apologises, I just get the impression that 'lateness is the norm' for them...

I run lots of educational sessions, and TBH the same regulars ALWAYS turn up late. I've yet to adopt the 'you can wait until break to rejoin the group' policy, but it's not far off.....

DrP

Working on a checkout, it annoys the hell out of me when someone comes through and just seems to complety ignore/dissmiss you doing your job of actually trying to help them do their shopping. I just sit there and do nothing till i've got their attention. This sainsburys worker is bang on right and nuff respect to 'em!

As a shop owner myself I will not serve anyone who is so arrogant and rude as to continue talking on the phone whilst attempting to be served.

My parents told me

Do unto others as you have have done onto you.

I will be passing this onto my son and hopefully his children one day.