How to get CRANKY: Shop with your kids - at Superstore!

Sent today to the good folks at StuporStore.  Where I hate to shop if I have children along!!!  Grrr...

 

----- Original Message -----

"I was in the Dufferin/Steeles Superstore location in Toronto today with my two young children, and wanted to let you know about the astonishingly poor customer service we received.

 

Our bill came to nearly $300 for what I'd consider a fairly large quantity of groceries.  I deliberately avoided the self-checkout lanes, wanting the service and efficiency of a cashier and needing to keep my hands free to deal with my children.

 

However, store policy has apparently changed, and customers are now entirely responsible for bagging their own items.  There is no help available from store staff.  After I paid for the groceries, I had to stand at the end of the checkout line for nearly ten minutes, arranging the items in two bins and three or four large grocery bags.

 

At one point, I had so many items and nowhere to put the bin, so I had to use some space in the cashier's second bagging area; she was quick to tell me that I had to move it, but never once herself offered assistance or asked if she could call one of her colleagues to help.

 

My children are generally well-behaved, but the fact remains that they - not the groceries - are my full-time job.  If they need attention, as they did a few times during this process, I must stop bagging and help them, even if it means delaying the checkout line and inconveniencing other customers.

 

It seems like Superstore has made every effort to shift responsibility from its staff onto customers.  I can see how this is a smart cost-saving move:  customers often do all the work of scanning and bagging their own groceries, pay for them, then haul them out to the car ourselves (even if they are elderly, pregnant or burdened in other ways). 

 

In fact, there's a store right around the corner at Bathurst and Clark called Sobey's that (as of last week) will still do all these things for me (alright; I still have to pay!).  I might have to ask for help with a carryout, but at least the staff are available and cheerfully offer the service.

 

If I wanted to be a supermarket cashier, I'd apply for the position.  In fact, your store seems to have several individuals who actually seem to want the job of supermarket cashier.  In my opinion, that job includes bagging groceries or, at the very least, assisting those who can't do it for themselves, rather than treating us as a nuisance.  Not to mention going the extra mile to make sure that grocery shopping is a pleasure.

 

Finally, I stopped on my way out to mention this at the "Customer Service" desk.  I waited as the representative stared at me, blankly, chewing and swallowing to empty her mouth so she could reply.  When she was eventually finished eating (!), she informed me that customer bagging was Superstore policy; it wasn't up to the store.  This response seemed typical of the zero-responsibility attitude that permeates the store.

 

I'd love to hear back from you about the change in bagging policy, and do hope you will find some way to implement my suggestion that all staff adopt a slightly more helpful attitude.

 

Yours truly,

 

{moi}"