Grumpy old man (The things I hate)

[Haliotis]

Some supermarkets are moving away from auto-checkouts.  I think it was a Morrisons boss who said we had “probably gone too far!”  Lots of people do use them - some because of their own impatience at waiting in a queue - but a glitch at the auto-checkout can soon use up the intended saving of time.  And the longer queues are only caused because of the reduction in manned tills.

Auto-checkouts are not subject to industry standards - you can be familiar with these checkouts at a particular supermarket yet, when visiting another the layout of the checkout can be quite different.  Then, whilst you are deliberating how to proceed, the checkout supervisor will have spotted your hesitation, quickly approached your checkout, rapidly tapped out a few commands on the touch screen, then left you to continue.   Your problem is, you still don’t know where you were going wrong, the supervisor hasn’t given you any guidance and, if you use the auto-checkout at that store, you will likely make the same mistake again.  And so, like so many other customers, you develop a hatred of auto-checkouts. 

[Bper]

1 hour ago, Haliotis said:

Some supermarkets are moving away from auto-checkouts.  I think it was a Morrisons boss who said we had “probably gone too far!”  Lots of people do use them - some because of their own impatience at waiting in a queue - but a glitch at the auto-checkout can soon use up the intended saving of time.  And the longer queues are only caused because of the reduction in manned tills.

Auto-checkouts are not subject to industry standards - you can be familiar with these checkouts at a particular supermarket yet, when visiting another the layout of the checkout can be quite different.  Then, whilst you are deliberating how to proceed, the checkout supervisor will have spotted your hesitation, quickly approached your checkout, rapidly tapped out a few commands on the touch screen, then left you to continue.   Your problem is, you still don’t know where you were going wrong, the supervisor hasn’t given you any guidance and, if you use the auto-checkout at that store, you will likely make the same mistake again.  And so, like so many other customers, you develop a hatred of auto-checkouts. 

Albert I couldn't agree more,self-service checkouts, or auto checkouts, can be quick and efficient when they are working properly. Unfortunately, someone needs to tell the machine that. I've lost count of how many times we've had to wait for someone to reset or enter a code to get the system working. What I find frustrating is that you put your bag down, and the machine immediately prompts for assistance before you've even started scanning.

Certain products also seem reluctant to leave the store; no matter how many times you scan them, the barcode won’t be recognised. You can bet that the only person available to help is either assisting others with similar issues or has gone off to get a price check on a wrongly priced item. Additionally, pressing the button for a receipt often results in the printout coming out of the bottom of the machine, despite the receipt slot being at the top. This inconsistency is even more noticeable when you shop at different supermarkets, each with a different receipt location. Oh yes this definitely makes us grumpy 😡

[Primus1]

Our Morrison’s have only just installed extra self checkouts, I can’t see ours being changed back soon

[Bper]

12 minutes ago, Primus1 said:

Our Morrison’s have only just installed extra self checkouts, I can’t see ours being changed back soon

Does your Morrisons have a petrol station.?

[Primus1]

36 minutes ago, Bper said:

Does your Morrisons have a petrol station.?

Yes, but I think they’ve all been sold..

[Bper]

2 minutes ago, Primus1 said:

Yes, but I think they’ve all been sold..

Yes to the Motor Fuel Group, have you any idea what the petrol price is.?

[Haliotis]

51 minutes ago, Primus1 said:

Our Morrison’s have only just installed extra self checkouts, I can’t see ours being changed back soon

There could be an overlap between already contracted work and a change of plan.  In any event, they will have actuarial boffins in to calculate the cost of manned tills against the loss of customer business (if that should happen), probably viewing the loss to be technically inept pensioners who do minimum spending, so the loss not being that great!

[PeteChat]

2 hours ago, Bper said:

Yes to the Motor Fuel Group, have you any idea what the petrol price is.?

I filled up yesterday at our Morrisons after the “oh my god you are running out of petrol” warnings had panicked the codriver😡

£1.36.7 a litre - cheapest I’ve seen for a while, and yes, I squeezed 28 litres into the 36 litre tank, so a good 100 miles range remaining 🙄

BTW despite my satnav now working and the car being connected to the app with all functions working, the current driver is still “multi media”. That is actually about right with the car bleeping, auto braking and slowing down seemingly half a mile behind that truck I want to pass. The latter forces you to indicate and pull out far sooner than necessary- which really upsets the idiot in the Audi barrelling down the outside lane of a 2 lane motorway 😳

So it’s back to how it was after it dumped me off the driver list 2 weeks ago 🙄, and it can stay like it now - cos I’m certainly not touching the damned thing again 😡

 

[Mjolinor]

Proper grumpy here today.

Woke up this morning and some scroats have nicked my beloved Honda CD200 from the garden.

Got CCTV of them at 3:30 this morning having it away.

Police won't even come and talk to me. They opened a case, gave me a crime number then closed the case unless I find some evidence then they will open it again if they feel it is worth it.

Major grump.

 

[First_Toyota]

5 minutes ago, Mjolinor said:

Proper grumpy here today.

Woke up this morning and some scroats have nicked my beloved Honda CD200 from the garden.

Got CCTV of them at 3:30 this morning having it away.

Police won't even come and talk to me. They opened a case, gave me a crime number then closed the case unless I find some evidence then they will open it again if they feel it is worth it.

Major grump.

 

Really sorry to hear that @Mjolinor☹️

The rules may have changed with the new Government, but last year the Conservative Home Secretary stated the below. If you’ve got CCTV footage it may be worth reminding your local police force and perhaps putting in a formal complaint. Likely it’ll do no good of course, but if none of us do complain they’ll just continue to act as if crime doesn’t matter…

“Police must investigate every theft. This is the message from the Home Secretary as the government heralds an agreement from all 43 police forces in England and Wales to follow up on any evidence where there is a ‘reasonable line of enquiry’. In practice, that means the police should investigate low-level crimes such as stolen bikes, phones and shoplifting when there is reasonable lead such as a GPS tracker, CCTV footage or a doorbell video.”

 

[Bper]

24 minutes ago, PeteChat said:

I filled up yesterday at our Morrisons after the “oh my god you are running out of petrol” warnings had panicked the codriver😡

£1.36.7 a litre - cheapest I’ve seen for a while, and yes, I squeezed 28 litres into the 36 litre tank, so a good 100 miles range remaining 🙄

BTW despite my satnav now working and the car being connected to the app with all functions working, the current driver is still “multi media”. That is actually about right with the car bleeping, auto braking and slowing down seemingly half a mile behind that truck I want to pass. The latter forces you to indicate and pull out far sooner than necessary- which really upsets the idiot in the Audi barrelling down the outside lane of a 2 lane motorway 😳

So it’s back to how it was after it dumped me off the driver list 2 weeks ago 🙄, and it can stay like it now - cos I’m certainly not touching the damned thing again 😡

 

Funny how Morrisons prices vary so much yours 136.7p my local Morrisons 141.7p.Now this gives me a major grump but then again I have been banging on about them on my other post for the last 2 years.😡

[Mjolinor]

Not much point complaining at the police. If you do it just means you get less service next time.

It annoys me that the first question is "have you got the keys?". They just smell an easy fraud prosecution if you say no, other than that it is just a statistic.

 

[Bper]

2 minutes ago, Mjolinor said:

Not much point complaining at the police. If you do it just means you get less service next time.

It annoys me that the first question is "have you got the keys?". They just smell an easy fraud prosecution if you say no, other than that it is just a statistic.

 

Hi John, Sorry to hear your had your Honda stolen. If you replace it perhaps a tracker might help. Hope you get a good insurance result.🤬

[Mjolinor]

6 minutes ago, Bper said:

Hi John, Sorry to hear your had your Honda stolen. If you replace it perhaps a tracker might help. Hope you get a good insurance result.🤬

I probably wont bother claiming It is only insured for £1k and a £350 excess. It will put my car insurance up as well so over the next five years it will cost me more than I will get.

It was obviously two local lads, they pushed hte bike away so what I need is hi res satellite images of the terraced houses round where I live so I can see it in a back yard.

Resolution on Google Earth is easily able to give that information but as yet I have not found any NASA or other pictures with adequate resolution.

 

[Big_D]

@Mjolinor Firstly, sorry to hear about your stolen CD200. I had a similar experience when my Harley was stolen a few years ago. They took it in the middle of the night after breaking the lock on the gate to our back yard. The bike was taken and loaded into the back of a white LWB hi-roof Ford Transit van. Although everything was caught on camera, the Police didn't even bother to come out when it was reported. All they said was they would add it to the list of stolen vehicles and wold monitor their ANPR cameras. What a waste of time.

You have my sympathy.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Hello John, that's a nuisance.

I have heard of tea leafs who are so stupid that they put stolen stuff on FB marketplace or even eBay or newsagents window ads.

Have to be a dodgy buyer too though as I assume you have the v5.

Might be worth a look round though.

If it was taken by young lads though, are there any local places that are used for field bikes?

Assuming it is a runner.

I found a bike of mine many years ago that had been taken,on local disused quarry, it had run out of petrol , and the back tyre had been stuffed with leaves and grass when they burst the inner tube.

Fingers crossed 🤞 you find it.

 

[dannyboy413]

Going back to auto checkouts for a minute. I was in Stansted Airport on Thursday evening, waiting for my, (delayed 😢) flight. So I go into the duty free bit, which you have no choice to do as it is between Security and the gates. I picked up a couple of things, including a bottle of whiskey. A young lad asked if I was paying by cash or card, so I said card and he pointed me in one direction. I follows his directions and it is a flaming self serve checkout, so I scan my items and then the young lad comes over and authorises the machine to let me buy the whiskey. He then takes it off me and puts it in one of those tamper proof bags. I am sure it would have been quicker if he had just done it all in the first place! 

[Rhymes with Paris]

10 minutes ago, dannyboy413 said:

I am sure it would have been quicker if he had just done it all in the first place! 

Aye David, logic and common sense flew out of the window a long time ago.

I have noticed a relatively recent intransigence among some younger employees of businesses and agencies, they believe that they are bound by "policy".

Even if superceded by law,in addition to the policy making no sense at all.

Critical thinking must be missing from the curriculum of the current crop of newly minted professionals, and to be fair, quite a few older ones too.

 

 

 

[Primus1]

7 hours ago, Bper said:

Yes to the Motor Fuel Group, have you any idea what the petrol price is.?

No idea…I never use supermarket fuel..

[Big_D]

I get grumpy when I am expected to use the self checkouts. I'm not getting paid to work there, so why do I need to do it myself. I would rather an employee does it. That's what they are being paid to do, and I don't want to put them out of a job. Anyway, I do enjoy the small talk, which I can't get out of a self service machine.

[AndyN01]

12 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Aye David, logic and common sense flew out of the window a long time ago.

I have noticed a relatively recent intransigence among some younger employees of businesses and agencies, they believe that they are bound by "policy".

Even if superceded by law,in addition to the policy making no sense at all.

Critical thinking must be missing from the curriculum of the current crop of newly minted professionals, and to be fair, quite a few older ones too.

 

 

 

Another consideration is that to deviate from the policy (regardless of whether it is in any way "sensible") may well result in disciplinary action and dismissal.

I was recently told by former colleagues that a "new" telephony policy has been introduced. In a nutshell it was follow the script to the letter. It doesn't matter that the script doesn't actually involve listening to what's being asked and using training/knowledge/skill etc. to actually give the appropriate and correct information. It's just follow the script and, of course, all calls are recorded so if you do deviate then you know what's coming. For some reason many staff are leaving......

More any old tat will do and simply fob off your customers and hope they'll go away. Oh and, of course, telephony staff can now be paid peanuts 'cus they're just talking monkeys following a script. 🤐

[First_Toyota]

13 hours ago, dannyboy413 said:

Going back to auto checkouts for a minute. I was in Stansted Airport on Thursday evening, waiting for my, (delayed 😢) flight. So I go into the duty free bit, which you have no choice to do as it is between Security and the gates. I picked up a couple of things, including a bottle of whiskey. A young lad asked if I was paying by cash or card, so I said card and he pointed me in one direction. I follows his directions and it is a flaming self serve checkout, so I scan my items and then the young lad comes over and authorises the machine to let me buy the whiskey. He then takes it off me and puts it in one of those tamper proof bags. I am sure it would have been quicker if he had just done it all in the first place! 

In a similar vein, when the previous Government were consulting on closing railway station ticket offices, I had a discussion with the (very helpful, cheerful and engaging) ticket office seller at my small, local, station. I was concerned he might lose his job - he’s been there over ten years - but he told me…wait for it…

”No, I’ll be fine. I’ll stay working here, the same hours as I do now. My role will be to ‘help passengers’ exactly as I do now. The only difference will be I won’t be ALLOWED to sell tickets and the actual ticket booth will be closed. It’s crackers.”

I submitted a letter of objection to the consultation. Many others did as well. Eventually the policy was cancelled, quite rightly. I always buy my tickets at the station from John, who prides himself on being able to sell split tickets at least as cheaply and with less fuss than going online in advance. AND I get a proper ‘card’ ticket that goes through the ticket barriers quickly and without all the fumbling for a mobile telephone (and my mobile isn’t modern enough for most of the ‘apps’ anyway!)

[Bper]

13 hours ago, dannyboy413 said:

Going back to auto checkouts for a minute. I was in Stansted Airport on Thursday evening, waiting for my, (delayed 😢) flight. So I go into the duty free bit, which you have no choice to do as it is between Security and the gates. I picked up a couple of things, including a bottle of whiskey. A young lad asked if I was paying by cash or card, so I said card and he pointed me in one direction. I follows his directions and it is a flaming self serve checkout, so I scan my items and then the young lad comes over and authorises the machine to let me buy the whiskey. He then takes it off me and puts it in one of those tamper proof bags. I am sure it would have been quicker if he had just done it all in the first place! 

I bet that bottle of whiskey wasn't in the tamper proof bag very long.😂

[Mjolinor]

People who talk in abbreviations.

It does not show knowledge, it just shows that you are the type whose shirt sleeves are two inches too long for your jacket and that you probably buy Ray Bans.

I remember what LSD was when I was younger, no idea what it is now. (Cyker) 🙂

 

[Bper]

24 minutes ago, AndyN01 said:

Another consideration is that to deviate from the policy (regardless of whether it is in any way "sensible") may well result in disciplinary action and dismissal.

I was recently told by former colleagues that a "new" telephony policy has been introduced. In a nutshell it was follow the script to the letter. It doesn't matter that the script doesn't actually involve listening to what's being asked and using training/knowledge/skill etc. to actually give the appropriate and correct information. It's just follow the script and, of course, all calls are recorded so if you do deviate then you know what's coming. For some reason many staff are leaving......

More any old tat will do and simply fob off your customers and hope they'll go away. Oh and, of course, telephony staff can now be paid peanuts 'cus they're just talking monkeys following a script. 🤐

I do find it irritating when you pick up the phone, and before you can even say 'hello,' the person on the other end launches into a reheubikd script? I’ve had that happen a few times. I patiently listen until they finish, and then I say, 'You're reading that from a script, aren't you?' Their surprised response? 'How did you know?'"Apart from the obvious they forget to breath. Yet another thing for the grumpy list😡