@ John. That's nothing. You clearly haven't seen me in full whinge mode. :)
Ok, I confess I had to 'wiki' the word 'abstruse' to see what it meant ! (bet i'm not the only one ?)
The other great word to come out this morning was 'circumspect', made me wince for some reason...
Yes, I love words, even when I have no idea of their meaning !
Now that's something that was a shock to my system, no 27 hour, 7 day shopping. What if I need teabags at 10PM on a sunday!!! It HAS happened!
What a whinge… Reminds me of Little Britain 
If you don’t mind me saying so.
@ Anita - come back in the afternoon. We're all much better after coffee :)
Rachael, that was not unlike two of my experiences over the last 5 years, which are not a lot, so I tend not to mention them in case I am accused of being unreasonable! but the truth is I have heard an elderly French couple complain to a cashier about her attitude and ask for the manager, who has in turn screamed at the elderly couple in front of a full supermarket of people. I was so angry on their behalf I walked out the shop leaving my shopping trolley and made them aware why I was doing it. The Uk is far from perfect, but in 60 odd years living here...I have never witnessed anything like that.
It is irrelevant if the staff are paid threepence halfpenny for working there, they took the job, if they cant provide a good service then they should find another job. Low pay and poor employment terms need a good unions influence, but making the customer suffer, isn't the correct way to sort out the problem. I just never go back to places like that. Another reason not to employ miseries...it adversely affects your business.
Yesterday I went to our local Carrefour market....fabulous staff, always friendly, always say hello, always chat, really nice experience that makes shopping a pleasure. Maybe staff training wouldn't go amiss as a matter of course for those in customer facing jobs.
Nice one Sara. I wish everyone would do it. It's what makes this (usually) a friendly place to be x
Having packers, and then suddenly having to do without may come as a shock to certain peoples' systems, but, personally, as I've never come across them on my travels, I tend to just pack my shopping, and get on with it.
I am not saying the customer is wrong. When the other shoppers are staring, they are just "other customers". The customer is not "right" for expecting to never have their shopping controlled, nor are they "right" for expecting there never to be an error, anywhere, be it pricing, spilled milk on the conveyor belt, or having typical American, or Canadian foods in the "so British" section. That last one is a pet peeve of mine, but they are never going to change it, so let's not get riled up.
I work in customer service (hotel management), and french staff are just programmed to put up a wall if they think they are about to be attacked, yet, they are also conditioned to be more sympathetic to someone who acknowledges that it "isn't their fault, but.." There is no changing that.
I'm sure you've also benefit from stringless teabags, and proper fresh milk for those 15 years in the UK, but you're not going to change the French view on those, nor are we going to whine about it on here.
I also wrote a similar entry on this very site, to do with Lidl, their bad customer service, one till out of 5 being open, and the general grumpines of the till-zombies. I, like you, came under attack from people who thought that lidl was just the best sh1t ever, and that the one in their town MUST reflect all lidls worldwide. In saying that, I only go there for the look-around, in the weekly crap section. Same for Ryanair. People love it, soak it up, because they prefer a bargain over proper service. The issue here is, in a supermarket, we are not getting value for money, so the least we could get is proper service.
The thing that I find utterly bizarre is that self scan is just being rolled out here. I was using it in the UK when pregnant with my eldest - who is now 18!
Give it another 20 years and we might get packers :)
I apologise for the lack of photo, I have had to replace my computer and still haven't moved all my stuff over. I'll get right onto it.
I can never find the "Like" button when I need it!
Illigitimi Non Carborundum Doreen. You take yer time. Remind me never to get into a spitting contest with you ;-)
Perspicacious as usual Norm. Yeah! a few feathers may have been ruffled & a few egos dented but nobody died. Hell, I've been plucked & made ready for the cooking pot a few times but I'm still here & will be until I'm told to bugger off. To me the banter is an intrinsic part of this place.
I certainly never remember having "packers" back home.... unless it was a local sports team, or scouts raising money for an event.
As for speaking English in the shop, I rarely get started at, but I do often find myself turning to "gawk" at a foreign family that insists on yelling at their kids, or when a wife wails at a husband who is two aisles over that she forgot to pick up tampons, and can he please grab some. Fair enough they're most often tourists, but I have noticed expats doing it also. The French keep themselves to themselves when they shop, it's the ruckus they're staring at, not the language.
Self-scan, I've used it on numerous occasions, never been controlled, always just pack my sh1t and go. (perhaps you press "English", and it draws attention?? )
If, by the end of your ordeal, you see everyone as a rotweiler, and you approach the "help desk" (lol) looking either blasé de ta vie, or just a tad peeved, the famous French defensive portcullis will be downed on you, and you'll have to speak through a vitrual hole in her stronghold wall.... she MIGHT slip what you want/need out through a slit in the wall, but I find that even when complaining, doing it with a smile opens up all manner of pleasantry, and you not only get whatever it is you're looking for, but also a smile.
Besides all that... supermarkets are for buying the bare minimum. Local markets, greengrocers, great butchers, dairy co-ops... that's where the friendliness and the bargains are.
jane you make a very good point, and one that often occurs to me, notably in Brico type outlets. How staff are supposed to be veritable fountains of expert opinion on everything from Gardening to Plumbing, Electricity, BuildingTools, Engineering etc etc., escapes me. However as Customers aren't we all a bit guilty of expecting it?
As an ex-Adman, I accept totally the charge of 'overselling a service' - with the only defence that this is what the Client always wanted. I think my personal cum-uppance was when I visited a bank in the UK which at one time had been a client, and for whom the term 'The Listening Bank' had been coined. Not by me, but shared blame.
I remember walking in to the Bank at a lunchtime - like is this unusual for retail to recognise lunchtimes as busy? Evidently, as although it didn't affect me personally, I saw neat sign on one of the guichets stating 'In view of the excessive demands for access to boxes over the lunchtime period, this service has now been cancelled' How about that for 'listening' to the Customers?
Plus there really does seem a perverse ability to have fewer registers operating at the busiest times? Yes, staff are also entitled to lunch etc., but Retail surely should be catering for those who only have limited time to do shopping and lunchtime is often just that. At least this much changed to some extent with Supermarkets, so maybe be need to remember to accept the balance of convenience with the downsides.
Hard sometimes though isn't it? But then again I have always been such a perfectly organised, knowledgeable, calm, courteous (bugger off if you don't agree!), and all-round dam' fine chap so I end up wondering why everyone can't be like me?
I seem to have missed something? Where were the personal tirades? I can't find them, don't tell anoth Senior Moment has just struck?
Anyway just for the discussion, if you really want a good read about Supermarkets and Supemarket shopping - non-techie but HUGELY enlightening, can I suggest one of my favorite books?
'Why We Buy - The Science of Shopping' by Paco Underhill
Orion Business Books ISBN O-75281-330-7
It is predominantly Observational Research (and deductions) and is very funny in places - even when you recognise yourself! Shows what Supermarkets should do for Customers - and what they shouldn't. I don't think it has ever been translated into French!
One of the few books I will always keep.
Don't worry Vic - I have lots of picture only books left over from when the kids were small... :)
Our Post Office in Cluny is appalling, but the one in Dompierre-les-Ormes is fantastic.
Christine knows all the best and cheapest ways of sending things, is constantly helpful and pleasant and has worked there for over 20 years.
If you are talking to me Catharine I wasn't talking about a book club & I'm far too scared & not stupid enough by half to have anything to do with organising the "old birds" ;-) James is gonna be busy!
I've just recieved this discussion.....when I was in Auchan recently I picked up a cucumber that had fallen on the floor and put it to the side,I was pounced on by a veg stacker and told I should have put it in the bin,wherever that was...when I pointed out it was maybe his job he replied 'je ne suis pas votre chien'. I really can't imagine that happening in Sainsburys.I sometimes see French people trying to chat with the cashiers and even they get no response. On the other hand my sons girlfriend was a cashier at the local small Marché U and she said it was difficult to stay smiling and happy as a lot of the clients are impolite and a pain in the neck. And my neighbours son,who worked for Castorama started off being pleasant and helpful to clients but was treated so badly by the bosses that he gave up,why should he give a good image of the store when he's not respected by the heirarchy. So the staff are badly treated by the bosses and looked down on by the customers,theyre not made to feel a valuable part of the shop.