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Post by lisae on Jan 14, 2017 21:24:09 GMT
Before you open a register when you have lines with 8 or 10 people waiting to check out?
For the first time in 3 weeks, I get a few hours to do fun errands by myself. I don't usually do this on Saturday but you take what you can get. So I've been to Hobby Lobby and Michaels. At the last minute, I decide to run by AC Moore. I know this is going to be a mistake because the service is always awful. If they have what I want, I'm waiting in a long line and probably getting overcharged in the end, but I went anyway. Seriously, always be sure they ring you up right for sale items at AC Moore.
I decided to buy one item to experiment with. When I get to the front of the store there are 2 registers open plus Customer Service. Each regular line has 8 or 10 people in it. I almost left but the line is moving and finally I see one of clerks pick up her phone so I assume she is calling for more help. Sure enough two clerks come to the register beside mine. They haven't turned the lights on but I watch and there she is counting the coins in the drawer! Every coin. She eventually counted the bills and started the register. Then after a couple of minutes of chit chat between the employees, they open this register.
Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers?
As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted.
I truly hope I hate what I bought there because I don't want to go back. There is a reason retail stores are dying.
ETA: OK, I give up. I'm a bitch. I'm apparently now mentally unstable! I don't understand how lines work. I've somehow never been in a store when they were counting the coins. I have no business sense. My impatient and inconsiderate action today undoes all the good I have ever done in my life or any of the times I've let someone go ahead of me in a line who had only a few items or seemed to be in a hurry. No business ever need to change their decades old policies to improve their customer experiences. My vent is completely irrational.
I'm just going to stick to the nice, polite political threads from now on.
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NoWomanNoCry
Drama Llama
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Post by NoWomanNoCry on Jan 14, 2017 21:30:10 GMT
Actually, it is a big deal if you're a few cents off and it can cause you to get written up depending on the manager and if it's a regular occurrence.
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Post by SwissArmyBeth on Jan 14, 2017 21:30:37 GMT
I'm guessing the cashier is responsible for any mistakes at the end of her shift, so, yeah- she's going to count every coin to make sure it's right. Granted, it would have been smarter to have it counted and ready to go before she had to jump on the register cause she's obviously going to be needed on a Saturday...
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twinsmomfla99
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by twinsmomfla99 on Jan 14, 2017 21:31:00 GMT
The policy requiring you to count your till before opening is there to cover both the employer and employee. Because you no longer have to figure out the amount of change and only have to count the change listed on to the register display, there is little excuse for a less than perfect till at the end of the evening. Even back when I was a cashier in the early 80s, I was expected to be within a couple of cents at the end of the shift.
When you might have to open multiple rolls of coins per night, it can add up. I counted every roll I opened and every bundle of bills.
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katybee
Drama Llama
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Post by katybee on Jan 14, 2017 21:31:12 GMT
I'm sure that it's store policy.
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Post by melanell on Jan 14, 2017 21:31:15 GMT
Granted, it was a long time ago, but when I worked retail there was a procedure in place that you had to follow when opening a new register, and counting every last cent in that drawer was one of them.
And then at night, if the amount at closing was off by more than $10.00 from the opening amount, security had to be called. Coins can easily add up to over 10.00. So if you opted to skip the coins, you'd be causing a co-worker, or yourself, depending on the shift, to have to deal with security at closing time over the difference.
So yes, there were times when I was asked to open a register mid-day when I had to ask the customers to wait while I counted the drawer completely.
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Post by brina on Jan 14, 2017 21:31:51 GMT
When I worked in retail it was expected that my register would balance to the penny, so yeah, I counted my coins.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:36:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 21:33:21 GMT
Having worked retail it's important that cash is counted in the drawer, a cashier can get in to a lot of trouble for being down. I also don't think it's a big deal to have to queue on a Saturday!
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Post by smalltowngirlie on Jan 14, 2017 21:33:36 GMT
It may be policy for them to count the drawer before opening it up, so they have a starting cash amount. Not a great policy for when people are waiting, it should be done prior it the drawer being put in the register.
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Post by melanell on Jan 14, 2017 21:34:12 GMT
Granted, it would have been smarter to have it counted and ready to go before she had to jump on the register cause she's obviously going to be needed on a Saturday... She may have no control over that. Management may dictate which registers are opened each morning, adding new ones only as needed. Save |
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Post by melodyesch on Jan 14, 2017 21:35:20 GMT
I agree with the folks saying you have to count your till before you start. I worked at Kmart back in the day and you had to make sure you started with exactly X number of dollars. However, we would take the till to a far corner to do this and not actually go TO a register and turn the light on until it was done. If they were busy and the people were standing right in front of you counting and chitchatting that would tick me off, too.
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Post by padresfan619 on Jan 14, 2017 21:35:32 GMT
I counted the registers at the end of the night when I worked retail, I had to report discrepancies down to the penny. Yes, they could have handled the situation better, but it is very important to have a balanced till at the end of a shift.
Employees steal, they are the #1 cause of shrink in retail stores. They start out with just a few cents to see if they can get away with it before moving on to larger sums.
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Post by melanell on Jan 14, 2017 21:35:34 GMT
It may be policy for them to count the drawer before opening it up, so they have a starting cash amount. Not a great policy for when people are waiting, it should be done prior it the drawer being put in the register. Keeping the pre-counted drawers elsewhere is a great policy, but not all stores do that. Some leave the drawers in the registers overnight. Save |
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Post by threegirls on Jan 14, 2017 21:38:17 GMT
I'm guessing you have never worked a register. I did when I was a teen/young adult and it was policy to count every coin and every bill. Don't be angry at the cashier. Maybe the store requires the cashier to count money at the register. Who knows but I'm sure there is a policy about it and the cashier wasn't deliberately being a pain.
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:36:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 21:50:47 GMT
From what I read in the op, it was clear this employee was not in a hurry to open. No regard for getting all the people in line on their way.
It's one thing to have to count your change, it's another to do it slowly and while chatting up a storm.
That's what I find lacking in customer service these days. I can't tell you how many times I've come to a till and she makes me wait while she finishes her conversation with a coworker.
It should be about getting to the customer as quick as possible and not making them wait. Not anymore. I've worked in retail and I hate the shift in customer service, or lack of it.
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Post by christine58 on Jan 14, 2017 21:53:38 GMT
Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers? Yes it is...that drawer has to balance at the end of the night. Things like this event you mentioned are not even a blip on my radar. Too many other things in life to be pissed about. |
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Post by lisae on Jan 14, 2017 21:54:47 GMT
I'm guessing you have never worked a register. I did when I was a teen/young adult and it was policy to count every coin and every bill. Don't be angry at the cashier. Maybe the store requires the cashier to count money at the register. Who knows but I'm sure there is a policy about it and the cashier wasn't deliberately being a pain. I wasn't angry at the cashier. I was frustrated at the manager, who was the one I'm assuming doing the counting and then talking before turning over the register to him. I worked a register in a small grocery store in high school. I don't even remember counting the coins at the end of the evening, just the bills. Maybe we did but I don't remember it. I grew up in a small business and customer service was everything. If a customer was waiting, you did whatever you could to take care of him or her. I realize this counting is the store's policy but I think when you put policy above service it costs you more in the end. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:36:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 21:55:20 GMT
As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted. Special snowflake moment, we all have them but again having worked retail pissy customers make the job so much worse. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 22:13:19 GMT
They haven't turned the lights on but I watch and there she is counting the coins in the drawer! Every coin. She eventually counted the bills and started the register. Then after a couple of minutes of chit chat between the employees, they open this register. Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers? As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted. I truly hope I hate what I bought there because I don't want to go back. There is a reason retail stores are dying. When I was a cashier I was required to count everything in my drawer before opening a register. It if was a few cents off I was responsible. There were times the cash office miscounted what they put in my till; so my till did not have the full amount but I would be the one held responsible if I didn't report the discrepancy at the start of my shift. I had a whole .24 per shift I could be wrong and keep my job. If I was $5 off during a single month I would be written up. 2 write ups and you were fired. More than $5 off in a single shift was grounds for immediate dismissal. It is not that hard for a till to be off by 2-3 dollars at the start. Even your one cash transaction means I couldn't affirm I how much was in the till BEFORE I started. If they hadn't turned on the light they weren't an open register. And yes, sometimes managers need to remind a cashier about stuff so they "Chat" before opening. I guess you would have been happier if they just left 2 cashiers out and not bothered to call the others? |
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peagia13
Full Member
Posts: 166
Sept 2, 2016 19:52:32 GMT
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Post by peagia13 on Jan 14, 2017 22:16:10 GMT
Counting down a basic opening drawer shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.
When customers are waiting, get your a&$ in gear and chit chat later.
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Post by bc2ca on Jan 14, 2017 22:17:19 GMT
Before you open a register when you have lines with 8 or 10 people waiting to check out? For the first time in 3 weeks, I get a few hours to do fun errands by myself. I don't usually do this on Saturday but you take what you can get. So I've been to Hobby Lobby and Michaels. At the last minute, I decide to run by AC Moore. I know this is going to be a mistake because the service is always awful. If they have what I want, I'm waiting in a long line and probably getting overcharged in the end, but I went anyway. Seriously, always be sure they ring you up right for sale items at AC Moore. I decided to buy one item to experiment with. When I get to the front of the store there are 2 registers open plus Customer Service. Each regular line has 8 or 10 people in it. I almost left but the line is moving and finally I see one of clerks pick up her phone so I assume she is calling for more help. Sure enough two clerks come to the register beside mine. They haven't turned the lights on but I watch and there she is counting the coins in the drawer! Every coin. She eventually counted the bills and started the register. Then after a couple of minutes of chit chat between the employees, they open this register. Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers? As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted. I truly hope I hate what I bought there because I don't want to go back. There is a reason retail stores are dying. Did I read this right? You were so ticked at waiting, you jumped the line.  SaveSave |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 22:19:41 GMT
Counting down a basic opening drawer shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. When customers are waiting, get your a&$ in gear and chit chat later. Sometimes the chitchat IS needed for management to remind or warn cashiers about abnormalities that have been happening. Or for mangers to make sure a cashier is ok, or find out where the cashier was in another task before they were called to the register. |
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Post by annabella on Jan 14, 2017 22:24:38 GMT
My Safeway has a machine that gives you your change in coins. One woman who didn't speak english complained that she didn't get enough change so the cashier opened her drawer and gave her some more coins. I was really surprised at this because I thought what if the customer is wrong and then the cashier will get in trouble?
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Jan 14, 2017 22:27:35 GMT
At Michael's, when I worked there...every cashier had their own drawer. The first time anyway. The second time, people shared and if money was missing, everyone who worked that register was held responsible and was written up. The first time, it was easy because no one used any one else's drawer and there was a dedicated person to set up drawers and that same person was also responsible for counting them down (verifying coupons in the drawer with the ones used the first time I worked there, too...well before smart phones), checked for discrepancies, and prepped deposits for the armored trucks. It was still that way the second time I worked there. While I can understand the need, these things should be done before the store opens, not while there is a pressing need for more people to open their registers. Also, most stores have a dollar or two allowance for errors before anyone gets in trouble...so no, I wouldn't have expected the coins to be counted and verified.
When I first read this, I thought you were referring to cashiers taking large sums of coins from customers and counting before putting it in their registers and was preparing to be upset with the complaining. My husband's second job is as a delivery driver. He often gets people who pay mostly in coins and he will sit there and count it before handing over their meal. When people pay mostly in coins, more often than not he is shorted and has to wait for the people to get the remaining balance. He uses his car and makes minimum wage, he is absolutely not going to end up not only losing out on a tip (those who pay in coins generally don't tip as it is) but somehow end up paying for part of their meal, even if it's only a few cents. But in this instance, I can definitely see why you'd be a bit irritated.
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Post by lisae on Jan 14, 2017 22:37:35 GMT
Before you open a register when you have lines with 8 or 10 people waiting to check out? For the first time in 3 weeks, I get a few hours to do fun errands by myself. I don't usually do this on Saturday but you take what you can get. So I've been to Hobby Lobby and Michaels. At the last minute, I decide to run by AC Moore. I know this is going to be a mistake because the service is always awful. If they have what I want, I'm waiting in a long line and probably getting overcharged in the end, but I went anyway. Seriously, always be sure they ring you up right for sale items at AC Moore. I decided to buy one item to experiment with. When I get to the front of the store there are 2 registers open plus Customer Service. Each regular line has 8 or 10 people in it. I almost left but the line is moving and finally I see one of clerks pick up her phone so I assume she is calling for more help. Sure enough two clerks come to the register beside mine. They haven't turned the lights on but I watch and there she is counting the coins in the drawer! Every coin. She eventually counted the bills and started the register. Then after a couple of minutes of chit chat between the employees, they open this register. Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers? As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted. I truly hope I hate what I bought there because I don't want to go back. There is a reason retail stores are dying. Did I read this right? You were so ticked at waiting, you jumped the line. SaveSaveMaybe. In many stores, when a register opens whoever gets there first is the one served. I was the first one at the new register because I'd been watching though I think the cashier said he was supposed to have pulled someone out of the line I was in. I probably should have deferred to their policy but I was angry that they only had two lines open with so many people in the store. Admittedly not my best moment. Counting the coins is part of it but a bigger issue is this is a store where the service is frequently poor. Having only two regular checkout lines on a Saturday afternoon is poor service. Hobby Lobby had many registers going and added another one while I was there even though their lines were much shorter. |
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Post by threegirls on Jan 14, 2017 22:39:21 GMT
I'm guessing you have never worked a register. I did when I was a teen/young adult and it was policy to count every coin and every bill. Don't be angry at the cashier. Maybe the store requires the cashier to count money at the register. Who knows but I'm sure there is a policy about it and the cashier wasn't deliberately being a pain. I wasn't angry at the cashier. I was frustrated at the manager, who was the one I'm assuming doing the counting and then talking before turning over the register to him. I worked a register in a small grocery store in high school. I don't even remember counting the coins at the end of the evening, just the bills. Maybe we did but I don't remember it. I grew up in a small business and customer service was everything. If a customer was waiting, you did whatever you could to take care of him or her. I realize this counting is the store's policy but I think when you put policy above service it costs you more in the end. Then don't be frustrated at the manager. Again, it's probably company policy especially if it's a chain store and the managers have to report to District Managers or Corporate. Store managers usually don't make up the policies, they are the ones enforcing them. I do think it would have been better if the money was counted out of sight of the customers. Then there would have been nobody at the register to be frustrated with but there would have been frustration that there weren't more open registers. Anyway it goes, frustration would have occurred. Maybe it would be better to not shop on busy Saturdays. |
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Post by lisae on Jan 14, 2017 22:40:43 GMT
They haven't turned the lights on but I watch and there she is counting the coins in the drawer! Every coin. She eventually counted the bills and started the register. Then after a couple of minutes of chit chat between the employees, they open this register. Really? You are going to stand there with a store full of people and count every coin before you open it up? Does it really matter if the register comes up a few cents off at the end of the night. Is that more important than serving customers? As soon as he opened I walked past everyone else and went to this register. Their policy is to take the next person in line but I had one item, cash, no coupon and I was ready to check out. It wasn't my nicest moment but I was ticked that any of us should have been kept waiting while they counted coins and chatted. I truly hope I hate what I bought there because I don't want to go back. There is a reason retail stores are dying. When I was a cashier I was required to count everything in my drawer before opening a register. It if was a few cents off I was responsible. There were times the cash office miscounted what they put in my till; so my till did not have the full amount but I would be the one held responsible if I didn't report the discrepancy at the start of my shift. I had a whole .24 per shift I could be wrong and keep my job. If I was $5 off during a single month I would be written up. 2 write ups and you were fired. More than $5 off in a single shift was grounds for immediate dismissal. It is not that hard for a till to be off by 2-3 dollars at the start. Even your one cash transaction means I couldn't affirm I how much was in the till BEFORE I started. If they hadn't turned on the light they weren't an open register. And yes, sometimes managers need to remind a cashier about stuff so they "Chat" before opening. I guess you would have been happier if they just left 2 cashiers out and not bothered to call the others? No, I would have been happiest if like their competitors they had enough registers opened. Short of that, they could have counted the bills and then opened the register promptly. |
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Post by hop2 on Jan 14, 2017 22:42:51 GMT
When I worked in a craft store ( not ac Moore ) we had to count our entire drawer including coins before we started and when we were done and have a register tape that matched it. So I'm sure it's probably a store policy. I admit we never counted our drawer in front of customers tho.
Out AC Moore is well staffed and all registers draw from one line and it moves fast. Sorry yours sucks.
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Post by lisae on Jan 14, 2017 22:44:04 GMT
I wasn't angry at the cashier. I was frustrated at the manager, who was the one I'm assuming doing the counting and then talking before turning over the register to him. I worked a register in a small grocery store in high school. I don't even remember counting the coins at the end of the evening, just the bills. Maybe we did but I don't remember it. I grew up in a small business and customer service was everything. If a customer was waiting, you did whatever you could to take care of him or her. I realize this counting is the store's policy but I think when you put policy above service it costs you more in the end. Then don't be frustrated at the manager. Again, it's probably company policy especially if it's a chain store and the managers have to report to District Managers or Corporate. Store managers usually don't make up the policies, they are the ones enforcing them. I do think it would have been better if the money was counted out of sight of the customers. Then there would have been nobody at the register to be frustrated with but there would have been frustration that there weren't more open registers. Anyway it goes, frustration would have occurred. Maybe it would be better to not shop on busy Saturdays.I realize this is probably the company's policy so my frustration at the manager was at not getting more registers open. As I said in my original post, I don't usually shop on busy Saturdays but this is the first chance I've had in weeks. I didn't elaborate on why but I've had my father in the hospital and in need of care at home. When I worked full-time Saturdays were all I had. Now I typically leave Saturdays to those who have no other day to shop. I'm less frustrated and there is one less person in the store who has other times to shop. |
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Deleted
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Aug 18, 2025 21:36:18 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 22:44:18 GMT
Someone is incredibly entitled. So you're still insisting (based on your last reply) that they not count the coins?
If you're seriously in THAT much of a hurry, maybe you should not venture out in public.
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