Checking Out At The Checkout

(I’m ringing up a customer who has been staring down her nose at me for pretty much the whole transaction. She has a trolleyful, and since it is an express store we only have tiny checkouts. She doesn’t even offer to help pack anything, and I have to ask her nicely to get her to move full bags off of the till so I have room to keep packing. She glares at me several times. Finally, I tell her the total.)

Customer: “Oh, and check this for me.” *throws a lottery ticket down*

Me: “No problem. I’ll do the payout once I’m finished with your shopping.”

(The woman looks at me like I’m stupid.)

Customer: “Can you do it now? I need the money to pay for the shopping. There should be ten pounds on it.”

Me: “I’m sorry. The tills won’t allow a payout until the transaction has finished.”

Customer: “That’s ridiculous! Other shops do!”

Me: “I’m sorry. It’s the way the tills work.”

(The woman carried on giving me a look as if I was completely thick as she gave me the money, and as I gave her the payout from the tickets. She then took her own sweet time getting her things together, even having a conversation with a friend, while a queue of customers built up behind. When I said goodbye, she merely threw me another dirty look. I love customers who know how our tills work better than we do.)