[Salmon Rants!] Please Wait Here
I work in the service industry, and lately a certain thing people do has started making me see red.
Please Wait Here
What really bugs me lately is the fact that customers seem to be completely unable to understand the concept of "form a line here." I mean, seriously? I'm pretty sure we've all grown up standing in lines. Everywhere you go you stand in line - from movie theaters to concerts to amusement parks. We stand in line to go to public restrooms for crying outloud. How is it a hard concept to grasp?
The store I run customer service at has a single check out line that ques to the registers. There is a big red sign that plainly states "Please Wait Here and you will be called to the next available cashier." At the end of the registers is a place for carts and - oh, the exit doors. And yet, daily, the following happens:
1) People try to stand at the wrong end of the line. (Hey, the exit doors (Which are seperate from the entry doors) are here, along with a place to put your carts, and look, people are walking toward me who finished a transaction. This must be the place to stand...)
2) Will walk in the wrong way and try to stand behind a customer that is being checked out, and has to be directed back to the line. (Oh, you mean that's why those five people are standing down there?)
3) Will walk right past the wait here sign and stand behind the customer checking out. I have several probems with this.
a) It makes the customer in front of them uncomfortable. (I don't blame them.)
b) The customer in front of them could be (and often is) entering private information like their debit PIN, or has their purse or bag open in their cart. (I can't help but assume now that you are shady, and will keep your face in mind next time you enter my store. Yes, I am watching you. Yes, I suspect you are a possible thief. If you are not maybe you shouldn't do something like this. Because, frankly, it reads "HI, I'M A POTENTIAL CRIMINAL TRYING TO STEAL CARD NUMBERS, OR POSSIBLY SOMETHING FROM THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME'S OPEN PURSE.")
c) The extra cashier that is caled up will often assume they are with the current customer and will call the person waiting by the sign forward leading to the customer who has walked passed the sign to get pissy because they were next. (Next time, wait where you are told and this will not happen to you.)
4) People will walk up to registers where there is no cashier, and then wonder why they aren't being checked out. (Were you called forward? No? Then, guess what, NO OTHER REGISTER IS OPEN. Nobody is there to check you out. Stay in line, and someone will call you forward and assist you.)
I get really sick of being polite to these people, because frankly there's no excuse. This is not complicated. We stand in lines all our lives. There is a sign that says where to stand. "Please wait here, and you will be assisted."
Please Wait Here
What really bugs me lately is the fact that customers seem to be completely unable to understand the concept of "form a line here." I mean, seriously? I'm pretty sure we've all grown up standing in lines. Everywhere you go you stand in line - from movie theaters to concerts to amusement parks. We stand in line to go to public restrooms for crying outloud. How is it a hard concept to grasp?
The store I run customer service at has a single check out line that ques to the registers. There is a big red sign that plainly states "Please Wait Here and you will be called to the next available cashier." At the end of the registers is a place for carts and - oh, the exit doors. And yet, daily, the following happens:
1) People try to stand at the wrong end of the line. (Hey, the exit doors (Which are seperate from the entry doors) are here, along with a place to put your carts, and look, people are walking toward me who finished a transaction. This must be the place to stand...)
2) Will walk in the wrong way and try to stand behind a customer that is being checked out, and has to be directed back to the line. (Oh, you mean that's why those five people are standing down there?)
3) Will walk right past the wait here sign and stand behind the customer checking out. I have several probems with this.
a) It makes the customer in front of them uncomfortable. (I don't blame them.)
b) The customer in front of them could be (and often is) entering private information like their debit PIN, or has their purse or bag open in their cart. (I can't help but assume now that you are shady, and will keep your face in mind next time you enter my store. Yes, I am watching you. Yes, I suspect you are a possible thief. If you are not maybe you shouldn't do something like this. Because, frankly, it reads "HI, I'M A POTENTIAL CRIMINAL TRYING TO STEAL CARD NUMBERS, OR POSSIBLY SOMETHING FROM THE PERSON IN FRONT OF ME'S OPEN PURSE.")
c) The extra cashier that is caled up will often assume they are with the current customer and will call the person waiting by the sign forward leading to the customer who has walked passed the sign to get pissy because they were next. (Next time, wait where you are told and this will not happen to you.)
4) People will walk up to registers where there is no cashier, and then wonder why they aren't being checked out. (Were you called forward? No? Then, guess what, NO OTHER REGISTER IS OPEN. Nobody is there to check you out. Stay in line, and someone will call you forward and assist you.)
I get really sick of being polite to these people, because frankly there's no excuse. This is not complicated. We stand in lines all our lives. There is a sign that says where to stand. "Please wait here, and you will be assisted."