chickenanne Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I used to work in Victoria Wine as a student, and was strictly warned re; selling alchol/ciggies to under-18,s, people who are already drunk, or whatever. It was a horrid job as you would get moaned at by people saying they wer 20 or whatever - but if they even looked like they could possibly be under 18, you ahd to ask. I can see how from the supermarket point of view, you HAVE to make sure staff are careful what they sell to who. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 To a 46 year old? Balding, with a fair few grey hairs and middle age spread? Bit OTT don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzle Knit Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I'd have complained if I'd been the cheese woman, not in a nasty ranting way, but in a "do you know what your employees are doing?" kind of way. I wouldn't go to the media over it. I got asked for ID once in M&S when buying a Xmas gift pack of lagers and was refused the sale because I didn't have ID. I was 44 at the time I complained about that, in a friendly way, because it was clear that the Xmas temporary staff weren't getting the right sort of training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I'd probably have ripped the sales assistant's head off if she'd tried that when I was pregnant. Although I do sympathise with them, I was a mass of hormones and total hatred for the rest of the world when I was pregnant. I imagine that has a certain amount to do with this woman going to the press. I'm not sure anyone would have dared deny me anything I wanted in retrospect, I was terrifying. No total strangers grabbed my bump, mostly they crossed themselves and ran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I was a fiesty chick too when pregnant - didnt care who I took on - one woman and bump tyrant. I hated people stroking my bump - not friends - just total strangers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 When I first read this in the paper I was actually on the shop assistant's side, and still am. You can get unpasturised cheese (I saw some in a cheese shop in Cheddar a month back ). Doctor's do warn pregnant people about non pasturised foods/soft cheeses/coleslaws etc so I feel the shop assistant was only doing her job IMO and it may have just been said out of concern. I don't think it warranted a complaint either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I had my 2 eldest in France. It wasn't until after the birth of my first daughter that I was back in the UK at a christening, eating lots of pate, cheese etc and a friend said something like "I bet you missed all that when you were pregnant". I just looked at her blankly...the only thing they recommend you avoid over there is undercooked pork and my doctor recommeded I try and drink "no more than a glass of wine per meal"! However, I was constantly stopped in the street/ pharmacy/ market/ park when the babies were in prams and scolded by complete strangers for not having them wrapped up warm enough or lying too flat etc. It astounds me that whether they are shop staff of not, anyone has the nerve to comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 In the off-license, we were told if in any doubt we had to ask for ID. If no correct ID (passport or a special card called a "Prove It" card, so not even a driving license) then regardless of common sense, no sale. HOWEVER....surely no-one can mistake a 30-something, or 40-something-year-old for a 17 year old! You wouldn't ask for ID of someone who is very obviously over-18, it would be daft. Unless they had a very easy paper round, a 40-something just isn't going to look that young..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I think you all need to understand that no-one works on a till in Tesco, or any other supermarket through choice. The majority of checkout operators are mothers, trying to work around children and are lured into working for large supermarkets by the promise of a family-friendly shift pattern, and easy money. In return they get sat upon by managers, who are in turn, being sat upon senior managers, who are in turn being sat upon head office managers, who have never worked instore. And no family friendly shift patterns, and plenty grief if you dare to take time off for any reason (I talk from experience - I worked for Tesco, and was given a written warning for daring to be signed off for a fortnight after a particularly traumatic miscarriage) When you try to ring certain products, whether it be alcohol or paracetamol through the till, you get a warning message flash up on the till, asking if you've a)checked for id (as the till has no idea how old you are), or b) that you can only ring through 2 packets of painkiller on one transaction. Now, when this happens, you think back to the warning you had the week before from an over-officious jobsworth from head office, who watched you ring through a bottle of cheap wine for a woman, who was most definitely over 21 as you went to school with her, without asking for id. And the promise from that very same jobsworth that if you are caught selling alcohol again without proof of age then you will be given a warning. What would you do? Id the customer, and take all the that is then sent your way, or risk not being able to feed your children next week. Don't take it out on the staff - they're beaten down into doing a rubbish job, most of the time because it's all that's available, and then they're beaten down by ridiculous working conditions, then beaten down for following company policy by the customers. How would you feel if it was you? well said, same goes for call centre staff too! Screaming customers contributed to my collapse at work. I worked in a call centre. Call Centres have been described as the modern sweat shops but this call centre was the kind of place that makes a sweat shop look like a bit of a cushy number! The company had just introduced free broadband. In reality it was a phone and internet bundle and you paid for the phone part of the package but the internet bit was advertised as being free (despite the fact that you couldn't have one without the other!). People being human (well, most of them anyway) saw the word 'free' and it was an utter 'free for all' (pardon the pun) to sign up! The problem was, the company didn't have enough staff to handle the calls, enough engineers to connect people up quickly enough or to fix faults so what was a clever (debatable) marketing ploy turned into an absolute nightmare for the poor saps (like me) who had to answer the phone. The situation was compounded by the company not giving the staff the correct training on the right systems to actually be able to help the customer! Help the customer is what the majority of us wanted to do, i took pride in my job and is was frustrating not being to help people but customers don't see it that way. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a screaming customer! It was so busy that at one point a memo was sent round telling staff how many toilet breaks they were allowed and encouraged them to wait until their lunch break to use the facilities, the company literally took the p---! The daily volume of calls was beyond ridiculous and there were always calls holding, waiting to be answered. This meant I talked non-stop, all day long! My tongue was literally sore by the end of the day and on occasions, swollen! I came home feeling like I'd just had dental work done! I had a permanent sore throat and a cough, not to mention being stressed to the point of collapse! Then the company decided to put me in the complaints dept because "I was so good at dealing with difficult situations" (their words not mine! I protested to no avail! I did eventually collapse and it was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me because it got me out of that hell hole (allbeit via an ambulance) and I haven't been back since! So, maybe cut people in customer services a bit of slack sometimes, unless they ARE being downright rude of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchens Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I'm sure the girl on the counter was only being helpful. I wonder if anyone has done the same with cigarettes and not sold them to a pregnant woman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clootie Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I'm sure the girl on the counter was only being helpful. I wonder if anyone has done the same with cigarettes and not sold them to a pregnant woman Good point ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I'm sure the girl on the counter was only being helpful. I wonder if anyone has done the same with cigarettes and not sold them to a pregnant woman Good point ! very good point! In the future the chippy might have scales, no chips for you if you're over a certain weight (except if you're pregnant!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Dunno.... was she saying "oh, you do know the cheese is from unpastuerised milk?" in case the lady didn't realise (y'know if it wasn't marked clearly or whatever, just as a freindly comment) or was she being a little more, erm, about it? Can't really judge from an article. Mean and silly to complain about freindly comments/information from shop assistants, if that's what it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
