Fumbling
Salesfloor Switch Hitter
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2014
- Messages
- 16
I will preempt this by saying that I have a total lack of cashiering experience, at least on systems found in bigger stores like Target and Walmart. The only cashiering I did was for a small little corner shop whose cash register was basically a giant calculator with a roll of paper attached to it -- so in comparison to these registers, it looked prehistoric.
I had my very first day on the cash register yesterday and I was a total mess on that thing. I got the basics of it since most of the time you just have to ring everything up and total it. Easy part is that most people are paying by credit/debit, with a handful paying by cash.
My trainer, who was also training three or four other people at the same time, would pop over to my register on occasion but spent most of her time near the other trainees (most of which were on the express lanes, those lucky sons of guns). She covered the basics at the beginning, like when someone mentions Bob, that you need to check the bottom of the cart for stuff; food products get bagged separately from other items; check the insides of purses; wrap all glass products in paper, etc. then she flitted off to hover near the other trainees.
Gotta say, by hour two, I was ready to end my shift and never step foot near a register ever again.
I have never felt so out of my depth on something as I did on that darn thing. Those R, Y, G, ratings after each transaction were just terrible and maybe it was first day jitters, but I really hated seeing so many R's popping up. Some of which were because customers kept forgetting to enter their pin after swiping their debit card or because they forgot to sign, others were because I had to re-bag things to my trainer's satisfaction or just because I didn't understand how to remove the security tag on an item or how to process a tax exemption. Whatever the reason, a solid row of G's followed by a flurry of R's was not a good thing to see. The perfectionist in me was irked to see a score of 90 drop to a 79 in what felt like a matter of minutes.
I kept forgetting to check the bottom of the carts because I was too busy trying to ring everything up quickly and bag it. (Finally remembered towards the end of the shift but it feels a little shameful how often I would forget to look.)
Just, all in all, 4.5 hours of cashiering felt more draining than the 7.5 hours of hardline and softline training I had done the previous two days.
So, it might just be because I haven't gotten the hang of cashiering yet but I am definitely giving my props to all the cashiers out there. You now have my undying respect.
I won't hesitate to jump on a lane if there's a huge rush or the LOD calls for someone to help out but I will avoid those things like the plague in any other case. I am so glad I'm on the sales floor because I couldn't imagine being on the register for 7+ hours, at least not when 4.5 hrs felt like an eternity. Goodness knows what more would feel like.
So, cashiers, I salute you.
I had my very first day on the cash register yesterday and I was a total mess on that thing. I got the basics of it since most of the time you just have to ring everything up and total it. Easy part is that most people are paying by credit/debit, with a handful paying by cash.
My trainer, who was also training three or four other people at the same time, would pop over to my register on occasion but spent most of her time near the other trainees (most of which were on the express lanes, those lucky sons of guns). She covered the basics at the beginning, like when someone mentions Bob, that you need to check the bottom of the cart for stuff; food products get bagged separately from other items; check the insides of purses; wrap all glass products in paper, etc. then she flitted off to hover near the other trainees.
Gotta say, by hour two, I was ready to end my shift and never step foot near a register ever again.
I have never felt so out of my depth on something as I did on that darn thing. Those R, Y, G, ratings after each transaction were just terrible and maybe it was first day jitters, but I really hated seeing so many R's popping up. Some of which were because customers kept forgetting to enter their pin after swiping their debit card or because they forgot to sign, others were because I had to re-bag things to my trainer's satisfaction or just because I didn't understand how to remove the security tag on an item or how to process a tax exemption. Whatever the reason, a solid row of G's followed by a flurry of R's was not a good thing to see. The perfectionist in me was irked to see a score of 90 drop to a 79 in what felt like a matter of minutes.
I kept forgetting to check the bottom of the carts because I was too busy trying to ring everything up quickly and bag it. (Finally remembered towards the end of the shift but it feels a little shameful how often I would forget to look.)
Just, all in all, 4.5 hours of cashiering felt more draining than the 7.5 hours of hardline and softline training I had done the previous two days.
So, it might just be because I haven't gotten the hang of cashiering yet but I am definitely giving my props to all the cashiers out there. You now have my undying respect.
I won't hesitate to jump on a lane if there's a huge rush or the LOD calls for someone to help out but I will avoid those things like the plague in any other case. I am so glad I'm on the sales floor because I couldn't imagine being on the register for 7+ hours, at least not when 4.5 hrs felt like an eternity. Goodness knows what more would feel like.
So, cashiers, I salute you.
