A balding 28-year-old bank manager was stunned when he was told by a zealous supermarket cashier he looked too young to buy a PG-rated film.Yes, that’s right. A PG rated film. I thought I’d misread the article too...
Even when a work colleague who was with Mr Peagam, offered her driving licence in order to get the DVD for the bank manager, she was told 'you're only buying it for him'./facepalm
A spokesman for the store said: 'We ask all of our colleagues to be vigilant when selling age-restricted products, but it would seem that we were a bit over-zealous on this occasion’.‘Work colleagues’…?
These are employees! If you employ staff that are unable to recognise which articles need to be asked about at the checkout and which don’t, it’s your responsibility to resolve that.
And what’s with the royal ‘we’? Name the cashier and point out that she’s no longer working for the supermarket. Job done.
Retail outlets are getting very, very defensive. Sainsbury's have adopted a policy of age-checking people who look to be under 25. This didn't go down too well with the huge bloke behind me in the queue yesterday trying to buy a dozen cans of lager.
ReplyDeleteAnd the constant stream of "colleague announcements" coming over the PA system doesn't improve the atmosphere either.
I'm not with you if the idea is that the Righteous make the rules and if they are embarrassed, they become more righteous by firing someone. Better that the store and area manager offer a public apology for what they caused, either by failing to train (PG tips?) or will occur if you set up 25 and under policies but don't allow a margin of error, and consequences
ReplyDeleteStands for PG Tips, old thing!
ReplyDeleteWell-known brand of tea run by a bunch of chimps.
Hope this clarifies things.
Doesn't PG mean pussies galore?
ReplyDeleteI'd be with Will about Righteous being embarrassed by rules they bring in and taking it out on staff except for one thing: the classification system isn't rocket science and if their 'colleague' finds it too complicated s/he might not be in the ideal position. Clearly they're as dumb as a doorstop so perhaps they should be retrained as one.
"Sainsbury's have adopted a policy of age-checking people who look to be under 25."
ReplyDeleteYes, I've seen the signs. Pointless. There's no appeasing a Puritan, he'll just come back for more and more...
"I'm not with you if the idea is that the Righteous make the rules and if they are embarrassed, they become more righteous by firing someone."
The problem is, here, the cashier was way out of line and unwilling to clarify with her manager what the rules were. That's not someone I'D want working for me.
"Doesn't PG mean pussies galore? "
Heh!
Let's face it: checkout girls have not exactly been hailed as intellectual heroes in days gone by. Years ago I bought an odd number of things that cost an odd number of pence and was asked for an even amount of money. I protested, and she said, "that's what the till says." I told her she'd got it wrong, and no two ways about it. Her supervisor was called, and then his supervisor. Watching them try to grasp what I was explaining was like watching the ape creatures confronted by the monolith in 2001. You'd have thought I was trying to teach them compactification on Calabi-Yau shapes.
ReplyDelete"I protested, and she said, "that's what the till says.""
ReplyDeleteYe gods! 'Computer says no...'
The Under 25 Campaign- softening us up for the planned raising of the legal drinking age- is being run by, wait for it, the Wine And Spirits Trade Association. It's not just Sainsbury's.
ReplyDeleteIt's that thing where a trade creates a corporatist body intended to demonstrate to the government that they're being "responsible", then the government takes it over and uses it to control the industry. Classic example of course being the BBFC, but it's standard corporatist procedure. Industries fall for it every time, because they are very stupid people.
Anyway, this is the "everything is part of the state" thing. Anglo-fascism is so successful because, rather than waste all that money on secret police, they turn every business into a policeman. Hence landlords forced to stop their patrons smoking or lose their licence, etc etc.
It is fair to say that not every member of the checkout staff would get past £1000 on 'Who wants to be a millionaire'
ReplyDeleteSeveral large chains have had their drink licences suspended and they appear to be reminding the checkout staff that they, the checkout staff, could be personally fined if they serve anyone who is underage or has anyone under age with them.
All this over 18 under 25 business is confusing some of them.
These incidents are happening all over and although the supermarkets make apologetic noises, it is clear that some of the check out staff are 'out of their depth' and in an impossible position.