Working on checkouts

I know it varies from store to store...but how long did it take you to be fully confident in using the tills. I currently have a contract in sainsburys and it looks quite hard because i see them press lots of buttons sometimes....rather than just scan the products.

also is are there difficult customers sometimes? :s-smilie:

im only 16 :frown:

lol

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Reply 1

rottcodd

Took me at least a month or so to get used to it - and when I was sixteen and got my first job working on tills it probably took me more like three months to get used to it. Yeah you will get difficult customers sometimes, but remember not to take any crap from them - there's no excuse for being rude so don't just sit there and take it if they are being unreasonable. If you ever feel uncomfortable get your supervisor to come help you out.

Reply 2

luxlisbon

About a week to be honest. I work in Boots and when I got my job, it was on the run up to Christmas so you got shoved on a till and you had to just learn to accept it cos you were serving a lot of people continuously. You could be standing there for 2 hours non stop serving customers, and if you weren't friendly/chatty/polite and doing everything correct on the till you get your ass kicked.

Don't worry about all the buttons, it's like learning to use a computer, after a while it's just second nature.

Reply 3

davireland

It took me about 3 weeks to get to used to the Sainsbury's tills. Its not complicated at all, I could probably operate it with my eyes close, as could most cashiers. In the 4 months, i was on till, i could 1 difficult customer. Its quite infrequent for cashiers but these days it is rare if i have a day without one (im customer services/junior surpervisor). If you have a problem just ring you buzzer and someone will come to help you out.

Sainsbury's does actually expect you to talk to customers though, and ask lots of questions. As long as you make an effort the time will fly and you wont hate it. I got bored after 4 months and so ive gradually been changing jobs (till->kiosk->CSD->supervisor), be warned alot of people hate it.

Reply 4

Tucking Fypo

I'm not contracted to work at checkouts but I do so for overtime. Took me a couple of days or so to get used to it, it's fairly simple at Tesco.

As for difficult customers. I generally get the odd person who can't find their car keys, and suggest I've taken them. Obviously they don't outright accuse me, but it's clear that they feel I'm a suspect. About 5 minutes later, they find them, say sorry and move on.

Reply 5

Patient_Mental

I work at Sainsburys, and I'm SO glad I'm not till trained. We seem to get 'gold service required' calls every damn 10 minutes it feels...which mean I'de never get a chance to do my actualy job heh.

It doesn't seem to be too bad though, what most people complain about is the bordom of not moving around, sitting in the same position, kinda kills the motivation a bit.

But yeah don't worry about training, you'll have plenty of support if there ever is a problem!

Reply 6

davireland

Patient_Mental

We seem to get 'gold service required' calls every damn 10 minutes it feels...which mean I'de never get a chance to do my actualy job heh.

The store i work at they are called, Service Call 1. Its good fun tannoying them because you see a flood of staff run to checkout.

Reply 7

Oh-No!

You will find the tills in sainsburys quite simple. All the buttons say what they do on them. (eg. Price Enquiry or Quantity or 1 or Void etc.) Its just a case of putting A & B together, and as time goes on you will become more confident, and as davireland said, you will be able to do it with your eyes shut!

Oh, and i have never had a nasty customer, but have had the sort that just blank you when you talk to them, which annoys me!

Reply 8

StarsAreFixed

It depends on the type of till- as in, if the whole thing is electronic with no keyboards at all, and how difficult the credit card system is. Mine is very easy, everything to touch-screen, and credit/debit cards are simple..you have to get a manager for voids though, which sucks. The float is small and everyone pays in €50's and takes all my change...hassle of getting change from the safe etc...then loyalty cards, they're a pain..and gift cards/gift vouchers..typing in barcodes if it doesn't scan.

I get a good few horrible customers, and we have to stand. When I was new, I was on tills for 5/6 hours. Horrible, and the till is bursting with money and nothing will fit, ughh! Thankfully, I'm on floor now.

Reply 9

Irrelevance

tokyorose888

im only 16 :frown:

lol

3 weeks working two days a week. So, in reality, 6 days. I started working on tills when i was 16 as well, was expecting it to be a little tougher in places. Used to be harder though, now the supermarket have got touch screen tills with colour screens - i had to use the crappy dialogue only tills where you had to punch in numbers for fruit and veg. Biggest problem was alcohol transactions - i hated it when people bought alcohol cos you had to ask somebody who was old enough to serve it validate the sale since you're underage.

Just make sure you're comfortable before you do anything, otherwise you'll start screwing up. If you've got problems, ask the person behind you for help, that's a good way to fix small problems without getting your supervisor down.

Difficult customers - always gonna one. If you're in a rut, just say, "Sorry about this" and when they leave, say "sorry for your wait", all you need to do. Nothing wrong on your side, you're just doing your job and being polite. If they still go off on one, forget it.

I miss working

Reply 10

Cherry Kisses

It took me about 2 months to become confident with the tills at Waitrose and I absolutly hated it at first; but it was because im quite an introvert, very nervous and the like; but over the years I have seen new people come in and pick it up first day, so it all comes down to the sort of person you are tbh.
I actually really enjoy working there now, been there 2 years and started when I was 16.
Yes there is a fair amount of pressing buttons and its usually for weighing fruit n veg and then processing the money; but you get used to it after a while and know it off by heart.
Most places have a button by the till that you press if you need help and your supervisor/csa will come n help you. You can also always ask the person on the till behind you for any help you might need. So there'l always be people there to help.

yes you do get the odd irratating/moody/inpolite customer, but you just need to stay calm, let them know you are in control of the situation; if you dont know what to do tell them to hold on a moment while you get your supervisor over.
Saying that, the majority of customers are nice and friendly and you end up getting the same customers coming up to you each week for a chat which is nice.

Good luck hun, dont let things get ontop of you and never be afraid to ask for help :smile:

Reply 11

monkeyhead

Its not that hard at all. Its just becomes laborious and a complete brain drain.
Talking from experience of course :wink:

Matt

Reply 12

makeshiftwings

The Asda ones are far more complex - you have to learn codes for all the fruit and vegetables!

Reply 13

Athene Nike

I work for a fairly small but busy shop and work the checkout. It took me a few weeks before I stopped feeling paranoid I was giving out the wrong change and within a month or so, I was very comfortable with the job.

Reply 14

davireland

im still paranoid about till loss after 14 months of working!!!

Reply 15

Tricky_Tree

makeshiftwings

The Asda ones are far more complex - you have to learn codes for all the fruit and vegetables!

Its like that at Morrison's as well, with the PLU codes. Funnily enough I started at Asda today, I'm in the cash office but they put me on the tills for a bit, it was pretty easy!

Reply 16

setmefree

Yeah I'm always careful with the money.. I've been on a checkout next to another guy before and he signed off and closed it to go and do baskets and the customer I was serving handed me a £20 note and said it was on the floor, below where his till was so obviously it fell out. Could of got him into bother with £20 missing but luckily the customer gave it to me so I gave it back to him for his till when he returned.

Reply 17

xx-Samantha-xx

its mind numbingly boring but as long as you have fun people to work with you'll be fine. i work at the customer service desk at primark so we get some akward customers. if they really bother you, you can always get your superviser to help. :smile:

Reply 18

mr_cool

In my work I got used to operating the actual till system fairly quick it was the concesion items that i struggled with.

What this means is our own brand stock scanned and that was it. 50% of the stock is other companys stock which meant we have to press F3 then type in the concession name. I could never remember all them all. You will get used to it - depends where you work.

Reply 19

mygreysky

i start my first proper day at asda today
and i'm rather scared about the tills haha im still not sure what to do when people want to pay with vouchers and the like..any help there?

apart from that its ok i think...i hope :P

xx