Give the check out assistant a medal and a promotion

I put my hands up to having had my mobile ring whilst I am at a till and previously tried to try to talk to both the cashier and caller simultaneously, which was kind of stupid. I think it appears rude to carry on a conversation without engaging with the person serving you. Lately I have preferred not to answer a call at the till and ring the missed caller back. I think it's not unreasonable for anyone serving you to expect you as the customer not to ignore them.

I too think a lot of mobile phone users are very rude in the way they use their phones. I can understand it in circumstances where a short message needs to be left or a mini crisis is going on but just plain gossip and chit chat on public transport or in cafes etc is not acceptable.
I have heard what was probably an acedemic on her mobile discussing a students work while on train journey. Not acceptable. Neither is talking at the check out. Its plain bad manners.

I'm sure the cashiers where I work would give this Sainsbury cashier a standing ovation for taking a stand against mobile phone users. It happens all the time. Unless it's urgent your phone can wait. Most of the time the phone user is just chatting away, how would she like it if it was the cashier on the phone. Actually where my son lives there are a number of corner shops, in one of them the owner is ALWAYS on his phone and just holds his hand out for your money. I was in a restaurant the other day and a group of young women came in, apparently they had taken one of their colleagues out for lunch as it was her birthday. No sparkling conversation there, all of them were on their phones either talking, texting or accessing their e-mail. It has killed the art of conversation in some cases.

When people are so rude to unoffending employees who cannot answer back in kind, you do wonder how they treat their families, neighbours, elderly or disabled people who get in their way, dogs, beggars, immigrants, strangers of any kind . . . .

Ignoring the politeness angle, surely if a customer is distracted on the phone and possibly packing too, how can she keep an eye on what the assistant is doing? Scanning twice to make up for a previous mistake, short changing?

I agree with Glammanana. On principal I never use the self service tills either - not that I often have the opportunity, our little supermarket is 'manned' by polite, interactive assistants.

Lilygran - a favourite ploy of older people in France is to wait until all their purchases have been checked and loaded and then start to look for their cheque book in the bottom of their capacious handbags. Don't they realise they are going to have to pay? We also have the annoyance of many large supermarkets not having scales at the till, so when a visitor forgets to weight their fruit and vegetables themselves, we have to wait whilst they go back and do it. (Quite often, they decide not to bother and just leave them at the till).]
I am never in a hurry, but I do feel the irritation of people who are shopping in their lunch hour.

The Spectator's etiquette expert has just been on Today on Radio 4 and came out very much on the side of the checkout operator.

Our local post office has the same notice, bluebell and I agree it's a good idea. The woman in Sainsbury's went to check if it was company policy that customers talking on their mobile phones wouldn't be served and when she found it wasn't, made a tremendous fuss. Why isn't it?. And why do they let people do their shopping when they are already at the till? I mean, put three things on the belt and then go off to get something else - or send a child off to do the same - sometimes several times while the queue seethes. It might be reasonable if you have unloaded a trolley-full which will take the checkout operator a while to deal with but not to wait to actually do your shopping until you're at the checkout! But I expect the person they are talking to on the mobile phone has asked them to get several things they hadn't thought of.

Bags, that's precisely what I was thinking. Only you were much more polite than the words which almost came from my mouth.

Bags well done!

Re self service tills, mostly there are about 6 tills in the space that would only accomodate 2 operated tills, so not that many staff places are lost.

Whoops! I've managed to be rude AND politically incorrect in one post! How did that happen?

The customer was rude. Sainsbury's has responded in a politically correct manner. I'm not sure why they bothered since the customer says she is going to shop somewhere else anyhow. My bet is she's ashamed to be seen in that shop again. I hope so anyway! Silly cow.

Our local post office has a notice up saying you will not be served if you are using your mobile phone. I find it astonishing that anyone thinks it is all right to do so - for me, the overwhelming reason is the utter contempt and disrespect it demonstrates towards the check out staff. I wonder if those who think it's ok would do it whilst a doctor was examining them?

That's my argument too back but the queues in our local Tesco are awful so needs must sometimes! We also have those scan yourself things - I hate those with a passion!

Good point Glammanana

I've never used a self service till in any of the super markets,they are in fact doing someone out of a job so I refuse point blank to use them,there is a row of 8 in the near by Tesco with one girl over-seeing the lot so to me that is 7 jobs lost to the local community.

I have the same mindset as a volunteer as I did in my own business, a sale is a sale. No problem, I'll smile pocketing the money

Hmm. I don't think I would want to do that to a volunteer.

I find these links to the Daily Mail online interesting. These stories never appear in the paper version and yet they are searched out by trusty GNetters! Well done them

I'm in the WRVS and work in my local hospital coffee shop. Many customers order and pay whilst glued to their phone conducting a conversation. I think it's discourteous and wouldn't do it personally but then sometimes, it is necessary, especially in a hospital. Not a problem as, ultimately, they are the customer.

She was being ridiculous.

Wonder if the checkout assistant is a GNetter and perhaps will see the support here for her

about it reaching the news in New Zealand!

This story has even reached the radio news in New Zealand. Apparently, the majority of comments in the UK about it are supportive of the checkout assistant. I reckon that mobile phones are the invention of the devil and foster appallingly bad manners, so my vote goes to her as well.

I have never known Sainsburys self-service tills fail to work. I just resent using them.

I don't

I agree.