Free produce is always welcome; but... WHY?
March 10, 2018 3:16 PM Subscribe
Lately I've been getting produce items (fruits, vegetable) at stores without being charged for them. While it's possible the cashier simply forgot to ring them in, this seems unlikely in cases where I was only buying one or two items. If you have ever been a cashier not charging for items, why did you do so and what moved you to bestow free gifts on a customer? If you have been a recipient like myself, what did you conclude was the likely reason for being given free stuff?
I should add that in these recent cases, the cashiers were women I've never interacted with before, and we only spent the couple of minutes necessary to ring through a few items together. I think it's safe to say that attraction would not have been a factor in any of these cases. I've received free items (coffee, baked goods) before, mainly in cafés where I was a regular customer and interacted daily over months or years with the person on the other side of the counter, but this new phenomenon puzzles me, and leaves me wondering if there is perhaps something about my presentation which suggests that I may be in need of support of one kind or another. (In each of the recent incidents to which I am referring, I was only buying a few items; in one case, I had four of one fruit item which were on sale 4 for $5 but I was only charged for one. In another case, I was charged for three or four dry items, but not for a couple of vegetable items. All of these incidents occurred in organic foods chain stores, with different cashiers.)
I am by no means opposed to random acts of kindness if that's what these are, but I am still curious to hear from others who have been on either end of this sort of thing regarding the possible reasons for such behavior!
I should add that in these recent cases, the cashiers were women I've never interacted with before, and we only spent the couple of minutes necessary to ring through a few items together. I think it's safe to say that attraction would not have been a factor in any of these cases. I've received free items (coffee, baked goods) before, mainly in cafés where I was a regular customer and interacted daily over months or years with the person on the other side of the counter, but this new phenomenon puzzles me, and leaves me wondering if there is perhaps something about my presentation which suggests that I may be in need of support of one kind or another. (In each of the recent incidents to which I am referring, I was only buying a few items; in one case, I had four of one fruit item which were on sale 4 for $5 but I was only charged for one. In another case, I was charged for three or four dry items, but not for a couple of vegetable items. All of these incidents occurred in organic foods chain stores, with different cashiers.)
I am by no means opposed to random acts of kindness if that's what these are, but I am still curious to hear from others who have been on either end of this sort of thing regarding the possible reasons for such behavior!
It’s more likely a crappy point of sale interface that is messing up entering PLUs or something.
posted by rockindata at 3:41 PM on March 10, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by rockindata at 3:41 PM on March 10, 2018 [14 favorites]
On the odd occasion this has happened to me I’ve assumed it’s an error and pointed it out. Usually the front-line worker is glad I did and rings it in.
posted by warriorqueen at 3:43 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by warriorqueen at 3:43 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Any indication that it’s not checker error? Are they giving you an extra smile or anything? I catch mistakes like this regularly and get them fixed if I notice them on site.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:27 PM on March 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:27 PM on March 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Is it slightly odd produce? Cashiers memorize all of the typical codes pretty quickly, but some stuff like ginger or bok choy is rare enough that you have to look it up. I never did this, but I knew some cashiers who would just pass it through, especially if they didn't see a sticker and were too embarrassed or lazy to ask the customer what it is.
posted by gatorae at 4:32 PM on March 10, 2018 [10 favorites]
posted by gatorae at 4:32 PM on March 10, 2018 [10 favorites]
I had four of one fruit item which were on sale 4 for $5 but I was only charged for one.
This was almost definitely a mis-key; the checker entered the code but didn't enter the quantity (or the interface failed to register the quantity).
On the occasion where you weren't charged for multiple items -- was the checker new, or in a particular rush? Were the items exotic (not your standard apples or celery)? Sometimes new checkers who are in a rush and haven't learned the codes and feel like they don't have time to fumble around and look them up in the moment will just kinda... not ring up an item, when they haven't got the code handy.
posted by halation at 4:33 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
This was almost definitely a mis-key; the checker entered the code but didn't enter the quantity (or the interface failed to register the quantity).
On the occasion where you weren't charged for multiple items -- was the checker new, or in a particular rush? Were the items exotic (not your standard apples or celery)? Sometimes new checkers who are in a rush and haven't learned the codes and feel like they don't have time to fumble around and look them up in the moment will just kinda... not ring up an item, when they haven't got the code handy.
posted by halation at 4:33 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
How does management treat the employees? I knew someone who did this, also at a natural food store, as an act of rebellion/sabotage while working for an abusive company.
posted by Botanizer at 5:01 PM on March 10, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Botanizer at 5:01 PM on March 10, 2018 [8 favorites]
You do realize that if the cashier is caught, this isn’t considered”kindness.’ It’s theft. I know someone who accidentally rang something up wrong, told the customer not to worry about it, and was consequently fired. If you notice on site, please do as tchemgrrl does and get it corrected.
posted by FencingGal at 6:01 PM on March 10, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 6:01 PM on March 10, 2018 [8 favorites]
I've received free items (coffee, baked goods) before, mainly in cafés where I was a regular customer
Sometimes employees are encouraged to give a few freebees to regulars to reward repeat customers. But in other cases, employees are giving stuff away in hopes of getting a really big tip. Especially when it's something that's hard to measure like coffee.
If the organic chain in question is Whole Foods, they're having big morale problems with some of the recent policy changes, which can lead to doing a half-assed job.
posted by Candleman at 6:23 PM on March 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Sometimes employees are encouraged to give a few freebees to regulars to reward repeat customers. But in other cases, employees are giving stuff away in hopes of getting a really big tip. Especially when it's something that's hard to measure like coffee.
If the organic chain in question is Whole Foods, they're having big morale problems with some of the recent policy changes, which can lead to doing a half-assed job.
posted by Candleman at 6:23 PM on March 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses! It's quite possible that this happening three or four times within a fortnight is just a coincidence, and has nothing to do with me in particular, but is due to a combination of some of the factors mentioned above:
*checker entering the code but not the quantity
*less common item with no code attached; cashier can't be bothered to look it up
*act of rebellion (yes, one of the locations is WF)
*pressure; cashier prioritizes swift customer processing over attention to detail
and one other factor which only occurred to me now:
I often give special instructions to the cashier regarding the bagging of certain items, while they're in the process of ringing things in, with them moving away from the keypad mid-stream to place items in the bag. Perhaps this is resulting in them simply forgetting whether they've rung an item through or not, and in cases where there is a lineup behind me, they can't be bothered to check whether everything has been rung in. Still weird that this has happened so many times within a couple of weeks!
posted by tenderly at 7:57 PM on March 10, 2018
*checker entering the code but not the quantity
*less common item with no code attached; cashier can't be bothered to look it up
*act of rebellion (yes, one of the locations is WF)
*pressure; cashier prioritizes swift customer processing over attention to detail
and one other factor which only occurred to me now:
I often give special instructions to the cashier regarding the bagging of certain items, while they're in the process of ringing things in, with them moving away from the keypad mid-stream to place items in the bag. Perhaps this is resulting in them simply forgetting whether they've rung an item through or not, and in cases where there is a lineup behind me, they can't be bothered to check whether everything has been rung in. Still weird that this has happened so many times within a couple of weeks!
posted by tenderly at 7:57 PM on March 10, 2018
WF will give you the item free if the ringing-up fails. I think that's nationwide. Many states have laws covering what happens if the item price comes up incorrectly. That, too, can lead to your getting the item for free. (Once I got a free pound of sea scallops because they lazily failed to change the price in the system when it went on sale--massive score.) I'm not sure whether that would fit any of your circumstances?
Assuming you noticed it at the time--I understand that some people don't watch the screen like a hawk during checkout, so you might not have--I'm a little surprised you would so casually accept this, though. Would you not feel obliged to pay for what you take?
posted by praemunire at 9:24 PM on March 10, 2018
Assuming you noticed it at the time--I understand that some people don't watch the screen like a hawk during checkout, so you might not have--I'm a little surprised you would so casually accept this, though. Would you not feel obliged to pay for what you take?
posted by praemunire at 9:24 PM on March 10, 2018
I'd bet at least some of it is cashier neglect/laziness. Sometimes it's just easier to, y'know, slide that piece of fruit you don't quite recognize or remember the code for right on across the belt and into the customer's bag.
posted by rhiannonstone at 9:36 PM on March 10, 2018
posted by rhiannonstone at 9:36 PM on March 10, 2018
Maybe the grocery store recently implemented strict performance metrics based on how long it takes to ring customers up and the cashiers are responding to that incentive by sacrificing accuracy for speed.
posted by Jacqueline at 1:47 PM on March 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacqueline at 1:47 PM on March 11, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
1. Produce is more annoying to ring up, and the flow in the register is probably more work.
2. By coincidence, the end times of your shopping trips has been lining up with end times of cashier shifts, so in some ways, they're fatigued and have figuratively checked out.
Combine 1 & 2 for more cashier error in your favor!
posted by batter_my_heart at 3:40 PM on March 10, 2018 [5 favorites]