Is it now standard business practice for cashiers

[waterwren]

to question customers about their purchases?
 Honestly I just got back from Joann's and I am still shaking my head.  First I gotta say I *hate* the  system they have for "lines" since they don't honour it at my local store. I had not one but two folks just walk up and  disregard the line and get waited on ahead of the two of us who were waiting for the "next available cashier".
 So finally a second cashier opens, and I walk over and her first comment is "what are you going to use THIS for?" - really is it any of her business. My friend looks at her and say "crib sheets for my baby" and the cashier says with an eye roll, "who does THAT these days, just buy them."  at this point the second woman who tried to cut the line walks over and this cashier starts with her "Oh ma'am were you next, I am so sorry this woman cut in front of you."  I looked at her and said " I was in the line, that your store specifies, I was next." Cashier says, But she came around the corner and was at the cashier first. She should have been waited on next." I swear if she thought my friend would not have burst into flame right there and then ( her face was already red with anger) she would have taken this woman first.  Her parting shot to us was " you really  need to change your attitudes. That baby, if you really have one, shouldn't have to deal with things like you."
  I have sent an email to Joann's corporate already. And I am going searching for another fabric store.

[AprilRenee]

Oh I would have asked for the manager right thne and there!

Writing to corporate is one thing..it's a disconnect. Talking to the manager right there lets them SEE the angry customer

[caroljones]

Honestly, if I didn't have so many weird experiences like this myself I might think some of you guys make this stuff up!

That's incredibly rude. In the fist place, yes, I think cashiers are getting ruder by the year in commenting on what someone purchases. Many things annoy me the older I get, but commenting on what I buy is one of the worst.

As to the other behavior, you are doing the right thing by notifying the store's management, and I don't blame you for looking for another fabric shop.

Maybe I will start carrying small cards to give these people saying "got manners? no? then read about yourself on www.etiquettehell.com soon!"

[Lady Vavasour]

Cashier says, But she came around the corner and was at the cashier first."

Huh? 

I hate purchasing things at fabric stores, partly because of those people who go to the counter without knowing how much of something they want. When there is a long queue, proceeding to decide how much lace you want to buy by draping it around your body is not very considerate.

[waterwren]

Cashier says, But she came around the corner and was at the cashier first."

Huh? 

I hate purchasing things at fabric stores, partly because of those people who go to the counter without knowing how much of something they want. When there is a long queue, proceeding to decide how much lace you want to buy by draping it around your body is not very considerate.

Joann's has a roped off area where you're supposed to wait for a cashier to be available. This woman jumped the line and just whipped around the corner and went with her  friend to the cash register.  ignoring me and my friend ( one purchase) and another lady waiting in line as we were supposed to. So apparently this woman was supposed to be first. Several of the stores here have this system now, Joann's Kohl's and Macy's come to mind off hand.

[Brentwood]

1. That cashier should have been fired on the spot.

2. My mother and MIL both made crib sheets for my babies.

[littleblue]

That is truly bizarre! 

I don't think it's always rude for a cashier to strike up a polite conversation with a customer about their purchases (I work in a specialty food store, and if a customer is buying an ingredient I've never used before, I might ask them if they can recommend a dish to put it in) but to comment in such a derogatory way, and try to start serving another person AFTER you've begun serving someone else is beyond weird. 

O/T:  My grandmother hand made crib sheets for my younger sister and I - they were just exquisite and will always be treasured by our family

[Fee]

Cashier says, But she came around the corner and was at the cashier first."

By this logic that means that someone who very obviously was not standing in line could sprint to the cashier and reach it before the next customer who was waiting patiently in line and should therefore be served first...

*head...desk*

And all the other comments made...words dont describe... Really the mind boggles sometimes...

[artk2002]

Cashier says, But she came around the corner and was at the cashier first."

Huh? 

I hate purchasing things at fabric stores, partly because of those people who go to the counter without knowing how much of something they want. When there is a long queue, proceeding to decide how much lace you want to buy by draping it around your body is not very considerate.

Joann's has a roped off area where you're supposed to wait for a cashier to be available. This woman jumped the line and just whipped around the corner and went with her  friend to the cash register.  ignoring me and my friend ( one purchase) and another lady waiting in line as we were supposed to. So apparently this woman was supposed to be first. Several of the stores here have this system now, Joann's Kohl's and Macy's come to mind off hand.

This is when a loud "Oy!  The line's over here!" is appropriate.  If nobody calls them on their rudeness they'll continue.

The cashier needs to be dsciplined BTW.

[MissyMa'am]

Whaaaaaat?     Those people were crazy.

[Drunken Housewife]

In a fabric store, I think it's not necessarily rude for a cashier/employee to ask what you're going to make.  They usually sew & craft themselves, and they like to hear about people's projects.  I often get asked what I'm making, and when I almost invariably say "a quilt", the workers usually have questions.  I bought a variety of ribbons last weekend at a fabric store, and they asked what it was for, and when I said my daughter's t-shirt themed birthday party, they were riveted.

BUT!  Dismissing your friend's project was completely rude and wrong.  JoAnn's makes its profits off people who sew; it's not supposed to want us to all go buy premade stuff.  As for the slam about the baby, that is unforgivable.

Also, it was completely wrong not to abide by the line procedure.

I had a similar, epically rude cashier at a pet supply store who was waiting on people before me and being rude ot me, and I complained to management.  Sadly they did not fire the man (and he truly, truly deserved firing... a complete stranger said to me in the store, "Wow, I can't believe how rude he is being to you"), but the owner contacted me and told me that they had a consultant come in and study the set-up, and they moved some things and made changes so that the line procedures would work better.  It is the right thing to do, to complain.

[dawbs]

hijack

People really should expect/respect evasiveness and answers they don't like when they ask such questions though.

Because it took me a month to go back to Joanns after I took Mr. Dawbs.  He was asked what he needed strap type materials for, answered "to make strap/tiedowns" with a devilish grin.  While that was true, it wasn't exactly what he made it sound like.
ANd the girl working the counter got awfully prudish abut the entire thing.

/Hijack

[Tnova317]

I have a friend who works at Jo anns. They are required to ask about the projects you are working on and purchasing so hopefully they can upsell  more product to you. They get in trouble if they do not ask.

However she never would blow  off a customer like that and she hardly ever  upsells because she gets in to chatting so much she forgets. However she does get quite a few great tips on sewing and such.

[caroljones]

I have a friend who works at Jo anns. They are required to ask about the projects you are working on and purchasing so hopefully they can upsell  more product to you. They get in trouble if they do not ask.

It's one thing to politely inquire, and quite another to make rude or judgmental comments based upon what a paying customer is purchasing.

I wouldn't be offended by an innocuous or genuinely curious question, but if it sounded snide or if it was denigrating? I would speak to the manager, and maybe decide not to patronize that particular store again.

Another thing that galls me and happens much too frequently is the failure of the cashier to thank the customer. I normally utter a thanks after a transaction and sometimes it's met with silence and sometimes with a "you're welcome". It's just common courtesy and common sense that the customer is the one doing the favor by patronizing the business and I would think a thank you from the cashier, even a forced or insincere thank you, would be good for business. I don't especially feel like giving a business my money if I'm treated poorly by the employees.

[pierrotlunaire0]

You need to report that cashier yesterday. 

Not to hijack the thread, but I worked at a Joann's years ago (mostly for the discount, and the fact that when they get rid of patterns, it's help yourself before they go into the dumpster).  One gentleman was buying yards and yards of black material: felt, cotton, vinyl.  As I was cutting it, I asked him what he was going to use it for (the day before I had waited on a photographer who was buying material to create a blue screen, and I always felt the customer enjoyed me showing an interest in what they were doing).  He paused for a second, and then explained that the material blocked the death rays that were being aimed at him.  The death rays could make it through walls, but the black material blocked them.  The only problem was that the black material eventually began soaked in death rays and had to be replaced with fresh.  After he left, a coworker sidles up to me.  "Exactly who is it that is aiming the death rays?"  I hadn't wanted to ask because once I got him talking it was hard to shut him back up.

Showing interest in a customer's purchase made the job more interesting to me, and I never criticized their decision -- even when it was black material to stop the death rays.