Awful Service at Trader Joe's

I'd say that you should accept a large part of this problem's
responsibility because after the first oversight, and being that YOU
knew you were on a time crunch, you should have looked at the amount
being credited as it was being done.

Also, your mental issues really aren't the concern of the staff at a
store, but it could be something you use to your benefit... In the
future, maybe you should be OCD with watching the items being rung up,
especially when you don't use cash (SO easy not to look at the total
before swiping that card) Maybe you should try to be OCD with being
on time and not try to squeeze in that tea purchase when you are on a
tight schedule.

Again, you need to accept the role you played here. Fault doesn't lie
just with the C.S.

You only spend $30.00 and you want them to bend over backwards to
please you?

"I have been a very loyal TJ customer for 5 years now, spending $30 on
the average weekly visit. After today’s visit, I will never be
returning to Trader Joes."

Not "very loyal" if one little incident causes you to never shop there
again.

1. I dunno about you, but I would notice a $12 overcharge on a $3 item
right away.

Maybe I'm just super duper observant or something.

2. Your OCD does not trump store policies.Most every store gives cash
refunds on debit card purchases.

3. Perhaps you'd be better off visiting a convenience store if you
need to "get in and get out" so fast.

Why do people not pay attention to their total before they pay? If you
would have mentioned the mistake before you actually paid, this would
have all been avoided.

Especially if you only got a couple things. I would have noticed right
away that my total wasn't right.

And those 4 packs, was it actually in a four pack or did he scan each
one individually. The cost is always waaaay higher on individuals that
on a pack.

I know disorders are hard to help, but no ones gonna give into you
when it comes to rules. Normal store policies are if you pay with a
debit card, then your refund will most likely be cash (very few
retailers do credit refunds for debit due to frauds). For this case, I
don't know what you expected them to do. Mistakes happen. They took
care of you in a nice manner, they cared to help you. I am glad
employees are calm and relaxed. Its good for their health and it makes
them happy,which creates a good moral in their workplace. Also, its
pleasant to a customer who shops there, and can boost a customer's
moral too. So the question is, are you wishing stress on them or
something? Yes there is a need for efficiency,but it doesnt mean the
world needs to be in a rushed panic for just one person...I don't get
it?

I'm not the most patient person on the planet, and I appreciate the
need for speed. So, I get where you're coming from.

However, if you know the staff is too "lackadaisical" (and you said
you've been there before) and you're on a time limit, then going to
Trader Joe's isn't going to be a good option. When I used to work
full-time (and I only had a half-hour for lunch every day), there were
places I avoided simply because they DID take a long time.

And your "lackadaisical" and inefficient customer service is someone
else's fantastic service. I agree that cashiers shouldn't be starting
long-winded conversations with customers during peak time, but if the
customer starts the conversation, what is the cashier supposed to do?
Cut them off because they're on a "time limit?"

It's funny how we get letters here all the time complaining employees
aren't friendly and are hurrying customers like cattle through the
door, but then they're TOO friendly and that's a problem too! There's
no winning, I suppose.

It's actually part of our policy at my job...we are supposed to engage
the customer, and talk to them as long as THEY want to. Not as long
as the service associate wants, and certainly not as long as the
person waiting behind them wants.

I don't have a problem with this, however it BECOMES a problem when
there are people waiting in line behind them. MOST people understand
this and are considerate of others. Some do not, and I am put into a
lose/lose situation with angry customers from waiting for me to finish
with the current one, and an angry customer who may feel like I am
brushing them off.

Most of the posters like this ever worked in the service sector.

In my view this is as much the OP fault as it was the cashier and
managers. How do you not notice an extra $13.00 added to your bill?
You were only picking up a couple of things for lunch and they added
$13.00 to your bill and you didnt notice til after you paid???

Then when they gave you back your change the first time you again
didnt notice til after the manager was gone that you didnt have the
correct change???

Pay more attention to your items and you might have gotten out alot
sooner. Because you were daydreaming (both times) I woudl have to say
its not the fault of the cashier or the manager for how long you were
there.

I am a cashier for a major retailer and there is something you need to
understand: we can NEVER win. We are careful to bag like items
together, we get somebody who complains about getting too many bags.
We are friendly and talk to the customers, they are rude and tell us
they're in a hurry. We do as you ask and just scan your stuff,
somebody says we're not friendly. Cashiers work very hard for not
very much money. I don't know what you do for a living, but
considering how pressed for time you were I'm guessing you have an
important job. I'm also guessing that at some point in your life
you've worked a job (be it cashier fast food, whatever) where you've
had to deal with the public like cashiers do. Remember what that was
like. Yes, you have some valid complaints. The manager should have
gotten it right the first time. But it's situations like this that
make service industry people so notoriously grumpy on a daily basis.
And if you're that pressed for time on your lunch break, you might
consider brown-bagging it next time. I only get 30 minutes for my
lunch break, so I take a lunch with me. Anyways, sorry to unload but
this letter just struck a nerve.......

I always watch as the prices ring up on the register as my items are
being scanned...if there is a discrepancy then I can catch it before
the final total has been rung.

And to answer your question I doubt they will do anything as you were
given the corrected amount in cash.
Maybe what they could do is ask HOW you want this back and if credited
to your account is your choice there should be no question.

One bad incident in which I think you were being unreasonable --
sorry, but your OCD over "dirty money" is your issue, not a store's
issue -- and you're never going there again? You think you'll never
have a clerk make a simple mistake anywhere else?

I remember Monk, when it was still on,on one episode it showed him
using the dishwasher or washing machine to wash his cash.

That show cracked me up!

I'd wear gloves before Id be a slave to a credit card company.

At my job, I do wear gloves alot for certain situations, handling
meats, poultries, charcoals.


Good Day

If you are in a hurry, shop at a different store that has self service
checkouts. As for the cash refund, that is what all stores I have
worked at/shopped at have done. I don't think I have ever heard of any
store that puts a debit transaction return back on the card.

For some people, that long-winded conversation with the cashier is the
high point of the day or week. The "nice" service is the reason they
go to a place like Trader Joe's. "Nonchalant" and "lackadaisical" to
you may be "friendly" and "comforting" to someone else.

You may want to seek out a store that is more efficient and less
"nice". That store might be more suited to your personality.