Answers, please

It's bad when a customer can't find a product. It's worse when they can't find someone in a department to help them with an individual service. Worst -- long lines at the checkout.

I hate being compared to K-Mart, because it's so far from the truth. K-Mart -- few customers, one checkout and every 10 minute announcements of "you can also check out at the service desk." Wal-Mart -- lots of customers, lots of help, but sometimes more customers than help.

Welcome to the pre-holiday.

There are guests stocking up for the holidays. Guests who want to stay away from stores on the holidays. And the regular crowd. That made for a busy Wednesday. Guests think we're understaffed. And we are. But there are crowd management skills. Send CSM's to registers. Send back-up "service" cashiers to registers. Call managers to registers. And this is on top of 2 express lanes, 2 sets of self-checks, registers in jewelry/sporting goods/electronics and a half dozen regular registers. It takes the CSM's hours to figure this out, and by then, some of our guests are spitting mad.

A cart full of groceries in the self-check is a pretty good indication that things are backed up elsewhere. And it multiplies. When a guest takes a full cart into self-check, three more guests that could have used these "fast lanes" wait, vent and start looking for options. "Can I check out here (the pay station)?" Nope -- My job is to watch and assist the four customers having issues at these registers. And they had issues.

"This barcode won't scan." Nope, because it's a shipping code. The regular UPC is here."Where's the ice?" Both doors. "Do you carry comforters?" Yes, in domestics, but comforters in THIS weather? What are you thinking? "Do I have to lift this 50-pound bag of dog food?" Fortunately, not. Pull the sticker and scan it, then hit "skip bagging." "Why does the machine keep locking up?" "Because you keep hitting "skip bagging," then put the item in the bag.

I know when a self-check won't read my associate barcode, it's equally stubborn about reading any UPC. So while I'm watching all the registers, I'm especially attentive to that one. Which either pleases or annoys the guest, depending on his/her level of independence. I've even gotten a "am I doing something wrong?" comment for hovering around them.

I can't say it, but "not yet" comes to mind. Give you 30 seconds. I agree with a handful of our guests who tell me the best move Wal-Mart could take is to remove the self-checks. Get back to real customer service. One guest told me his friend was waiting in line at another store that has self-checks and a manager came up to him and suggested she go over and use the self-checks. Her reply: "I suppose you want me to stock the shelves and sweep the floor next?" I wish I had heard that. I would have been on the floor!