Did she cut the line?

[+ purplekow]

I had stopped at a supermarket and was in a bit of a hurry. I had to get to a funeral and though the guest of honor wasn't going anywhere, the funeral home closed at 8 and it was already 6:50 with a half hour or so ride between. I was picking up dinner so as to have something to eat when I got home and I was at the deli counter. The deli counter had two people working. One was waiting on customers who were on line at the counter itself and the other was filling orders from the automatic order system of the store. When I got on line there were two people in front of me, both of whom apparently were catering massive sandwich parties and as a result were ordering large quantities of many cold cuts. What I anticipated to be a 5 to 7 minute wait had turned into a 15 minute or more wait and I was starting to get concerned about making it to my destination.

Just as the second patron was completing her order, a woman came to the counter and complained that she had put in her concierge order and she was done with her shopping and the order had not been filled. She stated that she had #124 and the counter person stated that order #123 was being filled. She raised a bit of a fuss and the other counter person, who was serving the lined up masses, took it upon herself to tell the woman she would take her order and then proceeded to do so.

Usually, when I am not late for wake, I would be either indifferent or mildly ticked, but as the time was ticking, I told the counter person that I was next in line and that I had waited my turn. The other patron said that she had put in her order twenty minutes ago and so she had been waiting longer. I replied that just because she picked what turned out to be he slower method of getting her order, there is no reason for her to demand to be served before others who had wait their turn in line. She stated that she had not demanded to be served. I pointed out that coming to the counter and complaining that she had not been served in a timely manner was indeed a demand though not a command.

The counter person took her order and the other counter person proceeded to fill the concierge orders, obliviously. This customer also seemed to be catering a sandwich eating party or an all the sandwiches you can eat contest and her order droned on.

While this is a minor annoyance and I frequently do not sweat the small stuff, I am curious if others think she did indeed cut the line and if you think the attendant was correct in taking her order first. Is there anyone else here who would have spoken up against this?

As further information, I go to this store often, I usually get liverwurst for my dogs as my only order and I am usually there rather late at night and as a result I have had conversations with the staff including learning more than I need to know about how the department works and the division of labor behind the counter.

I did make the funeral. There were very few people there and that made me feel bad for being later than I intended The roast beef was stringy and was perhaps a bit bad. All in all, I should have just gone out to eat afterwards.

[samhexum]

I usually get liverwurst for my dogs as my only order

 

Boy, talk about doggy breath! :cool::eek:

[+ purplekow]

Boy, talk about doggy breath! :cool::eek:

Well I use it to roll up their pills and they can be a bit finicky when it comes to taking the medication.

[+ poolboy48220]

Don't know. The concierge/phone-ahead service is new enough that protocols haven't really been established. Putting in an order just 20 minutes ago, imho, wouldn't qualify you to jump to the head of the line. I can think of many times I've waited that long at the counter.

 

Michigan's drivers license offices (called Secretary of State in Michigan, not DMV) have set up concierge service and appointments, and they are definitely working out the kinks. I tried making an appointment just to take my father to change his address, and the first available appt was a week away. We tried "get in line online" and they gave me a time a few hours from the time I made it (which is fine), but then kept texting updates about the time changing wildly. I headed out when it said my wait was an hour (time enough to pick up my Dad and get to the office) and the time changed several times on the drive, both earlier and later. We did get through the process pretty quickly once we got there, seeing my 86-year-old father there may have made them bump us up quickly once they saw him.

 

On a not-too-far tangent, if I found a deli counter where the people behind it actually hustled, it would have my loyal business forever.

[+ sync]

I've come to consider myself a magnet for such slights, banks, post offices, DMV, hotel registrations, you name it. Even electronically/digitally, I can't count the times I've been on hold "forever" only to be disconnected. Whenever a waiting-line experience goes well for me, it's a banner day.

[rvwnsd]

I think it depends upon how the people working the orders handle them. Starbucks' mobile order system seems to be a problem at some stores while at others (like the one near my office) the team won't keep in-store clients waiting for a drip coffee while they make up the double-whip-mocha-frap-extra cold-no water-lattecino.

 

In the case of the deli, it pisses me off when I have to wait to get my half pound of ham while they assemble an order to feed the entire Phoenix PD. My local Safeway is great about getting folks from another department to help out.

 

...On a not-too-far tangent, if I found a deli counter where the people behind it actually hustled, it would have my loyal business forever.

Ain't that the truth! When I was a kid one of the local supermarket chains was a family-run business that had a really good deli. Sadly, the deli employees at our local store were as bad as the food was good. One of the worst was the spitting image of Laverne DeFazio from the show Laverne and Shirley. Recently, I read a Yelp review about the hideous deli employee at that same store, so when I visited Chicago I stopped in. The lady behind the counter looked like she could be Laverne DeFazio's daughter! She was also as rude and slow as the day is long.

[Bucky]

Related:

One of my pet peeves is any service type employee that answers and assists a phone order/inquiry when there is already a queue.

A customer is a customer - and they can easily be placed on hold and then helped in the appropriate order.

[Rudynate]

You have to choose your battles. A deli line in a grocery store when you're in a hurry entails a high risk of losing the battle. There always seem to be those people in front of you who are ordering sandwiches for half the city, compounded by brand-new just-trained employees.

[+ purplekow]

You have to choose your battles. A deli line in a grocery store when you're in a hurry entails a high risk of losing the battle. There always seem to be those people in front of you who are ordering sandwiches for half the city, compounded by brand-new just-trained employees.

Oh I was not going to make a fuss about the end of the worlders stocking up on cold cuts for the upcoming apocalypse, only the line cutting bitch. lol

I must admit if the line cutter had been a hot DILF in tight jeans and a large load of groceries in his basket, I probably would have just ogled the merchandise and slobbered a bit.

[gallahadesquire]

I've come to consider myself a magnet for such slights, banks, post offices, DMV, hotel registrations, you name it. Even electronically/digitally, I can't count the times I've been on hold "forever" only to be disconnected. Whenever a waiting-line experience goes well for me, it's a banner day.

 

I collected all my materials for my medical license (there are a lot). I took them into the Board of Registration in Medicine on a Tuesday. I received my license Friday.

 

I collected all my materials for my passport on a Tuesday (Got a photo; went to the county courthouse to get my birth certificate). I took it to the "Regional" passport agency. I received my Passport on Thursday, from the USPS.

 

Just lucky I guess.

[+ sync]

I collected all my materials for my medical license (there are a lot). I took them into the Board of Registration in Medicine on a Tuesday. I received my license Friday.

 

I collected all my materials for my passport on a Tuesday (Got a photo; went to the county courthouse to get my birth certificate). I took it to the "Regional" passport agency. I received my Passport on Thursday, from the USPS.

 

Just lucky I guess.

 

I would say you were born under a star.

[+ Funguy]

Renewed my car registration on line. Smog certificate in order, no tickets, nothing to cause a problem. Paid the amount noted, the same on line as on the hard copy.

Waited waited waited waited.

After 3 weeks, called Sacramento and they have no record despite my DMV receipt and my credit card charge. Took all to AAA, they found it, told me I OVERPAID which is why DMV couldn't find it (how about using a name or license number instead of $amount!.

BUT they couldn't fix it because it was off by $60 and their max refund was $50! I said, give me 50 and treat yourselves on my 10. But. NOOOOOO. Would screw up the books

 

Off to DMV, wait 90 minutes past my appt time just for the clerk to go, "what the fuck!" when she figured it out. Got the $60 and the sticker in record time - 5 weeks.