The grumpy thread

[artdjones]

32 minutes ago, myglaren said:

The customers in the local Lidl's and Aldis that I use all seem to realise how it works and will usually wave anyone with only a few items in front of them, the queues move quite quickly.

I realise that they are not all like that.  Had some of the family here yesterday and SIL was complaining about them, serves him right for loving in Thornaby and shopping in Middlesbrough and Stockton.

Asda is just a scrum though, not fun at all.

It's usually the same around here in Aldi or Lidl. Maybe Asda attracts the wrong kind of shopper. 

[PhilA]

12 hours ago, hairnet said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy89lzv12z6o

hope it dont go east from texas @PhilA

Yeah, there is a big weather system of the coast right now. 

Here is warm and calm

[EspenO]

1 hour ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Your individual inconvenience is smaller than the collective inconvenience of everybody else having to wait for you.

1) You still get inconvenienced when there’s no-one behind you. 
 

2) it’s a false dichotomy. Lidl style tills aren’t using any less space than normal tills, there’s no reason they can’t simply provide enough space for bagging stuff after the cashier. While still keeping the flow going. 
 

[reb]

Who would win in a checkout process design fight? Two incredibly successful supermarket chains with more and more locations around the world and incredible customer satisfaction, or one grumpy boi on the internet.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

2 minutes ago, EspenO said:

1) You still get inconvenienced when there’s no-one behind you. 
 

2) it’s a false dichotomy. Lidl style tills aren’t using any less space than normal tills, there’s no reason they can’t simply provide enough space for bagging stuff after the cashier. While still keeping the flow going. 
 

In some countries, the tills have a metal bar that can be moved across to divide the end into two, with the bar directing the shopping to one side or the other.

These shops tend not to have large trollies but it works for hand shopping.  You can’t get two trollies behind a Lidl till without WW3 breaking out.

If you feel inconvenienced by not being encouraged to pack your shopping at the checkout, you can always opt for the self service and shorten the queue for everybody else…

[reb]

2 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

In some countries, the tills have a metal bar that can be moved across to divide the end into two, with the bar directing the shopping to one side or the other.

These shops tend not to have large trollies but it works for hand shopping.  You can’t get two trollies behind a Lidl till without WW3 breaking out.

If you feel inconvenienced by not being encouraged to pack your shopping at the checkout, you can always opt for the self service and shorten the queue for everybody else…

I wonder what the Big O of a lidl checkout vs a "standard"* one is...

[GrumpiusMaximus]

1 minute ago, reb said:

I wonder what the Big O of a lidl checkout vs a "standard"* one is...

Tolerance of attempted conversations from people wearing flat caps.

[reb]

2 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Tolerance of attempted conversations from people wearing flat caps.

How does time to clear a queue scale with the length of the queue, I mean

[myglaren]

Broke part of one of the runners on a freezer basket.  I have had some "Tree Frog" 'oily glue' here for ages that would repair the damage.

But can I find it?  Of course not.  It has been four feet away from my desk for the past six months and decides now to go for a wander 

 

[vulgalour]

This was clean 60 miles ago.  I love Lincolnshire, I don't love the state of the roads in the winter.

[comfortablynumb]

7 hours ago, Morris 63 said:

Mate, that line alone marks you out as a thoroughly decent bloke. 

I used to think that all families ( well most) looked out for their grandparents/ kids/ grandkids. 

I realise now how naïve I am

I had grandparents and parents who would drop everything to help when necessary, I used to bunk off school, so my granddad took it into his head to teach me stuff, that I still use, and didn't tell my dad, who would have hit the roof.

When he did find out, I told him that I'd learnt more from my grandfather that I would've learnt from school( which was a crap one) and he was forced to agree!

I now follow the same philosophy with my kids and grandkids, and get it back, in spades .

Unfortunately now my kids have partners, I've been forced to accept that most families don't work like that, and my in-laws for my kids come to me for help long before their own families.

Sad state of affairs, but it's not going to stop me from doing it.

My dad (rip) told us to pay it forward, and I'll do that until the day I die.

Sorry must be getting a bit emotional, tomorrow is two years since I lost him.

Right, sermon over.

[EspenO]

3 hours ago, reb said:

one grumpy boi on the internet.

As much as I enjoy you employing every cheap rethorical trick at your disposal 😅 those tills were actually a major reason behind Lidl failing to crack my home market, then selling all their nice new build shops cheap to a competitor. 
 

It’ll all be self-service in a few years anyway. 

[EspenO]

3 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

In some countries, the tills have a metal bar that can be moved across to divide the end into two, with the bar directing the shopping to one side or the other.

These shops tend not to have large trollies but it works for hand shopping.  You can’t get two trollies behind a Lidl till without WW3 breaking out

ITYM civilized countries. They’re quite commonly found in shops with large trollies.

And your last sentence is precisely the reason why Lidl tills are hateful.

I mean, a lot of people seem to think a few slow people at the tills are the problem.

They’re not. 

Designing tills that deliberately ignore normal human variation in efficiency is the problem. 

 

[reb]

28 minutes ago, EspenO said:

As much as I enjoy you employing every cheap rethorical trick at your disposal 😅 those tills were actually a major reason behind Lidl failing to crack my home market, then selling all their nice new build shops cheap to a competitor. 
 

It’ll all be self-service in a few years anyway. 

What's this "rherorical trick" you speak of? I'm taking the piss out of you. Laughing at you. For caring so much about fucking checkouts.

[fairkens]

The point of the check outs isn't space, it's speed. If they get people through quickly they can go back to stacking shelves, so they employ fewer people which keeps the prices down. 

[reb]

I'm sure it's a coincidence that the lidl and aldi in my town are of comparable footfall and size to the tesco, yet they get by with only one or two tills open where tesco usually has at least three or four.

[ruffgeezer]

6 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

It's like blood tests. Big take a ticket system at my local hospital. As my number nears i've sleeves rolled up and been pumping my fists. The nurses are pros and mega efficient. The amount of pricks who shuffle in for a chat with their coats on. 

Don't try that trick at a sperm bank. You may well end up blurting it up the first poor soul who offers you a sample pot.

[EspenO]

48 minutes ago, reb said:

What's this "rherorical trick" you speak of? I'm taking the piss out of you. Laughing at you. For caring so much about fucking checkouts.

Sorry for assuming any sophistication. I’m the only one who cares, am I? 😄

[EspenO]

12 minutes ago, fairkens said:

The point of the check outs isn't space, it's speed. If they get people through quickly they can go back to stacking shelves, so they employ fewer people which keeps the prices down. 

That’s a pretty charitable view of their business practices, I think.
 

Anyway, the shop’s there for the customer, not the other way around. If you treat your customers like cattle, you’d better be way cheaper than the competition.

[loserone]

Fortunately for everyone, they are 

[reb]

Show us on the doll where the german efficiency touched you.

[DavieW]

Every year,  a couple of weeks before Christmas, my wife's cousin posts her usual "children don't need loads of presents to be happy and think about the unfortunate ones who won't have much" etc. And every year, she posts on Facebook a pic of the huge pile of gifts for her "darling grandchildren". Hypocritical as ever.

[EspenO]

1 hour ago, reb said:

Show us on the doll where the german efficiency touched you.

Right in the Schwalbenschwanz.

[Popsicle]

Our gas has gone off, thought it odd the heating wasn't working, then realised the gas hob wouldn't fire up, so tried the gas fire, no thats not working either. Went and had a play with the meter, it all seems ok, so called the gas board up who said someone would be round within 2 hours. 30 minutes later a nice fella turned up who checked everything out and told us the meters fucked, contact your supplier they will sort it for you.

So yes its a grump because we've no heating, hob or hot water, but I'm kinda relieved that the combi boilers not fucked and costing me a few grand, I'm not sure my flexible friend would like to do the lifting on that at the mo.

[New POD]

On 26/12/2024 at 11:28, Metal Guru said:

I’m sure they’d not skip stuff if they knew it was valuable. Nothing gets people interested more quickly than money.

I’m in the process of  clearing out my mother’s house. There’s no antiques. A few things that various people want but the vast majority is stuff my mother liked but no one else wants. Sad to do, but if it doesn’t get dumped, my son will just have twice as much stuff to get rid of when I die. You can only take so much to charity shops. 

During lockdown I watched 5 skips bring filled with the stuff 95 year old Fred had filled his house with by his Neice. 

Furniture he'd made. Collections of books, mid-century furniture he'd bought in the 60s.  Every fucking item. 

[beko1987]

16 hours ago, vulgalour said:

This was clean 60 miles ago.  I love Lincolnshire, I don't love the state of the roads in the winter.

My dad's cars are always utterly filthy and I know he jet washes them down when it gets really bad and they get a Romanian special fairly regularly but it lasts barely days. 

Half their problem is their modern cars. The aerodynamics make the muddy fen water that sits on the roads run in some very odd ways! The Xsara keeps itself fairly clean in comparison. 

Bar one time I followed a cement truck up the a16 for 10 miles. It had been raining and I was behind it and it just rained mud the entire way! Was quite impressive by the time I got to dad's and it all dried 😂 That's when he first showed me his new karcher which I find clunky as fuck to use vs my little nilfisk 

[fairkens]

14 hours ago, EspenO said:

That’s a pretty charitable view of their business practices, I think.
 

Anyway, the shop’s there for the customer, not the other way around. If you treat your customers like cattle, you’d better be way cheaper than the competition.

It's literally the business model

[EspenO]

28 minutes ago, fairkens said:

It's literally the business model

Being miserable to your customers for misery’s own sake, or leaving such a tiny profit margin that you live or die by having one less minimum wage employee on shift? Not convinced either way.

[andy18s]

20 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

In some countries, the tills have a metal bar that can be moved across to divide the end into two, with the bar directing the shopping to one side or the other.

Most of the stores in Bulgaria have these,as the locals will not be rushed.

Older customers will just watch every item get scanned through, pay and then start packing their stuff.

Most stores require you to weigh any loose fruit and veg,which can be interesting when they have 4 or 5 types of tomato ect.

We have a couple of decent supermarkets in town, Absolute and T Market. We get our meat and some dairy from Absolute as the quality is good and consistent  but as 90% of the local Brits shop there prices are higher...

T Market for everything else as they are a locally owned store,with nice fruit and veg from local producers. Butchers are literally everywhere too if you need 40kg of pigs lung...ahem

A monthly visit to VT let's us pick up bacon and stuff from Lidl,collect our dogs frozen raw dog meat in bulk and meet friends for coffee and lunch.

There's a Costco type of store called Metro which can supply different stuff,or in bulk if you need anything.

There's a huge variety of everything else you can imagine too but a lot of the smaller shops seem to work on the basis of once they've sold enough product to cover the daily costs,they shut up shop and go home/bar ect.

 

 

[Metal Guru]

4 hours ago, New POD said:

During lockdown I watched 5 skips bring filled with the stuff 95 year old Fred had filled his house with by his Neice. 

Furniture he'd made. Collections of books, mid-century furniture he'd bought in the 60s.  Every fucking item. 

That’s a real shame and if it is worth anything it’s stupid just to dump it. But if no one wants it, what are you going to do with it? You reach a point where things have to go (usually when a house is sold).