Grocery Store Baggers

Jules

Jules

SF VIP
Do you still have someone that bags your groceries? Or someone who helps taking them to your car?

We haven’t had this service in years. The cashier does it. Some stores make you pack your own bags. I hate packing so it’s very rare that I go to those stores except for a few things.

Out of curiosity, if someone helps take your groceries to the store, do you tip.
 

We've never had it... except for the odd occasion when a local charity or the Boy scouts.. want to raise money for a cause and they'll place children at the end to bag shopping. Well of course they're incapable of bagging it properly, so I just thank them , refuse their help, do it myself and put money into their box.., and occasionally we'll get a cashier who will ask if we need help to pack our own bags... but Bag packers Per se.. have never existed in this country . at least not in my lifetime...
 
The cashier packs the groceries and sometimes if the store is slow another cashier will come over and bag. I guess they are told to help.
I usually tell the cashier I will bag only because some are so fast that I can't see what they are packing with what.
I'm kind of picky that way.
I like my frozen things together and my bread and grapes on top not on the bottom with a 5 pound bag of onions squishing the life out of it.
 

Other than Aldi all my grocery stores willingly bag groceries. I personally just have the groceries placed back in the shopping cart. The back of my little SUV has 3 laundry baskets lined up. I put the groceries in those baskets and bring the baskets into my garage when I get home.
Rarely use bags at all anymore.
 
In High School in the early 60s, I worked at Kroger, a major grocery chain. Bagged groceries using paper bags, carried groceries out to the cars, ran cash registers, stocked shelves, etc.

Yesterday, I was just telling my SO that I'm a lot stronger now than I was then, because back then I could barely carry $20 worth of groceries, and now I can carry $50 worth with one hand...
 
Jules said:
Do you still have someone that bags your groceries? Or someone who helps taking them to your car?
Click to expand...
Currently with covid the store does the shopping, bagging, and brings to my car, all for free! It is awesome! Except that they don't pick the nicest produce, sighhh. Luckily there is a possum who checks out my back deck each night and he is willing to eat bruised bananas.

Pre-covid, lots of times I would leave work too late to get a checker at the store, and then I'd be forced to do self-checkout and bag my own groceries. That was horrid, self-checkout is fine for picking up a couple items but for a whole week's groceries it was a big pain and hard on my back.
 
Our local small town grocery store still has baggers....mostly teenagers working for some extra money. They always offer to help the elderly carry the groceries to their car. Most of the bigger stores still have the cashiers bagging the items as they check them through....but we've seen a couple of area Walmarts who have gone to self-checkout....that is a major PITA unless you just have a few items.
 
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I shop mostly at Walmart, no baggers and no help to the car. In some stores here they do still have baggers and even help to the car. Home Depot is pretty good about helping if you have some big things.

In Utah they mostly refuse tips, I still offer. In other parts of the US I have tipped, usually $2 to $5 depending on how much work they do and the level of service. On occasions more when I have a really lot of stuff.
 
It’s a mixed bag here.

Most of the stores have the cashier bag unless it is very busy or very slow then another person will help bag. In the no frills stores you are on your own.

Two of the large chains have Helping Hands that will take your groceries to the car. I’ve always declined the offer but I suppose it would be helpful to some folks with heavy items.

As others have mentioned I prefer to bag my own groceries. If I can’t keep up with the cashier I put the items back into the cart and find a quiet spot to finish packing before leaving the store.

I’ve never felt the need to tip. I would be more than willing to tip if the person did something above and beyond what is considered normal for the job.
 
I normally shop at Aldi's and Walmart and do all the bagging myself. I actually prefer to do that so no one else is touching my groceries (not because of covid, I have always been like that). At Tops the clerks do bag your groceries. Since I go there on my mobility chair the clerk puts the groceries into my insulated bag as she scans it. Some of the clerks will come around the counter to hang it on the back of the head rest for me. I appreciate that.
 
There is always someone to bag the groceries (HEB) but no one ever takes them to the car unless you ask for help. And I have asked for help (very seldom)... especially when I buy the cases of 36 ~ 16.9oz.
water bottles.

H-E-B Grocery Company, LP is an American privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 340 stores throughout the U.S. state of Texas. I love our HEB.
 
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The cashier would put my stuff in plastic bags but I bring my own so I need to do it myself and I take to the car myself. Exception would be something I bought is too heavy and cashier would find someone to take it out to the car for me. If I do an order for a "pick-up" then someone brings out my groceries and deposits in my trunk. Walmart - I always use self-serve with my own bags. p.s. stores charge 5 cents per plastic bag.
 
Sometimes I take plastic bins. They’re much easier to pack if I have to do it myself.

We have three types of checkout.
The cashier bags your items.
The cashier scans and you have to bag everything yourself. This is the type I don’t like and where I’ll use the plastic bins.
Self-checkout. You’re the cashier and bagger.
 
StarSong said:
Other than Aldi all my grocery stores willingly bag groceries. I personally just have the groceries placed back in the shopping cart. The back of my little SUV has 3 laundry baskets lined up. I put the groceries in those baskets and bring the baskets into my garage when I get home.
Rarely use bags at all anymore.
Click to expand...
I like this idea. I'm going to tell my daughter. It is so much more efficient and it keeps you from using the bags the grocery store provides.
 
WheatenLover said:
I like this idea. I'm going to tell my daughter. It is so much more efficient and it keeps you from using the bags the grocery store provides.
Click to expand...
I've been lining my vehicles' rear cargo areas with laundry baskets for many years now. First started when my three children were young and I was in the minivan stage.

They're lightweight, sturdy, inexpensive, a manageable size, have handles, contain things well, the empties stack easily, and they hold enough to be efficient but not so much that I overload them.
 
Unless I'm at a self-checkout I refuse to bag my own groceries. No one is paying me for the job. I pay enough for things without working for the store, too. Haven't you noticed a lean work force is getting leaner, and the customer must do more?

A few months ago I was at Stop & Shop. The check out clerk refused to bag re: covid. It was not store policy, it was actually up to her! So............I said, "Are you paying me to do your job? No, you're not. Call the manager." The manager packed my groceries.

I don't go to a store to work. No one is paying me to do their work. Hire more people says me. Stand up and put an end to this new form of profiteering!
 

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