Supermarket giant asks shoppers to phone up if they are stuck in big queue... but it divides customers
A supermarket has been ridiculed by customers for putting up signs asking customers to make a phone call if they want another checkout opened.
A supermarket has been ridiculed by customers for putting up signs asking customers to make a phone call if they want another checkout opened.
The notice is being displayed in a Morrisons store in Belper, Derbyshire - and asks irate shoppers to phone the managers office if they find themselves in a long queue.
While politely worded, the notice has nevertheless prompted ridicule and anger from locals who feel as though, in the wake of self-service checkouts, they are being shouldered with another aspect of a supermarket workers job.
It comes just weeks after Morrisons chief executive admitted the chain went a bit too far with its deployment of self-checkouts - which are now loathed across the country by shoppers.
Bosses are reviewing the balance between manned and self-checkouts - and has pledged to remove some self-service points from 20 stores where it has decided there are too many.
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The note displayed in Morrisons in Belper beside the checkouts, asking customers to call a phone number if the queue gets too long
The chief executive of Morrisons has admitted the company went a bit too far in rolling out self-service tills
The idea of calling the store manager to ask for more staff on checkouts was ridiculed by customers in a local Facebook group
The note was written by the store manager, named Matt, on paper headed with the Morrisons logo and displayed in a plastic placard on a shelf at the checkouts.
It reads: Dear Customer... We are working hard to improve your queueing experience in our store.
If you are queuing behind the line on the floor, please call me on the below number and we will open another checkout for you.
But shoppers on a community group for the East Midlands town have reacted with disbelief at the suggestion that they should have to police the queues on behalf of store staff.
My phone doesnt get signal in Belper Morrisons so no chance of this happening, one said.
With no checkout staff theres nobody to ring that bell, so customers have to do that also, another added.
They further joked: Theyll ask us to restock the shelves and do the accounts soon.
Another irate shopper asked: Why? Its the managers job to manage!.
This isnt inclusive is it? Some elderly wouldnt even see this never mind have a phone... people who cant read or are blind, advised one local.
Some did feel sorry for the store staff, with one noting the manager was trying his best in the circumstances.
It isnt the managers fault that those above him are giving out the orders of how they want the checkouts to be manned, one woman noted.
It isnt immediately clear whether the policy is applied at other Morrisons stores. MailOnline has contacted the supermarket for further comment.
Some shoppers in Belper, Derbyshire were more supportive of the store doing its best to help shoppers with limited staff
Morrisons has rolled back on the number of self-service checkouts it is placing in some of its stores - a move that has been welcomed by staff and shoppers alike
Morrisons boss Rami Baitiéh (pictured) believes supermarket dependency on self-checkouts may be fuelling a rise in shoplifting
In August, chief executive Rami Baitiéh admitted the chain had gone too far in rolling out self-service tills amidst a backlash against the machines.
They are rued by millions for finding unexpected items in the bagging area and pestering shoppers if they wish to continue after taking a few seconds to fish the next item from their trolley.
Mr Baitiéh told the Telegraph: Morrisons went a bit too far with the self-checkout.
This had the advantage of driving some productivity. However, some shoppers dislike it, mainly when they have a full trolley.
One store in Brough, Yorkshire, stripped out some self-checkouts and replaced them with four manned tills - a change that customers and staff were very satisfied with, he added.
He also suggested the tills were inspiring a rise in shoplifting - echoing remarks by Marks and Spencer chairman Archie Norman, who last year blamed the machines for a rise in middle-class shoplifting by customers fed up with glitchy checkouts.
Mr Norman told LBC last year: Some of it (shoplifting) is by gangs or people stealing to fuel a drugs habit. No doubt thats probably increased a bit, its always been there.
Then you get the sort of middle class... with the reduction of service you get in a lot of shops, a lot of people go in and think, "well this didnt scan or its very difficult to scan these things through and I shop here all the time, its not my fault, Im owed it".
So you see with the self-checkouts... just a bit of that creeping in.
Polling by YouGov earlier this year found that self-checkouts were among the biggest bugbears of Brits, annoying some 27 per cent of customers - with the annoyance rising with age.
Other supermarkets are retreating from the self-checkouts too.
Asda has pledged to spend £30million on boosting staff hours so there are more workers available to man checkouts at peak times.
Booths, the Waitrose of the North, all but disposed of the tills last year after deciding it wanted to focus on making shopping in its stores a more pleasant experience for its customers.
