Self-checkout is a simple idea, or it’s supposed to be at least.

What would you do if a customer came through self-checkout with a full cart, watched you hustle between six registers helping people nonstop, and still complained you didn’t cater to them like a personal cashier? Would you explain self-checkouts to them? Or would you stand there stunned by the complete lack of self-awareness?

In the following story, one grocery store employee finds themselves dealing with this exact type of customer. Here’s how they handled it.

The concept of “self” checkout just doesn’t click with some people

We have three sets of self-checkouts at our store: the slow, the busy, and the dead. I was supervising the busy set (and they were busy that night) when a guy wheeled up a massive cart full of groceries.

I took a second to greet him and scan his case of water and bag of dog food so he wouldn’t have to lift them, then went back to driving myself crazy trying to babysit six machines.

The guy was there for maybe 5-10 minutes scanning and bagging, and a couple of times I helped him by having him put some of the bagged groceries in the cart and clearing the weight difference when he ran out of room in the bagging area.

The man was not happy with the service.

When he finally finished scanning and paying, he looked at me, scowled, and said, “Thanks so much for all your help.”

I just stood there in silence.

Then, as he walks away, he’s muttering, “Just standing there while I do all the work…”

Ironically, full-service lanes were an option, but he didn’t choose one.

Like… my dude… Did you see me running from customer to customer trying to help 6 people at once? I’m running 6 registers right now, I don’t have time to hold your hand like in a regular checkout lane.

If you want someone to hold your hand, there’s a checkout lane 5 feet to the left of here, where we will literally do everything for you. Someone will even unload your cart onto the belt and take it to your car for you.

You came to self-checkout.

Wow! People like this think the world revolves around them.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit have to say about him.

Here’s someone who deals with pushy customers.

This person relates in a different way.

For this reader, using self-checkout with a full cart is a no-go.

Yet another person who won’t go through self-checkout with a full cart.

People can be so self-centered. It’s ridiculous to think that you get full service through a self-checkout. But maybe he just doesn’t understand how it all works.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.