Wednesday 20 October, 2004
Supermarkets
I hate Finnish supermarkets. I don't want to sound all high and mighty, but seriously, they don't know how to serve customers.
For example, fruit and vegetables: there's this military routine you have to perform - you need to weigh your fruit yourself, and you have to remember a code that you need to enter on the scales to get the little sticker printed out. Now in England, lovely England, the fruit would either be weighed at the till - with no extra bother to the customer, the king, or the weighing system would have a friendly user interface with pictures and absolutely no remembering of codes.
Trollies... what is it with the Finnish obsession of having to put in a coin to get your trolley, and then having to return the trolley to the place that's most convinient for the shop, i.e. next to the entrance, not where it's best for the customer, i.e. next to your car. In England most supermarkets would employ people to move the trollies about to make everything easy to the customer.
At the till... in England the cashier would wait until I've put my stuff on the belt, would check that I'm ready to start packing before starting to put the stuff trough. They would make sure I have all the bags I need, they would ask if I needed help with packing. In Finland, the cashier, as soon as they are capable, start putting the stuff trough so I have to throw my stuff on the belt in a hurry and then rush to pack them, and when the cashier is ready they will demand the payment, no matter what I'm doing (and did I mention that in England they would wait until I'm ready). And then they put the next customer trough immediately.
I know all these things are something that you can live with and something you learn to cope with, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. The point is that the shops here have managed to train their customers so that the customers do the work that's really meant for the shops to do... and worst is that people don't seem to mind.
Posted by kolibri at 20 October 16:00, 2004In my nextdoor-market, a bit bigger than the average sized shop, the cashiers never smile. In fact, some of them don't even greet or try to take eye-contact to customers, and they act like the customers would be there just to make their lives miserable.
What I have heard, in the international hamburger chains like McD, they have made instructions for serving the customer - to get the eyecontact, smile at least once and be polite - and I must say, that is something I'm missing in the normal Finnish grocery stores.
But if not anything else, at least I get on a good mood every time I visit the shop - I smile like a madman, try to take the eye contact, greet the cashiers cheerfully and say all these: "Hi!", "Here you go!", "Thank you!", "You're welcome!" and "Bye!".
While pretending to be nice, happy and polite, I usually end up smiling cheerfully for the rest of the day :)
# 2 - Ursa Major (on October 20, 2004 06:37 PM):
> ... and worst is that people don't seem to mind.
I didn't know the cashers may be so nice you described! (But I'm not ready to move abroad in hope of getting better service.)
# 3 - Gareth Lewin (on October 20, 2004 09:41 PM):
In Vancouver we have coin trollies, sorry :)
# 4 - kolibri (on October 20, 2004 11:41 PM):
Damn! I was hoping for the promised land ;)
# 5 - rannva (on October 21, 2004 08:55 AM):
No more worries about cranky cash register people once you move this way. Yeah, they might have bad days here as well, but they always pack your grocery bags with such speed that you barely remember what you really purchased.
First when I moved here I felt very uncomfortable watching some stranger handling all my 'personal' stuff. Now I am used to it.
When I was back home a while back it took a second before I realized that I would pack my own grocery bag, and even pay for it!
Ah, these small worries of daily life...
But in any case, welcome to the "Wild West". Feel free and welcome to drop me a line. I know both of you will do well. It will take a while to adjust, but you'll have fun.
All the best!
# 6 - J-Ko (on October 21, 2004 01:32 PM):
It's all in the name of efficiency. Politeness is for the weak. :)
For me shopping in Finland has a number of advantages. There are no sales clerks that attack me and force themselves at me when I just want to browse alone. The queues are usually quite short here, especially compared to Britain or, god forbid, Sweden. Also, the fruits and vegetables are fresh even in the smallest shops, even if I have to admit that it is nice if someone else will weight them. Also, I like the fact that even the smallest neigbourhood food shops actually stock all kind of fooditems, and not just fruits and candy like they do in for example France, Italy and even in Denmark.
And cashiers... If they are rude, then I know that they are honest. The worst thing is the fake enthusiasm. That makes me angry every single time.
# 7 - rannva (on October 22, 2004 06:48 AM):
Well I happen to live in a state (California) where fresh fruit and vegetables are abundant year around (and often organically grown), and I must say I have become spoiled regarding fresh produce. I shop at a local store where people know me, so the "fake factor" no longer is an issue. They know me and my husband, and it actually feels nice to have a sort of local connection with them at the store even if I live in such a large city. Even in other stores around where I live I very seldom get bothered by clerks asking me if I need help. And really, if they ask me I always smile politely (no matter how annoyed I am) and tell them I will come back if I need help. I do agree that all this "spiel" is different from Finnish tradition, and it has taken me a long time to get used to it -- and that is what it is: different.
Things I do miss about Finnish supermarket are:
1. The selection of bread - oh-my-God do I miss Ruispalat! And that carrot-rye blend bread! (I am literally drooling as I type this!)
2. Karjalan piirakat
3. Oltermanni cheese
4. Lactose free products
5. Good quality plastic bags (indeed they cost a bit in Finland, but darn it they are good!)
6. Oh, and the candy section of course...
I say "When in Rome..."
# 8 - kolibri (on October 22, 2004 02:16 PM):
I'm with you rannva, on both issues :) I think politeness is something you learn to love, and only then the lack of it shocks.
And when I'm in Finland, the only bread I eat is rye bread, for breakfast, with lunch, for a snack... I have learned to live without it all year long, but when I get here... Mmm... I think I'll go and eat some right now :)
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