You know what really grinds my gears?

[Blzer]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

Amen to that. There are a few places that make an effort to maximize efficiency but those places are few and far between.

I was trying to look it up on Reddit, and apparently they (Six Flags Magic Mountain) used to do it, but they set a memorandum to no longer do it. Maybe they don't have the staffing on-hand or perhaps it was somehow being abused, but since this was the first time I went myself I was very aware of it all the same.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

I was trying to look it up on Reddit, and apparently they (Six Flags Magic Mountain) used to do it, but they set a memorandum to no longer do it. Maybe they don't have the staffing on-hand or perhaps it was somehow being abused, but since this was the first time I went myself I was very aware of it all the same.

Yeah, I haven't been to Six Flags in a minute, but they were, at one time, one of those few I was talking about.

[slickdtc]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

I don’t know why I even have a widget on my phone to show my AirPods charge level. It’s never accurate or updated.

I love them, but for being a major product by a huge company, there are some serious flaws. Audio will get static/garbled, the battery level sync being off, I sometimes get music audio overlapping calls, and sometimes they simply won’t connect as they should often enough to where it’s just ****ing annoying.

Here’s the part where I admit I’ve had 3 different pairs (all different generations) over the last 6.5 years. I ended up going back a generation that I had skipped originally because the newest ones I had gave me the most issues and were the least comfortable. These things are supposed to be pretty solid but I’m about ready to jump ship to something else. I don’t use any of the special Apple features anyway so having that extra connection doesn’t really matter to me if I end up going third party.

[Majingir]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

Not so much a "Christmas crazy" more like someone who is just stupid.

Was in line paying for groceries (I hate stores that don't have self checkouts and I get stuck waiting in line for 5 minutes when I might have only a few items because even the express line is packed) and the cashier kept telling the person behind me that after I check out that they're closed (I imagine likely just because they're going for their lunch break).

The guy didn't care. He kept unloading his groceries and kept being told he's not going to be cashed out at this register and to move to another one. Don't know what happened next but I saw them calling someone and I left.

On one hand, it would suck waiting so long just to be told "this cash register is closed", but also, perhaps another issue was also that someone was supposed to relieve this cashier when they're going on break and nobody was around to do so?

Either way, this reinforces my thought that stores need self checkouts more. I get people steal from the checkouts, but the time and money this saves them is likely more than the money lost from theft. And just have 1 person overseeing 4 self checkouts at a time. Not like a store needs 8 cash registers when only 3 or 4 are open at a time anyways. Only reason I see self checkouts not working besides the possible theft issues is the fact that people truly are that stupid. People who don't know how to use self checkouts would still try using it then not know what to do and just take up a spot for the next 10 minutes.

[Master Live 013]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

I used to be meh on self-checkouts since I just saw it as them shifting the responsibility to us, but now I don't mind it. Only thing is when the location of the barcode isn't obvious or visible and I'm left standing like an idiot looking for it or asking the overseer for help :P

[dubcity]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

Making the switch to self-checkout has really fed the part of me that hates interacting with strangers, so I'm not sure if it's been a net positive for me overall as a person, but I definitely don't miss the stuff that can go wrong waiting in line and dealing with other people in general.

I feel like most places I go to haven't actually subtracted employees, they've just rotated them around. So instead of 3 people working registers, there's 2 at registers and 1 watching self checkout. You 100% still need the human to assist and oversee everything.

This future where everything is 100% automated may or may not be coming, but I think people overestimate how quickly it will take hold. People still do incredibly dumb things. The instructions on the microwavable dinner you buy at the grocery store still reminds people to remove the cardboard before heating, so we have a ways to go.

Maybe when Gen Z are retirement age there will be enough people OK with having zero assistence/attention from other people in most situations. Social media will have conditioned them to not care, maybe.

[l3ulvl]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

people who don't look before they move


all you have to do is look


I'm at the point where I'm learning body momentum habits to know this person is about to haphazardly walk into my path (and as I stop in anticipation of this person, I make sure to look and make sure I'm not blocking anyone else)



just look before you move, it's so simple

[Majingir]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

I used to be meh on self-checkouts since I just saw it as them shifting the responsibility to us, but now I don't mind it. Only thing is when the location of the barcode isn't obvious or visible and I'm left standing like an idiot looking for it or asking the overseer for help :P

If the barcode isn't obvious then it does suck for that reason, but I also hate how little space you have to put things anywhere. You don't have room on that small table to put everything you scanned but also don't want to put the item back in your cart in case you accidentally scan it twice.

Making the switch to self-checkout has really fed the part of me that hates interacting with strangers, so I'm not sure if it's been a net positive for me overall as a person, but I definitely don't miss the stuff that can go wrong waiting in line and dealing with other people in general.

I feel like most places I go to haven't actually subtracted employees, they've just rotated them around. So instead of 3 people working registers, there's 2 at registers and 1 watching self checkout. You 100% still need the human to assist and oversee everything.

This future where everything is 100% automated may or may not be coming, but I think people overestimate how quickly it will take hold. People still do incredibly dumb things. The instructions on the microwavable dinner you buy at the grocery store still reminds people to remove the cardboard before heating, so we have a ways to go.

I always say/think this when reading instructions for literally anything, it's there for a reason. You buy something in a plastic bag and the bag tells you "take (food item) out of bag before microwaving, it's only there because someone stupid (or smart...) microwaved it straight in the plastic bag and probably sued the company because step 1 originally said "place in microwave on high for __ minutes".

Similar with something like frozen pizza. Some of them have a cardboard under the pizza and they have to explicitly tell you that the cardboard isn't a pizza tray or anything and you NEED to take the cardboard out of the pack before putting the pizza on the oven.

Similarly, I find it funny how every microwave popcorn bag tells you to NOT put the popcorn bag in the microwave under the popcorn setting. Why do those things even exist when nobody is supposed to use the preset settings on a microwave? I get the power/time changes depending on which setting you choose, but the settings aren't actually recommended for the very item it claims its for.

On the note of "job loss" due to self checkouts. That's absolutely a cop out by stores to not use it. "We're doing our employees a favour by not having self checkouts replace them". No...you're just giving them more work because your workforce doesn't get impacted by the self checkouts, it just frees up people to be utilized in more areas. Companies just don't want to pay because in their mind, they just look small picture and see "we are spending $5000+ (or whatever the actual cost is) per self checkout machine to install" but don't realize money spent now more than pays for the machine in the long run.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

people who don't look before they move


all you have to do is look


I'm at the point where I'm learning body momentum habits to know this person is about to haphazardly walk into my path (and as I stop in anticipation of this person, I make sure to look and make sure I'm not blocking anyone else)



just look before you move, it's so simple

I used to never bump into others like that, but since my vision went down hill, ithappens to me too frequently now. I wear glasses most of the time but occasionally I let my eyes "breathe" , and when quiet people silently get close, I wind up bumping uglies. Hmm... maybe that isnt quite the term I'm looking for lol.

[Majingir]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

Walmart's getting shadier

They're claiming so many items are "grocery items" so that you have to pay to get it delivered even though they have the "don't pay for delivery if you order over X amount" which doesn't apply to grocery items.

I was buying a ps5 controller since its over 20% off right now and to get it delivered I have to pay since its a grocery order? Never knew you could buy video game controllers from the grocery department?

Now I'm forced to opt for the pickup option, drive down to the 2nd closest store to where I live since the closest is out of stock and pick up the item at a specific time ("grocery" order so it requires a specific pickup timeslot) on a weekend at a busy store (moreso concerned about the parking lot) less than 2 weeks before Christmas.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

Walmart's getting shadier

They're claiming so many items are "grocery items" so that you have to pay to get it delivered even though they have the "don't pay for delivery if you order over X amount" which doesn't apply to grocery items.

I was buying a ps5 controller since its over 20% off right now and to get it delivered I have to pay since its a grocery order? Never knew you could buy video game controllers from the grocery department?

Now I'm forced to opt for the pickup option, drive down to the 2nd closest store to where I live since the closest is out of stock and pick up the item at a specific time ("grocery" order so it requires a specific pickup timeslot) on a weekend at a busy store (moreso concerned about the parking lot) less than 2 weeks before Christmas.

That doesn't make sense, definitely shady. Walmart might want to start putting ''do not eat'' labels on their game controllers, like you see on those little silicon (silicone?) packets that fight moisture. It'd be a damn shame if somebody sued Walmart for not putting ''do not eat'' labels on their non-grocery groceries, after trying to eat a game controller lol.

[Majingir]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

That doesn't make sense, definitely shady. Walmart might want to start putting ''do not eat'' labels on their game controllers, like you see on those little silicon (silicone?) packets that fight moisture. It'd be a damn shame if somebody sued Walmart for not putting ''do not eat'' labels on their non-grocery groceries, after trying to eat a game controller lol.

To top it off, the sale ended last night.

So today the store closest to me suddenly got the controller back in stock AND the controller is no longer listed as a grocery item.

So they intentionally made people pay for shipping when its on sale, now that it's back to full price it's free shipping again and in stock.

How do companies keep getting away with this stuff?

I think I mentioned it before how I was gonna order something on Amazon, but it was out of stock/on backorder so I didn't bother. Next day it's suddenly fully back in stock and the price went up.

[LowerWolf]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

It's been about 10 years ago now, but I once ordered something from Amazon that cost like $10. After a week, Amazon canceled the order claiming it was out of stock. The very next day, Amazon had it back in stock but for $20.

I emailed to complain and the rep told me to order the item for $20 and he'd refund me the $10 difference from the original order. So I did and he did. So I ended up getting the item for $10, which was the original order.

A few days later, I received it and decided it wasn't what I wanted, so I returned it. Amazon refunded me $20. Trying to do the right thing, I contacted them to say I should have only been refunded $10. The rep apologized and said he'd take care of it. A few days later, I got another $10 refund.

So Amazon ended up giving me $20. Karma for canceling the order to begin with.

[Majingir]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

It's been about 10 years ago now, but I once ordered something from Amazon that cost like $10. After a week, Amazon canceled the order claiming it was out of stock. The very next day, Amazon had it back in stock but for $20.



I emailed to complain and the rep told me to order the item for $20 and he'd refund me the $10 difference from the original order. So I did and he did. So I ended up getting the item for $10, which was the original order.



A few days later, I received it and decided it wasn't what I wanted, so I returned it. Amazon refunded me $20. Trying to do the right thing, I contacted them to say I should have only been refunded $10. The rep apologized and said he'd take care of it. A few days later, I got another $10 refund.



So Amazon ended up giving me $20. Karma for canceling the order to begin with.

Not the same thing, but I once got about $200 back on an item I paid $100 for.

I bought it at full price knowing it was gonna drop during boxing day sales. At the time they honoured boxing day price matching since its from their own site they're matching (and makes no sense to not do so given I could easily just return this item and rebuy it right away at the sale price).

So they price matched it and gave me $100 back.

Eventually the item was on recall, and when filling out the recall info you had to provide them with your receipt, which I did. The receipt was from the original order, not the price matched one, so they refunded me the full order price of $200 (in store credit) instead of the $100 it should've been.

Funny thing, it took me until last week to actually order anything from that place and use up the gift card, but at least the gift card helped.

[SmashMan]

Re: You know what really grinds my gears?

It's been about 10 years ago now, but I once ordered something from Amazon that cost like $10. After a week, Amazon canceled the order claiming it was out of stock. The very next day, Amazon had it back in stock but for $20.

I emailed to complain and the rep told me to order the item for $20 and he'd refund me the $10 difference from the original order. So I did and he did. So I ended up getting the item for $10, which was the original order.

A few days later, I received it and decided it wasn't what I wanted, so I returned it. Amazon refunded me $20. Trying to do the right thing, I contacted them to say I should have only been refunded $10. The rep apologized and said he'd take care of it. A few days later, I got another $10 refund.

So Amazon ended up giving me $20. Karma for canceling the order to begin with.

You and Amazon:

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