Get Packing

The charity bag packers. Someone hit on the idea of taking the members of a club or other organisation, who are usually kids or young people, and putting them at the end of each till in your supermarket. These public spirited youngsters will pack your shopping for you, in return for a donation to their charitable cause. On paper, this sounds like a good idea:

Of course, in practise, it's a pain in the arse! Ever the diplomat, I wrote a letter to Asda, complaining about the bag packers, and suggesting some guidelines to make my life easier.

The Manager
Asda
Gosforth Store
Newcastle upon Tyne

16 September 2000

Dear Sir,

I shop in your store on Sunday each week. I have noticed that the store is sometimes used by various charities, who attempt to raise money by packing shopping at the tills. While it is good to see young people getting involved in such fund-raising, I find the arrangements to be a matter of discomfort.

The problem, as I see it, is that I do not go to Asda in order to be pressured, for charity or otherwise. Nor do I have a particular desire for my shopping to be manhandled by a complete stranger. It seems that, despite their best intentions, these fund-raisers are causing both of these effects and I would like to ask you to assert better control in order to avoid them.

You may find my attitude uncharitable. However, I would like to explain my position, which I am sure is shared by a number of other shoppers. I go to Asda with little cash, paying by debit card instead. I pack my shopping (with the assistance of my partner) in my own way so that it packs easily into the car, unpacks easily at the other end and has the least chance of damage in transit. Therefore, when I get to the end of your conveyor belt and find a stranger, brandishing a bucket for my contribution and throwing my shopping into carrier bags with gusto, I am in a difficult position.

Would you like your shoppers to be placed in a position where they have to tell a well-intentioned kid to leave their shopping alone or admit that they have virtually no cash on them? I have found myself in this position more than once. I complained to your in-store customer service desk and was told either to ask the child not to pack the shopping, ask the cashier to make this request on my behalf or choose a till where there is no packer. I do not think that my complaint received a warm response since, on the face of it, it seems an uncharitable attitude to take. Hopefully, I have now explained why this is not the case.

I tried to follow the advice that I received from your customer services. However, it seems that talking to the packer is a recipe for embarrassment. I tried telling one particular packer that I had no money (I honestly had nothing with me) and that they could give my shopping a miss, since there was nothing in it for them. Unfortunately, the spirited individual “helped” me anyway. I tried asking a packer to give my shopping a miss and he looked so dispirited that I ended up throwing what little change I had into his bucket just to make amends – joking that it was the easiest money he would earn that day. I even managed to find a till with no packer and, despite the longer queue, waited patiently for my turn, only to watch in disbelief as a packer arrived at the till just as most of my shopping was on the conveyor.

I am all for charity but I do expect to face the problems I have described when I visit your store. I would like to suggest a way for you both to control the situation and keep the custom of people who share my views.

Limit the number of packers you allow to operate at any one time – perhaps to no greater than two-thirds of the available tills.
Make each packer ask the customer whether they would like their help with packing their shopping.
Ensure that a till, which has no packer at it, remains that way.
Suggest that the collectors wave a bucket outside the store as well – I, for one, would probably throw something in it.

I would appreciate a reply to this letter indicating your views on the situation and any plans you have for reducing the inconvenience that these charity collectors can cause.

Yours faithfully,

Ashley Frieze.

Unusually, I received a reply. The events coordinator of the store was pleasant enough, explaining that they do have rules governing bag packers, a copy of which she enclosed. In general, they are supposed to ask whether you want your shopping packed, they are also supposed to be smartly presented in their club's uniform or its equivalent. There are also supposed to be tills without bag packers.

The frequency of bag packers being present in our local Asda has been nearly 100% recently. I've tried to avoid tills with packers on, finding none on some occasions, having politely to ask packers not to pack, and generally feeling bothered by it. I do not want some spotty kid manhandling my shopping.

Unfortunately, it isn't going to improve. Despite calls for uniform and smartness, they are starting to come in disguise. I thought that the multiply-earringed shell-suited girl at the end of our till could not be with the Army Cadet force and must be with the shopper she was helping... I only realised my error when it was too late.