Argentine supermarkets - again!

There are 31 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 6,148 times. The latest Post () was by UK Man.

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    I simply don't understand Argentine supermarkets at all and find every single trip to any of them to be nauseating and something I dread. Even worse when you're with your other half and she can see that you're irritable, or worse. Frankly I'm surprised I haven't killed someone yet.

    Today at Carrefour Olivos, which was packed, two fucking tills out of eight were working and staff were lolling around seemingly enjoying the spectacle of 50 odd customers queuing up.

    I asked one employee who had opened a till especially for a woman with a pram, but she said I couldn't join the till because she had opened it specially for the woman and promptly closed the fucker, turning on her heels.

    Don't get me wrong, all very polite, because Argentines are the most polite people I've ever met. Especially when they're screwing you up the ass.

    But seriously, why can't they move with the times and realise that customer service is a good thing. They simply don't care and that's what pisses me off.

    Que vamos a hacer? or es lo que hay is all I hear.

    Bollocks!

    I agree with your observations. But this misattention to the clients is also done at the Banks. If you need cash and do not have the possibility to get this from the ATM, you need to wait much time.

    Normally a bank has three counters for attention. But there is only one person behind one of them. After some transaction it seems that the employee must do his/her yoga exercises, because the next is called by a electronic sign after no less than 10 minutes.

    Banks were always greedy, but now it seems thay their greed prevents them to hire more employees.

    When I was in the USA, all counters were filled with persons, so you never had to make a queue.

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    I hate going to banks because the 'smart' ATMs are a nightmare. I still cannot understand why some ATMs are for customers, for deposit, for withdrawals only. I do not understand why when I have to pay my building's expenses I have to use specifically one ATM (of the 3-4 available in the bank). When I follow the steps on the wrong ATM, it says there is no customer with such account number, but if the ATM is the right kind (???) it magically works.


    And you can't use mobile phones inside the bank and you can't wear sunglasses. What are they afraid there might be under a pair of sunglasses? I have to switch glasses (I wear prescription sunglasses, as well) and the act of reaching into my bag while stepping inside of the branch looks very suspicious to the security guard. So I have to make a mental note to switch glasses before entering the bank.


    Too many complications for everyday's life.


    Supermarkets seems in the business of keeping people in line. But at least you can play with your mobile phone while in line.

    I believe people do their part, as well. We spend 20 minutes in line, and then after the clerk has scanned all your stuff you bag it and only then look for your wallet/purse?!


    I am genuinely envious of the peaceful state of mind of Argentinians. It looks like nothing can bother them. I suppose Indians are the same. I am watching bollywood movies on Netflix and I can see some parallels.

    People arguing and the next minute not minimally upset, people trying to screw the other, but if you are a friend they will promise the impossible.

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    This business of not being allowed to use phones in banks and many other places is utterly ridiculous. I've had the misfortune to visit AYSA (water company) far too frequently recently and on one particular occasion I was already pissed off with them for being such fucking thieves, waiting for my number to be called for 'customer service Nazi style' and was playing with my phone. Well, the security guard didn't like that at all, tapped me on the shoulder and told me to put the phone away. I quickly turned around and told him NOT to fucking touch me and to fuck off and leave me alone.

    I carried on checking the news on my phone as I have every right to do.

    Fuck em.

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    Quote from Carlos

    I agree with your observations. But this misattention to the clients is also done at the Banks. If you need cash and do not have the possibility to get this from the ATM, you need to wait much time.

    Normally a bank has three counters for attention. But there is only one person behind one of them. After some transaction it seems that the employee must do his/her yoga exercises, because the next is called by a electronic sign after no less than 10 minutes.

    Banks were always greedy, but now it seems thay their greed prevents them to hire more employees.

    When I was in the USA, all counters were filled with persons, so you never had to make a queue.

    I rest my case. The very idea of customer service in this country is anathema to them. They simply herd people around like cattle who in turn wait till their number is called - if ever.

    Sometimes I tried to protest in a furious way, but the people said "Quedese tranquilo, señor, no se enoje" (be at peace, do not get upset). The same people which was mistreated by the Bank.

    No one defended me. I would like to be strong as I was when I was 20 years old. Violence when you are senior people looks ridiculous, bit not when you are young.

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    Quote from Splinter

    You can't use your phone or take pictures on the shuttle bus? What the fuck?
    I sincerely hope you ignored that inane rule for rules' sake.


    Today we went to a kiosk with a pagofacil and locutorio on the back. There were many signs forbidding to use the phone. AND they charged 2 pesos if you went in to pay bills only. WTF? you have to pay to pay?!



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    I recommend you to pay the services and taxes bills through Internet. You need to inscribe your payments by Internet using the e-banking service.

    It is much more easy and you can do it from your home. Also the Bank advises which bills are to be payed, and the deadline.

    Pago Facil is another bluff. Must be called "pago dificil"

    On the other hand, once in a while they’ll shock you. Just got back to our home in BsAs Saturday and realized that Semana Santa was looming. Damn! Won’t even be able to get food for most of the week, right?


    Wrong! Asked at Disco how many days they’ll be open and they said “all of them!”


    As Jane Ace once said, “You could have knocked me over with a fender.”

    Well, that is right. But the US is a quintaessential non-theocratic state. We copied your constitution in almost in all parts.

    But there are some fundamentalists, as there are in all places in the world, including Argentina.

    This morning I went to buy some milk at the local Coto which I had already marked down as the worst supermarket within a radius of approximately 10,000 square miles, so you can imagine how much my loins were girded on entering.

    Having bought the necessary products, I wasn't surprised to join a queue of six other souls with only one till open out of eight possibles. The others had trolleys strategically placed to ward us off in case we had the gall to approach them. This is a familiar sight and I knew damn well that the staff couldn't give a toss anyway.

    Well I could give a toss, so I approached a couple of staff members who were counting money at a closed till, explained the dilemma and they both looked at me with expressions on their faces which could only be described as, "As if we could give a fuck."

    I then shifted up a gear, notched up the volume a tad and asked why the service in this establishment always had to be this bad, but before they could answer, because let's face it, the question was rhetorical, I asked for the manager.

    They didn't know where the manager was so I raised the volume up another tad and instructed them to open another till because it was early in the morning and we all had better things to do than queue up whilst their employees stood around yawning.

    With the velocity of a snail, one of the employees shambled over to a closed till and without uttering a single word, ushered us over without even a hint of apology or explanation.

    I don't expect those anymore, anyway.

    It's the very same outlet that on one occasion I had bought some cheese (imported, Cracker Barrel) but the bar code scanner didn't recognise it, so it was rejected from the system. The girl at the till beckoned the supervisor over, who inspected the Cracker Barrel, turning it over in her chubby little hands as if it were exotic material, or perhaps even radioactive.

    Then, talking of snails, she ambled all the way to the far end of the supermarket which I would estimate to be around 200 yards away, and bearing in mind that said supervisor could perhaps consider a course at weight watchers, the return journey must have taken at least ten minutes. Meanwhile, the line behind me was growing with angry and tutting customers by the minute, making me feel somewhat uncomfortable for wanting to buy the damn cheese in the first place.

    When she finally returned, by which time I was on first name terms with at least thirty other customers, she announced, "You can't buy this cheese, sir."

    When I asked her why, she told me that it hadn't yet been 'put on the system'.

    "So put it on the system then," I said, helpfully.

    "It's not as simple as that," she replied, by which time she had mauled and moulded the Cracker Barrel into an unrecognisable shape that certainly didn't resemble a barrel, but I digress.

    I wasn't about to give up so I suggested that I pay for everything except the cheese, let the other customers relax a little and that we move to a neutral area, to which she agreed.

    I then suggested a token payment at a fair market price, I'd leave my name and address and if there was any shortfall on either side, we could make up the difference the following day. I mean, we're not talking about an issue of national security here are we?

    But no, my words fell on stony ground and I left the establishment vowing to return with a handpicked group of stormtroopers during the night and secure every ounce of Cracker Barrel we could find.

    I could go on...

    Read this aloud to my husband because he does especially love this particular genre of your considerable writing skills. He was laughing out loud well before I reached Cracker Barrel Revisited, which damned near choked him.