I HATE MY CASH REGISTER AND GAS PUMPS!

[Loon-A-TiK]

at my gas station, we have these high tech cash registers that are touch screen, and not only talk to you and tell you the change to give the person, but also show you on the screen what change to give them. no problem there, even though it assumes a 3rd grade math level.

anyway, this thing is so confusing. first we have these discount cards that you have to use outside at the pump to preauthorize the pump for it to work for you so you can pay inside when you're done, and this totally trips people out. then they have the option to use their discount or not, and that is too difficult as well. then they can use a credit card outside or pay inside...way too many choices, and they have to read to know what bottons to push. very complex!

enter me, poor gas station clerk. i have to deal with the mess all this creates at the pumps. every other second i'm getting a call for help and have to go outside (in the fucking cold) to help morons use the pumps. usually it is just a matter of being patient and waiting for the thing to authorize. but people need it NOW. then they give me 5 payment methods, and don't know how much was left on their gift card, and btw, they'd like to NOW use their fuel discount that they never told me they had, AFTER i've already rung up their order. no way to go back on a fuel purchase! then they get mad and want to call corporate. fine by me. i just work there.

so figuring out how to use these 5 different payment methods is a job and a half in itself. all these buttons on the register are confusing. what order do i press what in? when do i scan their card and make sure they get their discount? how do i jump from cash, to gift card, to credit? and then people want cigars and cigarettes, and since i don't smoke i know nothing about menthol ultra light 100s in a box, so i'm wandering around looking for all the cigarettes that are right in front of my face.

in short, it is very frustrating!

this is just a rant! thanks for listening!

btw- i feel like a complete idiot dealing with that register. i've figured out how to go back on fuel transactions by doing a fake transaction after the fact, but only with cash.

BUT- i know how to use the pumps! i bought gas at our store as a customer last week and used the pump just to see how difficult it is. a child could do it. i don't understand some people's malfunction. but they may not understand my register malfunctions..

[Dee]

It actually sounds like you're getting the hang of it, compared to when you first started, and those impatient fuckers can just wait their turn.

You're doing fine. You can't learn everything overnight and I'm sure your boss doesn't expect that.

[abifae]

americans cannot read. just in general. i run into this all the time at work. they can't pronounce words (asiago becomes asagio and agasio and things without any s or g lol) and they can't read well enough to pick a side choice (even with the list "apple, potato chips, french baguette, whole grain baguette) so we now have pictures and they squint and ask what a baguette is lol. (what's a bag... bag... that thing.... or my favorite "what's french bread?")

your job is simply proving the same thing.

yea for american public school systems. it's where i learned capitalisation

abi

[Loon-A-TiK]

thanks guys!

yeah, little by little the register is becoming more second nature and automatic for me. i even know the prices of things, with tax, so i can tell people without scanning the item how much it will be with tax, especially the cigarettes. i don't smoke, so learning those was tough.

the problem i have with the register is that you can't undo a fuel purchase. sometimes, you may have to do that, just like you have to undo a purchase of a bag of chips. but it won't let you. you hav to get creative with fake transactions to equal out your drawer after that. and i've never had it happen with a credit card, only with cash so far, so at least i haven't screwed up THAT badly, and my drawer balanced. good grief!

the gas pumps make me mad because after you scan your discount card, it comes up with a screen saying "authorizing, please wait". this screen can stay there for a couple of minutes until it authorizes. that is normal for those pumps. but people don't get it so they call me out, or start hitting all these buttons and screwing everything up. and i can't undo fuel purchases, so if they already used their card and prepaid, and hung up the pump (like you have to do usuallly to fix the situation), then they've lost the discount on their card. they do it to themselves by not waiting, but they get mad at ME. hey, i just work there, i'm not the one who designed the pumps or came up with the rules for their use!