Sigh, SM Supermarket!

I haven't shopped at SM's Main Supermarket in years! I usually do my bi-weekly grocery shopping at Shopwise. If I feel too lazy to do so, I head to either SM Hypermarket at Tiendesitas or Robinson's Supermarket in Galleria. So when A and I disovered Hacienda Macalauan's Fresh Milk being sold at SM Supermarket last week, we decided to take a second trip over the weekend (yes, to get more milk. We are milk drinkers!).

A got one of their mini blue carts (the small carts that hold their baskets) and off we went to the chillers. And because we were in a hurry, we rushed back to the counters after getting the milk. There were two long lines for the cart counters, so naturally, I looked for a counter with no line. I noticed that the other counters had no people in line, so I took the cart and steered it towards the direction of the nearby counter. As I neared it, a customer assistant guy (the one with the sash) comes up to me and says I can't fall in line there as the counter was only for customers with big carts. I gave him a puzzled look and he points to the sign above the counter that says BIG CART. So I told him I was in a hurry and the counter had no line, and he replies with "Ma'am, bawal po kasi diyan. Dun lang po kayo pwede magbayad (points to the long line at the "express" counters). Kung gusto niyo, kumuha po kayo ng yellow cart sa entrance tapos lipat niyo po pinamili niyo sa malaking pushcart."

Huh?!

I was in a hurry. There was no one in line at that counter, and he wanted me to either get back in line for the counters "for blue carts only" or transfer my stuff to a bigger cart. Yea, whatever. I headed back to the line (I was in no mood to argue). Waited a good 10 minutes for my turn while the other counters for big carts remained empty. When it was my turn at the counter, I asked the cashier if it was true regarding the carts and counters, and she affirmed the "policy".

"Magagalit po kasi yung manager namin pag nakita niyang nakapila ang blue cart sa yellow cart lane."

"E, Miss, wala naman nakapila, ba't hindi pwede? Ang haba ng pila dito sa Express Lane. E diba, Express nga kasi kaunti lang pinamili, di dapat mabilis. Hindi ba yun yung purpose? Buti sana kung mahaba yung pila dun..."

And she interrupts... "yun ang patakaran po kasi dito."

I shrugged. And wonder if my former boss, RK knows this is happening in his stores. He was always for efficiency in operations. And customer service that works. I cannot imagine how you will stay efficient and serve effectively when you tell your customers to wait in line, when they can very well pay at some other counter whose cashier is just standing there waiting for the next customer with the big yellow cart. Besides, I always thought the express counters were created as courtesy lanes for those with small buys. Didn't they put up express counters for those in a hurry? They only had 5 express counters open on that side that day to serve two long, long lines (hence the length).

Sigh...