Do you put the shopping carts back in the corral?

[The Walrus]

Made a comment on a relative's Facebook post about (in general) lazy bastards leaving their shopping carts in the lot instead of walking them over to the corral. If you can drag it through the store, weigh it down with products, bring it back out to your car... you can push the empty cart a few extra feet. Yes, you are a lazy bastard if you don't do that, and you should admit it. Well, a friend of said relative admitted she is too lazy to put them up, but was apparently deeply offended by my comment...

So, fess up. Do you do the right thing, or do you leave carts out to roll around and damage people's cars? 

[Adami]

We had a similar conversation here at some point. It was surprisingly divided. Several people were pretty adamant that they do NOT have any reason to put the cart back.


Personally, I always do.

[T-ski]

yes.

Having worked retail for many years, the annoyance of misplaced product of any kind is a pain in the ass.

put the cart where it belongs.

[cramx3]

We had a similar conversation here at some point. It was surprisingly divided. Several people were pretty adamant that they do NOT have any reason to put the cart back.


Personally, I always do.

Yea, we've had this debate before and I was also surprised people don't return the carts.  I always do because I hate when I pull into a spot and then have to pull out cause I realize some inconsiderate person didn't return the cart to the corral. 

Now, I return to the corral in the parking lot but I don't return them to the pick up spot near the store entrance.

[TAC]

We did just have this conversation recently.

[The Walrus]

Sorry everyone, didn't realize this was a recent thing, thought it was something that wouldn't come up much. 

I work in the family business of auto repair and we get a number of jobs in from people damaged in parking lots, usually close to half from shopping carts and the rest from somehow hitting the light poles or wind catching the doors. Put your carts back for the sake of others, even minor damage isn't cheap to fix.

[Podaar]

I always put them back. I also put away carts that others leave around. I wouldn't want anything accidentally wiping the semen off my car.

Kattelox, I think the old conversation is buried in the "pissed off" thread.

[PowerSlave]

I wouldn't want anything accidentally wiping the semen off my car.

[JayOctavarium]

I do. Most of the time.

[gmillerdrake]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

[ReaperKK]

I always do, it's rude not to, plus a few extra steps won't kill me.

[The Walrus]

I always put them back. I also put away carts that others leave around. I wouldn't want anything accidentally wiping the semen off my car.

What on Earth 

[mikeyd23]

I always do, don't know why I wouldn't.

[Podaar]

I always put them back. I also put away carts that others leave around. I wouldn't want anything accidentally wiping the semen off my car.

What on Earth 

Sorry, it's an inside joke aimed at TAC. 

[El Barto]

I almost never use carts. On the rare occasion that I do I park right next to a corral. If I'm walking to the store and there's a stray about I'll usually either knock it over so it can't roll or prop the front wheels up on a curb. Somebody other than me gets paid to deal with that.

And I believe "recently" is way back towards the beginning of my pissed off thread.

[Logain Ablar]

I always do. Though, I didn't know that their home place was called a "corral". (Over here we call them "trolleys" and they live in a "trolley park")

I've learned something new today.

DTF: A place of education..

[TAC]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

No it isn't.

[Podaar]

DTF: A place of education..

And frequently not the education you were expecting.

[bosk1]

So, fess up. Do you do the right thing, or do you leave carts out to roll around and damage people's cars?

Wrong question. 

[King Postwhore]

Return it or I will destroy you all.

Recently I had a guy hit my parked car with his truck, back out and park in another spot.  He went into the store with 2 other buddies and was never going to tell me about the damage and lucky for me 3 by standards saw and stayed to tell me.  He walked right by me going to his truck like he didn't know anything and I yelled out to him the police were on the way.


$3700.00 of damage and of course he had no insurance.

[Skeever]

Return it or I will destroy you all.

Recently I had a guy hit my parked car with his truck, back out and park in another spot.  He went into the store with 2 other buddies and was never going to tell me about the damage and lucky for me 3 by standards saw and stayed to tell me.  He walked right by me going to his truck like he didn't know anything and I yelled out to him the police were on the way.


$3700.00 of damage and of course he had no insurance.

It's always some dbag who thinks he needs to have a huge pickup that he doesn't actually need or know how to drive.

[Ben_Jamin]

I always return the cart. Unless I'm in a hurry, I will prop it up beside the curb or put it sideways from gravity doing its job and causing it to roll, in the middle of the parking spaces on the yellow/white line.

[mikeyd23]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

No it isn't.

It kinda seems like it is though.

[El Barto]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

No it isn't.

First off, as a person with grocery store management experience this is an opinion that carries more weight than our own.

Secondly, I think you need to elaborate on that. As I recall, the last time this came up you found my "it's somebody else's job" argument less than compelling.

[The Walrus]

TAC is the person who doesn't flush the toilet in a public restroom.   

[Podaar]

Come on, now. Let's go a bit easy on TAC. As a valued member of this community, he's earned our respect. Just his life-hack alone -- not needing to wash your car because, you know, rain -- has proven to be remarkably unvaluable.

[King Postwhore]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

No it isn't.

First off, as a person with grocery store management experience this is an opinion that carries more weight than our own.

Secondly, I think you need to elaborate on that. As I recall, the last time this came up you found my "it's somebody else's job" argument less than compelling.

TAC looks as it as a service that a grocery store should supply.  The problem is, it's never managed correctly and carts are left all over the place that can damage cars.  So the decent thing to do is to walk a few feet and put the cart in the corral.

[cramx3]

Always. It's pretty rude not to

No it isn't.

First off, as a person with grocery store management experience this is an opinion that carries more weight than our own.

Secondly, I think you need to elaborate on that. As I recall, the last time this came up you found my "it's somebody else's job" argument less than compelling.

TAC looks as it as a service that a grocery store should supply.  The problem is, it's never managed correctly and carts are left all over the place that can damage cars.  So the decent thing to do is to walk a few feet and put the cart in the corral.

Then what's the point of the corrals if not for people to return the carts to them?  The guy who roams the lots job is to bring them back to the front of the store I thought.

[King Postwhore]

I'm not saying he's right!

[Grappler]

Then what's the point of the corrals if not for people to return the carts to them?  The guy who roams the lots job is to bring them back to the front of the store I thought.

"The guy who roams the lots" has many other job duties in addition to collecting carts.  I worked at a grocery store in high school, starting out as a grocery bagger.  We were assigned one hour shifts to be on cart duty in the lots to collect and bring them up.  This was before stores had the nice, motorized units that do the pushing for them.   

If it's busy, they may get called back inside to bag groceries, so they're not always going to be roaming the lots, looking for carts to bring up.  So people should do the right thing, and put their cart in the corral, so it's not blowing around in the wind hitting cars until someone has a chance to grab it. 

[King Postwhore]

Or management need to staff better.

[TAC]

I'm not saying he's right!

[TAC]

So I've spent my entire adult life working for a major supermarket chain. I became a Front End Manager, an Assistant Store Manager, and became a Store Manager for 16 years. I stepped down to a Grocery Department Manager 4 years ago to accommodate some home issues. Not that my opinion matters more than anyone elses, but I just thought I'd mention that. I have taken dozens of carriage damage claims over the years. What funny is that like 75% of them the customer says, "I just got the car this week."


Anyway what I would also tell you about my self is that I am not a rude person by any stretch. I am more than friendly and polite. I may tailgate you if you are driving too slow in the passing lane, but am more than happy to let people in if they are trying to come out of a tough side street.
I am also a reluctant tipper. Because someone takes my order and retrieves my food, I now have to inflate my bill by 10-20%? Fuck that.

Likewise, I also don't feel like I should have to return my carriage when I go grocery shopping. I can't remember when corrals started popping up, but why would I do the store's work? What's next? Bag my own groceries? They already have me sucked in on that. First hours to be cut? Bagging Hours. Which coincidentally are the same people that collect carriages. Next thing you know, I'll be scanning my own order. Oh that's right. Self Checkout, where maybe there might be a monitor to help on up to 6 registers. Follow me?
And this has nothing to do with my work experience. This is common sense. I am not a "stick it to the man" kind of guy, but I also don't like places where I spend my money to expect me to do what I am paying them to do. Does that make sense?

These corrals weren't erected for the greater good of mankind. They were erected to (sorry to pull a Stadler) 1) save labor costs, and 2) save on damage claims. That's it. But the stores have to be psyched because what has happened over time is that it is now accepted practice to return these carts. God forbid you don't and you'd be considered "rude" or "inconsiderate". Yeah, times change and accepted public norms change with it, but the last thing I need is some "do gooder" telling me that it is my duty to return my cart.

[King Postwhore]

Tim, funny you're talking about claims, here I am at a grocery store and I see a kid shagging carriages and now they have them push it from the opposite side. so this kid has to hunch over to push these 10 carts.

At some point the first carriage got loose and hit cars so instead of using the straps that they had in the early 2000's, then I'll push the cards backwards not caring about these young kids backs. All in a sake of money.

[TAC]

Tim, funny you're talking about claims, here I am at a grocery store and I see a kid shagging carriages and now they have them push it from the opposite side. so this kid has to hunch over to push these 10 carts.

At some point the first carriage got loose and hit cars so instead of using the straps that they had in the early 2000's, then I'll push the cards backwards not caring about these young kids backs. All in a sake of money.

Well, policy is no more than 6 at a time. For two reasons. Worker's Comp, and like you said, you cannot control a long pile. And policy is to use a strap.