(USA) Is It Rude To Ask To Bag Your Own Groceries?
Is there some rule that employees have to follow that doesn't allow customers to bag? Or is it just that they're incentivized to offer? I'd love some input from people who have worked in some of the bigger companies. For reference, I mostly use Publix.
It may depend on the store. My local publix trains it's employees like Chick-fil-A does, and they probably would be offended if you didn't let them help you.
The baggers at my local food lion (if there is a single one in the store) are offended that they have to help you at all (probably because they're expecting you to be the fifth person today to come back in the store demanding a refund for the one cracked egg in their dozen)
I used to work at Publix, the average bagging employee is not gonna give a shit if you want to bag yourself, but they are trained to do it. The customer's preference will be more important, especially at Publix where customer service is a point of pride. If you firmly and kindly say that you're going to bag it yourself, then they'll understand.