Some people would rather not take a plastic bag if they don’t need one, ourselves included, because a) enough with the plastic bags already b) it’s wasteful and bad for the planet to take plastic bags when you really blatantly don’t need or want them.
With that in mind, here’s a letter from reader Erin:
I thought you might be interested in my experience at the usually sweet-faced Macy’s the other day.
While at the Galleria in Buffalo, I ran into Macy’s to purchase a couple pairs of winter tights. After being rung up, I told the salesperson that I didn’t need a bag. She told me that she had to give me a bag, that I wouldn’t be allowed out of the store without one. I said I would just show the receipt as my proof of purchase, and that it was no problem. Rosa told me that I could throw it out as soon as I left the store, but that I had to take it. I told her I didn’t want to take it because I didn’t WANT to throw it away and waste it, that I don’t use plastic bags on principle. She refused to give me my tights without the bag. I was so furious at this forced environmental waste. How ridiculous and unnecessary. Great customer service!
best,
Erin
We’d really like to see them try to prevent you from leaving the store just because you don’t have a bag. Don’t taze me, Macy’s.
(Photo:smcgee)
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@bitfactory: I’m basing this on the assumption that no store is so dumb as to have a policy requiring customers to get bags, especially if the customer explicitly refuses one.
I don’t think an employee should be fired for following policy. But if the employee is interpretting the policy to force the customer to take a bag (provided that is not the explicit policy), they are providing unacceptable customer service.
And if it is policy to force bags on customers, I will shop elsewhere.
Hey guys I am curious. I keep reading this “forced me” “forced me” stuff and I am well slightly amused.
How precisely do they plan for “force me”? I mean short of physical force which is a level or conflict they would be on the losing side of in a really bad way HOW precisely are they going to force me to take a bag?
I do not even allow them to see my receipt on the way out. I flat out say No Thank You politely and go on my way if they pursue I very clearly spell out to them “what part of no did you not understand” and I leave (I have only had to do that once it went no further)
So really tell me HOW precisely would they force me to take a bag?
I just shopped at Macy’s and they asked me if I wanted a bag… This kind of sensationalism about one employee reduces the effectiveness of this blog.
I ran into this same situation at the Macy’s in the Houston Galleria a while back. The little old lady simply would not give me my item without putting it in a bag, no matter how much I told her I didn’t want it.
I didn’t fight with her long..about a minute(“I don’t want a bag” “oh, the bag is a good idea so they don’t think you’re stealing” (whoever ‘they’ is) “No really, it’ll be fine, I have a receipt” “I have to put it in a bag” “Oh alright”)
But annoyed at having to argue with the lady over a stupid issue, I took my shirt in a bag, walked 3 feet away, took the shirt out, dropped the bag on the floor, and walked out of the store.
I saved a bag, and made the stupid lady have to clean up her work station, which surely annoyed her as much as she’d annoyed me.
And they (whoever ‘they’ are) didn’t chase me out of the store as a thief.
For the record, I work at B&N and I’ve never had to tell anyone “we won’t let you out without a bag…” (Barnes and Noble is not Borders, guys. Please make sure you know what store you’re in when you’re making out your check.)
As far as waste goes, how about all the unsold paperbacks that get destroyed?
On the flip side of the same coin, I work at a Borders and you would not believe the number of people who want plastic bags for single items. Not just books, but CDs, even magazines. I mean, a plastic bag for a magazine? You’ve got hands, guy. Use ‘em.
semi off topic – but I wish people would stop citing the diet soda thing. To people who are used to drinking diet soda – drinking the regular kind is like chugging pancake syrup. Find another metaphor – please.
I’ve been to that Macy’s and for some reason the employees there have a God-complex. Honestly, she could have recycled the bag, or brought it with her for the next time, people seem to get very angry over very small things.
macys.com/telluswhatyouthink/
This is a metric that macy*s uses on their customer service employees. Let them know what you think, and rip ‘em a new one!
I had the same thing happen to me at Union Square Wines in NYC – it’s right around the corner from whole foods and I had my nice fabric whole foods bag. Went in to big up a bottle of wine and told them I’d use my own bag. They wouldn’t allow me to leave the store without putting it in one of their plastic bags. They went so far as to have a staffer physically block my exit. Ridiculous.
i love the excuses for the practical uses of these bags! dog shit and trash bags! oh joy. nothing like wrapping up biodegradable material in a container that takes 20+ years to break down.
fyi to pet owners. there ARE truly biodegradable shit bags for your animals. you may have to look for them (read: EFFORT you lazy asses) but they are out there.
@rdm24: Well, just because it’s stupid doesn’t mean it’s not store policy. I worked at a gas station once where it was store policy to check ID for anyone buying cigs or beer if they looked under 60 years old. Yes, I said 60. Fortunately, they did have a *huge* sign in plain sight that stated this policy, so when customers who were clearly over the legal age to buy these items started ranting, I could point to the sign. It also plainly said that any cashier caught not following this policy would be fired. So that would get the customer to stop ranting at me and just tell me how stupid the company was.
Oh, and the sign also pointed out that we had to do this with every purchase. So if a 50 year old came in every day on the same shift to get beer? Had to card him every time. If they got cigs, walked out to their car, came right back in and got beer? Still had to card them.
To be fair, the reason the company came up with that was because they had a *lot* of employees get busted for selling those items to people under age (none at my store though). And they’d gotten heavily fined. So I can sort of see their point….but we have some annoyed customers.
Whoops! I meant to say “had annoyed customers”. I don’t work there anymore. But they do still have the same policy, so I imagine they still have annoyed customers.
@forever_knight: They sell them at petsmart and they are about $1 more than the non-biodegradeable ones
@91004: Wow, what a moron (them). If this ever happens again, DON’T go directly to your car. You don’t want someone writing down information that can be used to identify you. Walk to another business or place where there are a lot of people, or find a policeman and say “this man is following me, I’m not comfortable with this” and the guy will be asked to leave. Or if he keeps following you when outside his store, call 911 (if you have a cell phone) and report a stalker. Because that’s what he is, once he steps foot outside his store’s property.
@CSR: For being that picky, especially about people who had just been there, yeah I would stop shopping at your store too. If you want to card me when it makes sense, fine, if you start being a jerk about it when it doesn’t, I’m gone. No sympathy for the lost business.
Ugh. So wasteful. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I went to Lululemon yesterday and bought some new workout clothes. They were out of bags (which are pretty much completely reusable), so they offered to either just let me carry it out on my own or use a recyclable gift box that also had handles on it.
@Nerys:
There is an implicit threat of force in that they could call the cops, who might erroneously take their side.
This is interesting because today I bought 1) a Rival crock pot at Kohl’s and 2) a bed pillow at Sears.
In both cases I told the cashier I didn’t need a bag and would just carry the merchandise to my car. They were fine with it. The Kohl’s cashier affixed a piece of bright-blue tape with the Kohl’s name on the box “just in case,” as she said with a smile.
@analretentivecalliopemusic: “Here on the Left Coast of North America, I’ve NEVER had this problem. Hell, Costco THANKS me for not adding to their overhead by asking for a bag.
No, wait a second, never mind… if you asshats are stuck in the great wasteland that is the “Heartland of America” and PUT UP with this crap… well, DON’T ever come here. Trust me. The coast is evil. EVIL, do you hear?!?! STAY AWAY!!!!”
A) Costco doesn’t have bags. At least in the midwest.
B) Nothing screams dumbass more than some jerkweed who thinks they are superior because they live in a certain city. You, my friend, are that jerkweed.
From experience, I know that Macy’s *will* let you carry an item out without a bag–through one exception. You have to wear it out. Put on those socks, claim the vacuum bags are earrings, and use that blanket as a cape and you’ll leave the store with no hassles.
I decided to give my local Macy’s a call, at Macy’s Northgate (Seattle) location. The manager on duty said, “No, while we give you the option of using a bag, we don’t force you to.”
So, if you shop Macy’s in the Seattle area, it’s safe to stuff (purchased) socks in your sack.
To the commenters say “There’s useful purposes for bags” Of course there is. And I have tons of them under the sink.
I walk and bike a lot of places, so I use my messenger bag to stock my errand purchase.
I put my products in MY bag WITH the receipt. Like the other poster said “how on earth could they use force?” Detain me AFTER I paid???
@KJones:
Yup I take my bag in every store. Walgreens recently accosted my at the front and demanded I leave it at the desk, when the pharmacy is in the BACK.
I simply said NO, and kept walking at a rapid pace to the pharmacy and told him he’s welcome to accompany during my visit.
Who the hell would LEAVE their personal items up front, in plain view of other shoppers (or staff) who could steal possesions.
I encourage people to email the customer service department of any store that does this. And to make a minor scene & demand a refund at the register. Bad word of mouth is bad for business, and if companies hear this message enough times, they will change their policies rather than suffer the reputational risk.
OH COME ON. In the 90s and 80s environmentalists said plastic bags save tress! If you really care about the damn planet to get mad at Macys, bring your own damn bag.
Take a bag, then when you get home, use it to line your trash (in a larger bag, of course). Why buy more garbage bags when you can reuse store bags to line your garbage pails?
@Buran: Ok….maybe I didn’t make it clear. *I* didn’t want to ID people when it was obvious they were over the legal age, or when they’d *just* been in the store. The company demanded it. It was either do what they were paying me to do, or no job. (That, and other stupid things the company did eventually inspired me to look for another job…and I got one *much* better. So in the end it was a blessing for me).
Interestingly enough, the people that complained the loudest about it continued to come in there. And it wasn’t like we were the only gas station around–there were three in a five minute drive from us. I never understood why people would get furious….then turn around and spend money there. I even asked one guy why he’d yell at me-who had no say over what went on-but continued to give the company their business. He didn’t have an answer for me (but at least he stopped yelling).
OMG… the same thing happened to me @ Macy’s in Milford, CT. I was using a giftcard I had received for Xmas, buying a set of 8 steak knives. The cashier took out a plastic bag and started to bag the knives, when I told him I didn’t need a bag. He looked at me, in all seriousness, and said, “But you need to take a bag–they’re going to think you stole it.” I said, “Not if I have a receipt,” and took the knives–sans bag–and my receipt. And what did that idiot cashier do? He threw the bag away! D’oh! So much for trying to help…
Oh and btw, I shopped for another half hour in that same Macy’s, carrying my knives without a bag, and nobody ever bothered me.
I dont know if it was the store or the employee, but Macy’s has never done that to me.. several times I’ve refused a bag, or the cashier has even asked me if I need a bag (if it’s a small item) and has witnessed me put the item in my purse and told me to have a good day. Never have I ever been ambushed at the store exit and told I can’t leave.. actually, I hardly ever see security at the entrance/exit.
@forever_knight: Yes, heaven forfend that people reuse the bags, even if they’d rather not get them in the first place. -_-
You guys would have LOVE this…I was at Macy’s in Fairlawn, OH the other day, armed with gift cards I got from earned hotel rewards for some new clothes. They start ringing it up and said…”Oh, you’re not paying with a GIFT CARD are you?” and I replied that yes, I was for part of it…and they apologized and said their SYSTEM WAS DOWN FOR GIFT CARDS for at least the next hour. They were more than happy to take my Visa if I wanted to. I had other shppong to do in the mall, so I had them hold the stuff and went back. It WAS finally “up,” and then I had to laugh thinking of you guys, because she said “Oh, we don’t have ANY BAGS…is that okay?” I had a ton of clothes that I was supposed to just walk out the door with? lol. Anyway at the last minute they realized they could just leave the stugg on the hangars and put the plastic thingy over it…but I just found the whole thing funny. Wouldn’t have been if I was in a hurry though!
For the record, the place I shop at most often is the grocery, and I always bring my own bags. Almost all the time the baggers get the idea, but on the rare occasions they don’t, I just let it go.
RDM24 wrote,
Hassle or make a scene with the underpaid clerk who has zero control over the policy and could get fired? That doesn’t make you an enviro-saint; it just makes you a jerk. If you must make a point, scream at customer service, picket/boycott the place, send a nasty letter to the CEO, shop somewhere else, whatever.
RDM24 wrote,
I’m sick of everybody like you. Get over yourselves. Any good karma you pile up by not wasting resources is more than cancelled by being self-anointed enviro police. Frankly, I’m almost to the point that I feel like deliberately getting plastic bags just see people like you have their heads explode in self-righteous rage.
CSR wrote,
Precisely.
Ummm… why didn’t you ask to speak to a manager. Maybe it’s not a store policy at all, maybe the salesperson was actually just stupid or, even better, insane.
Save the planet? I remember (though I could be mistaken) an article about the amounts of energy and effort required to recycle paper bags and recycle plastic bags, and paper bags came out as the loser in that.
kogeliz at 06:55 AM on 01/05/08 “What’s wasteful is shopping at Macy’s.
Also, Doesn’t Macy’s usually use paper bags?”
Actually, they prefer you use plastic…they want to save the trees by denying you the sturdier paper bag and giving you the plastic bag that’s cheaper than Ebenezer Scrooge’s accountant and thinner than a politician’s promises. I should know…I was a Macy’s employee over Christmas ’07.
Oh, and as for Customer Service? I was there 10 weeks…got SIXTEEN Outstanding comments from the Macy’s Customer Website…so like a dummy, I thought a permanent job was inevitable; I was told that, because of financial cutbacks, I was not being kept on, nor were any of the 11 trainees I trained with…as of last week, 11 trainees are still working @ Macy’s, none of them with so much as ONE Outstanding rating.
@KJones at 05:42 AM on 01/05/08: “And as a side note, am I the only person annoyed by the trend of giving change AND the receipt into the hand at the same time? Who puts a receipt in their wallet? I want the receipt in the bag, *plus* I only have two hands, so I can only deal with the money and the wallet at one time. Aren’t these idiots smart enough to realize this?”
You know the thing that bugs me? When they give you change back…first the paper money, then the receipt, then the coins, which slide off the paper and fall to the floor.
That’s why, when I give change, it’s ALWAYS coins first, bills second, and receipt (that shows the proper amount of change that should be sitting in the customers’ hand). Customers I’ve dealt with have been shocked by this, as it’s so frickin’ logical/customer-first, they don’t know what to say.
We’re seeing less Customer Service attitude and more “Customer, Serve Us!” attitude; that’s why I got 16 Outstandings in 10 weeks…because I gave Customer Service attitude and thought like a customer, not an employee.
Too bad! There are lots of uses for plastic bags (like storing things). I use them for wet swim clothes as well. If I don’t need them I do recycle them. You green freaks drive me nuts!