Steve and his wife were checking out at the supermarket when they noticed something odd about the cashier packing his bags. She was ramming all his groceries like she was trying to repair a levy in a flood.

Then he looked at her face. She looked tired, ragged, and distraught. He looked around the rest of the checkout area. All the other cashiers looked similarly haggard, and were stuffing groceries just as fast.

Steve asked her to slow down, worried that she would break his eggs. With grim resolve, she shook her head no. Steve asked again. Again, no. Management had announced that the slowest cashier would be fired.

Both he and his wife were filled with “nauseating disgust,” said Steve. “Here I am buying free range eggs,” considered by some to be a more progressive and socio-economically conscious purchasing decision, “from a company that treats its workers like this.”

Perhaps if the supermarket wants to motivate its employees, they should fire whoever came up with the “mush! mush!” idea and redistribute their salary evenly amongst the cashiers.

When it comes to buyer perception these days, the ends do not justify the means even in the pursuit of customer service, in this case, faster bagging. If in the name of serving your customers better you treat your employees like garbage, and customers find out, they will punish you for it. How you get there is just as important as where you get to.

Subscribe to Ben’s posts by RSS.
Follow Ben on Twitter.
Email ben at consumerist.com

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.