Jumbo reprimands store manager in payback row

Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo has reprimanded a store manager who wanted to let his employees pay a fine if they let customers waiting for too long, after a social media backlash.

“Isolated case”

In its Dutch stores, Jumbo promises that any customer who is fourth in line waiting at the checkout receives their groceries free of charge. However, this proved too costly a promise for one store manager, who posted a paper saying “If a fourth person is waiting […] then the costs are for everyone who is working at the checkout and failed to tannoy his fellow employees.”

As that post went viral on social media, the supermarket chain had to apologise and called the store manager for a meeting. “This is not what should be done”, a spokesperson told Dutch newspaper AD. The store manager in question confirmed that it happened in his store, but did not comment on the event. “The head office does not allow us to go into the issue outside”, he said.