No way I would wait 30 minutes. Ring the bell once, ask for help once. You guys are way way nicer than I am.
Why dont you all just put the bolts in a cart, take it to the check out, put it on the belt and let them deal with it? Lock down a whole check out lane and if you have more than one bolt and more than one friend, lock down multiple lanes. And then demand a discount from the manager.
A couple times ago when I was in Joann's, I put the cashier in tears and had two managers at the front. Tied up the whole store because it was lunchtime on a Saturday. Got the CORRECT price plus a discount on the WHOLE order before they got me out of the check out lane.
I worked retail for many years and I really didnt mean to put the cashier in tears.