Customers who mess up shelves of food

Both one and the same

This is your job. Customers are not there to make life easier for you, they are there to buy food and will select whatever they want to buy.
One of the most ridiculous things I have read on MN.

I take from the front of the date is OK for me - it helps to reduce food waste which is important to me. Otherwise - of course I’ll reach in for a fresher item. It doesn’t cause a mess in my experience.

@notedbiscuits you need to meet @Auburngal - she works in a supermarket and hates customers too 😆

what shop worker? Ask them to do what? don't be daft! ask and imaginary shop worker to do a non existent task! no, I will get it myself, and no, I wont worry if the shelf is messed up

I always much preferred it to serving customers 😂

If its fresh food then the stuff at the back is bette/fresher then the stuff at the front. Everyone knows that.

But that’s the point, they’re discounted, usually quite heavily.

Why would you pay full price for something about to expire if you can purchase the same with reasonable date remaining?

How do you know it’s the same poster?

The same strawberries that nobody wants from the front will fly off the shelves once they are yellow stickered. It’s the same with bread which many people buy to freeze .

Yes she does. Trust me ive tried to get her a little pal. I adopted 4 pigs in total last and she hated them all and i had to take them back to the rescue. Shes 6 years old now and has been happily on her own for about a year.

Yes to this.

I want to know too.

Straightening displays is a core part of the job of retail staff. I know because I've worked in retail. Given your similar repeated posts, I don't think retail is the sector for you.

Maybe if supermarkets were more watchful of the dates, it wouldn't take me so long to shop >>>>> looking at you M & S. I've purchased stuff before now at full price that was already one day out of date. M & S are the absolute worst at doing this. So no I'm not going to take yet more time putting everything neatly, when I'm constantly having to put my glasses on, and then off again because I'm scrutinising every date.
Anyway I thought veggies and fruits don't have dates anymore? Maybe if the veggies actually looked fresh and appetising, rather than sad, floppy and slightly deliquescing customers wouldn't have to rummage. Tinned items, dried foods, jarred items and the like, I don't bother with checking the dates. But refrigerated goods of course.

Strawberries today 21st at three front, 23rd in the tray underneath.
Bread today 22nd at the front, 26th at the back.

I also no longer get deliveries because I presume it comes from that Tesco so almost everything has a one day shelf life.

Depends which supermarket/area. If I shop in big Tesco in Cheshire (near where I work) everything is fresh and you can just grab and go. If I shop in big Tesco Wythenshawe and just grab and go at least 5 items will be going out of date on the day I buy it so I have to be more selective. It’s disgusting so now I don’t shop there anymore.

If people are rifling though it’s because you are badly stocked and taking advantage in an area where you know lots of people walk/get taxis to and so can’t be bothered to go back and complain. Speak to your manager about it and feel free to show him/her my message.

I take bread and meat from the back, I don't make a mess though. One thing that bugs me is finding food from the fridge dumped in the biscuit aisle or somewhere like that, such a waste. I don't like to put them back either in case they have gone off and someone buys them.

If I'm planning on eating something quickly as long as its in date not bothered beyond that, but of course people for some bits in their weekly shop want long dates! If the staff are rotating stock correctly then it's worth going to the back, although I agree shouldn't leave in a mess. Also strawberries vary wildly- even though the packs weigh the same the quality is so variable even between the same batch as well as the sizes (I prefer smaller ones rather than the big ones).

I agree it's annoying when bread gets squeezed, and items get left in a disarray.

Sniffing fruit, WTF?

@Auburngal It really is bad form to post on your thread with your second account making it look as if you are adding weight to your original moan

Veteran of 3 years in food retail as a student. Spent most of that time doing replenishment of the refrigerated section. I was good at it and was promoted to floor supervisor. My team closed the store 3 nights of the week so were responsible for removing out of date food.

So even now 20years later I almost always take from the back for fresh food. Tins etc. I never bother.

I have been known to tidy a display where it’s been stocked badly with short date stuff at the back. Particularly when in my former employers stores!!

Also I usually track down the floor supervisor if I find discrepancies on price tags (ie I get charged more at the till than it said) and I tend to draw out of date food still on display to staff attention due to the legal consequences for the store of this stuff still being on display.

The evening supervisor in my local branch and I often joke about my obsessive-ness around this. She knows I used to do her job as I felt I had to explain…

Well, I sometimes do because I hate waste. So if I know we can eat it in time or it can be frozen, yes, I'll take the shorter dated product because if no-one does, it'll be chucked.

If I'm paying £3 for a loaf of gluten free bread I'm buying the one with the longest date. No way am I paying £3 for one that expires the following day or looks like it's been squeezed to death so will fall apart when you open the packet. Where I live there are idiots who squeeze bread to check how fresh it is.

My bugbear is customers who pick something up, change their mind and can’t be bothered to put the item back where it came from. If it’s chilled and ends up with the biscuits or tins, it’s wasted unnecessarily.

@Bluevelvetsofa especially if it's meat. An animal died. Have enough respect to eat it or else put it back.

I take from the back of the shelf if I need to. No way I'm getting through 2L of milk or a loaf of bread by tomorrow and I'm not throwing food away. I leave shelves tidy. Fruit gets sniffed or gently squeezed. Sometimes the sooner date is better because it's riper. Don't leave a mess and don't feel guilty.

Hoping your guinea pig doesn't live alone....