Stupid things customers ask on Xmas Eve Eve

I was looking for baked beans in the canned food aisle of my local Tesco, none to be found - not Heinz, own brand or anything. Asked a passing worker if they had any “yes, they’re in the bread aisle”. 🤷‍♀️

I was looking for baked beans in the canned food aisle of my local Tesco, none to be found - not Heinz, own brand or anything. Asked a passing worker if they had any “yes, they’re in the bread aisle”. 🤷‍♀️

Eggs in my old tesco were at the end of the aisle for home baking but the ones in sainsburys are at the end of the jam aisle. I always forget them in sainsburys as I look at the end of the aisle and think I dont need jam so dont go up it then wander from the bread into the frozen section and miss them completely.

I have done enough years in supermarkets at Christmas.

I remember one question raised by a few customers when putting out bread.
”do you have any bread dated after 28th”
I said if you go to a supermarket on any other 23rd, the latest date on loaves is 28th. As the bakeries always put the date as X days ahead, regardless of the time of year. I remember seeing one of these customers on Jan 23rd and asked them could they find a date longer than 28th. They couldn’t. Retail worker 1 customer 0.

”Is it possible to collect my turkey on Xmas Day?” Erm no.

Where's the eggs? X 100000000

I agree. Not getting the bread thing either. I can't imagine how that was such a significant interaction for the op that she clocked the customer a month later and thought she'd won some weird contest.

I did my Christmas food shop early yesterday and my Tesco was well stocked with everything, including turkey. The staff were great as well despite being very busy restocking. All smiley and helpful (before I get a hammering, I didn't have the temerity to ask them something, a nice worker saw me struggling to find something and offered help!). I don't think it would be wildly unreasonable to go there on Christmas eve on the chance they may have some crackers.

I used to work in Past Times. Between 4 and 6 on Christmas Eve we were swamped every year by middle aged men panic buying jewellery for their wives. We would frequently see the same men flapping on the Saturday afternoon before Mothering Sunday!

You're never going to get it answered in WH Smith, but I've met independent booksellers who would absolutely pride themselves that they would be able to find the right book from that description!

I would agree with this.

I know my way around a supermarket layout - by brand, not store as we don't always shop at the same branch (to the point DH annoyingly asks me, on which aisle will I find x in every supermarket because I will know).

Eggs are the one that individual stores tend to move around.

Aldi - last aisle usually but it's the baking section.
Lidl - baking section but it's usually the second aisle. (I always want to look on the last aisle).
Asda - usually on the back wall by the bakery (this is the one that foils me.)
Sainsbury's / Tesco - near the dairy section. Often where the long life milk is but sometimes in the chilled section.

Eggs need a universal home.

That said, I got very angry at the kidney beans in Tesco the other week. They have a whole aisle named 'tinned beans'. They were not in the tinned bean aisle or the tinned food aisle. Nope. World foods aisle? Nope. They were in the sauces aisle close to the ketchup. This is wrong. This angers me. This should not be allowed. There should be laws for misrepresentation of aisles.

Oh I used to get that all the time! There was a great big sign above the eggs too.
I did have a customer ask me if we were open on Christmas day morning, when I said no he asked why not. I politely asked him if he wanted to work on Christmas day in a supermarket

I once had someone CRAWL under the shutter as it was closing demanding to buy a gift card

I went to the aupermarket after 9pm last night (so very almost 23rd) and asked for a red cabbage. Maybe I was a fool! But anyway they pointed them out to me and it was all good. Got Christmas crackers too
.
The things I couldn’t find were red wine vinegar, vegetable oil, vanilla ice cream. Nothing which I would have thought to be particularly ‘christmassy’.

I did (accidentally) comment to one worker that it was very busy and he was very polite about it but just looked so worn down when replying for the 47th time that day, “yes it’s very busy isn’t it”.

No it’s not. They could have damaged the others, have more guests coming, they might have been sick or delegated to someone else who didn’t do it - There’s a whole host of reasons. Do you work in a supermarket?

This was Xmas Eve. But people banging on the shutters when we closed early (3pm) to set up the sale for Boxing Day (often working until 10pm!) begging to buy a gift card like it’s our fault they left it so late!

Me every year: don’t suppose you have any gift tags left?

[ In my defence, asked DH to buy them this year without specifying how many needed - he bought 6 packs of 6… there are 7 of us. Even if only one gift bought each that is 7x7=49. He’s the global head of his financial function in a FTSE100 company FFS!!! ]

Where's the eggs? X 100000000

Yes? Christmas is the same date every year. You need the same things every year.

The whole world does not end due to a lack of Cranberry sauce.

Also there's a Christmas song that reminds you of what you should do:

Oh, you better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

Oh, he's making a list
And he's checking it twice
He's gonna find out who's naughty or nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

Check your list twice and be nice not naughty.

For me it was always the Boxing Day sales that brought out the worst in humanity. I could deal with the questions about stock before Christmas because it got me off the shop floor for a little bit and I did used to like having a chat with customers at the tills. But Boxing Day sales, my god, horrific.

It's really not stupid to ask whether a shop still has something in stock. I can think of a zillion reasons why someone wouldn't be looking for them until the day before that don't involve lack of planning or stupidity, and even if they did forget about, or made a last minute decision about, getting crackers, it's not a personal failing or a sign of low intelligence. So they've gone out and they've asked a shop floor staff member whether they still have any. It's not stupidity.

I used to work in retail including over Christmas. I never thought customers were stupid for asking where to find something or whether we still had any X in stock.