Stupid things customers ask on Xmas Eve Eve

Not everybody will host Christmas every year, if you’re hosting for the first time or take turns so haven’t done it for a few years then it’s not unreasonable to make an oversight. If you don’t host every year you don’t need to buy the same things every year. There’s a lot to remember if hosting and I can understand forgetting something like crackers and then having someone mention them and thinking ‘Shit! I totally forgot about them I’d best go and get some.’

It’s also possible plans change and you suddenly end up agreeing for extra people to join you but realise you only bought enough crackers for 6 but now need enough for 9 so have to buy another packet. Plans could change so you can no longer go to your relatives as originally planned and you now need to do Christmas dinner at home and so now you need to buy everything at short notice. Not everybody has a picture perfect day that they can start planning in September, real life continues to happen and it’s not always stupidity that means someone hasn’t bought crackers until 23rd.

DH would, in his ideal world, put the tree up on Christmas Eve and take it down on Epiphany
Same. Could easily buy a tree a week before and store it outside if I was worried about places running out.

Expecting to have things in stock for Christmas 2 days before Christmas isn't disorganised.

Do tell…

Oh you’re so morally superior 🙄

We closed early on Christmas Eve (well advertised, times on shop door, boards outside the shop, local newspaper etc) and yet every year, as we were standing in the car park waiting for the manager to lock the doors, a car would pull up into the (now empty) car park and someone would get out with their arms full of carrier bags.

We were always sympathetic but...

Going out to buy crackers on the 23rd isn't the same as leaving your Christmas planning to the 23rd 😂
Not every customer thinks that christmas is ruined because the shops don't have a particular item...

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!

No you don't. Why would you assume everyone does Christmas the same way every year? People take turns hosting. Plans change suddenly. People are only human. It is incredibly easy to suddenly find yourself thinking 'shit, I forgot the cranberry sauce!' on Christmas eve even if you're well organised. I don't get how it would then be outlandishly unreasonable to go to a shop and ask for cranberry sauce?!

But it IS stupid to leave it till the last minute when you have had 3 months to make the purchase. Not the fault of the retailer
You snooze you lose, unfortunately 🤣🤣

My DH is a chimney sweep. He's book through to Christmas in October. Every year he will get several people phoning around 20th wanting their chimney swept before Christmas. Most are fine but every year there will be one who has a strop and complains it's poor service. His response is always "which of my regular customers who booked at least 2 months ago do you think I should cancel to fit in your last minute request"

DH would, in his ideal world, put the tree up on Christmas Eve and take it down on Epiphany. This genuinely isn't really possible anymore - if you try and buy a tree on Christmas Eve you are looking at a long search for a half-dead tree! I also think that waking up on the 23 December and saying 'ooh, did we get any Christmas crackers in' is mildly disorganised, not 'the height of stupidity'. I, like I imagine many people, can't buy everything I need for Christmas at the start of October - even if I didn't find the idea soul-destroying, I have nowhere I can store it all for months on end.

6pm close Xmas eve. 550pm where are the turkeys? " we've sold out" what am I going to do then?
"Sorry not my problem"
Xmas eve 555pm. Man comes in, selects a large trolley. " Sorry sir we close in 5 minutes"
What am I supposed to then?
"Not my problem sir"
Oh how glad I am to be out of this war zone 😅

It's the having them on sale since September that's the stupid thing. Refusing to kowtow to the supermarkets and their insistence that you have to do everything weeks ahead of time isn't stupid at all.

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.

Many years ago i worked in Asda. On Christmas Eve a lady picked the last turkey out the freezer then later on when she was walking about /distracted someone stole the turkey out of her trolley.

She was rightly furious but took it out on the staff, demanding we get it back, but we didnt know who stole it and neither did she, we couldnt stop every customer to check the trolley and she couldnt identify that specific turkey.

I did feel sorry for her until she started to scream at my colleagues, my sympathy disappeared.

Excellent 😂

Perfectly reasonable expectation. It's still two days till Christmas actually starts. If someone wants to decorate only for the actual season of Christmas and wants to buy the things for it a couple of days ahead of time not weeks they should be able to. I hate that nobody is allowed to do things at the actual time of them.

You've got to be pretty wrapped up in yourself to think this is a sensible question.

I have to say, I agree that asking these questions isnt weird. Dd and I were in dainsburys on Sunday, early. But they were doing shelf stocking even then - I assume because things were flying off the shelves. I dont think its weord to ask kd there are crackers... it may be that there's big box that just hasnt been unpacked yet.

Crazy would be getting rude and aggressive with staff because what you need isnt in. Or the story from one poster about customers stealing from.eavh others trolleys or fighting over the last tub of cream.

I agree, I had no idea . Why would I ?!

Why would they be in the dairy section?

I bought bagels with a date of 31/12 yesterday so there are bread-like options with longer dates even if not the loaves of bread. This is the sort of thing someone who works in retail might recommend/ suggest rather than just being smug.

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

🤣🤣🤣

No, it’s not.