Stupid things customers ask on Xmas Eve Eve

Eggs aren’t dairy 🤔

I used to work in a shop that sold Beatrix Potter stuff. Just Beatrix Potter stuff. Teddies, ceramic models, plates and cups, cards, art prints etc. We used to get about ten people a day (popular tourist destination) asking if we had any Mickey Mouse/Winnie the Pooh/Forever Friends etc. This is in spite of the shop being called a name specifically relating to Beatrix Potter, and clearly only having that on display. It would be like that scene in Notting Hill, over and over again!

Perhaps I should start emailing the shop management when the staff have been helpful with steering me to items. To be fair, I've never had a grumpy response.

I was shopping with a friend who had an enormous list. We could not find some things so I asked a lovely man near the till in uniform. He helped me find things, I asked for clotted cream and he then said “ maybe you best ask someone who works here” I said I thought he did he said “ no love I am a paramedic. I just came in for a sandwich”. I think the paramedic uniform look remarkably like the Asda one😂 My poor friend had to run out wetting herself laughing oops

Staff, especially this time of year are busy stocking out on the shop floor. When a customer asks where an item is we have to take the customer to the product, and then ask if they need help finding anything else. This obviously takes us away from our shelf stacking, we then get into trouble from management for being slow on the shop floor! We can’t win!

There are five supermarkets where I live. The eggs are in different places in all of them none are with the home baking items.

Worst is M&S and their endless, endless stock rotation. I mean, why? So many of their customers seem to be older people and it's so unfair on them particularly. I don't even work there and I've had little old ladies ask me where things are.

I work at Onestop which is owned by Tesco. Our eggs are on an end display…next to the veg 🤨🤔 been at work today & helped customers find-headache tablets,sprouts,baby milk & cough medicine. We are a small store so I usually take them to whatever they’re looking for. Stupidest question I’ve had- Do you work here? (I was behind the till,in full uniform,wearing a name badge) Last week I got told I was ‘fucking useless’ cuz we didn’t have the brand of cigarettes this bloke wanted. Told him to have a splendid day 💀

with that context that makes more sense because as you say if they reduce the items to quickly then there would not be much left for the charities. much appricated

The funniest and saddest I ever had was the drunk older man at 4.45 on Christmas Eve. . He wanted something for his wife . I said we had a few cut flowers left and some large boxes of chocolates etc , “no”. Ok sir some nice gloves ?, a scarf , perfume? “No” then he apparently had a lightbulb moment, “tights” he said , “she wears tights”
ok said I and off we went to tights . I showed him the nicer and more expensive ones first “no” then he spied the multipacks of American Tan …
“them” he shouted in a perfect impression of Father Jack , “them! “ So I got him a pack . Then I tried the flowers and chocolates idea again . “No , she’ll use these “
i kid you not I still thank of that poor wife every Christmas Morning and will always wonder if she retreated to her bedroom to cry or strangled him .

Oh whatever. You are on one just to pick at me and start a fight. I'm not playing. Go and try it on with someone else to bother.

My answer would have been they do tend to bleed when you cut their heads off!

You said you like to start in September in response to people saying Christmas stuff is out too early. The alternative to that is not diving under closing shutters.

Only the ones laid by cows are in the dairy section….

On another note stupid things shop workers say!
I work in a deli and a man asked for freshly sliced ham, he asked how long it would last? I answered it depends how many people are eating it! I was being completely serious and tried to answer what I thought was a stupid question in a polite manner. It went completely over my head he meant the use by date 😂😂

Drunk man screaming and crying at the (locked and closed) door of a jewellery store at 4pm on December 24th. We’d ruined Christmas as now his wife didn’t have a present 🤷‍♀️

Including perhaps some soft skills training?

In my borough, the bin days change over the Christmas/NY period, irrespective of whether Bin Day falls on a public holiday. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS USUAL.

TBF to my council, they usually put leaflets through the door as this catches people out and there's usually a lot more waste to be disposed of round this period

mine today , In the country I live in now, xmas eve is the actual day they celebrate. So, today I was out picking up some things that I prefer fresh, and I was standing at the fridge section that has cream, butter , cheeses. I am an english speaker in a spanish speaking country, and right now in the area that I live in, all airbnbs (and there are LOTS) are fully booked. Someone spanish speaking bumped into me and said oh i am sorry in spanish. I replied in english with a smile, no problem. A couple was shopping beside me in the same fridge and the woman said...omg you speak english. I cannot find velveeta , do you know what fridge it is in? well as it is an american process orange lump of goop, I told them that it was def not in this store, but that a store about 10 min away sells alot of american product. Told them to expect to pay at least 3x price from US, and they went off on one about this bloody country, can't get half of what we want... ffs this is Dominican Republic. Fresh fish and veg and fruit is soooo cheap, even chicken and pork are cheaper. Just stay in United states if you cannot live over xmas without velveeta.

My Sainsbury's Local doesn't sell eggs 🤣 . I only found out after systematically going round every aisle in the quest for eggs until a member of staff put me out of my baffled misery

Speaking from a slightly different perspective, a number of supermarket provide items on same the day BB or Use By dates to food distributors who make available the food for free for collection to save it going to landfill (eg OLIO). Of course charities etc have first dibs. And supermarkets are then able to disclose and promote the amount of food they have saved from landfill.

There may (or may not) be an element of supermarkets not wanting to reduce items by massive margins as it may disincentivise purchase of items at more modest reductions - but that would be speculation on my part

What can't you ask customers to pay for an item they have deliberately broken in a fight?

That'll be me.