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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to expect Sainsburys staff to know what mincemeat is?

175 replies

trinity0097 · 19/12/2013 19:56

Hubby was directed to beef section when he asked for 'mincemeat, the sweet type for mince-pies'. Surely at this time of year grown up staff should know what this is and where it is in the store?!

OP posts:
WhereBeThatBlackbirdTo · 19/12/2013 20:22

Okay, I have to ask.

What is orzo?

MrsOakenshield · 19/12/2013 20:22

YANBU, and to be perfetly honest I don't even see why you should have to explain it's for mince pies - mince is ground beef, it's not called mincemeat!

It's a grocery store. Mincemeat is a grocery item. They should know what it is .

MrsOakenshield · 19/12/2013 20:23

orzo is little pasta that does look like rice, but it's pasta. My Sainsbo's doesn't sell it, I had to get it in a deli.

StanleyLambchop · 19/12/2013 20:24

I find it difficult to tell the difference between mince and mints when spoken. They sound just the same! I wonder if that causes some mis-directions in supermarkets???

fairisleknitter · 19/12/2013 20:24

I once totally confused two women working in a supermarket by asking them where the greengrocery section was. (It was one of those aircraft hangar style places and I just needed to be in and out.)

MrsOakenshield · 19/12/2013 20:24

I don't think the age or home environment should make a difference - their job is in a supermarket and they should know what is and isn't stocked, particularly seasonal items.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 20:25

ladypete probably just because it's hilarious to stereotype. Y'know, uneducated, 'thick' teenagers who come from working class families and are too spotty and stupid to go to uni so work in crap, minimum wage jobs instead. Rant over.

SilverApples · 19/12/2013 20:27

Now that is poncy, asking for a specific pasta shape. Did you try the pasta aisle, or just stand and snap your fingers for staff?
Our local Sainsbury's is staffed by lovely, informed and helpful people. Been shopping there over a decade and never met a duff one.

MartyrStewart · 19/12/2013 20:29

The supermarket I work in carries over ten thousand different products. Nice to know I'm thick because I don't know the exact location and specifications of every single product.

dontcallmemam · 19/12/2013 20:29

Orzo is a wonder product. It's perfect for bunging in a casserole so you don't need to cook any pasta on the side (swells up & fills hungry teens) I'd really recommend it.
But not from Tesco though, they don't stock it.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 19/12/2013 20:30

I work in a job which involves 'serving' customers. I'll have to be super careful now when I detect any snobbish ones, don't want to be reading about myself on here...!

MrsBennetsEldest · 19/12/2013 20:30

Spot on MrsOak, minced beef, minced lamb etc. has been put through a mincer, it's not mincemeat though.

dontcallmemam · 19/12/2013 20:30

Silver i'm not pony, it's not like penne etc.
and DS works there.

Gruntfuttock · 19/12/2013 20:35

dontcallmemam
"I asked for orzo. They looked it up & sent me to the soup aisle, soup with orzo in it."

Did you tell them it was pasta? I wouldn't have known (and I'm not alone according to this thread). If you had already looked in the pasta aisle it must've been apparent that they don't stock orzo. If you hadn't, you could have simply asked where the pasta was.

Willabywallaby · 19/12/2013 20:35

My friend told a customer at Christmas we didn't sell mince meat because she didn't know where it was!

It was over 20 years ago, we were only 16, is that a grown up?

I think most people buy mince pies.

coffeeinbed · 19/12/2013 20:40

I once caused a lot of confusion with a celeriac.

snowed · 19/12/2013 20:42

YANBU. Surely if you worked there you'd be far too familiar with the products, seeing them day in day out.

dontcallmemam · 19/12/2013 20:45

Grunt, I went to the pasta & rice aisle to look for it, I asked a member of staff who directed me to customer services. CS looked it up on the computer who sent me to aisle 6 row 23. The soup aisle.
If CS had sent they don't stock it, fine.
I don't expect everyone to know every product but I think it's reasonable to assume that a product can be looked up correctly.

SilverApples · 19/12/2013 20:48

'Silver i'm not pony, it's not like penne etc.'

I know what it is, I've got a box in the pantry next to the couscous and quinoa. Xmas Grin

AmazingBouncingFerret · 19/12/2013 20:50

snowed, not necessarily. If you work on one particular section in a large supermarket that stocks thousands of different products you are not going to see all products day in day out.

SilverApples · 19/12/2013 20:51

Our local is staffed by large numbers of students, working part-time whilst doing A levels. There is a core of older, permanent staff.
So they may not have made knowing every item a personal quest, but they are pleasant, helpful and clean. Occasionally spotty, but that's par for most teens.

SilverApples · 19/12/2013 20:53

Mincemeat, I would expect them to know. Even if it wasn't Christmas.

dreamingbohemian · 19/12/2013 20:57

You do know not everyone who works at Sainsbos is British?

Honestly, the rest of world thinks you eat meat pies for christmas.

southeastastra · 19/12/2013 21:01

maybe they thought mince pies were made with mincemeat, really it's not such a big deal and couldn't your dh find it himself? supermarkets are usually pretty easy to navigate

TheMuppetsSingChristmas · 19/12/2013 21:03

Hands up, I shouldn't have called her spotty. But how on earth does anyone get to the age of 18 or so not knowing what a Christmas Annual is?