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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:
ILoveAFullFridge · 20/12/2013 00:52

When my parents first came to the UK, my mum would often try to cook an English dish for df and her, and friends. One day she tried to make shepherds pie, so she bought a jar of mincemeat...

It was inedible Grin.

Prettykitty111 · 20/12/2013 01:39

Thanks red. I was very proud of my shiny racing green sports car at that point!!! It was really noticeable when I worked at sava that some people really through minimum wage meant second class citizen (not that I'm seeing that on here at all) but really it was a great job for students and older people wanting to work around school runs etc. no stress, cheap shopping and as my cousin and I were just saying today we never had such a cheap Christmas as the year they shut shop early because of the snow and we had 30 minutes to clear everything Christmas or short shelf life and pay for it. Everything was under £1 except turkeys which were £2.50!

HicDraconis · 20/12/2013 01:56

Ooooh, am I a "proper MNer" then? They don't sell mincemeat here (they sell something called fruit mince which is Not The Same) - so I have 5 jars of homemade mincemeat in the pantry.

Only 3 have brandy in tho. Mince pie baking scheduled for Christmas Eve :)

chrome100 · 20/12/2013 02:38

I once asked a member of staff in waitrose where the colanders were. She said, "colly-what?"

sashh · 20/12/2013 04:41

I phoned Sainsbury's helpline to find out if I could give one of their cakes to a Muslim student. I asked if it was halal.

After 20 mins of asking around in the background I was confidently told that halal is a way of killing animals so it didn't apply to cake.

Willabywallaby · 20/12/2013 05:06

I hated working in Sainsbury's and my mum gave me hell when I packed it in the summer at the end of my first year at university. I quote 'you can't just pack it in because you feel like it'. I'd done it from the summer at the end if my gcses, just in the holidays though.

I used the excuse I'd failed an exam and needed to spend the time revising for my resit in the September.

I think it gave me a good insight into the general public though.

I'll never forget my last ever customer who continued to pack when I asked him a couple of times to sign for his card (remember that!) and when he finished he rudely said 'some help would've been appreciated' so I swiftly responded 'you looked like you were doing very well on your own'. I was never rude to customers and it felt soooo good Xmas Grin.

But it was a good place to work in other ways and gave me the life skills to always appreciate someone if they are helping you, regardless of how much they get paid. And don't judge a book by its cover.

Invaluable in my job now... I'm a dentist Xmas Blush

Original poster
trinity0097 · 20/12/2013 06:13

To the person who asked why we didn't look for it, we had, we had been round the supermarket once, then back looking for it. I found it in the end, bottom shelf, nearly sold out, so you couldn't see it unless you were on your knees!

OP posts:
Willabywallaby · 20/12/2013 06:22

So where was it? I think it should be with the baking stuff? All the supermarkets have different ways of setting out their isles. Although I don't shop there I can remember 20 years later how the Sainsbury's I work it was laid out.

livinginawinterwonderland · 20/12/2013 06:36

i work on a supermarket deli. i also went to a Russell group united and graduated with a decent grade. I've been talked down to so many times it's unbelievable. i had one customer ask "do you know where the dill is? that's a herb incase you didn't know!"

and for all of you who think we should know where every product is - we stock over 10,000 items and stuff is always being moved around or discontinued. i wouldnt't know anything about the frozen dept. or home and leisure because I've never worked there!

HorsePetal · 20/12/2013 06:50

Yuck - what a unpleasant little thread.

My DD is working as a Christmas temp this year at a large supermarket chain.

She has been assigned to work in the toiletries/beauty products aisle so is becoming quite familiar with the products there but I doubt she would know what Orzo is, or a Christmas Annual?

Does that means she's thick then? Because she has just interviewed for a place at Oxford to read English next year so maybe we should contact them to let know there has been a terrible mistake.

This is a very British thing isn't it? Looking down on those in more subservient roles. Best to keep them in their place

Ridersofthestorm · 20/12/2013 06:55

I absolutely hated it when I worked in a shop and I was over looked because I was "young". Yes I might not have known what something was, but how are you supposed to learn if you are not given the chance?

I found it really rude when I would be dealing with a customer who would suddenly ignore me when a older member of staff came near us.
I think it's awful they way you are talking about "young" people on here, I am sure if you had said "old" people you would be called ageist.
At least they are working! I commend anyone working in public service at Xmas time, it's hard work. Can you imagine trying to remember or even know what/where everything is in a superstore? Especially at Xmas when customers have no patience at all because everyone is stressed out.

sashh · 20/12/2013 06:57

This is a very British thing isn't it? Looking down on those in more subservient roles. Best to keep them in their place

Nothing to do with looking down on anybody, it's about expecting someone to know something fairly simple.

HorsePetal · 20/12/2013 07:01

You mean something fairly simple like 10,000 different and constantly changing products?

Ah ok!

livinginawinterwonderland · 20/12/2013 07:05

Nothing to do with looking down on anybody, it's about expecting someone to know something fairly simple.

Yes, as simple as knowing where above 10,000 products are, what they are exactly, and whether they're suitable for different religions?

I could answer pretty much all questions about my department (deli) and the shelves I have to stock, which is pizzas, fish (pre-packed and frozen) and Chinese/Indian takeaway meals and snacks. If you asked me about soups or stocks, I could show you the aisle, but not where all the products are, and I certainly couldn't tell you what "orzo" was. If you told me it was pasta, I could show you to the pasta aisle, but I wouldn't know if we stocked it or not.

HorsePetal · 20/12/2013 07:07

And OP I have to say I can't believe that your DH couldn't manage to find a jar of mincemeat all by himself without needing to ask for help. How hard can it be to find a jar of bloody mincemeat at Christmas? Wink

manchestermummy · 20/12/2013 07:18

Some customers aren't exactly the sharpest tools either. When I worked at Tesco as a student, a man came through with an aubergine. My colleague was just about to put through when said man came out with the following:

"That is an AUbergine. Au-ber-gine. You will find it under 'O'".

Buzzardisnotina4birdroast · 20/12/2013 07:27

Tis a good point horse. Why look down on the staff when you are asking for a product that could be found easily by using superior brain power and reading the aisle signs Confused

WaitingForMe · 20/12/2013 07:28

It's not a nasty little thread. Our grandparents took far greater pride in their work as incompetence was more of a firing offence. I'm not saying employee rights are a bad thing but work ethic isn't the same as it was when it comes to entry level jobs. It's not unreasonable to get frustrated with staff that don't engage their brains or shock horror, make an effort to learn about where they work.

I worked at Jessops while at uni and got zero training. I made an effort to learn about cameras as I felt that it was part of the job to know. I'd be ashamed if my DSSs or DS grew up to be as happily ignorant as some of the service staff I have encountered.

ConfusedPixie · 20/12/2013 07:31

I didn't know what mince meat was until I was an adult. I hated mince pies and was a veggie who wrongly assumed that it was meat by the name. Doesn't make me a thicko Hmm i just lived in a non traditional house and hadn't been exposed to them much.

limitedperiodonly · 20/12/2013 07:34

Sexykitten2005 I completely believe you but I can never quite believe it when I hear that people say things like that.

There was an enjoyable blog on the same lines from an impressively over-qualified French supermarket worker a few years ago.

I know what mincemeat is OP but most people these days buy mince pies instead of making them. What matters most is that shop workers are friendly, doesn't it?

And as for the poster who asked for pastry - don't you make your own? Wink

My very intelligent and well-paid BIL was on a health kick once and bought a white cabbage thinking it was an iceberg lettuce. He gave up and went back to junk food after that.

livinginawinterwonderland · 20/12/2013 07:35

Uh, we're not ignorant because we don't know about every product a store stocks. Supermarkets are huge, and no offence, not really comparable to working in a small electronics shop like Jessops.

We stock over 10,000 products - I work on a department that stocks maybe 150-200 products. I know everything about my department, but not about the entire store. Why would I? My contract is with my department, not the grocery department or the bakery or the pharmacy or the music and games department. I don't work on those departments. It's like asking someone who works in a butchers in a shopping centre where you could find socks.

Ridersofthestorm · 20/12/2013 07:39

You can't ever assume to know what a customer wants... not everyone celebrates Xmas.

I can bet you that loads of supermarket staff have had their heads ripped of by customers for just assuming they wanted mince pie mince meat.

limitedperiodonly · 20/12/2013 07:47

I was in Greggs yesterday with a friend and she was amazed that a cheesecake wasn't just a thing made of cream cheese with a biscuit base but was also a cake made of flaky pastry with desiccated coconut on the top.

She's 45 and has been to a Russell Group university. Some people are so thick, aren't they?

Pollydingdonmerrilyonhigh · 20/12/2013 07:48

What truly nasty posts some of you have made Angry
There doing there best fgs, as long as they are polite and try to help.
And yes, I have done shop work , in my parents shop & yes, we had ignorant comments from obnoxious customers.

Ridersofthestorm · 20/12/2013 07:51

I am sorry waitingforme but I don't believe all our grandparents would have took pride in their work! I think that's looking through rose tinted glasses at the past me thinks.

When I started working in a shop I was really shocked to find that the most rude, bad mannered, impatient customers were of the older generation. I grew up hearing all the time "oh the younger generation have no manners or respect", young people don't stand a chance with attitudes like that.