Stupid things customers ask on Xmas Eve Eve

[Mokel]

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

Do you have any crackers left? (This one is usually 3pm on Xmas eve)

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!

Still wanting to buy advent calendars!

Long life bread would have been post 28th

My old store manager used to say that it never really felt like Christmas until a customer (or 10) had shouted that he’d “ruined Christmas!” because we didn’t have any mince pies left half an hour before closing on Christmas Eve or something equally silly to be looking for that late.

Crackers and Christmas food are often on discount after Christmas so I don't think it is stupid to at least think there might be a chance that there are some left. Knowing the standard best before dates on bread is also quite job specific knowledge.

My Parent's owned a newsagent/grocers
Xmas Eve was always bonkers.

• Do you sell fridges? - erm no - Well youve got a fridge with the cold drinks in so you must sell them !?!
• I need a food delivery plus papers for tomorrow. - we dont deliver food, plus no papers tomorrow ( 1980s )- I'll complain to your manager- (DM)Im the owner - Ill report you to the police then !?!

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”.

When I was a claims manager my colleague had a customer complaint at 2.30 as we couldn't replace the customers TV then and there...an hour and half later my colleague (who was brilliant at her job) just said Mr X "there's nothing I can do, there's no way I can resolve this, I'm going to put the phone down now" to which the customer replied "well I just going to have to get the TV from the bedroom then"

People wanting christmas trees 😡 we started putting them out in October (much to our own disgust) - you had plenty of time I promise.

Xmas eve we would run out of frozen roast potatoes

Folk really upset and couldn't believe it

People wanting to go into the warehouse to look for themselves because they didn't believe you

We would also sell out of certain crates of beer. The drinks isle was mad all day

Folk saying "it's a present for X"

To be fair, eggs seems to be the one thing that no supermarket can agree on where they should go so it's never obvious. Some put them near the mil, some near the bread, some in cereal aisle, some near baking.

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.

That's unpleasant. Why would people who've not worked in that job know the usual best before dates of bread? It's not like they kicked off because there were no mince pies on Xmas eve or something.

Someone coming back 2 days later on Christmas eve to get "fresher vegetables "

Erm, they're probably already sitting in the stockroom. No more fresher than today's ones. Why put yourself through trying to shop on Christmas eve for that?

Went shopping at M and S food yesterday morning 7am... heard people asking for things they used to get 10/20 years ago... "do you know where I can get that frozen chocolatey dome dessert?" One shopper piped up "1997 love"😆

People have learned that the shops open early xmas week, was not the same quiet experience we had previous years! Though there were many very helpful assistants around to help.

I used to work in Tesco and people would steal things out of otherbpeoples trolley

My mother owned an antique shop. Beautiful, genuine, high-end stuff. She sold jewellery, and would always make sure she had a few expensive "showstopper" pieces in for Christmas. Often these hadn't sold by Christmas Eve, but she deliberately stayed open until about 8pm (this was before the days of shopping malls, when everything shut at 5, or earlier on Christmas eve). Every single year there would be some desperate disorganised man who would pay ANYTHING so he didn't have to face his wife the next day without a gift for her.

LOL I think I was one of those customers lastnight!! In Tesco asking if they still had any outdoor Christmas lights still in…… 😅

Thank the Lord for Amazon!!! And their next day delivery!! Like a Christmas miracle

To be fair that’s on the customers for wanting frozen roast potatoes instead of making their own

I can never seem to find eggs, especially in the little express stores. I wander about for ages 😂

I used to work for M&S and we had 2 women literally fight over the last pot of single cream one Xmas Eve. They managed to split it (so neither of them had it) and I made them pay half each as I was so annoyed they’d behaved like twats.

"Can have a prescription, I've run out of my happy pills " - at 5.29 on Christmas eve!

Each year when I worked at the supermarket, we had one item that sold out. One year it was crackers, one year, paper napkins (Xmas ones and normal) and bottles of Buck’s Fizz. Customers were up in arms about the latter. I smiled and pointed out the 000s bottles of prosecco and cartons of orange juice. I said it’s twice the price of the premixed stuff, but so much nicer and boozier! 😉

Then another year, we had hundreds of boxes of crackers left. They went down to £1 for 6 posh ones that were £18 before Xmas

I worked Christmas Eve in a department store many years ago and I remember a harassed looking man coming in about ten minutes till closing and handing me his phone where his poor wife told me he hadn't got his mother anything and could I pick something for her 😅. Honestly - he couldn't even ask me himself. This was a smartly dressed, professional looking man in his forties. Anyway, I picked her a dress. It was kind of funny, but if my own husband did that, I'd be mortified