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.

My bugbear is Marmite, I can never find it in shops. Eggs no problem though.

I used to work in public libraries, open some years until 8pm Christmas and New Years Eve. People would float along and try and get in at 7.55pm wanting to choose books 'for the holiday period'. Our 'boss' used to stand by the front doors and take the books off people then send them off with a flea in their ear. She was small but very fierce, no one argued with her

I worked retail in a toy store and obviously the most popular toy that year would sell out way before Christmas Eve. You’d still get customers at 3pm Christmas Eve shouting at you (a minimum wage earner) that you had ruined their child’s Christmas because an hour before end of play on Christmas Eve we no longer had stock of that year’s most in-demand toy.

When I worked for a certain catalogue retail store, people coming in at 4pm Christmas Eve wanting that years must have toy. When told we didn’t have any left, and hadn’t for weeks kicking off and saying how can they tell their child Santa didn’t have the toy they had been asking for!

As a student I was working in argos the year telly tubbies came out. I was shouted at and sworn at, accused of keeping toys for myself. It was vile.

We put up signs saying no telly tubbies but people didn't care, they became savages !
Even worse this was before the computer told you when to go to the collection point. As soon as people payed they started pushing at the collection counter, place would be heaving.

Really? Which law says I can’t? Sure I couldn’t have called the cops if they’d had refused. But if they had done then we’d have banned them from the store.

I do the free sampling in a supermarket and have done for a number of years It seems I am the local agony aunt as customers like to prop up my stand and tell me their woes ….. this year has been the worst for complainers ….

Husband used to work in a bookshop, and a flustered customer came in asking if they sold toothbrushes.

He said there were always men coming in shortly before closing on Christmas Eve in a panic that they hadn't done their shopping. He used to 'recommend' any of the old stock they'd had trouble shifting, and they'd usually buy it!

I was a 'shop girl' who became a CEO . Final PAYE salary £500k.

In my town there are 100 applicants for a basic retail job.
My favourite job? As a Estee Lauder sales consultant in a Grace Brothers type store in the south.

Have you read the thread? Do you really need it spelling out to you?

Especially when the shop is crowded, it is a lot quicker to ask someone than go up and down the aisles, particularly with eggs, which, as established, are kept in a different place in every supermarket! God forbid a staff member has to quickly say 'aisle 3' or whatever

They generally do.

Search for the item. It will tell you the aisle if you click on 'shelf'. I do this in Tesco and Sainsbury's most. I'm fairly familiar with Asda.

This does not work with eggs.

I write this every year but about 25 years ago, in Asda, 30 minutes before closing, looking for reductions (!), a woman in the fruit and vegetable section was screaming abuse at one of the staff Why are there no fresh sprouts, don't you know it's Christmas???? Lots of people giggling, probably wanting to break into song.

Also did a few years in a well known supermarket. Every year I 'ruined' quite a few christmas days apparently. No turkeys at 3.30pm, the year we closed at 4pm. As we left the store that year people were arriving in their cars and swore at us that we needed to open the doors back up for them as they needed to shop.

It was actually frightening some years, people stealing out of other trolleys. Proper punching each other, police being called.

Here you go!

That's what I was thinking (and how it would have been helpful to have been directed to where that bread was)

That’s for people with a degree, not for the computer says no retail workers on this thread.
I doubt very much anyone who is offended when you ask where the eggs are has a degree or has any hope of earning 100k at Aldi.

All these posts about egg location has reminded me to walk across the road for eggs from the neighbour's front gate! Thanks.

Yippee kay ay!

Oh come on! The bloke wanting his car serviced during the garage closed period was a stupid question. Plus the new TV delivered instantly at 5pm on Christmas eve.

The vast majority of my retail staff have a degree or higher education qualification 😂

Recent graduates, post grad students, parents who have gone back to work part time, older staff who have taken up part time work to supplement pensions or as a career change after a busy professional role. A lot who moved into retail as they were sick of roles in the public sector. I have a MA and worked my way up from sales advisor when I was at uni to regional manager, I graduated during the crash in 2008, couldn’t find work in my field and fell into a career I ended up enjoying.

Degrees don’t always = professional jobs, especially over the last 20 years. A lot of my staff were very clever but ended up in retail to make ends meet, because it suited their family situation or because they enjoyed the interaction with people.

but this customer wanted long life bread, which DOES exist

So your example is a bit pants

Extra guests?

Cancelled plans to visit relatives so now staying at home?

Not Christmas related but I worked for a local newspaper years ago (pre Internet). Paper only came out once a week on a Friday. Friday morning somebody phones up wanting to get an advert in the paper that day. I pointed out that the paper was already printed and in the shops. Cue five minutes of him arguing with me that I must be able to do something and that it was really important that his event was in the paper today.

Are crackers seasonal? I seem to buy them all year round!

Whoops, just realised that i'm talking about different crackers, mine go with cheese, Sorry!

Do you staff think they’re superior because they know where the eggs are?