# Retail crap that's pissing me off **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620 "2012-05-11T15:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/21 "2012-05-11T20:17:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s one thing I hate about recipes that are created by US Americans - the tendency to give subjective measurements. A is a cup is a cup; a can of tomatoes can be any damned size. I used to have a book from the late 1800’s that frequently gave measurements in terms of _price_. Recipes would include measurements such as “twenty-five cents’ worth of lean meat” or “two cents’ worth of alum.” The relative scarcity of stores selling bulk dry chemicals to the general public aside, what the hell is the conversion factor for two (1889) cents’ worth of alum? One could get a senior thesis out of that project. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/22 "2012-05-11T20:36:36Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > How sad, and both political parties, are equally to blame, in my mind. PCs and Liberal? PCs and NDP? Liberal and NDP? BQ and Green? My rant: The marks on the lid (which acts as a measureing cup) for liquid laundry detergent. The first line from the bottom is often marked 0 (zero). WTF? Zero means nothing. The first of something can’t be the zeroth, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/23 "2012-05-11T20:37:41Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > It’s been a while since I bought ice cream, but I think Ben & Jerry’s is still sold in full-size pints. In fact they used to print “Still 16 Ounces!” on the lids, which is how I found out that other brands had switched to a 14-ounce “pint”. I prefer B&J’s anyway. I’ve stopped buying Haagen Dazs for this reason. I’m not going to reward that shit. Ben & Jerry’s is still in 1 pint containers, and when we buy supermarket ice-cream, we also sometimes buy Talienti or Ciao Bella, which are also still 16 ounces. I realize that costs go up, and that manufacturers need to raise their prices from time to time, but trying to hide it by keeping the package size the same while reducing the contents really pisses me off. The Consumerist website calls it the [Grocery Shrink Ray](http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=grocery%20shrink%20ray&limit=20), and have dozens of articles, going back quite a few years, on the practice. I just wonder how far companies are actually willing to go with this. Will the OP’s laundry soap eventually come in a 2-pound container? Will chocolate chips eventually be sold only in 4-oz packs? Will all ice cream buckets eventually be the size of those little individual servings? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/24 "2012-05-11T20:39:54Z")
My biggest retail pet-peeve is policies that corporate comes up with that annoy both customers and employees, but the corporate folk don’t give a fuck since they don’t have to deal with it in person. They’re just rying to make an extra buck. My example- Offering a store credit card at the point of purchase. Every damn store does it, every customer hates being asked, and every employee hates asking. Customers want to be rung up as quick as possible and be on their way and cashiers would probably be happy if they were allowed to do that. The last thing a cashier wants to do, and the last thing people in line want someone in front of them to do, is start filling out a credit card application bringing the checkout lane to a screeching halt. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/25 "2012-05-11T20:48:08Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I think the ship sailed when we let burger companies advertise burgers with photos of burgers that in no way, shape or form, resemble anything they sell as a burger. This always reminds of the great [Whammyburger scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwQ6EjLdMQ&feature=player_detailpage#t=238s) from _Falling Down_. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/26 "2012-05-11T20:57:55Z")
[Blue Bell Ice Cream](http://bluebell.com/) still comes in 1/2 gallons. And if you can’t get it in your area (they’re from Texas; it may be a southern thing) I truly weep for you. It is ice cream of the gods. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/27 "2012-05-11T21:19:59Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Third example: At the checkout counter of our local grocery store the other day, there was a sign announcing that with their ripoff…err…loyalty card (and THAT’S another Pit thread all together), you could get ten cents off a gallon of gas for every hundred dollars you spend! Great news, right? Sounds like a good deal! Except for the tiny fact, not mentioned on the sign, that this program has been in place for years, and until now, we got ten cents off for every fifty bucks we spent. So they reduce the discount by half, and then have the gall to post these perky little fliers telling us how lucky we are to be shopping at such a wonderful store. And now the points expire after 30 days, so if you don’t shop often, or don’t fill up often, you never manage to _use_ the discount. Jerks. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/28 "2012-05-11T21:40:51Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I just wonder how far companies are actually willing to go with this. Will the OP’s laundry soap eventually come in a 2-pound container? Will chocolate chips eventually be sold only in 4-oz packs? Will all ice cream buckets eventually be the size of those little individual servings? I _think_ that there’s a natural limit somewhere. After all, people still do want to buy ice cream and laundry soap in reasonably useful sizes. Once everyone has shrunk down to 75% of the former size, there’s at least a little pressure for someone to go back to the full size and label the parts of the package that stick out where the “new normal” packages shrink in as “33% more!” than the “standard” size. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/29 "2012-05-11T21:44:30Z")
Not sure if mine fits but I’ll throw it in here anyway: I hate it when you call a business and they _force_ their employees to answer like this: - [ring, ring]\* Company: "Hello, thank you for calling Stanley Steamer carpet cleaning services. Home of the world’s first green friendly chemicals. We have a wide variety of services, including furniture items for $25 a piece for a limited time only. My measurements are 26-24-26. I sometimes experience anal leakage when I eat too many greasy foods. How may we here at Stanley Steamer help you today? Me: Um, yeah, I just wanted to confirm my 11 o’clock tomorrow… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/30 "2012-05-11T21:54:21Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Once everyone has shrunk down to 75% of the former size, there’s at least a little pressure for someone to go back to the full size and label the parts of the package that stick out where the “new normal” packages shrink in as “33% more!” than the “standard” size. And it only cost 40% more than the standard size! What a bargain! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/31 "2012-05-11T22:12:59Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > My biggest retail pet-peeve is policies that corporate comes up with that annoy both customers and employees, but the corporate folk don’t give a fuck since they don’t have to deal with it in person. They’re just rying to make an extra buck. > My example- Offering a store credit card at the point of purchase. > Every damn store does it, every customer hates being asked, and every employee hates asking. Customers want to be rung up as quick as possible and be on their way and cashiers would probably be happy if they were allowed to do that. > The last thing a cashier wants to do, and the last thing people in line want someone in front of them to do, is start filling out a credit card application bringing the checkout lane to a screeching halt. God remember when places started asking for your address and phone number a few years back before they would let you buy anything? You go into Radio Shack to buy batteries and they ask before they would let you pay, I always scoffed and the guy said he had to ask and had to get some answer from me or get fired. I gave him Ano Nymous at 123 Fake Street and he dutifully punched it in. I HATE when employees try to make me feel pity for them because of their employer’s insane policy. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/32 "2012-05-11T22:26:07Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Actually the worst part of the entire thing is that there isn’t a company that’s NOT doing it so we can’t even vote with our pocket books. As the cost of food rises a manufacturer’s options are to either continue providing the same amount and raise your cost, or reduce quantity and maintain the old price. I get that the latter is a little sneaky, but I don’t think there’s some greedy conspiracy happening. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/33 "2012-05-11T22:26:11Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > My rant: The marks on the lid (which acts as a measureing cup) for liquid laundry detergent. The first line from the bottom is often marked 0 (zero). WTF? Zero means nothing. The first of something can’t be the zeroth, dammit! You’re obviously not a programmer. Zero indexing is perfectly intuitive for us propeller-heads. That said, I can’t imagine why laundry detergent companies would want to pander to us in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/34 "2012-05-11T22:27:24Z")
> [@grude](#): > > God remember when places started asking for your address and phone number a few years back before they would let you buy anything? You go into Radio Shack to buy batteries and they ask before they would let you pay, I always scoffed and the guy said he had to ask and had to get some answer from me or get fired. I gave him Ano Nymous at 123 Fake Street and he dutifully punched it in. > > I HATE when employees try to make me feel pity for them because of their employer’s insane policy. When they ask “zip code?” or “phone number?” I just smile and cheerily say “no thanks!” Most of the time they just skip it, or put in the store’s zip code instead. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/35 "2012-05-11T22:39:45Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > As the cost of food rises a manufacturer’s options are to either continue providing the same amount and raise your cost, or reduce quantity and maintain the old price. I get that the latter is a little sneaky, but I don’t think there’s some greedy conspiracy happening. No small amount at the old price is still an increased cost. If I sell you 4 jelly beans for a dollar (shutup these are good jelly beans) that works out to a 25 cents per jelly bean or a quarter dollar. If I reduce that price to 3 jelly beans per dollar than that’s 33 and 1/3 cents per jelly bean. In other words jelly beans cost 1/3 more. Here’s the thing. It’s more than a bit sneaky. What do you call someone who tries to make you believe something that isn’t true? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/36 "2012-05-12T00:42:58Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > No small amount at the old price is still an increased cost. If I sell you 4 jelly beans for a dollar (shutup these are good jelly beans) that works out to a 25 cents per jelly bean or a quarter dollar. If I reduce that price to 3 jelly beans per dollar than that’s 33 and 1/3 cents per jelly bean. > > In other words jelly beans cost 1/3 more. > > Here’s the thing. It’s more than a bit sneaky. What do you call someone who tries to make you believe something that isn’t true? What are you arguing? That’s exactly what **Hero From Sector 7G** is saying. There are two ways to raise price:\* (1)Increase price, keep quantity static (2)Decrease quantity, keep price static S/he even noted that the second way is sneakier. \*I guess a third would be to increase price and decrease quantity simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/37 "2012-05-12T01:12:02Z")
> [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](#): > > As the cost of food rises a manufacturer’s options are to either continue providing the same amount and raise your cost, or reduce quantity and maintain the old price. I get that the latter is a little sneaky, but I don’t think there’s some greedy conspiracy happening. Ah, but you’re not thinking like a CEO. If the bag of chips that used to be $3 for 2 cups is now $3 for 1 1/2 cups, and my recipe that I’ve been using forever and don’t feel like converting calls for 2 cups of chips (or, for lots and lots of people, have no idea how to convert to a 75% batch)…well, then I’ve got to get two bags! I must spend $6 for 3 cups of chips to have enough for my cookies! The bastards are most certainly making more per transaction, even charging “the same” per bag. > [@gregorio](#): > > My rant: The marks on the lid (which acts as a measureing cup) for liquid laundry detergent. The first line from the bottom is often marked 0 (zero). WTF? Zero means nothing. The first of something can’t be the zeroth, dammit! Check out the big bottles of Tide sometime. Same size in liquid ounces. Same size caps with the same markings in the same places. One says it washes 50some loads when the cap/cup is filled to line 2, and the other says it washes 90some loads when the cap/cup is filled to line 2. Same amount of detergent, nearly double the load claims. And no, this isn’t some trick HE or not HE thing. I spent nearly half an hour in Target last week trying to figure out WTF was going on here. Never did figure it out, but I started getting weird looks from the Red Shirts, so I left. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/38 "2012-05-12T01:24:21Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Check out the big bottles of Tide sometime. Same size in liquid ounces. Same size caps with the same markings in the same places. One says it washes 50some loads when the cap/cup is filled to line 2, and the other says it washes 90some loads when the cap/cup is filled to line 2. Same amount of detergent, nearly double the load claims. And no, this isn’t some trick HE or not HE thing. I spent nearly half an hour in Target last week trying to figure out WTF was going on here. Never did figure it out, but I started getting weird looks from the Red Shirts, so I left. They produce many different concentrations to purposely confuse the consumer. Why the hell they don’t just give us the (one) most concentrated formula, I don’t know. Oh, wait a minute… I do know. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/39 "2012-05-12T01:42:20Z")
One brand (and I forget which brand it is) of children’s cough syrup used to call for 1 spoonful of medicine per dose. Then, suddenly, the dosage went up to 2 spoonfuls of medicine per dose. That is, the manufacturer put out a diluted formula, adjusted the dosage recommendation, and kept the price the same. What really ground my gears was that the manufacturer tried to say that this wasn’t a price increase, that most parents bought a new bottle when their kids got sick, so that the price was essentially the same. Well, that’s not my experience. I bought a new bottle when I started running low on the damn syrup, and if I wasn’t the sort of person that I happen to be, I’d be undermedicating my child. However, I DO read the label on each new bottle to see if there have been dosage changes…and I would have noticed the change. The manufacturer was cutting the number of doses per bottle in half, and expected people to not notice or not care. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/40 "2012-05-12T01:49:15Z")
> [@grude](#): > > God remember when places started asking for your address and phone number a few years back before they would let you buy anything? You go into Radio Shack to buy batteries and they ask before they would let you pay, I always scoffed and the guy said he had to ask and had to get some answer from me or get fired. I gave him Ano Nymous at 123 Fake Street and he dutifully punched it in. I hated that. I was trying to buy batteries and they wanted my address and phone number. I might have been rude, but I told the clerk that I wasn’t giving that info out for a pack of batteries. I then went home and wrote a scathing email to Radio Shack. I don’t know if their policy has changed because I’ve not been in one since then. > [@D\_Odds](#): > > \*I guess a third would be to increase price and decrease quantity simultaneously. Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul does that. I used to pay $22.00 for 20 lbs. Now I pay $32.00 for 18 lbs. I tried to move my cats to Wellness when they cost the same per pound, but my rotten beasts refused to eat it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620.md?page=3)