# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/121 "2012-05-16T18:23:00Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > What about [Air Delights](http://www.hersheys.com/pure-products/hersheys-air-delight-bar/air-delight.aspx)? I literally laughed out loud when I saw the commercial for this. Way to go, Hershey’s! I admire you having the balls to not even lie about the fact that you’re charging more to sell us air. I tried one once and they have a weird sort of non-taste and mouthfeel to them. Nothing like a 3 Musketeers (which I loved before they changed the formula recently, now it has ‘richer chocolate taste’ and it sucks). ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/122 "2012-05-16T18:38:35Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Now if Milton Hershey can come up with a way to fill the bubbles with caramel… :eek: If you can dream it, [they can make it.](http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Aero-Caramel-Single-Pack/dp/B006Y8CDMK) I actually prefer the mint-filled ones. Or the orange ones, but I haven’t seen those in ages and ages and ages! ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/123 "2012-05-16T19:27:36Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > [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. I Have a friend here in TN from TX who was so excited when Blue Bell came here. I’ve seen a few markets that even have pints , which I’ve tried. Yumm!! ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/124 "2012-05-16T22:56:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Like I said in my original post on the subject, I’ve been retail shopping for a long damned time - I know they play this game, and I know that I have to look very carefully at what is on sale and not just grab the item that _appears_ to be on sale. That said, when you’re doing a big shop and you’re tired and you just want to get home and relax (and that’s not even taking into account people who are shopping with kids), sometimes you let your guard down and assume that the item right behind the sale placard is the item that’s actually on sale, not the item that’s slightly off to one side of the sale placard. > > ETA: Funnily enough, when I’ve grabbed the wrong product because it looked like it was on sale, it never rings up as a lower-priced item - it always rings in as a higher-priced item. That must be a hell of a coincidence, no? I can’t ever in my life remember a sale placard that was not clear on what was on sale or placed in a way that I found it confusing or deceptive. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/125 "2012-05-16T23:18:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I think you attribute far too much control of shelving to the people you see at the grocery store. If it’s a corporate store, they get POP schematics in weekly, all designed by someone hired by corporate. The drones are just following orders. > > WhyNot, > Former Drone (Blockbuster Video; same deal, different scale) This is not always true. Usually, shelf count space is determined on a corporate level, but it can be varied from store to store based on the needs of that store in some companies. Some others, like Whole Foods, the planograms are determined at the regional offices and the buyers/management of whatever dept. in each store is given a lot of leeway and encouraged to disagree with regional if they have a good argument. Sale signs/tags/placards are entirely, 100% hung by people that work inside the stores and I guarentee you what they are thnking is “this part of my job is fucking tedious and I want it to be done NOW” and not “let’s see how I can trick people into paying more” ps, regarding what you said before, I actually love my job. But I don’t work for customer service and I’m not a drone. Sorry you worked for a shitty company while you were in retail. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/126 "2012-05-17T01:57:20Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > Sale signs/tags/placards are entirely, 100% hung by people that work inside the stores and I guarentee you what they are thnking is “this part of my job is fucking tedious and I want it to be done NOW” and not “let’s see how I can trick people into paying more” This is not true. In at least some retail organizations there are reset teams who travel from store to store to reset the shelves to the new planogram. They are not drones, are well paid, and have oversight at the corporate level. They do not try to trick you into buying something but they do try to:smack: make some things more attractive due to manufacturer incentives, need to move inventory, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/127 "2012-05-17T05:43:52Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > And welcome to the world of the 12-ounce pound of bacon . . . Yeh, what do they think this stuff is, [gold?!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_scale) ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/128 "2012-05-17T06:23:47Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I doubt that misleading sign placement is ever put into the centrally-distributed plan, because all you’d need then is a disgruntled employee and you’d have an easily proven case of fraud. It’s more likely that the sign was put up incorrectly or got moved. Retailers hate it when price labels are wrong, or get mixed up. Regardless of whether the price at the register is higher or lower than the label price (or the price the customer believes), the store loses money, either by giving out freebies or by losing sales. They definitely don’t do it on purpose - I used to work with supermarkets and department stores that were spending millions to try to decrease pricing errors. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/129 "2012-05-17T08:29:14Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > This is not true. In at least some retail organizations there are reset teams who travel from store to store to reset the shelves to the new planogram. They are not drones, are well paid, and have oversight at the corporate level. They do not try to trick you into buying something but they do try to:smack: make some things more attractive due to manufacturer incentives, need to move inventory, etc. Yeah, most places have their resets done by outside people. Resets. As in, stock changing it’s location. That has fuck all to do with weekly sale tags/signs. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/130 "2012-05-17T08:43:20Z")
Oh, unless you think supermarkets are in the habit of changing around their shelves for every sales changeover. (No. They are not.) Perhaps **WhyNot** was moving her DVDs all around the store every week, but in the supermarket that shit is very time consuming. Almost always during sale changeovers what gets moved around are the endcaps and depending on the store, there might be a section of an aisle dedicated to sales. And you know who does those? In store employees. And guess what? The planograms are usually something like “Brand X, Size Y, Varieties 1, 2, 3” and the “drones” get to decide how they are arranged. But to the people upthread suggesting trickery with the signs, yeah, I’m sure corporate is beaming mind control rays into their minds to put the sign up in the wrong spot so you pay an extra 50 cents. It couldn’t possibly be that you’re just too stupid or careless to read the sign right the first time. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/131 "2012-05-17T12:10:17Z")
Since I was never talking about misplaced signs, and I don’t think actual communication is likely at that point, y’all will have to carry on without me. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/132 "2012-05-17T12:26:25Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Since I was never talking about misplaced signs, and I don’t think actual communication is likely at that point, y’all will have to carry on without me. It’s been explained to you why your theory makes no sense. If you still refuse to accept that, then I doubt you’ll get many complaints for bowing out of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/133 "2012-05-17T12:30:45Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Since I was never talking about misplaced signs, and I don’t think actual communication is likely at that point, y’all will have to carry on without me. No, you were talking about moving items to be close to the sale signs for other items: > [@WhyNot](#): > > “Wrong” place? Absolutely not. But they do put an 8ounce bottle of chocolate syrup that’s on sale next to a 10 ounce bottle of chocolate syrup that’s not on sale, and then place a sign under them saying “SALE - CHOCOLATE SYRUP 8oz”. Yes sirree, they do. It’s a science. > [@WhyNot](#): > > As long as the money collected from those “mistakes” exceeds the money spent on paying you $8 an hour to walk to Aisle 3 twice in your shift it makes financial sense to inconvenience the workers and customer. And if you’re doing it more than twice a shift, then Cat Whisperer is not the one taxing his brain here; just remember that there’s a misleading display and a) fix it (which your manager won’t like, because in her eyes it’s not broken) or b) take a few of the on sale items with you to the checkout to offer the next sucker customer who makes the same error. Which is essentially the same thing. You were also a condescending little asshole (assuming Aqua was whining about his job when he gave no indication he was doing so) and also made the mistake of assuming that since you worked in a video store, you are an expert on sale / placement practices in grocery stores. Those are two totally different types of retail. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/134 "2012-05-17T12:44:38Z")
Never claimed to be an expert. I freely admit I did extrapolate, based on my observations of people holding planograms while moving merchandise from aisles to endcaps and vice-versa and thinking, “Oh, yeah, I remember that”. During my tenure, we were a video store and a music store and a food store and a merchandise store…Blockbuster tried lots and lots of different ways to stay alive, and they all required lots and lots of reshelving and corporate interference and attempts to manipulate customers into making mistakes that cost them financially. Not saying it’s identical to grocery store management or makes me an expert, just that I know enough to know that Joe Smith doesn’t decide where to put the ketchup unless it’s Joe Smith’s store. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/135 "2012-05-17T14:25:28Z")
I remember once seeing a jar of salsa ( the “New York City!” variety, I think) that proudly proclaimed “50 % MORE than a 16 ounce jar”… Um, yeah. It’s a bigger jar. This is the literal truth. So what? ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/136 "2012-05-17T19:58:29Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I remember once seeing a jar of salsa ( the “New York City!” variety, I think) that proudly proclaimed “50 % MORE than a 16 ounce jar”.. > > Um, yeah. It’s a bigger jar. This is the literal truth. So what? In all likelihood the sign was alerting you to a change in size for that item. (yes, sometimes the price stays the same and they get bigger! hold your gasps!) Failing that, the item was at a larger size for a limited time. You usually see the latter with paper packaging rather than jars, because more often than not that sort of thing is a “bonus pack” sort of deal where they, for example, give you 10 poptarts in the package rather than the usual 8. ---
**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 31, 2012, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/137 "2012-05-31T07:04:36Z")
Lunchables are the [latest victim](http://consumerist.com/2012/05/lunchables-fall-victim-to-the-grocery-shrink-ray.html) of the Grocery Shrink Ray. Package remains identical in size and appearance, but miraculously contains about 23% less food for the same price. ---
**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 31, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/138 "2012-05-31T09:34:38Z")
Same pic on the package, too. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/139 "2012-05-31T09:47:01Z")
WTF is the deal with Wal-mart I least know for sure. asking for ID for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING? I mean at that point just make it store policy you don’t sell to minors or something. I mean the list is vast and not mandated by any law. Batteries, weed killer, baking soda, nail polish or nail polish remover, staples, pens and markers etc etc/ There are many more random items that ping at the register and prompt the clerk to check ID. Funny thing too is the clerk at the checkout seems to have authority to not bother you, bother you once, or bother you multiple times! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620/140 "2012-05-31T10:04:34Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I remember when Dannon cut the amount of their yogurt from 8 to 6 ounces, the container actually advertised the fact that you now had more room to add your favorite mix-ins like granola, raisins, or whatever. :rolleyes: Not true if your favorite mix-in is more yogurt. I forget which company, but I remember that when they switched to the smaller size, they announced that their yoghurt was now “ONLY 100 CALORIES”. I wondered what they’d done and then realized it was still the same amount of calories/ounce, just fewer ounces per container. Sneaky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/retail-crap-thats-pissing-me-off/621620.md?page=8)