# Your grocery store complaints **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2011, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830 "2011-07-30T13:41:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/41 "2011-07-30T22:37:16Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > FUCK LOYALTY CARDS! > > . Yes. Fuck them. aka “we want to know what you are buying so we can send you ads” cards. There’s a couple of grocery stores I bypass now because I simply can’t be arsed to sign up. And since I know that, even if the store is convenient and all I need is a pound of coffee I’ll be charged extra if I don’t have the stupid card, I’ll spend the 5-10 extra minutes simply driving to another store. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/42 "2011-07-31T01:31:51Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Or the person who _insists_ on paying exact change, when their total is $57._ **98** _. I work at a gas station, and every day, someone will have a total of, say, $10.57, give me a twenty, then say, “Wait! I have 57 cents in the car!” Bitch, why didn’t you just bring it in? And it’s that important that you’ll go back to your car and come back, then go back, pump your gas, maybe come back for change, and go back again? Just keep a few coins in your pocket or purse. They come in handy. Or don’t, but don’t hold up my line… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/43 "2011-07-31T01:35:07Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > There’s a couple of grocery stores I bypass now because I simply can’t be arsed to sign up. And since I know that, even if the store is convenient and all I need is a pound of coffee I’ll be charged extra if I don’t have the stupid card, I’ll spend the 5-10 extra minutes simply driving to another store. I don’t use my real name or address for the cards. They don’t ask for ID, so my interest in genealogy comes in handy as I put down my great-grandmother’s name. Or the dog’s. Or a mix of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/44 "2011-07-31T01:39:59Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > When you give me change, don’t try to pile the coins on top of the bills and receipt. Do it correctly, and hand me the coins first!!! This annoys me to no end. During my short retail stint this was one of the first things I was taught. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/45 "2011-07-31T01:42:18Z")
What really drives me crazy, even more than the aisle-blocking with the cart, is stores that allow people to park right in front of the door. The curb is painted red, and it’s a fire lane- why do you let people park there and don’t say anything to them??! It’s bad enough driving in front of the store, with the cars turning in and out of the aisles, and people walking in front of you to get in and out of the store, I also have to go around this idiot that parked in a fire lane? Oh, but wait, he has his emergency flashers on? Oh, well, then okay, because everybody knows that you can park wherever the hell you want if you put your _flashers_ on! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/46 "2011-07-31T01:48:20Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > I bought a really nice salad dressing two months ago and it’s never been in stock since. I hate when that happens, as I tend to find things I _love_ that soon get discontinued. > [@chizzuk](#): > > -Salsa is not pasta sauce. Why is it in the pasta aisle? I’ve been in a few different branches of the same chain grocery store, and they _each_ have different methods and theories for how the “ethnic food” is arranged. My regular store in the last area I lived in had two areas for Latin food: the one for gringos and the one for Latinos-- the stuff that was more familiar for each group was stocked in their area. In addition to this, the other ethnic sections vary wildly as to what they carry and do not carry (Giant British food section in one, Haitian/“Islander” food dispersed throughout the store, Asian groceries to be found anywhere it makes sense to the stockboy, and Latin food dispersed throughout all aisles of the store _or_ in the “sauce” aisle) and some places won’t have any of one ingredient/item, while the other store branches will have a glut of it. Example: the grocery nearest my work has Badia herbal teas, which I have never seen in any other branch of this grocery chain in any part of Florida in which I have lived or visited. Additionally, it seems like I can only buy Hungarian hot paprika in branches of this chain that are located in Central Florida, as the ones in my area don’t stock it at all, and only sometimes stock the regular Hungarian paprika. It took me a few months to figure out that my local branches kept the pitas near the deli but the tortillas in the bread aisle next to the English muffins. 😕 There’s a local farmer’s market and grocery in my area that is notorious for it being super crowded and full of cranky people. I am still baffled that anyone would bring their kid in here, but every time I go, I see a different family with at least two children that must be moved out of the way of others at all times. I can barely walk through the place while filling up two reusable bags that I carry on my shoulder, so I can’t imagine how the families with multiple children fare in the aisle navigation warfare that goes on in this place. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/47 "2011-07-31T01:49:41Z")
My “favorites” are the people who park their asses in the middle of the aisle and then have the chutzpah to take umbrage when you ask them to move. I can understand not having room to maneuver a cart, but the place to stop is not in the middle of the fucking aisle! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/48 "2011-07-31T01:53:37Z")
> [@BrknButterfly](#): > > The cashier and the bagger talking without acknowledging me really annoys me. I know you don’t care about my day, but I’m dropping a 100 dollars in your store. Please act like you care. When I worked as a cashier, if we were caught talking to anyone but that customer about anything that wasn’t work related; we were written up. Customer Service was taken very seriously. I actually prefer this. Yes, an exchange of “Hellos” is nice, but beyond that, I don’t want to make chit-chat with the cashier at all. I definitely don’t want to discuss the items I’m buying, or how expensive/inexpensive they are, or how tasty they are, or how fattening they are. (All topics that have been brought up to me by cashiers in the past.) I don’t want to be addressed by my name. I don’t care _in the slightest_ if the cashier and bagger want to talk to each other. If it eases their work-day, then more’s the better. I just want to pay for my groceries and leave. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/49 "2011-07-31T02:19:31Z")
> [@BrknButterfly](#): > > Working the express line, clearly labeled 14 items or less and a customer comes up to the register with noticeably more. Before I can can say something, they say, “I know I have more but you weren’t busy.” :rolleyes: Why is this bad? I’ve had cashiers wave me into the 10 item line when I’ve had a few more items and they didn’t have anyone waiting. Not an overflowing buggy, but maybe 20 items instead of 10. If the cashier isn’t busy, why not? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/50 "2011-07-31T02:23:49Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Why is this bad? I’ve had cashiers wave me into the 10 item line when I’ve had a few more items and they didn’t have anyone waiting. Not an overflowing buggy, but maybe 20 items instead of 10. If the cashier isn’t busy, why not? The difference is the _cashier_ knows if s/he’s busy and is making the call. I’ve seen people get in a line and pull that stunt. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/51 "2011-07-31T02:32:26Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Why is this bad? I’ve had cashiers wave me into the 10 item line when I’ve had a few more items and they didn’t have anyone waiting. Not an overflowing buggy, but maybe 20 items instead of 10. If the cashier isn’t busy, why not? And that lane is for the convenience of people who only have a small purchase to make. When you pile a bunch of shit on the belt, it takes twice as long for people with actual small purchases to make to get out of the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/52 "2011-07-31T02:36:14Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > The difference is the _cashier_ knows if s/he’s busy and is making the call. > > I’ve seen people get in a line and pull that stunt. Exactly. When I was a checker we were told “If you don’t have a customer, go and find one.” So when you were on the Express Line and had no customers, you went to one of the other lines and picked out whoever had the least stuff and brought them over. A customer with a cartload of stuff coming through the Express Line **uninvited** was _not_ something that was welcomed. If the item limit on the signage is 15 and you have 17 items, no one is going to complain (mostly; I occasionally got customers who would count the number of items of customers in front of them _out loud_, then give them _and_ me the evil eye when they got to 16 :rolleyes:), but if you try to push through an amount of items that are obviously way over the limit, I would be politely directing you to another lane, and calling out an additional checker if need be (we were instructed to call for backup if the line exceeded 3 customers with non-Express orders). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/53 "2011-07-31T02:49:44Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I actually prefer this. Yes, an exchange of “Hellos” is nice, but beyond that, I don’t want to make chit-chat with the cashier at all. I definitely don’t want to discuss the items I’m buying, or how expensive/inexpensive they are, or how tasty they are, or how fattening they are. (All topics that have been brought up to me by cashiers in the past.) I don’t want to be addressed by my name. I don’t care _in the slightest_ if the cashier and bagger want to talk to each other. If it eases their work-day, then more’s the better. I just want to pay for my groceries and leave. Please. I don’t know of a single bagger or cashier at any grocery in my town that I **don’t** know. They are either a student of mine, a former student of mine, a relative of a student of mine, or friends with a student. That’s why I buy medications and the like in the next town. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/54 "2011-07-31T02:52:23Z")
Here’s one I’ve noticed here in China at three different stores. If I have a multiple of a single item (e.g., four tea towels), the clerk slowly examines the UPC on each of the four towels in order to ensure that they’re identical. Then she’ll hit the 4x key on the register, and scan a single item. It’s _not_ a time saver versus just scanning the four identical items. ---
**Author:** ![NoiseBomb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/49beb7/32.png) [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/55 "2011-07-31T03:08:49Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I don’t use my real name or address for the cards. They don’t ask for ID, so my interest in genealogy comes in handy as I put down my great-grandmother’s name. Or the dog’s. Or a mix of the two. If the store lets you fill out the form right there and take the card with you, sign up for a new one each time you shop. Do this until you have a good size stack of them. Number them, and bring them all with you when you shop. When asked for your loyalty card, shuffle through the cards while muttering “umm ok, milk, vegetables and cereal. that’s number 5. no, wait, number 4. here you go!” ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/56 "2011-07-31T03:24:00Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > My “favorites” are the people who park their asses in the middle of the aisle and then have the chutzpah to take umbrage when you ask them to move. I can understand not having room to maneuver a cart, but the place to stop is not in the middle of the fucking aisle! I had that happened when I said excuse me. The woman turned back to look at me and then returned to her gazing sauces or whatever it was. So I pushed her cart out of the way with mine. Apparently that was rude behaviour according to her. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/57 "2011-07-31T03:36:19Z")
I don’t know how long this has gone on, but it is getting worse. My problem is with daytime stocking. It can be Saturday afternoon, thousands of customers doing the family shopping for the week, and every single aisle is blocked up by a worker stocking some item on the shelves with pallets of goods strewn haphazardly down the aisle. I don’t mean returning sundry items to their proper place, nor re-stocking a big selling item that has run out. I’m talking about stocking various run of the mill items. Now these stockers clearly don’t work for the grocery store. One can see they are route drivers for whatever company distributes that brand. I assume that grocery stores are negotiating contracts with these brands that stipulate the stocking get done by the route drivers so the stores can save on manpower. But here is the catch. Those route drivers don’t work in the middle of the night like grocery stock boys. No they work during the day, they are on a tight schedule, and they don’t give a shit about the customers who may be shopping in whatever store they are rushing to get stocked. Some stores are worse than others with this. I have completely quit shopping at our formerly preferred chain (HEB) just because of this. For instance, whatever time of day you’d visit the soda aisle would be blocked by stockers, full pallets on forklifts. If it wasn’t the Dr Pepper guy it would be the Coke guy or the Pepsi guy. If you wanted any soda you’d have to wait in line to park it on the end cap, then fight your way over pallets of sodas, avoid being run over by the sweating delivery driver, and make your way back out again. The last straw was going in the Saturday before Thanksgiving. No, I wasn’t doing all my Thanksgiving shopping that day. I just needed an extra jar of pumpkin butter. After waiting in an amusement park-esque line to get down that particular aisle I see that the main problem (other than it being the busiest day of the year) is that there is a forklift and pallet of salad dressings blocking off three quarters of the aisle. The pumpkin butter I needed was completely hidden. The frustrated stock guy both didn’t want to, and couldn’t, move his shit so I could shop. I caused a scene, got my butter, and I haven’t returned. The store I shop at now isn’t as bad, but I still see it creeping up more and more. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/58 "2011-07-31T03:50:59Z")
Day time stockers drive me batshit, especially in stores that are open 24 hours. If I decide I need beer and tortillas at 2 AM, then I guess I’ll deal with the inconvenience of forklifts and what not blocking aisles. But if I’m trying to get my Special K with Strawberries at fucking 1 in the afternoon the damned cereal aisle better not be blocked. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/59 "2011-07-31T03:57:29Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > I loathe the extra-large kid-friendly carts, the ones w/ the race car on the front. I’ve seen women struggling w/ a full cart plus the kid in the little car and they barely make it down the aisle w/o wacking other carts and people. They won’t make aisles wider in the stores, why don’t they stick w/ one standard cart size or smaller? I avoid a local supermarket specifically because of those carts and unfortunately I like that supermarket better than the one I usually go to (not for quality reasons - the one has fancier stuff than the one I go to, so it’s a tad more fun, or as fun as a grocery can be). I’m the mom who would have to push the damn thing, and I’d just as soon not deal with the aggravation. They make the cart almost twice as long as it would have been otherwise. The store I go to if I happen to have to take the kids has a kid-friendly cart, too, but the bells and whistles have to do with the basket of the cart. The cart itself is the same length as a standard, non-kid cart. The one thing I hate most about supermarkets (and I’ve bitched about it before) is watching otherwise able-bodied people walk around, slumped over their cart like it’s holding them up, shuffling slowly up and down the aisles. What sucks is that I’ve been tempted to do it myself. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830/60 "2011-07-31T04:05:33Z")
I also get annoyed when people take a whole bunch of one item and the last few are way at the back of the shelf (usually high up) and impossible to reach. I don’t blame the customers for taking the ones in closest range, but could some of the store employees maybe take some notice of when this is occurring when they’re stocking shelves and push the ones at the back up to the front? Two weeks in a row I was actually climbing up freezer shelves to reach the fish I wanted. I do not want to have to climb the freezer and I’m sure they don’t want me climbing it, either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-grocery-store-complaints/590830.md?page=4)