When you can't find something in store

applecruncher

applecruncher

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Location
Ohio USA
Sunny's thread reminded me of a very different problem I've had while shopping at the grocery store.

I know where most items are, and of course there's the aisle signs. If they rearrange things I have to get used to it, but usually it's not an issue. The problem comes when I buy something infrequently or something different.

After looking, I ask a store employee I see and it really irritates me when the answer is :
1) I think in aisle 6
2) Probably the next aisle (Probably?)
3) Those should be over next to the (xxx)

GRRR :mad:
Being the assertive type, I usually say "Well, I really need to know for sure., so could you please check?" Traipsing around a large supermarket looking for where something might be or should be isn't my idea of fun.

Once in awhile the employee will walk me over to the location, and I really appreciate it. I don't want to be sent on a wild goose chase.

Then at the register the cashier will ask "Did you find everything?" So, if I didn't it means I gamble on the bagger bringing back the correct item, size, etc. while I hold up the line. Or, I decide it can wait until next trip. But, if it's on my list it's important.
 

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The store employees at our Wally world, point 'it's over there'

I walk a few steps and point 'over here?'

After a few times of 'over here?', they give up the brush off and lead me

kinda fun

My favorite is finding the 'we don't carry that' item...and showing them when I do find it
 

We try to shop those local grocers whose product placements we know as well, if not better, than their employees. When shopping out of town, which I really enjoy, we just look at trips to the grocery stores as fun adventures. I was in paradise, in Houston, at the mega grocery store, Phoenicia, which specializes in Mediterranean goods.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
They seem to always be rearranging the items in our grocery store . They do it so often that they hand out maps which you can hardly see. If I can't find an item I do without. A few times I have asked and they say they will check in the back and I never see them again.
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"In the back" 🤣

I must admit I've never had anyone do a back room disappearing act. A few times I've waited then gone into the back room to make sure they weren't abducted by the stock room gremlin.
 
I think they put things on the end for a good reason (for them); there is a method to their madness. The items on the end of the aisle, or near the checkout counter, are designed to attract impulse buying. In other words, something that wasn't on your shopping list, but you decide is a good idea to buy anyway.

Here's my gripe of the day, mostly about Home Depot. I would be willing to swear that their employees are trained to avoid helping customers. There are always plenty of them roaming around, but as soon as I start to approach one of them, they abruptly do a sharp turn and go in the other direction. I have seen much more of their backs than their fronts! This can't be happening by sheer chance, every single time! I've gotten pretty good at yelling, nice and loud, "EXCUSE ME?" Then, they usually turn around.

They probably get paid minimum wage, and couldn't care less about helping anyone. They want to minimize their own walking, or maybe their own thinking. They see actually helping customers as an imposition on their time. I usually avoid shopping there for that reason. I might as well buy everything from Amazon.
 
Trader Joe's employees don't point. They literally walk you over to the exact spot to show you where the items are. And they don't roll their eyes or act as if they're being put out while doing so.

Some of the many reasons I'm a loyal TJ shopper (along with less friendly Aldi's and Costco, which falls somewhere in between).
 
Tipping supermarket employees? Huh? I've never done that nor do I know of anyone who has.

Minimum wage? I know of some supermarket employees who earn way above minimum wage plus they get an attractive benefit package.
 
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Grocery stores are fairly easy to find stuff in, IMO. Where I have a problem is going to the big Home Improvement stores....Lowe's, Menard's, Home Depot, etc. They have so much stuff that one can spend a huge amount of time trying to find something. Luckily, their web sites usually list a location...aisle, bin, etc....so I can research a purchase ahead of time, go in, find it quickly and get out. That way, I don't waste a lot of time, and wind up buying something I might have little use for. The US Chamber of Commerce did a study, awhile back, that shows that most people wind up spending $3 for every minute they are in a store....another good reason to avoid "browsing" as much as possible.
 
At my grocery store, they really don't sell anything. All the activity is put into moving stuff around from aisle to aisle. They do this so everything is logically where it should be. For instance, it's logical that rice and cat toys are in the same aisle. And where would you find motor oil? Of course, logically, in the dairy aisle. It goes without saying that diapers and potato chips are in the same aisle. To avoid confusion, they have signs over the aisle telling you what is in each of 'em. But they haven't updated those signs, since the 1950s. If you ask the staff they know exactly where things are. or where they were, ten minutes ago.. Say you're asking for Oreo cookies, and you're told "Aisle 17B". When you get to Aisle 17B, the sign will say "Light Bulbs".
 
If your store has a price checker or scanner, usually it will also list the location by aisle number and sometime even the shelf number.
 
In Walmart they were rearranging products. The section was renamed dental from personal care.

The young woman transferring products was lost for an answer when I asked her.

Are you going to leave those tampons in the dental section because the string is for flossing & the pad is for any gum bleeding that might happen if flossed to hard
 
I once needed to buy Sriracha, wanted to try it but had no idea what it looked like. I looked in the condiment section where the ketchup was but just could not see it. Finally asked one of the store employees, she didn't even know what sriracha was (I had it written in a note), so she went and asked a Mexican shopper and he came over and found it for us. I thought that was fun, and she DID go beyond her duty to help me. :love: I thanked them both profusely.
 
In my nearest Supermarket they move items about in Grocery to other aisles. For example: I wanted a can of butter beans and went to the tinned dept where beans and all tinned things are vegetable wise. Bean...Spaghetti... Peas...you name it and it was there but not butter beans which used to be there inplace. So I asked the cashier and she asked a staff member to seek it out and she came back with the tin of butter beans and I asked her where did you find them and she replied on the flour and sugar section in another Isle!!!! Grrrr! I thought. I said to the cashier after thanking her, that must be a sales push to get customers to look about the store and she replied you are probably right and she added that not many people ask where things are so I said that's a possible loss for the supermarket as customers will look to other shops rather than ask. All it does is aggravate when items cannot be found where they are expected to be.:rolleyes:(n)
 
charry said:
i do all my shopping online....so i can browse to my hearts delight ..😊
[/QUOTE

If push comes to shave then this is what I will do. We have Asda, Tesco, Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland all offering online ordering. Not sure what they charge.
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