Supermarket Pet Peeves

Yes. When India demonetised, it showed how much it would exclude already marginalised communities from participation-- and how it would harm them.
Of course, the institutions that would benefit from a cashless economy are probably fine with the harm it would cause.

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Not exactly a peeve, but something that makes no sense (sort of like the egg pricing I discussed elsewhere): At my local ShopRite, a 4-ounce jar of Spice World minced garlic is $2.99, and an 8-ounce jar of Spice World minced garlic is … $2.99. :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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That’s not on them, that’s on the people who buy the small jar :joy: And I definitely know some of those people (”I don’t want that much, I’ll never use it”).

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When the supermarket decides to rebrand all their products consistently:

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I’ve solved my problem. I look up things like cumin in the store’s app, figure out which brand I want, and note the aisle number on my shopping list. (Ditto for Walmart.)

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New peeve, this time at Aldi: Many of the items at Aldi don’t have prices posted, and many more are on the shelf above price tags for different, similar items. For example, the fire-roasted diced potatoes were sitting above the regular diced tomatoes label. Behind the front cases of fire-roasted tomatoes, there were regular diced tomatoes, but they all look very similar and the fire-roasted are more expensive. You can also end up with canned fruit instead of the juice the shelf label says.

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I wonder how often they do it-- and I mean other supermarkets do that. We don’t have Aldi here in Maine but our biggest chain- Hannaford, well it happens often enough that “accidentally on purpose” is my immediate reaction.

My local Fine Fare is a huge offender in this regard, and I often call them in for it. Here’s what it looks like in my neck of the woods:

https://portal.311.nyc.gov/sr-step/?id=177ed1ac-2842-ee11-a81c-6045bdbf819e&stepid=3a9a7a20-eb5b-e811-a837-000d3a33b3a3

Says “Service Request Not Found” @small_h .

Hmmm. Try this:

https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02209

Hmm, the two by me are very good about having price tags by the correct items. Never been an issue. I tried their grass fed beef. So-so. Figured for $4 I’d try it. Comes up short on flavor compared to me usual go-to. Still, Aldi’s has some things I return for, time and time again. Burman’s mayo is good, they often have cheaper oils, nuts and such. I’m a regular. Now that I’m getting one five minutes away, lookout!

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One question is what percentage of the time do they show a higher price on the label than the item actually rings up as, and what percentage is it lower. (This doesn’t address that you may end up buying something other than what you want, for example fruit in heavy syrup rather than fruit in fruit juice.)

At our local favorite, stock is put out before opening, but staff who check and change shelf pricing not until an hour or so after opening. So vast swaths of product are not marked and you have to take a sample to a checker for pricing.



There are a couple of large chain gasoline/convenience stores who make new employees take a math exam and teach them to count back change, starting from the amount charged to the amount given. Never had one of them bat an eye when I’d give them (e.g.) $21.13 on a $10.88 charge. I figure it’s like neutering your pets, except here I’m trying to prevent unwanted pennies and $1 bills accumulating, and I needed the quarter for the Aldi cart anyway.

The folks at my local beverage mart, OTOH, took a little training.

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The local grocer I frequent the most has a top-down policy from corporate that anything mis-charged is free. This seems to have the desired effect, as they don’t often make mistakes. (Although I mentioned above a free $70 ham one time).

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Our local multi-state chain grocery store also does this. Depending on the amount, it’s sometimes not worth shifting over to the single customer service line or returning to the store once the overcharge is detected. I would put in the effort for a $70 ham, though.

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Not too long ago I was using change in a pharmacy and I found it took me a moment to be sure what it was. It looked and felt a little strange! The checker went in the back and figured it out.

I took all the change I had in my bedroom and it was more than $75.00!

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A few years ago we were at a Whataburger drive thru. Total was $6.23. I handed her a $20. Then as an afterthought said oh here’s a quarter. I wasn’t paying too much attention until I hear my husband say uh oh I think we have a problem here. Glanced over to see the girl looking between the quarter in her hand and I suppose change due on the register. This back and forth went on for a full minute. Then she finally looked at me and said “ Do I really have to do this?” I said no, that’s ok .

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Just noticed this was the Super Market pet peeves thread. I confused it with the Fast Food thread which is long gone.

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It’s not this?