Land of Oz

Saturday Shopping

Well, it's been another typical Saturday shopping experience for me. First I stop at an ACO Hardware store. If you haven't been in one, it's kind of a cross between a serious hardware store and a Chinese supplied dollar store. They really don't seem to know what they are trying to be. I wander up and down the hardware aisles looking for either lazy susan style bearing plates or someone to ask where they might have them. I finally find a guy and ask him. At first he says he's not sure, but then he says he's sure they don't because some lady asked for them before and he told her they didn't have any, so they don't have any. (Notice he didn't say they didn't have any or he asked the manager if they had any, just that he said they told here they didn't have any.)

Next stop was Ace Hardware (remember when Connie Stevens sang about the helpful hardware man) and I walk up and down the aisles and see no one (a trend here?) so finally ask at the counter if they have any lazy susan style bearing plates. She didn't know (I figured that) and told me to ask one of the hardware clerks. When I asked where they were, she pointed them out standing alongside one of the shelves. I walk up to them and one guy walks away without a word and when I ask about the bearings another guy says he went to show you where they are (it would've been nice of him to let me know). When I find him, he's wandering the shelves looking for the bearings. I told him I was wandering just fine on my own, but does he know someone who knows if they have them. Finally yet another guy comes around and points them out. They only had one - I needed two or three - so I left. (Like I would've bought one after that mess).

So later that day I stop at Rite Aid to look for some chocolate on sale (chocolate sounds so much more sophisticated than candy). I go to the candy aisle and there's a bright yellow sign on the shelf that says Hershey Nuggets on sale for $2.99, so I pick up a bag. I go to the checkout and put them down and the clerk scans them up at $3.69 - I say no, they're on sale at $2.99 and she says, "no they aren't; you can buy two for $5 but they aren't on sale for $2.99 and haven't been all week." I leave them there, and walk back to the candy aisle and tear the sign off the shelf and bring it back up with me. She compares the sign and the product and admits that they are in fact on sale for $2.99. She rings up the sale and when I give her three dollar bills, she can't make change because the computer isn't happy it was told it was wrong. So I have to wait. She looks at me like I should just leave and be happy I was only charged $2.99. There are at least two people behind me and I found out she used the other cash register to miss-ring another customer. She calls for the manager and he tells her to wait, he's busy. There's no way I'm leaving - if it's only for a stupid penny. She finally finds one and I'm on my way.

Now, honestly, is it only me this stuff happens to? It's not once in a while, it happens regularly. Clueless clerks and mislabeled and mispriced stock in stores. It seem like a quarter of the stuff I pick up in stores doesn't have a price tag and there isn't one on the shelf. And if you ask they point you out to the "handy price scanners installed for customer convenience" which as I've pointed out before are there for the store's convenience - for my convenience, I'd rather a price on the item and a clerk who knows the difference between a hacksaw and a ham hock. Assuming I'm not the only one this stuff happens to, what about the rest of you? Do you not notice, or not care. I don't doubt that 1 out of 4 or 5 times there's a mistake in the price the computer says - don't others notice or if they do, don't they complain about it?

2fers: ACO Hardware and Hacksaws and Ham Hocks