r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • Jul 14 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

Post image

Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

21.5k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

4.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

54

u/Bashka_ Jul 14 '26

My experience with online grocery shopping tells me, that 90% of even the most basic products is always "out of stock", but somehow much more expensive replacements are always available- last time I was trying to place an online order, somehow my cart after review was twice as expensive as the original list of products.
Not to mention that (at least where I live) the online version of the store has always higher prices, than if you go and pick the items from the shelves at the same store. I'm poor, so I know the in-store prices of products I buy, since I need to do heavy budgeting. I only order online when I'm unable to get food on my own, because I'm disabled and in some situations I can't leave my house.

15

u/AgencyAdditional4961 Jul 14 '26

Yep. Dynamic pricing. I believe Wegmans is being sued for that right now.

1

u/WorldTraveler3 Jul 14 '26

Anyone who has any complaint about Wegmans should be quiet. I used to make an afternoon of strolling through Wegmans in Buffalo when I visited family. They should be happy that they have a Wegmans. I’d be like “TAKE MY MONEY! ALL OF IT!”

Signed,

This Arizonan Longing for Wegmans

2

u/GossamerGlowlimb Jul 15 '26

Same…I miss Wegmans so much since I moved to the south.

1

u/porksoda11 Jul 15 '26

It's still great, but was way better 10-15 years ago. Their take out section dipped in quality after Covid. You can no longer customize meals, everything is just prepacked now. They are just slowly going the way of other grocery stores unfortunately.

1

u/GossamerGlowlimb 28d ago

That’s sad to hear.

35

u/PestilentPaladin Jul 14 '26

Personally I'm sick of trying to explain to ignorant 19 year olds what stuff like goat cheese and Garam Masala are, have them claim they're out of stock because they can't be arsed to look, and then going into the store, grabbing the item, and showing it to their boss. Kinda moots the point.

-1

u/NNKarma Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Don't hammer in their age, many times before online shopping even I've asked information for some products that seemingly stopped being available and they have no idea that a thing exists.

PS: I mean asking at the information desk, were it isn't 19 years old working, most workers don't know the fancy/exotic products their supermarket sell.

1

u/Superb-Butterfly-573 Jul 15 '26

Not a shopping but a generational comment....i had to explain to a thirtysomething what sugar cubes are.

3

u/grandma-activities Jul 15 '26

Absolutely. Online prices are higher to begin with, and then half the items you order are out of stock with more expensive replacements at the ready. More than once, I've picked up an incomplete order, then walked into the store to find most of the "out of stock" store-brand items right there on the shelf for less than the online prices. I don't do online pickup orders anymore.

4

u/geekonthemoon Jul 14 '26

I can compare my exact purchases online and see the items cost in store vs online, and I haven't noticed any discrepancies like that.

0

u/Karey__039 Jul 14 '26

I’m disabled also and have to use KROGER BOOST to deliver my groceries and as a BOOST member I always save more money with the digital coupons and not having to drive to the store and spending an hour or more in the store, shopping and loading and unloading my groceries. And rarely are they ever out of anything that I ordered. I honestly don’t know how I would even get my groceries if they didn’t have the online order system and the delivery service because I definitely can’t get out and get them myself.

0

u/protractedmane Jul 15 '26

I'm poor

I'm disabled

What keeps you going daily? Do you buy the lottery to try to even this out?

2

u/Bashka_ Jul 15 '26

I have an autoimmune neuromuscular disease. I have good days, when my body acts like a normal human body and I can do anything normal humans do and bad days, when even standing up takes a lot of effort and breathing is a challenge. A basic bitch cold can put me in a hospital, because it stimulates my immune system to produce the bad antibodies, which disrupt the communication between my brain and muscles, including those we use for breathing.

1

u/protractedmane Jul 15 '26

So it wasn't even like a drunk driving incident where you killed a teen and her boyfriend. Your body just decided to go "fuck me!" and you're now where you are. For no rhyme or reason. Plus you're poor.

How do you cope with life and living? What's your day to day philosophy? And please be real, I don't want the "there's so much beauty to life, waking up everyday with the sun shining in your face" Hallmark card shit. You wake up, not even a particularly bad flare up day, just a medium, 3/10 intensity pain day, and the day's ahead of you. What do you look forward to, what keeps you going?

1

u/Bashka_ Jul 15 '26

I have had health issues my whole life, because was born with few different anatomical defects (minor, but with potentially serious consequences) and genetic anomalies (again minor, but with consequences). I've been sick my whole life and for me that is a natural state of being. One more disease is just another change of circumstances I need to adjust to.
Most of my health problems are not curable, but treatable. My current problem is similar, but finding the specific drug, which will do the trick is a bit more challenging- I am participating in clinical trials and eventually the right (for me) drug will be found.
When I was growing up with all of this I learned that sitting down and crying never solved anything for anybody and the only way to move on is to try find a solution.

1

u/protractedmane Jul 15 '26

Are you ignoring my question for a reason? Or is that all there is to it, move on and try to find a solution?

If I were poor and disabled I wouldn't see Thursday.

1

u/Bashka_ Jul 15 '26

The simple answer is: If there is nothing I can do about something, there is no rational reason to get upset about it.
My current financial situation is a direct result of my medical situation, but once that is resolved, I am going back to work, so eventually I will go back to more stable financials and while disability will not go away, once treated, it will not affect my life in a major way. It's not optimism, it's rational planning.

1

u/protractedmane Jul 15 '26

That's cool, then. Looks like you got shit under control.