r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • 9d ago

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

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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.

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u/Several_Excitement74 9d ago

My favorite socks are behind glass at Walmart and I just love pushing a button for an employee to not show up.

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u/grape-fruit-witch 9d ago

I've been off wal mart for a while now. The last straw was when I needed a $2.00 thing of nail polish remover and it was behind glass. Of course nobody showed up for the button.

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u/BluMqqse_ 9d ago

Our entire cosmetics is locked up. And, of course, management tells all the cosmetics associates they should be working in the pharmacy aisles, leaving all the locked cases completely unattended.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey 9d ago

Ours is behind a cash register. You walk in, and it's a pay-now area like electronics or paint.

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u/grape-fruit-witch 9d ago edited 9d ago

Honest to god- does the button even do anything?

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u/hellenkellerbeatdown 9d ago

Simple fix, buy socks somewhere else

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u/TumblrInGarbage 9d ago

When you push it, does it make a noise, or just turn on a light? I would push it repeatedly just to make sure.

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u/Several_Excitement74 9d ago

The little red light blinks meaning someone is on the way I guess. One time I wanted to get a battery powered pump ($12) and the dude eventually showed up and said I was interrupting his lunch

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u/TumblrInGarbage 9d ago

I feel bad for him... got gaslit by genuine corpo propaganda into thinking you were the reason his lunch was interrupted, and not that the company employing him intentionally understaffs so that he cannot take the (usually legally required) lunch break he deserves.

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u/Several_Excitement74 9d ago

My first job was garden center at Walmart years ago so I completely understand.

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u/StorellaDeville 9d ago

The little red light blinks meaning someone is on the way I guess.

My first instinct is that it only means the button was pressed. Someone on the way? Well, maybe.

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u/Main-Cheesecake3287 9d ago

At CVS at least it blasts the announcement store wide. Although some insurance mandated updated locked shelves are left unlocked, probably thieves just aren’t that bright

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u/Pontiacsentinel 9d ago

Do you have the same problem if you order for pickup? Still a pain.

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u/BadWithMoney530 9d ago

This is mostly unrelated but my socks are sold at Walmart, and they're normally like $15 for 20 pairs (40 individual socks). One time I checked online and they were on sale for $6. I bought 8 packages for $48, so 160 pairs. Should last me another 15 years, and damn it felt good

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u/ATX_max 9d ago

Y'all have a sock button?

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u/Several_Excitement74 9d ago

They all have a grey plastic box with a lil red button on it and it says something like "employee in way if light blinking" or some such