I'm working on the deli counter in a supermarket. I'll try and cut a long story short. But a youngish fella late 20's i'd guess, bearded looked like a uni type as opposed to a chav, nicely spoken but not posh iykwim asked for about 12 slices of hand carved organic ham. Now that costs a small fortune, and in the past nine times out of ten you'll tell the customer the price...lets say £14 and they'll say...Omg I'm so sorry I didn't expect it to come to that much, I'll leave it, or I'll take half of it, alternatively, they'll take it, then dump it somewhere else in the shop (in a chilled cabinet if we're lucky). Thing is, if it's got too warm we have to throw it away, if it's still chilled then because it's been cut, we have to sell it on the same day and knock a few quid off- Trouble is, if customers see it's already cut, they don't think it's fresh, so we usually end up having to sell it for 49p per 100g to get rid of it! What we normally do when we're cutting it, is place it on the scales to give the customer a running total, and most of the time they'll tell you to stop cutting and say...that's enough. Bit more difficult when the customer has asked for a specific number of slices, because we've got to be very careful not to imply to the customer that we don't think they look as though they can afford it!!! Anyway, I'd cut 6 slices and proceeded to put them onto the scales - He said " that's only 6 slices - I asked you for 12" I said, I know, we just do this so the customer can see "how it's going".....He gave me a glare and said "if it makes you happy"...I glared back and said " No, it doesn't make me happy, a lot of customers like us to do this" - "whatever" he said...carried on cutting, slice number 8 broke in two, so I put the 2 pieces together (common practice) and cut piece no 9...I said 9....He angrily barked 8 and said broken pieces and bits don't count...Ok, I'll take the broken slice out if you like....Do what you like he said ...at that juncture I'd have truly liked to have punched him in the face but I don't think I would have gotten away with it, so I just carried on cutting. Finally I gave him his £15 packet of ham, which he snatched from my hand and walked off...."You're welcome" I said in the most sarcastic tone...WHAT A *%£! Thankfully we don't get too many arseholes like that...I was flabberghasted!
I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and I honestly try not to, but even the most "well heeled looking of customer" with a trolley full of smoked salmon and bottles of champagne, will often baulk at the prices of cut ham...and this is not because they can't afford to pay for it, they, like a lot of people expect more for their £15 lets say than a few small slices of ham! Thankfully most customers will only ask for one or two slices, or a weight in grams, so putting it onto the scales is a natural thing to do, and like I say the majority of customers take less than they originally asked for!
I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and I honestly try not to, but even the most "well heeled looking of customer" with a trolley full of smoked salmon and bottles of champagne, will often baulk at the prices of cut ham...and this is not because they can't afford to pay for it, they, like a lot of people expect more for their £15 lets say than a few small slices of ham! Thankfully most customers will only ask for one or two slices, or a weight in grams, so putting it onto the scales is a natural thing to do, and like I say the majority of customers take less than they originally asked for!
