Seeing Something 'off' In A Shop - Do You Point It Out?

[joko]

In the past I have seen stuff in shops with mould on, or something that has leaked or been opened and passed it to a staff member - just in case someone buys it and doesnt notice and it makes them ill.
doesnt happen often, of course, but they always thank me and remove the stuff ...
(though one time i may have got the staff into trouble as the boss was annoyed his staff hadnt notice it...!)

yesterday i saw a packet of potatoes - and all 4 were the greenest potatoes i have ever seen! ... green all over and quite an intense green ... but i didnt say anything.
because i know many people dont know about the green potato thing ... that it is poisonous ...i should have i know because some old dear or someone who doesnt notice it will buy them an eat them... but for some reason i just didnt - as though it would be a confrontation or something!
i wasnt feeling too well so maybe it was that.

so just wondering, do you all point stuff out? is it what most people do?
do shops expect and appreciate it?

cheers

[ummmm]

Green potatoes are only a risk if you eat a few kg of them.

[ummmm]

And yes, I would point stuff out.

[TheOtherHalf]

I was buying chicken breasts in M & S the other day and one pack was 2 days out of date. I told the assistant and she was very grateful I had pointed it out. I would hate to pick up something in a hurry and find it was out of date when I got home.

[marval]

Yes I would tell.

[lilacben]

Not for the potatoes I wouldn't. But I always tell them when out of date or damaged. I get so annoyed when I pick up things sometimes when in a hurry. Only to find that it was to be eaten that day and I wanted it for the next day or so.

[B00]

We don't expect it, as ideally we,the shop workers, would prefer to find it first. However we are thankful when a customer does.

[doctordb]

I've just heard on the radio that some 'old dear' has been rushed to hospital after eating green potaoes. turns out she didn't know about the whole 'poison' thing.

Her husband of fifty three years is so worried. he told reporters 'I just wish someone who knew about the poison had told a member of staff.' ;-)

[pastafreak]

Yes-I did just the other week. I picked up a packet of bacon in Sainsbury's that had been punctured. The bacon was off-colour. I handed it to a shelf stacker.

[whiskeryron]

// I've just heard on the radio that some 'old dear' has been rushed to hospital after eating green potaoes. turns out she didn't know about the whole 'poison' thing.

Her husband of fifty three years is so worried. he told reporters 'I just wish someone who knew about the poison had told a member of staff.' ;-)//

I think that joko should be taken to the town square & publicly thrashed for not reporting the incident, the old lady is suffering needlessly.

WR.

[boxtops]

I just cut off the green parts of spuds, never done us any harm..... I ignore off-looking meat, if it's grey then I just don't buy it. Caveat emptor, and all that.

[Eve]

I do, there is one particular mini supermarket I go in where I've spotted quite a few things and pointed them out, usually out of date stuff and some quite out of date! I do think it's bad for such a small store as I remember all the quality checking we had to do when I worked in a larger supermarket and a much simpler job for them to check.

[boxtops]

Yes, small stores can be worse than the supermarkets who tend to rotate stock.

[coccinelle]

There is a lot of food still good after their sell by date. A lot of companies put shorter lives on things so that they will be thrown and more bought from them. In these circumstances when I see something with today's date on I ask for a reduction which I get. Yoghurts can still be eaten a couple of weeks later with no change in taste or texture. There was a programme about this just a couple of weeks ago and it was incredible just how much good food is thrown away. The Red Cross pick up some stuff but some shops won't let them have them and prefer to dump it...

[cecil39]

i bought a pack of 'rice dream' (milk alternative) from asda and found it was 9 months out of date,I took it back, with the reciept, I was told to fetch another one and take it back to the till, but when I looked the whole lot were out of date, so i told the manager, she was horrified and hustled a staff member over to clear the lot off the shelf, she then gave me a voucher for £3 as a thank you, and was very greatfull that I had told her.

[albaqwerty]

good grief cecil, someone wasn't doing their job properly.

On the rare occasion, I do point out an out-of date item, the staff are nice and polite about it.

[Tuvok]

I have - most recently was in Asda (other supermarkets are available!)

I always go to the back of the shelf - longer date items are at the back! That explains why I'm sometimes on my hands and knees in Aldi - because what I want is on the bottom shelf!!!

[mallyh]

yes i point it out with thanks from staff (then ask if they are selling it reduced )lol only joking

[AlwaysConfused]

Of course the supermarkets are appreciative, and are grateful when you point out out-of-date goods, or even pricing errors. Not only are you stopping other people from becoming ill, you are saving them a hefty fine if trading standards spotted it first and become involved. The consumer pointing out out-of-date goods keeps the shopkeeper/assistants on their toes, and actually keeps the cost of our shopping down. Also, have the courage to approach an assistant if an item is that days date, ask for a reduced price. Many supermarkets take off their goods to be marked down by 9 or 10am, so it may be an item they have missed. If they can't do it, they'll probably find someone who can.

[Iluvspikey]

Yup have done and still do, the usual culprit for me is soft fruit, sometimes cherry toms I got fed up of buying punnets of fruit that were lovely on top but furry underneath. Last time there was nobody around for me to give them too, so i just put the 6 punnets onto the filling up trolley the assistant had been using to fill the lettuces.

[B00]

Just to correct alwaysconfused and to clarify...

If a product's out of date, no sales assistant will reduce it, or at least they shouldn't! They might reduce a on the date item, but never an OOD product.