I. Hate. The Ham Deal.

Okay, to set the scene, I work for a supermarket "where quality comes first."

Here at the store, we had the traditional Easter ham deal. If you spent $300 from February 13 to March 12, you earned yourself a free ham, turkey, turkey breast, or lasagna to collect before Easter. Here's the ad.

( This is the ad... my only friend, the ad... )

As you can see, for the ham, turkey, or turkey breast, we have one specific item that we are giving for free. But not to worry! You could buy most any ham, turkey, or turkey breast in the store, and we will deduct the price per pound of the base item from the cost. (My family gets the butt end ham for 20¢/lb.)

So this woman comes through my line with a Cook's spiral-sliced ham (which is $2.48/lb). The base ham is $1.19/lb, so she is entitled to this ham for $1.29/lb. Easy? Not so fast. She claims she's entitled to it for free, noting that it says "Free Cook's Shank Half Smoked Ham; any smoked spiral sliced, boneless smoked, or fresh ham". That's right, she completely missed the line of "Save $1.19/lb off". She got it for darned near half off, like she was s'posed to.

On to other customers...

It happened at Halloween, now it happens at Easter. The woman bought $50 of Easter candy, and then put a penny on food stamps and paid the rest cash. Why the penny on food stamps? That's right, because it removes the tax on the items!

We had asparagus on sale for 99¢/lb, limit four pounds. I actually saw a person have me remove single stalks of asparagus, one by one, until she got exactly four pounds. Sheesh, if you were over by a hundredth of a pound, what would it cost you, two cents maybe?

I worked in produce on Friday. Ma'am, I understand that our cantaloupe is pathetic and tasteless. Be assured, it's the best we can do - after all, cantaloupe is out of season right now.

Last but not least, just because the item has no barcode on it (this can happen with meats, cheeses, sometimes seafood) does not mean the item is free. It means I have to send a bagger back to the appropriate department to get a barcode put on it. I know it's a pain to wait but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do to speed it up. Snapping at me will not help.

Have a Happy Easter, and thank you for shopping a supermarket "where quality comes first."

I. Hate. The Ham Deal.

Okay, to set the scene, I work for a supermarket "where quality comes first."

Here at the store, we had the traditional Easter ham deal. If you spent $300 from February 13 to March 12, you earned yourself a free ham, turkey, turkey breast, or lasagna to collect before Easter. Here's the ad.

( This is the ad... my only friend, the ad... )

As you can see, for the ham, turkey, or turkey breast, we have one specific item that we are giving for free. But not to worry! You could buy most any ham, turkey, or turkey breast in the store, and we will deduct the price per pound of the base item from the cost. (My family gets the butt end ham for 20¢/lb.)

So this woman comes through my line with a Cook's spiral-sliced ham (which is $2.48/lb). The base ham is $1.19/lb, so she is entitled to this ham for $1.29/lb. Easy? Not so fast. She claims she's entitled to it for free, noting that it says "Free Cook's Shank Half Smoked Ham; any smoked spiral sliced, boneless smoked, or fresh ham". That's right, she completely missed the line of "Save $1.19/lb off". She got it for darned near half off, like she was s'posed to.

On to other customers...

It happened at Halloween, now it happens at Easter. The woman bought $50 of Easter candy, and then put a penny on food stamps and paid the rest cash. Why the penny on food stamps? That's right, because it removes the tax on the items!

We had asparagus on sale for 99¢/lb, limit four pounds. I actually saw a person have me remove single stalks of asparagus, one by one, until she got exactly four pounds. Sheesh, if you were over by a hundredth of a pound, what would it cost you, two cents maybe?

I worked in produce on Friday. Ma'am, I understand that our cantaloupe is pathetic and tasteless. Be assured, it's the best we can do - after all, cantaloupe is out of season right now.

Last but not least, just because the item has no barcode on it (this can happen with meats, cheeses, sometimes seafood) does not mean the item is free. It means I have to send a bagger back to the appropriate department to get a barcode put on it. I know it's a pain to wait but unfortunately, there's nothing we can do to speed it up. Snapping at me will not help.

Have a Happy Easter, and thank you for shopping a supermarket "where quality comes first."