Food Shrinks

[simplyanother]

So, we sell seafood. AND we cook it for you. Some of it, not all of it. Anyway, we weigh it and stuff uncooked, and that's what you're charged for. Which is a bummer, but it's the way it is. We're charged for the raw stuff, therefore, we charge you for the raw stuff.

Most places, this isn't a problem. Most people aren't getting a quarter pounder, having it cooked, plopping it into a scale and seeing that it weighs less now. But they sure as hell do with the seafood we cook.

Yes, I'll reweigh it for you, after it's cooked. But no, I will not reprice it. I'm not trying to rip you off. I'm just doing my job. I know it sucks to have something reduce in weight that much. But that's what food does. It just..does.

They are almost all convinced that the drop off is due to a lot of it being frozen before cooking. We take off for the frozen weight. And I will show them that a thawed shrimp and a frozen shrimp weigh THE SAME...and they get all pissed with me.

I know that seafood is expensive. But I don't get paid any extra to rip them off.

There's this one woman who comes in about three times a week, gets shrimp, and then acts completely surprised, like she's never ever ever gotten it before, like she's never ever noticed that it weighs less after it's cooked. "I think this was weighed wrong". No, it wasn't, you're just a fucking idiot.

I can understand not getting it, at first. But..nope, every single time.


If they'd let us post a disclaimer that said "pre-cooked weight" and have something that said "and remember blah blah might lose as much as blah blah after cooking".... it'd still not stop the whining mofos, but at least I could point at the sign and say "well, I'm sorry ...but.."

I actually like my job. lmao.

[notalwaysright]

Anyway, we weigh it and stuff uncooked, and that's what you're charged for. Which is a bummer, but it's the way it is. We're charged for the raw stuff, therefore, we charge you for the raw stuff.

This makes sense to me... I sell fabric which is not shrunk, and thus will be smaller after it is washed. If it's a natural fiber. Anyway, I constantly get people wanting extra for free for "straightening and shrink." You know what, if you want to make that argument, fair enough! But don't make it to me, who has no authority whatsoever to make decisions.

And as for that lady who come in all the time and acts surprised each time.. What is it with those people?? Completely bonkers, or trying to scam you?

[RealUnimportant]

Most other places have signs like that - even fast food restaurants have "pre-cooked weight" against signature weight-named dishes. I wonder why your employer doesn't want one?

Still, that lady who just doesn't "get it" is gonna have trouble throughout her life...

[EricKei]

Maybe try and convince the owners to add a new set of SKU's for cooked foods. Every store I've ever been to, the 'cooked' weight is greater to the degree that buying it raw and having the store cook it is much cheaper: "OK, lady: You can buy it for $5 a pound raw and we'll weigh it now and cook it -- it'll shrink to 75% of the current weight; OR you can have us cook it first and charge you $10 a pound based on the cooked weight." It's called a convenience fee This is why sliced ham can easily cost double (or triple) the retail value of the exact same ham if you buy it whole out of the case. The grocery where I used to work would re-price it to match the higher price if you did the latter and had it sliced by the deli, though. The meat department would not (basically because the meat manager had a spine and refused to do it). So, naturally, any item where this was likely to happen was placed near the deli, halfway across the store from the meat department.

[gremcint]

my coworker will say sometimes: oatmeal cookies with raisins that look like chocolate chips are why I have trust issues.

I responded to her: the amount bacon shrinks when cooked is why I have trust issues.

[Teysa]

Surprisingly, I didn't have too much of an issue with this when I worked the meat/seafood counter. One of my favorites was the people who would order 1 lb of ground meat and then complain when it came out to be 1.01 lbs. And yes, people were that picky.

[MoonCat]

Surprisingly, I didn't have too much of an issue with this when I worked the meat/seafood counter. One of my favorites was the people who would order 1 lb of ground meat and then complain when it came out to be 1.01 lbs. And yes, people were that picky.

Geeeez, what whiners. Usually the deli person will ask me "A little over okay?" and I pretty much always say yes. It's hard to get EXACTLY a pound on a lot of things.

[Captain Trips]

Geeeez, what whiners. Usually the deli person will ask me "A little over okay?" and I pretty much always say yes. It's hard to get EXACTLY a pound on a lot of things.

Agreed - and they usually ask "is it okay" with that deer-in-the-headlights look of "I know this person is going to make a huge scene over one hundredth of a pound, I just know it." To which I say, "at x dollars a pound, it's only x cents difference. Sure, it's fine." And they look all relieved.

Thank you, SC's, for making store clerks afraid of the rest of us.

[TimmyHate]

I remember the look of fear when I was buying 150g or sliced ham. 1 slice was 110g, so 2 made it 220. They were certain I was going to ask them to cut it in half or something.

I shrugged and said that I'd have two very happy dogs at home getting a special treat,

[Sapphire Silk]

I asked a deli guy once for a half pound of boiled ham. He starts shredding it to get to exactly 1/2 pound when the scale reads .60 lbs or something like that.

I said, "It's OK if it's a little over."

He must have had some suckstomers flipping their shit about exact weights or something

[Catwoman2965]

Agreed - and they usually ask "is it okay" with that deer-in-the-headlights look of "I know this person is going to make a huge scene over one hundredth of a pound, I just know it." To which I say, "at x dollars a pound, it's only x cents difference. Sure, it's fine." And they look all relieved.

Thank you, SC's, for making store clerks afraid of the rest of us.

I do that too. or sometimes they'll put it on the weigh it, and maybe i've asked for .75 of a lb, and it comes out to like .68, and before the ycan go back, I'll say its fine. Over, under, as long as its close, I don't really care.

[carryonnow]

It seems the SC in question belongs to the "something for nothing" tribe. They are a miserable group of people always looking for a way to get more of an item or a service for less money.

Without this tribe, our days would be dull and we would need to actually think of ways to piss of management instead of pissing off customers.

[wolfie]

On occasion I've asked for "About 500 grams of $product". The scale wound up reading some value over 500 grams, but not even 10 grams over. The clerk asked "It's a bit over - is that OK?". Sliced deli stuff will NEVER give an exact amount - that's why I asked for ABOUT 500 grams. Try giving me 200 grams or a kilogram? That's wrong. If one slice more or less would put it on the other side of 500 grams, it's fine.