I'm hiding it from you! Mwahaha!

[Mnemjian]

This one really irks me. Sometimes people will ask if we have a book, and when I show them the section where it would be and start to help them look for it, they say "Oh I checked here already." Then I guess we don't have it? Were you hoping it would magically appear if I looked for it instead? Mostly it's fine because a lot of books could feasibly be in a few different sections. It's just annoying when they follow me across the store like a sheep, and only after do I start looking for them do they decide to pipe up.

My very favorite, though, is: "Could it be mis-shelved somewhere?" Sure, why not? 99% of SC's pull books off the shelves and leave them any old place. We do a pretty good job of fixing that, but it's not 100% at any time. But if a book is mis-shelved in our store of 50,000+ books, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be helping you look for it anymore

[MoonCat]

They're probably hoping that they just didn't see it and you can find it for them. I only ask someone to find it for me I've already asked, been told where it should be, and still can't find it...although usually I just feel too stupid to go back and ask for more help!

[Mnemjian]

They're probably hoping that they just didn't see it and you can find it for them. I only ask someone to find it for me I've already asked, been told where it should be, and still can't find it...although usually I just feel too stupid to go back and ask for more help!

Well, two pairs of eyes are better than one! Usually I don't mind at all to look for somebody because it's a nice break from the monotony of shelving books. I just get the impression like some people expect me to pull the book they want out of my a** ...

[KiaKat]

Usually, if I'm asking "do you have x" after having looked, it's because I wonder if they can check their system and see if it's in inventory, or if it could be hiding in another part of the store that I didn't think to check.

This came in handy the other day when I was looking for hair dye. They didn't have the specific colour in the specific line I was looking for, but they offered to call around and see if any other stores had it in stock. Called the local stores, none of them had it, so I saved time and didn't have to go to other locations for nothing.

[zombiequeen]

Well, I sure wouldn't want to read a book pulled out from someone's ass, it would just be unhygienic!
I do the same thing about asking though, I look first, then ask. If I still cannot find it, I try to get the same person, and ask again. I also ask if they can look in inventory, but I'm normally so embarrassed at this point I thank them even if they say "No."