I TRIED to get her to save the bacon...

[Broomjockey]

Okay, nothing against you, but your supermarket's rule about this is fucking stupid.

Actually, this rule makes complete and total sense.

No, I am not joking.

Most of the time, food that's left at the checkouts can't be restocked right away, due to just not having enough people on to be constantly running stuff back to the far corners of the store every time it happens. Thus, any food left at the checkouts that's perishable like that needs to be tossed for safety reasons, since it can't be left until the dead periods like everything else. Even if they did have one person dedicated to that task, if they gathered everything up from the tills, ran it to the areas, then came back for another batch, it could be 10-15 minutes between trips. 15 minutes may not sound like much, but what happens if that same pack is "almost bought" 3 or 4 times in one day. It's now spent more than an hour outside the proper storage areas. That could be enough to allow it to start spoiling, placing the store at risk of being a health hazard.

If the customer puts it away, no waiting. It's done. Right then.

Now, in this specific case, where the OP wasn't doing anything for the next 5 minutes, you could argue that they could have run it back this time. But remember, management can't really take that chance. What if someone with a huge cart of groceries came up 1 minute after they ran to put the bacon back, saw the empty lane, then decided to ditch the cart and complain to corporate? One pack of bacon saved, the cartload of groceries lost and a complaint they now have to deal with. Managers have to deal with potentials more than reality. Forecast sales, possible emergencies, theoretical situations. And then all the SCs we kick up to their level. Yeah, the policy's wasteful, but the next time you're not bent over the toilet from food poisoning, thank that policy.

[Jester]

There is some small sense of logic in your explanation.

Emphasis on "small."

Because, my fine friend, I work in the food industry too. And I know what it takes and what it doesn't take to spoil food. Bacon, for example, is frozen in grocery stores. And if you took the frozen bacon out of the freezer for a straight hour and then put it back, it would still be perfectly fine. Four 15 minute trips, with the bacon going BACK into the freezer each time? And getting back to frozen? Obviously, still no problem.

And by the way, the difference between the customer and the employee running the bacon back? None. Zero. Nada.

Also, let's look at how long it would take an employee to run it back. I am in good shape, but I don't know where everything is in even my regular supermarket. Assume the average cashier is in average shape, maybe less than me, but knows where everything in their store is. Makes us about equal. In a very large supermarket--and I've been in some LARGE ones--I can guranfreakintee you that I could have that bacon away and be back at the tills in MAX four minutes. (I am thinking more like two, but I'll err on the conservative side here.)

But let's say for the sake of even more argument that the store's policy is that the cashier NEVER leaves their till while they are logged in to their registers (ignoring the obvious need for bathroom breaks). So the cashiers can't move. What about the manager that told her not to run the bacon back and casually tossed it in the bin? Why couldn't SHE run it back? Or how about a bagger? Surely the cashier can bag the groceries of a customer if necessary. Stock boys? Cart people? Please. You can't tell me there are not enough employees for them to be able to run it back to where it belongs.

Yes, I know there are going to be some things that, for various reasons, don't get run back in a reasonable span of time. And throwing such items out is, in fact reasonable.

But having a rule where anything that the customer doesn't put back, no matter how quickly the staff reacts? That is the definition of "fucking stupid."

[KnitShoni]

Wow. That's interesting. I've never seen a store keep bacon frozen. Refrigerated, yes, but never frozen. So, if the bacon were simply refrigerated, yes, that rule would make perfect sense.

[hinakiba777]

See Milk and the like makes no sense to me. But I can understand the frozen foods issue. It's not about spoiling, it's about the magic of "re-freeze".

This is when an item has nearly fully thawed when you place it back in the freezer. This of course needs to it freezing again in an odd way. It's not freezer burn, it's just a really messed up situation. I mean, we've all had refrozen ice cream right?

GROSS! So yeah, bad food! Bad!

Also, I stand behind Brooomy on the "Almost bought 4 times" thing. That probably would have a very negative affect on the food.

.....I'm not allowed to work in any form of foods industry anymore.

[Hyndis]

I remember complaining about this on another blog. Other posters essentially called me a liar when I mentioned how I toss hundreds in food each shift.

That customer just threw away two bucks. And someone behind her will "reshop" a bag of chicken ($14) and a pizza ($5). It adds up fast and I agree, it's a real waste. If customers are so concerned about how *my store* keeps raising prices rabble rabble rabble, perhaps they should stop throwing money down the drain. Face it, *my store* is still cheaper than most.

I've experienced this myself.

Towards the end of my time at Safeway (I quit out of sheer disgust ), I would make it a point to very visibly throw away all of those "reshops" people kept leaving behind. While we could put back frozen or cold items that were still frozen or cold, far too often by the time they let us know, we had to throw them away.

If customers asked what I was doing with a full shopping cart, going from register to register to gather up all of those reshops, I'd simply tell them that we have to throw all of this stuff away because people didn't want it and didn't put it away themselves.

The amount of needless waste in your average supermarket is utterly staggering and downright disgusting.

[Hyndis]

Wow. That's interesting. I've never seen a store keep bacon frozen. Refrigerated, yes, but never frozen. So, if the bacon were simply refrigerated, yes, that rule would make perfect sense.

IIRC, Safeway (or at least the one I worked at) sold almost entirely refrigerated bacon, and not frozen. The frozen stuff was from the frozen section, which was with the prepackaged breakfast foods and whatnot. The refrigerated bacon, which was the vast, vast majority, was in the butcher's section. And because bacon doesn't have a lot of mass to it, it warms up quickly, whereas stuff like milk can endure for a bit longer period of time.

[bainsidhe]

Broom is correct. We call it "food safety standards", but it also encompasses the litigation factor.

Now I'm not saying the policy is great 100% of the time. We have to throw away food that is rock frozen solid, too. But imagine if you will, if a customer should complain they became *gasp* ill from food purchased at our store. All it would take is a little word-of mouth that *my store* doesn't automatically throw refrigerated reshops away and lo, look at the lawsuits. Yes, this is a pretty damn negative view of customers. But the policy is there to cover our ass.

And oh my, it does seem silly that customers can reshop items, but we can't. But that's policy. Cashiers cannot reshop refrigibles period. I've never asked a customer to reshop something myself, but I've occassionally acted a little dramatic about how gee, we need to throw that away now. Rarely it works, but sometimes it does

[Jester]

So, if the bacon were simply refrigerated, yes, that rule would make perfect sense.

I have to disagree here. Even if the bacon is refrigerated (which I guess most of it is), if it is immediately put away, I don't see a problem.

It's not about spoiling, it's about the magic of "re-freeze".

This is when an item has nearly fully thawed when you place it back in the freezer. This of course needs to it freezing again in an odd way.

But if it is put away again quickly? I mean, seriously, how long does it take when we buy a frozen item for it to get from the store freezer, through our cart, the checkout line, our car, and then into our residence, before it is back in a freezer? Probably longer than it would take to return it to the freezer in the store most of the time.

Look, I'm not saying everything that is left by guests should be put back. I understand food safety issues. I do.

But the policy in question, wherein no matter WHAT the time factor is, the staff is not allowed to return stuff, is just idiotic. It really should be a case by case basis. Bacon not bought? No customers around? Staff member free? Let them put it away! Bacon not bought? Busy time? Bacon sits around? Toss it. The policy, as it stands right now with such rigid absolutism, is costing the company unnecessarily, and its wasting of food is not only unnecessary but morally criminal, in my opinion.

And now I shall put the soapbox back under the cupboard, rest my case, and go about enjoying my Super Bowl Sunday, where at one point, for some reason, I will make a point to have some lovely, awesome bacon. You know....so it doesn't go to waste.

[Voldine]

Corroboration from an ex-employee of slave-mart:

Reshopping anything from the Deli is Not Allowed once it has left the immediate area of the deli.

This was, of course, to keep things from spoiling because they were kept outside proper storage for any length of time. It was also to keep customers from tampering with a product in any number of ways and then bringing it back saying they decided they didn't want it.

This led to a few funny confrontations with LP when I had a customer try to return a pound of cheese that I had sliced for them a half hour before. I accepted it back and asked them to hold on a second. I placed it on the scale because it was detectably smaller and lighter than what I had given them. Scale pops up 0.33, I call LP, SC's get arrested because cameras had caught them doing other sucky things while shopping. I was good friends with the LP guy at the time and he gave me a list of what that couple had been caught for.

- 5 $20 DVD's in woman's purse, still in wrapped cases.
- 2/3 pounds of cheese eaten.
- Stashing the peels of two eaten bananas in a pile of shirts on-camera.
- Two CD's in man's pants pockets. (My, what a large hard WALLET you have there.)

[Broomjockey]

But having a rule where anything that the customer doesn't put back, no matter how quickly the staff reacts? That is the definition of "fucking stupid."

See, you're missing the point of my explanation. That point? Culpability. If the store puts it back, and it turns out they sell something spoiled, and they get sued, and are proven to put back food in that situation, their culpability in the situation increases. If the customers put it back, they just say "How are we to know?" and they're off the hook. It may never actually happen, but that's the whole "dealing in possibilities" thing. It's not the definition of 'fucking stupid,' it's the definition of "cover your ass against SCs."

Geez, you almost sound as if you've never heard of a place getting sued over bad food.

[Jester]

Oh, I know what you're saying, and I know how litigious idiots can be.

But you have to remember that, in your scenario, a good lawyer could make a case against the store for allowing their customers to put food back, rather than pitching it. Because it's not a matter of the store not knowing the customers are putting the food back when they are, in fact, telling the customers that they (the customers) can put it back but they (the store) cannot. AND the store has that as a policy, presumably written.

Yeah, a good lawyer could make just as good a case for store culpability with that as they could with the employees putting the food back.

And I still think it is utterly ridiculous.

[Broomjockey]

Yeah, a good lawyer

Like most of those morons can actually find a good lawyer. I do agree though, it would be really nice if there could be less wastage in the food supply chain. But seriously, to call the policy the definition of stupidity et al seems a bit extreme.

[Jester]

I've made my point, stated my case, and put my soapbox away. People will either agree or disagree. My opinion has been made clear on the subject, and I will (try to) not say any more on it.

[Ree]

Actually, Jester...and you may want to sit down for this...I AGREE with you.

When I worked at the grocery store, we never threw stuff out if it was left behind.
We always had someone run anything perishable back to the shelf immediately.

I can totally see the reasoning behind every explanation offered, but to say that a customer can put it back without any problem, but an employee can't, or it has to be tossed out...well that just seems silly to me.

Yeah, if it's going to sit at the cash for ages, I understand it, but I still don't see why a clerk can't just be paged and given the item to take back, right then and there.

I guess I just see this as the store making things more complicated than they need to be.

[Jester]

Actually, Jester...and you may want to sit down for this...I AGREE with you.

I actually WAS sitting down.

That being said, I was not a bit surprised that you agreed with me. We have had our disagreements (oh have we ever!), but overall you are an intelligent, rational, logical woman. Why WOULDN'T you agree with such a sensible position as the one I put forth?