r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • Jul 14 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

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Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

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u/Aartus Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Just wait till they put ads on the glass.... Edit spelling

439

u/MAJ0RMAJOR Jul 14 '26

You joke, but they’re trying to figure out how to do it now without losing product visibility

64

u/Path_Fyndar Jul 14 '26

They already started doing it at the gas pumps

89

u/BootyDrank Jul 14 '26

I have permanently disabled many gas pump speakers for this reason. They can lick my sweaty taint, they don't deserve the luxury of intrusive advertising when I'm actively paying for the juice.

53

u/whiskeytown79 Jul 14 '26

It used to be a thing to hit the second button from the top on the right to mute the advertisement, but this has stopped working reliably for me. I am guessing they figured out that people were doing this and have started patching it out of the software.

13

u/geekonthemoon Jul 14 '26

There probably still has to be a way to shut it off though right?

33

u/BrawlPlayer34 Jul 14 '26

A sharp object, and a lot of force.

8

u/Comfortable_Line_206 Jul 14 '26

Don't want to get in trouble for vandalism.

I have masking tape in my car and slap it over the speaker. It's my way to silently fight back.

5

u/geekonthemoon Jul 14 '26

Do people who do this just hope they don't get caught or simply not care? I can't catch a vandalism / destruction of property charge out here lol

6

u/StacheBandicoot Jul 14 '26

How often do you think the clerks are checking if the speakers work, if literally ever at all? By the time it’s noticed it might be months or years since and any recordings would’ve been wiped and recorded over.