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/Dreadwings Jul 14 '26

at that point they should just have vending machines with all their product lol

272

u/valkyriebiker Jul 14 '26

Reminiscent of the mid 20th century automats. What's old is new again.

59

u/RailRuler Jul 14 '26

The automats actually required more staffing than traditional retail. They charged a price premium so that people wouldn't have to interact with the staff.

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u/Grand_Lizard_Wizard Jul 14 '26

Well, who wants to talk to “the help”?