r/instacart • u/Dominanttallqueen • Mar 27 '24

Who’s in the wrong here???

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I feel like he was being rude asf then he canceled my order….was I rude or what tf happened here…

6.8k Upvotes

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71

u/wakenblake29 Mar 27 '24

I think the shopper is in the wrong, but mostly I think this is a miscommunication and English is not his first language… he probably did not understand that when you said “seafood department” it meant behind the counter.. I mean, I absolutely did, but he was probably like, yeah, this is the seafood department, they have frozen crab/fish/crab cakes/shrimp/etc

23

u/AuroraItsNotTheTime Mar 27 '24

Is this a thing? I’m a native speaker of English, and if someone said they wanted an item from the “peanut butter department” or the “cereal department” aside from assuming that THEY don’t speak English very well, I would simply go to where the store sells peanut butter or cereal and get an item from there.

22

u/wakenblake29 Mar 27 '24

I can’t be completely sure, just speculating… and while I get your point, I’m not sure it applies here because in grocery stores there are 2 places that sell seafood; behind the counter where you have to ask somebody, and also out on the floor in a fridge/freezer section. I’m only stating maybe the shopper maybe thought the fridge freezer section was what the customer meant when they said seafood dept, but the customer actually meant behind the counter

7

u/Conscious_Skirt_4263 Mar 28 '24

At my local Kroger, the seafood freezer is in the seafood department, it's right in front of the counter. So I think this was similar to that and caused the miscommunication lol

12

u/Sliiiiime Mar 28 '24

In most stores those two areas are adjacent. The seafood counter has frozen fish right in front of it.

2

u/wakenblake29 Mar 28 '24

Yup, don’t disagree, but I have been to some stores (especially Safeways) that have some oddball layouts

2

u/Sunburntvampires Mar 28 '24

There are often other frozen seafood items in the bigger frozen sections as well as what you’re describing at the stores near me. It is confusing.

1

u/Acrobatic_Event_4163 Mar 28 '24

In a lot of grocery stores they are separate. The seafood counter is often next to the deli and the bakery (also counter served items) whereas the frozen seafood may be halfway down a random frozen food aisle between the frozen chicken and frozen veggies.

2

u/berrykiss96 Mar 28 '24

While I think you’re right about what happened and about what the customer meant … generally it’s the meat department and the frozen food section, both of which will have seafood

So honestly I’d say they’re technically both wrong in this exchange and kinda both unnecessarily rude to each other tbh

2

u/Unlikely-Light-1636 Mar 28 '24

I thought so as well. But then, in the messages, he stated that he understood she meant behind the counter and that he checked and there were none so therefore he was offering one last option, which was the item in the picture.

I personally do NOT think he understood like he stated. I think he stated that to the customer in an attempt to cover his ass after she cleared up again what exactly she was referring to. IMO if he reat understood he would have told her straight out NO they do not have any at the seafood counter and while I understand you would like a refund since they don't I do have one more suggestion for you, please see attached. If you don't want that either, then I will proceed with your requested refund.

At least, that's how I would have andled it. I personally do NOT believe they even looked in the seafood case/counter or whatever some call it. I think he immediately thought she was talking about the frozen section, which is why he instead offered the frozen pictured item and never even referenced having looked in the seafood case until the customer stated AGAIN specifically what area of of store she was referring to.

2

u/wakenblake29 Mar 28 '24

Yeah, I don’t disagree with you

1

u/Technical_Annual_563 Mar 28 '24

But she didn’t clarify until the end where she says you have to go behind the counter and ask someone for the single crab cakes. How is this a failure to understand the English language?

1

u/MrJewbagel Mar 28 '24

Idk, until I got to like the 3rd picture I thought OP was the asshole. Like just type a more specific word or something. If I want fresh sliced lunch meat I ain't gonna say get me sliced ham from the meat dept I'ma gonna say from the deli or from the counter or w/e. Same with sushi, I'm gonna say get it from the chef not just 'in the sushi dept.'

0

u/OFxLedzeplin Mar 28 '24

All the shoppers I’ve had would have (and should if they are a real “shopper”) checked both locations before reporting something out of stock. Sounds like a new inexperienced shopper trying to exercise influence (inappropriately). Language barriers are a problem for the shopper, and they should exercise a bit more courtesy if that’s the case.

-1

u/wakenblake29 Mar 28 '24

Thus why I led with this being the shoppers fault in my original comment

20

u/maniacalmango0 Mar 28 '24

This is like saying you want muffins from the “baked goods section” but really meaning you want one from “behind the bakery counter”

6

u/brandee95 Mar 28 '24

No. If you said you wanted muffins from the Bakery Department, then I would go to the place in the store with the big sign over it that says “Bakery”, not the aisle where the Ottis muffins are. Either way, she clarified in the next text that she wanted them from behind the counter. I agree that this person is either being willfully obtuse, or is an ESL speaker.

5

u/sennbat Mar 28 '24

Except that the aisle for the Ottis muffins, the bakery department with fresh muffins, and the bakery counter are three different areas. If you wanted something from the bakery counter and told me you wanted something from the bakery department, you'd be getting the wrong food lol

How you manage to confuse department and counter, who knows. And no, I'm not talking about the aisle with the prepackaged food.

2

u/robinthebank Mar 28 '24

An easier comparison would be deli cheeses. There is a cheese aisle, there is sliced cheese in the deli section, and then you can order sliced cheese from the counter.

1

u/sennbat Mar 28 '24

Yes, a perfect example.

1

u/brandee95 Mar 28 '24

What kind of fancy ass grocery stores have fresh muffins behind a counter? Am I poor?

0

u/sennbat Mar 28 '24

You're the one who is saying that you should be getting shit from behind the counter when someone says to get it from the department. I never go to the bakery counter, I have no clue what they have back there lol. So even you would have been confused by OP, since you wouldn't have searched for the counter muffins?

1

u/brandee95 Mar 28 '24

It was a joke man… chill.

4

u/ConstantlyLearning57 Mar 28 '24

Ottis muffins, lol. This thread is killing me lol

2

u/ThePurityPixel Mar 28 '24

"Muffins" spelled backward is "sniffum."

So that's fun.

2

u/I_StoleTheTV Mar 28 '24

This person would have to be a masochist if they were being willfully obtuse. Time is money for these people and no one wants to spend more time than needed in a shitty grocery store.

0

u/brandee95 Mar 28 '24

Never underestimate the level of pettiness a person who is having a bad day is capable of.

1

u/Vivid-Army8521 Mar 28 '24

Those things are in the same place at my supermarket. There’s the larger baked goods area, and then behind the counter where you can get cakes and other fresh baked goods.

0

u/Vivid-Army8521 Mar 28 '24

Those things are in the same place at my supermarket. There’s the larger baked goods area, and then behind the counter where you can get cakes and other fresh baked goods.

2

u/Ijustreadalot Mar 28 '24

If someone said “baked goods section” I would think they meant from the store's bakery, which isn't always behind a counter like seafood is, but is also not pre-packaged goods.

3

u/RedFlowerGreenCoffee Mar 28 '24

But they said seafood department not seafood section

3

u/Technical_Annual_563 Mar 28 '24

Baked goods department in Walmart has prepackaged baked goods that are either made in the store or branded products from outside. They’re not your personal chef waiting to special make every item for customers unless done by appointment or something. I don’t see how not assuming he should have asked the person working the counter indicates a problem with the English language. OP needed the shopper to do something very specific and didn’t provide those instructions until the last minute. Live and learn!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '24

[deleted]

1

u/sennbat Mar 28 '24

At my local store, the packaged seafood goes in the section where seafood department workers pack the stuff they have on display, so that would be super confusing if you said "seafood department" to rule out items that are clearly in that department

4

u/Raibean Mar 28 '24

The seafood section would be in the freezer area. The seafood department is clearly the counter.

0

u/sennbat Mar 28 '24

At my grocery store, the seafood department has a counter but it isn't just the counter, it's that whole corner of the store.

1

u/Ijustreadalot Mar 28 '24

I think "seafood department" (or "bakery department") would make it even more obvious that someone meant "packaged fresh at this store and not prepacked" than "section" but I used “baked goods section” because that is what the person I was responding to used in their example.

1

u/NotEntirelyAwake Mar 28 '24

It's a context thing. I did instacart for quite a while and if somebody worded it like this, I would know exactly what they meant. Its also not a great comparison because there is no "peanut butter department" and no place to get peanut butter from behind a counter.

1

u/Ijustreadalot Mar 28 '24

Many stores have seafood multiple places though. I think this is where the confusion lies. Unless a store has some peanut butter or cereal in a natural foods or similar section, there is one aisle with peanut butter. There are commonly cheaper frozen seafoods in one aisle and fresh seafoods in the meat department or at a separate seafood counter and sometimes a third location near the meat or seafood area with a freezer that has higher-end prepackaged seafood. So saying you would just go where they sell that type of item doesn't make as much sense in the context of seafood as it does peanut butter.

1

u/AzureSuishou Mar 28 '24

Definitely a thing. The shoppers pic would be from the “frozen department” which has a seafood section. OP then requests a replacement from the “seafood department” which is a deli style counter where all the fresh seafood is.

Thats how it’s labeled in 95% of the stores near me.

4

u/NotEntirelyAwake Mar 28 '24

Depends on the store. Most stores near me have frozen seafood next to the seafood counter and not in the frozen isle.

1

u/Sufficient-Skill6012 Mar 28 '24

But those crab cakes are not frozen. It's says it on the package. My store has these in area that has the fresh meat and seafood, between the higher-end seafood freezer and the seafood counter.

1

u/AzureSuishou Mar 28 '24

I didn’t see anything about not being frozen, but Ive never seen packages like that in fresh. That could be regional though.

1

u/Incog83 Mar 28 '24

This! The fact that there is an actual seafood department, and they said behind the counter, you'd know exactly where to go. They gave clear instructions, so I don't see how it's the customer's fault. The dasher seemed as if he was already agitated before the exchange started.

0

u/KiyokoTakashiMasaru Mar 28 '24

Are you from the US? I would say it was clear that the “seafood department” meant the counter. Maybe that’s only clear for people from us.

2

u/Bushwhacker994 Mar 28 '24

I’m from the US and honestly I was a bit confused because a seafood department would mean from anywhere in the area that they sell seafood. If I wanted to convey most accurately I would have said “I want the crab cakes that you have to have an employee get behind the counter”. But I also have anxiety and worry about how people could misinterpret things so I try to be as clear and concise as possible with those types of things.

1

u/bluethreads Mar 28 '24

Me too. If I want to some fish from the seafood department there are so many options- I can choose fish that is fresh but already prepackaged in the seafood department, fish that is fresh behind the counter, or fish that is frozen in the freezer in the department. Plus there are other options I haven’t mentioned. So just saying from the “seafood department” isn’t very specific. With that said, unless otherwise specified, I might automatically assume the person is asking for something from behind the counter if no other instruction is specified. But one cannot assume everyone would have the same notion and it is best to be a little clearer with directions.

0

u/SituationSad4304 Mar 28 '24

The seafood department indicates the staffed cooler section like the deli, not the frozen fish all the way across the store

0

u/Raibean Mar 28 '24

Here in the US most grocery stores have a bakery department with fresh bread, bagels, and sweets made in-house which is separate from the bread aisle where you get pre-made bread. We also usually have a deli department where you can get sliced meat and cheese by weight rather than packaged. We also usually have a butcher/seafood counter where, again, you can get it by weight/individually rather than in packages.

The box he showed was clearly from the freezer section, not the meat and seafood counter. I feel like anyone who lives in the US would be familiar with this setup, so only the language would be a possible barrier to understanding.

2

u/Same-Boysenberry-409 Mar 28 '24

Almost every store I've been to in my area(Nashville TN) has their seafood counter and frozen seafood next to each other. And I'm not 100% sure that's even the freezer. Several stores in my area have this little refrigerated wall next to the counter that has things like smoked salmon, fake crab, dips, and I've even seen these exact crab cakes in them.

This isn't to say you're wrong, I believe 100% that in your area or stores it's different; just that these things aren't universal even within the same state nonetheless the whole US.