Innocuous things that make you irrationally angry (a list thread)

welcome to london

food is pretty good value in london.

xpost I know right? It's just so depressing when things like that are presented as OMG AMAYZING DEAL when really it's actually more than you'd normally pay.

Also - when you go to an upmarket supermarket and they have those tags that say "Price Match: Waitrose £1.56 / LIDL £1.56" - I totally get that people will shop at Waitrose for ethical or aspirational reasons but these tags always scream "Yeah we know we're rip off, but this isn't quite as rip off as everything else".

Also - Mars bars £1 each or 2 for £2. (which I've actually seen on more than one occasion).

Heh I nearly went off in some thread (London restaurants?) recently when someone mentioned that "some" pubs in London are fake gastro-pubs which charge £11 for a burger and potato wedges, because in Oxford every single pub, even the most chain-y of microwaved-frozen-food chain pubs, rubbed their hands at the gastropub trend and started charging at least that for a burger and generic potato product, with some flowery (or floury) description on the sepia-tinted menu about authentic Worcestershire beef and crispy golden King Edwards slices

but one of my greatest joys is when Tesco has some sign up saying "Two for £3!" and then you look closely and the price singly is £1.50 or sometimes less, I get to feel that I have outwitted The Man by noticing this and only buying one

also when I shared a laundry room I found that no matter what I did or how often I went downstairs I would miss my wash ending. It is embarrassing to have a stranger go through your underwear but that's my own fault - dump my clean clothes on the dirty floor (and this floor was always visibly dirty) instead of putting them on top or in a basket etc, however, and I will hate you

fao rayuela: DORKS WHO SIGN THEIR POSTS LIKE IT'S A FREAKIN EMAIL

thanks dj mencap, should've known there would be a thread about this!

IA for today: When people insist/parrot stupidy that shaving hair, ie on your legs, "makes it grow back thicker." NO. No, IT DOES NOT. Hair is dead--DEAD!!!! AND THE DEAD HAIR SHAFT CANNOT BACKWARDS-REENGINEER THE FOLLICLE.

Before you even start, I understand how it can seem thicker if the cut bit was a tapered natural hair end and the re-growth is full thickness BUT THIS IS HARDLY EVER THE CASE. People just repeat and repeat this stupid "fact."

OTM

I'm not 100% certain, but I think there is a thing in Canada, or at least Ontario, where if something is $3 and goes on a 2 for $5 special, for instance, you legally must be allowed to buy one for $2.50. Is that a thing anywhere else? They can't force you to buy multiples to get the discount, but they always make the "2 for $5!!" bit a hundred times larger than "$2.50 each."

There are a lot of $2.99 for one or 2/$5 "sales" around here. Our Walgreens has probably half of their store stock tagged like that.

I usually see at least one item at Walmart that's on sale 2 for $10, with the regular tag marked at $3.98.

I spend a quarter of my time in there putting things back on the shelves from my cart.

I was buying cucumber lime Gatorade (hush, it's good) from 7-11 a couple of weeks ago and one bottle was $2.50 but they were on sale two bottles for $2.49. That was more cucumber lime Gatorade that I really wanted, but it was kind of hard to argue with the sale price.

But as for sales that aren't sales, and I may have already kvetched about this here, but I hate when retailers do coupons for 25$ DOLLARS OFF!!!!! and then in fine print (purchases of $150 or more).

Yesterday we went to the local sports bar to watch the second half of the Packers game and there was one dude just yelling and screaming the whole time about the Seahawks game. I understand that we were in college town sports-themed drinking establishment while the first game of the season for only team within 1000 miles is playing, but holy shit this dude was over the top obnoxious. It got to the point that every other table near us was just mocking the guy and laughing at him when something bad happened to Seattle just because it infuriated him so much.

The worst place for coupons ever is Babies R Us, that place is hell on earth. Their coupons and policies are so littered with exceptions and rules that they all end up virtually useless. Which, okay, fine, we'll read the small print and be prepared to be disappointed when almost every brand we'd want to buy is exempted. The frustration comes in when you think you've finally found an item with an applicable coupon that works, you get up to the register and find out, "oh, that doesn't apply if you purchase something else from Department x". What? Seriously the most frustrating store ever.

What does piss me off in my local Tesco is when I want, say, some ham which has a big "Any 2 for £4!" sticker on, and right next to it in the fridge there is some other sliced meat product with the same sticker on, so I think, great, I'll have that too, and then I get to the checkout and discover (or not if I'm not paying attention) that instead of being ANY 2 for £4, it is in fact only 2 of exactly the same item.

The worst place for coupons ever is Babies R Us, that place is hell on earth. Their coupons and policies are so littered with exceptions and rules that they all end up virtually useless. Which, okay, fine, we'll read the small print and be prepared to be disappointed when almost every brand we'd want to buy is exempted. The frustration comes in when you think you've finally found an item with an applicable coupon that works, you get up to the register and find out, "oh, that doesn't apply if you purchase something else from Department x". What? Seriously the most frustrating store ever.

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, September 10, 2012 12:10 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah. "20% off one item! (does not apply to cribs, playmats, baby clothing, diapers, wipes, rockers, bouncers, play yards, baby swings, carriers, diaper bags, strollers, car seats, toys, games, bathtubs, bath accessories, breast pumps, bottles, formula, sheets, blankets, mattresses, mobiles, crib bumpers, diaper pails, diaper pail bags, nursery furniture, nursery decor, nursing pillows, baby food, baby food makers)"

There's really never any reason to buy anything from that store EVER ime, unless you get a gift card. If you want cheap, order from Amazon or diapers.com. If you want quality and expert assistance, go to a local boutique-type store. If you want cheap but still want to look at the product, go to buy buy baby or albee. Babies R Us also not only hires complete morons (and fails to train them) but hires too few of them to even properly run the store idiotically. I have had employees (1) not know what a "co-sleeper" is, (2) not know what a pack-and-play is, and (3) not know where to find a bath thermometer (hint: in the bath section), among other things.

I had a coupon for something like 40¢ off some cheese.

Brought 32 slices up to the register. Cashier says it's only good for the 16 slice count.

I say, so to get my savings, you want me to buy the item that's less expensive? She says yes.

Now, I know what you're thinking: I should just buy two packages of the 16-count, right? No. Two packages - even with the 40¢ off (actually 20¢/per package) - would cost more than the 32 count.

I told her to keep the cheese.

Hey, you've got one of their coupons handy I see1

Its much better to shop at Buy Buy Baby, because they have good coupons and they accept all Bed Bath & Beyond 20% coupons (same company), but the nearest one is a 45-minute drive for us. So Babies R Us is like a necessary evil sometimes, if we can't order something online.

Exactly! (re online ordering)

Problem is we got so many gift cards for Babies R Us at our shower because they are all over the place.

Yeah, we have the same problem -- Babies R Us is the closest store and we occasionally have to pick up stuff there. It's really miserable. I remember going there for the first time shortly after the baby was born and thinking "my god, this is the miserable new life I've taken on." But it's not! Having a baby is really much more pleasant than Babies R Us would lead you to believe.

haha, so true.

That's terrible! I will be sure to avoid purchasing any Babies R Us gift cards for expecting friends!

I'm not 100% certain, but I think there is a thing in Canada, or at least Ontario, where if something is $3 and goes on a 2 for $5 special, for instance, you legally must be allowed to buy one for $2.50. Is that a thing anywhere else? They can't force you to buy multiples to get the discount, but they always make the "2 for $5!!" bit a hundred times larger than "$2.50 each."

Oh yeah, this happened in Whole Foods in CA! Really puzzled me. iirc they don't even tell you the discounted single price, only 2 for $4 (or 2 for $20, Whole Foods, amirite). It's just a nice surprise when you go to the register.

There are a lot of $2.99 for one or 2/$5 "sales" around here. Our Walgreens has probably half of their store stock tagged like that.

This is the norm in the grocery store here too. I've seen some items tagged as 10 for $10.

Yeah, but is the price $1.29 if you just buy one?

My wife was confused by this when she first moved here - I had to explain that 2 for £3 does not mean 1 for £1.50, which is apparently the case in California.

I told her to keep the cheese.

i like this as a vaguely sinister way to end arguments.

I think this is what applies in Ontario: Section 58 of the Competition Act makes it an offence to "supply" a product at a price that is higher than the rental or sale price "advertised" in the market to which the advertisement related.

So if two $3 items are 2 for $5, they have to sell us one at $2.50.

I'm not 100% certain, but I think there is a thing in Canada, or at least Ontario, where if something is $3 and goes on a 2 for $5 special, for instance, you legally must be allowed to buy one for $2.50. Is that a thing anywhere else? They can't force you to buy multiples to get the discount, but they always make the "2 for $5!!" bit a hundred times larger than "$2.50 each."

― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic)

Late to the thread, but this is the case in Californis too (don't know if it's an actual law but seems to be). At Vons and Ralphs I do see the single item price in small print (1 for half the 2-fer price). When the sale is "buy 1 get one free," however, you can't buy one at half price.

You don't say

Yeah, but is the price $1.29 if you just buy one?

Nope. 1 for $1.

Walgreens is pretty upfront about the 1 for $1.29, 2 for $2 pricing on its tags. Hell, it seems like the tags themselves hang about four inches over the next shelf because of all the different pricing.

At Kroger (and the Walmarks) however, you'll see these big yellow tags that say 10/$10 and nothing else. Take one to the register and the price is .. one dollar. So I wonder if the law states that if you're going to use the Walgreens method, you have to explicitly state that there are two different prices,

local supermarket had a 'buy two get two free'. only problem being that these were 2 litre bottles of coke so to make the benefit from the deal you'd end up with 8 litres of coke. and it was a tesco local, most of the patrons being walk-up customers. they'd've shifted a lot more just selling them half price.

You think babies r us is hard for potty issues, try burning man

hey teenagers! if i can make it up two flights of stairs to class maybe you could give it a go too and leave the lifts for people who need them

Office planning a big renovation. I'm thrilled because I'm getting a window seat.

Owner of the company is going desk-to-desk and asking all of us what we want and need for our new workstations. One of the reasons I love working here - the CEO sits down for a half hour with me yesterday and wants to know if I prefer shelves or drawers.

So this is why you're hearing about this in the irrational thread and not crazy co-worker thread: As she goes around the office, she keeps asking everyone if they want desk trays. Desk Trays.
DESK TRAYS.

My IRL name is 'Tre'. It's hard enough to concentrate on things this week, but stopping every 85 seconds because I hear the CEO say my name aloud is driving me crazy.

Desktray Rides Again

What? Oh, dammit wmc...

Had the same problem in history class when the teacher would talk about TRADE.

haha oh man. Yeah, I imagine if my coworkers were all getting personal generators and my boss went around asking if people wanted a new "genny" I would probably lose it.

i think most of us have a word like that ("exactly" for me). i wonder if people who are named like, matt, just get used to it.

True story. My freshman year in high shool we were playing a game of pick-up basketball and this sophomore kid kept draining threes and in my youthful exuberance I called him "tre dog". Anyway, the relevant part of the story. He came up to me a week later and told me I thought it was a cool nickname and he wanted to get it on his license plate. I was like, "err, okay". He showed up a couple weeks later in his car with TRA DOG 8 on the plates. He was called "TRA-LA-LA DOG" for the rest of high school.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c40/TreCoolisFine/Frank/vma9828229.jpg

I don't use the apostrophe like he does, but I'm sure his office manager never shouts about desk furniture either.

hipster business owners are an innocuous thing that makes me irrationally angry
i mean, just stop

The Very Emollient line of skin care products.

hipster business owners are an innocuous thing that makes me irrationally angry
i mean, just stop

― obliquity of the ecliptic (rrrobyn), Tuesday, September 11, 2012 3:46 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you mean local artisanal/curated shop types? Yeah they make me irrationally angry too. This is something I really can't justify.

Probably I just jelly.

finding a letter at the foot of the stairs a couple of days ago, when I live 4 flights up & most of my mail makes it up to the mailbox on my own front door.
Couldn't work out what it was doing down there beyond the street door often being a bit stiff to open despite being open.

Just still wondering if a medical form for an optical test being returned to me came through another delivery system. Though i rang the sender and was told it came through the post. But I didn't see it on the day before I found it and some mail did definitely get delivered to my door on the day.

Just a matter of luck I saw it but I have been concerned about other mail. Which i might not be if I heard it was a special mail service for medical stuff.

Also, the day I read in yesterday's local paper that a local kickboxing club has people going around falsely claiming to be looking for sponsorship on sheets with the club heading, one comes to my door. I retreated naturally and said I couldn't help.