From u/GoabNZ Tales From Retail:

So I work in a bakery, in a supermarket, and amongst your regular baguettes and sliced loafs and rolls and stuff, we have your more "upmarket" breads including pane ciabatta, pane di casa and sourdough etc.

One of these breads is really popular (though to be honest I can't see the fuss about it but if the customer wants it then they want it), and so sometimes we run out. It can be hard to predict sales because there are a few people who when they do come in, they'll buy several of them and freeze some I guess. But if they don't come in, we might not sell them all. Because the name might identify me, it shall remain nameless.

So cue busy Saturday morning. We get a phone call asking to hold a couple of loaves aside, sliced, to be picked up at noon. We comply, and store them in bread crates. Well, so busy that we quickly sell them all and the bakers start to prepare some more.

We get your usual requests for them, and we apologise, explain the situation and most people understand. Not this one lady however.

Lady: "Have you got any of that bread?"

Me: "No sorry, it's sold out and the next batch will be some some time away."

Lady looks past me and sees the order.

Lady: "I see some there, can I have that?"

Me: "Sorry, a customer has ordered that and will be here soon to pick it up."

Lady: "Well I'm here now so you can give me and they can have the next batch."

Me: "No, I'm sorry but the next batch will be too late and we've already promised them that bread at that time."

Lady mentions something about first in first served, and I'm just like, they had the foresight to understand that and order some ahead of time. If you'd done that then we'd do the same for you. But either way, one person is leaving empty handed. Priority goes to the person who ordered because we've promised them, we haven't promised you.

So I eventually manage to convince her and get back to my work. Or so I thought. I find out she straight away went to another worker to ask the same question - can I have anther customer's item. Again she was denied but she acted like a child asking dad because mum said no.

Not only did the customer who ordered them come only minutes after, I'm told we keep it further in the bakery than we used to because some customers in the past have literally walked in, ignoring all signs, without hair nets, and grabbed what they see in crates to buy. Ignoring the fact that they sometimes are old, unsafe, or recalled products waiting to be processed. So we changed the layout to make it harder to see, and harder to barge in and take without being caught. She might've tried this because apparently its happened before.

Anyway, she huffed away in a "never coming back" attitude.

--u/GoabNZ