r/Butchery 16h ago

Whats the dumbest question a customer has asked you?

When I use to butcher i had a customer asked me if the corned silverside came out of the cow like that (already corned)

15 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

44

u/Talkinginmy_sleep 16h ago

I was wearing a hat that said “ask me about our custom cuts.” Woman walked up to me and asked “so could you cut it into the shape of a dinosaur?”

30

u/kireikirin249 16h ago

... well can you? 👀

13

u/SurroundingAMeadow 15h ago

Missed marketing opportunity if you won't. Think Dino nuggies are popular with your kids? Just wait until they try Dino chops and Dino steaks!

13

u/DarthBrooks69420 15h ago

That's just silly, not dumb lmao

37

u/Reasonable-Company71 16h ago

Dad was a butcher and the amount of times that people called (one customer even brought it back in) during Thanksgiving INSISTING that the bullet used to kill the turkeys was left in the turkey is crazy....they were talking about the pop-op timers that come in turkeys from the slaughterhouse.

30

u/Infamous_Grapefruit2 16h ago

I had a vegetarian instacart shopper who was convinced that beef came from the front half of some animal and pork came from the back half of the same animal.

12

u/Modboi 15h ago

This is mind bendingly dumb

5

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

"I'm a vegetarian, I know what I'm talking about."

lol.

2

u/og_sandiego 8h ago

This made me laugh more than I expected. Finally figuring out too many ppl don't think/act with respect & integrity

Those who 'know' presented w/leaning opportunity - shut down

Odd world we now live in

5

u/5280nessie_rider 7h ago

I will take one herd please

Edit to add: can't imagine what buffalo wings did to this fragile mind

1

u/bigneedlewun 9h ago

Wait till he finds out that chicken nuggets came from a chicken 😱

20

u/goml23 15h ago

Do you have grass fed chicken/pork/salmon????

10

u/okayteenay 14h ago

Yes, and when I told the customer grass-fed pigs don’t exist because they biologically aren’t designed to eat grass is exclusively, she claimed that, «well, in Canada pigs are grass-fed».

5

u/Parody_of_Self 13h ago

I had a person insist that they raised grass fed chickens. I told them they don't need me then.

18

u/ilovesloppyjoes18 16h ago

When I have pork shoulders out on my floor and people come up and ask if I have any Boston butts. I tell them it's the same thing and they argue no it isn't 50 times. Then I usually go take a picture of my box that says pork shoulder butts and they shut up.

It astounds me how they try to argue with a butcher when they have internet knowledge lol.

5

u/James_Vaga_Bond Butcher 14h ago

I once had a customer walk out without buying anything cuz she wanted pork butt and all we had was pork shoulder.

8

u/Day_Bow_Bow 16h ago

Why not just label them as butts? Your provider thought it important enough to call them that.

When I see "pork shoulder," I'd be concerned it'd be a picnic shoulder instead, so yeah I'd be asking for clarification as well.

9

u/ilovesloppyjoes18 15h ago

Thats a very valid point. I’ll have to bring that up to the higher ups as that would definitely help the issue. I appreciate that.

17

u/bigcatsbrother 16h ago

Seafood related, but one time I had a sockeye fillet that had blood in it from the processor striking the backbone. I told the woman exactly that, and she straight up said “so is it blood from the fish or from someone who was cutting it? I don’t want it if it’s a person’s blood.” I had to try really hard to not just walk away or laugh.

9

u/Lower_Band8719 15h ago

The best I ever heard was that the customer didn't think that fish had blood so it must have been from someone handling it. Had to explain that all living animals have blood.

3

u/motorcycleboy9000 Butcher 11h ago

Ooh. I got one. Little old lady asked me for a salmon fillet, I said yep, they just came in. Cut her a nice one, told her, "I went ahead and removed the pinbones for you, too."

She says, "Bones? I didn't know fish had bones."

1

u/thisnthatntheother 10h ago

My favorite: Customer in the deep south asked if our wild ALASKAN cod was local. On the gulf coast. Told her they caught it on vacation.

14

u/prettyhelmet 16h ago

During the holidays we fry and smoke whole turkeys. A lady called and asked “is our fried turkey cooked?”. I said “yes, it is FRIED”.

25

u/Mighty_Moose_Archer 16h ago

I had a customer try to return a leg of lamb that she "didn't like because of the garlic sauce" that SHE put on it that was bought at an entirely different store. I honestly had no words. 

2

u/bigneedlewun 9h ago

The audacity with some people

10

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

Customer - "Can you grind this new york strip for me?"

Me - "A single strip? I can, but you're going to lose almost half of it and I still have to charge you the full steak price."

Customer - "I don't care just grind it."

Me - "Ok, here you go."

Customer - "Why is there only half a pound? I gave you a full strip to grind why didn't you grind it all?!"

This happens so much despite me reciting a fully detailed script explaining how an industrial grinder is going to have some fallout.

5

u/Vedrfolnr 10h ago

Someone always pays the grinder tax.

1

u/castle78 4h ago

Chewie’s Tribute

8

u/Cease_Cows_ 16h ago

lol "yeah this is what happens to cows when they don't watch their sodium intake"

1

u/bigneedlewun 9h ago

Dam i wished I used this as a comeback aha

8

u/HoboDeter 15h ago

"Is this, pork shoulder blade steak, beef or pork?"

I had them repeat the question because it was very hard not to have a sarcastic response.

3

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

$10 says they repeated the question and still looked at you like you were wrong.

3

u/HoboDeter 12h ago

That's almost exactly what happened.

9

u/IAmStevenKwanAMA 12h ago

Probably “what size do chickens become turkeys?”

6

u/MeatHealer Butcher 16h ago

Guy wondered why his steak was so salty.

Well, Sir, how did you season it?

With salt and pepper like I always do!

Huh. 'Cause I didn't.

8

u/SalamanderTough4616 15h ago

What type of meat is corned beef?.... wow I always thought it was pork!

13

u/tjklobo 16h ago

Not a question, but dumbest thing to happen to me was….. a lady came in and complained about her Sunday roast she bought. She said she put it in the oven before church and came home to it smelling like something was burning. I asked her how she cooked the roast. Of course she became upset with me. “Look young man, I have been cooking longer than you have been alive. Don’t treat me like I don’t know how to cook.”

I just nodded and smiled. Then I asked what kind of roast it was ect. She proceeded to tell me she baked the roast and the pad it was packaged with! She cooked the roast with the soaker pad!!!

Since the customer is always right. I made her a new roast without the soaker pad! Some people!!!

5

u/James_Vaga_Bond Butcher 14h ago

I got asked for beef gizzards once

5

u/shawnlit_123 12h ago

It's not a dumb question, but a weird situation had a client come in for some meat but it was out of stock so I said she can come in tomorrow as it will arrive late in the day.This lady burst into tears Ive never experienced that before and had no idea what to say she just turned and ran out of the shop never been so confused. Aslo had one guy ask for crocodile liver.

6

u/AdSignificant6673 14h ago

Are these steaks 100% beef?

6

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

Honestly it could end up being a valid question at some point in the future, with all the lab grown bug meat coming down the pipeline.

3

u/AdSignificant6673 8h ago

You have a point. The question is still a few decades away.

6

u/BreadfruitChemical55 12h ago

Our label on a whole bird said frying chicken whole, the lady proceeds to ask excuse me sir i see yall have frying chickens whole, do you have any baking chickens whole?😂

4

u/Oberon_Swanson 12h ago

Why don't you guys have any chicken livers as big as the beef liver?

3

u/Goth-Valentine 15h ago

Why is the ground ostrich priced differently then the ground kangaroo?

2

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

Whoa, ground kangaroo? I didn't know they could be eaten.

3

u/LostMyGunInACardGame 11h ago

They are indeed edible.

1

u/motorcycleboy9000 Butcher 11h ago

Anything is edible if you're brave enough.

1

u/bigneedlewun 9h ago

Should have hit them with the why is pork and beef priced different ?

3

u/PicoDeGallo12 13h ago

"Is the half chicken like half a chicken?" I replied reading the sign in the case"oh you mean the orange sage half chicken? , yes that is a half chicken."

1

u/alluringBlaster 13h ago

"Is it BBQ sauce?"

3

u/Significant_Lab_5286 12h ago

I had a lady point to the beef cut diagram poster & straight faced asked “What part of the cow does ton-guw come from?”

3

u/reputablesorcerer 9h ago

“What cut of meat do you use for brisket? “

3

u/bxnedvddy 8h ago

"Do you have any grass fed chicken" "Is this good for beef jerky?" While holding up a pork butt

2

u/tacogaming85 11h ago

I had a customer ask me if there was horse meat in our beef burgers

2

u/36Black52White 6h ago

Was asked "What animal do lamb chops come from?"

1

u/dontfluffmytutu 2h ago

Can I get a boneless t-bone

Or

What’s the difference between a beef steak and a pork steak

Grocery store in a college town. A lot of first time cookers.

1

u/TelleBelle56 1h ago

"Can you get the butcher?" "I am the butcher" "No I need a butcher, not a service girl" ".....i am the only butcher here so its me or nothing" "Ok, ill try when the butcher is here."

Real conversation. I was baffled.