Welcome to my pasta shelf. I also have a pasta storage container full of back-up boxes. Sometimes I can’t help myself — I just feel it is necessary to own at least one of every type of Barilla pasta ever made. But alas, I recently found myself without any jumbo shells. And I needed jumbo shells. So before heading out to the closest store, I decided to scan the grocery ads (or rather, have Tim scan the ads) to see if Barilla was on sale anywhere. Sure enough, Stop & Shop had the 10 for $10 deal going on. “But does that include the jumbo shells?” I asked. The ad did not specify. So I dialed Stop & Shop in Brookline, hit 6 for the grocery department, and queried the man who answered. He put me on hold for many minutes, then a female voice came on and asked if she could help. I told her a man was checking on my pasta’s price, and she assured me my jumbo shells were, in fact, part of the 10 for $10 sale — he had just let her know, she said.

So off we went to Stop & Shop, where I discovered the jumbo shells were not part of the sale. Instead, they were $2.19 a box. Now, I have no problem paying $2.19 for a box of jumbo shells when I need them. I do, however, have a problem with careless and/or incompetent employees who lie out of laziness. So at the register I informed the unfriendly cashier that I had come to the store under the premise that my pasta was priced at $1. She didn’t seem to care to help, but she did ring for a manager. She then proceeded to stare off into the distance for approximately 10 minutes — that was our wait time. Eventually, someone came to our aid and marked my pasta down to $1. But don’t think I was happy about it. Especially after the cashier tossed my pasta boxes to the bagger, breaking half my shells in the process. Stop & Shop wins the award for worst customer service in all the world.