How many free samples is too many to eat at a store?

In the grocery store, I’d only eat one of each thing offered. At some gourmet food stores, though, they throw “sampler days” as a kind of party to get people to come in. In those cases, they seem to encourage you to eat more than one. (Harry & David have some great samples!)

That’s ridiculous. If they put out free samples, they should expect people to eat them.

Unless you ate a plate or two worth, you should not be embarrassed. They should be thrilled you showed up hungry. My parents were grocery managers back in the day. They LOVED the “hungry hours”, because it meant people spent up to 50% more than they would on a full stomach ;D

I would call the store manager and let them know what happened. Simply not acceptable to be treated like that.

The only way the security guard should have a say is if you were eating food one would have to pay for. Free is free. You can’t steal free so it’s none of his beeswax.

I limit myself to two usually. Three if the person seems nice. They usually don’t care anyway.

You should have ate all of them in front of the security guard, but yeah, its sort of like take one or two, try it out, if you like it, go ahead and buy it.

@SpatzieLover Unless you ate a plate or two worth, you should not be embarrassed.

How about just one plate worth?

Oh! Regardless of my theories above, I think the security guard was out of line. You weren’t stealing, and he should recognize the fact that you shop there and weren’t a homeless person looking for a free meal or something. Even if you were, it might still be crossing a line for him to do that to you.

@augustlan Hmm. Maybe I should have said something instead of just quietly wandering off.

@finneganswake I’m guessing you are fairly non-confrontational with that reaction. You ate free food. A guard making minimum wage that feels important in his uniform came over to belittle you. I’d let it go.

@SpatzieLover Yep. That sums it up. Thanks.

I agree that if you put something out for free you shouldn’t bitch and moan if someone takes advantage of that. Especially the guard who obviously has nothing better to do, do you think he set up a hiding place to keep his eye on the plate? Having said that, a sample is just to taste (and hopefully buy it if you like it).. No one needs more than one sample to identify whether he likes it or not.

Unless there was a sign with a stated limit, pull up a chair and grab a cocktail….it’s happy hour! See ya…..Gary/wtf

I’d pay money to have security personnel say something like that to me. I’d have a ball.

Did you buy the product that you were sampling? The purpose of the sample is to allow people to taste product and increase sales of the product. Depending on what the sample was, it may have been provided by the product manufacturer, and not the store.

If you were that hungry, why didn’t you head to the deli and purchase a sandwich?

@PandoraBoxx Did you buy the product that you were sampling?

There is no purchase required, nor should be expected. Samples are there in the hope that you buy, not the expectation. You might like something enough to consider buying it at another time. If ever I see something that I am unfamiliar with in a delicatessen and it interests me, I will ask to taste it. I do not always buy it – probably less than once in a dozen or more samples.

Since you are sampling you eat one. If you are eating, you take more than one.

Till you have had enough.

The Millennium Mall in Orlando Has a BIG food court. The food vendors are always giving samples. By the time you walk through it. You are good to go.
If they only gave sample drinks too.

I will eat one sample from each station. Go to any Fairway on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and you needn’t buy lunch, there’s so much food!

But again, food vendors that provide the food for sampling do so with the expectation that people who sample the food and like it, will purchase it. There is a ROI associated with the cost of sampling. Samples at a grocery store are not intended to be a cocktail party nor a Saturday afternoon throw-down. The expectation is that if you like what you’re tasting, buy it and eat it at home.

Do not try to eat more than all of them

if i really like something i’ll go back and get a second sample.

costco has samples all the time. they seem thrilled you take them up on their samples. i notice what they do – they make stuff like juice really cold so it tastes extra good. they put butter on things so it tastes extra creamy. i try not to buy impulsively from samples.