Shoppophobia

I confess to not being a good shopper, but there are a great many shopping related factors seemingly designed to irritate and exasperate the less than saintly patient, not least in the area of labelling. (Yet isnt there a whole gov dept dedicated to weights & measures and consumer labelling and such?)

Everyone is surely familiar with the higher math required when comparing similar products
Eg take 2 different brands of bottled sauce:
one will be labelled: £1.65p - 330g [equivalent to 50p per 100g]

and another labelled: £1.80p - 450ml [equivalent to £4.00 per 1L]

A rough guide is 1g = 1ml. (This is true for water, but much stuff will be slightly lighter or heavier (approx 0.85 - 1.15g/1ml) but for such small quantities you really can ignore it) but even so the maths required just to compare TWO items, let alone 2 dozen, is off-putting, even with a calculator. As it is The store that produces these lables, it can only be deliberate policy, it would take only a tiny bit of additional computing power when the labels are run off, to make them standardized, but they dont do it. Instead they print lots of leaflets, and place lots of ads TELLING US that they care for us and try to do their best to help us shop. As if merely telling us makes it so. Pffftt.
Today i found some stuff that was labelled: £2.45p - 500ml [equivalent to £2.45 per item]

My favourite cause for near-spontaneous-combustion is 'The Mystery Item.'
More and more things are appearing in our shops that are boxed and sealed beyond recognition yet do not carry even a picture of the product. Today i saw such a one, it had printed writing on the box that said  "10 X Suspension plates £5.99". I expect someone will know what a suspension plate is, but I am not he.

Once upon a time, it is told, a fairly long lead was needed to connect a computer to something or other, and in Curry's I found a lead with the exact fittings on each end, but it came in a sealed box with no mention of its length.
So one of The Store Lads was cornered near the till and consulted with on the item, but he had no idea.
It was suggested he open one up and inspect it so in future he WOULD know but he said he wasn't allowed.
Then The Manager, a possible former middleweight boxer, came over and he brought a huge scowl with him.
I did ask him if he knew the lead's length, and I also asked if he could please open it.
'No.' he said, and 'No; if you open it you gotta buy it'.
Ok, says I, but if when i take it home and open it, it turns out NOT to be what i want, you know i shall bring it back for a refund?  So how about this; I'll buy it, step outside and open this little box, and if its no good, i'll bring it straight back in for a refund.
He scowled a lot more but that in fact is exactly what happened. I bought it, took it outside, opened it - drat and double drat, look at it, its way too short - and I took it back, waived my receipt, and got a refund.