Baffling things done by shop staff #1

I have quite large feet - size 11 - and on my way home tonight I went into Blacks in the Trafford Centre to try to buy some walking boots I liked.

"Excuse me," I said, "but do you have these (points to some shoes) in an eleven?"

"I'll go and have a look," says the assistant. He returns a few seconds later, empty handed.

"Sorry," he says, "I haven't got an eleven, but I've got an eight and a nine."

Why do they tell us such things? Do they expect us to say "oh, go on then - I'll take the eight"? Bizarre.

Hello, by the way.