To want to buy 3 chicken thighs?

That's just silly (of the butcher). He could very likely have sold the last one. Or had it for his own tea. And it wouldn't have bankrupted him to bin it.

Were the chicken thighs on their last legs (no pun intended) or something, that he couldn't have put it out again tomorrow?

Stick to Sainsburys.

I would hot foot it to Aldi and get a pack of four chicken thighs for £1.99 and freeze the extra one.

Silly man!

Thanks for reassurance - he claimed they were 'fresh today'. Supermarket - pick them up in a pack and not be patronised I think is the answer.

What you wanted was not unreasonable at all.

Thought the idea of an independant local butcher was that you could buy exactly the amount you needed .ie two sausages,slice of ham...maybe butchery department in Sainsbury would sell what you want.

I've never heard of anything so ridiculous! How that butcher stays in business in beyond me...

Of course not unreasonable. Sadly probably common which is one reason the anonymity of a supermarket can be preferable.

I suppose the justification for selling thighs or drumsticks in pairs is that they come in pairs on the chook! But still, a bit silly and the butcher has lost a customer which was shortsighted of him.

If I've understood correctly, they were priced at £1.25 each. If he wanted to sell them in pairs only, then he should at least have priced them as a pair.
I would have been rather angry / upset too, grrrrany.

Sorry - I mean 'Grrrranny'. My spelling has gone to pot.

What a pain. As someone has said, you could probably buy 3 at a supermarket meat counter.

It's a shame really as the meat is quite good but customer service bad. I shall 'rise above it' but it is just as well they don't have a Facebook page or I might have sunk below it. I found one review on Yell from someone who had had a similar experience but I doubt they will have read that. Thanks for comments though.