Monday at Lidl

[dennis]

I have. Toolstation and screwfix do free coffee, the first steps into food retailing or being a cafe. You had better not shop there.

[Alan]

In message , Mike Tomlinson wrote

I wish a lot more shops would do this. It may come as a culture shock to those who waste other peoples time packing bags at the till but it is a sensible approach to quick customer service. The staff at my local Aldi can get 5 trolley loads of goods through the till faster than the local Tesco can get five customers through the 10 items or less line!

The staff don't waste time at the tills spend servicing those 'club' vouchers and giving out those 'crap for schools worth 0.001p' vouchers.

Another culture change required. Bring your own bags. I've always got some heavy duty plastic bags in the back of my car. They cost £1 each and have lasted 3 years so far.

Soon every supermarket will be withdrawing free bags and the 9p charged by Aldi/Lidl for their heavy duty carrier bags will seem rather cheap (they do cheaper carrier bags)

[stuart noble]

Here is a good example of how your simplistic view of the market doesn't really stack up. Poundland are apparently selling glyphospahate weedkiller for a fraction of the price (per litre) you can get it anywhere else. Unbranded rubbish? Well, no, it's Bayer actually, who are no slouches when it comes to chemicals. So, how come the top brand ends up in the Pound Shop? I imagine Bayer might have got sick of middle men, with their brand images and helplines, inflating the price of basic chemicals.

[Dave Liquorice]

I always forget bags, even the lightweight freebies.

I object to the heavy branding on a bag I have bought. If the shop wants= me to carry an durable advert for them they ought to be paying me... I don't mind a small logo but not the name emblazoned on all 4 sides.

[Mike Tomlinson]

In article , Alan writes

I don't. I pack and get out of the way quickly. Wish others would though. It's not hard to do.

Why not just leave the boxes out, then no bags are needed? And the boxes can go into recycling afterward.

Yeah, I've got some "bags for life" but always forget to take them with me.

[Paul Herber]

Some time ago my local Raitwose stopped providing boxes, I asked about this and was told a. they were considered a fire risk b. if the boxes were provided to customers then Raitwose couldn't guarantee that they would be recycled and they would miss their targets.

The boxes have reappeared now.

[Clive George]

I still see very few Lidls - the place still seems to be dominated by the French brands, who have all sizes of store, and aren't the massive discounters that Lidl are.

clive

[Alan]

In message , Dave Liquorice wrote

My bags are not branded - I think they are sold as laundry bags and are made of a material similar to that used in thinner tarpaulin sheets.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Aw c'mon Dave, you should be used to product placement given the shows you work on.

[Owain]

Saves waste though, if you can cut to size in store and buy cucumbers by the inch

Owain

[Andy Dingley]

It also changes which jobs it's suitable for.

I bought one of these a year or two back. It's not precise enough for most things involving metalwork, but it was just the job for making halved-joints in slate slab to make cremation urns. A molten lead or sulphur "glue" across the joint hides imperfections.

[Andy Hall]

Screwfix do some warm liquid from a vending machine. I wouldn't describe it as coffee.

[Andy Hall]

On line ordering for collection would be ideal. RS manage it, so I don't see why Kingfisher's retail operations can't

[Andy Hall]

For people who buy food on price, I suppose that's understandable.

[Andy Hall]

Fortunately that's still largely true. The smaller format stores are typically Intermarche, but the Lidl disease is beginning to appear.

[Andy Hall]

I agree. That's unacceptable. They should be providing staff to do the packing of the bags followed by taking them to the car and loading them if requested.

I went into one on one occasion and the smell made me feel physcially sick. Never again.

[Andy Hall]

I agree. That's unacceptable. They should be providing staff to do the packing of the bags followed by taking them to the car and loading them if requested.

I went into one on one occasion and the smell made me feel physcially sick. Never again.

[Derek Geldard]

Nice little urner then. :)

DG

[Andy Hall]

I agree. That's unacceptable. They should be providing staff to do the packing of the bags followed by taking them to the car and loading them if requested.

I went into one on one occasion and the smell made me feel physcially sick. Never again.

[Andy Hall]

I don't.

The correct approach is for the store to supply staff to do the packing. That is the way to avoid wasting of peoples' time.

Those are worthless in any store. The correct solution for that is to run several checkouts of this type in parallel with a single, very short queue

Loyalty schemes of any kind in a supermarket are a waste.

The required culture change is to improve service not reduce it.

The store should be supplying packing and the people to do the work.