More B&Q silly prices.

[Stuart]

Whit are you havering about .??? lol

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[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Och! mon this gitting oot of hand noo.

Happy New year ta ye.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[MM]

However, both are 12 miles away (round trip 24), whereas Tesco and Somerfield are only 6 miles away (round trip 12). Once a week I do a big shop, taking in Aldi and Lidl. During the week I try to buy as much as I can from Somerfield. I use Tesco as little as possible.

MM

[MM]

It is often specifically the German things that attract me there! Lidl's potato salad is just like the potato salad I used to buy in Germany, as are the Bockwürste in jars. In Aldi the sliced meats (ham, salami) are incredible value when compared with just about any other store.

MM

[MM]

Of course it's fancy! Check the pictures on the packaging next time your in a store and compare the Finest range with the cheaper kinds. The difference is obvious. The basic "Smart Price" packaging is deliberately underplayed in accordance with the low price.

Give exactly the same ingredients to two cooks and one will prepare an absolute crap meal while the other serves up an excellent meal.

That latter statement is simply not true. Until a year ago, when I had frequent access to several Chinese takeaways (since I've moved, takeaways are now some distance away), I could always get better value from a Chinese meal than from any so-called equivalent bought from Tesco's and the portions from the Chinese were always much larger. And that's just Tesco. Take M&S or Waitrose ready meals and you really are being ripped off for what they are. What do you pay for excellently fried fish and chips? In the Fens I pay £3.10, and the fish is far fresher than in the home counties where I used to live. Tesco charge £1.99 for their "Finest" chips (not frozen) and you still have to cook 'em! ASDA charge 98p for exactly the same product. Even M&S only charge 99p. What irritates me about Tesco is the slogan "Helping you to save money" when what they are really doing is helping you every which way they can to spend MORE money! At least their other slogan "Every little helps" is apposite, for every extra penny or tuppence they can get away with helps to boost the almighty Tesco coffers.

MM

[Dave Plowman (News)]

So it has a different picture or graphics on it? So what? Every maker tries to make the packaging attractive. And on the 'budget' stuff may also deliberately make it plain. Ink doesn't cost much...

But they're not the same ingredients, are they? Look at the weights of the principle ingredients on the packs.

It's true round here, cost wise. And not everyone wants vast portions. Nor was I discussing ready prepared Chinese meals from a Supermarket - that sort of cuisine doesn't lend itself to cook chill stuff.

Who on earth buys prepared chips that you then have to cook? It takes little effort to peel spuds and they can be deep fried in the same time as it takes to heat a prepared main dish.

You're not forced to buy any ready prepared meals in Tesco or anywhere else - they all sell the ingredients to do it from scratch.

[tony sayer]

In article , htmark98 writes

Thats about the same price anywhere else with 0% off then!....

[MM]

To manufacture and print the "Finest" packaging and equivalents in other supermarkets, professional studios have to be employed and the food specially prepared (sprayed with wax to make it glisten and so on). This is a much more expensive process than simply printing "Smart Price" across a cardboard sleeve, probably in a single colour.

But the photography and graphics needed for the top-of-the-range products do. A portion of the price of your "Finest" meal is to cover the packaging and I'll bet that is more expensive than on the basic products.

Chicken, beef, pork, fish, rice, peas, carrots, potatoes, gravy, etc? What amazing new ingredients have you seen lately? Or are there special farms catering only to Smart Price producers?

Who said anything about vast? A decent portion, fine, but often the supermarket portions are fairly meagre, unless one buys, say, the family sized meals from ASDA - chicken casserole, and so on, and then one is eating the stuff for three days.

Ah, but since the supermarkets sell stacks of it, it's a valid comparison. If you don't want to consider Chinese, then consider Indian instead.

I do, sometimes. Sometimes I buy potatoes and prepare chips from scratch, although since I don't have a deep-fat fryer they are difficult to prepare from raw and still get the same results. And dangerous in many homes where the cook may leave an unattended saucepan of boiling fat on the stove where the kiddies are playing. The chips in the cook chill cabinet come closest to real chips, yet you can cook them in the oven or in a shallow pan with just a little oil. You should try them. They're delicious. However, I don't buy the Tesco kind at £1.99 when I can buy the same product from either ASDA or M&S for a pound cheaper. And an ASDA pack of these chips easily gives me three meals, say, Monday, Wednesday, and the remainder still usable on Saturday. At roughly 33p a meal that is not what I'd call expensive.

Assuming one has a deep-fat fryer, sure. When my mum used to have an industrial, floor-standing fryer I cooked the most amazing chips. I could get a deep-fat fryer, but my doctor is always telling me to cut down on fat. Aren't we all supposed to do this?

Well, of course, no one is forced to buy anything, but since we are talking about buying ready meals and the rip-off prices these cost, this particular comment seems totally obvious. It would, of course, be cheaper still to buy a packet of seeds and plant one's own veg.

MM

[Pete C]

Temperature is quite important so a sugar thermometer should help.

Should be possible to make equally as good or better from raw potatoes, plenty of info on the web.

I just buy prewashed spuds and don't bother peeling them!

Not just fat but saturated vs unsaturated fats. Have a look at the store bought ones, how much fat do they have?

cheers, Pete.

[MM]

Don't bother with a thermometer. Just drop a chip in after a few minutes. If it starts to sizzle, the oil/fat is hot enough. Cook the chips once, then take them out, allow the oil to get really hot, then plunge them back in again for a brief moment or two. Use only Maris Piper potatoes.

You have to get the right sort of potato. You really do need a deep-fat fryer. You could use a saucepan and chip basket, but that is extremely dangerous and not to be recommended.

Then the chips are not going to be very good. Chips are made from peeled potatoes.

The way I do 'em, in the oven, they have probably less than if I had a deep-fat fryer.

MM

[Mark]

... and my nearest Tesco has introduced a £70 fine if you use the car park for more than two hours! I won't be going there in the near future.

M

[Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)]

I would imagine that's the idea. That way their own customers can make use of it, without being inconvenienced by those who want free parking to go elsewhere. Tesco own the land and pay rates on it, they are fully entitled to make a charge. 2 hours is twice as long as the vast majority of their customers would need.

[Owain]

Tesco currently have special offers on their Healthy Eating range of ready meals.

Small ready meal 1.99, £1 off if buy two Large ready meal, 1.49, buy one get one free

Obviously the big ones are even better value when reduced to 75p for quick sale.

Tell them you're disabled and it takes you more than two hours to push a trolley round the store.

Owain

[Bob Eager]

Their policy is working, then.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Anyone who can stand being in *any* supermarket for more than two hours needs treatment.

[john]

Appears to be a good policy. Near me is a shopping area that used to be unusable when there was a home football match due to inconsiderate people parking in places owned by the shops for their genuine customers. I can't imagine anyone needing more than 2 hours - if so then a word with customer services would sort it out if it was justified.

What does the person think about clamping cars parked in Disabled Spaces?

John

[dave]

Checkout assistants? :-)

[Mark]

There was a case in the local rag recently where a single mum with disabled child was fined £70 for staying 5 minutes too long. I don't think that's good for business.

In any case the Tesco in question is not near anywhere else that doesn't have a car park (out of town shopping centre) so there would be no point in using the car park for anything else.

Tesco may have the right to do this (although there could be a case under the unfair contract terms legislation) but I have also the right to shop elsewhere, which I will do from now on.

M

[Mark]

LOL! However this Tesco has a cafe and tries to encourage shoppers to use it. This could easily mean that a shopper may legitimately park their car for 2 hours.

M

[Mark]

Are you saying I am an undesireable customer ? :-) My money's as good as anyone elses!

M