Re: Eating fox? (Aldi).

[Jerry.]

Not necessarily, it's staff flexibility, rather than have 'Check-out Operators', Shelf Replenishers' Warehouse Staff' etc. they now seem to have multi-task trained personnel - when they need more people on the check-out's they take people away from shelf filling and when it's quite there are more people filling the shelves IYSWIM.

You don't get in-store bakeries re-heating 'home

That's a bit unfair, most (if not all) don't market the bakery as 'Home made bread' etc. just as 'Freshly Baked'.

You don't

That is NOT the point of 'loyalty' cards, it's a cheap and highly effective way of market research and product marketing / placement (anyone ever get discount coupons for types of products they have never bought ?), they know were you live and what you buy - that gives marketing people reams of information for just a few pence rather than the pounds it would cost if done via the old style market research methods.

You can't

If there was not a demand for the other 95, or so, bottled waters the supermarket would not have them on their shelves - shelf space is expencive and products that don't sell simple don't get stocked in the store (even if it is stocked by the same store 5 miles down the road in the next town).

[Alan]

In message , Jim Ley wrote

If that is the case why are Tesco's and Asda so expensive?

[Ian Stirling]

Lidl/Aldi are bigger on the continent I believe.

[Andy Hall]

The correct solution would be for Sainsbury's to employ somebody to collect them.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Hall]

What do you mean Victor Meldrew? I was his teacher..... :-)

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

Not really because I seldom buy it. However, when I've compared the "Real Thing" to supermarket own brands, with the possible exception of Virgin's cola it does have a better taste.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Andy Hall]

In one sentence I have said that I prefer some products to others. In general I find that own brand products are price targetted and the quality is not as good. I therefore don't buy them.

It is my choice what I buy and from where, and it is that which ultimately affects whether a given retailer gets my business.

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

It is also the quality and selection of the product and how much is wasted with some of them.

If I can pay a little more, get a better quality product with less waste, then that's a good deal.

Which is a pain in the backside.

That's called proper customer service. I don't want to wait 20 minutes in a checkout line.

I make my own bakery items.

I don't use loyalty cards anyway.

I don't like carrying large amounts of cash around and I avoid writing cheques if at all possible.

That depends on whether you like different types of water. Generally I have three or four in the cupboard because I prefer different ones with different foods.

That says it all. I don't like to pick over stuff on the floor.

They are cheaper because they sacrifice quality and customer service for price. If you want to buy on price, that's fine - it is not my first criterion.

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

It could easily be implemented at the register.

Possibly, although if they are only spending a tenner on food, they probably don't need a trolley to take it home.

That could be.

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

You didn't read what I said. I didn't say that everybody should be charged.

- Most people don't need to use a trolley apart from around the store and to the car. The correct thing to do is to have drop points for the trollies at regular intervals around the car park and then to have somebody who spends part of their time collecting up trollies and returning them to the front of the store. THis is perfectly simple to do and common practice. Both of my kids worked in a local supermarket during their school holidays when they were at school, and trollies were simply one of the rotation jobs that didn't require a full time person.

- If there are people who would like to take a trolley home because they don't have a car or are incapable in some way of buying a shopping trolley, then it is perfectly reasonable for them to be charged a substantial deposit and ideally a fee for so doing.

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

Were you a student at the time? I've seen students borrowing them with agreement from the supermarket manager and a photocopy of their students union card.

.andy

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[Alan]

In message , Andy Hall wrote

You obviously don't live in the real world. In places such as Lidl you can fill a trolley or two with the basic foodstuffs for £10.

[John]

A deposit is returned so why does an honest person have a concern?

Having used a narrow boat I have seen the effect of dumped 'free' trolleys. They end up in canals and other places.

Why not just be responsible - help to protect the environment and keep costs down by not subsidising the replacement of trolleys - or policing of supermarket perimeters.

Incidentally - saw some good trolleys in Sheffield - they catch on grids at the exits of the car park making them difficult (not impossible) to remove - they also climb escalators.

[T i m]

FWIW Andy, aren't we supposet to be doing our bit for the environment and re-using the 'free' carriers we still get given in most places?

If I know I'm going food shopping (Sainsburys) I take some of the stronger ones you 'lease' (if they break / wear out they give you a free replacement) and they give you a penny off for each of your own bags you bring / use (it's not the money but the principal here).

If I haven't planned on shopping I generally keep a few disposable ones in the car / motorcycle / cycle / jacket pocket just_in_case?

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. We give all of our surplus carrier bags to a local cycle shop.

[Alan]

In message , Andy Hall wrote

Why? You can still have carrier bags if you wish - it's just they will cost you. You still pay for the 'free' bags you get in other supermarkets.

If the environmentalists get their way all carrier bags at supermarkets will soon be individually priced (taxed) at some high rate to encourage you recycle them. Perhaps this already happens in some EU countries and that's why some stores have the same policy in their UK branches.

It's called bullshit and inefficiency. Most of the time you wait at the checkout in the large supermarket is down to the time taken for the staff to swipe the unnecessary loyalty cards and discount vouchers and giving away tokens worth a fraction of a penny for computers for schools etc.

Also waiting for the women in front of you that hasn't realised that she may have to pay for the items and has packed all the goods on top of her purse!

At Lidl and Aldi I have never waited anywhere near this long. They seem to employ checkout staff who are fast!

They do accept cards but not credit cards.

How do you tell the quality of water and can anyone actually tell the difference between the hundreds of brands out there?

I'm reminded of a situation around a dozen years ago where a group of people local to me were still using water from a well because it tasted better. It transpired that it was contaminated with the sewerage from a broken pipe.

The goods comes in the boxes or trays and wheeled in on palettes. I see that some of the bigger supermarkets are going over to this method of stocking.

I don't regard the customer service I get at any Lidl or Aldi any different to that I get a Tesco or Sainsbury. I don't need the customer service that these stores pretend to give in their TV advertising.

All stores sell a mixture of rubbish and quality goods. High prices don't mean quality and low prices crap.

[geoff]

In message , Owain writes

You're a hero, you are

[geoff]

In message , Jerry. writes

A lot of it I presume is rebadged known brands.

But then, I haven't been shopping for food for years, at which point I'll stop before I get called a mysoginist

[Andy Hall]

Absolutely. I do, and usually take the carriers with me that have been used before.

However, the crinkly ones seem to disintegrate very quickly, especially in sunlight, so I am pretty sure they are not a long term problem with degradation.

I don't mind doing that either. My objection is with the cheapskate places that try and sell poor quality bags that neither last for several goes nor are that disposable.

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[Jerry.]

Everybody would need to be charged, how do you know who is going to remove the trolley (how will someone waiting by the 'trolley bay' to impose this surcharge know who has a car and who doesn't ?

My local TESCO's (all three of them) and my local Sainsbury have full time staff to do what you suggest - the system does not work due to the lazy customers who just dump their trolleys in the next parking place to were they parked rather than in the 'trolley dropping zones', the trolley men spend all their time chasing all over the car parks freeing up parking places !

But half the problem is not the people who take trolleys but the ones who don't leave them were they should when finished with, when those types are faced with either loosing a pound or taking the trolley to the drop zone they tend to do the latter....

[Owain]

"Andy Hall" wrote | >I borrowed one once to move house as I didn't have access to a car. | >But I took it back afterwards. | Were you a student at the time?

No.

| I've seen students borrowing them with agreement from the | supermarket manager and a photocopy of their students | union card.

I just walked out with mine. (This was before magnetic wheel locks and CCTV.) I didn't even buy anything. I did feel a little nervous as I overtook two police officers with a portable telly and a trouser press in a borrowed Tesco trolley but I obviously look law-abiding because they didn't stop me.

Owain