Lucky you - 7 days a week - and all night.
The only things that help are the Sainsbury carpark (refund of fee if you spend enough) and Morrisons (free for up to 2 hours). Other than that, it is to the out-of-towners (including, here, John Lewis, Asda and Screwfix) we go.
About the only real local shop we care about is a pharmacy - which is actually in a sort of village out the other side of town.
Phone number? Why would I want a phone number? Phone calls cost money. I'd rather have a 3-hr turnaround on emails, with *useful* responses.
Owain
The message is :
"Come in a car ? Fuck off somewhere else we don't want you"
Local council officers have their heads so far up their own arses their dentists have to do their training via a klein bottle.
Derek
On Sunday I was in a carpet shop ordering a carpet for the newly decorated dining room. Whilst waiting for my order to be printed out I heard the following conversation.
Customer (to Manager, or so it said on his badge!): "Do you keep customer order records here?"
Manager: "How long ago are we talking?"
C: "Two maybe three years"
M: "Too long ago mate, why do you want to know?"
C: "I bought some carpet from here and need another room doing in the same,
30 odd sq metres?"M: "We put all our records for the last eight months on computer and sent all the really old stuff down to Head Office"
C: "Could you ask HO for me please?"
M: "Waste of time mate. They're not open until 5th Jan, and even if they could be bothered to look it would take them ages to find it"
C: (trying to push him in that direction) "I seem to remeber it was £35 a sq metre"
M: "Have you still got the receipt then?"
C: "If I had the receipt, I wouldn't need the records looking for would I?"
M: "You should have kept your receipt and it would have been a doddle"
C: "I give in, I'll go elswhere and pick a different carpet!"
Customer walks out and the manager turns to one of the floorwalkers and said "Sheesh! Some people want us to do all the work for them".
I could not believe my ears, in this difficult time for retail he had a customer who WANTED to buy carpet for at least a grand and he let him walk out of the store without even saying he would try and find out and explaining to the customer that he couldn't promise being able to supply as the carpet may well be discontiued by now. If I hadn't already paid for my carpet I would have done the same.
Happy New Year
John
Staples doesn't have such a wide branch network as WHS - but WHS are horribly overpriced especially their railway station outlets, which is where they make their profit.
There is a hard core of book lovers who want to see books before buying, but Waterstones are going to have to beef up their back ordering systems. If Amazon etc can get a book to me within a week by post then Waterstones should be able to get a book to my local branch by the 2nd day - not 3 weeks later as seems to be the case.
Owain
Sadly I've forgot. It was some place we didn't usually go to, maybe London or Withernsea, somewhere like that.
However this place proffers to be a "Husband Creche"
Derek
It a growing British phenomenon, brought about by pandering to children, rather than educating them to be resourceful and self-reliant. Moray Council are advertising for a 'Street football co-ordinator', to help kids arrange games. Says it all really. We are DOOMED unless we change our attitude towards children and become demanding once again.
Andy
BTW The way some stores expect you to keep *the packaging* for however many years amazes me. Do they all live in disused WW2 aircraft hangers or what ?
*GOD-ALL-MIGHTY*The country is going to hell in a handbasket and we are already going down the black hole.
Ditto
Derek
In message , Rod wrote
Around my way the GP partnerships are attaching pharmacies to the surgeries. With repeat prescriptions it is possible to get the form collected, given to the doctor, prescription made up and delivered without leaving ones armchair. Why would anyone want to walk into Boots for pharmacy services?
What I like about JDW is the way that it gives people a free choice of what to drink at any time of day. We've had our church Christmas lunch there - not cordon bleu standard of course, but a decent Christmas menu for £7 including a drink is good value for many of the pensioners in our congregation.
What gets me is the people sinking pints at the airport bar while waiting for their flights - at 8am
Depressingly familiar. M&S seem to be staffed by people who used to work for British Rail/DWP/Local Authority before being sacked for incompentence and lack of response to customer service.
I had a similar experience at Tesco. I filled up at a "Pay at Pump" position and it failed to give a receipt. I wandered into the shop to ask for a written receipt and was faced with an arrogant baggage refusing to issue one. It took 20 minutes to get a receipt as she argued variously that (a) she didn't have to give one and (b) there was a "repeat receipt" button on the machine and (c) any machine would give a copy receipt if I entered my card and pressed a button for "repeat receipt".
I pointed out that I had done all of the above before entering the shop. Eventually someone with clue emerged from the back of the shop to tell here that the pumps were broken and that she had to hand write a receipt. Something she could have done when I walked in to the shop.
If they go bankrupt I won't lose any sleep.
Nothing worthwhile comes easy. You have to work at it.
Nothing new. I was doing such deliveries in 1969!
You know why they want that and instruction books etc etc don't you? It's so they can take your return, bung it through the shrink wrap machine in the back of the store, and sell it "as new" again.
So if taking something back to a store like that write in the instructions that the goods have been returned on such and such a date and why. Or scrawl on the box, in thick black marker, "Return to XXX, splinge wurdle broken" OWTTE.
My experience is different in the USA, where I assume the working conditions are largely the same.
I think it's a great idea.
Maybe they have just done a night or early shift and are winding down after a "days" work?
I do like the looks you get when in a so called posh hotel and the suits are just coming down for breakfast at 0700 and we are proping up the bar knocking the pints back surrounded by wet/dirty outdoor gear after coming through the door 30 mins before. Can never be sure if they are looks of "what are THOSE scrufy people doing here" or "Have they been there all night?".
The message from "John" contains these words:
About the only thing that can be said is that M and S have a wider range of sizes and fittings. Ordered on the internet through Quidco or whatever and a small but meaningful discount means you can avoid dealing with idiots face to face.
Pity the staff don't have a clue how to keep or serve those fine beers !!!!
Real ale lover.
Me too, I won't go into any Tesco until Sylvia Porter (Tesco Heiress) pays every single penny of the £millions she still owes Westminster Council, when she was caught and surcharged for jerry-mandering in Tower Hamlets. Wavet Dave
The retail culture in the USA is very different. Standards are much higher, with polite and helpful staff the norm. We Brits sometimes doubt the sincerity of phrases such as "Have a Nice Day" but, overall, the US retail experience is better.
Prices are much lower too. :-)
I wonder if it would work in the USA? Perhaps it is a little too close to socialism for US tastes, although personally I would prefer to call it "shared capitalism".
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