h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm wondering if other people regularly have the amount of problems I seem to get. On average lately every other time I go to a supermarket there's some sort of hold up in the queue because there's no bar code on the item or the check out person can't tell the difference between broad beans and runner beans or bagels and rolls. There's regular slowness, aggro, and all round incompetancy. Just got back tonight after the regular kerfuffle in the queue, which took about 10 minutes to sort out.

Some people on hotoo are always whining about government inefficiency. But what about these clucking great supermarket companies with their cartels? Price fixing with each other. Putting prices down to put local shops out of business; then raising their prices. Very little money spent on basic staff training, and if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. But they all do the same thing, so there's no real choice.

I sometimes have hold ups in my local corner shop,but they at least treat you as a human being. There's less choice but your blood pressure is less affected. The staff do actually know the difference between an orange and a lemon.

I'm getting more and more sick of hearing everyday about the vast profits the supermarkets make, and yet they treat their stuff and customers more and more like cattle.

Maybe its just particularly bad round here. Clucking capitalist supermarkets are happy to screw everyone.

So do supermarkets especially employ the chronically stupid? Maybe where you are, but the staff at the town Sainsbury's here are able to simultaneously process my purchases, offer to pack, partake in polite banter which sometimes teeters on cock-teasing, deal with occasional glitches, figure out what change I want and leave me going away happy and better about myself.

Effers, people are idiots. Some I have to deal with at work sometimes stop me breathing, but because there is a consolidated effort (I seem to experience) to be universally and spectacularly banal. But that's because I have to deal with them. Change your supermarket and maybe you'll look at the horror of capitalism, as I now do the horror of the public sector, in a different light.

Dear me. Those "awful" capitalist supermarkets. Maybe we should try thesocialist alternative -

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/swl_album/cccp_018_231.jpg

Recently we needed some stuff for the house so instead of going to the big DIY stores I thought I'd support my small local shop, assuming I'd get better service. The service was poor - the salesman was aggressive - almost intimidating - and I made a conscious decision NOT to buy anything from him.

I can't say I've had any problems from my local Asda (and thank god I haven't seen Sharon Osborne in there). If the staff look like temps or students I usually avoid them and ask an older person instead.

I think what really irritates me is that supermarkets are regularly mentioned on the news for either the vast profits they are making, or the cartel thing over milk prices, recently, involving Sainsburys and Morrisons I think. Tesco are still being investigated for it. They pathetically pretended they did it to help farmers.

If when I went to *my* local supermarket I felt treated in the same way when I go to my local excellent corner shops I wouldn't feel so cross. It's the lack of choice round here. The competiton between the supermarket companies, rather than making one better than the others, seems rather to encourage them to be all more or less the same.

I make a point of still regularly buying from my local shops as well. Apart from the much more couteous, kowledgeable and friendly behaviour of the staff, I know damm well that unless such shops are supported the supermarkets will screw even more of my money out of me eventually thanks to their essentially 'uncompetative' cartels.

I just caught the end of the Rick Stein prog on BBC2. He makes the point how we should all support the small producers as much as possible. We have a farmers market locally every sunday morning. You buy direct from the farmers. A lot of them do small scale free range stuff. The meat although more expensive than Sainsbury's stuff is wonderful. beef is nicely marbled with fat, and poultry is less swimming in fat. And even stuff like potatoes seems to have much more flavour. The maris pipers tatties in Sainbury's are tastless in comparison.

I'm more than happy to pay extra for quality not to mention buying from someone who can tell the difference between an egg and a tomato.

I think part of the problem of cheap supermarket stuff is that people don't value food enough. They'd rather eat a few ultra cheap, tasteless chicken nuggets and chips and watch a cheap DVD, which Sainsburys now sell next to the meat section, rather than paying extra for a more tasty and expensive piece of meat, and a good chin wag with a mate over tea.

I won't say I don't sometimes go for cheap and cheerful, but most certainly not the majority of the time. Am I ?

? you & me both

Obviously shopping in one of the big four then.

Start of Retail diatribe. Nay

I don't have a problem with mine. All meat, dairy egg and fish UK sourced and source-identifiable. All quality products, many of which unavailable from elsewhere, and staff no less or more surly than anyone else in retail, but how many other jobs, at that wage, cover such a wide range of hours? I think most people would get a little surly if they are dealing with a public who will not stop their phone conversation while paying at the checkout, cannot befussed to have their change ready, let alone their purse, start packing AFTER the cashier has taken payment, and all this for just over the minimum wage.

Add in the shifts... Early shift 06:30 for stock replenishment. Last shift finishing at 21:00 to 22:00, then have customers banging on about 'Why haven't you got.... in stock! Don't you realise some of us have to work?'

What! 7 days a week? Purleese! And, of course people in retail don't work, do they? Let alone on weekends and all bar two Bank Holidays!



Please do shop at your nearest stores, and visit your butcher, and the baker, and the dairy, and the greengrocer, and the chemist, and the newsagent, and the drugstore, and the haberdashers, assuming you have all these, then realise why people shop in supermarkets. It is the consumers' choice to shop in supermarkets, it is not forced on the consumer by the supermarkets...



MMF

Amazingly enough, people who work in supermarkets are hard-up local people themselves.

Can't say I've ever had a problem with Tesco and Sainsburys, the 2 closest ones that I use.

I usually go to Sainsburys cos I can use the Fast Track thingy, which believe me at this time of year is an absolute lifesaver, and also avoids any of that tedious bar-code kerfuffle in the shoppers 2 ahead of you in the queue.

A Happy Christmas to all staff working in retail this holiday season

I quite like the choice, convenience and cheapness usually offered by supermarkets. I don't expect a shopping experience, just to get what I need and get out of there, so don't mind so much if the checkout staff aren't alive with conversation or if they make silly mistakes.

I have made the effort to buy meat from the butchers a couple of times, and it certainly was better, but oh so expensive. Would only really do it for guests.

>>Amazingly enough, people who work in supermarkets are hard-up local people themselves.<<

I doubt the people working in my local greengrocers, fish mongers, bakery and butchers get paid mega bucks. But they always seem to know about the stuff they sell and are only too happy to advise me when I've got a query. They seem to exude a friendliness on the whole that I don't see from supermarket staff. Obviously I'm generalising to a degree. But so many times I end up leaving the supermarket in a bad mood, compared to how I feel when shopping up the street, or in the local market.


The people in my local Sainsburys act like they couldn't give a toss.

Like I say maybe I'm particularly unlucky. I hate going there and only do it for covenience. It's not always any cheaper than my local greengrocers in any case. It's the convenience thing as much as anything. I'm very lucky in having plenty of small scale traditional shops nearby. And as far as possible I try to support them. I reckon it'll be a sad day when the supers are all that's available. But thank goodness lots of people round here still do plenty of their shopping locally. I'm obviously not alone in preferring them.

Having worked as a shop assistant they probably don't give a toss

(this happened to me) the company i worked for was doing a refit that i think no body wanted to do the gaffer came to me give me a load of flannel i will put you on the management course but i need you to work nights on a refurb wanting to improve my self agreed i did it came back he found every excuse he could and then told me i wouldn't be going on the management course

I was told on more than one occasion that my holidays had been turned down not so much as a reason as why altho other staff was getting them coming back and then putting and geting holidays for next year

I feel i was hounded out of my job as was other members of staff by the newly appointed manager who wanted people who would feed the egotistical power trip and i was told(just point out this is hearsay) when i left the company the manager and another manager and friends went out and celebrated and had a good because i left

did i give a toss No are you really surprised it is minimum wage you never get told you are doing a good job unlike the job i am doing now Today we got a fax through thanking us all for the hard work we have done this year and how we all are a intrical part of the company and the free big turky we get for christmas is very welcome

My local Sainsbury's is not one of the bigger stores but they are ok there and quite friendly and you get to know the staff as often in there, indeed many staff live locally too. I have found the staff helpful too and I don't think they earn a great amount.
As to local shops the worst service I have ever had was from a local shop as the person didn't even look at me but just held out their hand for my money while talking to another member of staff to one side, infact not a word was spoken to me! Supermarket market sataff are more likely to be polite sometimes as people can complain to managers unlike a small shop which maybe run by owner who serves you.

Small British retailers are their own worst enemies. When Asians started up small shops in the 70s, local shopkeepers sneered at them but by working extremely long hours and packing the shop with stock, they provided a service. 30 years later, most convenience shops are owned by Asians and those that sneered have gone bust or sold out.

The supermarkets were an American innovation which appeals to shoppers but many shop assistants seem to deeply resent any concept of customer service. There has been a change in the last few years though. Better training and following the lead given by M&S has led to an improvement.

But many businesses are doomed, because they are stuck in the older British traditions. I tried to get a jacket taken in the other week, only to discover that the local alterations shop is closed Mon, Tue & Saturdays in addition to having a 2 hour lunch break. I gave up trying to catch them when they were open & took it to a Chinese place I know in Edinburgh. They did the job in 15 minutes while I waited.

There's a lot of wailing about Post Offices shutting. Well stuff them. Closed on a Saturday afternoon, staff off for breaks at lunch time, massive queues

There seems to be an attitude with some shop staff that giving good service is a weakness; as if being polite equates to subservience.

Hey /// SWL.
'Re
your comment over socialist supermarkets .I have .VODKA is cheap
Wheeeeee!http://www.h2g2.com/h2g2/skins/brunel/images/buttons/ok.gif
OK

>>30 years later, most convenience shops are owned by Asians and those that sneered have gone bust or sold out.<<

That's not the case round here. There's a couple of newsagents/general stores open all hours run by Turkish cypriots. A few Chinese takeaways run by etnically Chinese from Honk Kong. An excellent Indian takeaway run by some ethnically Bangladeshis. And a fish and chip shop/kebab shop also run by some Turkish cypriots. A Carribean takeaway, run by some ethnic Jamaicans. The only shop run by Asians is the chemist which opens the same hours as the green grocers, the 2 butchers, the bakery, the fish mongers and the two flower shops, all of which are run by white people, seemingly conventional anglos as far as I can tell. Oh yes and the post office is also run by Asians.

But then you live in Glasgow SWL. So your experiences aren't necessarily the same as everyone elses.

Aren't Turks, Chinese and Bangladeshis sort of Asian?

Admittedly 7% of Turkey is in Europe. 93% in Asia.

What's your point Fanny? I say most convenience shops are run by Asians and you post a breakdown that confirms this then assert that my experience is different from yours.