Customer Service alive and well at SMS

The only difference between Tesco and the of major food retailers is Size. It makes me laugh how people jump on the band wagon to stick a knife into a true British success story like Tesco.

 

Forget what you hear on the news its one sided, find your own views that you have researched.

 

If you think Sainsbury’s Asda and Morrison’s is any better than Tesco in its code of conduct you are greatly mistaken. The commission wasn’t investigating Tesco on it own it was the industry and made recommendations accordingly.

 

I love the British view of success we love to knock it. If Tesco were based in the states as they are here they'd welcome it with open arms as an American dream of success.

 

For those of you that don’t know. Tesco started as a corner shop selling tea so for all the small retailers moaning on about how badly they are treated they need to wake up and roll with the punches adapt and overcome.

Every industry tends to monopoly, that's economics and capitalism for you.

When ONE company is so dominant that is can crush its own supply chain at will, that is morally questionable.

What are you paying farmers now for milk? How are those chickens and cattle raised?

Who decides? Your shareholders. Who are they? Oh, pension funds and hedge funds. Do they give a stuff how your supply chain operates - the short-cuts food producers might take to compensate for the extra % you squeezed out of their margin?

Who is to blame? We are. When consumers put a value on life, not a price, they might learn.

Branksome is just the right size and fine. Not tried the Poole one though.

 

Still they say that in Poole you're never more than ten foot from a pikey

Tower Park or Fleetsbridge?

Fleetsbridge is my local used to go shopping there but since it turned into a Tesco 3rd Biggest one in UK or whatever the name is I've gone off of it. Too many people, not enough tills.

As for Tower Park, too near Canford Heath and Rossmore!!

Every industry tends to monopoly, that's economics and capitalism for you.

 

When ONE company is so dominant that is can crush its own supply chain at will, that is morally questionable.

 

What are you paying farmers now for milk? How are those chickens and cattle raised?

 

Who decides? Your shareholders. Who are they? Oh, pension funds and hedge funds. Do they give a stuff how your supply chain operates - the short-cuts food producers might take to compensate for the extra % you squeezed out of their margin?

 

Who is to blame? We are. When consumers put a value on life, not a price, they might learn.

Well said. I highlighted your last sentence because I make my own protest in refusing to shop at Tesco. I use local markets and other supermarkets, and I spread my £s around. It's time people thought a little more about what happens to their spending money, and realise that they could be making a real moral judgement, instead of just going to Tesco because it's so convenient.

EDIT: BTW, this thread is off to The Lounge. I'll leave a link.

There have been cases in the past where a major supermarket (and I'm NOT saying it was Tesco, because I don't know which one it was) contracted with a lettuce grower to buy ALL his produce. If he agreed to the contract, he wouldn't be allowed to sell to anyone else.

He geared up his production to satisfy this demand and then, when the contract was up for renewal, the supermarket offered him a revised price that was below the cost of production. He'd just planted the new produce.

He had the awful dilemma of being ripped off and seriously out of pocket by continuing to supply the supermarket, or being left will millions of unsold lettuces on his hands.

Some of these supermarkets are big bullies and they should be ashamed of their working practices, in my view.

Once the big boys drive all the local competition out of town, they will hike their prices, you see.

I'm not just talking about butchers, greengrocers etc. I'm talking book shops, music stores, white goods stores.......

Do they still have the old hand-cranked tills at Aldi then?

 

:shock:

Aldi are similar to Lidl - they were both set up by German brothers to rival each other - and have very similar working practices - surely you can't have missed the yellow price cards

Since I worked as an area manager for Lidl, I can assure you that the guys and gals that work for these companies work very hard! But that is down to the 'model' of these shops which allows them to sell there goods cheaper. If you think that Tesco use and abuse their staff, then you really should experience how these guys operate!!

Well said. I highlighted your last sentence because I make my own protest in refusing to shop at Tesco. I use local markets and other supermarkets, and I spread my £s around. It's time people thought a little more about what happens to their spending money, and realise that they could be making a real moral judgement, instead of just going to Tesco because it's so convenient.

 

EDIT: BTW, this thread is off to The Lounge. I'll leave a link.

I shop in Waitrose not because I am a snob but because the profit is divided between the partners (staff) and it does not answer to shareholders who squeeze additional margin where there is really none to be squeezed. I also buy free-range and organic meat becuase I want to eat meat that's been fed grass or feed, not other dead animals.

Does it cost more? Yes.

So I go without something else.

We should never cut corners on food production. It's what is killing us.

Once the big boys drive all the local competition out of town, they will hike their prices, you see.

 

I'm not just talking about butchers, greengrocers etc. I'm talking book shops, music stores, white goods stores.......

I agree to an extent...

BUT, I like the convenience of one stop shopping, with free parking.

However, I miss getting quality fresh meat from a local butcher, and on the rare occasion that I find one these days, I've found them to be MUCH more expensive

Tower Park or Fleetsbridge?

 

Fleetsbridge is my local used to go shopping there but since it turned into a Tesco 3rd Biggest one in UK or whatever the name is I've gone off of it. Too many people, not enough tills.

 

As for Tower Park, too near Canford Heath and Rossmore!!

Just moved to Knighton Heath myself...which will get your snobometer going! And which makes my local Fleetsbridge too i guess. However i work in Southbourne so the Castle Lane one (another whopper) is good enough...if not i'd put the effort in to go to Branksome...

Because i love needlessly burning petrol...

Move this to the Lounge St L... I feel a few replies coming on.

I'm also a fan of a British success story, but it does depend on what you think consitutes a 'success story'... IMO profit is only a part of success if it is wisely re-invested. I guess we could end up discussing it all right back to the basics of capitalism and it's pros and cons, but I have a fairly simplistic view on things, and from where I sit, Tesco, along with a huge number of other 'success stories' only care about profit and as a result, along with other issues like peak oil, it's only a matter of time before the human race f*cks itself up because of it's incessant need for growth. Greed will kill us IMO.

Oh, fair play to SFC for sorting the original issue... reading about that my main thought was simply that common sense should prevail. Yes, the website should give more information, yes, the buyer probably should've thought about it a little more, and yes, the woman on the phone could've easily rectified the issue by taking note of the transaction, verifying it, and sending out another one, like Leighton Mitchell did in the end. It costs very little in time and energy and would've resolved the issue immediately.

Company reputations for customer service all depend on these kind of single-point transactions... it's all about how ONE person deals with ONE issue at any one time. It's something I've worked with for years and it's a bit of a thing of mine that my staff should be doing everything in their power to resolve an issue, within their remit, and taking ownership of it to it's conclusion, even if they can't sort it themselves. Sadly, too many people want an easy life, and out come the slopy shoulders and the lazy attitude.

And don't get me started on the people who insist on finishing a conversation behind their till before serving you.

I should stop before I rant anymore. 8-D

Aldi are similar to Lidl - they were both set up by German brothers to rival each other - and have very similar working practices - surely you can't have missed the yellow price cards

 

Since I worked as an area manager for Lidl, I can assure you that the guys and gals that work for these companies work very hard! But that is down to the 'model' of these shops which allows them to sell there goods cheaper. If you think that Tesco use and abuse their staff, then you really should experience how these guys operate!!

I've never been to either of these supermarkets - there aren't any where I live so I don't know what 'yellow price cards' are.

But surely a cashier, wherever s/he is employed, just scans items and takes money? (I don't mean that in a demeaning way BTW)

Or is the working practice at the till very different at Aldi /Lidl to, say, Tesco or Sainsbury? Because I was talking about CASHIERS' wages, WSS.

Once the big boys drive all the local competition out of town, they will hike their prices, you see.

 

I'm not just talking about butchers, greengrocers etc. I'm talking book shops, music stores, white goods stores.......

Back in the 1990's, when I was an IT manager at Comet, I had a conversation with the Area Manager, and I predicted the end of the shop experience for most items, within 25 years, and Internet Shopping to take over. He said I was bonkers. That gives me about another 12 or so years for my prediction to come true. I think I'm in with an excellent shout still.

Jesus.... never realised that supermarkets could arouse such powerful opinions and arguements.

What a wonderfully moanful bunch of arguementalist the british are !!!!! (BTW i do include myself in that sentence)

I've never been to either of these supermarkets - there aren't any where I live so I don't know what 'yellow price cards' are.

 

But surely a cashier, wherever s/he is employed, just scans items and takes money? (I don't mean that in a demeaning way BTW)

 

Or is the working practice at the till very different at Aldi /Lidl to, say, Tesco or Sainsbury? Because I was talking about CASHIERS' wages, WSS.

Aldi don't employ 'cashiers'.

They employ staff!

They are expected to do all of the jobs in the store - including putting deliveries on shelves, cleaning [no overnight cleaners for these guys], and all the other jobs that need to be done.

You really should go visit one of these stores - there will be one close to any large-ish housing area - and it will open your eyes. Who knows, you may even get to the till eventually

I've never been to either of these supermarkets - there aren't any where I live so I don't know what 'yellow price cards' are.

 

But surely a cashier, wherever s/he is employed, just scans items and takes money? (I don't mean that in a demeaning way BTW)

 

Or is the working practice at the till very different at Aldi /Lidl to, say, Tesco or Sainsbury? Because I was talking about CASHIERS' wages, WSS.

Big difference is that at Aldi and Lidl, you're not just a cashier, or shelf stacker, or even manager or assistant manager... you're ALL of the above, so you'll be luggin pallets around one minute, and then on the till the next depending on how busy it is.

My brother-in-law (to be) works in Lidl and enjoys it, because he's so busy and the day flies by. From what I gather it's hard to 'hide' in a Lidl because they operate so lean.

Aldi don't employ 'cashiers'.

 

They employ staff!

 

They are expected to do all of the jobs in the store - including putting deliveries on shelves, cleaning [no overnight cleaners for these guys], and all the other jobs that need to be done.

 

You really should go visit one of these stores - there will be one close to any large-ish housing area - and it will open your eyes. Who knows, you may even get to the till eventually

The nearest one to me is about 10 miles away and the next nearest is 20 miles away. I don't think I'll bother

The great thing about my town is that there is a good selection of supermarkets actually in the town itself. So it's quite easy to do local (meat, bread and veg) shopping and then visit the supermarket of choice, without having to move the car.

The nearest one to me is about 10 miles away and the next nearest is 20 miles away. I don't think I'll bother

 

The great thing about my town is that there is a good selection of supermarkets actually in the town itself. So it's quite easy to do local (meat, bread and veg) shopping and then visit the supermarket of choice, without having to move the car.

Is that your way of admitting WSS is right about you comparing wages with Tesco?

Is that your way of admitting WSS is right about you comparing wages with Tesco?

How on earth do you get to that conclusion?

I'm not making any claims about comparitive wages. I'd quite simply read on a number of message boards that Tesco pays very low wages to its cashiers when compared to other supermarkets and I passed that intelligence on.

As I haven't ever been to Aldi / Lidl, I can't possibly comment on how they operate, can I .

But I'm not prepared to spend hard earned dosh driving a round trip of 20 miles to check it out. It would probably cost me more than I might save. I'd rather support my local shops, quite frankly.

There have been cases in the past where a major supermarket (and I'm NOT saying it was Tesco, because I don't know which one it was) contracted with a lettuce grower to buy ALL his produce. If he agreed to the contract, he wouldn't be allowed to sell to anyone else.

 

He geared up his production to satisfy this demand and then, when the contract was up for renewal, the supermarket offered him a revised price that was below the cost of production. He'd just planted the new produce.

 

He had the awful dilemma of being ripped off and seriously out of pocket by continuing to supply the supermarket, or being left will millions of unsold lettuces on his hands.

 

Some of these supermarkets are big bullies and they should be ashamed of their working practices, in my view.

agree with that

i used to work for a company that had a nationwide service agreement with one of the chains, first year was great when it came to renewal of contract they ask for a 5% reduction in cost we agreed because we felt we could cut our costs accordingly but by year 4 there is nothing left to cut and you are faced with the decision loose 30% of your turnover and workforce or carry on making peanuts

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but no shop is duty bound to sell you anything. They can refuse to sell to a customer if they want.

 

Several years ago, when I moved back to Southampton, I needed a new Steam Iron. I went into a couple of shops nearby, and the local Currys had a £30 iron marked up at £12. I knew the prices as I had just resigned as a manager from Comet only days before, and these trivial things stay with you. I told the salesperson I wanted the Iron. He said it was incorrectly priced and I could have it at £30. Now I knew he was right, but I dug my heels in to see how far the store would go. I asked for the manager, and he caved in immediately. So I got my Iron for £12. But the manager was quite within his rights to tell me to bugger off.

I'm glad you got there before I did. Far too many on this forum/thread dishing out what they believe is fact when it isn't. A shop is the same as a bar in that they don't HAVE to sell you anything you don't want. So if they didn't want to sell the waffles to Stanley then they didn't have too. TO that point however I would have taken them back off the till worker, put them in the trolley and walked out with them. Well if they were'nt priced, and therefore not for sell then reeeeallly you're not stealing neither. Win win no?

On the supermarket side of things, next month when I get back home, I am going to try and avoid shopping in supermarkets if possible, already I get most of my monthly meat and fish shopping from a website farmerschoice.net, delivered to the door, costs a little extra but better quality meat. So apart from buying veg etc at the local greengrocers and other bits and pieces from local shops, I think it may be possible. The idea that brought this on was visiting Tesco at Bursledon a few days ago, being in it kind of shocked me in a way in that it is geared up to sell everything in one place, but also led me to believe that when going there you invariably end up buying stuff you never needed or really wanted, you can go in to buy some veg and end up walking out with a 42" tv...however I still need to find somewhere online where I could buy alcohol on line if anyone knows any good sites.

Also on the live seafood side of the discussion, I have seen on tv cooking programmes the most 'humane' way to kill seafood is to stick it in the freezer first.

In fact, it sometimes annoys me because I'm forced to explain that I DON'T want a second one free if it is a perishable item.

It's a hard knock life.

Thats a bloody good question! I wanted one so I can look the part when warming up at SMS in May.

To be fair, you deserve to be punished for this. Well done Saints Megastore!

I had a little run in with Tesco customer services last week. I put a packet of tesco waffles in my trolley and when they tried to scan them no price came up. The bell gets pressed and a "senior" checkout worker comes along and tries scanning them - no price comes up. She then says i can't have the waffles because they can't get a price. I says i want the waffles and you'll have to find the price. She then says "what do you want me to do - make a price up?" in a sarcastic tone. I told her she had a bad attitude and she should learn to speak courteously to customers and i want to see the manager as i don't think she's helpful and i want to buy the waffles. The manager comes out and says they employ polish workers who shouldn't have put the waffles in the freezer. I says well that's not my problem, i want to buy them. He says i can't. I then say well if i can't have the waffles i don't want to buy the rest of my shopping and you can put it all back on the shelves. He says that's your choice. I say yeah it is. That's about it, but it really ****ed me off.

I enjoyed this story. Do you have any more tales of divine retribution against your verbal acts of hubris on here?

I have a good recipe for hubris, much better than the one they sell at Tesco.

I have a good recipe for hubris, much better than the one they sell at Tesco.

What is the most humane method of killing a hubris in your opinion? I hang mine.