Not falling for supermarket traps

[Alaric]

Something we fall into so often that we usually look very carefully at the labels is where there's a special offer, 2 for £ 5 say, but it only applies to some of the identically branded stuff in a cabinet. I got caught out again today where Asda had mixed discounted and undiscounted boxes in the same end of row cabinet where they put the special offers. Being charitable, perhaps supermarket pricing confuses the shelf-stackers as well.

Checking their online store shows that only some of the boxes were on special offer. It's various varieties of frozen fish with different coatings and flavourings.

[UncleEbenezer]

This seems to be an area where there's genuine distinction between different supermarkets. Though I wouldn't care to guess how much is at group level vs individual store level, or how it varies over time. What often seems worse these days is to figure out what items do or don't qualify in those "lunch deals": typically three items for a flat £3 making up a lunch for someone on the move.

In the worst instances, labelling can be not merely confusing but downright wrong. And then there's the issue of how the staff react when it's pointed out to them: in the case of an honest mistake, one would expect them to fix it so as not to catch other customers!

Let it pass, or make a fuss? I was inspired to blog after one particularly egregious incident at Morrisons: https://bahumbug.wordpress.com/2008/12/ ... ng-a-fuss/ That store has probably had to sharpen its ideas since then, as the arrival of new Lidl and Tesco mean it no longer has a ten-mile-or-more-in-any-direction monopoly.

[Alaric]

This seems to be an area where there's genuine distinction between different supermarkets.

I find Lidl reasonably trustworthy. That's probably down to the restricted range on offer, their less frequent use of x for £ y offers and their low prices in general.

[AleisterCrowley]

Never had any issues at Waitrose

[AF62]

Never had any issues at Waitrose

I have probably had more issues at Waitrose than any other store.

[AleisterCrowley]

Suprised I am. Do they do special offers ? I see the occasional reduction, but none of this 'buy two, get a third off the cheapest on a Wednesday if the day is a prime number' stuff

[Alaric]

Suprised I am. Do they (Waitrose) do special offers ?

If you have a loyalty card, you can select regularly purchased products on which to receive a discount. The problem is the work you have to do in order to claim the discount. You selected bacon as one of the discounted items. That's confirmed by stickers on the product. But did you select smoked or unsmoked? The packaging is near identical and a print of the web page showing your selections has icons too small to make out the difference.

If you have a loyalty card, you may get £ x off if you spend £ y. Even better the till receipt might recycle the offer, but only during the original eligibility. Waitrose certainly make special offers, but the problem as compared to Lidl or even Asda is that their stuff starts out expensive. There's farmed Sea Bass fillets available from most supermarkets. Usually the price is between £ 3.50 and £ 4.00, but Waitrose are usually looking for the other side of £ 5. Perhaps it's better quality.

Waitrose are one of the best, if not the best, on making chunky offers on stuff reaching its best before or use by dates.

[Stonge]

Waitrose can rot in hell. Stinking, money-grabbing, thieving hypocrites. All these emails they keep sending me about reducing the price of 'essentials'. £1.50 for two custard tarts, today! 100% increase in less than a year. I hope they go bust. Worse than Tesco. Liars.

[JMN2]

Waitrose can rot in hell. Stinking, money-grabbing, thieving hypocrites. All these emails they keep sending me about reducing the price of 'essentials'. £1.50 for two custard tarts, today! 100% increase in less than a year. I hope they go bust. Worse than Tesco. Liars.

I closed my Waitrose account and destroyed the card, will probably use it once a decade from now on so no need for it.

But worse than Waitrose is Sainsbury's and their Nectar system. They send the coupons of which the first one has already expired and the rest can only be used at certain weeks when I'm usually going to Morrisons anyway.

[BusyBumbleBee]

But worse than Waitrose is Sainsbury's and their Nectar system. They send the coupons of which the first one has already expired and the rest can only be used at certain weeks when I'm usually going to Morrisons anyway.

Hmmm... Sainsbury's nectar scheme works very well actually - at least it does for me. Since their last double up event I have managed to collect over £200 worth of nectar points - which will be worth £400 when they are doubled up. And I have never bought anything just because it gives me more points.

As a example - they sent me an email offer for ten times points on a shop of over £90 but I also had a five times points voucher for use over the counter and a 650 points voucher if I spent £120 over a week. So went in to get my usual stuff but bought bottles of sherry as Christmas presents and some other high value stuff (detergent firelighters etc) for the store cupboard - which were all on offer.

But all of that pales into insignificance against the quality of their taste the difference range.

[AndyPandy]

Waitrose runs 'two dine for £10' offers every few months and if you are an alcohol-drinking meat eater, they are cracking value.

There's one running at the moment and I got two duck breasts in a cherry/hoisin sauce, a boil in the bag diced potatoes (tasted better than it sounds), a whole camembert in a (hopefully) ovenproof bowl and a reasonable bottle of red (could have had a 4-pack of Peroni) for a tenner. With a Waitrose card, that also entitled me to a free Latte and a free newspaper.

Never signed up for their 20% off day-to-day items as their definition of day-to-day and mine seem to be somewhat adrift.

[tea42]

Ten years ago I got thoroghly hacked off with the sort of tricks people here are discussing and started travelling a few miles to get to an Aldi once a week. About once a month I go once to either Waitrose Tesco Sainsbury or Morrisons to buy the few small items that Aldi dont stock. We are better off and never looked back because Aldi has come on leaps and bounds in that time, and...I have now got a better range of spanners!

[Stonge]

Waitrose is at it again.

Last week 4 pints semi-skimmed £1.

Yesterday £1.10. A 10% increase.

I hate them with a passion.

[swill453]

Waitrose is at it again.

Last week 4 pints semi-skimmed £1.

Yesterday £1.10. A 10% increase.

I hate them with a passion.

Hmm, not just Waitrose. Looks like Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco have all recently put the price of their 4-pinter up from £1 to £1.10. About time too, let's hope some/all of that is going to the producer. It's an outrageously low price.

Of the majors only Asda is holding out at 99p.

Scott.

[UncleEbenezer]

Hmm, not just Waitrose. Looks like Morrisons, Sainsburys and Tesco have all recently put the price of their 4-pinter up from £1 to £1.10. About time too, let's hope some/all of that is going to the producer. It's an outrageously low price.

Scott.

Careful with that. Farmers'[1] propaganda is strong on the subject, and there have been lots of investigations into "abuse" by supermarkets. Yet the one time the supermarkets were found to have transgressed, it was because they'd conspired to pay the producers too much and overcharge customers.

John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said: 'This decision sends a strong signal to supermarkets, suppliers and other businesses that the OFT will take action and impose significant fines where it uncovers anti-competitive behaviour aimed at increasing the prices paid by consumers.

[1] or, more importantly, landowners. If tenant farmers (incidentally) get better prices, it feeds through to rents and hence to land prices. And those rents feed into the headline price of producing milk that features in media coverage, in a circular argument.

[Alaric]

Careful with that.

Given that butter is made from milk, why haven't recent price rises of butter also applied to milk? Whilst the price of a 250g packet in major supermarkets used to range from around 90p / £ 1 for the budget in house brand up to 160p or 170p for the branded packets, the range is now 140p to £ 2 .