Tesco voted Britain's worst supermarket

[aquacycle]

A bit out of date now, but I've just stumbled across this online. Back in February, Tesco was voted Britain's worst supermarket. What do we all think? Anybody agree/disagree? Waitrose was voted best for customer service and Lidl voted best for value.

I have to say, I'm not a fan of Tesco. My local Tesco is absolutely huge and very poorly laid out. I also find the staff to be particularly annoying, but I think that largely depends on where the store is located. I split my shopping between Morrisons and Aldi as both are local. I love Morrisons local produce range and fresh fish, but can't fault Aldi's value for money and there packaged products are equally as good.

I find these huge stores too daunting. I know the US has had enormous supermarkets for years, but traditionally they have always been smaller here. In Europe, Supermarkets are often less than half of the size of the UK stores and still manage to stock everything you need.

What does everyone else think?

Tesco voted worst supermarket in Britain

Every little helps, especially if you’ve been voted Britain’s worst supermarket.

metro.co.uk

 

[aquacycle]

Here's an article from the daily fail COUGH AHEM sorry, Daily Mail, titled "The real reason middle-class Mums love Aldi". Despite it being in the Daily Mail, it's quite an interesting read.

The REAL reason middle-class mums love Aldi (and it's nothing to do with award-winning tea bags and bacon... but everything to do with the booze aisle)

Aldi came top in taste taste of own brand goods from trade magazine the Grocer, beating both Waitrose and Marks and Spencer. Shoppers could save £1,700 a year shopping at Aldi instead of Waitrose, which is 40 per cent more expensive.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[hoover1100]

Supermarkets

I don't dislike Tesco per se, but I do hate the way they have taken over in the last few years!

We had no tesco anywhere near Durham until 2001 when they built a superstore, now we have at least 5 that I can think of, 2 on the same street! Bearing in mind what a small place Durham is, that's an awful lot!

I miss the choice of being able to use one of the local shops that have been closed down by Tesco and its sprawling empire, but I guess thats life.

We don't have an Asda locally, but everytime I go in one it's full of screaming kids bumping into you and running around the place, drives me mad!

I like Lidl, we have one within walking distance, although I think Aldi offers the best value for money.

Of the big supermarkets I prefer Morrisons, we did have a Waitrose here a few years ago (converted from Safeway) but it didn't last long and is now a Wilkinsons.

So yeah, Morrisons is my favourite major Supermarket, but Aldi is my store of choice.

Matt

 

[aquacycle]

Matt, I agree with you about Tesco taking over. Apparantly, 1 of every £8 spent in England is spent in Tesco - either a supermarket, convenience store, petrol station or online.

I really like Asda products, but our local Asda has the same problem as yours - screaming kids. It either seems to be full of screaming kids of full of little old dears who take up the entire aisle with their trolley and walk at snails pace. I understand that they're elderly and not as quick on their feet anymore, but MOVE OVER and let the able bodied past.

As you know Matt, the nearest supermarket to me is a co-op, but I avoid it if I can. It's ridiculously overpriced (£3.99 for 10 washes of Persil powder, for example) and the fresh products are not all that nice. It also has a horrible car park which is supposed to be one way and is always full of 78 year old women going the OTHER way, so the chances of getting killed on your way too it are quite high.

Aldi for me seems to be the happy medium between value and good products. And their baked beans are nicer than Heinz .

 

[danemodsandy]

ALDI:

Is also good value for money here in the States, but they do engage in some practices that are problematic.

One is targeting their merchandise selection by store - if something does not sell to ALDI's liking in a particular store, ALDI tries to remove it, even though it's in other stores in the area, and even though there may be a small but steady demand. I recently had an epic run-in with ALDI's area office here in Iowa over this issue; my position was essentially that my money is as green here in Waterloo as it is in the somewhat tonier adjoining town, Cedar Falls, and that I expected to be able to get what I wanted. After a none-too-veiled threat to call Corporate for ALDI Sud, they restored certain items to circulation in the store nearest me. NOTE TO ALDI SUD: I do not consider bleu cheese salad dressing to be an esoteric, limited-interest item, as your area people tried to convince me it was. And I freaking detest Ranch, which they tried to palm off on me. I'm from the South, and I know quite well that there's a place in this world for buttermilk. Salads ain't it.

Another problem is expecting far too much from employees, who are tasked with stocking merchandise as well as running the checkouts (tills). An employee who has just had a truck come in with a major delivery of merchandise cannot ring up customers, sorry!

And a pet peeve of mine is ALDI's tendency to re-design packaging far, far too frequently. It is infuriating not to "see" an item one is looking for, because the package has been changed beyond recognition. Some designs are here and gone in a matter of weeks. It is as if ALDI employs platoons of graphic designers and its own printing plant, all working triple shifts to make sure that the package you purchase this week is completely unrecognizable next.

Again, they're good value for money, but there is a certain annoyance level one must either accept as it is, or accept that one will have to do battle with it on occasion.

 

[hoover1100]

That is the only thing that puts me off Aldi and Lidl

They are notorious for their poor treatment of employees, forcing staff to opt out of the European working time directive 48 hour max week and giving them 55hr a week contracts basic contracts with added overtime, ignoring the legally required 11 hour rest between shifts and such.

Mind you, having worked in retail, so many places offer nothing but pointless 8,6,4 and even 0 hour contracts now (casual labour basically)to anyone who isn't a manager, so that they can have more flexibility in their staffing, lots of staff in most retailers are crying out for full-time hours!

I was stuck in an 8 hour a week contract for over a year, begging for overtime became a normal part of life, and despite working no less than 20 hours a week almost all the of the time, naturally I was only paid 8 hours if I took the holiday time that I am legally entitled to.

Anyway, rant over, at least Aldi and Lidl stock products I like!

Matt

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Give me a Sainsbury's or Co-op any day.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

Oh and Aldi are good too. I like the Jive bars lol Taste like Twix to me but not so expensive.

 

[danemodsandy]

Laughed Till I Cried:

When I read the Daily Mail article, which included the following priceless sentence:

"There, standing out like a sore thumb beneath the shadow of 12th-century St Mary’s church, lies Aldi. It looks like the sort of council-run place where you’d go to get a verruca removed."

To those on this side of the pond, a "verruca" is what we refer to as a plantar wart, meaning one on the sole of the foot. When A & P was still nation-wide, I often remarked that it felt like a branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles, not a private enterprise. So, that good old state-run feeling isn't confined to grocers in the U.S., LOL.

 

[paulc]

Aldi

I like Aldi, it's great for fruit and veg, other stuff I find can be a hit or a miss. I stopped buying meat in there as 3 times I've had to return mince and pork that had gone off in the fridge overnight, it is very handy though as its 2 mins walk from our flat.

The Daily Mail article did make me smile, I was saying to hubby the other day it always amazes me how many 4x4's, Mercs and BMW's are in the car park.

Our Lidl is a bit further away but I often pop in on my way home to get bread from their bakery, the multi seed loaf is delicious but only lasts a day in this house!

Asda is right next to my office, I pop in there for my lunch if I'm having an office day and I get my detergent and softner there when there are deals on.

We have a Sainsbury's close by, I mainly go in there for the reduced stuff, or if I'm feeling flush. Having said that I find their "basics" lambchops or stewing steak great for the slow cooker.

On the subject of Aldi and Lidl's employees, I agree with Matt, they work long hard shifts, the pay may appear good when you see vacancies advertised, however employees are classed as self employed and a responsible for their own tax and NI contributions.

 

[paulc]

Tesco

Sorry, I totally forgot to comment on that store....personally I've never been that much of a fan, as with Asda though, I do take advantage of offers on detergent.

I find the Co-op extortionate in Edinburgh. For example 19 wash Ariel 3in1 pods £7.78!!!!

 

[aquacycle]

Paul, I'm with you all the way on the co-op. Waitrose is cheaper.

 

[paulc]

Chris,

and better quality. Not that I'm in Waitrose often as it's two bus journeys away.

 

[jamiel]

Aldi has a reasonably good reputation here regarding employment (certainly paying better than Walmart)...they generally pay better-than-union wages. The people work hard, but not pointlessly (e.g. why not sit down when running the register...). We shop there occasionally...they respect the customer which is nice to see even in the inner city (there are several Aldi stores within the city of Detroit which has otherwise been abandoned by all chain grocers except for a single Super KMart and a single Meijer and a single Whole Foods). They have interesting imported foods (that is, imported from Europe...their frozen pizzas from Italy are deeelicious...the ones from Germany are pretty good too. We'll buy a half dozen of the pizzas when they become available.

 

[foraloysius]

I mailed this to a British friend. Here's his response:

I am not a fan of Tesco at all, I am still boycotting the establishment,after the incident with the rude check out girl (it was an incident with the check out girl talking to some other member of the staff, not paying attention to him at all! My friend said something about this and didn't get much response), and also the fruit and veg usually goes off the minute you leave the store. 

I tend to shop at either Morrisons (nearest), sainsburys, or Asda or get a few bits and bobs at Aldi, they have the best Tuna Mayonnaise sandwich filler.

Hope this helps. of course Alberts (he means Albert Heijn, a Dutch supermarket) is my real favourite 

 

[aquacycle]

Albert Heijn

My brother and his wife live in Amsterdam - they shop at either Albert Heijn or Deen.

 

[whirlpolf]

good ones and bad ones

I do like Tesco's, as they have replied to e-mail correspondence and they have acted according to what they have said, even towards here (Germany, that is "abroad" for them).
I do not know about their employees' politics.

Aldi; Netto, Plus, Norma, Penny and all those German discounter chains: Hate them all.
Top quality for a bargain but lousy behaviour to employees, that is with all of them, believe me: ALL of them. Have changed my buying habits to a local farmer which is just 120 m from a major Netto outlet.

Aldi North behaving slightly better than Aldi South (I have no clue why they are a split nation here).
Aldi North is the one that is running Aldi France, so their service is somewhat better (Aldi South behaves like THE a...hole no. 1, even on the telephone towards consumers).

I guess all of those are on the phoney line, all of them (no matter where in Europe) insisting on how they serve "consumer needs" for a cheap price. All of them mistreating their shop assistants, all of them trying to get free labor for a fraction of nothing.
As long as people keep flipping pages in their throwaway door-to-door publications, nothing will change.

There is no choice:
Either you pay the price that things DO cost or you simply are part of a FRAUD game that those chain shops thrive on.

*shrugs*

 

[whirlpolf]

how to distinct Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd

tow pics showing their logos.

Aldil Süd is THE a..hole chain, Aldi Nord (not available here but just across the border to France) is somehat easier on their wording, yet a pain in the a...

Reference: See picture.

 

[ronhic]

Well, I have to agree with those of you who prefer not to shop in Tesco. We lived equidistant from both Tesco and Sainsburys with a Safeway a little further on again. After 6 months of shopping in Tesco, I moved all my shopping to Sainsburys with the exception of the offers that Safeway used to have. They were pretty hard to beat.

Then a trip to Germany for Christmas in 2001 introduced me to Lidl and Aldi....wow! Suddenly I was spending most of our grocery money in Lidl with the balance in Sainsbury.

I miss Lidl....

Now, on the topic of Aldi. I have shopped in Aldi in Germany, France, UK and Australia and we currently spend 80% of our grocery money there. I've only once found the staff to be rude/disinterested. In Australia, they are known for paying well above award wages, particularly for non-management staff. I've recently asked one lady we are quite chatty with about what it's like working there and she unreservedly loves it. In her opinion, the pay and conditions are significantly better than the other major grocery chains.

As for quality, well the only thing I've never bought regularly from Aldi is washing powder and not because it doesn't clean...more because it is a bugger to rinse. Cheese, bread, butter, biscuits, coffee, tea, general cleaning products, meat, fruit and vegetables along with canned goods and loo paper are all great...and around 30% cheaper.