Supermakets' Brand Match getting silly

[RFS]

Went to Sainsbury's at the weekend, and after spending around £90 we were given this coupon for next time -

 

 

And that was after we'd failed to use this coupon -

 

 

Fresh British peas in February? I don't think so! Growers won't even have planted their seeds yet.

 

For a bit of amusement I scanned them both and sent in a complaint via their web-site.  Profuse apologies from them, of course, but also £10 credit added to my account "to treat yourself".  Well that'll be a nice bottle of wine for our anniversary then. And if I get any more silly coupons I'll complain again - seems worth it!

[Horsetan]

Yes, I've had the 1p off voucher as well....*rolls eyes*

[45156]

Price match is a bit of a con anyway, as I found in Morereasons who operated a "match and more" card, which when swiped, allegedly worked out the comparative prices at Sainsbury's Tesco; Asda, Aldi and Lidl.  However, there is an Aldi next door to our local Morrisons, so I did a bit of research as I shopped in both.  One example where there was a discrepancy was on prepack cherry tomatoes which were 65p for 750 grams in Aldi, and 89p for 600 grams in Morrisons, but no price match was offered as this was not seem as a like for like comparison as the pack sizes were different.  Also, a well known brand of farmhouse bread was on a regular at Aldi of 99p and in Morrisons at £1.45, and when I got two in Morrisons, the price match refund that I got on the card for the whole shopping was 32p.  I never got an answer on that one.

 

Morrisons have now given up on the price match - I wonder why?

[mezzoman253]

I'd like a "how much your bill has gone up since last week" ticket. They must know each items increase/decrease on the previous week. That would be more useful to see who was hiking prices and by how much.

 

Of course some things may go down. 

 

Rob

[4630]

.

[jonny777]

I suspect that being packed somewhere in Britain allows them to be described as British, but not British grown.

 

This is what I hate about food labelling and the weak authorities who give in to retail lobbying.

 

I can't find those particular packs on the Sainsburys online shopping pages, (which is possibly why the vouchers are freely given out), but the nearest are Trimmed Mange-Tout, with this on the label -

 

Grown in Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Peru, Tanzania, USA, Zambia, Jordan

[PhilH]

First world problems....

[petethemole]

But can they guarantee that each pack contains pods from all those countries? We the people have a right to know. I too have had the 1p voucher. However I don't buy much branded goods, mainly own brands.

[jonny777]

First world problems....

 

Well no. In reality it is everyone's problem, because these things are being air-freighted around the globe adding to the pollution, energy usage, etc., and just to allow western consumers to have out of season 'fresh' vegetables, when the cold stores are probably groaning under the weight of frozen peas that have been grown in the UK.

[PhilH]

Well no. In reality it is everyone's problem, because these things are being air-freighted around the globe adding to the pollution, energy usage, etc., and just to allow western consumers to have out of season 'fresh' vegetables, when the cold stores are probably groaning under the weight of frozen peas that have been grown in the UK.

I was thinking of the fact that the price match, which was the OP,was worthy of comment.

[Tim Dubya]

Well no. In reality it is everyone's problem, because these things are being air-freighted around the globe adding to the pollution, energy usage, etc., and just to allow western consumers to have out of season 'fresh' vegetables, when the cold stores are probably groaning under the weight of frozen peas that have been grown in the UK.

 

I haven't noticed in my local super (Sainsburys) if they do, but it would be good to have locally grown and UK grown sections in the fruit and veg so I can make an easily informed choice about the airmiles of my food. I don't always look at labels (I forget, in a hurry, knackered etc) and have been disappointed to get home and find my beans were from Kenya, for example, which was in the 'small print' on the packaging (packaging - don't get me started!).

 

Not forgetting the ugly fruit and veg campaign with Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty

[brigo]

Morrisons have now given up on the price match - I wonder why?

 

Possibly because one of the main reasons for these cards is data collection and they now have that. Morrisons were sneaky and would only post the card to you, so they have an address for you, an email address and maybe a phone number if you filled in the relevant slots on the registration form. They can now tie this information in with who you bank with, what you buy and spend etc, etc. All valuable data to sell, and they do. My local Asda is currently asking their customers for their postcode, each checkout operator needs to get 300 per week and it is worth money to the store.

 

Brian

[hmrspaul]

I haven't noticed in my local super (Sainsburys) if they do, but it would be good to have locally grown and UK grown sections in the fruit and veg so I can make an easily informed choice about the airmiles of my food. I don't always look at labels (I forget, in a hurry, knackered etc) and have been disappointed to get home and find my beans were from Kenya, for example, which was in the 'small print' on the packaging (packaging - don't get me started!).

 

Not forgetting the ugly fruit and veg campaign with Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty

Tesco use a union flag as the liner for much of their British grown produce, works for me. Annoyingly the Yorkshire produce packaging appears to have ceased.

 

Also they tell me who has grown my tomatoes - and in my previous job I had visited quite a lot of them! My EU agricultural specialist colleagues didn't believe our markets went to so much trouble until I took a few pack foils to show them!

 

Paul

[laurenceb]

I wonder how many of these vouchers are actually redeemed, I suspect that most are forgotten till they are out of date

[Worsdell forever]

I had one the other day telling my my shopping was cheaper than ASDA.

 

I was handed one once and the checkout girl (who I went to school with so a bit of banter is ok) told me it would have been [a few pence] cheaper at ASDA, "Oh, no it wouldn't" I replied, she gave me a puzzled look, "I would have had to drive all the way to Skelton", which would have been 27 miles extra and I was passing Sainsbury's in Whitby anyway.

 

Anyway, I'll stick with my girlfriend's staff discount at Morrisons and the occasional £5 voucher.

[pointstaken]

I just give the post code of our local town hall. Hope that causes them some head scratching. Declined the weekly offers of a mix and more card, too nosey by far.

 

Dennis

[The Stationmaster]

I wonder how many of these vouchers are actually redeemed, I suspect that most are forgotten till they are out of date

 

Not by Mrs Stationmaster they aren't - in fact she sometimes tries  to use them before they come into date   

 

The brand price thing in Tesco doesn't seem to offer all that much in the way of saving - the real savings come from the 'member of staff family member' discount (10% with an annual total cap) plus the various vouchers they send us at regular intervals.

 

A couple of other points - we buy fruit and veg from either Tesco or Waitrose depending on which one we happen to be visiting for other food shopping, we inevitably check packaging for the country of origin and try to totally avoid veg grown in Africa on the basis they need it more than we do.  Sometimes we find 'funnies' such as pre-packed spuds in Tesco a few years back with the smiling face of farmer so & so of Scotland on the back of the bag and in very small print the words 'Produce of Israel'.

 

We also take maximum advantage of bogoffs, reduced prices, and multibuys which definitely help to spin out the pension money as stuff can be stored under the stairs for future use - nothing is wasted on stuff we wouldn't normally buy - we just go for the decent deals on stuff we would be buying anyway.  And of course we check the quantity pricing as that is a really misleading minefield if you're not careful.

[Horsetan]

I wonder how many of these vouchers are actually redeemed, I suspect that most are forgotten till they are out of date

 

You've gotta be joking.

 

The system identifies your shopping habits so well that bonus points vouchers are generally targeted towards the items you normally buy. A few days ago I was able to use a 400 point voucher simply because I bought some wine.

 

At the end of the day, it all goes towards knocking off a few quid when I put some diesel in.

[45156]

I agree about the shopping habits point, and the proof of this is a voucher that I got from Morrisons a while back.  One of my usual puchases is fruit juice, of various varieties, but as I am diabetic, and also find most fruit juices to be a bit to sweet and cloying.  So another usual purchase is diet tonic water, which I mix with the fruit juice, to add a bit of fizz and a bitter bite. 

 

A few weeks after I started using the card, I was presented with a voucher for £7.00 off a bottle of Plymouth gin!!!!!

[The Stationmaster]

Mrs Stationmaster is rather fond of the Waitrose system which allows regular customers to choose which items they would like for price reductions - you're allowed a certain number of items and they qualify for a percentage reduction on the  label price.  (we split our shopping between Waitrose and Tesco - today being Friday means its Waitrose shopping day).

[exet1095]

 

If you want to help people in Africa buying beans, peas and roses really does. Cash crops that provide much needed and reasonably paid work for people who would otherwise be subsistence farmers. The air freight is otherwise empty capacity too so you need not feel too guilty on the carbon front. Israeli potatoes are another matter entirely.

 

 

A couple of other points - we buy fruit and veg from either Tesco or Waitrose depending on which one we happen to be visiting for other food shopping, we inevitably check packaging for the country of origin and try to totally avoid veg grown in Africa on the basis they need it more than we do. Sometimes we find 'funnies' such as pre-packed spuds in Tesco a few years back with the smiling face of farmer so & so of Scotland on the back of the bag and in very small print the words 'Produce of Israel'.

[Horsetan]

....A few weeks after I started using the card, I was presented with a voucher for £7.00 off a bottle of Plymouth gin!!!!!

 

If you don't want the gin, I'll have it. 

[Butler Henderson]

Mrs Stationmaster is rather fond of the Waitrose system which allows regular customers to choose which items they would like for price reductions - you're allowed a certain number of items and they qualify for a percentage reduction on the  label price.  (we split our shopping between Waitrose and Tesco - today being Friday means its Waitrose shopping day).

Does that actually make stuff in £££££Waitrose£££££ any less expensive? Tend to avoid ££££££Waitrose£££££, and Morrisons as their quality is pretty poor IMO - bakery has cakes which look like they have been thrown together, apples are often second quality and its the only shop I have bought an indigestible desert from. Shop consequently gets split between Asda, Lidl and Sainsbury (not having a nearby Aldi or Tesco), although I spend most time in the latter thinking ouch when looking at some of the prices.

[Horsetan]

Does that actually make stuff in £££££Waitrose£££££ any less expensive? Tend to avoid ££££££Waitrose£££££,....

 

You've just reminded me of an ill-fated campaign by Waitrose a while ago on antisocial media in which they invited people to say why they liked shopping at Waitrose, starting with the words "I like shopping at Waitrose because...."

 

Waitrose's perceived image and antisocial media being what they are, this was a red rag to a bull and one of the early contributors wrote: "...I can shop without being bothered by bloody little poor people."

[petethemole]

I only visit Waitrose occasionally, mainly to see what's on special offer, but also for their Essentials Mustard Piccalilli, which IMHO is the best piccalilli around and at £1 per 460g jar is good value.