Panic buying

[woodenhead]

1 hour ago, soony said:

Shortages?... Popped into the Aldi fracas today and found the assisstant picking over someones trolley at the checkout, saying you cant have these , you cant have those.. Baked Beans limited to 4 tins or 1 pack of 4 Heinz beans,   Baby wipes limited to 4 smallish packs, soups rationed to a couple tins - 4 if its 4 different flavours. Walking around the store observing the near riot taking place in all , yes all, aisles. I wouldnt mind but I asked the assisstant if there was any restrictions in the next 4 weeks and as long as they can get the stuff on the shelves- theres no shortages..

Where are you, this is not what I experienced in an Aldi not far from a Costco in Manchester that appeared to have queues a couple of days back.  I went into Aldi today, no signs about limited buying except on paracetomel (and that has other reasons for being restricted).  Full cabinets of frozen stuff, lots of tinned goods, lots of fresh meat and veg.   The only odd thing I saw was a chap buying 24 packs of flushable wet wipes and he just reminded me I needed a couple and when I got to the aisle there were at least 4 boxes (24 packs per box) of the stuff so no shortage there either.

 

I do wonder if the panic buying is coming from Tier 1 places not used to restrictions and thinking the world is going to cave in again.

[Steamport Southport]

Yep. That's our experience. 

 

We did seem to have a tiny bit of panic buying, but it seemed to be people coming in to the area to get stuff from the Aldi and Home & Bargain. You can tell they weren't locals as they were mostly families with the bloke being a bit chubby and wearing a rugby league shirt. So I'm assuming they were all from Widnes or Warrington way. Don't follow rugby so don't know the team colours.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2020 by Steamport Southport

[melmerby]

14 hours ago, grandadbob said:

Does this help?

 

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-shielding-support

So it looks like you have to have a clearly defined severe condition in one (or more) of the categories.

A combination of things looks like it doesn't count.

[melmerby]

9 hours ago, woodenhead said:

 

 

I do wonder if the panic buying is coming from Tier 1 places not used to restrictions and thinking the world is going to cave in again.

I see a few days back that Kimberley Clark (with brands such as Andrex and the UKs largest supplier of bog roll) has stocks of more than 100 millon rolls and said there will not be a shortage.

 

Just they wait until the Daily Star has finished their "Everybody's panic buying again" campaign.

They'll get those shelves emptied.

 

[woodenhead]

35 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I see a few days back that Kimberley Clark (with brands such as Andrex and the UKs largest supplier of bog roll) has stocks of more than 100 millon rolls and said there will not be a shortage.

 

Just they wait until the Daily Star has finished their "Everybody's panic buying again" campaign.

They'll get those shelves emptied.

 

I rather think it is like Hornby selling out of anniversary Duchesses and people scrabbling to find any - to the manufacturer  having no stock left is win/win - they've made their money and now have lots of space for something else to sell.

[boxbrownie]

50 minutes ago, melmerby said:

So it looks like you have to have a clearly defined severe condition in one (or more) of the categories.

A combination of things looks like it doesn't count.

As well as filling in the online form a letter from your Consultants/Doctors should be sent in by them, we had to wait about six weeks during the first lockdown before we got any emails from supermarkets regarding priority delivery slots, if it weren’t for local shops staring home deliveries we would have been completely scuppered those first weeks.

[The Stationmaster]

22 hours ago, Paul.Uni said:

Yesterday at the DIY store was busy. A lot of it was people getting stuff for projects over lockdown 2. Store management are expecting us to be open as normal from Thursday (though things may change between now and then).

 

We will be closed on Boxing Day however.

I was in Jewsons yesterday and the chap behind the counter said they'll be opening as normal from Thursday with customers allowed in.   I got the impression that Gibbs & Dandy will be similar as they have lots of 'separation' arrangements in place in their local branch (And are owned by the same group as Jewsons).

[Rivercider]

I worked my first shift of the week in the store this morning, a bit busier than usual between 06.00-0900, but not at all crowded.  Other staff say the store has been getting busy after 11.00 each day. Stock levels on produce where I work were pretty good on the shelves, but less stock than usual in the warehouse.

Anecdotally one of the picking team told me that the 'click and collect' picks have tripled in the last week.

 

I understand some staff will be off work from tomorrow, shielding again.

 

cheers 

[polybear]

14 hours ago, soony said:

Walking around the store observing the near riot taking place in all , yes all, aisles.

 

I went to see a fight, only for shopping to break out half way thru'.....

[petethemole]

Cat litter? Really? I need some because I've run out, but in 'normal' times there's always plenty on the shelves.  The supermarkets are staying open so I can only assume that people are going to lock their cats down 24/7 and bought 4 weeks supply at once.  Ours is using his tray more for a wee because it's sometimes cold and/or wet out, but he hates using it for a No.2.  I'll try somewhere different today.

[Joseph_Pestell]

8 minutes ago, petethemole said:

Cat litter? Really? I need some because I've run out, but in 'normal' times there's always plenty on the shelves.  The supermarkets are staying open so I can only assume that people are going to lock their cats down 24/7 and bought 4 weeks supply at once.  Ours is using his tray more for a wee because it's sometimes cold and/or wet out, but he hates using it for a No.2.  I'll try somewhere different today.

Lovely moment this morning on BBC with Laura Kuensberg reporting from outside 10 Downing St. The doorman opened the front door to let the cat out. Cat got halfway through before realising how cold it was and promptly turned round.

[Andy Hayter]

14 minutes ago, petethemole said:

Cat litter? Really? 

I can't speak for now or the UK, but cat litter was something that went into short supply in the first round here in France.  I have always ordered on-line and no matter which brand I chose for my order, I got an order confirmation and then shortly afterwards a message that it was temporarily out of stock and the order would be delayed but no timescale.

So repeat with another brand  - same story

And again.....

Then guess what - all orders fulfilled in a short period and we were delivered within a week.  

[spikey]

Just been favoured with a missive from Messrs Morrison's to the effect that slots are can now be booked for 20-23 December if one has a delivery pass, though only via the website - not the app. 

 

No good to us as we shall ignore the whole thing as we have done every year since 1980, but may be of interest to somebody?

[Butler Henderson]

Morrisons reaction to the situation is to abandon answering the phone- all you get went indicating you want to speak to someone at the local store is a further list of national number / web pages  to visit; I left at item at the checkout - just a good job it was not my wallet. Need to find a I am annoyed face mask for my next visit.

[boxbrownie]

Out of the blue this morning Mrs BB has received an email from HMG telling her to isolate again, last time it took six weeks, this time they are on the ball straight away, not sure it’s going to make any difference to the fact that there are no slots over Christmas for ASDA now.......

[spikey]

47 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Out of the blue this morning Mrs BB has received an email from HMG telling her to isolate again ...

 

And out of the blue here this fine morning came one advising Mrs S, to our considerable surprise, that she is officially extremely clinically vulnerable!

[Ohmisterporter]

I received the same message which also says that this is not a return to the extreme shielding measures of the first lockdown. Nevertheless I intend to react as though it is, and will be having minimal contact with the outside world. 

Stay safe all.

[rockershovel]

There is definitely pressure on grocery delivery slots. So far, we have no actual problems with Ocado, but booking ahead, times and availability are fluctuating. 

 

We saw No 2 Son over the weekend. He is fully WFH and has been for some time. He tells us he hasn’t been to the pub for ages, because why bother if you can’t socialise? What’s the point? 

[melmerby]

Shortage of Kitchen Towel at Asda with 90% OOS

 

Also had a strange note at the top of the order

"Your slot is full so will be delivered by another store" (words to that effect)

As I have had the samerecurring  slot for 6 months that seems odd.

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by melmerby

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Also had a strange note at the top of the order

"Your slot is full so will be delivered by another store" (words to that effect)

As I have had the samerecurring  slot for 6 months that seems odd.

 

Something odd is going on - I've seen that message too.

 

Also, we were charged for delivery for the first time this week - priority delivery has been free hitherto.

 

I have a feeling that Asda's original commitment to provide free delivery slots to vulnerable customers may have expired at the end of October - despite the new lockdown / self-isolating.

 

John Isherwood.

[RFS]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

Shortage of Kitchen Towel at Asda with 90% OOS

 

Also had a strange note at the top of the order

"Your slot is full so will be delivered by another store" (words to that effect)

As I have had the samerecurring  slot for 6 months that seems odd.

 

 

Over the last few weeks our weekly order has been delivered from two different stores - Derby and Swadlincote. The only way I know is when it appears on my credit card statement.

[boxbrownie]

Not had that message but ASDA milk is OOS completely and have had to change it to Cravendale posh stuff!

 

But I guarantee tomorrow we will have 5 2.5L bottles of  ASDA milk delivered at the same time as the Cravendale 

[Fat Controller]

2 minutes ago, RFS said:

 

Over the last few weeks our weekly order has been delivered from two different stores - Derby and Swadlincote. The only way I know is when it appears on my credit card statement.

Sainsbury's has covered us from Thanet and Ashford; presumably to balance the number of drops each day. By and large, they've been pretty good, with few o/o/s items.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, RFS said:

 

Over the last few weeks our weekly order has been delivered from two different stores - Derby and Swadlincote. The only way I know is when it appears on my credit card statement.

Mine just says "Asda Groceries Online"

[jonny777]

I had an Ocado delivery this morning. I occasionally buy a bag of coffee logs for the fire, but this week they were OOS. The delivery man was chatting as he placed the bags on my doorstep and said he was not surprised as a woman had ordered 12 bags of them yesterday. 

 

It is strange what items people seem to hoard. There are 16 logs in a bag, so that is 192 of them which would have cost her close to £100.  They are not cheap, and I only get them once in a while in order to make the smoke coming out of my chimney smell better because I am paranoid that the neighbours will complain in these environmentally sensitive days.