I wont hear a bad word against Tesco :)

[smallblueplanet]

...A while back the pickers for the web orders were all full timers, with a guaranteed 35 hrs a week and a steady income..... then Tescos decided that if they change their contracts to 4 hours they can save paying sick pay, save paying as much holiday pay and can then make up their hours with overtime, when tesco need them to do it, which although good for the business, isnt always good for the worker!

I imagine they do similar with their suppliers too. As Alison said don't get carried away with extolling their virtues - they're making huge profits. And as Mrs Dobby says to do that someone has to lose out...

[becslb]

For the uk'ers here - we use mysupermarket.co.uk - have always got our shopping delivered, since uni - saves so much hassle, and I *hate* shopping.

anyway, this site compares ocado, tesco, sainsburys, and asda - when you've items in your basket it can swap + save, and show which supermarket is the cheapest! Really useful.

Try doing a shop at one supermarket via this site - it will always come up cheapest (don't know about ocado as they don't deliver round here) - then using the site swop your basket to a different supermarket and you will see that in many cases items are not swopped like for like hence why it shows as more expensive at that supermarket! My last shop I started at Sainsburys swopped to Tesco and exchanged like for like (as much as I could) and then did the same with Asda - by doing this, I pretty much got the shop at an equal price at each supermarket within �2-3!

[becslb]

To be honest all the supermarkets are purely in it for the money (as by definition are all shops) but some of the big boys have taken it to another level and the way in which the likes of Tesco have walked all over smaller local shops makes me very uncomfortable. �7.50 or �8 is nothing to them if it secures your trade and yes, it's good that they responded quickly but so they should. I don't believe that they are value for money and think a lot of the quality is poor.

I used to shop at a butchers (sold meat, cheese, eggs, tea and coffee!) and a greengrocers in our town and only visited Tesco/Lidl as our nearest supermarkets for what I couldn't get in these shops. Problem was the butchers and greengrocers (very conveniently next to each other) were tucked around the back of the shopping center (though neatly near the car park) and most people couldn't be bothered to walk round to use them and went to Tesco's instead... these 2 shops shut down within a month of each other - I am forced to Tesco (or drive to other supermarkets now)....

[Hilary B]

I couldn't shop online.
If it's fresh stuff I want to choose it myself.
I am not interested in 'long sell by dates', a fair chunk of my shopping is 'reduced for quick sale' anyway.
I rarely decide what to buy until I'm in the shop (yes, there are things we are 'running out of', but they are not a large part of the shopping)
We so often end up having to go shopping before we can have supper, there is no point NOT buying whatever else seems a good deal n the evening!

I'm glad it suits some people, but it really isn't for me.
If I had to choose between Tesco and ASDA on principle, I would probably choose Tesco. Mostly we use Waitrose because it is the only supermarket within 10 miles, but every time we are near ASDA, principles get lost in the smell of Tiger Bread.....

[Suky]

I work for Sainsburys and use the online delivery for all my bulky goods. I don't buy fresh meat, fish or veg this way, I also like to choose my own. For laundry stuff, loo rolls, cat food and tinned goods it's great. At Christmas I book a delivery slot for the time I finish work and have them deliver it to the Customer Service Desk (where I work!) they then push it out to the car and I don't have to fight my way back through the shop after a long day!

supraflyguy-call the online phone number on the receipt, freephone, and complain about your bakewell. The lovely peeps in NI will gladly refund you and probably give goodwill too.

[digthatchick]

I love Tesco for one reason only (yes selfish I know) they were the only ones that replied to my daughters 30 odd letters looking for a part time job for the holidays and evenings after college.

One evening a week 5 till 10 and Saturday 1.30 till 10, good money, nice people and lots of training for future roles.

She loves it and says " dad can you shop at Tesco now instead of Sainsburys? " I'm her dad, who am I to argue?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Life's a balance, isn't it?

We don't all have the time (or budget) to bugger about shopping for dinner each day at the local shops (although the freshness & low food miles cannot be argued with) as our mothers did. When I was a baby, we had 3 branches of the same grocer within a mile and a half of our house AND they had a van to deliver your goods that you'd bought. I'd love to be able to shop for all at the grocer/butcher/greengrocer etc as she did, but lifestyle is not as it was a generation ago, and the lure of the cheap, one-stop shop is great.

So with the big supermarkets we gain in convenience (one stop, late night/24 hour opening) and cheap food (I think I am right in saying that our % of income spent on food is one of the lowest in Europe) delivered to our door, but lose on local supplied produce which may be more expensive, but is fresher & keeps our farmers/suppliers on a better wage.

Sorry, I've gone off topic here, but with regard to Tesco - I've not had any reason to fault their customer service.

[selfraising]

I shop online too. Mainly because I don't drive and the delivery charge works out much cheaper for me than if I were to get a taxi to and from the supermarket. I used to shop with Tesco but after a while the quality of the food that was delivered went downhill so I now shop with Sainsburys. They recently gave me a �10 voucher because they were 15 minutes late with the shopping. Them being a little late made no odds to me but it was nice to get the voucher.

[reetnproper]

Life's a balance, isn't it?

When I was a baby, we had 3 branches of the same grocer within a mile and a half of our house AND they had a van to deliver your goods that you'd bought. I'd love to be able to shop for all at the grocer/butcher/greengrocer etc as she did, but lifestyle is not as it was a generation ago, and the lure of the cheap, one-stop shop is great.

Our local family run Butcher, from whom we get our fresh meat, is very happy to deliver to our door especially if I'm on the bus or they haven't got something in/ready when I go to the shop .

As with a few of you, we only tend to get our bulk or heavy items delivered by Tesco. The first time we did the online thing I spent hours going on Asda, Sainsburys and even Waitrose , doing the same, like for like (when own brand items) and there was absolutely nothing in it (well with the exception of Waitrose). Obviously with Waitrose you're paying for the ethical ideal but, sadly and I guess selfishly, our family finances just can't handle the ethical shop no matter how much we would like to.

Reet
x

[Comfreyfan]

I'm lucky enough to be able to use a couple of excellent butchers who use local meat, I pass a farm shop on the way home from work for the stuff I can't grow enough of and pass Morrisons or Tesco every day for the other stuff. When I was working from home and travelling past 6 different supermarkets during the week my shopping bill was much, much less - I only bought special offers from any of them!

[cupcake]

I noticed that if I don't go to Tesco for a while I get a load of money off vouchers. I use it as a tactic! Mind you I think they are far more expensive than Morrisons and Asda which are far nearer!