Sainsburys, Dog Kennel Hill

[Lynne]

Unless you're desperate, avoid it at the moment/ They're re-organising everything. No-one knows where anything is, no staff to help, of course.

[jazzer]

Did the same thing to the Forest Hill branch recently.

It's a dastardly marketing ploy to get customers to search around for items and walk past areas they may not usually use.

[malumbu]

It even happened in Lidl.  I popped in to buy my usual small basket full and came back with a device to remove fat from the dishwasher, some dog food, and an ironing board. I haven't got a dishwasher, a cat or an iron so some bargains going on the for sale section.  I gave up in Sainsbury's FH.

Same thing happens when I am in B&Q on the Old Kent Road when I think I am in Catford.

I expect it is common and does help sales.  I always loved Sainsbury's ED where you arrived to fresh fruit and veg where as Sainsbury's/Savacenter it was white bread, processed food, and boxes of beer.

[cactus]

They appear to have further reduced in person checkouts, and created a new self-service trolley area - which I imagine will

be horribly hectic and congested during busy periods. 

And currently greeted by a huge display of Halloween tat/landfill products at the entrance.

 

[another annie]

Just been there, see what you mean! its like some strange shopping-themed nightmare.

In case anyone is looking for the toilet paper in DKH Sainsburys, I eventually found it in the far corner by the customer toilets. Which has a certain logic to it I suppose.

[Sue]

  On 13/10/2023 at 22:54, malumbu said:

It even happened in Lidl.  I popped in to buy my usual small basket full and came back with a device to remove fat from the dishwasher, some dog food, and an ironing board. I haven't got a dishwasher, a cat or an iron so some bargains going on the for sale section.  I gave up in Sainsbury's FH.

Same thing happens when I am in B&Q on the Old Kent Road when I think I am in Catford.

I expect it is common and does help sales.  I always loved Sainsbury's ED where you arrived to fresh fruit and veg where as Sainsbury's/Savacenter it was white bread, processed food, and boxes of beer.

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🤣🤣🤣

[Lynne]

Still chaos with lots of items missing. Given the time they've had to sort it, one can only conclude hat customer service means nothing to them, And caring for their own staff too.

[sweetgirl]

Customer service means nothing to sainsburys!

I complained to a manager last week who seemed to just shrug it off 😵‍💫

reducing the staff, getting customers to scan their own goods, it’s all just ridiculous!

I don’t want to scan my shopping, this is not what I pay for

when I need assistance there’s no one around to ask

they have employed new management who walk around like big bosses, they make me feel uncomfortable as a shopper, can you imagine how the staff are feeling!

they have a huge staff turnover which can only mean staff are being treated like crap……. 
sainsburys are a serious let down, all in the name of saving money…….  Like they don’t get enough out of us!

[jazzer]

  On 19/10/2023 at 11:38, sweetgirl said:

they have a huge staff turnover

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Can you evidence this?

Was in today and everything has pretty much been moved around. What is entertaining to see was that all the "convenience" meals (don't buy these) have been moved to smaller fridge units on the far right of the store, perhaps they want customers to explore the Home section and make more use of Argos in store. Service there today was quick however the item was just pushed onto the counter and the staff member walked off without acknowledging the receipt or stamping it.  

In terms of self scan, it seems this is the way forward with the big four supermarkets plus Lidl, haven't been to an Aldi store for yonks so can't comment. Maybe it's cheaper for them, but what it is, is far less customer centred. 

Edited October 19, 2023 by jazzer

[ianr]

Jazzer, do you mean the south side?  That's where I think I saw them yesterday, facing the clothes and Habitat stuff (which I did actually do a cursory exploratory pass through - why do all the saucepans and frying pans seem to have teflon coatings now?). But I thought of it as the left, taking orientations from the way I'm facing when I enter.

[jazzer]

When you stand facing the store the first aisle on the left hand side behind all the Halloween junk they sell, exactly as you have described facing the clothes and Habitat stuff.

[sweetgirl]

In case anyone is interested…… there’s 25% off TU clothing today

not sure how long it’s on for

[vladi]

Whatever the short term hassle, any change like this will have been properly costed and risk assessed. The supermarkets sector is massively competitive and runs on margins of around 3%. They make such changes to make their space more efficient.  It will, without doubt, have been based on AI taking into account customer movement. and tested in several locations.

If it makes them more competitive then we all save with lower prices in what is an inflationary environment.

We will all get used to it in the end and the best way to review it is to pay a visit to Tesco or Asda and see how their layouts compare.

Supermarket psychology is an interesting subject

[Sue]

  On 21/10/2023 at 16:25, sweetgirl said:

In case anyone is interested…… there’s 25% off TU clothing today

not sure how long it’s on for

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Damn only just seen this.

Tu have some gems sometimes 👍

[Peckhampam]

Perhaps more important than where things are-there are now no recycling facilities

[Sue]

  On 23/10/2023 at 10:53, Peckhampam said:

Perhaps more important than where things are-there are now no recycling facilities

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No plastics recycling? Seriously?

Is there anywhere else locally I can take it without having to go to the council place off the Old Kent Road?

I haven't seen a recycling bin for plastics in M&S lately either, but the ones in Sainsbury's had more capacity, and I save mine up until I have a big load to take at once.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Sue
Typo

[Burbage]

  On 23/10/2023 at 11:38, Sue said:

No plastics recycling? Seriously?

Is there anywhere else locally I can take it without having to go to the council place off the Old Kent Road?

I haven't seen a recycling bin for plastics in M&S lately either, but the ones in Sainsbury's had more capacity, and I save mine up until I have a big load to take at once.

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I think they're still taking "soft plastics" - e.g. the bags apples and porridge come in. They tend to hide the bins a bit, but they're usually near one of the exits, somewhere behind the checkouts (it's the same at the Catford Tesco's, though I'd rather not say how I know that). However, it's true that they don't do the general recycling now (paper, tins, bottles etc.) and the bunkers that once lurked at the end of the car park have vanished without trace, stains aside.

There are doubtless commercial reasons for that, possibly including the drop in volume (and thus value) of the stuff collected, as most households now have general recycling collected from home, which wasn't the case when they started. And so it's probably just easier to tick their responsibility box by writing a cheque to some rubbish-offsetting scheme (as they do with electricals) than to clutter the car-park and manage a large, multi-site contract with a rubbish contractor whose margins are being squeezed. I can think of a few other reasons, too, but the laws of libel favour only those who can afford to have them written.

This isn't just a Sainsbury's thing - most non-council sites that used to take recycling seem to have stopped and even the shade of the mobile recycling van, a multi-borough investment that was once rumoured to haunt bits of Southwark on damp Wednesdays in Martober, has trundled even out of folklore. Still, some traditions manage to persist, and I gather many in this pointy end of the borough continue to smuggle their garbage to Lambeth or Lewisham, where the facilities are sometimes more welcoming, and I couldn't think of better places for it. But, for the moment, the less adventurous of us will just have to bear the ignominy of having to waddle to the streetside once a week rather than presuming on a drive-by dump at the grocer's.

[Sue]

  On 23/10/2023 at 12:37, Burbage said:

I think they're still taking "soft plastics" - e.g. the bags apples and porridge come in. They tend to hide the bins a bit, but they're usually near one of the exits, somewhere behind the checkouts (it's the same at the Catford Tesco's, though I'd rather not say how I know that). However, it's true that they don't do the general recycling now (paper, tins, bottles etc.) and the bunkers that once lurked at the end of the car park have vanished without trace, stains aside.

There are doubtless commercial reasons for that, possibly including the drop in volume (and thus value) of the stuff collected, as most households now have general recycling collected from home, which wasn't the case when they started. And so it's probably just easier to tick their responsibility box by writing a cheque to some rubbish-offsetting scheme (as they do with electricals) than to clutter the car-park and manage a large, multi-site contract with a rubbish contractor whose margins are being squeezed. I can think of a few other reasons, too, but the laws of libel favour only those who can afford to have them written.

This isn't just a Sainsbury's thing - most non-council sites that used to take recycling seem to have stopped and even the shade of the mobile recycling van, a multi-borough investment that was once rumoured to haunt bits of Southwark on damp Wednesdays in Martober, has trundled even out of folklore. Still, some traditions manage to persist, and I gather many in this pointy end of the borough continue to smuggle their garbage to Lambeth or Lewisham, where the facilities are sometimes more welcoming, and I couldn't think of better places for it. But, for the moment, the less adventurous of us will just have to bear the ignominy of having to waddle to the streetside once a week rather than presuming on a drive-by dump at the grocer's.

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Ah ok, yes it was the soft plastics I meant.

Glad the bins  for recycling those are still there!

I sort of miss the old glass recycling places. Convenient as the collection from your door is, I used to enjoy the satisfying smashing sounds as I flung the bottles in 🤣

[Ruffler]

The newly laid out wine aisle was a bit of a shambles when we went on Saturday. No South African section so the South African wines were lumped in with the South American. First world problem, I know 🤷‍♀️

[malumbu]

No South African wine?  A bonus.  The supermarkets in France have it right.  Fortunately we have Lidl to by old world wines 

[PeterSeychelles]

Just to put the record straight here. SA is one of the best sources of top quality good value wine in the world right now.  White wine in particular - Amazing old vine Chenin and Semillon from Swartland and Franschhoek, and super talented winemakers.  So this is just silly. There are good winemakers and there are less good winemakers and, amazingly, they come from lots of different countries. Old world vs new world as a debate (certainly on quality lines) is a bit old fashioned.

[kj1994]

Does anyone know if they sell individual knives there (eg a bread knife)? Can’t find them, but not sure if I am being dim. 

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

They might be behind a counter or something along with fireworks, spray paint etc - I think their sale is prohibited to kids.

[ed26]

A lot of the prepacked ham was very grey the other day. Must have been out of the fridge for a long time while they've been reshuffling everything. A sign said that the refurb should be complete by early December, so check your purchases carefully until then.

[richard tudor]

I bought a packet of expensive ham and when opened it was dry and awful. As you say be watchful.

with the rise of self serviceChristmas looks like being a nightmare