Sainsburys, Dog Kennel Hill

[Penguin68]

Sainsbury's uses social media - both Facebook and X I believe. How about reposting your exchange with them on that and seeing their response. I have found that companies tend to be much more sensitive to that - it has the danger of picking up press interest on a slack news day! 

[Sue]

6 minutes ago, Penguin68 said:

Sainsbury's uses social media - both Facebook and X I believe. How about reposting your exchange with them on that and seeing their response. I have found that companies tend to be much more sensitive to that - it has the danger of picking up press interest on a slack news day! 

Good idea, but a bit like writing to their Head Office, it's rather far down my list of priorities.

Now I feel like I shouldn't be wasting (ooops I mean spending)  time on here when I've got a very lengthy To Do list 😭

 

 

[Lynne]

Yet another strawberry in the trifle of delight that is Sainsbury's DKH. Only after doing all my shopping in my own wheely bag was I told that there was a technical fault and I had to completely unpack my bag and put all the items through the machine again. Couldn't someone have put a notice up? Does anyone there care in the slightest about their customers?

Don't bother answering that last. I think we all know the answer.

Of course it's not the end of the world, dogkennelhillbilly. It's just that I'm old fashioned enough to expect that because I give then my money,  shops should make some attempt to give me a reasonalbe service

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

58 minutes ago, Sue said:

I imagine you would have been similarly annoyed if it had been you in that situation. I would...Me: "I'm not at all happy about this."

It's not always easy, but we have to try to not allow supermarket inconveniences affect our happiness. Worse things happen at sea.

[Lynne]

You're quite right in one way, dogkennelhillbilly, life could be a lot worse. But if one keeps accepting minor inconveniences, these develop in major ones. One small pieces of rubbish dumped on the pavement will grow to a mound of stuff in no time, for example.

And what's wrong with the idea that if one is paying for a service (Sainsbury's isn't giving the stuff away) one should actually get some consideration from the provider?

[HeadNun]

22 hours ago, Lynne said:

Yet another strawberry in the trifle of delight that is Sainsbury's DKH. Only after doing all my shopping in my own wheely bag was I told that there was a technical fault and I had to completely unpack my bag and put all the items through the machine again. Couldn't someone have put a notice up? Does anyone there care in the slightest about their customers?

Don't bother answering that last. I think we all know the answer.

This happened to me too recently. I unpacked everything, rescanned it, paid for it, left... and didn't give it another moment's thought until I read this. I was mildly irritated at the time, but just got on with it. 

What is happening to people today, that they get so wound up about life not going perfectly the whole time and feeling Sainsbury's / The Universe owes them something? Shit happens, you get on with it. Who honestly has so much time on their hands that they enjoy spending it complaining and then then complaining about not being listened to, when they complained, alongside a gazillion other people who complain about nothing? 

Sorry, I just can't fathom it. 

[Ginster]

FYI - any issues I've had with products (random stuff at times but sunglasses packaging meaning you can't try it on, a product shrinking while going up in price and a meal deal not scanning properly) I've messaged them in FB Messenger and they've always responded and usually given Nectar points for the inconvenience.  Might be worth trying for complaints too?

 

[jazzer]

Alright, alright!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now the store reorganisation is complete and things are bedding down, the staff there are very trying, what I mean they do try their best to assist. And let's be grateful that all the new self service tills work well compared to the old one's. Yes sometimes they are not open but as someone else said it's not the end of the world. It is unfortunate that the number of tills with a person working them has been cut back so much. I'll miss that during the summer, but generally use self service as it tends to be quicker.  

[Sue]

14 hours ago, HeadNun said:

This happened to me too recently. I unpacked everything, rescanned it, paid for it, left... and didn't give it another moment's thought until I read this. I was mildly irritated at the time, but just got on with it. 

What is happening to people today, that they get so wound up about life not going perfectly the whole time and feeling Sainsbury's / The Universe owes them something? Shit happens, you get on with it. Who honestly has so much time on their hands that they enjoy spending it complaining and then then complaining about not being listened to, when they complained, alongside a gazillion other people who complain about nothing? 

Sorry, I just can't fathom it. 

Because if nobody complains, things don't get better.

In  the situation I complained about, there was an apparent  system error which meant an item was being overcharged at the tills by, if memory serves, about £12.

Plus I'm in my mid seventies and not in particularly good health, and was asked to walk back right across a very crowded store to take a picture of the price label on the shelf to prove to the assistant that I was being overcharged.

I'm very sorry if you think I was complaining about nothing. I don't.

I wonder how many people were overcharged that day by £12 and didn't notice because it was Christmas Eve, they were stressed with doing last minute shopping, and had so much in their trolleys that they didn't have time to notice the price being charged for each item on the till.

 

Edited February 17 by Sue

[jazzer]

The clue is the till receipt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am sorry that they treated you as they did given your ill health. 

[Sue]

1 hour ago, jazzer said:

The clue is the till receipt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am sorry that they treated you as they did given your ill health. 

Eh? The till receipt showed the  price they charged me, in this case if I remember correctly £24.

As I said,it was a system error. If I had had a trolley load of shopping instead of just one item, as many people did, I might never have noticed.

It should have been £12. The man on the till said "have you got a photo of the label on the shelf?" WTF?

And then made me go right back across the store to get one.

I have no idea whether he ever bothered to report the error. He had to input the correct price manually.

And my ill health isn't obvious.  It just made things more difficult for me. 

Edited February 17 by Sue

[jazzer]

Sue, I totally sympathise with you and appreciate the inconvenience even more so on Christmas Eve, when I guess the store was heaving with people all wanting to get their various bits. What made it worse for you was that you had to go back to the aisle to take a photo to prove what you had told him. What I don't understand is why they won't acknowledge your complain and now want you to complain about your unanswered complaint. Next time you go in ask to speak to the duty manager and inform the person to and see what explanation they have, if any.  

[Sue]

23 hours ago, jazzer said:

Sue, I totally sympathise with you and appreciate the inconvenience even more so on Christmas Eve, when I guess the store was heaving with people all wanting to get their various bits. What made it worse for you was that you had to go back to the aisle to take a photo to prove what you had told him. What I don't understand is why they won't acknowledge your complain and now want you to complain about your unanswered complaint. Next time you go in ask to speak to the duty manager and inform the person to and see what explanation they have, if any.  

I shan't be going in unless I absolutely have to for some reason!

And I am so snowed under with more time critical things that attempting to get any reasonable response from them is sadly way down my To Do list.

I just feel sorry for all the other people who were overcharged. However, if they didn't notice a £12 overcharge on their receipt, probably they can afford to lose it 😵‍💫

[Jules-and-Boo]

The Sainsbury near FH is nice, the staff are lovely as well

[Spartacus]

We have so many amazing local shops that surpass Sainsburys that everyone has a simple choice:

Shop local and maybe get all your shopping in multiple stores.

Or

Continue to whinge about supermarkets whilst shopping in them because it's slightly more convenient.

Years ago supermarkets were cheaper but now they have the majority of the market that is no longer the case.

You pays your money, you takes your choice!

[alice]

Course local shops are amazing, but they’re also much more expensive than Sainsbury’s. 

[Administrator]

The last few posts were off-topic and sour, so removed.

[jazzer]

Has seemed really empty over the past few weeks, with hardly anyone in the store on Thursday lunchtime, have I missed something or are people shopping somewhere else?

[heartblock]

We do not go there anymore, it used to be a pleasant experience, but now shoppers are made to feel like criminals and the prices are not great. The till receipt gates to stop us nicking stuff do not work half the time - I would rather shop somewhere that makes me feel welcome.

We also want to support our local independents, so we are trying to eat cheaper using less costly ingredients and buy local - it's a good way for us also to lose some weight! Veg and pulses.....and less booze 😞

[FredMarsh]

FredMarsh

Started conversation: 6 minutes ago

I must agree !

Shopping in Sainsburys Dog Kennel Hill has become very unpleasant !

The erection of coral fencing  to herd us all in one direction so that we can be observed by security prior to getting into the "shop" is quite horrible.

The fresh meat counter has gone . The fresh fish counter has gone. The fresh cheese counter has gone. Most of the staff have gone !

Just a couple of attended checkouts left,  sometimes just the one with people waiting quietly inline

But most people are herded into the payment coral and wait just as long to do a redundant cashiers job. unload your own shopping, place your bag in the right position so that it can be weighed and the quietly pick each item you are about to purchase , look for the barcode and pass the item across the scanner. Then put item in shopping bag.  What could be easier or more efficient ?

If something goes wrong or you are trying purchase alcohol, just look round nervously, not wanting to make a fuss.

If nothing happens start waving to the overworked member of staff in a sainsburys uniform  running up and down looking after a few dozen self service checkouts

Don't forget to take your receipt (piece of paper that will be screwed up and discarded discreetly  shortly afterwards )  It's essential to present your receipt in order to escape the coral.

There's nothing pleasant about Sainsburys any more. !

Why do I go there?

Because I can get the whole thing over with and not get a parking ticket !!

And NO !   I'm 77 completely knackered and am not going to get a bike 

 

[Woodo]

I've found also that the Nectar lower price hasn't always been applied on 3 recent shops on various items. After the first shop where i noticed (likely happened many times before) I check the Smartshop scanner to see if it's been applied and if it hasn't then photo the shelf-pricing... you then have to get a refund at customer service. Not very efficient/a pain but would have spent over £5 more on 3 items. You won't be able to do this without using Smartshop unless you photograph every item at the shelf then go through them and the items on the receipt.

Oh, and to get the refund you must also present the item at the customer service desk (not just the receipt and photo). I had to go to the car first time to recover ice cream.

 

[Sue]

That Sainsbury's has always been horrible. It must be terrible to work there 

I don't even use it for deliveries any more, after a bad experience some years back.

It's useful for collecting the very occasional Argos or Tu order, though. And to take my plastic recycling. And to get passport etc photos.

[jazzer]

FredMarsh, I sympathise with you. I suspect the coral fencing at the entrance is to prevent people legging it out of store with unpaid for goods in hand. It does feel a bit like herding cattle as you describe it. Perhaps the reduction in customers is a response to this and the lack of previously available services. 

I find self check out is quicker if I do it myself and since the new self service points have been installed the screens work much better as they are as of today still newish. The old ones were "knackered" and continued to regularly fail. 

I had to buy some whisky as a present for someone yesterday, the Sainsbury staff took it away, removed the security tags and returned it, so that all went simply. 

Unfortunately the days of what was the original Sainsburys in Peckham and Forest Hill are long gone, as are many of the old shops I remember from the mid 70's, i.e. Kennedy's. The world continually changes and as we get older we have to keep up. 

I saw something really sad in Peckham yesterday, a very, very old woman walking down Hanover Park by Primark on the corner with Rye Lane, bent almost half over, pushing her own four wheel trolley along, taking her time.  Made me  realise how lucky I am.  

Yes, checking the receipt to make sure Nectar has been applied is always worth doing. Ditto Tesco Old Kent Road this week were what the label of the stack of fruit said one price and even with the Tesco card, the price at checkout was different, that resulted in photo's and it still being checked by Customer Service......

As for "Sainsburys always being horrible", I have to disagree with you on that. 

Edited May 3 by jazzer

[ed_pete]

I don't think there is much in the way of pride about running that store; I think there used to be and not so long ago.

It's messy - the fruit and veg section never looks attractive.  Contrast with Lidl and Morrisons that in my experience (and I appreciate others may have had a different one) always looks much better stocked and attractively presented.  They don't seem to stock stuff that I would expect a store of that size to have - I looked for pudding rice the other week and couldn't find any and nor could the staff working there.  Is it that unusual  ? Doesn't anyone make rice pudding ? I guess not.  You have weight certain fruit and veg - I'm OK with that - but why, on a Saturday when it's going to be busy, not ensure that the scales  are all stocked with plenty of labels rather than there only be one working by 10am ? And don't get me started on so-called "Nectar prices"...

It's got a dominant position and it's a cash-cow that the management don't seem to care about.

 

[jazzer]

Pudding rice used to be in the same aisle as tinned fruit if that helps??

My preference is the Sainsburys fruit and veg aisle over Morrison any day of the week and Lidl, although I adore Lidl for other things they sell and their speciality weeks.  However Sainsburys size of peppers varies (small to moderate) week to week but the price remains constant, fresh mushrooms are hit and miss, some weeks they have them other weeks what's there I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. Gave up on the oranges as they also became much smaller but at the same price. 

Nectar is a money saver compared o the price without the Nectar reduction. That's the same for all four of the big brand supermarkets. It may have flaws but saving money is what its about. Just some thoughts.