To think Waitrose is a rip off?

I love my local Waitrose . Always full shelves , spacious and best of all quiet and calm no tower block tracys screaming obscenities at snotty nose kids .

@BIossomtoes all branches stopped the free coffee during the pandemic but all the branches near me started it again a couple years ago, although you have to bring your own cup now. They definitely had it in my branch last weekend - I always enjoy drinking it when I'm strolling round the shop.

Shop somewhere else then. I love Waitrose.

I love Waitrose. Their online shopping service is spot on. Never fails me. But I do worry that the local store may not survive as the town is no longer very Waitrose, and I suspect most people are shopping online from the bigger out of town store.

Recently noticed that in nearby St Albans, there is actually a petition for a John Lewis, which must be the very definition of upper middle tee hee.

When I’m in the posh part of London for work on my ‘working days’, I always make a point of visiting the posh Waitrose in my lunch hour and bringing something random home for the store cupboard. There is a world of difference between this London Waitrose and the one at home, sadly. Maybe this is your problem — if it’s an ‘ex sommerfield’.

I thought they stopped that years ago. I regularly go to two branches, no free coffee in either of them.

Our local Waitrose is much nicer than our local Sainsbury’s.

Sadly it’s also about twice the price for my weekly shop, so I don’t often go in. But when I do it is lovely.

I go in there for the good quality herbs spices and other flavourings that don't quite hit the same in my local Sainsbury's.

I've not seen anyone mention the free coffee?? That's what attracts me

It's a more ethical way of doing business - it doesn't have shareholders that are only interested in profit.

Partners (staff) are treated more fairly & it's much better place to work if you are disabled, carer, more flexible with child care. Not perfect but better than the big supermarkets.

More ethical treatment of producers & suppliers (again not perfect) eg UK pork market, support to suppliers during COVID.

Supporter of small local suppliers eg a small local company can supply a small number of branches in their area (something not possible in other supermarkets)

Doing the 'right thing' will often cost more. It's sad to see how few people value that & just want cheap food, cheap labour, shein & temu prices with disregard of the social, environmental & human implications

i live in a town in the southwest that only has waitrose as its supermarket,and i drive 10 miles to another town to shop at lidl, because the food they sell, (for example ready meals), is tasteless, over priced and pretty poor quality, i feel sorry for the local , mainly older people who can't travel so far, as there being ripped off but have to live with it, waitrose also squeezes there suppliers of fresh produce to drop there prices or lose contracts, then sell it at inflated prices, nasty money grabbing company imo !

Honestly,I couldn't believe it and it's online,too!.

I stocked up on Clipper teabags recently as they were on offer cheaper than at Sainsbury's. Even without Clipper, I buy all my tea in Waitrose. I can't find any other tea in Sainsbury's that doesn't taste horrible. I shop selectively in Waitrose, as a lot of their stuff is very expensive. Some things are better or you can't get them elsewhere and a few are even cheaper than Sainsbury's.

My only gripe with Waitrose is their shocking abuse of the yellow sticker. 15p off a loaf of bread doesn’t not warrant a fanfare.

Yes they can be pricier for some things, but I once compared online prices with Tesco by putting identical things in each cart and there wasn't much difference. It's more expensive for meat, for sure, but I'm more reassured that the welfare standards will be higher, too. Also, many of Waitrose's own brand ice creams have almost no unnatural additives.

Nope!

A bit like saying people are embarrassing, then.

Is it?

I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation about shopping in Waitrose with anyone IRL.

It’s just MN that seems obsessed with it.

I'm from an area which doesn't have many Waitrose stores-sob!
I used to live near one when I was a poor 22 year old and bought a few things from there. The essentials range- and the quality- is very good. I like it.
These days the prices are similar to or even less than Co-op and Sainsburys.

If you are in the north try Booths for a treat, it's bloody lovely :)
Or just go to Lidl!

I love Waitrose - I’ve shopped there for years . I tend to mix and match shops between that and Aldi . I never buy branded stuff from Waitrose , their own brand is great and staff are always friendly and helpful and I don’t get my shopping thrown at me like in Aldi

I'll pay out for Christmas food. I do a Christmas theatre break to London and buy bits from Fortnum and mason etc. I've bought stuff from Waitrose and been disappointed. Their stuff doesn't come out near the top in taste tasts either (so it isn't just me). M&S, independent shops/bakers/butchers and Aldi are my Christmas go to. Although Aldi hasn't had the range of chocolate it had a few years ago. Their seeded bake at home mini rolls etc for Christmas light bites/buffets are the best out there.

I am a big fan of a proper sized Waitrose but the Little Waitroses tend to be pretty underwhelming. They don't get the stock quite right and what they do have is on the expensive side.

The selling point of Waitrose is that you can tell people you shop there, bonus points for doing it both online and in person.

If you use a supermarket price comparison site like trolley regularly you'll quickly realise that all the supermarkets spot price and are constantly putting things on offer, taking them off or choosing certain items to be 10p cheaper than all the other supermarkets that day/week.

So waitrose might tend to be more expensive if you do a big shop there for everything, but if you mix and match between different supermarkets, it makes v little difference.

And actually if you keep an eye on these things, Sainsbury's is the one that tends to be more expensive, most of the time, and Morrisons is often up there too.

Im quite lucky as i live close to a morrisons, tesco and waitrose so I effectively play them off against each other.

Waitrose own brand products are such good quality and really excellent prices. Fruit, veg and meat are absolutely a cut above and prices on a par with Tesco etc. it’s Sainsbury’s I find bafflingly spendy. The one near me is massive and I lose the will to live half way round.

Free coffee is a lovely treat at the end too. The next day John Lewis pick up at Waitrose had been a lifesaver on a few occasions. Big fan of the one near me.

What? Since when! I’ll have to check this out now as Waitrose pricing is a little OTT considering local Spanish prices for it although Ocado is worse and Whole Foods extortionate!