To think Waitrose is a rip off?

Complete shopping tart and I shop for value, taste and quality. So Waitrose have some products I really like and carry a few brands hard to source elsewhere, but I like M&S for other items, Lidl and Aldi for a few others, but rarely Tescos (unless for frozen veg) and not ASDA for anything other than clothing, as a great deal of their veg and fruit seems to travel huge distances! I really can't say that one hits the spot for everything anymore, just that some are much more reliable for the quality of their items and that cheap is not always the best value, either in taste or longevity! I also have a local deli that carries a few items cheaper than all of the above and a very good bakery, so happy to shop local where it makes sense too!

Waitrose is not more expensive if you avoid brands and buy their essentials range. Their fresh produce is better quality than most other supermarkets.
I don’t understand why it’s “snobbery” to want to eat better quality foods and higher welfare meat and eggs

I do a split- part Waitrose, part M&S , occasionally a bit at Sainsbury's, plus farm shop- but I like shopping and I like cooking and don't have kids to look after.

I actually drive 4 miles to go to Waitrose when we have a huge one in the centre here- main reason being the one 4 miles away is still big but less busy and has far more offers and yellow stickers

That's a bit unnecessary

A lot of your issue seems to be with the store layout which would be the same whichever supermarket was in there so 🤷

And after that as others have said, just don't go in there if it doesn't suit 🤔 Personally I like Waitrose but if you don't you don't, that's OK too 😄

I do like their products but I don't buy much there usually, as I agree it's overpriced.

I know there is much competition between them and M and S, and honestly I couldn't be less interested-they are both overpriced and therefore treating their customers as fools.

@scrapsontheside I love clipper tea!! Have been stocking up whilst it's on offer.

We do a lot of our shopping at Waitrose as our two most convenient supermarkets are that and co-op. Ours is spacious, clean, helpful staff, and given that we buy mostly Waitrose / Essential Waitrose items, often significantly cheaper than the co-op, not to mention better quality.

There's no John Lewis anywhere near us, so I appreciate being able to do click and collect (and returns) at Waitrose.

I love shopping in Waitrose. If you don't then you can simply go elsewhere.

My cats like their frozen cod ( although M and S cod or haddock gets gobbled up faster )

You’re not wrong op - most of what you buy in Waitrose is a good lot dearer than other supermarkets, just why? When a can of Heinz whatever is 80p more expensive… it’s just silly. And the Waitrose own brand is nothing special. The main reason it exists is snobbery. If you’re factoring in cost and quality, I agree Sainsburys is great.

Waitrose is great for their fresh produce. I don’t buy branded items from Waitrose though as the cost is stupidly high although there are a few things one can only buy in-person in Waitrose (Ortiz tuna) so I tend to pick them up unless I’ve done an Ocado shop.

I do tend to prefer Natoora over others as they provide the best quality produce, their lovely French strawberries are my go-to!

Their essentials range is great, plus you can get a Pseud’s Corner laugh at the idea of Essential Mascarpone (or fill in poncey item if your choice)

I’m a retired WR cashier and I couldn’t agree more. If something is £1 everywhere else it’ll be £1.10 there. The end of day reductions are pitiful. So-called “fresh” bread displayed uncovered so by late morning its already dry and been touched by countless customers. WR potatoes sprout faster after coming home than any other store’s, perhaps because they keep them too cool, same with soft fruit, salad and spinach, all their green veg turn really quickly compared to other stores.

They have a wider range of organic products than most supermarkets, and I think M&S are the only other supermarket to sell wild Alaskan salmon and not just farmed Scottish fish. The WR loyalty voucher scheme is rubbish although I do use the voucher for a free weekend paper, so my Saturday purchases are usually just salmon, cheese and a paper!

I use Waitrose a lot as it’s my closest big supermarket & it’s spacious with large aisles, plenty of staff. Their essential range is pretty good value. I do think they are a little overrated, I prefer Sainsbury’s as more choice but M&S is my fave.

I love their massive bags of wonky carrots for 89p ( amongst other stuff of course )

Waitrose is brilliant, they stock stuff you don't see anywhere else.

But if you dont like it, dont go.

It's the nicer in store experience that does it for me, although none of the ones I use sound remotely like your one. I find that aisles are wider than most supermarkets, there are less loud and obnoxious tannoy announcements, there isn't the horribly loud music as you find in others. The whole ambiance is get calmer and quieter.

The products are great too, although I tend not to buy a lot of branded pre packages stuff. I don't think the pricing is that out of line to be honest, particularly not for the quality.

I don’t find Sainsbury’s cheap, either, but I guess it’s all subjective. I would tend to go to Lidl if I wanted food on the cheaper side.

Waitrose are not forcing you to shop with them, don't like it don't go.
Right now it's cheaper to buy clipper teabags in Waitrose than Asda, or a watermelon in M+S than the food warehouse.
Shop around

Waitrose staff are John Lewis partners, so they participate in profit sharing. I like that.

Mainly I agree with PP and split my shopping between Tesco/Aldi/Asda and specialist shops/Waitrose. It is the only supermarket where I buy meat and fish. Our two local ones are also laid out much more nicely than the other supermarkets, though I appreciate this isn’t the case for the OP.

Similar to you, it’s our nearest shop so use it every now and then. It great if you get a yellow sticker bargain on fresh meat or flowers, but I’m finding they don’t do huge discounts like they used to, and the quality of the flowers is not great now. I bought some Waitrose fancy bacon recently thinking it would be the nicest bacon I’d ever had. It had zero flavour. The pack I bought from Lidl was so much tastier.
I also often find other Waitrose customers to be rude and ignorant. More so than in other stores.

I don’t think they have them now but I used to buy the Essential frozen roast potatoes. They were so good.
However Waitrose is expensive so if you don’t like them don’t go.
I don’t think Sainsbury’s is cheap though.

I always prefer shopping in Waitrose to other supermarkets and drive quite a distance to go to my nearest branch, passing several branches of Sainsburys, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl on the way. I go there mainly because I find the quality of their meat and vegetables is very much better than other supermarkets. I buy organic food wherever possible and it's the only supermarket I know that has a wide range of organic meat. Apart from that, they have an extremely wide range of products that you don't usually find in other supermarkets, the aisles are always wide, the shops are spotlessly clean, and without exception I've always found the staff to be polite and helpful. I use Ocado for my main weekly shop and whilst I like M&S goods, I much preferred it when they were partnered with Waitrose, which is why I still go there for too up shops.

I use both Tesco and Waitrose. Tesco for branded, Waitrose for their own stuff. Their meat welfare is the best of a bad bunch and their fruit and veg is far superior.

Plus I once had a seizure whilst shopping in my local Waitrose (cheers epilepsy!) and the store manager sent me a bunch of flowers and a £50 store voucher. Can’t ask for better customer service than that!