To think Waitrose is a rip off?

Waitrose is seen as a mainstream supermarket in London & affluent areas of the south east where the price of groceries isn’t an issue for most people, but outside its heartlands it is very much a niche retailer.

My local store in Leicestershire is very popular with retired people because it’s relatively quiet, there are lots of staff, most of whom are also older people, and they take their time & chat to the customers.

go to Lidl then you miserable bloody fun sponge

although I do like the word dawdling

I love Waitrose. I don’t always use it for branded items, but it’s where I buy ingredients. The fruit, veg, and meat is so much better than other supermarkets, including M&S. They pay farmers more than others and so get excellent quality, high welfare, produce in return.

The fresh produce and own brand items don’t seem to be noticeably nicer than say Sainsburys, whereas M&S is most certainly a cut above the regular supermarket.

They pay their producers more rather than squeezing them to the bare bone.

No-one is forcing you to shop there, unless there is a massive dripfeed coming.

Being more expensive than elsewhere does not meet the definition of "rip off", and you haven't provided any suggestion that you are being cheated, swindled or deceived.

Mums with buggies and elderly people with trolleys are allowed in all supermarkets, it's not just Waitrose.

Just got to M&S and live a happy life, we'll all be better off!

So go somewhere else. They didn’t set the shop up like that to annoy you, you don’t have to go there, you can just move on.

I like Waitrose for fresh fruit and veg because it’s better quality and lasts longer, but packets/tins/brands are cheaper at Tesco.

It's subjective I guess. I find the produce and own brand stuff much better than other supermarkets. Ours is a nice new one though, I would probably find it too annoying if ours was cramped like yours sounds.

For me I can't see the point of the middle ground places like Sainsburys - if I want cheap I go to Aldi, if I want good but pricey I go to Waitrose.

Just go elsewhere.

Personally, I love Waitrose.

I think your issue is buying branded items to be honest. We do the majority of our shopping at Waitrose with a bit of Sainsbury's for some items and find Waitrose to be much of a muchness for standard items. Some are actually cheaper and as you say they do have offers on the branded items we do buy which we make use of. Just shop elsewhere if you don't like the store layout of that particular store!

It works for us, I think the quality is better and I don’t tend to buy branded items. I try to buy minimal UPF and have the most choice at Waitrose whereas it’s a struggle as some other shops.

We get it delivered so the actual shopping experience I can’t comment on, but the delivery experience is great (as it is the other shops I use)

Your waitrose sounds nothing like ours.
Spacious aisles, helpful staff, nice products.

Since the self scan tills introduced slightly longer queues at traditional tills, but they do put extra staff on as needed.

Don’t go then. It’s not compulsory.