Supply chain issues - what can't you get?

[zafferana]

I seem to have the same things on my shopping list week after week, because I can't find them. A few examples:

• Kleenex balsam tissues
• Quaker Oats so Simple - the fruit-flavoured ones
• Sugar Free Rennie in large boxes
• Orange Strepsils

@BocolateChiscuits

Nothing.

In the Summer we had to drive a while to get postcrete, and we had a loft conversion and the builders had to wait a long time for ridge tiles and a particular fire door. But apart from that it was fine. And that was the Summer.

My tip is to get a locally ran veg box. We've been with one for years, and they've never skipped a beat. In the early days of the pandemic when the supermarket only had a few sad bits of spring onions in their veg section, they were delivering full boxes of veg as normal. They're supplied by lots of smaller farms that could easily isolate while working, and everything's transported locally in vans rather than HGVs, so they've been far more resilient.

100% agree with the local fruit and veg box. I paid £10 a year to be a VIP customer (and got 2 £5 vouchers in return) so I had a guaranteed weekly delivery when everyone else had cottoned on and they were fast running out of delivery spaces!

They also do local milk, bread, honey, cheese and eggs. Never skipped a delivery or missed an ordered item in 2 years.

Cars. Ordered in June, have now been told I’ll be lucky to have it before 2023 😱

Tumble dryers I’ve ended up trying a new brand none of the brands we’ve used before are in stock or due before Christmas. Calpol tablets DS broke his leg and has used these a lot but stock is iffy at best.

my son tried to get the new I phone 13 pro

Tried to buy my DH a new iPad in John Lewis and the basic model he wants is out of stock. They said it’s a chip supply issue with Apple!

Frozen rice. We normally go through loads of it but not been able to get hold of any for months now.

I've found it's generally patchy supply, one thing will be fine then disappear for weeks. When it comes back in something else goes out of stock.

Paracetamol tablets have been hit and miss.

Oats So Simple sachets

Walkers Crisps , but that was an IT issue with Walkers

Oh , and black sacks and freezer bags

Nothing. Shop in Waitrose/Lidl and Wilkos predominantly. Plus B&M and Home Bargains occasionally.

Oasis summer fruits.

Scots Old Fashioned Porridge Oats

Asda near me has had hardly any crisps for weeks

I haven't t noticed any shortages of anything (sw London).

@TheBitterBoy

Sainsbury's have no bin bags, they usually sell a range of different sized kitchen bin liners, but in recent months almost nothing, with a big blue banner on their website saying some items are currently unavailable.

Also monster munch, but that's not strictly a supply chain issue, down to PepsiCos IT problems.

Agree aviation bin bags. The own brand ones I used to use disappeared in the first lockdown and have ever appeared since. I've looked in other shops too but they are not much better than sainsburys. I have resorted to getting the Brabantia ones on ebay and amazon.

Paracetamol mostly, although I notice it's back in stock now.

Can't get our Sofology furniture delivered for love nor money though. Ordered it in June and apparently it's been at the "wrong warehouse" since 6th November. £798 worth of bullshit.

Oh and Spontex washing up refills! Disappeared from the supermarket so had to resort to ordering some from amazon. First World problems.

For those of you waiting for kitchen appliances, consider buying secondhand from Facebook locally, eBay or an auction house. I couldn't find a washing machine I wanted with good reviews in the Summer as there were supply issues when our previous machine conked out. Bought one from Facebook for £50 from someone having a complete new kitchen. In excellent condition and the seller turned out to be friend of a friend.

We also got a freezer from an auction as we needed a bigger one for our cellar and the one I wanted was out of stock everywhere. I had to give the auction buy a bloody good clean and buy a new basket, but it was still a bargain.

Meant to add - we've bought secondhand as a stopgap then replaced with brand new and sold the secondhand item on for what we paid for it having had a couple of years' use out of it.

Dog food. I use a particular type for my dogs. Out of stock absolutely everywhere. Eventually stumbled on a couple of bags in a random pets at home at the back of the shelf. An online stockist has now got some in stock but it's gone up by £15 per bag! My vet said they have been struggling to get certain types of specialist food in as well.