Asda - WTF is going on?

[MuggedByReality]

I went into a big out of town Asda store in the East Midlands this afternoon. The place was a chaotic shambles, it looked like some sort of organisational meltdown had happened. Empty wooden pallets scattered around. Empty shelves all over the store. Piles of boxes of stock which should have been on said shelves dumped & piled up in aisles. Massive queues at the customer service desk. Very few staff visible anywhere. I gave up & went to the nearby Sainsbury’s instead which was completely fine.

Is Asda struggling? Has anyone else noticed major problems recently or was this just one store having a bad day?

Fucking hell. What a vile, misogynistic pig he is. I hope he was sacked.

When the C and A stores were big in the 70s they nearly all had huge changing room areas and the urban myth was that people would ' relieve' themselves in the back ones and good for a spot of shop lifting ( pre any cctv cameras days)
People can be vile.

It's been all over the news for months and they were hauled in front of a House of Commons Select Committee to be grilled by MPs about their 'debt mountain'. Interest rates have gone up massively and they are financed wholly with debt, borrowed when interest rates were low. I haven't read anything about selling off stores, but I wouldn't say opening more stores is evidence of being in a sound financial position. Probably just evidence of borrowing even more of other people's money.

Are the staff on variable day rotas and 'need to be flexible'? Surely it's better for staff to know from week to week when they are working with regular days?
This would work for people who may only be able to do particular days, weekends or evenings.

As a retail worker myself i would hate to do regular days and would actively look for a job which doesn't require regular days. 😅

They just brought all the petrol station shops around here, spending a fortune stocking them out. But they only stock expensive items so I've never seen anyone buy more than road trip sweets.

The actual store closest to us never has any fresh fruit/veg/bread, and the staff prefer chatting to serving. Online shopping comes from a bigger one and there's always about 15 stupid subs per order and everything has about a day left on the best before.

Is it just me, or are supermarkets getting bigger on the outside with less and less inside ? All the 4 big ones near us have reduced their shelving. I know it's certainly not to help accessibility, which is a happy side effect. But I can't see such large volumes and small stock being that profitable.

My local Asda is like a club. The manager is 22, plays rave music over the tannoy and is employing only those younger than himself. Zero customer service skills, messy shop, looks like the old Netto store it replaced.

I avoided ADSA when Walmart owned it (awful company), and have only now ventured into my local store for a nosey. It was pretty good to be honest and I was actually impressed. Full shelves, lots of choice, and their own brand loo roll is far better than Lidl's. But I hate that their own brand sliced bread has palm oil in it. Fucking palm oil in bread! Same as Lidl's own. WTF!? And the quality just isn't as good as Waitrose, and I'd rather pay more for better value and quality.

I don't use Asda much, imo it's always been cheap but a bit rubbish.

Just as a comparison, switched to Sainsbury’s delivery this week because of too many missing items or substitutes with Asda. This week I’ve only got two with Sainsbury’s, one is slight different crisps and the other is a bigger bag of carrots than originally ordered. I can live with that. Asda was getting absolutely ridiculous for not having stock, even had problems with really basic things like milk.

For a brand that used to pride itself on customer service it has fallen off a cliff. Never any checkouts open. Staff look miserable. Store feels miserable. Sainburys up the road feels like a 5x star hotel in comparison to the misery that my local asda has become.

I avoid - particularly as the last few times I've been in at least one thing had gone through the till more than the ticket price, so as well as being a miserable experience I feel like they are trying to scam me too.

It is sad as it used to be a nice buzzy store with happy staff who were happy to help.

A text book how to destroy a brand lesson

In asda atm after collecting a George order. See picture...

Greggs have started the unnecessary process of shoving palm oil in their products, too. Bought a pack of cheese scones recently, and they looked 'shiny' I checked the ingredients, and there it was.

I was brought up on their stotties in the 1970s. They are probably full of the stuff now, too. It's hard to find the ingredients on items that aren't pre packed. Their website lists nutritional information and allergens.

Anyway, sorry I've gone a bit off topic.

Best before dates are just a guide @HashtagShitShop

I just had a trip to Asda, it was fine!

On chocolate yep definitely 😂😁 they're not daft still charging full price for it though. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I visited our nearest Asda superstore, on the outskirts of Leeds, a few months ago. It was shocking! I wanted to grab some UHT milk and it looked like the pallet had been run over and reversed back over several times, milk was spilt all over, tops falling off, it was revolting. I had all on finding ones that were intact! Then there were all the full but abandoned cages in the aisles, with nobody emptying them. They're heavy to move to get to something they're blocking and not one member of staff around! And lots of shelves empty all over the store. I've never been anywhere so stressful! And whoever mentioned the lighting, yes!!! I get that too, it's awful! Our Morrisons on the other hand, is great. I'll stick to that!

@MoonWoman69 it must be are dependent as my nearest Morrisons looks like the opening 10 minutes of saving private Ryan

@everythinglooksbetterpaintedblack

Oh God, that's not good! All the Morrisons near me and there's a few, are well stocked and well looked after. We also have plenty of properly manned tills opened. I saw one manned till in Asda, this was mid morning and it was right at the bottom of the store! I don't think I've been in a Morrisons anywhere that's as bad as you've described!

Aha. Different prices to ticket prices. That is my experience too (see my post up thread). I wonder if this is nationwide? I strongly advise everyone to check the prices and what you're actually charged, especially when you're buying a special offer....

Yes, Fosse Park. I’m not surprised that someone else has noticed the state of the place. It never used to be that bad, but yesterday it really was horrendous. Sainsbury’s next door is so much better in every way.

Yes, that’s three of us who have noticed how far the place has declined.

It's always been an dreadful shop but the prices made it SOMEWHAT bearable.
It's 100% got worse though.
I'd rather forage for berries and wild mushrooms to eat than do a food shop there, it's AWFUL
I agree, Sainsburys across the road is a much nicer experience!