to ask why everybody hates Tesco on MN

[Charliefarlie1192]

Am I missing something (not very au fait with current affairs, apologies)

'Tesco-phobia'.... irrational focusing of the issues around large multiple retailers on one company, conveniently ignoring the fact that all other multiple retailers commit similar sins. MN attitude not borne out by national sales figures so either MN is totally unrepresentative of the population or a lot of MN-ers are exaggerating just to be one of the gang. :)

I've always felt uncomfortable at how little the supermarket rips off the farmers. I shop in Sainsbury's who i believe give a better deal to them.

Isn't there a documentary soon about how farmers are not treated that badly?

I'm confused after seeing the trailer.

*the supermarket pays the famers and rips off farmers

Have a look here

Basically, it's all the usual stuff associated with large corporations, but on a huge scale. Although i do agree with Cogito that people are probably wrong in assuming that other large supermarkets are somehow better.

I have no problem with Tesco. And yes, I am aware of their policies.

Um....taking government money and using it to expolit workers you don't pay? Holding onto vast land banks and preventing development? Screwing the supply chain so there is no profit in it?

Besides, their chipolatas are crap, say the kids.

what adversecamber said and on a personal level because the business that I ran successfully for ten years went under in the year after they built a large store in the town where I operated. Because of their huge buying power they were able to sell my main line of stock for less than I could buy it from my wholesaler.

"Isn't there a documentary soon about how farmers are not treated that badly"

As a supplier of any supermarket you have a choice whether to supply or not. You have to make money, however, or you will not be there next month and next year and you will not be able to invest. Some suppliers - especially in commodities where margins have always been low - can live on a small profit rather than a large one. If they want to pay peanuts you can either walk away or severely cut corners and compromise on quality. You can spot the ones that don't pay much because they have nasty crap on the shelves.

Personally I hate the fact that the town centre here is dying/dead because there's a huge tescos. There are a few good shops, there's a veg shop and a deli, but mostly it's bookies pubs and charity shops. We used to shop lots in town, but the butchers shut recently, so it's harder to avoid tesco.

Admitted though the council are to blame too. They approved the applications for 2 more bookies recently, and there's very limited free parking which is only for an hour.

I like Tesco, swapped from Sainsbury's years ago and have always liked it better, though my Mum (a bit of a Hyacinth B, bless her) didn't like me ever to say so :D

There always used to be a healthy queue of posters hoping for the weekly Tesco discount code, despite it being MN social death to admit you shop there!

I like the food, like my delivery men and have always found their CS courteous to deal with when I've needed to.

I do Lidl once a month for some things, Approved Foods for others, and Waitrose rarely, although I have had some disasters with Waitrose!

I am quite fond of Tesco and it does have a fantastic club rewards system which is very useful in planning days out etc. It is cheap, funtional and offers a perfectly average shopping experience. And based on what I read, I don't think it's backend policies are any different from that of Sainsbury, Asda etc.

In a free and capitalist economy aggregation is bound to happen and as a large retailer it enjoys economies of scale which it passes on to it's customers. While sadly the smaller businesses do get affected, I feel it is wrong to use Tesco as a scape goat.

I don't like Tesco. At the time they said that they were creating 9000 new jobs, I got a job there with several much younger women and worked on checkouts. I stuck to their 'customer rules' ( would you like help with packing etc) and was told after 4 months that my contract had come to an end. Fair enough. Then I discovered that the younger women had been taken on permanently from the start.

I never received my P45 despite contacting the Manager who said I should contact Payroll. I did that and found that I was talking to someone in India with an unintelligible English. HMRC was helpful thoiugh and said just to use a P46 for future employment.

My goal had been achieved though. We needed a new boiler and that was the reason that I'd gone back to work.

Reading has thirteen, yes, thirteen, Tescos and yes, smaller shops are going out of business.

I don't agree that everyone on MN hates tesco. From the amount of comments I have seen on clubcard points I assumed a lot of posters, if not the majority, shopped there.

I don't/won't shop there but it started as a personal vendetta - I do emphasis the social reasons now but only because it makes me sound less self-centred at least in my head I continued shopping at asda for years despite knowing that they were probably as morally corrupt as tesco because their customer service was better . Also I have to shop at Tesco on holiday as it is the only option where we go. It always surprises me just how shit their food quality is, even compared to asda.

I also have personal vendettas against M&S (though keep having to break it when they are the only suppliers of certain things I want) and waitrose.

I don't hate Tesco, they deliver to me weekly.

Apart from the rapacious business model, I don't think they have a very good breadth of choice in what they sell. For example, types of Indian ready meals are almost always chicken.

I don't like Tesco, but not because of their trading practices. I think all the supermarkets use the same tricks, Tesco just seem to be the ones who attract the attention (bit like British Gas seem to be in the energy sector).

I just find shopping at Tesco a fairly awful experience. Our local store has just had a "revamp" - all I can say is I hope they didn't spend a lot of money on it! It now boasts a clothing section that is so crammed you can't get round it and a costa coffee that is literally "plonked" in the middle of the store. This store always seems to have lots of stuff out of stock and I can never find what I'm looking for because its not laid out logically at all. The lighting is attocious (bright and glary) and despite having recently been done up it all still seems shabby and somehow a bit "dirty". I'm not keen on the Tescos own brand food either - everything I've had has always tasted a bit odd to me.

I dont agree with the whole workfare thing and do agree that tescos can be bastards sometimes - but they are a business, not a charity and the only reason that they open all these stores is because they know people will shop there.

I do think that tescos bashing can be a bit snobby sometimes - not everyone can afford to browse delightful and quaint farmers markets between 9am and 5pm. Some people have to go ther out of normal working hours and want to buy food that doesnt cost a fortune.

I hate the whole 'our town is to good for tescos' thing - no one puts a gun to people's heads to shop there, and if they are choosing tescos over the local butcher or baker there is a reason for that.

One of my friends often rants about tescos, moaning how each day at work she sees how unethical they are and how badly they treat farmers etc. She works for..................... Nestle!

YANBU. I like Tesco and shop there a fair bit :)

TheJoyfulPuddlejumper
"Tbh I couldn't care less. Tesco is the cheapest shop I have locally and I have a very tight budget."

I despise this I'm-alright-Jack attitude. It's one of the saddest aftereffects of rampant capitalism.

I'm not a fan of anything or anyone who is on a quest for world domination, if I recall correctly something like £1 in every £7 spent in the UK is spent in Tesco. I see it as my civic duty to spread the wealth around a bit more .

Generally, I shop in Sainsbury's for store cupboard items as there is a good one near me that isn't that busy. But ideally I get meat and veg from the local butchers or greengrocers, both of which are cheaper and have better quality products than the supermarkets and I like knowing I'm supporting a local business, although now I'm back at work it's not always as easy to find the time as it once was.

I dislike Tesco, mainly because around 80% of their staff in my local store is extremely rude and unhelpful. I shopped in Morrisons today - classy bird that I am - and it was a relatively pleasant experience.

CaoNiMa - so are you saying that people should fork out for expensive food (and possibly miss out on other things for their family) just to keep small independent shops in business? Surely then that is an 'Im alright Jack' attitude on the part of the independent shops?

I dislike Tesco as they are getting dearer and am forced to use ASDA. Thats right. Forced. I prefer their own brand quality (yes I know some of their own brands are made by the same companies that makes some Asda and Sainsburys own brands...)