AIBU to think Waitrose is all fur coat and no knickers?

[ANiceLuxury]

Im normally an Asda, M&S and Iceland shopper. I’m fed up of going to 3 different supermarkets a week for groceries (I like different things in each of the above stores) so over the last 2 weeks I ve tried Waitrose online delivery.

Both times the food has not been as good as M&S and Asda. I ve had black potatoes, eggs that have a black tinge to them when cooked and bland strawberries.

Some of the range I bought was duchy (sp) and it’s no different to Asda.

I don’t understand why Waitrose has this upmarket reputation.

I’m starting to think it’s all fur coat and no knickers..

I prefer the food from Aldi to Waitrose.

YABU. Waitrose fruit and veg lasts yonks in my opinion, and I love their meat and all the posh stuff you can get. M&S is also brilliant.
I find Asda and Tesco fresh stuff goes off quickly. Sainsbury’s is fine and I like their online delivery for decent use by dates. But it’s not special

The best grapes have been Asda’s Extra Special black seedless grapes

No no no the nest one are Tesco green grapes , the long skinny ones rather than squidgy fat ones .

Waitrose or Tesco for detergents non-animal tested . .

Sainsburys are slightly better quality for half the price. You pay for the image at waitrose.

Waitrose just drives me insane because they are SLOW at the checkouts. Give me the woman in Aldi or Sainsburys anyday who can move at the speed of light.

I try to do Aldi, then Sainsburys if I have time - Aldi cheaper but cant always find everything which means going to Sains as well (one way system). Waitrose very very rarely. Lidl, Tesco and Asda are all much further away. Asda freaks me out somehow.

My local waitrose, is always running low on potatoes/fresh veg/salad stuff every bloody time I go in there, doesn’t matter what day or time also dates are usually really short, ready meals/lunches not a lot of choice, meat is good & competitive with cleaning/laundry products.
I like the Jacksons bread, usually go about once a month yy stock up on cupboard stuff.

Aldi Florentines were so much nicer than Waitrose at Christmas. M&S ones and Waitrose ones are sooo expensive.
Aldi hot cross buns are nicer than M&S
Aldi have lovely Indian and Chinese accompaniments and sauces

I bought some shortbread from Waitrose which wasn’t very pleasant. We had one of their meal deals once, which was OK.

Ocado is the best online supermarket. Always good offers on, rarely substitutions and , as a pp said the friendliest delivery drivers.

I always spend less shopping online with Ocado than I would instore with Sainsburys (which i find overpriced).

By the way a black tinge on eggs means you've over cooked them. So not the fault of magnificent Waitrose.

The only place I can get Haimisha pickles so I go for those.
The nice food is lovely but really too expensive for me except for a treat, and I'd never use it for basics.

Their reductions are also very good on short dated stuff

Ooooh yes. I drop DD at Guides on a friday at 7pm and pop into the Waitrose on the way home. Always get an amazing haul. This week we've had packs of venison meatballs reduced from £5.99 to 79p, pork loin steaks also for 79p, one of those whole roast in the bag chickens for £1.49, a tub of pomegranate seeds for 29p, individual dessert pots for 10p each.... love a Waitrose yellow sticker so much more than other people's yellow stickers.

Also they're the only place locally which does the most excellent Jackson's sliced white loaf.

What is Haimisha’s pickles?

I'm sure that it varies a bit by area, Waitrose near us is the best online delivery for a mile - anything even having a suggestion of damage is given free, short life is free, the delivery people universally lovely and I've never had dodgy eggs or produce - if you ever complain they immediately refund you. Plus the decent coupons and £3 for £10 offers, 1/2 off, 25 percent off, loyalty scheme.

Love M&S too but no online delivery so don't often fancy carting it all back.

You need to go there in person.

Everyone knows that with online delivery you get the short-dated stuff.

Asda is bottom tier. I wouldn’t shop there out of choice, haven’t even stepped foot in one in years. Their stores are just filthy, they tend to be in shit areas (in my experience of living in London and the Midlands.)

M&S is my favourite, the food just tastes very, very good. Lots of unique and varied options too, particularly for vegetarians. You can certainly taste the difference in the quality of fresh fruit and veg compared to Asda.

I have never lived near enough to a large Waitrose to justify doing a full shop but I work nearby to some stores. I find their prices are a bit dear but the quality isn’t necessarily always there in comparison to M&S.

I prefer M&S, I have some reservations, especially about excessive plastic packaging. However, the convenient one on the way home shut down last year and apart from a filling station our only option is local city with expensive, inconvenient parking or a drive to a superstore. I make do with Waitrose, but prefer to go to independent traders in the market town close to our house.

No Waitrose near me, but Ocado has just started venturing into my parts and so far it seems good including the Waitrose bits.

I shop at Asda, Tesco and then Waitrose. The things I buy at Waitrose are products not available at A or T. Some foreign drinks, foreign speciality foods, like flavoured hummus, some cheeses, and a few other varied items. These are usually quite expensive but really nice.

I was so excited when we got a Waitrose but I'm with you in the main OP. They do have some stuff that is really lovely but in general, meh.

Booths is the best supermarket, then M&S and then Sainsburys, Waitrose comes further down the list. Ours always smells a bit weird - burnt coffee maybe?

Waitrose delivery depends so much on how well the store depts are managed, as the delivery comes from your local store. Ours is pretty good and busy, so stock is well managed and when we had deliveries from them, the food was good and not too short dated. Where MIL lives, it’s not so good, and she went back to M&S as a result. My main issue was with items not being available for the delivery so I switched to ocado which has been much better.
But yeah, it depends on the store, on your tastes and preferences, and on the picker for your order at that particular time. I do hope they’re wearing knickers at least 😁

I always thought it was just me, I didn't get it, so happy to find I'm not alone. I now get all my meat at Lidl, new store opened last year and it is great, I love their bakery as well. I get my eggs from a local farm so I don't think Waitrose are fresher. I also get stuff from M&S and Sainsburys but haven't bothered with Waitrose for a long time.

I can't comment on the other 2 but strawberries from anywhere are going to be pretty bland in February. They are a summer fruit. So out of season and flown hundreds or thousand of miles to get to the UK. Buy British strawberries in June then they'll be good.

@buttermilkwaffles at our Waitrose the loose cauliflower is usually tiny but with loads of leaves and the trimmed one is huge so actually much better value for money. I love Waitrose, it’s more expensive for some things and cheaper for others but usually the fruit and veg are better and longer lasting than the other supermarkets so worth paying a little more for.

I don't go to Asda much but they do the best hot cross buns.

I find that Sainsbury’s stores always smell weird? It’s like a foul bakery scent that is both musky and sharp enough to irritate my nose. Can’t stay in store for very long with that stink.