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’ve just found a piece of Waitrose broccoli in the back of the fridge I bought 2 weeks ago and it’s still fresh and looks perfect, if I’d bought it from Asda it would’ve been rancid within 48 hours!

Waitrose used to be our only local supermarket and now it's closed my neighbours and I are bereft. I was forever taking people there who'd never been but felt it was too expensive. It wasn't. And in all the years I went there, I didn't see any fur coats, though I was too polite to ask if the shoppers wore knickers!
Now the nearest place is a bus ride away with aisles like an assault course and café's a nightmare.
Maybe you were just unlucky with the home delivery. I've never had bad fruit or veg and the flowers last for weeks whether online or instore.
We hear we're now having an Iceland 'warehouse'. They won't be delivering though the one a bus ride away does. We'd give anything to have Waitrose back.... it was always busy but rarely cluttered with queues down the aisles.
Best supermarket ever!

ASDA around here is OK for emergencies but I don't like shopping with people wearing PJs and dressing gowns!

Waitrose is the best supermarket to actually shop in; the staff are lovely and the range / quality is great.

Wierd. Our local Waitrose veg and meat is so so much better than any of the others. I swear they drop-kick the fruit and salad onto the shelves in Sainsbos.

We have started using Ocado and have found the meat to be much better than Tesco’s. Tesco’s chicken has gone really downhill recently.

M&S for fruit and veg. Waitrose can’t hold a candle to them.

Even Booths vary. DS bought some bottled water which was out of date. He found out when he got to the car. When he took it back they were very chippy about it, even though he had the receipt. I think it was because he was 16 and wearing a hoodie
The Settle one was very good though.

I one used Waitrose online when I was ill and couldn't leave the house. They didn't turn up for the evening slot I had booked and did not contact me. Eventually I phoned to ask where they were and they just said that didn't know what happened but they could only deliver my order the next day. When it was delivered the following day, the driver said that the driver from the previous day was on his first day on the job and had just decided he couldn't be bothered doing any more deliveries and had gone home leaving orders undelivered!

Surely the store must have known this (van would have come back to the store with customers orders still in it?). Yet, they made no effort to contact me, I had to contact them to find out what was going on. Not really the service you expect from Waitrose.

I was asked to blind test a supermarket from delivery to a week's worth of food for a family. Wasn't told where it was from or how much.
Food turned up and the delivery was OK, there was so much stuff though (not a brag, just an observation).
What was considered as essential for a young family including wine, a few deserts and a huge flower bouquet. However, no loo roll, no washing up liquid and no squash or juice for the children.
The food was OK, a bit meh. Not much ingredient based food. The chicken was tiny they gave us for a roast. The veg lasted but the fruit I found bland. The bread was a bit sweet for my taste, like chemically.
I was asked to guess what supermarket it was from and I said Lidl as at the time they were really pushing their booze as an essential and great for the price point.
I also guessed it came to £60, but was quantity over quality.
It was Waitrose, and the shop came to £100. I wasn't impressed and I've not changed to shop there, I prefer Asda and Aldi. I like Asda for reduced items and Aldi for everything else.

Waitrose, if you have to shop in-store, is simply a more pleasant experience than the others and more reasonably priced than Marks.

I went to Sainsbury on Sunday. It was not good.

Xenia, why have you never once ever mentioned before that you earn loadsamoney? We're all quite shocked.

I've had a Waitrose card forever but stopped getting vouchers. When the woman in front of me at the checkout ran off to get more wine to bump up her minimum spend on a fistful of vouchers, I asked why I wasn't getting those. The answer was that I needed to complain to head office/customer service & then I'd get vouchers. I didn't bother but MN, you know what to do...

I love Waitrose but agree that their fruit & veg is poor compared to Sainsburys or Tesco. Their meat is far better than Tesco though - great steaks usually on a 3 for £10 offer (ie 6 steaks), their Essentials bacon and sausages better than Tesco's Finest (and cheaper, ditto their mature cheddar) and their offers are great. DP will only eat Waitrose Essentials fish fingers or expensive 100% cod ones, and Waitrose are cheaper. We stock our freezer with packs Waitrose meat that's all on offers.

We only have a smallish Tesco, smallish Waitrose (used to be Safeway) and Aldi. Aldi is good, but hideously packed and chaotic and I get the stress before I'm even out of the car when I go there. And I prefer Lidl (cheese twists are addictive).

If I'm doing a big shop, I drive 7 miles to the next town where there is a Sainsburys and Lidl, but at weekends we can't be arsed and shop locally. I go into Waitrose and DP walks across to Aldi for the fruit and veg, and a cheap chicken! And I get a free Guardian, which I would otherwise buy at my local shop, so that saves me £3.

We've stopped using Tesco for meat, fish and cheese because we think the quality has fallen a lot. Last time I bought fish there, it was rank on the day after I'd bought it so I took it back and complained, got my refund and went to the fishmonger. It was bloody annoying because we had company and I could have done without an unnecessary trip into town.

If I had to pick just one supermarket I think I'd have to go for Sainsburys because their fruit and veg is good, bread is lovely and their meat ok.

I prefer to get my meat from the farm shop up the road, but it's expensive, so we've cut back on that a bit.

Any strawberries are going to be bland this time of year. They’re all forced even if they come from Southern Europe. Strawberries are only really good in June/July/early August.

I agree about M&S veg vs Waitrose. I usually shop at Waitrose & got used to tasteless veg - when I did the weekly shop at M&S, I was stunned that their veg actually tastes of something!

I still like some things from Waitrose but if the stores were both in town (M&S is a pain to get to), I'd go to M&S most times.

Must admit bought an expensive Duchy chicken at the weekend which was rubbish.....barely any flesh on it.

I shop in Aldi but occasionally pop into Waitrose and I think it’s the range, atmosphere and service that sets it apart. Always get great service in Aldi too.

Ocado are amazing around here - we're Warwick and in 12 years of living here we've never had a late/awol delivery.

M&S are great for veg but everything else is Ocado or the butcher and I love them all.

I read today that Aldi might be introducing self service tills. I would definitely go more if that was the case. Our local Lidl already have them so I get get in and out with the few items I go there for.

Sparkling we already have them. They are umm let's say demanding and loud. Customers are expected to scan their shopping at the same rate as staff. Which is great if i'm in the mood to play "let's see if I can get through the shopping without the computer getting stroppy with me". Less good if I have a headache, and hidous if I have a child with me.

Oh no @Al1Langdownthecleghole do you have to throw the shopping at yourself?

I’m confused.
What is bad about “all fur coat and no knickers”. It sounds like a good thing- like a sexy surprise where you show up naked wearing only a coat at your lovers flat....

Its February. Surely strawberries are going to be bland everywhere

Molto if you see this they do pretzel jalapeño bits in the American section in the coop

Sparklingbrook Basically, yes.

I love Waitrose own brand laundry liquid/ gel and there are some items there that are delicious (olives with feta, vegan paella ready meal, DH loves their chicken and their cottage cheese is no more expensive than most other places and MUCH nicer). If you use your vouchers, shop carefully and don’t fall for the overpriced stuff, it really isn’t that much more. I mainly shop at Sainsburys and M and S....I think Asda is poor quality, Morrison’s OK, Tesco have gone massively downhill and personally our Aldi and Lidl are unpleasant to shop in and the fruit and veg are not good. But I like Lidl flowers and their home baking stuff.