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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Getting ripped off

40 replies

Gizmo79 · 30/03/2020 20:18

Aibu in thinking that my shopping bill has gone up ridiculously this last week. No offers on anything, cereal costing the earth, everything seems to have rocketed in price. I have a family of five and it normally costs a lot but this feels like a major supermarket is taking advantage. Will not be shopping there again. Begins with a T by the way!

OP posts:
LovingLola · 30/03/2020 20:19

What price difference is on the cereal?

cabinfever2 · 30/03/2020 20:20

Yes I noticed no offers at all but don't feel I can be cross right now given how hard they're working to keep the supermarket a safe place to shop

VettiyaIruken · 30/03/2020 20:22

Have they increased the prices or removed the discounts?

Mummyshark2018 · 30/03/2020 20:23

I think offers have stopped for a reason- to stop people buying more than one, though they could just reduce the price of a single item if that item is in demand and going to sell anyWay

OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow · 30/03/2020 20:24

I think all removed offers to discourage people who would come just for the offers since there is only limited number of shoppers allowed in

youkiddingme · 30/03/2020 20:25

I think it's the same everywhere. Tbh I'm just glad when we can get shopping, but we are starting to feel the pinch. I ordered a shop, which came 10 items missing but had gone up £5 from when I ordered it - and the website was playing up too much for me to risk altering the order. Our income has gone down and our shopping bills have shot up. I know it's largely down to supermarkets having to ration things and swap things but it is making life harder.
I don't think we can be cross, we're all just going to have to make do best we can, I'm sure there's lots of expensive logistics for the shops right now but you're certainly correct that the bills are shooting up.

OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow · 30/03/2020 20:25

And what cereals are you buying😱

WatchingFromTheWings · 30/03/2020 20:25

I work in food retail...a lot of the offers have been removed to stop bulk buying.

Enchantmentz · 30/03/2020 20:45

Yanbu, I went shopping last weekend and found I spent a hell of a lot more than I usually do. Mostly it was because all the cheaper stuff I buy or would choose were not there to be bought so I had to buy more expensive stuff. Some things like cat food were in larger bags so that will last a while and balance the bill next time I go shopping in two weeks time. I imagine in my case it will be more expensive as I am going to the shops every two weeks as opposed to weekly and will use up most of my stock but the substituting for more expensive stuff is definitely a factor.

Will suck it up though.

FishyMcFishyfingersFace · 31/03/2020 04:17

Yes, I am dreading doing the next big shop as I was reading yesterday that Tesco are removing offers. We are a family of six and have always made good use of the offers which are relevant to what we need, we also became a household with no income recently and are relying on benefits until we can find work, so are in even more need now.

Our small town only has a Tesco and a Sainburys so we use Tesco as avoid the more expensive Sainburys already, now our food bill is going to increase at Tescos.

BitchHazel · 31/03/2020 04:55

I thought they removed offers, especially multi-buys to discourage bulk buying.

I stopped shopping in Tesco months ago - even before all this they have gone downhill.

The one here is being very, very lax with hygeine and social distancing. I've moved to Sainsbury's which is nicer, better stocked, and they are following proper guidelines and cleaning down trollies etc.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 31/03/2020 05:21

I was in Costco yesterday and there were huge reductions on fresh meat, poultry, and fish. I assume that social distancing is massively reducing the number of people through the doors and that they are therefore over stocked on items with a short shelf life.

TheSandgroper · 31/03/2020 05:31

If I can offer a little perspective re the cost of a lot of products.

I am in Australia and we are having the same problems. The major supermarket I shop at is suspending weekly specials as they can't guarantee supply due to changed logistics (they said they take six months to plan Christmas but did three Christmases in one week from a standing start when all this panic buying started).

On supply,

A) Australia has been in horrendous drought for a few years. This means vastly reduced harvest in cereals, meats, fruit and vegetables. For example, one of Australia's largest rice growers was on tv on Sunday saying he has only planted 40 hectares because that's all the water he could get. If that is repeated across a whole industry, it's going to be noticed. Think beef farmers who normally carry 10 000 head hanging onto about 100 of their best cows and a couple of bulls for the last couple of years. Also repeated in the sheep industry. After rain last month, all those farmers are going to want to restock so that means fewer killers going to the abbatoirs.

B) Australia has had huge bushfires, as had California. Both enormous producers of fresh fruit and vegetables. Stuff may be burnt out, not picked because they were banned from moving people and trucks and had to be left in the paddock, smoke tainted or, here anyway, then flooded.

C) With Australia in drought, much of East Africa was up to their necks in flooding. Any fruit and vegetables there will be lost for months.

D) African Swine Flu is killing pigs left, right and centre. Again, on such a scale that the world order in the industry is hugely disrupted.

There has been a growing level of publicity that the harvest of the UK's own supplies is going to very difficult between Brexit and isolation.

The logistics of food is a worldwide circuit and there have been immense natural disruptions. That it's happening now (including in my local Perth greengrocer) with all the economic distress is just the worst timing.

Please remain kind to your supermarket staff.

BarbaraofSeville · 31/03/2020 05:55

a lot of the offers have been removed to stop bulk buying

I can see the point in this, I bought 6 tins of soup a couple of weeks ago because it was 6 for £4 in Asda, otherwise I would only have bought maybe 2,
and I did give 2 of the 6 to the foodbank , but it does make things more expensive.

There are many things that I have literally never bought at 'full price' because I always just keep a stock of things we use regularly when I see an offer.

Which is good in a way because it means we can get away with not going to the shops much at the moment and stay away from the madness but when things start to run out its going to be a shock to pay more.

People are also having to buy more at convenience stores which are much more expensive if you are used to shopping in Aldi, Lidl or places like Home Bargains. I bought a couple of things in the Co-op the other day because I didn't want to queue at Lidl and instead of about £1.50, they came to over £4, which is a real dent in the budget.

Unlike everywhere else this year is going to be a bumper year for the supermarkets and food manufacturers because people are buying more due to not being able to eat out and also no offers mean prices have risen significantly. Plus people on a low budget are really going to struggle.

avrilpoissons · 31/03/2020 05:59

It's the same with another one as well, starting with S. Much higher delivery charge than is acceptable and no offers.

I think all online supermarkets should be forced to reduce the delivery charge to a nominal 99p for the duration of the lock down.

I can understand not having BOGOF offers as we are used to, I think they should be changed to keep the free one but it should be donated automatically to a local food bank.

BarbaraofSeville · 31/03/2020 06:00

YY to the cheaper brands not being available too. For things in short supply, like painkillers, the 40 p supermarket own brand is out of stock but there's plenty of the branded version at five times the price.

I'm starting to worry that multi buy offers and own brand equivalents may be quietly dropped and people forced to pay a lot more for their normal shopping.

letmeinthroughyourwindow · 31/03/2020 06:01

Don't be cross with your supermarket op - it's not just them withdrawing offers, it's all of them.

I can understand why they'd withdraw multibuy and bogof offers, to avoid bulk buying, but less clear on why there are none of the usual reductions on individual items.

It does seem hard on families who are already seeing their incomes drop, and worrying about food availability.

Whilst I know and appreciate how very hard staff are working, there is no denying that profits are already going to be very healthy this year and it's quite distasteful to augment that further by capitalising imo. Or maybe it is the individual production companies who drive the available offers, I don't know.

rwalker · 31/03/2020 06:09

A lot of the offer have gone to stop bulk buying.

avrilpoissons · 31/03/2020 06:15

Just checked my email, I was lucky enough to get an Ocado slot for today and so ordered milk. Overnight they have emailed me to say they are out of stock - how? They had some at 9.30pm last night when I edited the order, I thought Ocado had systems which showed them what was going to be in stock?

avrilpoissons · 31/03/2020 06:17

It's not just food shopping is it, school (who are being amazing) have recommended some A level revision books to buy, a major online book retailer are selling them for £25 each Shock
CGP study books never used to cost that much!

PieceOfMaria · 31/03/2020 06:21

It is okay to say Tesco on Mumsnet. You can’t say much these days without fear of censorship but you can still name supermarkets.

Shitsgettingcrazy · 31/03/2020 06:50

Offers have been removed to stop people buying loads.

3 for 2 offers, will encourage people to buy 3 of something even if they dont need it. That's what the offer is designed to do.

Shops arent going to be seen to be encouraging people to buy more than they need.

ticking · 31/03/2020 06:52

Also many cheaper products are selling out, so I needed some sunflower oil, the only available vegetable oil in the supermarket was £3.50 per bottle.... now I'm sure it was hand picked by angels and cold pressed, but it's way more than £1!

Likewise an elderly neighbour was complaining about not being able to get bread - it's the cheap stuff that's disappeared from the shelves and on her pension she can't afford the £2.50-a-loaf local bread shop (I have bought it for her btw!)

Leflic · 31/03/2020 06:55

I agree that it’s more expensive to shop now for all the reasons stated. I am hoping it’s offset by not popping to the shops whenever I fancy though.
I’m also finding it tricky to shop properly as you never know what’s available. My local Morrison’s seems to have loads of fresh food reductions by midday. I had a dressed crab (25p) yesterday and calamari (1.25) last week but there was no mince, tomato purée or chicken though.
In addition I put two fizzy waters in the trolley not realising one was a More expensive different brand and a bottle of wine that had been double faced so looked like it was a fiver and turned out to be £8 at the till. However the queues are massive and there are no free staff to take it back/ complain to like I normally would, so I kept it. It was delicious mind you.
Petrol us very cheap and I don’t have to drive anywhere so maybe that will help.

LagunaBubbles · 31/03/2020 06:55

Offers like people have says have been removed to help stop the mad panic buying, I say we'll done Tesco! What cereals are you talking about because no I haven't noticed any going up in price?

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