Supermarket safety - get what you pay for?

[Pumpertrumper]

Just wondering if it’s my city is unique.

I’ve visited a few supermarkets over the course of covid, for one reason or another. There is a huge link between how ‘up market’ the supermarket is and how well organised/safe it was.

I very rarely shopped Waitrose pre covid but they are ace! Several staff on the door, all trolleys being wiped down religiously. Giant tenting and organised queuing system outside. Kept pretty quiet inside and everyone very careful.
M&S similar - little bit busier though.
Sainsbury’s- ok, good queuing system but bit too busy in some aisles. Good precautions at the tills.

Asda/Morrison’s - Total chaos! Asda doesn’t even have a queuing system and Morrison’s is obviously just for show. Both totally rammed, staff not caring. Shoppers elbow knocking distance of each other. No caution!

I can’t comment on Aldi/Lidl as haven’t been since covid (they are further away).

I know it makes sense an element of ‘you get what you pay for’ but I can’t help thinking it’s a bit crap that those who can afford to do their weekly shop at Waitrose get to be safer. I find myself going there more and accepting the extra £20-30 on our weekly shop as paying to feel safe.

Hoping it’s just my local city and not nationwide.

Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbo DIY wipe down trolley routine with someone on the door presumably checking numbers at each.

M&S trollies wiped for you and handed to you, queues outside and lots of reduced numbers.

Asda free for all.

Don't have a Waitrose so cannot comment.

Have actively avoided Lidl and Aldi since Covid due to the small stores, narrow aisles and rammed queuing.

Lidl free for all
Aldi queues outside if busy, staff wiping trolleys
Asda Tuesday, nobody on the door both entrances open both ways.
Asda Wednesday one entrance locked, staff on other door controlling entry and exit.
Tesco separate entrance and exit, staff on door, hectic because of narrow entry point. Dangerously crowded at entrance lane.

Oh and there's no Waitrose or M&S near here so not sure.

I have a very limited sample size as I tend to always to my local store, which is a Sainsbury’s the size of a small village. There’s no queueing there and hasn’t been since May, and as a result some aisles can feel pretty busy. Although they have people at the doors and sanitiser, which is good. Customers are variable about social distancing.

Went to Waitrose for something a few days ago and there was a long queue, so I presumed it was busy. It wasn’t at all, so as a result I was never within a metre of another person inside. Customers socially distanced properly as well. So maybe there’s some truth to it, I don’t know.

Totally agree OP!

@wink1970

M&S shocking in my area too - overcrowded and no one-way system, not even giving it lip service.

Our M+S try - but the store layout is such that you always have ended up crossing over people going from the checkouts out of the store anyway - it's a really really strangely and illogically laid out store from the moment they took over the premises.

Not had problems anywhere though - but we're an area where Waitrose closed and the store was taken over by Lidl so more aspirational than minted.

I'm finding it really depends on individual stores. 3 sainsburys - only 1 of them organised queues, wiped down trolleys, making sure people do their hands - the other two nothing.

Local M+S very well organised, limited numbers, wiped trolleys, felt safe.

Haven't been in ASDA but they've been great at deliveries.

Done a lot of local shopping in veg shop, butchers, bakers and market.

Local Lidl is not good, no control of numbers in and big queues for the checkouts, as you stand in the queues people push past you to get wine.

Our M&S and Waitrose are counting people in and out and wiping trolleys. Lidl nothing but we went about 5pm and it was quiet.

Asda started off well but then declined badly. They just dont really care although the handles of their trolleys have some special disinfectant layer now..
Aldi - Awful [ No SD] Protection for staff really only.
Home bargains was the absolute pits. Awful. Nearly ran out screaming!
Tesco - Fantastic. Very controlled. One in one out. They dont do the queueing any more but they now have a traffic light system at the door. When its green you can go in.
Waitrose also fantastic. Really feel they have done this as it is an older customer. They are similar to marks.

@Allispretty

Bloody hell are people seriously this bored I wouldn't say I notice or care tbh

Absolutely agree...and l work in one of the big supermarkets. Plus... just so you know. The staff asked to clean the trolleys etc... have been taken from other departments. Leaving those ones short and without colleagues. Why can’t you all just bring your own fucking spray and sanitizer? Take some personal responsibility maybe?

Waitrose in my town is run ok from. Covid perspective, but the arseholes who shop there make it absolute hell. So many wankers who have no concept of social distancing, swanning about sans mask (I couldn't give a shit if they are exempt or not) and then reaching over you, brushing past you, knocking your trolley etc because they are so close. It's the most stressful supermarket round here, so I now only go in for specific things I can't get in Lidl!

Lidl has no one way system, however the behaviour has got better as time has gone on.

Actually, I popped into M&S last week - and walked straight back out again. Packed to the rafters, busier than non Covid times and no staff in sight. Fuck that.

Just like money doesn't buy you manners, it doesn't buy you immunity.

Same here.

Isn't this just Waitrose though? They actually have ethics and standards. They treat their staff well. They are consistently the best retailer in Europe for animal welfare:-

www.waitrose.com/home/inspiration/about_waitrose/the_waitrose_way/waitrose_animal_welfarecommitments.html

Waitrose has been my supermarket of choice for the last few years but I have also shopped everywhere else; Sainsburys, Tesco, ALDI, LIDL, Co-op. Over the last year, I've really gone off the others because it's become clear that they just do not care.

I'm well aware that I have enough money to have a choice. However, I think Covid has made me much more mindful about where I spend my money and I am going for quality over quantity.

@WeatherwaxOn

I have noticed the same with level of safety precautions but I don't find Waitrose particularly expensive - tend to buy most stuff from the essentials range.

Me too, we live in Waitroseland (HO not far away, so surrounded by stores, all good on sanitising trolleys, handgel available, limiting number in store, etc ).

I only buy Essentials they are far cheaper than brands and IMO far nicer 9esp the baked beans) than any other brand/non brand. I also stock up on certain foodstuffs when on offer in Waitrose, they seem to do this on a cycle eg Kenco instant coffee refill was on 1/3 off offer before Christmas, have enough to last to 2022 and still in date - currently waiting on Harringtons dog food and PG tips (now they have compostable bags ) to come back into offer as on my last box/bag respectively. Harringtons comes down below Sainsburys standard price and PG tips is about the same as Aldi/Sainsburys price when on offer in Waitrose (about £4 for 240). I'm quite happy to buy enough to last to best before date of anything, and if you shop at certain times (I may go late today) you can often grab an absolute bargain for the freezer (once got loads of salmon steaks 2 for 35p), try out exotic food you'd never normally buy etc. for next to nothing.
But you have to know your Waitrose to know when to grab the bargains! I'm sure it is no more expensive to shop how I shop and a lot less hassle (I use Quick Check so can do a 10 day shop in less than 10 minutes) than any other supermarket.
I don't buy much meat in Waitrose as I prefer local butcher, ditto bread and bakery. And we grow a lot of veg, only bought the brussels for Xmas lunch, rest was from garden.

Has anyone else seen Tesco’s new traffic light system at their entrance?

Red light means the automated doors will not open for new customers as the shop is at maximum capacity, completely restricting them from entering. If the light is green, the doors function as normal.

None of these supermarket chains give a shit about you catching Coronavirus in their stores. They only care about not being prosecuted and taking as much money during this crisis as possible. Any sentiments they profess is pure PR.

Supermarkets ask you to wear a mask and wipe the trollies when they are told by the govt. to do it. A few months ago the Govt. said they didn't need to and they stopped doing it. They could have carried on as a goodwill gesture to their customers but they didn't. They have been told to do it again but they don't do as much as before. A lot of this is because the staff push back on it.

A very good example is that not one supermarket or shop I have been in has upped it's cleaning. They don't clean the edge of the shelves because they don't have to. This would stop the spread, not the trollies.

I never take their cleaning for granted and always do it myself because they only do what they are told and nothing more. I know this first hand,.

Our Waitrose is awful. No one way. People not wearing masks properly and spending hours dithering over what to buy. Staff not weay masks and shouting at each other across the store

Plus... just so you know. The staff asked to clean the trolleys etc... have been taken from other departments. Leaving those ones short and without colleagues.
Why can’t you all just bring your own fucking spray and sanitizer?
Take some personal responsibility maybe?

How do you know that people aren't taking responsibility? I (and many people I know) take my own sanitiser, trolley wipes, etc. I do everything I can to make myself safe that's within my control.

I agree that customers need to take responsibility. But so do stores. It's frustrating when stores let too many customers in at a time or when staff rush past at less than a metre. Responsibility and respect go both ways.

We used to shop at Waitrose, then stopped as we didn't fancy long queues in the rain and not being allowed to shop together as they wanted everyone in the shop to be a paying customer. The person working on the door even had somebody's child with him because they weren't allowed in with their parent......Anyway I thought that was just weird and wrong so we went to Lidl where they couldn't care less, but we went early so it was quiet and saved a lot of money.

Some of us have no choice, and certainly no Waitrose, in vast swathes of the country!

My local Aldi awful, Sainsbury's brilliant.

Oh God no! We have a small Waitrose and a medium sized Tesco in our town and I absolutely avoid Waitrose if I can help it.

During the first lockdown Tesco had the one way system in place, queuing outside and limited numbers in. Disinfected trolleys given to you as you went in and a cleaning station in the queue if you either took one before you joined the queue or you wanted to double protect. They also had an assistant directing you to the next till - you stood at the far side of the store in a queue and as you got to the front he/she told you the till number to go to.

Waitrose had the trolleys at the end of the queuing system with sprays like Tesco. But no one way system inside. People were up and down the same aisles, walking across each other to get to opposite sides of the store and you queued in a line covering two tills. So there was an assistant directing you to one of two tills in the group of about 12. So people were queue dodging by accident as they didn't see the queue hidden in the aisles. Totally mayhem and I've never felt so unsafe. I'm pretty laid back about Covid - I mask up and I obey the rules but if it gets me I can't do much more type of attitude. But Waitrose just makes me shudder. I felt much safer in Tesco.

We mainly shop in Aldi, and go at quiet times. I am quite able to wipe down the handle of my own trolley, I don't need a serf to do it for me.

To be fair, my local Tesco is excellent since we became tier 4 (and a bit earlier as our numbers started to rise). You pass a member of staff at the outside door, another at the inside door, and another at a desk as you go in. All smiley and friendly, all offering help/cleaning/sanitiser.

Waitrose lets fewer people in, but in the last couple of weeks, Tesco has overtaken it for staff help and pleasantness.

I live in a major city and have access to all supermarkets inc a Waitrose, M&S & Sainsbury’s next to each other (large stores). I don’t understand the hype about Waitrose, they didn’t handle the pandemic any better than the others.

The staff are laid back eg allowing people to exit via the entrance - they aren’t particularly stringent about the new rules. M&S is the only supermarket that asks customers to sanitise their hands upon entry.