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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To worry about Waitrose and JL? No Ferrero Rocher

50 replies

NicOgJul · 01/12/2021 09:16

I’m not a very enthusiastic shopper and like having Waitrose and John Lewis around, because I have a perhaps misguided trust for them and can get almost everything I need from one or the other without having to try out new shops.

That’s just to say I would be upset if they were to go out of business, but they seem so worryingly incompetent these days that I wonder.

Perhaps I am not the demographic they are trying to reach - they tell me I am one of their best customers, but perhaps they are taking me for granted now and focusing their marketing budget on gaining new customers rather than keeping me - but I thought both of their advertising campaigns this season really missed the mark.

The whole issue with the recent malfunctioning discount code revealed bewildering levels of incompetence. Any low-level programmer surely tests his work on a dummy server before deploying? And any baseline-competent development team includes thorough quality assurance?

And now they’ve taken my Ferrero Rocher out of my cart and said they are unavailable, even while I can order all the different holiday boxes from other grocers I’ve checked. Surely not securing a supply of traditional Christmas treats smacks of more incompetence,

AIBU to be worried there is something fundamentally wrong with the management there that is allowing all these mistakes and, if not addressed, is going to end very badly? Or am I right that they are they taking an alarming number of missteps lately?

OP posts:

ahola · 01/12/2021 09:24

Sorry darling, but ferrero rocher really aren't quite up to Partnership standards- they had to go. Order some Prestat instead.

Aderyn21 · 01/12/2021 09:25

Idk to be honest. My Waitrose has had large gaps on the shelf and reduced options/missing lines for quite some time now, but many shops have had tons of some items and not much of others. I guess when times are tough, people don't shop much in JL/Waitrose. That said, JL customer service has always been great for me and I choose them in preference to other retailers because of this - even when they are a bit dearer. So they have to keep getting that right. Maybe it's why they decided to honour the error code

hotmeatymilk · 01/12/2021 09:26

Ferrero Rocher more of a Tesco purchase surely

LavenderAskew · 01/12/2021 09:26

It was the Ambassador. He took them.

Coviddy · 01/12/2021 09:26

Can't you just pick them up in the corner shop?

CloudyStorms · 01/12/2021 09:27

Ferrero Rocher aren't posh enough for JL & Waitrose

Ohshittt · 01/12/2021 09:27

@hotmeatymilk

Ferrero Rocher more of a Tesco purchase surely

But then one would have to step into a tesco and mix with the commoners 😂

hotmeatymilk · 01/12/2021 09:28

@Ohshittt I send my house manager for such piddling trifles

TheLovelinessOfBaublyDemons · 01/12/2021 09:29

@LavenderAskew

It was the Ambassador. He took them.

🤣

CloudyStorms · 01/12/2021 09:30

@LavenderAskew

It was the Ambassador. He took them.

Haha

HunkyPunk · 01/12/2021 09:33

@ahola

Sorry darling, but ferrero rocher really aren't quite up to Partnership standards- they had to go. Order some Prestat instead.

but not sure that’s accurate. My local Waitrose are selling Quality Street and Celebrations

But maybe that’s in an ironic, retro way…..?

Original poster

NicOgJul · 01/12/2021 09:33

But they were posh enough last year? And apparently they thought they would have them because they were available to put in my Christmas cart when I started it a couple months back. So it seems as if they planned to have them and messed up.

I agree I prefer them to others because of the customer service and product selection.

They do have them in at Tesco, but the Tesco I could walk to closed and was turned into apartments. Waitrose is the only grocery store I can walk to now.

OP posts:

SofaKingKnotBovvered · 01/12/2021 09:34

Shockin Innit

hangrylady · 01/12/2021 09:35

@ahola

Sorry darling, but ferrero rocher really aren't quite up to Partnership standards- they had to go. Order some Prestat instead.

But they are good enough to spoil the ambassador's guests

Tal45 · 01/12/2021 09:35

The crisps aisle has been half empty for quite a while here. I know OP is taking the piss but I do think Waitrose have been slowly going downhill for a while.

There are things they are good at and things they aren't IMO. Best supermarket to buy meat -although they have less and less 'normal' meat and more and more meat in sauces or processed in one way or another making it even more expensive. They also rebranded some of the meat at one point so what were 'essential pork chops' no longer existed and with the rebranding the price went up considerably. The bakery stuff generally isn't great, too much sugar and cheap ingredients but their chocolate twists are delicious. Their own bread isn't great, I prefer Lidl wholemeal seeded. Their fruit and veg has much better variety than most others and i really like that but often isn't hugely better quality - ready to eat avocados that are rock hard, out of season stuff that is tasteless, things picked too soon so they go bad before they ripen.

SofaKingKnotBovvered · 01/12/2021 09:35

Store? Cart? What do these words mean?

Scarby9 · 01/12/2021 09:37

I bought a Ferraro Rocher chocolate bar in Waitrose yesterday - delicious!

TheYearOfSmallThings · 01/12/2021 09:38

Wow, you do take your Rocher seriously!

RedCarsGoFaster · 01/12/2021 09:39

The gaps on the shelves aren't down to JL, it's down to enormous supply chain problems.

They are also very threatening to small businesses who sell to them if they themselves are having supply chain issues.

A late delivery charge can be levied if your delivery is late to the depot, even if your lorry was delayed due to breakdown etc. They are not great to work with and like to make threats of charges.

ahola · 01/12/2021 09:39

@LavenderAskew

It was the Ambassador. He took them.

He has decided not to spoil us this year- it's for our own good!

TinaYouFatLard · 01/12/2021 09:44

JL are going down the pan.

Luckingfovely · 01/12/2021 09:46

Have you any idea about what is actually going on in the world at the moment?

What you are describing is nothing to do with Waitrose or JL, it is a symptom
of much larger global issues.

There are empty gaps on all supermarket shelves.

There are these small matters like a global pandemic, and Brexit, which have had enormous impacts on the global supply chain, shipping costs, and imports from the EU.

Almost every business in the food sector is affected by these issues, and the knock-on effects they have. Which range from simply not being able to import raw materials from Asia, to dramatically increased costs when importing from the EU.

I'm afraid it's only going to get much, much worse before it gets better. You're going to be a state of utter disbelief by the end of it

ahola · 01/12/2021 09:46

But they are good enough to spoil the ambassador's guests

Ah @hangrylady - what you can't tell from the clips shown on television is that he's only the ambassador of San Marino, and all the other ambassadors laugh behind his immaculately clad back at his offering ferrero rocher at soirées.

violetskiss · 01/12/2021 09:47

@LavenderAskew

It was the Ambassador. He took them.

This made me laugh out loud on a zoom call

IJoinedJustForThisThread · 01/12/2021 09:48

@TheYearOfSmallThings

Wow, you do take your Rocher seriously!

And rightly so! I love a Ferrero Rocher or twenty.

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