Anyone else fed up with Sainsburys? Or is it just me?

[2010Aussie]

Just need a bit of rant about my local Sainsburys. Two incidents this week.

I try to take my elderly DM who has dementia to do her food shopping when it's quiet. But a lot of older customer think the same! There was one checkout open and a lot of people with full trolleys milling around getting a bit agitated. No staff on the scene. I left DM and went on a treasure hunt. Eventually found four of them huddled by the fruit and veg having a catch up. I politely asked if they would open another till and perhaps it might be an idea to monitor the checkout area. They did move but rather reluctantly.

Second incident yesterday. I was on my own and picked up a trolley. As soon as I got in the store, my phone went off with an urgent call. So I turned round and went out again. Except that the trolley wheels locked and I was stuck in the entrance with the alarm sounding. The security guard appeared and told me off. "You're not allowed to leave with an empty trolley for security reasons." I explained the situation. "Well, you should have gone through the checkout first," he said

Their stuff isn't exactly cheap and I get better service at the budget supermarkets quite honestly. Anyone else fed up with Sainsburys?

Sounds like their food is subpar too.

I now make a huge effort to buy locally. Small independent shops. There is a market in our local town almost every day now with a great fresh veg stall. A wider range of choice, fresher and a better price. There is an organic farm shop about 5 minutes drive away and we have a reasonable village shop whose owners I like. There is also a Lidl within reach but not quite as convenient. Smaller shops are quicker to pop in and out of for a few things. I don't do a big weekly shop any more.

Surely a garden centre would be nicer

Our Sains Local is bloody terrible - we're in a reasonably gentrified part of London but it's the only supermarket around for quite a while. They stock not a single Sainsbury's basics item, and very few 'standard' Sainsburys items. So ie if I want paracetamol or milk, I have to buy neurofen or cravendale.

Given COL crisis, this feels almost like an ethics problem...

@BananasinPyhamas She's not a dog. If she's anything like my mum, then a certain degree of normalcy is crucial and very important to her.
OP's mum may not be able to shop independently anymore but I expect she'll want to be going to the shop in person (ie: like she always has done!) until she physically cannot!

I’m really confused why someone taking an empty trolley out of the shop would mean they’re shoplifting. Surely having stuff in the trolley means they’re more likely to be shoplifting than having no stuff.

I second the garden centre idea. They are great for oldies. I used to take my grandmother. All on the flat. A pleasant coffee shop and lots of interesting plants to admire.

My local Sainsbury have just got rid of half their checkouts in favour of DIY ones.
That will be soooo much fun at Christmas.

Until they give me staff discount for scanning my own shopping, I'll be shopping at Morrisons instead, or Tesco, or Asda, or M&S...they have lots of competition within 4 or 5 miles radius.

I've stopped using Sainsbury's — they were my go-to for years. Then I noticed that they were getting rid of quite a lot of good but moderately-priced favourites and replacing them with much more expensive branded versions or lines clearly designed to increase their profit. I also found the number of staff having a gossip with each other in the aisles very off-putting. They clearly weren't being managed efficiently. There'd be people searching for a staff member to help and I'd find four or five of them talking about the rugby or the football in the pet food aisle...

It has the feeling of a business on the slide.

Can't believe that people here don't use Scan as you shop. Revolutionary and so much easier and less strenuous.

I'm trying out alternatives after years of being a customer as the prices are rocketing for mediocre quality. Most of the people checkouts have been removed, so we have to hang around for someone to approve items, for what seems like as long as the old queues.

Ours has lost it's Butchers, Fishmonger and Deli counters - everything is pre-packed now (so I go to Morrisons instead)...but...it has gained a Sushi bar. 🤔🤦‍♀️

Vastly overpriced. I stopped shopping there ages ago. I know M and S and Waitrose are expensive but the quality is good. I tend to have a Tesco delivery supplemented with bits and pieces from Waitrose and M and S. I never go to Sainsbury’s now but for years it was my go to.

On the “business on the slide” part - I very much got that impression, especially with Asda when their tie up was stopped.

It’s like both had a plan, then had no plan b so are sort of treading water.

Our local Sainsbury’s has taken our most of the tills for scan yourself tills, expecting you to scan an entire trolly load. Sod that. I’ll go elsewhere instead.

They've made it so you have to scan the barcode on your receipt to get out of my local one. But I can only use one hand, so it's impossible to hold my shopping and wave the receipt at the scanner. The last time I went I had to run through the barriers behind another customer because I couldn't do it and there were no staff around to help.

another that was £3.75 for years now £5.25, up £1.50 in a week
Is this Marmite? I was shocked at the massive price jump in Asda the other day after obviously not buying one for a few months.

Maybe someone takes a trolley expecting to fill it with something large and heavy, but they find out it's not in stock so need to get back out. Should they just abandon it in the middle of the shop? Not hard to imagine different scenarios where things might happen

The price of pukka tea bags puts me off

We've been having Sainsbury’s home delivery but have struggled with the same issues mentioned already (use-by dates etc). I'm going to give Morrisons a try. It's a shame I will miss our delivery driver, he was really lovely.

I have moaned about Sainsburys for years (it's the only 'big' supermarket in my town) but I've sucked it up however......

The new mince packaging was the straw that broke the camels back. Ludicrous!!

Where do you live they don’t have that trolley security at our Sainsbury’s. Scan and shop is so easy to use I’ve taught all my elderly relatives to use it and they love it now.

Sure, and you were behaving reasonably, but it's not a customer service problem that they prevent this. It's pretty sensible on their part and no harm done that I can see.

Absolutely. I've no doubt people occasionally make a sound choice to exit with an empty trolley. I can imagine scenarios too. But there's no obvious need to have a system allowing people to exit by the entrance with an empty trolley rather than abandon it or go past the checkouts.

Don't most large supermarkets have one way systems - i.e. automatic doors triggered from the outside before checkouts, inside after checkouts?

I don't think OP did anything wrong but I can see why Sainsbury's has this system in place. It's not bad customer service to prevent this for security reasons.

To me this seems an odd thing to complain about.

This isn't new on the subs front. I've complained about it for years. I do as a PP does and simply refuse the sub unless I'm desperate, which I rarely am, unless it's a particular food for my autistic son which I'm low on.

Our store is really good and I don't have the troubles others have. Like any supermarket though, I guess it's store-dependent.

I stopped shopping in there years ago as our local one is freezing cold! You lose the power of thought by the time you’re half way around. Also far too many ready meals. Aldi for everyday and a monthly big shop from Waitrose