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Original poster

Is this really a fair reflection of Lidl (article in today's Observer)?

54 replies

binkythebullet · 21/09/2008 19:54

I hope not.....

Lidl article in Observer

I ompletely disagree with her on the 'Lidl' experience - a) I save far more than £10 per £50 by shopping at Lidl b) it's not that bad, I mean, what is she expecting from a discount shop - the Fortnum and Mason Food Hall experience and c) plenty of Lidl own brand stuff is really good, no really. I like Lidl.

However the comments on how they treat their staff makes me not want to shop there at all anymore. Is she spouting crap?

OP posts:
badgermonkey · 21/09/2008 20:29

We have started going to Aldi do to our main shopping and we love it! It's not grotty at all, some things are much nicer than anywhere else and to be honest, we enjoy not having to choose between ten bazillion versions of things. Plus it's saving us at least £10 a week, and we always have lots of nice stuff. There's a Morrisons next door where we go to get anything Aldi don't do, but it's never more than half a dozen items. And the staff are really nice and helpful.

Kbear · 21/09/2008 20:29

I go in there from time to time. The security do follow you around and look at you like you're stealing and there are no staff in the store at all except the person on the till, scanning like a demon!

I like their deli stuff, washing powder is good, cleaning stuff is cheap as is the fruit and veg. DH likes the Optifruit yoghurty desserts. I find I can't do a whole weekly shop there though. For example I don't like their bread. Just pondering what else is good there..... pesto and pasta sauces are good, pasta is cheaper, OJ is cheaper and I found a particularly nice Cab Sav there too.

But that high speed thing at the till really annoys me!! I feel sorry for people that can't necesarily move that fast, like little old ladies!

noonki · 21/09/2008 20:30

Aldi is better imo. I hear they treat their staff well and some of their own brand food is absolutely lovely.

Kbear · 21/09/2008 20:31

I don't go there at all - I've just realised I shop I go to is Aldi not Lidl!!! They sound much the same though

expatinscotland · 21/09/2008 20:31

Aldi's don't exist in a lot of places, unfortunately.

ja9 · 21/09/2008 20:32

Sad to hear all your chat about lidl. I have one opening next month at the end of my road and i've been looking forward to having a supermarket so close again...

TheArmadillo · 21/09/2008 20:34

I think whether lidl works out cheaper depends on what stuff you would normally buy.

It works out the same or more expensive for me plus they don't do half the stuff I want and the fruit and veg in our local one are manky - really really bad.

Asda is cheaper for the stuff I want because of their smart price stuff.

Lidl is expensive to compared to the other shops where I am (locally) because shops tend to cater to their local population and we have things like iceland/kwiksave/farmfoods and used to be an indoor market thingy that was cheaper than any of them (e.g. tins without labels). Even asda here stocks a lot more of the cheaper ranges than the more expensive.

SO it probably depends a bit on where you live and what the other places stock.

sarah293 · 21/09/2008 20:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Trafficcone · 21/09/2008 20:36

What is she on about!! No baskets? Errrrr bullshit!! No ones ever made me carry a cardboard box around! She's making it up! I do prefer Aldi as it's cheaper and they have specific things I really like, but Lidl is fine and most of what she says is shite.

ChippyMinton · 21/09/2008 20:40

All the more bargains for the rest of us, the silly woman.
Perhaps she didn't have a £1 coin for a trolley?

moondog · 21/09/2008 20:54

It was written by the appalling Polly Vernon which says it all.

moondog · 21/09/2008 20:54

It was written by the appalling Polly Vernon which says it all.

moondog · 21/09/2008 20:55

No, sorry am wrong. The stupid one before that was though.

mrsshackleton · 21/09/2008 20:58

The woman is clearly single - eats out four times a week and has a fridge full of vodka and face cream - hence her excitement at arriving at the booze aisle. Lidl been clobbered by food price rises and have to bulk buy cans of tomatoes and all the other things she seemed to find so horrifying
The Lidl I go to is fab with an incredible range of fruit and veg, far superior to my local tesco's - really fresh and much wider selection. I heart Lidl.
But then Obs food is edited by the same woman who edits Obs woman which is imo the most vapid and noxious publication on the planet

NoBiggy · 21/09/2008 21:01

I've been in a nice Lidl, and a manky one that looks like a bomb has hit it and there was a fight going on in the car park.

More to do with the location than the store I think.

No baskets to be had, but plenty of trolleys.

WendyWeber · 21/09/2008 21:05

Why did she carry a cardboard box? Where did she get it from? Why didn't she get a trolley? Does the poor lamb not carry any cash? (like the Queen - is she the Queen, moonlighting for the Guardian?)

Our Lidl staff (Accrington) are pretty cheerful on the whole & there is a Fairtrade section there. It is a less pleasant shopping experience than Sainsburys or Tescos, but a lot more interesting

NoBiggy · 21/09/2008 21:08

I've seen people (men, I think, always) who've managed to bag a cardboard box from somewhere, used it as a basket, then taken their shopping home in it.

I'm the one with my arms full of a teetering pile of bits and pieces, because I only went in for a loaf and ended up buying a load of offers and things I thought might come in handy.

AuntieMaggie · 21/09/2008 21:11

The lidl I go to has a small selection of fruit and veg, but is much cheaper than most of the other supermarkets (except sometimes when they're on offer)

It doesn't have such a big selection of food as ASDA and other supermarkets, or any of the major brand names, but I buy what I can in LIDL and still save loads of money. And brand names are a rip off anyway.

Besides I love the odd thins you can buy in there sometimes like wetsuits or lawn mowers at bargain prices.

"Eva Wiseman comes close to tears when she eschews the safety of Sainsbury's for her local Lidl" gotta love the drama - it's only a shop ffs.

what a load of tosh - the article is full of generalisations based on a trip to one store.

Haven't read anything by this woman before and hopefully won't ever again - I think she needs to grow up and live in the real world.

NoBiggy · 21/09/2008 21:19

My DP said the other week, as we drove past "I've never been in there, but if I did, I think I'd just pretend I was abroad"

Original poster
binkythebullet · 21/09/2008 21:29

Polly Vernon, Rosie Millard, Eva Wiseman - they're all of the same genre of journalism, therefore v.easily mistaken moondog .

OP posts:
LackaDAISYcal · 21/09/2008 21:36

what a snobby bitch .

sainsbury's are welcome to her and the legions of lifestyle tourists who will no doubt aviod it now on her recommendation.

she should just consider that for a lot of people shops like LIDL and ALDI are a necessity not a day off from normal life.

serin · 21/09/2008 22:24

Has anyone ever read Valley Girl in the Saturday Times??

Lidl?? Why she wouldn't be seen dead in Waitrose let alone Lidl!! She crochets her own muesli and spits organic spelt flakes into your weetabix when you're not looking.

The snobbiest snob anywhere, (well outside Dorset)

redclover79 · 21/09/2008 23:36

I used to work for Lidl! The items per minute through the till - we were told you could knock people's shopping on the floor if they dared to pack at your till ~(you're supposed to stack it back in the trolley and pack it properly away from the till on the big blue benches). I once got accused of trying to steal £3000 from the till - a trainee manager managed to screw up my till and I was hauled into the office. The security guards were really into their jobs, one used to voice a running commentary on suspects - I'm still not sure whether he was just talking to himself...
And we used to get 15 minutes break for every 4 1/2 hours worked so I occasionally worked 11 hour shifts with half hour breaks. Oh and overtime was essentially compulsory, you were not allowed to alter the rota!

Tinker · 21/09/2008 23:39

Yes, thought this was wank and a lie. I think she simply bought completely different stuff in Lidl and more of it. No way would the like for like difference only be £10. It was just another angle on the "Oh, look at me, a middle-class journalist daring to venture into "scary" Lidl"

AnotherFineMess · 21/09/2008 23:45

I wonder how much she gets paid for this kind of tosh?

I mean, really, she'd have been telling you this story for half an hour in RL and if anyone spent half an hour in RL telling me about their scary shopping 'experience' in Lidl I'd feign a medical emergency to get away from them.