On Sun, 9 May 2004 17:28:19 +0100, Alan
wrote:

In message , StealthUK
wrote
Alan wrote in message
.. .
In message , StealthUK
wrote

if food is too cheap I wonder where the
hell it came from.

I was referring to products
like meat, fish, eggs, milk etc. I don't care for brand names either.

The farmers claim that they get nothing for their produce so the only
difference between the expensive prices you pay at
Tesco/Sainsbury/Waitrose/Adsa and the cheaper prices you pay at
Lidl/Aldi/Farmfoods is down to the operating costs and profit margins.

It is also the quality and selection of the product and how much is
wasted with some of them.


Expensive doesn't always equate to quality - it's just that the
middleman is taking a larger slice of the price you pay.

If I can pay a little more, get a better quality product with less
waste, then that's a good deal.


With the so called down-market supermarkets you don't free carrier bags.

Which is a pain in the backside.

You don't get 'if there is one in front of you we will open another
till' (over staffing).

That's called proper customer service. I don't want to wait 20
minutes in a checkout line.

You don't get in-store bakeries re-heating 'home
made' ingredients that have been mass produced in a factory.

I make my own bakery items.

You don't
get loyalty cards which must cost much more than the one or two percent
discount the expensive supermarkets give you on your spend.

I don't use loyalty cards anyway.

You can't
pay by credit card because that adds a few more percent to the price.


I don't like carrying large amounts of cash around and I avoid writing
cheques if at all possible.

You don't get the choice of 100 different bottled waters as one or two
is enough.

That depends on whether you like different types of water. Generally
I have three or four in the cupboard because I prefer different ones
with different foods.

You don't get extra staff unpacking the boxes as it's cheaper
to dump the palette of goods on the sales floor and let the customer put
them in the basket.

That says it all. I don't like to pick over stuff on the floor.


You will not get double size parking spaces reserved
for mothers with their screaming brats.

Many of the cost savings are one or two percent and when added together
you can see why these stores can be substantially cheaper.

They are cheaper because they sacrifice quality and customer service
for price. If you want to buy on price, that's fine - it is not my
first criterion.


..andy

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