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Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences


breeksy
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  • 1 month later...

Just back from a shop at Tescos and a most peculiar experience. We were putting the goods from a full family shopping trolley through the check-out and the teller was putting the alcohol to one side. Fair enough, sometimes they aren't old enough to sell alcohol. But no! My 32 year old partner was ID'd. No problem, he proffered his ID. They then proceeded to ID me! Chuffed to bits I was, also being 32, but alas I do not carry ID on me. I have no need to seeing as how my partner drives and buys everything. So they wouldn't sell us any alcohol! I rarely even drink the stuff, being a nursing mother, but one has to see the silliness in not letting a 32 year old man even buy vanilla extract because his partner is not carrying identification. Where do they draw the line? Will the kids have to stay at home if we want to buy vanilla?

 

Sincerely,

Vanilla-less in Aith

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They couldn't give one. They'd watched a 'training video' or something that morning and they were cracking down on underage drink selling. My fella complained to the manager when we got home and the manager said it shouldn't have happened. They are supposed to exercise common sense, as well as the rules. I mean, what were we going to do - two 32 year olds going to leave the kids in the car with the frozen sweetcorn and butternut squash and then down a bottle of vanilla essence? I did ask the fellow before we left if he was sure about the vanilla, but no, I (the non-paying party here) was not carrying ID so my partner was unable to buy vanilla for me to bake with. I really don't know how this will apply to families with teenagers. Will folk not be able to buy alcohol with their kids around? Just in case?

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They are supposed to exercise common sense,

 

Can't help but think that if you pay a monkey peanuts then you can't expect them to exercise common sense.

 

Disclaimer: Not that I am saying that Tesco checkout staff are monkeys and paid peanuts as I really know very little about the employment practises of such a place.

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To be fair to the Co-op the last two times I have been there I did not have to queue for the checkouts. Ok so it was not exactly peak time but the Co-op as was would have ensured we had to queue by moving most of the checkout staff to other duties. Maybe they have realised that people are not prepared to wait in queues at the Co-op when Tesco offers an alternative shopping experience.

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People you seem to forget in your maligning of the multinationals which you appear to support slaveishly, that there are local shops which offer in the vast majority of instances excellent service and more frequently than you'd think prices lower than supermarkets.

I am especially concerned about the lady from the westside who had to return home without her vanilla essence for baking, did she not try any of the shops on her way home eg robinson and morrison in weisdale or da eid coop????

I'm sure they would not have had a problem selling her or her husband this product.

At the end of the day its a use or loose philosophy, regretably in 'da toon' the "punters" appear to have opted for the later...

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^ We usually do our shopping in the Eid Co-op, tyvm, and every 3 weeks or so we go into town to buy the store cupboard items that the Eid Co-op does not stock (quinoa, couscous, dried brown lentils, etc.) and whatever fresh fruits and vegetables that are on offer for all the baby food I am making at the moment (which is not nearly as lovely as the Eid Produce, something I've become a fan of). Vanilla essence was subsequently purchased at the Eid co-op, seeing as how my coconut cream pie required it. I wanted to get this different vanilla essence as I believe it is supposed to be of a higher quality than the ordinary kind I usually purchase, something I would happily have purchased from any of the above named country shops providing they stocked it. I admit I was reluctant to shop at Tescos in the beginning, but ones money does certainly go further there and they have this fabulous lemon & coriander couscous the Co-op doesn't stock and their Yeo Valley organic yogurt is often on special offer. We usually alternate between the two supermarket chains, and I hardly think we can be faulted for making approximately 9 shopping trips to each in a year. :roll:

 

Don't be so quick to judge.

 

Edit: Does that mean that if the Eid Co-op doesn't stock a particular item I require for cooking than I am supposed to go without, or else I am a bad person that doesn't support local business?

 

Sincerely,

 

Annoyed in Aith.

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