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Old 29-12-2016, 20:05
sarahj1986
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90 minutes for a large supermarket is pushing it. I have on occasions spent over 2 hours in ours, trying on clothes, general browsing before buying some items. I think most of ours round here are 3 hours which is more reasonable. I know some not too far away differ though. I guess it depends on the location, if it's out of town in the middle of nowhere then they may not have a limit, close to town and it's likely to.
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:06
Zeropoint1
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Rubbish. My mum always at least gets the offer of her shopping being packed for her, and I don't always, but mostly do at Sainsbury's if anywhere.
You can call it rubbish, quite frankly I don't care if you believe me or not. The simple fact is the staff don't always offer to help with my packing.
Perhaps they look at me and see a man in his 30's and assume I'm quite capable of doing it myself.

The only place that asks every time is Morrison's.

I was shopping in ASDA and wanted to buy a case of beer, the 12 pack being the best value. But because of my back and arms I couldn't lift it from the shelf or in and out of the trolly easily. Both assistants thought I was taking the Mick by asking for help.

Just because some shops ask doesn't mean it happens to every customer.
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:15
Brandy211
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Quite a few snobs on here and in real life are quite boastful about how they have never demeaned themselves to shop at Lidls. It's Supermarket of the Year from The Good Housekeeping Int, you know those people who rate your M&S/Sainsurys/Waitrose products you spend a fortune on. It's also this year alone won catagories in

Bacon
Butter
Coffee
Chocolate
Cheese
Cooking sauces
Crackers
Smoked Salmon
Fruit Juice,
Muesli
and on and on beating out the main brands including those mentioned above.. the list is here for those who doubt it:

https://www.thegrocerownlabel.co.uk/2016-winners/

So I'll continue shopping there happily knowing I'm not likely to bump into any snobs.
Everyone has their favourite supermarket & I cant say that Lidl is mine.

Your example from Good Housekeeping dosent really prove much, as it was only readers of that particular magazine, that voted for their supermarket of the year.
How many readers are there? A small minority of the population I would guess.

The winners of Grocer of the year 2016 were actually Asda & Aldi.

I have been to Lidl once or twice, I bought some fresh meat there but can honestly say I would not do my weekly shop there as their range isn't that great & they don't sell the brands I would buy.
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:30
Eadfrith
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Quite a few snobs on here and in real life are quite boastful about how they have never demeaned themselves to shop at Lidls. It's Supermarket of the Year from The Good Housekeeping Int, you know those people who rate your M&S/Sainsurys/Waitrose products you spend a fortune on. It's also this year alone won catagories in

Bacon
Butter
Coffee
Chocolate
Cheese
Cooking sauces
Crackers
Smoked Salmon
Fruit Juice,
Muesli
and on and on beating out the main brands including those mentioned above.. the list is here for those who doubt it:

https://www.thegrocerownlabel.co.uk/2016-winners/

So I'll continue shopping there happily knowing I'm not likely to bump into any snobs.
Are all Lidls equal though? I was in mine today and the vegetables --- sprouts 95p for 500g and looked like they were from last christmas, equally manky looking carrots. Never been impressed with their veg. Im usually in Aldi though, much better in my opinion
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:30
barbeler
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I've just realised that I have something new to add to 'trivial things which really annoy you": supermarkets where they offer to pack your shopping for you. It's usually supplied by the local scouts and they always get it completely wrong, never having the common sense to put the heaviest things at the bottom of the bag and often putting frozen products next to the bread. I'd much rather do it myself and I hate them been allowed to stand there begging.

Incidentally, I have one of the brand new Lidl shops where I live and I managed a Christmas shop in about half an hour. Ninety minutes?!! That's the length of a football match! It's almost ten minutes longer than being subjected to Tales of Topographical Oceans in its entirety!
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:40
duckylucky
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90 minutes for a large supermarket is pushing it. I have on occasions spent over 2 hours in ours, trying on clothes, general browsing before buying some items. I think most of ours round here are 3 hours which is more reasonable. I know some not too far away differ though. I guess it depends on the location, if it's out of town in the middle of nowhere then they may not have a limit, close to town and it's likely to.
But Lidl is not a browsing type supermarket . No trying on clothes in Lidl !! Its an in out type of outlet !
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Old 29-12-2016, 20:45
GloriaSnockers
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I've just realised that I have something new to add to 'trivial things which really annoy you": supermarkets where they offer to pack your shopping for you. It's usually supplied by the local scouts and they always get it completely wrong, never having the common sense to put the heaviest things at the bottom of the bag and often putting frozen products next to the bread. I'd much rather do it myself and I hate them been allowed to stand there begging.
My daughter does this as an RAF Air Cadet and it makes a big difference to the squadron's funding (sad, I know). That's why, if I see bag-packers and they're doing it for an organization I'd support, I just hand over a donation and do the packing myself if I don't want the volunteers to do it for whatever reason (usually because I think I'm quicker and feel like a spare part just standing there!).
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:06
jazzyjazzy
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bib - I've never seen the bucket of Greek Yoghurt in Asda and I shop there every week. Only the Ł1 containers (500g) that most supermarkets have, not the 1kg bucket with handle that Lidl do.

They in a small bucket with a handle like the ones in Lidl. Don't have one at the moment but they are made by Lancashire Farms.

https://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/asda...ogurt_1Kg.html
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:17
radioanorak
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We have 3 branches of Lidl near us here on Rhodes.
Tried them a couple times but as in the UK you cannot do a complete shop in Lidl.So you have to go somewhere else afterwards.
What is the point ?
Plus we did not find the prices that good.
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Old 29-12-2016, 21:57
karapote monkey
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Why do you choose to call it "Lidls" instead of "Lidl"?

I've noticed that many people of, shall we say, sub-prime intelligence often add an extra "s" to the names of retail outlets...

For example

Tescos - Tesco
Asdas - Asda
Lidls - Lidl
Aldis - Aldi

You never hear well educated people saying that they are "popping along to Waitroses"
It is because you are going to lidl's shop dumb arse and you don't say Waitroses as it is not correct English. That is why you don't hear well educated people say it.
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Old 29-12-2016, 22:04
David (2)
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I would have thought 90mins was fine. We shop in the 2nd biggest uk lidls store and even a big shop doesn't take 90mins.

The car park spaces are very generous in size as well.
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Old 29-12-2016, 22:23
Ashenden
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Why do you choose to call it "Lidls" instead of "Lidl"?

I've noticed that many people of, shall we say, sub-prime intelligence often add an extra "s" to the names of retail outlets...

For example

Tescos - Tesco
Asdas - Asda
Lidls - Lidl
Aldis - Aldi

You never hear well educated people saying that they are "popping along to Waitroses"
You are correct in the examples you quote
but I doubt that it is a matter of 'sub-prime intelligence'
More like the unconscious preservation of the possessive apostrophe that originated as a contraction in the form of XXXX'S Department Stores, Supermarkets and so on.

And still retained by ;
Sainsbury's
Lewis's (not John Lewis)

And without the apostrophe, in the cases of;
Harrods
Selfridges
Halfords
Debenhams
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Old 29-12-2016, 22:49
Isambard Brunel
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There is no reason why Lidls staff should be pressured to move customers along faster, nether should they have to work harder than staff in other supermarkets, or work unpaid hours
I've already explained that they do. They get in trouble/sacked otherwise. No, really.

Go to Tesco instead. Problem solved.

Our large Sainsbury's also has a 90 minute restriction on parking.
Ohhh... look at that, Tellystar!

How on earth is it possible to spend 90 minutes on a single shop in Lidl?
Quite.

Why do people not understand the concept of Lidl and Aldi ?
Backwardism?

Get in, get out, get the job done. It's not Asda (whose profits have been falling for years. Let's see what their Christmas figures are like next month.) or any other 'big' supermarket with costly airs and graces...
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Old 29-12-2016, 23:12
Faust
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I'd cry if I had to spend 90 mins in a supermarket which is why I love Aldi, in and out in less than 30 mins with a weeks shop and superfast queues, no dawdlers and aisle hoggers. I guess Lidl is similar.
Agreed. We used to use Aldi but find that although Lidl has less lines, the quality is the better of the two.
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Old 29-12-2016, 23:14
Keyser_Soze1
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I only ever shop at Fortnum & Mason - anywhere else is full of hideous lice-ridden proles.
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Old 30-12-2016, 00:02
gamzattiwoo
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Nor have I heard anyone in J Sainsbury say "I'm in Sainsburys".
Funnily enough people I know always refer to Sainsburys , never I 'm going to Sainsbury.
Conversely always say Lidl ,Aldi , waitrose. We don't do Asda. Oh and it's Tescos.
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Old 30-12-2016, 01:54
GloriaSnockers
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In other parts of the country they would say something like 'Our Norma went to Asda with our Eva and our Ida'. Here in Bristol they'd say 'Our Normal went to Asdal with our Evil and our Idle'.
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Old 30-12-2016, 02:31
001_ATLANTIS
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I just wish other supermarkets adopted the Lidl practice of getting you through checkout in lightning speed by having you pack your groceries away from the till. It's an excellent system and much preferable to the likes of Sainbury's (sorry Sainsbury) where the checkout operator indulge in inane banter with customers and slows the whole thing down to a crawl. Is it just me who always get stuck behind people who have no concept of time and think it's perfectly OK to shoot the breeze with said operator and then are visibally surprised that they need to pay for stuff, warranting another epic faff to find money/debit card. Some people just need to acccept that Lidl is not for them I guess.
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Old 30-12-2016, 06:29
Ashenden
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Nor have I heard anyone in J Sainsbury say "I'm in Sainsburys".
The staff in Sainsbury's might do so as that is what the organisation has chosen to name themselves.
"J Sainsbury" has long gone as a name for their stores.

"Sainsbury's" probably started when Sainsbury's Savercentres were introduced and the company decided to keep the contraction, complete with apostrophe after the Savercentre name disappeared.
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Old 30-12-2016, 06:45
DigitalSpyUser
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You're not supposed to pack at the till, that's what the long ledge behind the tills is for. You can do it at your own pace there and not hold up the other customers.

Lidl typically don't have the parking space of bigger supermarkets, so they need to move people along. If they did everything the same as the others, they wouldn't be Lidl, with Lidl prices. Lidl wanted to demolish an old branch once, and build a new one that was entirely on a raised first floor so that more ground space could be freed up for parking, but the local council refused planning permission on the stupid grounds that they thought some of the (private) land should be used for housing instead. So the old building remains and no housing was built either way.

You'll also notice the staff in Aldi and Lidl work much harder, and the tills monitor the time between customers. If they don't move customers along fast enough, they get told off by the management. They also work hours they don't get paid for, unlike the big supermarkets.

I don't find the shopping experience in Poundland or Savers very nice. I'm free to go to big supermarkets and buy the same stuff for twice the price, but I don't.

The Lidl website tells you all about their weekly bargains. You can browse that, saving time walking around the store.
I have also found this to be true of Tesco and Waitrose. When working in Tesco, we had a scan rate to adhere to and told of if we didn't consistently meet the scan rate (going back a few years now). Also when attending a job thing for Waitrose, they said that they didn't pay overtime but you got discounts in JL, etc. On the minimum, virtually zero hour contracts they were offering. I wouldn't have been shopping in JL.

If I am wrong about this now, perhaps current employees could correct me.
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Old 30-12-2016, 07:26
srpsrp
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I think there should be a limit. i shop in LIDL and it annoys me when people 'dont get it' at the till. We are getting more fuddy duddies who demand to have a chat and carefully pack away all their stuff as the queue grows longer. Hey lady why don't you get in a Taxi and go to Waitrose?

Also I walk to do my shopping with a rucksack, saves money and I get a bit of exercise and there are no worries about parking.
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Old 30-12-2016, 07:33
Pam_Kerr
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Our large Sainsbury's also has a 90 minute restriction on parking. I wonder how many fines they handed out of the Christmas period. It takes longer than 90 minutes to do a Christmas food shop and get through the queue at the till, even if you are able-bodied.

No parking restrictions at Asda.

I don't use Lidl often because they don't stock half of what I want to purchase so I still have to go to another shop, which defeats the object slightly.
How on earth can you stretch a food shop, even a Christmas one to more than 90 minutes? I would be hard pushed to stretch it to 30 and that's in Tesco, which is always busy with not enough checkout operators. Even when the children lived at home it didn't take that long.

I agree about Lidl not stocking everything one needs so have to go to both shops some weeks which does defeat the object as invariably I spend more money than I intended to.
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Old 30-12-2016, 09:11
Trulytrue
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The only thing that surprises me in this thread is how everyone thinks everyone else and every shop is the same as them,/theirs

Some people are slow shoppers some fast, some Lidl have paid car parks some don't. Some are huge some are small Some have good self service machines others have crap (mine) ones

My lidl is one of the new huge ones where they knocked the large one down to rebuild , so yes you could spend a lot of time in there, it has two very long isle of specials like clothing or tools and kitchen gadgets.
We don't pay for parking there nor do the other supermarkets there. as there is nothing else other than shops.. but the next lot of shops you do have to pay as its right in town and right near the station and other places where people took the pee and parked all day and so now we all have to pay.


I have never yet been in any other supermarket where they have NOT asked if I want help with packing.. its very robotic and drives me mad.. So seems very odd that one person here no mater the shop has never been offered help .

I like lidl as the meat and veg are always tastier than the other shops. The veg is always local if they are in season.


The only thing I dislike about my local lidl is, no white lines on the roadways ( they have them on the spaces) Its really scary as no one seems to have any idea how to drive without the white lines telling them.

I did hear the local governments were going to do away with the white lines on roads to save money. I hope they never do this as I can see death in the 1000s everyday as so many have no idea how to drive without them.
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Old 30-12-2016, 09:21
BlueEyedMrsP
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So how do they know how long you've been parked?
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Old 30-12-2016, 09:33
Ashenden
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The only thing that surprises me in this thread is how everyone thinks everyone else and every shop is the same as them,/theirs
Interesting point as I've found that stores, even within the same group sometimes tend to have a different behaviour culture.

We often do our shopping wherever we happen to be or when we are going somewhere for a different purpose.

But among the various Sainsbury's we use is Thetford and although the staff (including the café) are invariably most pleasant and helpful, it's the only store where I've noticed that some of the staff have extended chats in the aisles - usually in the non-food aisles and sometimes oblivious to customers wanting to pass through.

I don't know why this should be so. Probably because the culture of any organisation (in this case, a store) is set by just a very few individuals.
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