Let's talk ASDA

[PhædrusR]

I’m a Ham and Pineapple Pizza girl

Yeah, chicken and pineapple is my other favourite.
Again, add black olives, sweetcorn and mushrooms for the ultimate tasty treat.

 

[Vienna]

I don`t visit Asda weekly, usually just once every 3 or 4 weeks and I never do an online shop with them but when I do go to my local store I always check my receipt. The last time I went to the store the till charged me £6 for a bottle of washing up liquid (totally wrong price) and the time before that the till charged me £9.98 for a bottle of laundry liquid, yet again totally wrong price it should have been £4.98. No idea how that happens and that`s just 2 examples of overcharging. I could speak of more incidents of it happening and I shudder to think how many people never check their receipts. I`ve had wrongly priced bacon, toothpaste, knickers, etc
I`ve no idea what`s happening to their deliveries either. At one time their shelves were fairly well stocked 24/7 but in recent months there have been huge gaps of empty shelves and fridges and freezers. Some items missing for weeks. Their prices aren`t always the best by a long chalk, in fact some of their items are more expensive by pounds not pennies. My local Heron store sells Yorkshire tea bags a pound cheaper for exactly the same size box Asda sells, their milk is cheaper too and so is their coffee. My local Home Bargains sells big brand cleaning products, biscuits, tinned items much cheaper than the exact same items in Asda and then there is Aldi literally around the corner from Asda where you can buy all sorts of things under a different brand name but more or less identical to anything Asda might sell.
I appreciate not everybody has the time nor the inclination to shop around and I hate food/household items shopping but I do one shop per week in one store ie Asda, then the week after Aldi, then Heron, then Home Bargains and buy fresh stuff from my local market as and when.
An example of why more expensive doesn`t always mean better is my cat. She`s 20 and went right off her food. I bought some really expensive tiny tins of cat food from Asda in a posh brand name which tried to make out their cat food was almost made by hand but nope, my cat wouldn`t touch it. I bought tiny tins of a cat mousse from Aldi at 49p a tin and she bloody loves the stuff. She must know something we don`t !

 

[PhædrusR]

I don`t visit Asda weekly, usually just once every 3 or 4 weeks and I never do an online shop with them but when I do go to my local store I always check my receipt. The last time I went to the store the till charged me £6 for a bottle of washing up liquid (totally wrong price) and the time before that the till charged me £9.98 for a bottle of laundry liquid, yet again totally wrong price it should have been £4.98. No idea how that happens and that`s just 2 examples of overcharging. I could speak of more incidents of it happening and I shudder to think how many people never check their receipts. I`ve had wrongly priced bacon, toothpaste, knickers, etc
I`ve no idea what`s happening to their deliveries either. At one time their shelves were fairly well stocked 24/7 but in recent months there have been huge gaps of empty shelves and fridges and freezers. Some items missing for weeks. Their prices aren`t always the best by a long chalk, in fact some of their items are more expensive by pounds not pennies. My local Heron store sells Yorkshire tea bags a pound cheaper for exactly the same size box Asda sells, their milk is cheaper too and so is their coffee. My local Home Bargains sells big brand cleaning products, biscuits, tinned items much cheaper than the exact same items in Asda and then there is Aldi literally around the corner from Asda where you can buy all sorts of things under a different brand name but more or less identical to anything Asda might sell.
I appreciate not everybody has the time nor the inclination to shop around and I hate food/household items shopping but I do one shop per week in one store ie Asda, then the week after Aldi, then Heron, then Home Bargains and buy fresh stuff from my local market as and when.
An example of why more expensive doesn`t always mean better is my cat. She`s 20 and went right off her food. I bought some really expensive tiny tins of cat food from Asda in a posh brand name which tried to make out their cat food was almost made by hand but nope, my cat wouldn`t touch it. I bought tiny tins of a cat mousse from Aldi at 49p a tin and she bloody loves the stuff. She must know something we don`t !

Buying online you can see the item prices before adding to the basket; I think it cuts out some of the mispricing errors and I do check the final order inventory too.

Many, many years ago, we noticed the price total on the receipt was wrong, this was either Gateway, Somerfield or the small Asda it later became.

We checked the receipt, twice and raised it with the staff. They clustered round the till, did some tests. This particular till was erroring and adding up wrong. Next time we visited, that till only was cordoned off and out of service.

Very unusual to have a hardware, or firmware/chip error in a till that can't add up accurately, but was still basically working!

Good job we checked the receipt.

 

[PhædrusR]

@Vienna Good post & points. Asda is reasonably good value, and was lowest of the regular supermarkets until Tesco stole the Grocer33 award with its Clubcard discounts, after 20+ years of Asda winning it, but agreed you have to check their exceptions on some items and not get caught out.

With the Aldi price matches that Tesco/Sainsbury's and Asda sort of does, many of the staples or basic/essentials lines are the same price (and often sourced from same factory /firms/producers) in all of them.

But you're right that you have to carefully watch on other items that they're not cheaper elsewhere. Often it is others have a discount promo price to get you to move.

Also, like you say, to get lowest home, food, homeware, other, you'd have to shop at each best place for each sector. I don't mind paying a little extra if I can get everything in a one stop shop, but not if prices have been hiked excessively by 10/20% or more.

I think pricing errors on items/receipts is either they keyed in the item/code/price/wrong barcode wrong on the computer into the database, although I thought it was automatically distributed from HQ via a network, although some stores may have price differences for the local market or to compete locally and the store overrides manually, sometimes incorrectly.

Also if item doesn't scan and the cashier enters the price manually, incorrectly.

 

[PhædrusR]

For supermarket food item price comparisons the http://trolley.co.uk site and app is very useful to find where an item is being sold at lowest price and recent price history.
Also recommended by MSE site.

 

[historymystery]

As I have my shopping delivered, I never actually go into Asda, haven't been in for years. My friend/neighbour does the opposite and she has remarked to me a few times how she hates shopping there now. When I asked her why, she said the aisles are full of staff 'picking' online orders and shelves are left empty in a lot of the aisles.

I will have to venture in one day and take a look for myself.

I used to occasionally have an online shop from Asda, but gave it up about 18 months ago, when there were more substitutions or missing items than goods ordered and actually received! It was a joke. And I'm in Essex, not London. I'm only surprised they're still going.

 

[PhædrusR]

I used to occasionally have an online shop from Asda, but gave it up about 18 months ago, when there were more substitutions or missing items than goods ordered and actually received! It was a joke. And I'm in Essex, not London. I'm only surprised they're still going.

From that Telegraph article, it sounds like the shelves are half-empty?! And dirty stores, disaffected staff?

Just seen none of it in my experience. My deliveries are usually very good, minimal substitutions and unavailability. Say out of 100 items might be 2 or 3 subs and 1 or 2 unavailable. Famous last words...

Like I said earlier, if you check and amend your order the day before the delivery, it verifies the current stock levels for your order and you're less likely to get a sub/unavailable, unless it sells out the next day before they pick the order, don't restock or the inventory hadn't been updated correctly.

 

[historymystery]

I don`t visit Asda weekly, usually just once every 3 or 4 weeks and I never do an online shop with them but when I do go to my local store I always check my receipt. The last time I went to the store the till charged me £6 for a bottle of washing up liquid (totally wrong price) and the time before that the till charged me £9.98 for a bottle of laundry liquid, yet again totally wrong price it should have been £4.98. No idea how that happens and that`s just 2 examples of overcharging. I could speak of more incidents of it happening and I shudder to think how many people never check their receipts. I`ve had wrongly priced bacon, toothpaste, knickers, etc
I`ve no idea what`s happening to their deliveries either. At one time their shelves were fairly well stocked 24/7 but in recent months there have been huge gaps of empty shelves and fridges and freezers. Some items missing for weeks. Their prices aren`t always the best by a long chalk, in fact some of their items are more expensive by pounds not pennies. My local Heron store sells Yorkshire tea bags a pound cheaper for exactly the same size box Asda sells, their milk is cheaper too and so is their coffee. My local Home Bargains sells big brand cleaning products, biscuits, tinned items much cheaper than the exact same items in Asda and then there is Aldi literally around the corner from Asda where you can buy all sorts of things under a different brand name but more or less identical to anything Asda might sell.
I appreciate not everybody has the time nor the inclination to shop around and I hate food/household items shopping but I do one shop per week in one store ie Asda, then the week after Aldi, then Heron, then Home Bargains and buy fresh stuff from my local market as and when.
An example of why more expensive doesn`t always mean better is my cat. She`s 20 and went right off her food. I bought some really expensive tiny tins of cat food from Asda in a posh brand name which tried to make out their cat food was almost made by hand but nope, my cat wouldn`t touch it. I bought tiny tins of a cat mousse from Aldi at 49p a tin and she bloody loves the stuff. She must know something we don`t !

I came to the conclusion that those tiny tins of so-called 'speciality' cat food weren't worth paying the extra for. When our three very elderly male cats were still with us years ago, we discovered that they loved Waitrose's own brand cat food more than anything, and it wasn't terrifically expensive, either. Whether they liked it because the consistency of it was more like pate, I don't know. Because they were of senior age, two of them had been to the vet for tooth extractions at some time or another, so maybe this is why they preferred it - but they loved it! Current cat's younger and prefers Felix.

I've also found some speciality human food to be a bit of a con. too - for example things like 'hand-made' crisps in unusual flavours: often they don't taste as good as the bog-standard brands readily available.

The overcharging you mention is pretty disgusting, no excuse for it.

 

[historymystery]

From that Telegraph article, it sounds like the shelves are half-empty?! And dirty stores, disaffected staff?

Just seen none of it in my experience. My deliveries are usually very good, minimal substitutions and unavailability. Say out of 100 items might be 2 or 3 subs and 1 or 2 unavailable. Famous last words...

Like I said earlier, if you check and amend your order the day before the delivery, it verifies the current stock levels for your order and you're less likely to get a sub/unavailable, unless it sells out the next day before they pick the order, don't restock or the inventory hadn't been updated correctly.

I always did check and amend my order the day before delivery. Still got loads of subs./unavailables notified in delivery day email.

 

[PhædrusR]

I always did check and amend my order the day before delivery. Still got loads of subs./unavailables notified in delivery day email.

I often wonder if it's a regional thing, or a badly managed individual store.
I'm the other side of London to you and seems much better. Even the staff seem happier here when I have popped in!

Rgds, soft south eastern Southerner!

 

[historymystery]

I’m a Ham and Pineapple Pizza girl

Margherita pizza with anchovies, some olives and either sweetcorn or mushrooms (or both!). Chopped red and green peppers also a good addition. Now I want a pizza......

 

[historymystery]

I often wonder if it's a regional thing, or a badly managed individual store.
I'm the other side of London to you and seems much better. Even the staff seem happier here when I have popped in!

Rgds, soft south eastern Southerner!

I do think it's got everything to do with the question of how well managed is the place where it's picked. When I did an online order with Asda I have to say that their delivery drivers were great, always pleasant.

 

[PhædrusR]

I do think it's got everything to do with the question of how well managed is the place where it's picked. When I did an online order with Asda I have to say that their delivery drivers were great, always pleasant.

My delivery drivers are great too.

Many of them are often students, or recent graduates job-hunting and doing it as a stop-gap or have second jobs.

I like to (bore them) chat to them about what they're studying, what else they do and what they want to do in future. I ask about the job market, if they enjoy it. I have made a couple of WhatsApp/email friends with a couple who were particularly interesting and keep in touch and discuss all manner of subjects.

It keeps me just a little in touch with these younger millennial gen y/z types and what their issues and hopes are. Many of them want to start business they can't get salaried jobs in the much more challenging recruitment environment.

 

[PhædrusR]

I came to the conclusion that those tiny tins of so-called 'speciality' cat food weren't worth paying the extra for. When our three very elderly male cats were still with us years ago, we discovered that they loved Waitrose's own brand cat food more than anything, and it wasn't terrifically expensive, either. Whether they liked it because the consistency of it was more like pate, I don't know. Because they were of senior age, two of them had been to the vet for tooth extractions at some time or another, so maybe this is why they preferred it - but they loved it! Current cat's younger and prefers Felix.

I've also found some speciality human food to be a bit of a con. too - for example things like 'hand-made' crisps in unusual flavours: often they don't taste as good as the bog-standard brands readily available.

The overcharging you mention is pretty disgusting, no excuse for it.

Can't you give cats a tin or portion of sardines, tuna, instead of these complicated and expensive cat food preparations.

In the same way Des O'Connor unwittingly bought and ate tinned cat food for 3 days in his Spanish rental villa, before the housemaid told him it was for 'miaow, miaows'!