January’s A Good Month To ...

Avoid making a New Year’s Resolution. Yes, seriously. Many people find that the pressure of undertaking a big life change at New Year makes it more difficult to accomplish their goals. Deciding to lose weight, quit smoking, get fitter etc is sometimes easier to accomplish at a time of your own choosing, or when the weather is warmer to make you feel more optimistic. The only resolution I’ve ever made and stuck to, is not to make a New Year’s resolution!

Raid the ‘End of Sale’ rails. I’ve never been one to queue on the first day of a sale, or even turn up within the first few days of one starting. I’m much more the type of shopper that scours the shops for ‘End of Sale’ bargains. Past finds have included Marks and Spencer jeans for £5, M&S boots for £3 and toiletry gift sets from Boots at 90% reduction. OK, so there’s not so much choice towards the end of a sale, but the savings can be huge!

Fill up those charity bags. Now’s the time to clear out all of those cupboards and drawers to make room for all of the goodies that you received for Christmas. And if you received some unwanted gifts, why not donate those to a local charity shop too? Beware, however, of some of the so-called charity bags that are posted through your door. Whilst some are genuine, others most definitely are not. If in doubt, try to take your donations directly to a charity shop, to ensure that your gifts are helping the people that you intend to help, as opposed to lining the pockets of unscrupulous individuals.

Curl up with a good book. Whilst I accept that e-readers have their place, I feel you can’t beat holding an actual book in your hand, with it’s intriguing cover beckoning you to discover its treasures within. I love to turn the pages – sometimes with some speed when I reach a particularly exciting bit – enjoying the feel of the paper and weight of the tome. Snuggling up by the fire on a winter’s day, book in hand, is sheer bliss!

A Year In Supermarkets

With only weeks left of the present year, I thought it was time that I started looking back at some of my shopping experiences for the year, and in particular, what has been happening with the supermarkets.

Tesco were in the news this year for dodgy accounting, which has resulted in a criminal investigation. Now whilst this is serious stuff, and we should theoretically be concerned, as a shopper, I’m more interested in what is actually happening at ‘ground level’ so to speak. All the while I can go into a Tesco store, find what I want at a reasonable price, get good service from the staff and earn valuable Clubcard points I will continue to shop with the chain. They certainly operate the best loyalty scheme around, with points amounting to four times their value when exchanged for days out and Clubcard send out a regular supply of relevant money-off and extra points vouchers too.

Sainsbury’s, on the other hand, announced that they are set to cut the number of Nectar points that you earn on your weekly shop. (Loyalty cards) With their loyalty scheme already offering a poorer deal than the likes of Tesco I don’t think this is a very clever move. They are, however, pledging to cut more prices, so we’ll have to see how all this works out in practice.

Morrisons launched their new ‘Match & More’ card this year, (I want more) an interesting twist on a loyalty card, whereby you earn points on items that you would have been able to buy cheaper elsewhere – a price comparison that includes the likes of Aldi and Lidl as well as the other major supermarkets. What pleased me about this card was that Morrisons offered three options when it came to registering the card – online, by post or in store – a refreshing change from companies that expect you to do everything online!

Asda has never been one of my favourite supermarkets, but they’ve certainly put themselves in the doghouse recently. My daughter placed an online grocery order with them, but the goods never actually materialised (Oh dear Asda) and despite phone calls, completion of an online form, a blog post and a Twitter conversation (which reaps results in most cases) the company failed to properly apologise for the inconvenience, or offer any explanation as to what went wrong. Needless to say it’s not an experience she has rushed to repeat. In fact, my prize for “The Worst Customer Service of 2014” is hereby awarded to Asda. Perhaps they’d care to take note!

Whilst I continue to give Aldi a wide berth, having rated previous shopping experiences with them at 2/10, I have become a bit of a fan of Lidl. For me, Lidl have been one of the great emerging retailers of 2014. Most recently I’ve found them a great place to stock up with Christmas spirits – port, cream liqueur and cherry brandy all costing around the £5 mark, and tasting delicious – and I love their Stilton too! I’m sure that I’ll have much more to say about them in 2015.

So wherever you shop, I hope you’ve had good experiences this year – if not, let me know, I’m always keen to hear your shopping stories too!

Oh Dear Asda!

Personally, I do not opt to purchase my food shopping online – I’m much too fussy a shopper to elect someone else to make specific choices for me! However, there are many customers that find this a convenient way to shop.

My daughter often buys her food shopping online, as she has a young son and relies on public transport, so having at least the heavier items delivered can be a big help. Buying groceries from Tesco using this method had proved reasonably reliable. Although the occasional item was missing from the delivery, the shopping did at least turn up and mistakes rectified where appropriate.

However, she recently decided to try home shopping with Asda, which in her case turned out to be a big mistake!

Online shopping may not be the key

Despite receiving two confirmation emails relating to her order, stating the delivery time slot, the shopping never arrived. After waiting a suitable amount of time (sufficient to allow for unavoidable delays), she contacted Asda. The first customer service adviser that she talked to was somewhat brusque, intimating that the order may not have been properly confirmed, despite the receipt of two emails.

She was then passed on to an adviser in store, who at the outset appeared more helpful, but did not go on to fulfil this promise. Despite their assurance that they would track down the relevant order and inform my daughter as to what was happening, they never did get back in touch. And the shopping never did arrive!

My daughter contacted Asda again the following day, when she was told that they would not take the money for the shopping! Did they think they were doing her a favour saying this? They can hardly charge for something that they’ve literally not delivered!

When my daughter expressed her displeasure at the whole debacle, the adviser decided to offer her free delivery on her next order – as if she was going to trust Asda again in a hurry.

I relate this tale as an example of what I consider to be appalling customer service. My daughter was left without vital shopping (including milk for her young son), no explanation has ever been made for the error, and their half-hearted apology doesn’t go far enough!

I was so incensed that I contacted Asda myself via Twitter - a method that has had favourable results with other companies in the past. Although Asda did respond, it was all a bit half-hearted, only providing me with the suggestion that she spoke with the store in question. Not very clever, when I'd mentioned that she'd already done this! Asda home shopping is definitely not an experience that I would recommend.

What online shopping disasters have you experienced?