Swan Rescue

Another of our Yorkshire holiday trips was a visit to Lightwater Valley Theme Park, once again courtesy of Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Two things made an impression on our arrival at the park – the lovely countryside setting and the amazing animatronic dinosaurs at the entrance.

On entering the park properly, the first area that we came to was filled with fairground rides, although we soon realised our favourite of these (the dodgems) was missing. What did grab our attention was the birds of prey centre, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Containing many species of owls and other birds, and even a small snake section, this made for interesting viewing and a change from the rides.

A wide selection of rides are on offer at the park, a good number that are suitable for younger children, as well as some more daring thrill rides. The park setting is great for picnics and the little train that runs round the park is a good way to view what’s on offer.

The Lightwater swan rescue begins!

One of the more traditional attractions available is the pedalo ride, little boats in the shape of swans. We fancied a relaxing trip across the lake, so we climbed aboard. The boats hold four people and are operated by a steering wheel as opposed to a tiller. This should have been straightforward, but unfortunately we were assigned a boat that malfunctioned.

A short way into our ride the steering would no longer allow for a right turn. “Never mind”, we thought, “We’ll just do a circuit bearing left.”

But no! It then refused to go in even a straight line (having jammed) and would only send us round in small circles. As we started to drift into the bank, we waved at the attendants on shore – who promptly ignored us!

For some time we debated how best to remedy our situation, until finally another family came along and offered to tow us in. This was not as easy as it sounds, as both boats kept drifting, but after a concerted effort, we made it back to dock – some 40 minutes after setting out!

The young girls managing the ride were still oblivious to our plight, and looked blankly when we tried to explain. However, we eventually managed to persuade them to contact maintenance and left it in their hands.

Looking back we found the situation slightly comical, but at the time it was extremely annoying!

Our saviours!

Apart from this blip, we quite enjoyed our day; Lightwater Valley is a bit different from other theme parks that we have visited.

The Madness Of May

Let’s face it, May did turn out to be a bit of a mad month – the election was a complete madness in itself! The final result was a bit of a shock to many, not at all keeping with the forecasts; you can read my response at the-election-my-response

Having felt thoroughly disillusioned and fed up with certain issues, I’ve started a new blog as a platform to inform and campaign on certain issues, see www.purelypeoplepower.blogspot.co.uk to read more. Introducing this new blog means that my existing #OfstedNoConfidence campaign twitter.com/hashtag/ofstednoconfidence will move to this new site, and I have also started a petition calling for a review of Ofsted, which you can sign by visiting https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/call-for-independent-review-of-ofsted  Shoppers’ Joy can will now revert back to its original use, which is to showcase product and service reviews, consumer issues and general shopping-related chat.

And so in other news...

This month I reviewed both Travelodge and Pontin’s, having experienced recent short stays in each, both of which seem to have undergone some improvement. Travelodge certainly seem to be upgrading their hotels, and whilst Pontin’s accommodation could do with a bit of an update, other facilities on offer are good. I’ll be interested to see how both progress.

In one post this month, I mentioned that my weekly shopping habits have recently changed, with more visits to Morrisons being the norm. I’m now using Sainsburys’ much less, partly because I now live further from a branch than I did before, but also the miserly lot have reduced the number of Nectar points that they’re awarding! Hadn’t you noticed? They’re now only giving one point per pound spent, instead of two, but the value of points remain the same – so basically you’ll have to spend £2 to get just 1p back! And there are no longer points awarded for re-using your own bags. Not a good move Sainsburys!

Finally, I was thrilled to hear that culottes are making a comeback. I think they’re great, offering the look of a skirt but with the comfort and practicality of trousers. I owned quite a few pairs back in the 80s, and I know they say you shouldn’t wear a fashion trend if you sported it the first time round, but I just couldn’t resist picking up a pair sitting on the sale rail in New Look. At £7 they were an absolute bargain, I just couldn’t resist!

How did May shape up for you?

Travelodge – A Peaceful Harbour

It’s been some time since we stayed in a Travelodge, having not had any distant family gatherings or long haul visits needing accommodation in the past year or so. However, a couple of weeks ago, hubby and I decided to have an impromptu break whilst our son was up to knees in a river in Wales (geography field trip).

My husband had wanted to visit The Turner Contemporary in Margate for some time, so we decided to head down to Thanet and make an overnight stay of it. The gallery itself was disappointing (see wheres-turner for more about that) but our choice of Travelodge was a great success.

Before travelling, I’d trawled the Internet for B&B accommodation that looked promising, but didn’t find much to my liking. So I decided to see if there were any Travelodges in the area that may be worth a try. I was immediately drawn to the Ramsgate Seafront hotel, which overlooks the harbour. Prices were reasonable (£47 for double room) and we decided to go for the breakfast option bringing the total to just over £60.

Although this branch did not have dedicated parking, it was opposite a public car park where it cost just £4 to leave our car for 24 hours.

On arrival we received a friendly greeting from the guy on reception and were promptly directed to our room. My immediate thought as I entered said room was that it actually looked different from other Travelodge rooms we’d stayed in before. It definitely felt a bit ‘higher end’ with a really comfy king-sized bed, tasteful decoration and a smarter looking bathroom. I understand that Travelodge is currently updating some of its hotels, so hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy more of these improved rooms.

The cleanliness of the room was also better than some we’d visited and all of the staff that we encountered during our stay were friendly and helpful.

We’d never gone for the breakfast option at a Travelodge before, partly because all that had been on offer was a ‘pre-packed’ version, but at this branch a full buffet breakfast was provided. By pre-booking our breakfast it was £1 cheaper per person than if we’d decided to request it on the day, a small saving but worth bearing in mind. We were able to help ourselves to whatever we wanted from a number of choices including various cereals, fruit, croissants, scrambled egg, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, beans, toast and various preserves. There was apple and orange juice to drink as well as tea and a range of coffee. We left feeling very replete!

There had also been an evening meal option too, but we had decided not to go for this, as we had wanted to stroll out in the evening and eat elsewhere. As luck would have it, just a very short distance from where we were staying, we found a pub/restaurant called ‘The Goose’. This worked on the principle of a Wetherspoons but the food was actually nicer and even better value. We enjoyed two main courses for just £8.95 and two delicious desserts for just £4.75 (not each but for the two!) I can highly recommend the food and service at The Goose!

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Travelodge Ramsgate Seafront and would certainly return for another visit. Thank you to everyone there.

You can view this accommodation at travelodge.co.uk/hotels/510/Ramsgate-Seafront

You can also read my previous Travelodge reviews and comments by visiting:

travelodge-tales-latest

travelodge-tips

travelodge-tales  

Death Of A High Street

Many High Streets have seen a large number of shop closures over the last couple of years, with some towns suffering more severely than others.

In some cases, closures have been the result of the demise of whole shopping chains, whilst others have been due to localised closures, where retailers have had to reduce store numbers to avoid total collapse.

I’ve visited some High Streets and shopping centres that appear to be holding up quite well, but others are ghosts of their former selves. One in particular that falls into the latter category is Chatham in Kent.

I was born and bred in Medway, having lived in various locations around the towns, often using Chatham as a place to shop. Although I have now moved out of the Medway area, I have made a couple of recent trips back to Chatham High Street when visiting relatives and can’t believe the change in the place.

As a child I loved to go and spend my birthday and pocket money in the town. There were some great toy shops (Youngsters and Gees) in the town and lots of big High Street stores such as Marks and Spencer, Woolworths, British Home Stores (as it then was), Co-op and Featherstones.

In the 1970s the Pentagon shopping centre opened (I remember going there to see the Wombles turn up for the official opening) and some of the stores from the High Street, such as WHSmith and Boots moved inside, as well as new shops arriving such as C&A and Etam.

Today both the High Street and Pentagon shopping centre are shadows of their former selves. Marks and Spencer and the now rebranded BHS moved out years ago and of course, Woolworths disappeared from all of our High Streets, but what is more concerning is the number of other retailers that have pulled out of the town, seemingly making it their first choice of towns from which to withdraw.

In light of the news that Tesco needed to close a large number of stores, Chatham was put on the hit list. Now WHSmith have also announced they’re shutting up shop and rumours are flying about who else is set to go.

Over the years national chains such as Next, Peacocks, Mothercare, HMV and The Early Learning Centre have, one by one, left the town, although all still exist in nearby Maidstone.

The only new shops that seem to be opening in the town are pound stores. Poundland, 99p Stores, Poundworld, The Mighty Pound, Around-a-pound – talk about in for a pound! Now whilst these shops may have their place, there are a hell of a lot of things you can’t buy in them and not all of us want to shop in them. It seems the more that the council allow these shops (along with betting shops, pawnbrokers and dubious ‘market-stall’ type shops) move into the town, the more the long-standing stores decide to leave. I always thought councils looked carefully at the balance of shops in a town, limiting numbers of any one type of shop, to maintain diversity.

shops are packing
up and going!

There was a time when people would have travelled to the town from all around Kent because of the great selection of shops on offer. Now the choices are miserable, the town looks dowdy and people not only don’t visit there to shop anymore, but even locals choose to travel elsewhere.

The decline of the town’s High Street is very sad and is largely due, I feel, to bad town management. It will take something miraculous to revive this dismal High Street.

How are High Streets near you holding up?

Remembering Mum – Mum Remembering

As we approach Mother’s Day here in the UK, we’re busily selecting appropriate cards and bouquets and possibly planning little treats for our mothers, perhaps pausing to recall a few treasured childhood memories along the way.

We always invite my mother and mother-in-law for a meal on Mothering Sunday as well as presenting them with small gifts, this year being no exception.

However, when I asked my mum a couple of weeks ago whether she would like to come for Sunday Lunch on the allotted day, we had rather a different kind of conversation. We covered all the usual ground about when the date was, what time she would come, that yes we would be picking her up and so on, but her burning question was, “Do I need to buy something for my mum?” Followed some moments later by, “Do I have a mum?”

You see my mum is in her eighties and has dementia. Some days our conversations run smoothly, other times they’re fraught with heartrending questions and difficult explanations, but we get through.

Diagnosed a couple of years ago after rather a battle for a referral to a memory clinic, mum’s decline has been thankfully slowed down by medication and some input from the clinic. Although there are obviously still some tough times that can be distressing for us all.

But what has been a big help is the opening of a day centre for dementia sufferers just around the corner from where my mother lives, which is run by Age UK. After initial reluctance, counteracted by constant encouragement, my mum started to attend the centre last summer. In no time at all she began to really enjoy her weekly visit and it has improved her mental state somewhat too. On her most recent dementia check, her score had actually improved – the additional stimulation has certainly proved good for her.

Each week, mum looks forward to a chat with others who in her own words, “Are just like me so I don’t feel silly”, the opportunity to take part in activities and a freshly cooked lunch. It’s been really good for her.

To others with relatives suffering from dementia I would say do encourage them to attend a similar centre if there is one nearby. The effects can be very beneficial.

To read more about Age UK or offer your support, visit www.ageuk.org.uk

Politeness Costs Nothing

Time and again I blog about customer service issues, with my biggest gripe being rudeness and complete lack of manners.

Long waiting times in queues, lack of stock, poorly informed assistants and staff shortages can all be very annoying, but the situation can be lightened a little by apologies, explanations and generally polite service. Why is it then, that time and again, some assistants forget this basic rule?

Several days ago, my husband called in at a branch of Boots (Strood in Kent to be precise) to pick up some pain relief tablets for me, as I was suffering a flare up of my joints. He arrived just in time for opening, which was unfortunately delayed due to the pharmacist being held up.

Bad service makes me mad!

That in itself is fair enough. We all get caught in traffic at times or suffer some other setback and, by law, shops offering pharmacy services aren’t allowed to open without a pharmacist on site. What was unforgivable, however, is the way the situation was handled by the person who was seemingly in charge – an unhelpful individual named Richard.

A line of customers patiently formed outside the store, but at no time did Richard, or anyone else for that matter, pop their head out to offer an explanation or even post a notice on the door.

When Richard did open up shop following the arrival of the tardy pharmacist, instead of issuing a polite “excuse me” to customers so that he could push back the doors, he ‘shooed’ them away with an irritated gesture.

Things didn’t get any better. When he served my husband with the requested medication, he grudgingly muttered ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ through gritted teeth, exuding an air of “I don’t really want to serve you and I don’t like you”!

Needless to say my husband was seething when he returned home, having received such appalling treatment. We immediately looked up the contact details for Boots head office and emailed a complaint.

This is where I can report some happier news. The area manager of Boots stores phoned my husband with an apology and assured him that she would be visiting the branch to address the situation. And let’s face it, when we make this kind of complaint, that’s exactly what we want – an apology, an explanation and reassurance that our bad experience will not be repeated. A positive response to our complaint can make the difference between us returning to a store or shopping elsewhere.

It’s true that we don’t know whether Richard was having a bad day. There may be horrors in his life, problems galore – but these should never be taken out on unsuspecting customers, who just want to be served politely and go on their way.

As customers I believe that we always have the duty to report bad service, so that it can be improved for ourselves and others in the future. In turn shops have a duty to respond appropriately.

Merging Into One

I’ve recently heard about a couple of companies that are about to be ‘swallowed up’ by larger ones, which is bound to have an effect on consumer choice.

The Competitions and Markets Authority (formerly the Competition Commission, in turn formerly The Monopolies and Mergers Commission) is supposedly meant to strengthen competition in the marketplace, thus protecting consumer choice. Why is it then that in some areas our choices are becoming increasingly more limited?

One of the big issues at the moment, I feel, is that of mobile phone providers. I used to be a customer of Orange, which merged with TMobile (referred to in our household as Torange), which then became part of EE. It has now been announced that EE are to be bought out by BT – just the company I do not want to provide my service!

One of my concerns is that my current, excellently priced SIM deal will change. Originally taken out with Orange, but honoured by EE (although that stopped providing it to new customers) my immediate concern is that this will be scrapped. But from a wider point of view, I realise that if I’m not happy with the new service, there will be very little choice of other providers available. With it appearing that O2 is about to be taken over by the owner of the ‘3’ network, that leaves only Vodafone as a mobile provider on its own.

With our choices of mobile provider basically down to three, where is the incentive for the remaining companies to offer the best deals? With competition rapidly dwindling it certainly makes their life easier, but not ours!

Also in the news is the plan for Poundland to buy out 99p Stores – another bad move I believe. Certainly in my area, the 99p Stores are much better than the Poundland equivalents, stocking better products in a more welcoming environment. Of course, that may not be the case nationwide, but it’s still nice to be given the choice of where to shop.

Time and again shops and companies are being taken over by larger concerns, reducing competition and limiting our choices. Competition is healthy for businesses. It encourages them to deliver the best possible customer service, product ranges and consumer care. Insufficient competition can create complacency, resulting in poorer deals for customers and severe lack of service and care.

I’ve always believed that if I don’t get good service from a company, I should take my custom elsewhere. But if my choices are limited, where do I turn?

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!

Memories At Manston

It’s been a while since we’ve had a family day out, what with trying to arrange our new home into something vaguely liveable (read more at ruraljoy to throw some light on this one) and the weather becoming chillier and gloomier. So when a Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, it seemed a good time to take my son out on a quest for material for his art project on ‘conflict”.

We trawled the Internet to find somewhere in our home county of Kent that would make for an interesting visit, whilst fulfilling the brief, so to speak, choosing the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum at Manston.

Situated on the old airfield site, the museum is easy to find and both parking and entrance are free, although there is a donation box, which merits your attention! You can also purchase items at the shop (I bought an interesting wartime-related cookbook) and enjoy a cuppa or a meal at the Merlin Cafeteria attached to the museum.

Although small, the museum does have rather a ‘wow’ factor, displaying one of the few surviving Spitfires and a famous Hawker Hurricane, each housed in their own room surrounded by interesting and diverse memorabilia. Indeed, there are some very poignant displays, telling the stories of the men involved in air combat in WWII. There are also examples of everyday items from the World War II era, giving more depth and understanding of the time.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and my son was able to get some great photos to help with his art.

On leaving the museum we noticed another building opposite, which turned out to be the RAF Manston History Museum – another little gem, so we discovered. With admission costing just £1.50 for adults and 50p for children, this contains items representing the history of the airfield between 1916 until the present day, with examples of both military and civil aircraft.

Displays include a section of a wartime street (my son found this particularly interesting), film footage of the bouncing bomb, aircraft of various types and ages and military vehicles. There is even a doodlebug!

We found the two museums very informative and enjoyable and I can definitely recommend a visit to them both, as they each have much to offer visitors – an enlightening experience!    

What Price An Opinion?

I was absolutely incensed to see, when I turned on the TV this morning for a spot of news, a couple being interviewed after being ‘charged’ for writing a review about a hotel in which they had stayed.

The review in question had been somewhat negative, but listening to the report, it would appear rightly so. The couple had experienced a number of problems with their room, which they had reported, but had not been solved. Disgruntled with their stay, they consequently wrote a review commenting on their experience, which I believe they were perfectly within their rights to do. OK, so they didn’t pay a premium rate for their room, but it should still have been fit for purpose.

However, the hotel still had their credit card details from when they had paid for their room, and apparently helped themselves to a payment of £100 in light of the comments the couple had made. They justified this by saying it was in the small print (very small print as it appears) that anyone writing a bad review would incur a charge. How ludicrous!

This case throws up a fair number of important issues.

We shouldn't pay for others shortcomings

Firstly, I believe that as consumers, we should all have the right to speak as we find. If we receive bad service or shoddy goods, we should firstly exercise our right to complain to those concerned (as the couple in this case did), but if our grievances aren’t resolved, we should be able to warn others of the shortcomings, to prevent others having to repeat our bad experience.

A second, connected point is that we should all be able to exercise freedom of speech, with the exception of the use of abusive or threatening comments.

Thirdly, it should not be, to my mind, legal for anyone to take further payments from a debit/credit card just because they were once given the details as part of a separate transaction. I believe this is just another breach of consumer rights.

Of course, this whole subject is close to my heart, as I regularly write reviews on goods and services – good and bad – and believe I offer a service in doing just that! If businesses want to avoid getting bad reviews, they should, quite simply, ensure that they maintain basic standards and that the goods and services that they supply meet all health and safety regulations, and are fit for purpose. Where mistakes are made or standards are lacking, they should endeavour to rectify the situation promptly and with good grace – this can turn a potentially bad review into a more positive one!

On the other side of the coin, it would appear that some people threaten to write damning reviews unless they are offered a discounted price. This is equally wrong. Just as we expect to be treated respectfully by companies, we should act responsibly as customers. Reviews need to be truthful in order to be helpful to others, sticking to the facts and be made in order to put across a fair point, as opposed to seeking personal gain.

Reviews of products and services can be beneficial to all – potential customers and businesses alike – so let’s protect our right to speak out when things are wrong, without the threat of being ‘fined’ for so doing, as this just rubs salt into already painful wounds!

What do you think?

Say No To Plastic Carrier Bags

There’s no doubt about it, we’ve become a nation of plastic carrier bag dependent shoppers. Why are so many people so reluctant to make use of more permanent, reusable shopping bags?

When I was a child, everyone seemed to go shopping armed with a collection of bags in which to stow their groceries. For those who preferred not to use this option, supermarkets tended to keep a healthy supply of cardboard boxes close to the checkouts, which were certainly handy to transport heavier, bulkier items.

Over the years, however, it has become more the norm for shoppers to expect plastic carrier bags to not only be supplied, but to be provided free of charge.

In my teens I had a Saturday job at Fine Fare (there’s a blast from the past) who at that time made bags available (some early bags were paper) but at a cost. But as time went on, supermarkets introduced a limitless supply of plastic carrier bags – and all for free!

Some supermarkets do offer incentives to reuse bags, in the form of points for loyalty card holders, but this it would seem is not sufficient encouragement to induce shoppers to break the habit.

Now there are calls to charge for all plastic carrier bags in shops, a move with which I wholeheartedly agree. What’s wrong with reusing bags, which can be bought very cheaply in the first place, thus reducing the impact that all of this surplus plastic is making on the environment.

The proposed charge is 5p per single use plastic carrier bag, thus mirroring a system already employed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Hopefully, this will discourage their use at least to some degree, reducing the estimated 60,000 tonnes of plastic carrier bags used per year. For those who still opt to use the bags despite this move, the hope is that the money raised can at least be diverted to ‘good causes’. Ideally, I would hope, more environmentally friendly incentives.

Cloth bags are a stronger option, which are not too bulky or heavy, and prove no hardship to take with you on a shopping trip. Yes, you do have to remember to take them in the first place, but it’s just a question of learning a new habit!

Where do you stand on the plastic carrier bag debate?

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?

I Love My Loyalty Cards

Like many shoppers, I was quite incensed to hear that Sainsburys’ are halving the amount of Nectar points that they award to customers as of April next year. They will only be awarding one point per pound spent, as opposed to the current two (two points are only worth 1p ).

It’s true to say that Nectar points always have been slightly inferior to those awarded by Tesco Clubcard, with the exchange rate of the latter being four times their face value when converted to Days Out vouchers, and each point being equal to 1p .

There are some shoppers (misguided in my opinion) that question the value of loyalty cards, but I believe that any reward you are given for shopping is better than no reward at all.

Less effective than a loyalty card

The argument goes, that if stores are operating reward schemes, they subsequently have to set their prices a little higher to offset these incentives. However, I would refute this, as many good value items I buy are purchased in shops that offer reward points.

Many of the products that I purchase in places such as Tesco and Superdrug, are not only cheaper or at least comparable to those offered at other shops, but earn me points. Over the years I have acquired so many points under the Clubcard scheme, that we have been able to pay for several family days out each year, including trips to expensive theme parks, which we would not otherwise have afforded. Even if I have occasionally paid a few pence more for the odd product or two, I have received this amount back umpteen times over. It’s true to say, that if I could have bought some items slightly cheaper elsewhere and put the pennies I’d saved into a savings account, I would not have accumulated anywhere near enough to pay for the equivalent number of fun outings.

I regard all loyalty cards (and I can boast a considerable collection) as mini saving schemes that allow me to enjoy life’s little extras. Unless prices are considerably higher in a shop that offers a good value scheme, I am unlikely to shop for identical products somewhere that does not offer me these extra benefits.

So my message to Sainsburys’, and any other stores planning to reduce or withdraw their points schemes, is that this may result in a customer-cutting exercise as opposed to your intended cost-cutting one!

Mini Oven Review

(It’s the oven that’s mini, not the review by the way)

Due to our current, somewhat strange living arrangements ( read more here ) we decided to invest in a mini oven, which would allow us to cook some of the foods that we’d been missing, and were unable to conjure up on our basic camping stove and grill arrangement.

After doing a bit of research and reading various customer reviews, we plumped for the Andrew James Mini Combi Oven from Amazon. With a two-plate hob and multi-function oven, it seemed a good buy.

I’m pleased to report that we’re really getting on quite well with it and have appreciated all that it has to offer. On the downside, it does take longer than the average oven to heat up (the hob too) but once it gets going it cooks really well. In fact, pastry for example, cooks much better than it did in our previous oven, becoming a lovely even, golden brown colour, of which any Bake Off contestant would be immensely proud.

The oven capacity is a decent size, enabling me to cook a full roast dinner, and the internal dimensions allow enough space for a large pizza tray.

With a choice of five oven settings, however, it seems a shame that the instruction booklet doesn’t explain which setting would best suit which type of dish. The settings consist of: upper heating and low heating with fan; upper heating and fan; upper heating and lower heating; lower heating; upper heating. The instructions merely advise that four out of the five settings are suitable for baking, with the other function acting as a grill. So we’ve resorted to good old trial and error to work out which arrangement is best for which dish, and slowly but surely we’re getting there.

So if you’ve got limited kitchen space, are looking for a temporary cooker whilst living in a shambles, sorry doing a renovation project, or just fancy an economical change, then I can recommend the Andrew James Mini Oven, despite its sketchy instructions

I’m Loving Lidl

I’ve previously made it quite clear in my blog how much I hate the whole Aldi shopping experience – well, more of an ordeal really. The stores are too cluttered, the choices too limited and some of their ‘exclusive’ brand products certainly don’t win prizes for taste in my opinion.

It was with some trepidation therefore, that I decided to give Lidl a whirl, having heard some slightly more favourable reports.

My first impression when I stepped into the Lidl store was how much brighter and clearer it seemed than any branch of Aldi that I had ever visited. The next thing that struck me was how much more choice of products there was, including well-known brands at very reasonable prices. I bought a Hovis Soft White Loaf for just 79p (£1 at Tesco) and Bertolli spread 500g was on offer for just £1.

Then I got a bit braver and tried a couple of the Lidl ‘exclusive’ brands, selecting some chocolate bars, rich tea biscuits and cherry brandy – all of which did not disappoint.

The rich tea biscuits weren’t bad, but the chocolate and the cherry brandy were absolutely delicious and such great value! I chose to buy Mister Choc chocolate bars, priced at 99p for 11, in the strawberry yogurt and latte varieties. Both were gorgeous, really tasty and just big enough for a little treat, with each ‘bar’ consisting of three little squares. The Serenade Cherry Brandy Liqueur cost just £5.99 for 50cl and was actually one of the best that I’ve ever tasted – warming, not too sweet with a good cherry flavour.

I’m definitely planning another trip to Lidl very soon.

A Supermarket – But Not As I Know It

Following my recent, more rural, move, I have had to make a number of changes to my everyday life. One of these changes has involved visiting a different branch of Tesco to do my weekly shop.

Formerly I shopped at a big Tesco Extra store, which always seemed to be busy, even mid-week when I opt to shop. Queues would often build up and negotiating the aisles could be a tricky business in itself. But my new shopping venue is a smaller Tesco store (not an Extra, but not a Metro, something in between), where the whole shopping experience seems that much more civilised.

To visit this branch I have to venture out from my new village location to the nearest small town. Once in the store the aisles are pretty devoid of customers, with the few I do meet generally pausing to pass the time of day. What a joy not to have to play ‘dodge the manic trolley driver’ or ‘avoid the mass of parked trolleys’!

 

On my first visit I was pleased to see that the checkouts looked, what I considered to be, very quiet, with only about one customer at each. So imagine my surprise, when as I approached, a call came over the tannoy requesting, “All red cardholders to checkouts please.” Why? Was that busy by their standards? Anyway, I shouldn’t complain, as I was promptly whisked to an empty, newly opened checkout where I was given help to pack the shopping!

And no, this wasn’t a one-off as much the same thing happened on visit number two!

OK, so it doesn’t offer the all-singing, all-dancing non-food aisles, but at least I can get my weekly shop without being tempted to buy all the other things that I don’t really need. Sounds like a win-win situation.

Random Thoughts For May

As I fast track another pile of badly thought-out election leaflets from the door mat to the recycle bin, I can’t help wondering how many politician’s faces are destined to become tomorrow’s packaging materials. Who says politicians don’t do enough to help the environment?

Whilst enjoying a cheese scone at my local Sainsbury’s café, I started pondering the pronunciation of the word ‘scone’. The lady who served me pronounced it as I do, with a long ‘o’ as in ‘bone’. But of course, many people use the shorter ‘o’ version to rhyme with ‘con’. This always puzzles me, as it seems to follow the pattern of words such as ‘cone’, ‘crone’, ‘phone’, ‘tone’, ‘zone’… Well, you get the idea. Mind you, the ‘scone-related’ scenario that really irritates me is that many cafés that offer cream teas serve them with fruited scones, as opposed to the more traditional, plain Devon scones. Sorry, this combination just doesn’t work for me.

It’s very nice of Cadbury’s to emblazon my name across many of their chocolate multipacks. Does having the name ‘Joy’ on them mean they’re all for me? Well, there was no harm in asking.

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Hungry Horse – Good and Bad Service

We enjoy an occasional meal at a Hungry Horse pub/restaurant and have visited our local branch (The Star, Gillingham) several times. So when we decided to pop out for an evening, we headed there again.

On entering the bar it appeared quite empty, but as we wandered round in search of a table, it became apparent that all the empty ones were displaying ‘reserved’ signs.

Speaking to a member of staff about the possibility of a table, we were met with a most unhelpful response – in fact, his attitude indicated that he couldn’t really be bothered and didn’t actually want to speak to us! In answer to the question, “Is there a table available?” he shrugged, “ You just have to look.”

However, we were observed by an off-duty member of staff, who gave the impression of being the only person who actually wanted to help us, but who was sadly not supported by his colleagues. He reasoned that some of the reservations were for later in the evening, meaning that we could use one for an early meal. Unfortunately this suggestion was thwarted by a waitress who maintained that all the many reserved tables were booked for exactly the same time. That was a bit hard to believe.

Feeling very unwelcome and a bit dejected, we decided to head to the next nearest branch (Poacher’s Pocket, Chatham), which we had never visited before.

On arrival we were met by a much busier scene, with most tables actually in use and only a couple of empty table marked as ‘reserved’. We were thinking of giving up and going home, when a cheery waitress greeted us and asked how many we needed a table for. To our answer of ‘three’, she located a couple of small tables and put them together to accommodate us. It appeared that the level of helpfulness at this branch was 100% better than we’d received at The Star.

And so the evening continued. All the staff were cheerful and helpful, checking on us regularly and making us feel welcome. The food was lovely and what had actually looked like being a disastrous evening, ended up being thoroughly enjoyable.

It’s worth remembering that whilst all the branches of any one pub/restaurant chain may offer the same menu, the quality of food and the level of service received can vary enormously.

No prizes for guessing which Hungry Horse will be our restaurant of choice from now on!

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Not So Simple

I’m always looking in the shops for interesting products to add to my make-up collection. I’d been growing tired of the same old moisturiser and foundation routine and decided to look at what BB creams have to offer.

After some deliberation I chose to buy Simple Perfecting BB Beauty Balm, which states that it is in a ‘universal shade’ and offers SPF15. It claims to ‘moisturise’, ‘even skin tone’ and contain ‘illuminating particles’. Well, I could certainly do with a bit of illuminating and like the fact that Simple products are suitable for sensitive skin, so it seemed like a good choice.

The cream felt nice on my skin and was easy to apply, but sadly I looked like I’d been ‘Tangoed’. So much for the universal shade, it’s obviously aimed at orange aliens.

Still, not to be beaten, and always loathe to waste money or purchases, (even though I did the Shoppers’ Joy classic thing of buying on offer) I found that if I combined a dab of the BB cream with a spot of Simple Illuminating Radiance Cream (I’m determined to be illuminated) the result was far more natural!

On the subject of dodgy beauty buys, I was also disappointed with my recent purchase of L’Oreal 3 in 1 Micellar Solution. This did not leave my skin feeling anywhere near as fresh and clean as with other micellar lotions that I have tried, the best to date being Avène Micellar Lotion, which left my skin feeling gloriously cleansed and refreshed.

Which make-up and beauty products do you recommend?

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Goody Bags

I love to get a goody bag! You know, the type you receive when you buy a couple of make-up products – a freebie promotion. It may literally be a bag, possibly more of a box, but either way I love to delve inside and discover the contents.

My love of goody bags dates back to my childhood, when I loved the treat of a ‘Jamboree Bag”. Unlike the ‘Lucky Bags’ of today (in-your-face shiny plastic), these were made of paper in plain colours (green, blue, pink) and cost just a few pennies. Inside there were usually a couple of toffees, some cashews, some form of moulded plastic curio (think false moustache) and maybe some transfers or a picture card. It wasn’t what was in them that really mattered – it was the thrill of what could be inside.

For my childhood birthday parties my older sister would make party bags that resembled small carrier bags, made from colourful wrapping paper. A few goodies were put in each. This was during the 60s before party bags became the norm, so I was quite proud to hand them out at the end of my party, as opposed to the usual piece of cake wrapped in a serviette.

Anyway, back to the present. Boots No7 is currently offering a free box of tricks (well, cosmetics obviously) when you buy two or more products from their make-up range. You can even combine this offer with the £3 off cosmetics voucher currently in circulation, making it an even better deal.

Of course, many make-up and skincare ranges, from budget to luxury brands, offer goody bag deals from time to time, so timing purchases to coincide with these deals is a useful plan.

But the ultimate in goody bags has to be those given to celebs when attending award ceremonies. Filled with luxury goods and surprises, they certainly give me ‘goody-bag-envy’! So if any of you lovely celebs have an odd goody bag knocking around that you really don’t want, I will gladly take it off your hands.

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