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?

Where’s Turner?

Last week I paid a visit to The Turner Contemporary in Margate, part of my husband’s birthday treat, and promptly embarked on a game of ‘Where’s Turner?’ It’s a bit like ‘Where’s Wally?’, though with the latter you actually have a chance of finding him!

My husband loves a good art gallery and a good piece of art – he’s a graphic designer and bit of an artist himself – but had not got round to visiting Turner Contemporary. It should have been a great trip out, but I know that he was sadly disappointed.

The first thing that struck us on arrival was the dull design of the building itself. The gallery consists of a series of ‘boxes’ with sloping roofs, which are a very poor representation of the ‘sails’ that we had expected. Rather than enhancing Margate, the structure does it a disservice, as the town actually has some lovely old buildings.

Spot the eyesore!

As it was around lunchtime when we arrived, we decided to check out the café, but were not impressed. We had wanted a light lunch as we had a big dinner planned for the evening, but most of the food served was too substantial (and a bit pretentious), apart from some tired looking baguettes priced at £4.50 each. On to plan B then.

A walk round the harbour revealed a friendly little café where we purchased two toasted sandwiches and two hot drinks for just £7! The sandwiches were delicious, nicely toasted and packed with filling, unlike some of the supermarket offerings that you get. We sat and enjoyed them on the harbour front seating provided, gazing at some of Margate’s more interesting architecture.

Anyway, back to the gallery. The first sight you see on entering is the donation box – admission is, after all, free, but I’m more likely to consider a donation once I’ve seen how the money is being spent. The next sight is the shop – but the gallery is free, so their leaflet assures us!

On the day that we visited, the atrium housed a kind of display of cymbals that you could participate in playing on the hour. Now I know in the art world this was meant to be a poignant piece, but to a mere ‘pleb’ like me let’s face it, it was a bunch of cymbals!

Proceeding along the bottom corridor, we observed a photographic display, by some chap whose name I can’t remember, but which made no impact on me (or my husband) whatsoever. They were no more exciting than viewing Auntie Elsie’s holiday snaps of Torquay.

Venturing upstairs the thing that actually did make a big impact was the large window framing the stunning sea view. Nature’s art at its best, and certainly a reflection on Turner, but where was his work?

The upper floor consists of a series of small galleries and even smaller ‘cinema’ rooms. The current exhibition is entitled ‘Self’ and of course, features an array of self-portraits. The gem of this was the Van Dyck, which I thought was stunning – at last a big thumbs up! Some of the other exhibits were a bit dull, but there were some recognisable pieces from artists such as Hockney and Warhol.

By far, the exhibit that made the most impression on me, in a somewhat haunting way, was Jeremy Millar’s sculpture of his own ‘drowned body’. When I entered the room containing this piece I had to do a double take. I slowly walked up to the ‘body’ not completely convinced that it wasn’t a person that would jump up just as I got near. As gruesome as the subject was, it was extremely effective and a great piece of work!

But where was Turner? Just as we were about to leave the final room, we stumbled upon a small display case containing a fairly disappointing Turner miniature. So small and insignificant that we nearly missed it – and that was it! The audacity of naming a gallery in honour of a great artist and not representing his work or life in any great form!

Sadly our visit was rather disappointing, the exhibits were sparse with so much empty wall space that I was tempted to ask when they planned to finish hanging the paintings! The only saving grace is that we didn’t have to travel that far to get to there.

My verdict – dull, disappointing and an insult to Turner to put his name to it. It was basically a waste of money and prime seafront space, which could have been put to better use to serve the good people of Margate. It earns a Shoppers’ Joy thumbs down!

I Want More!

When it comes to loyalty cards, I’m a serial collector, as many a blog post has demonstrated. It’s little surprise then, that when I heard about the Morrisons’ Match & More card, I just had to grab one and find out, well more.

Strictly speaking, this is not so much of a loyalty card as a price match tool. When shoppers get their card swiped at the checkout, the grocery spend is compared with Tesco, Sainsburys’, Asda, Aldi and Lidl – a selection of supermarkets that just sent the automatic spellchecker on my computer into meltdown!

Always looking to save valuable pounds!

If you would have spent less at these stores, then the difference (with an added zero) is converted to points and put on your card. My first shop with the card could have theoretically been 54p cheaper elsewhere (despite the fact that I targeted offers), and so earned me 540 points. Once I have accumulated 5000 points I will qualify for a £5 voucher.

When I first heard the details about the card, I was unsure whether the benefits would be worthwhile, but considering I’m already a tenth of the way to getting my first £5 following a relatively small grocery shop, it could prove quite handy.

In addition to the ‘match’ points, I’ve spotted a few items in store for which extra points are awarded and you also get 10 points for every litre of fuel that you buy at a Morrisons’ garage.

But what really struck me when I picked up my new temporary card and accompanying leaflet, was that Morrisons actually provide customers with a choice of ways to register – either online, by post (postage paid) or by dropping off the completed form to a box in store. Following previous posts bemoaning companies that only expect customers to communicate with them online, this was a breath of fresh air. After all, there are still people (some of my more elderly relatives included) that either do not have or cannot use the Internet. Well done Morrisons!

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?

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!

Customer Service – Responses

I’m a stickler for good customer service and am of the opinion that we should always speak up when service falls short of reasonable expectations.

Since starting my Shopper’s Joy blog nearly two years ago, I have taken up customer service issues with various retailers and service providers with rather mixed responses.

In the fledgling days of my blog, I experienced problems with both Sainsbury’s and Greggs, both of whom I sent letters of complaint, in addition to featuring them on the blog. I was pleased to report that both responded promptly and reasonably sympathetically, assuring me that they would address the issues raised and sending some handy vouchers by way of apology.

Long before my blogging days, I occasionally had cause to approach a company, either by letter or phone call, with regard to poor customer service, sometimes receiving an appropriate response, although at other times being totally ignored. It is fair to say that since any complaint that I’ve made has been shared on the public domain, responses are much more forthcoming. Thank goodness for the likes of Twitter, Blogger et al.

In the days when our grievances were only aired behind closed doors, companies had the option of brushing any complaints under the carpet, in the belief that they would be unlikely to become common knowledge. Although some firms have always responded well to reports of customer dissatisfaction, others have had to improve their reactions in the light of social media. Let’s face it, when we’ve had a poor experience, first and foremost we want an understanding reply, backed up by the promise that future service will be improved.

It is true to say that sometimes it is only an individual employee or isolated branch of a chain that lets customers down, but if the company as a whole does not respond positively to criticism, they risk being given a bad name.

More recently, I blogged about my experience of two different branches of the Hungry Horse pub/restaurant chain. One branch couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly; whilst the other gave the impression that they really couldn’t be bothered with my custom. On this occasion I cut straight to the blog without directly contacting the company and lo and behold, the manager of the poorer branch responded with a request for further details so that she could resolve the issue. The only sad part is that despite an encouraging first response, I never heard from her again. For the record this was The Star at Gillingham in Kent – just so you know!

Needless to say I have not returned there since!

In the last couple of weeks, a trip to my local B&Q store resulted in me leaving without my intended purchase, following what I can only describe as total indifference from the staff.

My attempt to by a floral arrangement in an odd-shaped pot was thwarted, when staff could not supply the means of transporting said pot without either crushing or totally losing its contents. A request for a box resulted in being presented with the most pointless, shallow example of its kind known to man – totally useless. An additional colleague was summoned who shrugged off the request with a kind of ‘haven’t-got-anything-hard-luck’ attitude. Right, thanks for your help guys!

Interestingly, however, a single tweet about my trip elicited a response from the B&Q help team, promising to investigate the matter. Great! Trouble is I’m still waiting for the result of that one …

And now BT is in the doghouse. My recent move saw me cut my ties with this company – a more expensive transaction than I would have thought. Watch this space for more news on this one.

So the point of all my waffling? Well, I have several in fact:

- When you receive poor service, do speak up; it’s the only way to get things improved.

- If you have access to social media, then use it! Pushing your complaint into the public domain increases your chance of a response.

- If you are a company on the receiving end of a complaint, then for goodness sake acknowledge it, investigate it, improve on it and say sorry! Remember, ignoring a complaint is just another form of poor customer service!

Which companies do you find are good or bad at handling complaints?

Wow, So That Was July!

Well July was certainly a busy month for me. After gradually moving the contents of my former home over a period of many weeks, much into temporary storage, July finally saw us moving ourselves into our present accommodation (currently more of a glorified shed).

We are now living a kind of ‘not-quite-camping’ existence in what we hope will be our ultimate destination, but there is much work to be done before achieving the finished result worthy of being called ‘home’.

I seem to be spending a huge amount of time watching the wildlife, birds, bats, butterflies etc, when I should really be working, but the novelty of the rural location has not worn off us yet.

Amidst ‘The Big Move’ we still managed a trip to Legoland, a fun evening at a barn dance marking a friend’s wedding anniversary and, more recently, have been spending time at our static caravan, soaking up the sun. Though strangely, in view of our new permanent, more rural, location, the latter seems far from being the novel experience that it once was.

As the month comes to a close, it’s lovely to take a few deep breaths and recover from the stress of this stage of ‘The Big Move’ – before embarking on the next stage some time in the autumn! Look out for my new additional blog then too (to run alongside Shopper’s Joy) chronicling all the fun and games of my new life.

How was July for you?

Breaking The Silence

Sorry folks, it's been some time since I've written a blog post. Things have been somewhat hectic with various stages of moving house taking place and life generally taking over.

It seems that every time I do sit down to write of late, it's either for work purposes, or to let another batch of people or businesses know my new address - and believe me the latter has been a revelation in itself!

Some companies have been helpful and efficient about changing my details on their records, whilst others have either failed to recognise what I'm telling them, been very slow to respond or have just basically cocked it up!

A relaxing scene to relieve the stress

Top of my list for helpfulness and speed have been Superdrug Beautycard, whilst currently bottom are Debenhams Beauty Club, who just can't seem to grasp what I'm actually trying to tell them, bless them, with all levels of efficiency nestling between the two.

Anyway, as I write I am still in a kind of 'limbo' state. Half my home in one place, the other in another, with months of temporary accommodation still to go before reaching our final goal. Amongst the chaos I will be endeavouring to keep up a steady stream of Shoppers' Joy posts and plan to start an additional blog in the autumn about the ups and downs of my new life.

All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Thanks for continuing to read - Joy. 

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?

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Re-usable Shopping Bags

There has been talk of late about placing a charge on carrier bags that are issued by shops, as if this is some new innovation. However, this has been done before, and quite honestly I don’t really know why it was stopped in the first place.

When I was a child, people tended to take their own bags when they went to do their weekly shop. I remember my mother gathering together her sturdy bags without giving it a second thought. Once in a while, if she bought an extra lot of shopping that wouldn’t quite fit in the bags, she would select a cardboard box from the pile provided by the supermarket for customer use.

By the time I got a Saturday job in Fine Fare (whatever happened to them?) carrier bags were much more in evidence – but customers were charged for them. Rival supermarket Safeways (another blast from the past) provided large paper sacks, which although were more environmentally friendly, were hard to carry as they had no handles.

Re-usable bags don't have to be boring!

So basically, there were generations of shoppers who were quite prepared to provide their own shopping bags, or at least pay for the ones available in the shops.

More recently, customers have come to expect that stores will provide bags for free. Many shoppers bear little regard to the number of plastic bags that they stuff their shopping into, or give much thought to the impact on the environment.

Carrier bags have almost become a habit, they are taken for granted as part of an average shopping trip.

Supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsburys have long offered an incentive, in the form of extra loyalty points, awarded for every reusable bag used by the customer. I have often thought incentives (points) work better than punishments (charges) but sadly in this case many customers have not been persuaded to kick the carrier bag habit.

I would quite happily see as much as 5p charged per carrier bag, with proceeds going to good causes if possible, to hopefully reduce the amount of bags used and see a return to shoppers providing reusable bags of their own. This is definitely a good habit that we should all get into.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Say No To Thai Chicken!

OK, so I’ve mentioned before how fed up I am that so many chicken products are made using poultry that isn’t British. (Read the most recent of these rants here) But I struggle to understand why so much chicken from sources such as Thailand and Brazil is still used in food manufacture.

Supermarkets rallied a little following last year’s horsemeat scandal. The amount of fresh meat sourced from the UK rose, be it somewhat slowly in some stores, and many beef products, such as lasagne and pies started to be made using British Beef.

However, many chicken dishes sold in supermarkets are still not produced using British chicken, or even chicken sourced within the EU. Sainsburys’ fresh kievs, goujons etc are all made from British chicken, which is clearly stated on the label. However their frozen ready meals use chicken from Thailand (even their roast dinners that include a whole chicken breast) and Tesco frozen ready meals also use chicken from Thailand and Brazil.

Of course, you wouldn’t notice this at a glance. The chances are that you have been buying these products without even realising the source of the chicken, as the finished meals are actually produced in the UK. To check what you are buying you have to read the small print on the back of the box, where the country of origin is stated.

But at least supermarket own brands are honest and state their sources, even if not in the most obvious place. Some of the big brand names that manufacture frozen meals and meat products do not state the country of origin at all. I have studied boxes produced by Sharwoods, Heinz Weightwatchers and the like, but can find no mention of where their chicken has been sourced. In order for us to make an informed choice as shoppers, we have a right to be provided with all this information, and I therefore believe that it should be law to clearly state the origin of a product’s main ingredients.

In the meantime if I read that the chicken in a product is from Thailand or Brazil, then I don’t buy it. If a product does not state its country of origin, then I still don’t buy it. I want to know that all meat and poultry that I buy in any way, shape or form is British, not only so that it conforms with food safety standards, but I don’t feel we should be importing such items from halfway across the world. Think of the global footprint!

What do you think?

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

January’s Random Thoughts

I’ve been stunned to see that in some shops, knocking as little as 50p off of an item appears to qualify as a sales bargain! Not in my book it doesn’t!

Individuals with an ‘L’ in their surname must be rubbing their hands with glee when they become driving instructors. Don’t they realise how unoriginal it is to have ‘WiLliams’, ‘Lawson’, ‘MiLler’ or whatever emblazoned on their vehicles?

If only supermarket aisles were fitted with traffic lights, one-way systems and ‘no parking’ areas, our lives as shoppers would be so much easier!

A sign on one of the hand driers in the ladies at my local Tesco reads, ‘Sorry, this facility is temporarily out of order’. What I would like to know is what is Tesco’s definition of temporary? The sign has been there since last October!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

So That Was 2013

“What have you done, another year over and a new one just begun…” to quote John Lennon. Indeed another year seems to have whizzed by, and now is the time to look back on its highs and lows and think what we would like to do differently, or perhaps more of next year.

Collectively we welcomed the new Pope and the newest addition to the Royal Family, Prince George, and said goodbye to the legend that was Nelson Mandela. Goodbyes were also said to Lady Thatcher amongst much controversy: I may not have loved her politics, but at the end of the day, I held on to the thought that she was a mother too, much missed by her family.

Across the world there was cause for sadness and shocks, as we witnessed some awful human acts and natural disasters that sometimes claimed lives. However, as is often the case in these situations, we must take comfort from the way ordinary people pull together, raising funds and supporting aid charities to help where possible.

On a personal level I celebrated a ‘milestone’ birthday, saw the birth of my first grandchild (a gorgeous little boy), questioned Ofsted and complained at the loss of Hypermobility classes from my local NHS physiotherapy department.

My blog looked at a range of products and services including make-up, cleaning products, toiletries, DS games and supermarket cafés. I looked at the whole issue of supermarkets using meat from sources other than the UK or even the EU, something that I’m still keeping an eye on.

Next year I’ll be reviewing a whole new set of products and services, continuing my ‘Random Thoughts’ and generally offering up my opinion on shopping and consumer issues.

But for now here are some of my winners and losers for 2013:

A Shoppers’ Joy thumbs up for: Tesco Clubcard, EDF Complaints Resolutions Manager, Max Factor Eye Brightening Mascara, the staff at the Morrisons café Cambourne, Avon Solutions Ageless Bloom Neck and Chest Treatment SPF15, the staff at Travelodge Middlewich, the Tower of London and the Nutmeg clothing range at Morrisons.

A Shoppers’ Joy thumbs down for: ‘Which?’ magazine’s subscription department (and the magazine come to that), Aldi, companies that make money from your PPI claim (you can do it for free yourself), Ofsted, people who speak loudly on their phones on public transport and the poor service I received at the Marks and Spencer café at Hempstead Valley.

Who will be in my good and bad books for 2014?

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy  

It’s Chriiiiiiistmas! Well, nearly.

Well here we are, the big day is nearly upon us and if you’re not already prepared then this is where the panic sets in.

I’m pleased to say I’m just about ready for it all. Food bought (except for that vital thing I suddenly realise I’ve forgotten at midnight on Christmas Eve), presents wrapped (not wonderfully, as I’m not that handy with a roll of sellotape) and the house prepared – a kind of organised chaos.

Hubby bravely tackled a small Tesco shop this morning, and survived it all pretty intact. In fact at the time he visited, shoppers were still in polite, calm “after you mode”. By now all hell has properly broken loose with trolley rage in the aisles, and customers racing to grab that coveted last bag of brussel sprouts/pot of cream/dejected-looking turkey.

Strangely enough, my shopping trip to Sainsburys on Friday was far more traumatic. Although the shops seemed pretty deserted for most of last week, everyone suddenly decided that Friday was the day to go crazy. One woman in particular made at least three attempts to run me down with her trolley – what had I ever done to her?

So that’s it now. No more shopping for me until well after Christmas. Much as I love a good shop there’s a time and a place for everything and Christmas is family time, and I don’t mean just the one day. My blog post of last year, giving my Thoughts On Christmas And Shopping still rings true. I really don’t believe that shops should open on Boxing Day; we can survive without them, thank you very much.

 

Anyway that just leaves me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Or for those of you who don’t celebrate this festivity, a happy winter break. Thank you all for reading my blog again this year, more to come soon.

Happy Holidays!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

December’s Random Thoughts

The thing that really annoys me about the shops being full of Christmas cards and wrapping paper at this time of year is that it’s so hard to find a decent birthday card! People do still celebrate birthdays in December, despite what some shops may think.

I love Christmas lights!

Last week I arrived home from a shopping trip, clutching my festive TV (What’s On TV) guide eager to discover the delights of Christmas telly. However, imagine my surprise when I found that the magazine was missing pages 5-38, although it had double of some of the other page numbers. Perhaps even more disconcerting, was that when I returned it my local Tesco to get a replacement, the assistant scrutinised my receipt very carefully to confirm the 90p purchase, checking and double-checking before allowing me to get a new copy! I was hardly operating some big-time con!

My husband often meets me in a local car park after a shopping trip, where I happen to stand waiting for him quite near to a ticket machine. Obviously, my proximity to the machine means that people often ask whether I have change for the meter, but more perversely they seem to ask me random questions too. “What time do the shops close?” “Where’s the best place to buy a loofah?” (Or some such item). “Is there a branch of ‘Mobile Phone Mania’ nearby?” It seems they think I’m there to offer some kind of information service; perhaps I should put a sign above my head saying ‘Shoppers’ Joy Information Here’. Who knows, if you’re a shopper in Kent and have ever asked a rather exhausted, shopping-laden lady for advice, you may have spoken to Shoppers’ Joy?

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

What’s happened to ‘Which?’

Several years ago, my husband decided to take out a subscription to ‘Which?’ magazine, as at that time it published some good product reviews relative to our lifestyle.

Out of my league

However, recent editions of the magazine have wandered off the point somewhat, reviewing products including £1000 coffee grinders as opposed to items such as £75 vacuum cleaners.

Indeed many of the products reviewed appear more geared towards those with a very affluent lifestyle as opposed to us mere mortals trying to scrape together an honest wage. You are far more likely to read about products by Miele and Smeg, than Beko and Bosch, despite these brands offering appliances that perform well. It seems us ordinary folk are no longer the ‘Which?’ target audience.

The one exception to this rule is their amazing verdict that Aldi is the best supermarket. Are they kidding? All the branches I have ever tried have been poorly laid out, offered limited product choice and were staffed by some very unhelpful individuals. To me Aldi is bottom of the supermarket scale.

Accordingly, hubby decided to cancel his membership to ‘Which?’ – a process that actually deserves a review all of its own.

Simple but serviceable

Prior to ringing the subscriptions department, he had cancelled membership with another company, a process that had taken approximately one minute. The ‘Which?’ operator had other ideas, however.

The conversation lasted for over 10 minutes during which time various incentives (none of any use) were offered to continue with the subscription, numerous questions were asked (and opinions given) and a large amount of ‘sales speak’ was employed.

By the end of the conversation my husband had indeed managed to cancel his subscription, but was left looking rather shell-shocked, feeling that he had just undergone some rigorous debriefing session.

So my Shoppers’ Joy award for the most harrowing ‘end of subscription’ experience goes to ‘Which?’ magazine. Well, it’s about time the reviewers were reviewed.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

No Fee PPI Claims

“Oh no!” I hear you cry; “Now even Shoppers’ Joy is jumping on the PPI bandwagon.”

You may well be fed up with the whole PPI business and I don’t blame you. How many times do you rush to answer a call, only to hear an automated message droning on about mis-sold PPIs? And as for emails – don’t get me started!

But all of this aside, if you have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance, which many of us were, then you may have a valid claim. But take a word of advice – DO NOT use any of the companies that offer to manage the claim on your behalf. They’re not offering to do this out of the goodness of their hearts, they want your money!

The truth of the matter is that you can claim back payments made on mis-sold PPIs, complete with interest, directly from the organisation that sold you the policy in the first place, at no cost. As long as you have some basic information such as who provided the policy, it’s simple to do it yourself.

A great starting point is to use the letter template provided by Which? Just visit www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-reclaim-mis-sold-ppi/ and add your own details to the letter and send to the company concerned.

This is how we initiated a claim. In response to that letter the company involved issued their own claim form, which we completed and returned, swiftly receiving the payments that had been made, plus interest, without incurring any costs whatsoever.

So do ignore all those PPI claim calls and emails, but don’t ignore your right to claim. Just do it yourself for free!

Thank You Morrisons

On several occasions I’ve written about the highs and lows of supermarket cafés, and in a comparison of them all, looking at what they provided and at what cost, I decided that Morrisons cafés came out the best.

I would now like to go a step further and nominate one particular branch for its friendly staff and great customer service.

When we go on long journeys we often track down a supermarket café to stop at for a meal, as they tend to be more cost-effective and have more appetising food than the average motorway service station. A recent trip, which involved some nightmarish stretches of motorway heading in a northerly direction, was no exception.

Studying our route before we left, we decided to stop at the Morrisons café in Cambourne, Cambridgeshire. This we discovered from the internet was open until 8pm, which is actually later than many supermarket cafés, although we expected to be there by 6.30 at the latest.

However, things did not go according to plan, thanks to motorway mayhem and a rather tedious diversion, which together resulted in us arriving at 7.30pm. I know from experience that some restaurants stop serving hot food about half an hour before closing, or at best offer a very limited menu at that time, so gingerly approached the assistant with a tentative, “Are we still able to get hot food?”

He greeted us with a smile, informing us that yes, we could have hot food, and apart from jacket potatoes we could pretty well have anything on the menu. We then proceeded to order four different meals, which were freshly cooked, and served with a smile. The choice of food was very good and the food itself was lovely, as were the staff members, who were helpful and friendly.

You may think I’m getting a bit excited over nothing, but let me remind you, or for those of you who have never read the dreaded ‘Sainsbury’ saga inform you, that an evening trip to one of their restaurants was quite a disaster – poor choice of food, disinterested, unhelpful staff and a weird service system (Sainsburys Stanway, Colchester read more here ) Though I must admit, I have not returned to this branch since, and it may well have improved – well, hopefully!

Anyway, back to Morrisons, particularly the staff of the café at the Cambourne branch, who I would hereby like to present with the Shoppers’ Joy award for great service. Thanks guys!

September’s Random Thoughts

Why is it that when I select a few garments to take into a changing room when out clothes shopping, (a couple I really like the look of and an OK one that I might as well try), I only ever end up buying the one that I took in as an afterthought or to make up the numbers?

With the summer holidays over, it won’t be long before the shops start displaying all their Christmas goods, no doubt. (In fact a local shop put out some Christmas cards a month or two ago). So I thought I’d get ahead this year and be the first to wish you all a Happy Christmas!

An early Christmas pic just for you

My local Tesco Metro has just had a revamp. I love the new, brighter feel. I love the new more user-friendly fridges. But I hate the narrower aisles, lined with higher shelf units – a trend in many shops now it seems. Why don’t they just go the whole way and turn the shop into a maze? Customers lucky enough to find their way to the centre can be rewarded with the products that they were looking to find!

When it comes to buying jeans it would seem that we are spoilt for choice. There are skinny, straight leg, bootcut, relaxed, loose, comfort, carpenter and boyfriend fit jeans. I’m waiting for ‘actually fit’ jeans, as no matter which style I opt for, there’s always something not quite right about them.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Tales Of A ‘Set Down Point’

At my local Tesco Extra there is an area named the ‘Set Down Point’, which consists of two bays each designed to accommodate two vehicles, for the purpose of setting down (and indeed picking up) shoppers.

However, I often see this area being used for all kinds of purposes, for which I’m sure it was never intended. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sit there for hours on end watching the comings and goings, but I regularly meet my husband there following a shopping trip. Invariably I’m ready some time before he actually arrives, so I can’t help but see what’s going on.

I’m really exasperated by some of the activities that I see, and have decided to compile a list of things that I recommend you avoid doing at the ‘Set Down Point’, based on real events that I’ve witnessed. Take heed, if you live in the Medway area, this could be aimed at you!

1. Do not park your vehicle in the middle of a bay, turning it from a space for two vehicles to an area for only one. Strangely it’s always the people with the smallest cars that do this, preventing others from being able to pause in the bay.
2. Do not use this area to park your car whilst you perform a full ‘trolley’ shop. There are usually plenty of other parking spaces available and they are all free of charge.
3. Do not park here to have a picnic. Yes, I’ve actually seen this happen. What appeared to be a father and son emerged from Tesco with a full carrier bag of food, which they then proceeded to eat on the spot – in their twee little camper van with net curtains! Surely there are better places to have a picnic.
4. Do not use this area as a venue for a social event. I’ve actually seen people park here, greet friends, linger long enough to have major conversations and ‘catch up’ sessions, pausing to use the toilets along the way, and even using this area to ‘swap’ children that they have picked up from school!
5. Do not settle down (it’s set down not settle) and read a book. Contrary to what you may think, this is not a reading area.
6. Do not set down passengers – oh hold on! You can do that, I got carried away!

Have not actually seen one of these parked there though!

I certainly see a lot of life when waiting at the Set Down Point, In fact, I’m thinking of turning the shenanigans into a script for a TV soap. I’m sure ‘Setdowners’ could prove a big hit!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy