The Right Cut

I’m someone who never seems to get round to getting my hair cut until I wake up one morning, look in the mirror and think, “Help!”

I invariably just pop into a hairdressing salon when out on a shopping trip, in the hope of having a rescue cut there and then. I’ve previously visited various branches of Supercuts, the chain that has a no appointment policy, so attempted to get a cut there again last week, when it got to the stage that I could not longer see past my fringe.

Calling in at a branch of Supercuts in a local shopping centre, I was pleased to see that no one was queuing there. I presumed I would only have a minimal wait and attempted to book in. However, I was told that a man was in front of me, although he’d currently wandered out, which I thought strange as I have always been told that once you have booked in you have to wait in the salon, otherwise if anyone comes in whilst you are away, they get priority. Apparently this rule does not seem to apply to everyone. In addition to this I was told that I would have a 45-minute wait. Now, I’m not being rude, but when said man walked back in during this conversation he didn’t have that much hair to work with so where did the 45 minutes come from? Especially as there were two stylists in attendance at this time.

 

This information, together with the generally unhelpful attitude with which it was delivered, made me decide not to stay. The question was where else could I go at short notice?

Not far from the shopping centre was a small hair and beauty salon that I decided to pop into on the off chance. I received a warm welcome and was pleased to find that a stylist was available straight away. I was then offered tea or coffee – no chance of that at Supercuts with its conveyor-belt mentality!

The stylist, Alec, then proceeded to wash and condition my hair, with a gently head massage, then cut and styled it very professionally, being friendly and helpful throughout. He was careful to angle the hairdryer away from my face, something that I appreciated as I hate being blasted full on the face (it makes me catch my breath) as some hairdressers do.

The whole experience only cost me £24 and the salon operates a loyalty scheme. So if you live in or are a visitor to the Medway area of Kent, do call in to Phixx in Chatham for a great hair cut in a friendly atmosphere.

Of course, for those of you living elsewhere, I recommend that you abandon some of the more impersonal hairdressing chains in the High Street and give a smaller independent salon a try.

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This January I’ve …

… Been doing lots of baking, not because I’ve got Great-British-Bake-Off-Fever, but because it’s a cheap way to keep the family provided with cakes, buns and other goodies. With Tesco Everyday Value flour costing only 45p for a 1.5kg bag, you can keep the family supplied at a really low cost.

,,, Bought Cross Stitch Card Shop magazine, which comes with a cute card kit and is full of fun cross stitch designs. I got the bug for making cross stitch cards in the lead up to Christmas and am still keen to make more!

… Received my first reward voucher from my Together loyalty card (The Works book shop). If you’re an avid reader this is a great card as you earn 5 points for every pound that you spend, with each point worth 1p. This is better than a Tesco Clubcard where you earn 1 point per pound or a Sainsburys Nectar Card, which awards 2 points per pound, but it takes 2 points to make one penny. But of course, you won’t spend so much in The Works anyway, will you?

Enjoying Carling Zest with a hint of winter berries, the latest edition to their delicious range of flavoured lagers and by far my favourite. Grab a box of 12 bottles for just £7 at Tesco!

… Reading lots of books as usual, including:

‘The Memory of Midnight’ by Pamela Hartshorne, an intriguing tale that combines the modern day life of troubled Tess and the hardships of Elizabethan York as experienced by Nell Appleby. A gripping tale that really gets you hooked!

‘The Flower Reader’ by Elizabeth Loupas. A tale of danger and intrigue set in the court of the young Mary Queen of Scots, which takes a lot of twists and turns before all is revealed. It’s compelling reading.

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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?

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Customer Service – Queues

Levels of customer service can vary greatly, not just between different store chains and shops, but also between individual branches, and indeed, individual shop assistants.

I’ve previously chronicled some of the good and bad examples of customer service that I’ve received and now have a couple of new stories to relate.

Hands up who's fed up of queues?

On the whole, I’ve always received a good standard of customer service at my local Tesco stores. However a recent shopping trip to one branch left me feeling rather annoyed. I’d popped in for a few necessary items and joined a checkout queue with only one other customer in front of me. I should have whizzed through the checkout easily, however this was not to be. There was a problem with an item that the customer ahead of me was purchasing – some fault with the bar code. The item in question was only worth a couple of pounds and the easiest solution was for the cashier to total up the few other items of shopping and refer the problem to customer services.

However, she chose to send a colleague to track down a better bar code, who proceeded to do so in the manner of someone taking a Sunday afternoon stroll. Ten minutes later the assistant finally returned with the new code and finally the queue got to move!

At no point during all of this did either the cashier, or her colleague, attempt to apologise to those of us waiting in the queue. When it was my turn to be served I was just met with the customary, “Thank you for waiting”, said without any feeling. I did not reply, “That’s OK”, because it wasn’t.

I am quite prepared to wait in a queue if I 1) feel there is a valid, unavoidable reason for this and 2) receive an apology for the delay. As neither of these points applied to this situation I was far from happy and will be contacting the store manager.

On the flipside, my local Sainsburys, who I’ve previously had to take to task over a 20-minute hold-up with a customer service query, appear to have upped their game. How refreshing it has been to arrive at the checkouts with a full trolley of shopping and be met by a smiling-faced individual who proceeds to take me to the checkout with the shortest queue. It’s these little personal touches that make a difference to a shopping trip.

The same branch of Sainsburys sent a letter to me just ahead of Christmas, thanking me for my custom and enclosing a gift voucher. OK, they probably did that to lots of customers, but once again it made me feel appreciated.

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School Tuck Shops

Sadly school tuck shops have become very much a thing of the past. Healthy eating gurus now consider it inappropriate to sell the odd biscuit in school, with many schools either allowing a child to partake only of a small piece of fruit during morning break, or even nothing at all. Our brains benefit from a bit of a mid-morning boost, so denying children a small, healthy snack seems unreasonable.

But old-style school tuck shops weren’t just about the food, although I profess that I miss pop nuts (who remembers them, resembling Wotsits but with a nutty taste) and potato puffs. As snacks go these were actually lower calorie, lower fat than many of the crisps that we do buy today.

No, tuck shops were educational in a sense too, often run by pupils who had to learn about setting up displays and handling money. At my primary school, pupils in what is now known as year 6 (then 4^th year juniors) were in charge of the tuck shop, with a rota system of different individuals manning the shop (well two trolleys parked in the corridor) for a week at a time.

We sold two Jammie Dodgers for a penny, three Cheddar biscuits for a penny, chocolate teacakes and of course, those much-missed pop nuts and potato puffs. We did not pig out on these products or grow fat on them, because we bought them in small quantities and they tended to be our one treat of the day. If we were lucky enough to be given a precious penny or two for tuck, we had to choose carefully. I suppose with today’s expectations children may arrive with fistfuls of cash and buy much more, as so many seem to receive a startling amount of pocket money now.

With the over-the-top restraints and rules of today, it would probably be expected that those handing out the biscuits etc (unwrapped from open packets) hold a Certificate in Food Hygiene – at the age of 11? Then there would be the question as to whether you should really split up packets of biscuits and sell them separately, or whether this actually is against the law!

Why have we made our lives so regimented and difficult that even school tuck shops no longer thrive? They were fun, educational and certainly hold fond memories for me of my school days.

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January’s Best And Worst Buys

The Best

I’ve been enjoying Tesco Micro Oats, but have been frustrated that I’ve had to buy the variety box in order to obtain any of the apple and blueberry flavour. Despite online research suggesting that this flavour was available on its own, I’ve been unable to find any in store. I was delighted, therefore, to find that Sainsburys Express Porridge is available in apple and cinnamon and raspberry and blueberry flavours, costing £1.59 for 10 sachets, or currently two boxes for £2.50.

I prefer the healthier breakfast option

I immediately bought a box of each of these two flavours for £2.50 and have to say I really love them. They are also available in original and golden syrup varieties and they make a tasty, filling start to the day. This will definitely be the brand that I’m buying in future.

The Worst

I was intrigued when I noticed Tesco Steak and Cheese Pies (frozen) on a recent shopping trip and just had to try them. At £2 for four, and containing British beef, I thought they would make a tasty change for the family meal. Sadly, however, I was very disappointed.

They seemed to cook unevenly, with the pastry topping cooking well and the pastry case remaining soggy and slightly undercooked. The feeling did not taste of cheese at all, but just like any other type of steak pie that I have sampled. I really won’t be buying these again.

On the subject of Tesco, I have to say that I was appalled to find, on a recent visit to my local branch’s Family Café, the cost of their toasted sandwiches has risen from around £2.30 to up to £3.95, depending on the filling, when the only other thing that appears to have changed about them is the packaging! I expect a supermarket café to offer a budget menu, not charge as much, if not more, than trendy coffee shops. (By the way, you can get a basic cheese and ham toastie in Costa for £2.85.) You need to think again Tesco!

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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!

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