legalbeagle

Shygirl - to be fair the comments today were about a charity collector inside co-op pestering people in the middle of their shopping with exremely inappropriate comments. I'm sure that this person is not at all in the category of the gentleman you mention who appears to be giving up his spare time for a charity, and doing so in an entirely charming and appropriate way.

Poor you Prussia, that sounds horrible, and you have every right to be suspicious. That just isn't an appropriate thing to say to someone, regardless of whether or not you work for a charity! In these situations, I would always always trust your instincts. If you felt he was a creep, then he was a creep. Keep well away and let the co op know that there is some dodgy behaviour going on in their shop!

You know felt-tip, you've got me there. I can tell you about bag policy and ethically sourced alternatives and deliveries over Christmas. I can recommend a wine, try to mediate an argument, and implement new policies. I can entice you in for new year's eve, explain our new menus and espouse the virtues of our many wine courses. But wrapping wine in paper? Nope. No idea.

Narnia - rent a bag has been universally applauded as a good idea by G&B, and will be implemented. So thank you for that! If you email Kate directly (I'll pm you her email address) then she will provide you with a free delicious bottle of wine.

We don't charge if you are within a 2 mile radius. If you are outside of the 2 mile radius and have spent over ?200 we don't charge. If you have spent under ?200 we charge ?10. Whether or not you get same day delivery will depend on what it is you want, so best to call the shop and check. If we can do same day, we will. Our suppliers aren't delivering over xmas and new year, so we may run out of one or two things if we are unlucky, but you should be able sort something out with us.

Cherrybear - the reference was to complaints we at the shop have actually received from customers on this subject, which is one in three years. And as you'll see from my earlier explanations, we did not call any of our customers lazy or forgetful. It's regretful that comments were interpreted as such, for which we have apologised.

Watch this space Narnia.....! And Tarot you are right. You can buy all our delicious wine on line and have it delivered if you so wish.

Perhaps forgetful isn't quite the word. It's more remembering to have a bag with you whether or not you plan to shop, for those "just in case" times. I have one that folds up into something hardly bigger than a handy pack of tissues which is permanently in my handbag, and several in my car. It's just a change of mindset really. I'll mention that idea to the staff, Narnia, thanks.

Tara - we have considered this however paper bags are not an option for us either as heavy bottles of wine simply don?t work with most of them and the re-inforced, larger paper bags are not only prohibitively expensive, but are also hugely wasteful for smaller purchases.

Mac - I didn't comment on a time line. Rather my point was that you didn't need to name and berate us publicly since you already had an opportunity to talk to us directly. The blog followed your complaint. The blog was anonymous. The Forum followed the blog, which was not anonymous, and I'm not sure what it's added. In any event it seems ulikely we are going to be able to agree, and I know you continue not to accept our apologies, they are nonetheless offered. I wish your household a happy christmas, and if you'd like a free bottle of wine for the festive season, you know where we are. With a free bag to carry it home in, of course.

Mac - I'm not sure there's much I can add here. I can only repeat that you were not directly being called lazy, and we've apologised that you read it as such. We've explained our plastic bag policy, with which you disagree, and we've offered goodwill gestures, which are still being offered. The owner is entitled to write her blog on subjects that she feels strongly about. She did not identify you or your wife, in order to protect your privacy - privacy which your original anonymous post on a public forum did not afford to us. You had already had an opportunity to engage with us privately over this issue but you still wanted to publicly berate us as well. Freedom of speech is a tricky balance isn't it? We are, genuinely, sorry that you're offended. Please accept our wine and bag as a peace offering.

DulwichFox - our bags are not hessian, they are cloth, and they are ethically sourced. Here's the link to the company we source from, setting out their ethical policy: http://thecleverbaggers.co.uk/bags/Ethical-Information.html

I have now read through all of the emails from both sides, which seems to have been quite a considerable amount of correspondence. The manager in question was discussing our plastic bag policy, and stated that we don't provide them in order to assist people who are too lazy to bring their own alternative bags, or are (as was the case here) forgetful. We just don't provide them at all. She did not call the customer lazy, but if it was read that way, again we apologise. The customer was at the time of her complaint offered a free bottle of wine as a good will gesture and I have also offered a free bag. Both offers stand as we really do value our customers. We don't wish to appear rude, or to alienate, we really don't. But we do stick to our "no plastic bags" policy. I can give you some stats and more reasons why if you're interested.

Hello all. As some of you will know I am one of the owners of Green & Blue. We do not have any plastic bags, and have not had for a while. We do have boxes, small paper bags, and hessian bags which we sell at cost price. We do not have any plastic bags however, not even recycled ones for emergencies. The thing is that unless shops simply don't provide plastic bags, people will forget to carry an alternative, and they will get a plastic bag if they ask for one, and nothing improves. The impact on the environment of single use plastic is huge and we are just trying to do our bit to improve that. We are sorry if this is inconvenient, we realy are, and we do know that can annoy now and again. But it is our policy, not because we want to be pious, but because we think it is the best way to tackle the issue. I have spoken to the manager in question, who has no recollection of calling you lazy, and we certainly don't want to appear "up ourselves". However we obviously did annoy you and again I apologise. If you would like to PM me I will happily give you one of our hessian bags for free.

What a complete and utter pain in the neck. Yet again more disrpution. I really can't now remember a time in the past year when either Dunstans Road or the top of Lordship Lane or Court Lane weren't dug up or partly blocked with temporary traffic lights. Horrendous traffic and my car has already been hit twice by irate drivers in recent history.......

Crevice.

Oh lordly that was funny. So glad I escaped before you lot ended up in the kebab shop!!!! NICE dancing from Jaws, I thought. Not so sure about Georgia disappearing out of the room whilst still on her chair...........

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Ear muffs are the way to go - I'm loving mine today. Keeps me warm but doesn't mess the hairdo. Job done, in a snow bunny kind of way. Perfect!

I LOVE the snow. I love how beautiful it makes London look and I LOVE how the capital city grinds to a halt to the sound of gnashing teeth as soon as there's more than a few flakes on the ground. It's just so English that we can look so beautiful and yet be so grumpy and yet also overdramatic. Perfect example is a photo on the evening standard website, caption: "people in central London coping with the weather conditions" I can see three brollies and a woolly hat. Now that's coping for you. Let it snow!

Honest whenever you can with a big dose of tactful?

Loving the increasingly hysterical messages from the kids school...."worsening weather conditions"...."fetch them while you still can"...."no later than one pm"...."come now! come now!" "WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!"

*Dignified silence*

Too cold? Eh? Surely the perfect opportunity for impromptu hand holding/hugging? Where's your imagination man?!!!!!

Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. London Eye and the south bank. Tea at the Dorchester Hotel. London Zoo. Ice skating at Somerset House. Walk in Richmond Park to see the deer. Any one of our amazing galleries - National Portrait, for example. John Soames museum in Holborn. Lunch at Green & Blue!!!!!!