Scumerfield

[Spurling_Roader]

I only shop at Somerfield when needs must (which is more regularly than I'd like to admit!!).

One particularly irritating feature of this badly-stocked supermarket is that they never seem to open their 'fast' checkouts at peak hours (i.e. when commuters like me return from a hard day at the office and want to quickly pick up something for supper!).

Sorry to rant. Anyone got anything else to add?!

[Townleygreen]

I think it's the best shop in the world! Never mind tatty old Waitrose!

[annieguy]

You mean the self-scan checkouts? If so, they never seem to be open during the day either...

[fractionater]

Hey... its heaps better than it used to be, prior to the renovation!

can't wait for the Sainsbo renovation to be complete!

[dulwichmum]

Really, lets get some perspective here. Don't you remember what was there before Somerfield? This is a vast improvement.

You should try living near the dreadful new Tesco Metro on Croxted Road. The stock is dreadfully limited, and it is lit (is that how to spell it?) like a dayglo Christmas tree, with that navy blue and white dreadful forumula - completely out of sinc with all of the other local shops. It sticks out like an eye sore.

Somerfield looks positively upmarket in comparison. At least they have tried to blend in.

[spadetownboy]

compared to what it used to be like the present somerfield is shopping heaven.as for checkouts never being open its a feature of all supermarkets,remember the tesco fiasco of a few years ago,ie one person in front of you and we,ll open a new checkout,they soon put a stop to that one.they,re all the same supermarkets,banks,post offices etc,loads of serving points but never enough open to cope with demand.

[ratty]

If you hate is so much, stick to Iceland! :p

[Parker's Folly]

ratty Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If you hate is so much, stick to Iceland! :p

I tell you what I would like to see is a Waitrose somewhere locally, if not on Lordship Lane, at least within a mile's radius.

I know some people probably think its too posh or pricey, but I for one used to love shopping there when I lived in Ealing a few years ago. I know there's one in Bromley and in Beckenham, but that's too far away.

[OldTimer]

From my experience, the quality of the beef that I have purchased from Somerfield (from the meat counter) is TripleA plus....far far better than any other supermarket or independent butchers. A tad pricey, but you get what you pay for.

As for the rest of the store, the front half of the store is really attractive and welcoming, but overall the store lets itself down by not having an extensive range of products available (as in a Sainsburys, Tescos, Morrisons), and the products that are available are overpriced, in comparison with other Supermarkets.

[Townleygreen]

Sound like an opportunity to maybe use Ocado?

[clare]

I got all my secondary school transfer advice from one of the women who works on the till at somerfield....they provide us with so much more than tins of sweewtcorn and tins of spam........

[AcedOut]

Self-scan = Do staff out of a job [i refuse point-blank to use them unless they offer customers a discount for pricing the

goods themselves].

[Domitianus]

I have never forgiven them since they removed their own recipe Chicken Breasts in Lemon sauce and the magnificent salmon fillets with lime and coriander butter! Why oh why oh why oh why....................

[Chartwell]

...and don't forget that it's a 'Market Fresh' Somerfield - only a select few in the country - apparently! not everyone gets grey 'slate' tile floors - perhaps thaat's why they can't afford good stock.

I saw a programme the other night called Shopping the Supermarkets (or something like that) and Somerfield were highlighted as pulling the plug on a lettuce supplier who had supplied them for 26 years. As a result of this decision the supplier was in danger of going out of business - so another reason to dislike them! Of course there is two sides to every story.

[Polly D]

Rant time: waited at the unmanned fish counter the other day for ages, couldn't spy the lady who normally serves there so asked a 'Market Fresh' employee if he could pass me some tasty fillets. He toodled off to find someone only to return saying no-one was available to serve me. When I asked whether he could maybe give me the fish he told me he wasn't trained to handle fish ... grrrrrrr rant and rant again. I sort of understand but there were the tasty fillets in front of my snosh and when I asked what would be the future of the fish if no-one could technically handle them he shrugged and buggered off ...

[louisiana]

Parker's Folly Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> ratty Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > If you hate is so much, stick to Iceland! :p

>

>

> I tell you what I would like to see is a Waitrose

> somewhere locally, if not on Lordship Lane, at

> least within a mile's radius.

>

> I know some people probably think its too posh or

> pricey, but I for one used to love shopping there

> when I lived in Ealing a few years ago. I know

> there's one in Bromley and in Beckenham, but

> that's too far away.

I use Ocado (Waitrose online) for heavy/bulky stuff once a month. They always deliver on time (one-hour time slots), and the drivers are always very personable and helpful. There are some Waitrose things I can't do without e.g. Waitrose own brand luxury lemon curd - like the Dutchy Originals one, but much cheaper. Oh, and their chilli-spiced pickled onions, the best I've ever had.

Louisiana

[ClareC]

Has anyone ever seen the self service tills open? I am begining to think they are for decorative purposes only :-)

[louisiana]

I went in on Monday for some beer :)-D and they were shut.

The trouble with technology is that is rarely works as planned.

Louisiana

[mockney piers]

As a professional technologist I take issue with that statement. The "as planned" is completely superfluous ;)

[louisiana]

You're right, of course, Mockney Piers. Both in that those words are superfluous, and in that technology is rarely 'planned' in any real sense. First and most important, systems developers rarely if ever do any real appraisal of what people need to be built. It's usually BOGSAT - bunch of guys sitting around a table, guessing. This is the single most important reason why stuff never works. I spend most of my professional life picking up the pieces, so I shouldn't complain. :)

Louisiana

[mockney piers]

Sounds like we've come to the same conclusion from opposite ends. I spend most of my life complaining that sitting around a table guessing is going to result in a useless application that gets canned 2 years and half a million pounds down the line.

I've yet to be proved wrong or listened to.

And to keep it on topic I have managed to use those machines, usually grabbing one of the staff does it. And apart from a weird preoccupation with things not being bagged properly, they more or less work well.

[professordingo]

just to add my two penn'orth - somerfield is crap! extremely expensive compared with Sainsburys and they consistently overcharge (i.e. what it says on the shelf is not what you're charged) - BEWARE their 'special' offers (they call them 'special' because you get a surprise price at checkout). I regularly complain in there - you may only be overcharged a few p, but if they do that to everyone then they're fraudulently making stacks of extra money (the directors no doubt, not the poor staff). i was once racially abused by a somerfield shop assistant in camberwell (she was abusive to the customer in front of me who was complaining about being overcharged, so I defended the in-the-right customer, and was then abused by this shop-assistant-with-a-london-accent, as 'you English think you can come in here...' - somerfield head office sent me ?5 compensation at which i despaired, since they clearly hadn't quite got the point)

last gripe... it's always bleeding FREEZING COLD in there.

so yes, I avoid the place unless i'm desperate - we've got fab local shops (and long live iceland)!

[Kathryn]

Polly why did you not go to the fantastic moxtons plenty of friendly staff only to willing to sell you lovely fresh fish. Will clean it cut it even tell you how to cook it if you want them to. Let somerfield be good at what it does best other than that we have fantastic shops on LL for all the good fresh stuff ie veg, fruit, fish and meat.

[Keef]

At the risk of cementing my reputation as a useless drunk, I would just like to say that you often get really good beer deals in Sommerfield :)-D

Other than that, I agree it's not great :-S

[Mark]

kinda relating this to another thread somewhere, whouldn't it be great if all the small meat, fish, grocery shops etc stayed open just a little later in the evening so you could get fresh food after work? Instead having to go to Somerfield and Sainsburys it would be great to get home take a quick stroll down the strip on a summer's evening to pick up some fresh fish and veg for dinner (whilst trying to ignore the pubs and bars on the way). It seems that even the fish counter at Somerfield closes at just-before-Mark-gets-there o'clock.

I'm not in retail but why don't they stay open 'til 7? Surely the footfall ;-) is pretty good at that time, look at the queues in the supermarkets...