Metropol

Right, back from the yellow place. And some bizarre customer service.

me: "I'd like this suit dry cleaned, please."
dry cleaning bloke: "Ok, that'll be ready for collection on Monday at 6"
me: "but when I called yesterday, I was told that I could drop it in today and pick it up tomorrow."
dry cleaning bloke: "Oh, ok, why not. 6pm tomorrow then."


Later, I'm wandering past the "Morrisons Home" aisle, and remember I need to buy a baking tray. Their last one has a dent in it, so I track down someone to ask if they've got any more. He doesn't know, so goes to find someone. I hear a call for someone from Home and Garden to come to aisle 10.

Five minutes later, I get bored, and go to the checkout, and ask there. The girl fetches someone, who goes to look in the back shop, and comes back to tell me that there are no more. No offers to mark down the price or anything, just a case of 'shall I just take it off your bill, then?'


Strange idea of customer service...

Here ya go...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4605115.stm

How Tesco got to where it is right now.

Safeway in coventry is currently being converted, massive extention, and planned to be finnished for Christmas 2005, it still has the old sign, but the petrol station has converted. It looks complete chaos, not been in as of yet though.

James Martin wrote:I know the big Tesco at Mansfield BTW - my grandma lives just round the corner - I didn't know the Garden Centre was no more though.

You must be really slow then! It was closed in 1995 and demolished in 1996!

When it comes to morrisons, I dislike it as well, though my mum likes it for some reason. They have a much smaller range of food, and I find it's lower quality. Also, I'm not aware of any major refurbishments since it opened in the early 90s (the most that changed was the change of external signage from "WM Morrison" to "Morrisons" around 1995. Half the signs in the shop still say WM Morrison though), and it still looks like something from the 1960s, especially the Market Street.

Though with ASDA being directly behind our house, there's very little need for us to ever shop anywhere else, except Xmas where we use Sainsbury (the former safeways, beofre Morrisons were forced to sell it off last year) as ASDA is heaving and half-empty at Xmas and Safeway/Saimsburys never is.

On a similar note, as I said in the TV Forum thread, the smaller Tesco in Mansfield town centre still had the original 1977 signage outside, even though it was refitted in 1996! The Marks & Spencer here also still has the yellow 1970s/80s signage on the outside as well despite numerous refits, and I've even seen broken lighting being repalced on the sign as recently as 2003! I'm suprised M&S are doing this, I thought they'd be updating old signage, not maintaining it!

thegeek wrote:I did manage to get some Safeway, Morrisons and Somerfield products in the the same shop once, but there's pretty much no Safeway things left now, and just a handful of Morrisons things, typically next to their Somerfield equivalent, or in the Reduced to Clear bit.

we occasionally get a big delivery of Safeweay/Morrisons stuff to clear out in our shop.

We had a Kwik Save and a Safeway in the town centre and a medium Co-op up on a housing estate. Recently added to this was a big Lidl (the larest shop in town) built on top of the site of the old garage (11 pumps - we're now stuck with two small 6 pumps garages in awkard places). Kwik Save spent 7 months on the verge of closure about to turn into a Somerfield. It was mysteriously put off 4 times.

Then Somerfield bought Safeway Compact. They decided to change Safeway into the somerfield (as it was a vastly better building) and just shut Kwik Save. All the staff were promlty scaked although when the booze asile mysteriously moved directly next to the door and everyone started helping themselves they had a u-turn and moved them into Safeway.

So then on the Tuesday Kwik Save closed down. On the Saturday everything in Safeway went down to 5p. It was rather fab as everyone in town zooed into the shop and dived at the cheap food. The entire shop was cleared as was 90% of the warehouse.

It didn't open again as a Somerfield (owing to three stocktakes by both companies, the upgraded of the back office EPOS systems and new signage outside) until the Wednesday. Course the Co-op decided to have it's massive refit at the same time whilst staying open at the same time.

So then Somerfield (now vastly overstaffed instead of just greatly overstaffed) reopened with no Safeway/Morrisons stock left.

So - getting back to the original point - our Safeway/Somerfield now gets deliveries from the less competent stores who can't clear out their stuff to clear out. Normally a massive pile of those marvellous skips they use in the fuit and veg asile come out and everyon promtly dives at them and starts sliding them round the shop and finding the best bargains. Always fun.

Someone accused me of waffling the other day.

thegeek wrote:Later, I'm wandering past the "Morrisons Home" aisle, and remember I need to buy a baking tray. Their last one has a dent in it, so I track down someone to ask if they've got any more. He doesn't know, so goes to find someone. I hear a call for someone from Home and Garden to come to aisle 10.

Five minutes later, I get bored, and go to the checkout, and ask there. The girl fetches someone, who goes to look in the back shop, and comes back to tell me that there are no more. No offers to mark down the price or anything, just a case of 'shall I just take it off your bill, then?'


Strange idea of customer service...

Believe me it is easier not bothering to ask for a mark down in price, as it is likely that a Supervisor or Manager would be needed to do so and to top all of that of someone would be required to get a HHT machine to actually reduce it, which H&L or H&G wouldn't have a clue about, as only Grocery, Bakery, Oven Fresh/Pie Shop and Salad Bar only use HHT.

Regarding Tesco and what have you, there was one in Irlam that was a Tesco Hypermarket, which had probably been there since the 1960's, but they did what the others did and built a Tesco Extra on the Car Park and knocked down the old one later on.

It's odd in Warrington as we didn't get out first Tesco until 2003, where as we've had Asda since the mid 1980's, Sainsburys since 1985 and a Morrisons since 1994. And God knows how many Lidl's, Aldi's and Co-Op Late Shops.

More proof that Safeway is going tits up....

Asda acquires 12 New stores in Northern Ireland

Because he's a self-obsessed tosser?

A lot in common with yourself then James

Morrison's is a bit crap. Usually go to Sainsburys nowadays (only because they seem to have got cheaper recently) but on a recent diversion to Morrisons, I saw a packet of GREEN mince in the chiller cabinet and some rolls that looked a bit er...furry.

Don't think I'll be going there for a while. :roll:

Hymagumba wrote:A lot in common with yourself then James

Don't be nasty!