Tag Archive | shopping

Bahhh Humbug!!!

Nov23

I feel like taking the plug off the TV and hibernating – it’s only November but already the ‘Christmas’ channels are up and running on the TV and have been for a couple of weeks now.  We have already had the ‘Coca Cola’ advert, weeks before it’s due.  Toys and CDs galore are on every ad break… Has the country gone mad??

I’m not being at all Scroogle-like, I just think that the pressure to consume is hitting us way to hard and way, way too early this year.  Everyone has less money to spend so I realise that retailers are trying to get your money before you spend it elsewhere, but I ask you – who has the money anyway?  Surely I am not the only person who feels like this?  I am avoiding the town because at every breath there are more posters and banners leering at me, wanting me to spend, spend, spend.

I’m also aghast at the number of households already sporting a generous cladding of festive lighting – their fuel bills are going to be amazing enough if we get the cold weather we have been promised, without them lighting up the neighbourhood for two months too!

Now, I’m not religious so the festival holds no religious meaning for me.  What it does mean is a time when most of my family are not at work; it’s a time when we can indulge in one another’s company.  We can give one another small gifts to show our love and our appreciation for that person (note I said small).  It’s a time for feasting, but not so much that we can’t afford to eat for the rest of the year.  Most of all, it’s a time for rest and recharging our batteries as a family.  Its a few days off work, hunker down under a blanket and do not very much at all.

This year is going to feel very strange for me.  Of our seven children, only four will be at home on Christmas Day for the first time ever.  Our family is growing up.  No.1 Son will be at work – he works in a call centre and will be there to assist those motorists foolhardy enough to go out in their cars and break down on Christmas day.  I don’t blame him, like the rest of the population; the money will come in handy for him.  No.1 Daughter now has a little family of her own, and although I will be sad not to have her at our table this year, I am full of pride that she has her wonderful partner and their little man to cook her first Christmas dinner for this year.  Number 3 no longer lives at home and will, I expect be with friends for the holidays.  Our table will be less crowded this year, and although I am a little sad, I am also strangely looking forward to some relaxing time with our younger kids and Dear Hubby.

I hope that each and every one of you has a wondrous festival holiday, filled with love, respect and relaxation.  I do hope though, that those who are unable to consume at the levels the ad men would like us to, will feel comfortable in not indulging the excesses that others are.

I’m off now to carry on knitting gifts for our nearest and dearest.  I have been beavering away all year making wines to gift too, so if you receive a long narrow package from us… guess what – have a MERRY holiday!

The Customer is Always Right – ya think?

Sep3
Colchester High Street, pic from telegraph.co.uk

OK, so I am feeling rather p***ed off at the moment.  I have size 9 feet and that makes shopping for shoes a trial in itself.  I recently went to buy some new ones, the old ones were hanging on by a thread.  The High Street in the nearest large town to me (Colchester) offers a couple of budget options (I’m a mum, we don’t do expensive shoes – school shoes come first).  I went into the first and lo! they had a pair that fit me like a glove – a triumph of which I am all too aware.  The shelf announced a price that was within my budget – another triumph!  I was doing so well, but then I went to pay for them…

Sales Assistant: ‘That will be £16.99.’
I hand over cash – not card, credit or otherwise – cash, all the time thinking that I am sure the shelf said £12.99
Shoes are shoved into a carrier bag by surly Sales Assistant and pushed back across the counter to me.
I turn, still aching at the amount the shoes have cost and glance back at the shelf-edge price ticket – sure enough it still says £12.99
I return to the till, bag in hand and ask the Sales Assistant to check the price for me.
Sales Assistant: ‘I charged you the price on the till,’ surliness increasing with each breath.
Me: ‘Would you mind checking that please, the price is not the same as the one on the shelf.’
(I nod to hubby and ask him to take a photo of the shelf – just in case I need it later.)
Sales Assistant: ‘Well the till is right.’
Me: ‘I think you will find that you have to charge me the price that is on display – don’t you?’
Sales Assistant: ‘Well I can’t change it now.’
Me: ‘If you can’t charge me the correct amount, I would like a refund please.’
(BIG MISTAKE!)
Sales Assistant: ‘I can’t take them back, there’s nothing wrong with them.’
(A fine head of steam is now building in my chest – and I am a big woman.)
Me: ‘Yes, there is – the price is incorrect and I would like my money back please.’
Sales Assistant: OK, well I will need your address and postcode then.’
Me: ‘Pardon?’
Sales Assistant: ‘I need them for the system.’
Me: Well I don’t want to give you my personal details; I paid cash not by card so you don’t need them.’
Sales Assistant: ‘Well I can’t do it without your postcode.’
(PMT is kicking in now, I’m getting angry, face is turning red and I’m going to blow, any minute.)
Me: ‘I‘d like to speak to the Manager please.’
Sales Assistant now proceeds to call the Manager downstairs from her office.  It takes three of four minutes for her to get to the shop floor.  When she arrives, I find myself looking at someone who appears to be about 17 years old.  She sees a woman who is about to explode.  The tale is recounted by Sales Assistant, who is now feigning tears to add insult to injury.  My turn now.
Me: ‘I’d simply like a refund please, I no longer want these shoes and I will never shop here again.’
Manager: ‘What’s your postcode please?’
Me: I’m not giving you my postcode; I just want my money back!’
Manager: The till won’t let me give you a refund with a postcode.’
Me: ‘Then use the shop postcode or your own, you’re not having mine!’
Manager: ‘I can’t do that madam; it’s not allowed.’
(Wait for it…)
Me: ‘OK, give me the shoes and my receipt please.  I have a photograph with the price on the shelf a sit stand today.  I’m now going to call Trading Standards.’
I take my mobile out of my handbag and call Directory Enquiries asking for the number for our local TS office.
(Wait for it…)
Manager: ‘I think I might be able to do it if I bypass the postcode, let me try… oh, yes, I can.’
Me: ‘Now ain’t that a surprise!’
Manager hands over the money and tries to keep my receipt.  I remind her that I will need them as evidence for when I write to her Customer Complaints department.  She is not a happy bunny.
Nor am I – I’m pre-menstrual and my old shoes are killing me!  Dear Husband is lurking near the door, looking embarrassed.  I apologise to him for causing a scene.  Arm in arm, we head down to the other shoe shop, via a cafe for a strong coffee.
The lessons here are:
  •        You are not required to give any personal details if you are requesting a refund for which you have made a cash purchase.
  •            Never believe the price on the shelf.
  •        Telling a shop manager that you are about to ring Trading Standards WILL get you results.
  •        NEVER!!!!! Mess with a pre-menstrual woman!

What a waste…

Aug25

A few nights ago, we watched a TV programme talking about food waste.  It set me thinking so I thought I would share my ruminations with y’all.
As a shopper, I like to think I’m fairly savvy – I go for the ‘bogofs’ and such the like, but only when they are items that we actually use.  I try to keep a store-cupboard of essential items in tins and jars – just in case of power cuts, fuel shortages, acts of God and so on but I rotate the contents and keep an eye on the dates.  And here is where it all goes a bit personal.  I’m NOT a slave to the printed dates on our foods.
There are three types of date on our food.  First up is the ‘Sell By’ or ‘Display Until’ date.  This one is purely for the seller, it has nothing to do with whether or not the contents of the package are going to poison you after that date, so in short, as shoppers, the only time that this date becomes of interest to us is when it results in a price decrease!  Nice one!
Image from thisismoney.co.uk
The second sort of date found on our foods is the ‘Best Before’ date.  These are the shopper’s friend again, because they often result in reduced prices on or close to the date on the packaging.  Usually these will be fine to eat for a good while after the date – it’s an advisory date.  Tins and jars of food will have this on them and can safely be used for some years after the date as long as the tin is not damaged or in the case of jars, the seal is still intact.  Even items such as biscuits and other dry goods can safely be used for months after the date as long as the packaging is in good order.
The last sort of date is the ‘Use By’ date.  This one is pretty much there to keep you safe and well – it’s on things like milk, meat and fish that will ‘go off’ quite quickly and cause you some nasty tummy problems if you eat them when they are off.  Generally, this one needs to be stuck to, although one day past the date I would happily use most foods, and even a couple if it looks and smells fine.
So where does this leave the state of my bins you ask?  Ok, for a family of six, we put one bin liner out for collection one week and two the next.  However, we also have a wheelie bin full of recycling – mostly packaging, it has to be said.  Veg peelings are given to the rabbits and guinea pig, except for the potatoes, which I am going to try turning into wine – watch this space.  We don’t waste food on plates – when it’s on your plate – you darned well eat it!  I do pay attention to particular dislikes such as one of our boys really doesn’t like gravy and it’s no hardship to leave it off his plate so we don’t get waste.  We don’t buy anything that we are not going to eat before it goes off, and if we have a glut of fresh foods, we freeze them.  I’m lucky enough to have two freezers which are pretty much full all of the time but again, the contents are rotated to prevent wastage.
When I shop, I have a broad plan in mind of the meals that we will eat for the week.  It is flexible enough to include those all important ‘bogofs’ but not so fluid that I will reach out for anything available.  In my humble opinion, there-in lies the secret to having les food waste.  It’s also a good way to make sure that in a large household, you can try to please all of the people some of the time, which is no mean feat as you probably know.
What strategies do you have for reducing food waste?  Share with me please, I’m always willing to learn.