Why does Lidl get such a slating?

wannabehermit

I've just come back from picking up a few bits from lidls and wondering why people seem to slag it off as being crap. A lot of the food they sell in there is better quality than the likes of Tesco & Asda sell.

Meat for example. It is not only cheaper than the 2 above mentioned supermarkets, but much better quality. I can get chicken breasts from there for £3.50, the same weight in Tesco or Asda is £4.00 and if I get it from either of these 2 I will usually have to cut off a few bits and bin them whereas I don't with the Lidl stuff.

I bought a lettuce today - 59p for quite a big one, they all looked alright. Tesco on the other hand - 50p for a small value one and I have to spend a lot of time digging through to find one that hasn't got lots of brown bits on, or I have to buy one with brown bits and get rid of those bits.

I quite like a lot of their stuff, I bought some chocolate digestives today (59p instead of £1.54 or 2 for £2 for mcvities) and they're nicer than mcvities, some of their sauces I've tried are nicer tha other brands, as is their chocolate (their chocolate is bloody lovely actually:D).

So it looks a bit like a warehouse on the shop floor but the food's pretty good. I guess the people who slag it off have never tried the food?

zenseeker

I prefer not to shop there because I know how badly staff are treated.

wannabehermit

zenseeker wrote: »

I prefer not to shop there because I know how badly staff are treated.

That's fair enough, I've considered applying there a few times as they pay so well, but then think back to how my brothers gf was treated when she worked there and so know why they have to pay such a high hourly rate and know I wouldn't stand for the crap that she dealt with on a daily basis. However the staff at my local one are always friendly, happy and laughing and joking with each other, so maybe that ones not so bad.

There are a lot of people though who slag it off as being scummy, yet then shop at asda, hmm. It's this that I'm wondering about, especially as, ime, asda food is utter crap, especially their meat.

valk_scot

The staff at my local Lidl are a cheerful lot, very jokey. I don't know much about their working conditions but they've all been there a long time and certainly don't take it out on the customers.

As for the food it's better than a lot of the so called quality ranges at Tesco down the road and a whole lot cheaper. I can't get everything I want at Lidl and the whoopsies are better at Tesco so I split my shopping fairly evenly between them. I'm not a snob. Quality and good value are more important to me than the name on the shopping bag.

zenseeker

Could be different from store to store I guess, but I know that there is a constant change in staff in ours, people just don't stay very long due to the way they are treated. It's the same at the nearby distribution centre. You can sense the atmosphere of misery too.

That said, the food and prices are good.

puddy

i have to say that since shopping at aldi and lidl i wouldnt look back. we started shopping there because of money only, now we shop there out of choice. to be honest the staff always seem happy and friendly but theres always services that we all use where staff are not treated well (royal mail delivery men and bt engineers spring to mind), not to mention the same people who cite poor working conditions for lidl staff as a reason not to shop there, no doubt still buy stuff from primark and other shops that employ sweat shop staff

however, its much quieter, emptier, the quality of continental foods is very good, much better than tesco and the prices are without comparison

i measured my latest shop in lidl, weekly shop came to 58 quid, and that was with some flower bulbs costing £9. i put the same items as near as i could into asdas online grocery, only selecting the cheapest version where possible and it came to 68 and that was obviously without the bulbs

JulieGeorgiana

I love Lidl, they just don't have the products I need use a lot, I lived in Germany and Aldi and Lidl are amazing. Unfortunatly my local lidl is 8 miles away (I have 3 supermarkets closer) and their veg is hit and miss and as I don't buy packaged food, and due to health issues I don't buy bread, crisps, chocolates etc etc) so most items are just not what i need.

Saying that I still go once every month or two and stock up on the items I do use and like (Juice, tinned herrings, some tinned veg which remind me of Germany and some meats) and when my baby is older I will look into their nappies and wipes because they get great reviews on them but start at size 4 i think, which is useless for a long while yet... If they were closer I would use them a lot more.

The one near my mum's is great and the fruit and veg look much better... we go there more often just because we can buy more, but at 40 miles away it has to co-inside with a visit to my mum's.

I agree with OP, there doesn't seem to be a reason why people don't use it... their products are very good, and good value for money...!

spadoosh

Mainly shop at asda for the bulk of our stuff but buy meats from makro and bratwurst (nom nom nom) from lidl. I do like lidl just find most of the stuff we buy they don't do. Ive never tried there sauces so that could be worth a go. But between doing a big shop at asda, going to the veg shop, bulk buying at makro and popping into lidl to get bratties every couple of weeks its just a pain in the bum. That and the only aldi/lidls we have are city centre and we live outskirts.

Do aldi still do that breakfast pack for like 2 quid? That was a godsend at uni, could almost make it last me a week! That and square sausages hmmmmm :-D

emmamed

ive not heard how they treat the staff, but i know tesco dont treat their staff well neither.
i will shop in lidl and any of the others (netto/aldi) recently spent 2.5 weeks in france and lidl was the place to shop, great sausages and ice creams, just a shame, they dont sell same ones here.

julietiff

we have a few select things that we get in Lidl, and in the
one we visit the staff are always happy and helpful

SnowBelle_2

I think it does vary from store to store our Lidl has just had a re-vamp and is pretty good as is our ALDI but I have been in one or two others and they are ropey.
They are good value but sometimes you just want to buy a bit of named 'stuff'
The veg in our Lidl is superb and last way longer than other main supermarkets.
Funnily enough our Lidl & Aldi have the same staff for a long time but it's our local A's which has a bad name for treatment of staff.