Great 'supermarket staff tell us your reduction policies' hunt

rocks3

What a fantastic thread. Thank you all so much for your contributions!

C_Ronaldo

i think you still get the offer at sainsburys but not sure

BarJay

There was chicken breast fillets on offer in my local Co-op one time that were reduced as at date. Upshot was that I bought all that was on the shelf, and got money back at till!!! Not sure how that happened, but quite often get BOGOF stuff ridiculously cheap. It certainly pays to keep space in freezer.
:j

puddings_2

Last week I was in a 24hr Tesco. I'd picked up some salmon fillets that were reduced by about 75% and I was well chuffed that i'd found such a bargain!.
Going through the checkout however the cashier put them to one side and said that he couldn't sell them to me: because it was ten past midnight, they were past the display date so apparently wasn't allowed.

Has anybody got any opinion on whether the cashier was right to do this?

ps. somebody mentioned earlier about not doing reductions when requested by a customer "in case we get a caught out by a mystery shopper".
Questions regarding reduced items have never appeared in any of the mystery shopping surveys that I've completed.

dplumb

> The quality of M&S food, being so good, waste would always last 4 or 5 or
> so days past "expiry" anyway unlike other supermarkets!

FWIW some time back I worked for a factory that made coleslaw and the like for supermarkets. Identical products in anonymous plastic containers were packed into cardboard outers with the branding and expiry date marked on it. The M&S product expired before all the others (Co-Op, Asda), even though the product inside was the same. That's why you pay the little extra for M&S, they take that little extra care with even the smallest of detail.

rosepink1984

puddings wrote: »

Last week I was in a 24hr Tesco. I'd picked up some salmon fillets that were reduced by about 75% and I was well chuffed that i'd found such a bargain!.
Going through the checkout however the cashier put them to one side and said that he couldn't sell them to me: because it was ten past midnight, they were past the display date so apparently wasn't allowed.

Has anybody got any opinion on whether the cashier was right to do this?

QUOTE]

Unfortunately, they probably were right. The problem is that supermarkets are not allowed to sell goods that are past their display date and they could get sued if they do so, even if the customer is prepared to take the risk that the item will be ok. Also, if the Environmental Health people found out they had sold something that was past its sell by/use by date (even by ten minutes), they could be in major trouble, facing fines or even closure. It's a shame you lost out on your bargain though. Hope this helps.

sugar_candy_123

lin473 wrote: »

I was in M&S today and was looking at the Oakham chickens.
All except a couple of very large ones (too big for us) had today's date on.
I wanted to get one for tommorrow's dinner while they are on offer.
Am I right in thinking that they never reduce food going out of date as I have never seen it .
Or should I have asked ?
I would have bought some and frozen them if they were further reduced.
Any inside information would be appreciated!

I work at m&s and no we hardly ever reduce food regardless of the date on it, ( mind once we quartered the price of luxury trifles as we had 36 of them left) but normally at the end of the day all out of date produce is offered to the staff at half price, some things cheaper, and if we dont want it its binned, a waste i know! generally the dates on m&s food, especially the fresh food had a best before date earlier than what it would be in an ordinary supermarket ie in an ordinary supermarket they might make coleslaw on a monday and hav bb the friday, however in m&s the bb date could be the wednesday, this is just an example but i know it happens. but if you go into the store in the last half an hour of opening staff will be throwing out the bakery items/collecting them for the staff and if you wait till you have watched them record them on a hand held, ask for something and if your nice they will normally give them for free! but only if your nice!and it depends on the staff

lancs_girl_2

Hi I dont work in supermarket but was told once at a hospice that m and s donated the sell by date products to the hospice, knowing that it was still good edible quality. personally i would rather it went to needy agencies than greedy grab alls.

just a thought

ti1980

I work at M&S. I used to (but don't anymore) do late nights and used to be part of the team that take off the date expired food (food that was expiring that day) off the shelves at night. It gets taken to the staff shop where staff can buy it at usually 50% off, sometimes more depending on the item and the manager. Sandwiches and bread were often 5p or 10p.
Often the food would still have a few days before it needed using up so didn't need to all be eaten that day.

Anything that staff didn't buy was collected by a local charity.
Much better than it getting thrown away.

liz_ferla

Went into Tesco an hour before closing and bought some beautiful plants - an orchid originally £16.99 for £1.70, 2 cactus plants normallu £1.99 for 20p each, and 2 houseplants at £6.99 got 70p each. Check sell by dates, and ask staff nicely!