consumer rights farce

fred376

but an apple is an apple whether it is red, green, bruised or oddly shaped. Nobody can guarantee or expect every piece of fruit to look smell taste and have the same texture or freshness as another piece of fruit.

Rubbish.
Heres their policy from Lidl:

If you have purchased any fruit or veg item that does not meet our high standards, we will replace your product or give you a full refund - even without a receipt.

Theres no small print. Theres no mention of there being a ban if you use it too often. Theres certainly no limit.

If they offer a guarantee they should honour it. Or its misleading to consumers.

I have every right to expect high standards especially if thats what they claim to provide.

fred376

Some people for instance like pears when they are soft and some like them when they are hard and crunchy (me) if i get a soft pair in amongst some hard ones the soft one is not faulty is it?

pears are often hard to begin with but ripen and turn soft. I buy pears and I dont complain about that. Melons dont become sweeter or more tasty as they ripen so they need to be picked at just the right time. Supermarkets prefer to pick fruit when under ripe because they can cheat the customer and claim it will ripen. But they will not pick melons when overripe because they will tend to rot which will be harder to justify when selling them. Its very cunning and consumers need to stop letting them pull the wool over our eyes.
Some fruit like pears or avocados fail to ripen even after a period of time. Thats unacceptable. There can be all sorts of defects. Consumers and staff are clueless. They dont know what they're talking about so of course they would just ban you as it's the quickest solution for them.

baza52

fred376 wrote: »

Rubbish.
Heres their policy from Lidl:

If you have purchased any fruit or veg item that does not meet our high standards, we will replace your product or give you a full refund - even without a receipt.

Theres no small print. Theres no mention of there being a ban if you use it too often. Theres certainly no limit.

If they offer a guarantee they should honour it. Or its misleading to consumers.

I have every right to expect high standards especially if thats what they claim to provide.

but its their standards not yours lol.
They may well decide you are returning products that meet their high standards and have decided its best not to sell to you anymore.

baza52

[QUOTE=fred376;76210647]pears are often hard to begin with but ripen and turn soft. I buy pears and I dont complain about that. Melons dont become sweeter or more tasty as they ripen so they need to be picked at just the right time. Supermarkets prefer to pick fruit when under ripe because they can cheat the customer and claim it will ripen. But they will not pick melons when overripe because they will tend to rot which will be harder to justify when selling them. Its very cunning and consumers need to stop letting them pull the wool over our eyes.
Some fruit like pears or avocados fail to ripen even after a period of time. Thats unacceptable. There can be all sorts of defects. Consumers and staff are clueless. They dont know what they're talking about so of course they would just ban you as it's the quickest solution for them.[/QUOTE]

I think you just contradicted yourself there Fred.

fred376

You on the other hand seem to be getting a very high proportion of bad products compared to the average shopper and quite rightly the store have chosen to look into exactly what and why you keep having to return things for a refund.

Rubbish. Most people here clearly believe that they should either stop buying an item or go somewhere else if the problem keeps occuring. If that is what is happening in stores then that would explain why supermarkets rarely get repeated complaints from people like me. It does NOT mean the problem is a rare occurence. It just means people are too intimidated to complain repeatedly in case theyre seen as a nuisance and
banned. These supermarkets are just big bullies who only care about their profits. If my previous complaints were taken seriously why couldn't they tell me what action they had taken to reduce a recurrence of the problem? Because they knew they didnt take any action at all.

fred376

I think you just contradicted yourself there

Its not a contradiction. I am saying that even if the fruit is supposed to ripen, if its defective it may not happen.

fred376

They may well decide you are returning products that meet their high standards and have decided its best not to sell to you anymore.

and how are they checking to see if it meets their high standards? Its a bit misleading to give you that guarantee if it turns out their so called high standards are not really high. And are staff trained to spot the different kinds of defects that occur in fruit? Of course not. Do they send the item off to a lab to be tested? No.
It's just their word against yours or else face a ban for life.

baza52

Fred let me be brutally honest with you.

The real reason they want to ban you is because they dont like you.
You are a customer that seems to complain a lot, you cost them more money in returns than an average customer and you take up a lot of the staffs time processing returns or refunds.
Its a business decision. They dont want your custom as you are not as profitable as their other customers.

Is it harsh to ban you? perhaps, is it their choice? Yes of course it is.
Can you do anything about it? NO. Have they broken any laws or consumer rights? NO they have not.

chili1496

I have even thrown away a few of these items

Yeah i bet you have, to me it sounds like you have had a nice little scam going and now you trying to come across as a victim.
If i worked in said supermarket your number would be blocked.

fred376

The real reason they want to ban you is because they dont like you.
You are a customer that seems to complain a lot, you cost them more money in returns than an average customer and you take up a lot of the staffs time processing returns or refunds.

Nobody knows what the real reason is and it doesn't matter what the reason is because they can ban anybody even for no reason. So the first misconception is that a person who is banned deserves to be berated. No they dont because you dont know the reason. It could be for being a shoplifter or for no reason.
Its their choice to ban anyone for any reason as you say. Such freedom is bound to lead to abuse.

Ive been blamed on this forum for being banned and also for the behaviour that led to the ban.

Ive already justified my behaviour and given reasons to show that they are the real culprits.

The issue of banning people is separate. And I think you agree that its irrational to ban innocent people for no reason.

Banning people from supermarkets that rely on them daily to get their food to sustain their health is selfish and malicious even if its not illegal.
These supermarkets have monopolised the food market and its an abuse of their powers even if its legal. Its a loophole that needs to be fixed.
Its double standards to say supermarkets cant ban you for your race or religion but for anythIng else they can.