Good and Bad Buys at Lidl and Aldi stores (***Please don't expire***)

maman

I'm glad it's not only me that talks back to the self service checkouts @Pollycat. 🤣I'm always telling them to be patient when it nags me to scan another item or pay PDQ!

I've explained to so many staff in banks and supermarkets that I try to choose a human to save their jobs @Brie but they just trot out the script they've, no doubt, been given. ☹️ We all know that the changes are to preserve the profit margins and think we're stupid enough to believe it's what customers want.

I'm thinking of Sainsburys  where the same staff (sometimes just one person) are trying to sell fags and lottery tickets, do customer service all at once. In my local Asda, they do click and collect on George purchases as well.

I do compliment good service too. A super young man put my large 25% off wine shop in Asda through for me at the self checkouts. He was able to scan a single bottle and key in the multiple so that I didn’t have to take them all out of the trolley. What a star! 👍

Rosa_Damascena

I'm veering towards self-service whenever I can in a banking situation. I rarely have to set foot in one to access a counter and on the last few occasions I have, there have been few members of staff and they have had their time taken up by lonely customers talking to them about everything BUT the transaction. I do understand the social element adds value, but it is incredibly frustrating for business customers or those that have taken time out of their working day to access the bank and need to get back asap. The banking staff think they are doing a great service to the community, but the rest of us just want to be in and out. 

maman

I know what you mean Rosa_Damascena but that's probably because the number of cashiers has been greatly reduced, to say nothing of the number of banks.

I use Internet banking myself most of the time but, it doesn't suit everyone or every type of transaction.

I'm convinced the current situation has gone too far, too fast because it suits the banks' profit margins far more than any semblance of customer service. ☹️

KxMx

A rare buy one get one free in Lidl yesterday, for Lyle's golden syrup, 325g @ £0.99

fatbelly

KxMx said:

A rare buy one get one free in Lidl yesterday, for Lyle's golden syrup, 325g @ £0.99

Good spot. There are often some deals like this in the frozen section. I had a long think about the avocado burgers that are on a deal like that, but eventually decided against it.

Anyone tried them?

I've also noticed that an increasing number of the orange sticker goods are 60% off rather than 30%. There was a lady shopper just before closing this afternoon that filled a basket with them. Good on her.

YoungBlueEyes

It'd be good to see some 60% stickers off but neither my aldi or lidl go above 30% off now And it's mostly on mushy slimy food that you couldn't give me for free never mind 30% off! The non-fresh stuff is only 30% off too, items like hairspray with no lid, and that all just sits there....

Rosa_Damascena

The groceries discounted to 30-50% at Aldi are still fresh, Lidl too. Go to the big 4 and the YS stuff can be mushed and smushed, esp the fresh produce.

Sea_Shell

Milk

I've just noticed that Aldi have now moved from a Use By date (last carton dated to 22/10) to Best Before (new carton dated to 27/10).   Bought a week apart.  Semi-Skimmed.

So nothing really changes, and few have probably even noticed (I new it was due to be changing, just not when), but I'm sure some people will now have "Milk Anxiety".  

Whether it will actually reduce the amount of milk thrown away...who knows.    We always get through it before it starts to taste un-fresh.

Brie

Sea_Shell said:

Milk

I'm sure some people will now have "Milk Anxiety".  

Whether it will actually reduce the amount of milk thrown away...who knows.    We always get through it before it starts to taste un-fresh.

We are starting to put milk in the freezer the day before it hits it's "date" if we think we won't immediately use it.  Like when we went away for the weekend the day after OH bought gold top already on it's "date".  (& at full price.....)  Problem with freezing though is that some bottles can't handle the freeze and expand and we end up with a certain amount of milk slush and dribbling bottles once they are thawed.  I don't mind losing a bit of milk in this way as long as it isn't causing a big mess that has to be cleaned up constantly.  And if the thawed milk is a little less than perfect I will be very happy to use it for baking.

mikb

Brie said:

Sea_Shell said:

Milk

I'm sure some people will now have "Milk Anxiety".  

Whether it will actually reduce the amount of milk thrown away...who knows.    We always get through it before it starts to taste un-fresh.

We are starting to put milk in the freezer the day before it hits it's "date" if we think we won't immediately use it.  Like when we went away for the weekend the day after OH bought gold top already on it's "date".  (& at full price.....)  Problem with freezing though is that some bottles can't handle the freeze and expand and we end up with a certain amount of milk slush and dribbling bottles once they are thawed.  I don't mind losing a bit of milk in this way as long as it isn't causing a big mess that has to be cleaned up constantly.  And if the thawed milk is a little less than perfect I will be very happy to use it for baking.

I tend to use approx 2 pints per week. When the cost of milk started growing, I switched to buying a 6-pinter, opening it immediately and decanting it into 3 x 2 pint plastic bottles with a little space in each, and then putting them into the freezer, upright! Once frozen they can be stored any way up.

This means I can pull a 2 pinter out each week to defrost and always have some emergency milk in the event I can't get a 6-pinter when I need one.

Never had a problem with the frozen-thawed milk being poor quality, but there was a period when Morries and ALDI (same milk, Arla sourced) switched from Use By to Best Before that there was something going wrong -- milk starting to smell a little spicy, or making "gritty" tea as it separated on contact with hot water. When stored in a fridge at 4'C and STILL within the BBD that shouldn't happen, and under the old system it never did!