Pettiness of Sainsburys

rosieroe I had already complained to them on social media but have done so again. Thanks

Thanks everyone. I did Tweet a PM to them which they responded to and asked me to send them a picture of the barcode, that was on Friday and they have not responded since. They did say they had spoken to the store manager but didn't tell me what was said.

I intend to go into the shop some time this week and show the manager this thread. I think he/she should take it up on my behalf with whomever makes these decisions.

No, I wouldn't complain loudly, that's not my style and I wouldn't blame the till person, although I think she could have handled it better. I would have loved to have gone back and bought something else to top up my shopping but didn't because there were such big queues at the tills and I had already felt that the woman in front of me was taking far too much time to sort herself out with apparently no awareness of the people waiting.

When I see people making loud complaints I always think badly of the complainer. They appear like a child who is on the edge of a tantrum demanding something they have been told they cannot have. A sort of blackmail.
Speak to the manager as a polite adultt & explain you feel the voucher was not clear in excluding chocolate liqueurs in the offer & if you had realised would have purchased a different box of chocs. Then if you get nowhere, write your letter!

*liqueur, not liquer...or liquor

I shop daily in Waitrose. It's my nearest store, only a 2 minute walk.

Totally agree Gabriella. All this “speak in a loud voice when complaining” stuff just makes the complainer look silly. The idea that a till operator might be a jobsworth is also ridiculous. The operator is obliged to adhere to the rules and they don’t make it up as they go along. This just shows how out of touch some on Gransnet are with the workplace.

Liquer chocolates are classed as an alcoholic item. Liquers were not allowed to be purchased on the voucher. Why do so many tell the OP to write to Head Office?
Would it be ok to sell them to 12 or 16 yr olds? If not (because they have alcohol content) then the OP was correctly informed by the sales assistant. Anyone exhorting her to make a fuss is out of order.

Definitely complain Nonnie they were in the chocolate aisle after all.
I had to complain online to Sainsbury HQ the other day, haven’t heard anything as yet.

An email or letter to the CEO has always worked for us too. Or calling at Customer Services and requesting the manager in a loud voice and saying why - also in a loud voice!

I would have thought the liqueur and alcohol exemption would have only applied to liqueurs and alcohols in bottles, and would say so in a loud voice!

Send an email to CEO always works for me. I would be fuming

Julia Seizer44....no ...you cannot sell liqueur chocolates to the under 18’s.... they are always classed as alcohol ...I worked for Tesco for years so I know this is true.

I once had a gripe over a $35 overcharge on a medical bill (too many details to explain here). After a lengthy, unproductive telephone dispute with a (very rude) customer service representative, I was no better off than when I started.

Angry and frustrated, I got some names and wrote a polite letter to the head administrator of the hospital. I pointed out why the hospital policy was flawed (resulted in double billing), but that it was not the dollar amount that bothered me as much as the rudeness and condescension with which I had been treated by their customer service dept.

After that, I felt much better. I had almost forgotten the incident when a month later, I received a letter of apology from the head of the billing department and a refund check for the $35 overcharge.

I would write to the store manager and explain what has happened and hopefully you will get a response that satisfies you. Sainsbury’s , like all the other major supermarkets are suffering from competition and I would expect they apologise and recompense you in some way in order to keep your custom. If this doesn’t happen, I bet there are other supermarkets you could use!

My son worked at Sainsbury’s last year and he suffered all sorts of rudeness...particularly from elderly folk who seemed to think that as he was a youngster they could be vile. He was so surprised because he would not dream of being rude to the till operator.

I had an issue with my local Sainsbury's store a few years back, can't remember what is was, but I emailed customer services and they got hold of the store manager and it was sorted out right away with no problems.

It's all computerised. If the till won't take the coupon there's no way to override it. However, you can ask them to save the transaction and get something else as well as/instead of them pay at Customer Services, they can just scan the saved receipt and add your extra item. As for anyone who thinks cashiers are "drippy jobsworths", supermarkets will be hiring for Christmas soon - how about trying it from the other side of the fence?

I am afraid you did buy alcohol. It was in the liqueurs, and it wasn't cooked out (as it would have been in Xmas puds etc) The only alternative you had was to hold up the queue while you grabbed something like toilet rolls or washing powder. And then bought the chocolates separately. I like to think I would have been brave enough to do that, but I'm not sure. Is there a time limit on the voucher? Perhaps you could have a stock up on non perishables in a week or two.

The confusion arises because of the brand name. A similar situation exists with Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce. Even though the product does not contain alcohol, the manufacturer insists that the product is only sold to those of legal age to buy alcohol. This is so they cannot be accused of grooming underage children so that they purchase their brand in later years.

That having been said, you did not purchase spirits and I would have demanded that they honour the voucher. Had they not, I would have left them with the shopping to return to their shelves and contacted Head Office on my return home!

I for one aren't bothered either way Vickya as there's no Sainsbury's near me. A brilliant Morrisons and an Asda not too far away,though my real preference is M&S which again isn't a million miles away either.

Use this link and make a complaint: help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/refunds-returns/how-do-make-a-complaint

Jalima, I hope it was ok to do that?This is pretty public and any can read it, and I thought Sainsburys would care more about annoying a group like mumsnet than one customer. It does not show on twitter when you tweet to them. Only posts they make show so the ulr and comment is not public on twitter. They should reply in message to me. That usually happens. I have complained that way before. I do complain when annoyed. I hope I didn't upset anyone here though.

Thinking the same as JuliaSeizer44. If the chocs are in the sweets aisle is there a warning they contain alcohol and cannot be purchased by under 18s or whatever their alcohol age policy is. Definitely follow up with Co.

I cut and pasted the url to this thread to Sainsburys and Sainsburys News on twitter.
Oh dear, we tend to forget that it is all 'out there'.

Oh mabon1, It's so lovely to read your friendly, happy, positive (NOT) comments!

Apologies - meant exclusions for alcohol!