Pettiness of Sainsburys

I have just been to Sainsburys to spend my double points voucher.
Bought a jumper for granddaughter and to use remaining points I chose paper Christmas tablecloth and Christmas plates. The plates and tablecloth didn't go through because apparently they are not 'seasonal' .
?

Ican - That's appalling, as you say anyone could just walk in and start work. What on earth has happened to a once reliable and respected company?

Last February our car was off the road due to an accident so we did an online shop with sainsburys, a few days before there was very bad snow and understandably then there were traffic problems. However on the day of our delivery, there was a smattering of snow, all the roads were clear, traffic was moving and I saw other supermarket vans out doing deliveries, no sign of sainsburys. I waited a couple of hours past the time slot, then phoned to be told ' we've cancelled it, it's been snowing' yes I know, but the roads are clear. Well we're not delivering and your order has been deleted. I had to ask twice to be refunded the cost, which had been taken. We stopped shopping there then.

That sounds about right ican, other shops have improved customer service but they deem to have gone backwards

My son worked for Sainsbury's last year. It was terrible. He applied for a job, got an interview for a different job where they told him they would never employ a student in that role! He explained that he'd applied for a different job and that was that. He'd also applied for a similar role at another branch simultaneously where he got an interview. They offered him the job and he got instructions to say he had to go on a training course. When he got there, he wasn't on the list but they trained him anyway! Half way through they came back to him, said that he should have been at another centre but they'd given him the wrong instructions. They gave him the start date for the job and sent him off to join the first store he'd not quite been interviewed at! He turned up on the relevant day, nobody knew who he was but they let him work anyway. They came back to him later to say that they'd been expecting him the following week so, once again, he showed him the email he'd received confirming what he'd been told. They let him stay, he worked his hours and they told him what time they wanted him the following week. He turned up at said time only to be told off for being an hour late. He was gob-smacked.
I have to say they didn't get any better and after 3 months, just as he was going to get his discount which I was really looking forward to, he left. On his last day, having put it in writing for them, he turned up and they said they weren't expecting him to be there...they let him work anyway. The moral of this story, if you want a job, just turn up at Sainsbury's. It seems they will be used to not knowing who there staff are and if they should be there ???

ican I think Sainsburys has gone downhill in the 10 years I lived too far from one to use them. Now that I do I can see so many issues, especially staff training. I couldn't find something and asked a shelf filler who just said 'over there', in Waitrose or Morrisons I would have been taken and shown. Also he was wrong, it wasn't there! Online customer services just asked me for the barcode and never got back to me despite me chasing them.

Good outcome nonnie, pleased common sense prevailed.

I was in Sainsbury's today where a man was arguing with the Customer Services lady about a voucher. He'd asked to see a Manager who had apparently refused to come to see the customer because there was no point as she would only say the same and she wasn't a parrot! I was absolutely astonished at the lack of Customer Service! This is not the Sainsbury's I know and love.

Good for you.

I think Sainsbury's are the ones being petty and silly not you. Hope it gets sorted.

Thank you for updating us.

It reminded me of the time I went into a Sainsburys to buy alcohol for my mum's funeral.
The assistant asked me for age ID. I said, in a jolly way 'I'm 55, do you think I look about that, or do you think I look anywhere near 21?'
She said 'we've been told not to guess age', so I asked her to put everything else through, put the alcohol aside and call the supervisor, so as not to hold up the queue.
The supervisor happened to know me. She was kind to the poor assistant, but said 'This lady couldn't be a community nurse if she was under 21, so we'll let it through!'.

Well done! ?

I like that 'Posse of GNs'! I think little old ladies can be very powerful!

A virtual posse of Gransnetters wins the day!

Thank you for updating us Nonnie

I went into the shop yesterday, armed with this thread on my phone and asked to speak to the Manager. I was asked what it was about so they could find the appropriate manager so explained it was about an issue at a till. I gave the manager my phone and asked him to read what was on it. I don't think from his expression that anyone had ever done that before, let alone a little old lady! He said he would have given me the discount and arranged for someone to do just that. She was kind but made it quite clear to me that I should have gone to the customer service desk on the day because that was when the voucher ran out.

I'm not sure my protest had any effect at all but at least I felt better by making my point.

I then went and spent £60 on wine and used the next voucher!

PECS does 1% alcohol count at 'spirits' do you think?

ican thanks for that, I'll use it when I go back and ask for the manager.

DH & I are currently quietly & slowly consuming a £1.50 packet of Bailys chocolate mini delights from the Co-op. 1% alcohol it says! So technically of course they are alcoholic but hopefully common sense and good customer service will prevail!

Actually, it is a bit of a moot point. I always understood that you could not buy liqueur chocolates if you were under a certain age, I presumed 18. However, in 2015 they removed liqueur chocolates from the licensing restrictions. www.underagesales.co.uk/news/news-41.html says: "Liqueur chocolates: Before 2015, it was illegal for liqueur confectionary containing up to 200ml of alcohol per kilogram of chocolate to be sold to shoppers aged under 16. However, the government recently introduced new laws scrapping this age restriction in a bid to tackle red tape. So whether you stock rum truffles or whiskey chocolates, you don’t need to ask for ID from your customers."
I still think as Sainsbury's offer the voucher, they should be able to determine if they allow discount of a product which contains alcohol or not.

It is possible the till will not put through the money off coupon if what they regard as an exclusion is in the basket .

Just to reiterate, it wasn't alcohol that was the issue, it was spirits which sort of implies something strongly alcoholic to me. It would have been fine if the whole £60 had been spent on beer or wine!

I wonder what percentage proof a £3.50 tin of Bailey's chocolate actually is?!?

It’s a moot point Icanhand as choccy liquers are always confectionary which is why you find them in that aisle in the first place.
If the offer had said, no alchohol including choc liquers that would be different.

If the chocolates had alcohol in them they are alcohol no matter which aisle they are in. If they put meat in the sweet aisle, you wouldn't eat it raw because it was confectionary.

^All this “speak in a loud voice when complaining” stuff just makes the complainer look silly.
Has anyone suggested that the OP should go in and have a meltdown or tantrum?

I think that speaking to Customer Services or a more senior manager out of earshot of other customers could be a good idea. Standing one's ground and making a point does not mean shouting or making oneself sound silly.
I think, even if they are technically in the right, any Sainsbury's manager who wishes to retain his customers would refund the £9 as an act of goodwill, at the same time saying that he was not setting a precedent.

Sainsbury's had an end of aisle display of a bogof on an expensive and effective hand cream. Two versions were displayed side by side, I took one of each. At the till I was charged for both because, I was told, they were different. Too embarrassed to even go and swap one I slunk out.
I wouldn't do that now and in any supermarket I point out the offer in my basket at the checkout and ask if I've got it right. So I guess it was a lesson learned.

Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Liquor Chocolates are sold inthe chocolate aisle and as such are chocolates not alcohol. That was a jobs worth. Take your receipt and your voucher to customer services, say you didnt feel you could question the decision at the time for the reason you gave in your post and I think you may find they give you a refund.