14 August 2006
Sainsbury's, making life taste....?
It's been nearly 13 years since I wrote about Sainsbury, Safeway and the lack of choice.
13 years later, Sainsbury's has slipped from 1st to 3rd and Safeway has been taken over. Coincidence? I'm not claiming any credit here, but that my observations as a fed up customer were probably shared by others up and down the land and access to Internet or not they voted with their feet to go to the likes of Asda and Tesco, two stores that are famous for customer service. Sainburys meanwhile still thought until it became illegal that having smoking customers pollute the cafe for all concerned was their idea of good customer service.
Tonight I had another example of Sainsburys customer service. Remember this is the same store which has removed the scales to prevent customers weighing their own fruit. They're on a roll here, if you pardon the pun [don't take the biscuit].
Recently Sainsburys have had a slogan "Making life taste better". Looking at the tastes available perhaps they meant bitter or sour? Making life taste bitter, doesn't do wonders for their image though but that's sometimes what it feels like from a customer point of view.
As you can see from my 1993 posting, I don't subscribe to Moscow syndrome. Neither do I subscribe to bureaucracy syndrome which is when a store is open but can't actually sell what I want to buy because of store procedures. Tonight the store was open but I couldn't cash my lottery winnings in (all £2 of them, don't get too excited now) because the till closes 45 minutes before the store shuts. Having recently won £400 at the local garage I felt my luck was in and so drove to the local Tesco who shut their lottery till at exactly the same time as the store, no bureaucracy syndrome there. Open until 8pm means exactly that and not 7:15 if you use the lottery. Moreover since I was now in Tesco to get the lottery winnings, they got the benefit of all my other shopping I needed to buy as well. Oops, expensive mistake on Sainsbury's part.
Sainsbury's used to have the motto "Making life taste better" was certainly a combination of bitter and sour in my case. Their new slogan is "Try something new today". Maybe they should try thinking of putting the customer first, it sounds like something new to them. Only then will life taste sweet.
13 years later, Sainsbury's has slipped from 1st to 3rd and Safeway has been taken over. Coincidence? I'm not claiming any credit here, but that my observations as a fed up customer were probably shared by others up and down the land and access to Internet or not they voted with their feet to go to the likes of Asda and Tesco, two stores that are famous for customer service. Sainburys meanwhile still thought until it became illegal that having smoking customers pollute the cafe for all concerned was their idea of good customer service.
Tonight I had another example of Sainsburys customer service. Remember this is the same store which has removed the scales to prevent customers weighing their own fruit. They're on a roll here, if you pardon the pun [don't take the biscuit].
Recently Sainsburys have had a slogan "Making life taste better". Looking at the tastes available perhaps they meant bitter or sour? Making life taste bitter, doesn't do wonders for their image though but that's sometimes what it feels like from a customer point of view.
As you can see from my 1993 posting, I don't subscribe to Moscow syndrome. Neither do I subscribe to bureaucracy syndrome which is when a store is open but can't actually sell what I want to buy because of store procedures. Tonight the store was open but I couldn't cash my lottery winnings in (all £2 of them, don't get too excited now) because the till closes 45 minutes before the store shuts. Having recently won £400 at the local garage I felt my luck was in and so drove to the local Tesco who shut their lottery till at exactly the same time as the store, no bureaucracy syndrome there. Open until 8pm means exactly that and not 7:15 if you use the lottery. Moreover since I was now in Tesco to get the lottery winnings, they got the benefit of all my other shopping I needed to buy as well. Oops, expensive mistake on Sainsbury's part.
Sainsbury's used to have the motto "Making life taste better" was certainly a combination of bitter and sour in my case. Their new slogan is "Try something new today". Maybe they should try thinking of putting the customer first, it sounds like something new to them. Only then will life taste sweet.
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