Rude Co-op shop staff

[mjr]

[...] some of those interactions are avoidable through people buying a week's food in one go, [...]

The people exhorting us to shop once a week (or fortnight or month) are misguided because:
1. fresh is best (healthiest) and fresh food ain't gonna be fresh in a week;
2. probability of infection with this coronavirus is thought to have a cumulative build-up aspect and it accumulates more readily in an enclosed space, so spending more time in an enclosed space like a shop in one go (to buy a whole week's food in one go, for example) seems like a bad idea.

Popping into a shop for one sarnie and a packet of crisps at a time is surely the least time efficient way to get your food, if spending as little time in the shop as possible is the objective. And I don't know about you, but we have a fridge and yes, I reckon we can just about get through a week without encountering mouldy bread or rotten tomatoes.

Bread goes stale faster in the fridge https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/06/doe ... bread.html - it's best to keep it as flour and bake as needed. And what sort of monster puts tomatoes in the fridge?

Buying food a meal at a time probably isn't the best tactic either, but I don't think it's as awful as people seem to assume. It seems like a week's mix of one-meal and three/four-day shopping would probably be safer than buying a week or more in one visit, especially if some of the one-meal purchases could be done from outdoor takeaways.

My daughter is going to do our big shop this evening when the supermarket is not so busy.

Well done! Sending someone else shopping is probably the ultimate minimisation of your exposure! Not so good for them, of course.

[pwa]

Well done! Sending someone else shopping is probably the ultimate minimisation of your exposure! Not so good for them, of course.

Yes, we joke about that in the family. Though when you think about it, one person doing a bulk buy for four people (including Gran) is saving three of us from the risk of passing the virus on if we have it, or picking it up if we haven't.

As you rightly imply, tomatoes go where the eggs go, in a cupboard and not in the fridge. If they aren't too ripe when bought they can get through a week, or very nearly. I admit to committing the ultimate sin of freezing bread to allow me to continue making sandwiches beyond the natural shelf life of bread, though I must say fresh is nicer.

[arnsider]

Well, as promised Co-op's answer to my moan;

Thank you for telling me about the experience you had at your local Co-op store in Settle Market Sq.
I am really sorry to hear about what’s happened. I’d like to assure you that we take complaints like this seriously and appreciate you taking the time to get in touch and share your experience with us.
We will always make sure these issues are brought to the attention of our Store Management Teams so that they can investigate and address the issue raised internally. I need to let you know that where our staff are involved, we do have to respect their employee confidentiality so we won’t be able to share the outcome of our investigation with you. If we need any further information, we will be in touch and will do all we can to prevent this from happening again.
Should you wish to speak to us, we are available Monday to Friday 9am - 6pm, Saturdays and Sundays 9am - 5pm on Freephone: 0800 068 6727Thanks again for letting us know.

Here's my reply to their e mail address, which currently is not receiving mail because;
The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Please try resending this message later, or contact the recipient directly.
My reply (Which will go registered post if I cannot e mail it)
Member & Customer Services

Many thanks for your reply and I understand the employee confidentiality issue.
Are you able to assure me that co-op do not operate or promote among
it's employees any restrictions on service to visitors to rural,
National Park or AONB's?
Aside from my issue with politeness, I need to be confident that I am
welcome in any of your stores, nationwide.
I fully appreciate the logic of restricting shopping to your own
locality and to essential purchases, but if so, then this must become
official company policy and your customers and staff alike must be
made aware by notices outside of your stores and management
directives, rather than being left to prejudices and personal agendas
as in this case.
I'd also like to inform you that this matter has been aired on a
nationwide cycling forum.

[reohn2]

You hit on an chap having a bad day,not surprisingly in present work related circumstances,so why not give him a break.
Were it to happen with the same chap on more than one occasion and felt it deliberately pointed I could understand you having a bee in your helmet about,but frankly with such an isolated incident I think you're blowing it out of all proportion.

. .....I'd also like to inform you that this matter has been aired on a
nationwide cycling forum.

Where not everyone is in agreement over such an isolated incident!


PS,ever been to Spa cycles and had it's owner serve you on a bad day?

[Carlton green]

Are you able to assure me that co-op do not operate or promote among
it's employees any restrictions on service to visitors to rural,
National Park or AONB's?
Aside from my issue with politeness, I need to be confident that I am
welcome in any of your stores, nationwide.
I fully appreciate the logic of restricting shopping to your own
locality and to essential purchases, but if so, then this must become
official company policy and your customers and staff alike must be
made aware by notices outside of your stores and management
directives, rather than being left to prejudices and personal agendas
as in this case.
I'd also like to inform you that this matter has been aired on a
nationwide cycling forum.

H’mm, there’s two sides to any issue. As someone who lives in a rural area I’d quite like the Co-ops policy to be restrictive towards casual users and wonder how that case might be put.

As a rural community resident I need to be confident that I and your staff are safe in my local store and free from the health hazards that casual out of district purchasers might bring into the store with them
In this time of National Emergency I feel that it would be logical to restrict rural shopping to meet the needs of local residents only with casual visitors only being allowed to purchase a tiny range of emergency items like plasters and certainly not snacks, sandwiches and bottled drinks which instead could easily have been brought with them.
Obviously this would need to be an official policy rolled out Nationally and applied to stores in rural communities; urban and metropolitan communities have different problems so a restrictive sale policy is not obviously applicable to them. Staff working for the Co-op would need to be made aware of both local restrictions and possible restrictions elsewhere and notices displayed to staff and customers.

I wonder how I might persuade the Co-op to adopt the above. Seems reasonable and sensible to me, and ready for a second wave of infection too.

[Cyril Haearn]

This is quite interesting and entertaining but I really would not bother about such an incident far from home

It is much worse if one 'has' to, wants to use a shop. One oxfam bookshop plays loud music to deter customers, I tried to complain, the manageress answered back

[simonhill]

I agree. I'd leave it. You don't know what the guy's personal circumstances were but one can speculate. After all, you were served, you got your crisps and didn't suffer any loss.

If it happens again then plenty of ammunition for a good complaint.

[RickH]

... the usual plonkers will be queuing up in their droves at the Trafford center to stock up on their chinese junk.

Is there access by waterway?

; - )

Jonathan

The Bridgewater Canal passes nearby but you would probably have trouble with the masts under the low bridges!

[arnsider]

I get the point about locals not wanting infections brought into their area and if I could turn the clock back, believe you I would have stayed well away.
The "rudeness" I experienced was a minor issue really, but what has kept me champing away has been the uncertainty that Co-op and other chains want to follow up on such restrictions and firm them up so that no one is in any doubt, staff and customers alike.
It really looks as though commercial organisations want their cake and eat it and in the case of Settle Co-op, they might have shut their service station to everything bar fuel, which they haven't.
At the present moment, the media and government is bouyed up because people have flocked to malls and indeed camped outside some shops with the promise of huge reductions.
Isn't this a disgrace? The hapless public are completely divided over the social distance regs, while the gutless government is unable to bring any weight to bear legally and all the while, commerce is paying lip service with its grills, floor tapes and little bottles of jollop! Oh and plonkers calling people out for encroaching on THEIR space.
I actually feel sorry for the guy I crossed swords with because he probably got sweet sod all by way of support and direction from his boss.
My e mails to co-op are in a log jam because guess what! their mail box is full.
Well I've just sent a reply to the CEO at his e mail and if that is ignored, it'll be a recorded delivery letter.

[Cyril Haearn]

You should withdraw the complaint I think, the poor person might lose his job

I am trying to be nice to people at the minute, a stranger accosted me yesterday and asked whether there was an aldi store nearby, I told her how to find the store, we exchanged life stories
She did grill me about my exotic accent, mind, could your accent have been the 'problem' in Settle?

[Bonefishblues]

I'd leave it where you are now tbh. Point is made, and there's also a point to call time on it.

It's a highly unusual set of circumstances that is unlikely to be repeated tbh (I dearly hope not, as do we all). I think they were likely to be so busy trying to keep their staff and customers safe for very obvious reasons, and simply hadn't thought of a scenario.

...and since you're making political points, imagine trying to run a business, furlough staff, keep safe at the moment, given the rapidly-changing and uncertain landscape. I think their CEO is better employed doing other things, tbh.

[Oldjohnw]

One member of staff has a bad day. A subjective view, of course. So the whole movement is damned? Not like they refused to serve you.

[sjs]

I bought a cheese and onion sandwich and a.millipnaires shortbread at the co-op in Sandy last Sunday, as a sweaty lone cyclist, and was treated in a very friendly manner. Perhaps that branch hadn't received the memo.

[profpointy]

Yorkshireman rude to a customer - what's the world coming to ?

Someone will be saying they're careful with their money and forthright with their opinions next

[David9694]

You should withdraw the complaint I think, the poor person might lose his job

I am trying to be nice to people at the minute, a stranger accosted me yesterday and asked whether there was an aldi store nearby, I told her how to find the store, we exchanged life stories
She did grill me about my exotic accent, mind, could your accent have been the 'problem' in Settle?

It could all get a bit An Inspector Calls...