Am I alone?

[Trainee neophyte]

About the bread: you can freeze it. Slice it first, or just cut the loaf in half or thirds and freeze those pieces. It will be a little crumbly when thawed, but it won't go green. If you nuke it in the microwave to defrost it, it will have the appearance of being freshly baked.

At least, it works for me with freshly baked bread - some random supermarket thing may give different results.

 

[MusicMan]

Yes it works. Freezing and thawing adds about a day of 'staleness' to a loaf (ref Andrew Whitley, 'Bread Matters'). But some breads, especially sourdoughs or slow-ferment breads, are at their best after a day anyway! We usually keep a sliced loaf in the freezer to hack of a slice or two if real stuff has run out.

 

[SammyQ]

Perhaps the problems that others have related are more down to local and regional management...

and

I suspect locality has a lot to do with 

Yup. Defanintootly. Out here in the northern sticks, size 10 difference to what others dahn sarf (in populous areas) have reported. Its a conspiracy I tell you!!

Have not yet resorted to nobbling pigeons and eating them raw, but certainly thought about it as an option... 8)

Sam

 

[D_W]

Janet & I are classed as shielded, and we get priority delivery food service at our local Sainsbury supermarket and the deliveries are regular around 7am each Monday morning which is good, but!
Quite honestly I feel that the quality of some items that are selected by the packers are items that visiting customers at the store would not touch with a bargepole.
Do other members here suffer this problem?

This is typical here, too. It's the grocery version of lumber places that allow no picking through the pile. I'm in the states, but try to look at this from both sides. If I can make use of the food, then that's what we do. If it's spoiled, etc., then we may say something. If there is no recognition that that's a problem, then we go elsewhere.

We use a csa once per week here. You get what they grow, and sometimes it's not that great, but if you pick up your order in person, they try to accommodate by having an extras and trade table (you can trade out an item for another of the same if they have them or buy something else). This idea isn't great if you're trying to avoid other people entirely.

 

[Lons]

We get Tesco and occasionally Asda deliveries and both are always short dates, As an example on last Thursday's Tesco delivery all the fruit apart from grapes had a maximum of 2 days left, a large pack of strawberries were same day and a pineapple was so bad right through the skin that I can't see how the picker could possibly have missed it. Bread is rarely good and ordinary milk short dates so we buy filtered.
No problem getting instant refunds but that's no substitution for decent quality fruit and service from the delivery guys and gals is excellent so it seems crass to complain.
We can't get any Sainsburys or Morrisons deliveries so nothing else to compare.

Sam,
When and how often do you look for delivery slots? My missus seems to get them without too much trouble between 8 - 10 days ahead so books them ahead, we have another scheduled for Saturday and she's booked one earlier tonight for the 22nd and said there were a number of slots available. Unless your delivery comes from the Berwick Tesco store rather than Newcastle.

PS
I could drop you off some pigeons marra, flocks of the fat bu**ers around here would be easy pickings with the air rifle or maybe some trout, caught 11 on Thursday though I released them all one was big enough to feed you all for a week or so and I drive past not far from your abode.

 

[MattChow]

For anything you are not happy with on a Sainsburys delivery just fill out this form and they will refund you. This includes items with too short a date etc.

https://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/refund-request

 

[Phil Pascoe]

We get Tesco and occasionally Asda deliveries and both are always short dates, As an example on last Thursday's Tesco delivery all the fruit apart from grapes had a maximum of 2 days left, a large pack of strawberries were same day and a pineapple was so bad right through the skin that I can't see how the picker could possibly have missed it. Bread is rarely good and ordinary milk short dates so we buy filtered.

It is indeed grim oop north. :lol:

 

[devonwoody]

For anything you are not happy with on a Sainsburys delivery just fill out this form and they will refund you. This includes items with too short a date etc.

https://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/refund-request

Many thanks for link above, I would liked to have sent you one of my tissue boxes and sorry for the omission but the workshop has gone these days owing to age.

 

[SammyQ]

Sam,
When and how often do you look for delivery slots? My missus seems to get them without too much trouble between 8 - 10 days ahead so books them ahead, we have another scheduled for Saturday and she's booked one earlier tonight for the 22nd and said there were a number of slots available. Unless your delivery comes from the Berwick Tesco store rather than Newcastle.

Berwick for us Bob. We can now get slots about 7-10 days in advance in both Tesco and Morrisons. We also have a neighbour and No1 son to get us fruit and milk, so we are well off. We play the freezer routine as alluded to above, for bread.
Thank you for the offer for trout, but as I am the only one here who eats it, I'd rather you just enjoyed the 'bank time'. P.S. got my bike out for first time in months t'other day and did 25 miles up round Embleton...sheesh...I am out of practice - you were dead right about the hills!!

Sam

 

[garethharvey]

This is the same with us, I am having to shield along side my wife.

We have had deliveries from Tesco, Sainsbury's and ASDA

All provide pro quality fresh food with very short shelf lives. Just drop them a line and they will refund. That's what we have started to do.

I feel if everyone does this, they will get the message.

 

[AJB Temple]

I long since gave up on Tesco. Partly this was due to the way they bully their suppliers, but also because even in-store the quality of fresh vegetable and fruit is often poor.

Where we live now, the realistic delivery choices are Waitrose and Ocado. The quality of fresh goods is invariably excellent. We stopped on-line deliveries when Covid stuck, because others obviously had greater need (I was eligible due to a health condition but my wife took over the shopping). Both Waitrose and Ocado, here in Kent are now offering reasonably convenient delivery slots.

Both of them have automatic refunds if you are not satisfied with goods. No doubt they monitor this for abuse, but on the rare occasions when we have a problem, they have never quibbled in the slightest.

 

[Lons]

We get Tesco and occasionally Asda deliveries and both are always short dates, As an example on last Thursday's Tesco delivery all the fruit apart from grapes had a maximum of 2 days left, a large pack of strawberries were same day and a pineapple was so bad right through the skin that I can't see how the picker could possibly have missed it. Bread is rarely good and ordinary milk short dates so we buy filtered.

It is indeed grim oop north. :lol:

Nearly as grim as the depths of Cornwall Phil, at least when the hoards of holidaymakers descend on your park of the UK. We possibly would have been among them at some stage this year if it hadn't been for the virus. Bloody motorhomes eh.

 

[Lons]

Berwick for us Bob. We can now get slots about 7-10 days in advance in both Tesco and Morrisons. We also have a neighbour and No1 son to get us fruit and milk, so we are well off. We play the freezer routine as alluded to above, for bread.
Thank you for the offer for trout, but as I am the only one here who eats it, I'd rather you just enjoyed the 'bank time'. P.S. got my bike out for first time in months t'other day and did 25 miles up round Embleton...sheesh...I am out of practice - you were dead right about the hills!!

Sam

Good to hear you're sorted Sam, we do the same with bread plus the breadmaker churns out acceptable bread though I always think the small of it baking is better than the taste, we put it on timer overnight so wake up to that.

I don't eat trout and my wife got fed up as we had so much in the freezer and I was giving them all away to family and neighbours, I much prefer to let the fish live so much happier with catch and release.

Had an hour out this morning for a haircut, first since the end of February so feel a bit lightheaded now. :lol:

Best wishes to both of you, hang on in there.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Nearly as grim as the depths of Cornwall Phil, at least when the hoards of holidaymakers descend on your park of the UK. We possibly would have been among them at some stage this year if it hadn't been for the virus. Bloody motorhomes eh.

One of my neighbours went up the A30 on the weekend and said it was nose to tail with caravans. (Despite the tourists f*** off signs on the bridges.)

Despite what the press says, there are huge numbers of people in Cornwall (and other holiday destinations) who do not work in the tourist trade, and it is not really surprising they wish the tourists went elsewhere. Common sense goes out of the window as soon as they set foot on beaches and in bars.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Interestingly, I've just spoken to a friend. She was moaning that it was difficult to get deliveries and said a Tesco driver told her half the reason was that so many of their deliveries were going to caravan sites, camp sites and holiday homes.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I long since gave up on Tesco. Partly this was due to the way they bully their suppliers, but also because even in-store the quality of fresh vegetable and fruit is often poor.

I don't suppose for one moment that Tesco are the only bullies. We use Tesco in preference to Morrisons, Asda, Lidl and Aldi as their fruit and veg is much better.

 

[AJB Temple]

We don't have Morrisons near us, and both Aldi and Lidl are half an hour drive away so they are rarely tried out. My experience of Aldi is that fruit and veg is OK but the range is very limited. There is an Asda on an industrial /retail estate 10 miles away. I have only been there once and bought very little as the vegetable aisle actually had rotting goods in it, the manager and staff seemingly not bothered.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Ready for the tourists ..............

:lol:

 

[Nigel Burden]

We haven't used Tesco for four or five years now, and rarely have home deliveries. We shop mostly at Waitrose but trying to get a delivery slot involves a long wait. Fortunately we don't need to rely on them, but on the odd occasion when we have had one, the quality is always very good, and substitutions are never lower quality.

Nigel.

 

[devonwoody]

I went and had a look at M & S this morning , delivery next day on many items, only trouble was I told the wife she had married the wrong bloke, I could not afford a £90 piece of roast Beef. :lol: