Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

C J Snarzell · 20 Mar 2020

The other sickening thing about all this madness is the vultures exploiting their capital and charging what they want - a 75p bottle of washing up liquid is being sold in my local shop for £3 now.

The so called 'rules' about an OAP hour at local stores is completely useless - younger people are simply ignoring it anyway and coming up with lame excuses that they are buying for housebound relatives or are actually lying about their ages when challenged!!!

Unless they have robust security people enforcing it - no one will adhere to what they are told.

I kid you not - I'm sure I've seen one idiot don a flat cap and raincoat to pass himself off as a pensioner. You couldn't make it up!

RailUK Forums

Bantamzen · 20 Mar 2020

I have no words, only despair....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-51964828

Thieves have taken advantage of the coronavirus crisis and targeted a food bank to sell stolen goods in pubs, its manager has said. Donations, including sanitary products and toilet rolls, were taken from the site in Knottingley, West Yorkshire. Stockpiling restrictions mean the Trussel Trust food bank cannot replace the items and will close. The town's MP, Yvette Cooper, described the crime as "shameful". She called for supermarkets to change their rules to allow food banks to buy in bulk.

The food bank, on Tythe Barn Road, had received a large donation of goods before one of its storage containers was raided at about 18:00 GMT on Wednesday. Four men were seen fleeing the scene. Project manager Janet Burns said: “I’m absolutely positive it’s coronavirus-related. They’re stealing stuff because they know they can sell it at pubs and clubs.” She said there had been a long queue outside the food bank, including people with school meal vouchers which they fear will be unuseable when closures come into force from Friday.

Ms Burns added: “All our food is donated by the general public so it’s just taking the kindness of people and throwing it back in their faces.“People who came in today might not have got as much as they might have done otherwise. These are people that are desperate for some help." Before the break-in, the food bank had decided to move to a reduced service from next week, dealing with emergency cases only because many of its volunteers are older and classed as being at higher risk of catching the virus. However, Ms Burns said losing so many donated goods had “forced our hand” and it will now close.

Ms Cooper called on the public to come forward with donations to help the food bank continue to provide for those in need. She said: “If someone has done this in order to make profit from other people’s desperation that is a shocking and shameful crime.” Insp Phillippa Child, from West Yorkshire Police, said: "Foodbanks are there to help the most needy in society and this is a disgusting crime." She said the force was looking at CCTV and asked anyone with information to get in touch.

C J Snarzell · 20 Mar 2020

Bantamzen said:
I have no words, only despair....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-51964828

These specimens are no better than the pond life who were robbing from the dead and injuried during the Manchester Arena attack or the other parasites robbing evacuated homes during the floods!

CJ

KevinTurvey · 20 Mar 2020

I think what is happening now is people see some stocks getting lower and just buy some of it just in case anyway, as none of the shortages seem logical, just herd instinct.

My local Aldi today had several pallets of tinned tomatoes yet nobody was now interested. Now the washing powder and capsules have all gone, and I laughed to see all the tin foil gone as well!

In Asda there were several extra pallets of bleach and toilet cleaner yet nobody was interested any more. I mean if you need a lot of toilet roll surely you need plenty of cleaner? All the cheap multipacks of "cooking lager" were cleaned out along with all the bread, bakery products and most of the breakfast cereal and meat. There are no eggs anywhere.

This must be a nightmare for the stores trying to manage inventory. I feel sorry for those at work all day who are now denied food because of all the idiots clearing the shops out during the day.

PG · 20 Mar 2020

yorkie said:
In an ideal world you'd want people to spread out more thinly in supermarkets too, but you probably can't really achieve that

When I was a child my mum went to the supermarket monthly and it had a turnstile at the entrance with the trolleys kept inside - maybe time to bring that setup back, though I guess folk would just climb over right now!

Ianno87 · 20 Mar 2020

C J Snarzell said:
The other sickening thing about all this madness is the vultures exploiting their capital and charging what they want - a 75p bottle of washing up liquid is being sold in my local shop for £3 now.

The so called 'rules' about an OAP hour at local stores is completely useless - younger people are simply ignoring it anyway and coming up with lame excuses that they are buying for housebound relatives or are actually lying about their ages when challenged!!!

Unless they have robust security people enforcing it - no one will adhere to what they are told.

I kid you not - I'm sure I've seen one idiot don a flat cap and raincoat to pass himself off as a pensioner. You couldn't make it up!

There will be some younger people (e.g. NHS shift workers) who may genuinely need to shop in these hours; there are already lots of photos on social media of ambulance crew in a store late at night after their shift with nothing but empty shelves.

Most supermarkets are employing a 'please respect this if you can' rather than being a hard 'rule', for this very reason.

I do agree that people turning up early (with no genuine need to do so) just to fill their boots should not be tolerated.

Bletchleyite · 20 Mar 2020

There are also plenty of younger people shopping for older relatives and friends.

I think we need to apply the "not every disability is visible" rule here and not be tutting at people in supermarkets, though if you know a friend has been taking the mick then go tut at them on FB etc.

trainophile · 20 Mar 2020

If they restricted shoppers to baskets only and locked the trolleys away that might help a bit.

My heart broke for that ICU nurse in tears because she had come off a 48 hour shift (although I am not sure how that was sustainable) to find nothing healthy left in the supermarket. What savages we have turned into.

Bletchleyite · 20 Mar 2020

trainophile said:
If they restricted shoppers to baskets only and locked the trolleys away that might help a bit.

That's not an utterly terrible idea at all.

My heart broke for that ICU nurse in tears because she had come off a 48 hour shift (although I am not sure how that was sustainable) to find nothing healthy left in the supermarket. What savages we have turned into.

True, though I also think people need not to panic and just to buy what they can get. Nobody is going to end up 25 stone because they had egg and chips for a couple of days. Eating healthy is sensible, but the effect is a long-term one, you are not going to suddenly turn into Rab C Nesbitt because you couldn't get your quinoa this week and had to eat frozen chips. Nor are you going to die because you have to wipe your backside on the Daily Mail[1] for a couple of weeks.

[1] Other low-grade "newspapers" are available.

krus_aragon · 20 Mar 2020

dgl said:
For anyone who is thinking of doing the same thing just be aware of cartridge capacity on the lower models, also some models have different maximum capacity cartridges for different models in their ranges, the con being is that the cartridges are no different in size or shape just the amount of toner inside. Compatible toner can be very cheap for what you get but I had a Xerox where compatible toner wouldn't stick properly, possibly due to the lower temperature toners it used.

Also look for cashback deals, I got £100 back on my brother all in one which (with a 10% eBay voucher) brought the price down to ~£150, and that was for a printer with WiFi, FAX, USB printing, apps, full duplexing both for the ADF on the scanner unit and for printing. Plus the supplied cartridges are 1,800 pages @ 5% coverage colour and 3,000 pages @ 5% coverage black, not too shabby. Plus with access to a hidden reset menu the ultra high capacity toner cartridges can be used and they have 9,000 page capacity! (probably helps that these toner cartridges are not chipped, but I believe use a mechanical system for detecting page counts)

Good points, the cartridge supplied with a new laser printer tends to be intentionally part-filled. For occasional family use, a toner cartridge can last a long time, though: The all-in-one B/W Samsung one I bought five(?) years ago is still on its first replacement cartridge!

PG · 20 Mar 2020

trainophile said:
If they restricted shoppers to baskets only and locked the trolleys away that might help a bit.

Bletchleyite said:
That's not an utterly terrible idea at all.

Or make all tills 10 items or less.

bussnapperwm · 20 Mar 2020

PG said:
Or make all tills 10 items or less.

So what about those who have to feed families of more than 1 person?

Ianno87 · 20 Mar 2020

bussnapperwm said:
So what about those who have to feed families of more than 1 person?

Restricting it to the small 'shallow' trollies might be a compromise. I can do a half-decent shop for 5 with one of them.

Remember also not all old folk can easily carry a basket, but can push a trolley around as a sort-of walking aid.

philjo · 20 Mar 2020

They may need to also consider restricting access to 1 store in each area which is then dedicated for use by keyworkers using the same criteria as the list for the schools. Especially NHS, and transport workers etc who are on shifts. It would need to be enforced more than the elderly priority hour at our local Sainsbury's yesterday which I gather still required queuing to get in and a 25 minute queue to reach the checkout.

Similar to the way the sale of petrol in some garages was restricted to keyworkers in the petrol shortage in 2000.

R G NOW. · 20 Mar 2020

PG said:
About time they (the kids) learnt that I want doesn't get! Not that that should be any reason to overspend on stockpiling.

This also reminded me of an advert some years ago at Christmas when a kid opened his present of a mobile phone only to throw it across the lounge because it wasn't a virgin one.

trainophile · 20 Mar 2020

Ianno87 said:
Restricting it to the small 'shallow' trollies might be a compromise. I can do a half-decent shop for 5 with one of them.

Remember also not all old folk can easily carry a basket, but can push a trolley around as a sort-of walking aid.

They could put a basket within a small trolley, and the check-out staff would have to treat any slight overspill sensibly. At least it would discourage people piling those huge trolleys to the top.

trainophile · 20 Mar 2020

philjo said:
They may need to also consider restricting access to 1 store in each area which is then dedicated for use by keyworkers using the same criteria as the list for the schools. Especially NHS, and transport workers etc who are on shifts. It would need to be enforced more than the elderly priority hour at our local Sainsbury's yesterday which I gather still required queuing to get in and a 25 minute queue to reach the checkout.

Similar to the way the sale of petrol in some garages was restricted to keyworkers in the petrol shortage in 2000.

That's a good idea, no-one could object to that. All NHS etc. key workers will have some form of easily produceable identity tag or lanyard.

AM9 · 20 Mar 2020

Bletchleyite said:
There are also plenty of younger people shopping for older relatives and friends.

I think we need to apply the "not every disability is visible" rule here and not be tutting at people in supermarkets, ...

That's true, but today was the first day of the local Waitrose's 'wrinkley hour' and there were plenty of young shoppers with a token oldie. Maybe there's an opportunity for elderly actors from Elstree Studios to get parts in real life supermarket queues

Ianno87 · 20 Mar 2020

AM9 said:
That's true, but today was the first day of the local Waitrose's 'wrinkley hour' and there were plenty of young shoppers with a token oldie. Maybe there's an opportunity for elderly actors from Elstree Studios to get parts in real life supermarket queues

Or perhaps providing transport in getting oldies to the supermarket in the first place.

You just don't know.

(It'd be quite some impressive effort to go to to go out of your way to collect an older relative first thing just to be able to shop before 10am)

R G NOW. · 20 Mar 2020

PG said:
When I was a child my mum went to the supermarket monthly and it had a turnstile at the entrance with the trolleys kept inside - maybe time to bring that setup back, though I guess folk would just climb over right now!

This reminds me of the old Kwik save stores. The one in Lydney where I lived at the time had a side entrance with red flaps to push a trolley through and you would go through a turnstile alongside.

trainophile · 20 Mar 2020

https://emergency-services.news/?p=...pKyZ-V0VnS_NyV0utu6AMjatNPhYYHYKBCqyhvprVtsH0

Hey presto!

M&S has announced that it will be opening its stores at specific times just for NHS and emergency services personnel.

The news comes at a time when NHS and emergency service workers are struggling to buy essential every-day items owing to the on-going irrational ‘panic buying’ that has swept across the country

Despite there not be any reason to, shoppers are still clearing the shelves of supermarkets within hours of the stores opening.

But for the men and women who are on shifts working hard to keep us all safe, stopping off at the shop on the way home only to find that there is nothing left on the shelves is causing even more distress amongst overworked first responders and NHS staff.

In an announcement, a spokesperson for the supermarket said:

‘Supporting our customers and communities during this difficult time is our number one priority. We want to make sure everyone has access to the items they need, so we are setting aside the first hour of trading on certain days for our older and vulnerable customers, and for our brilliant NHS and emergency workers.

‘For older and vulnerable customers, this will start tomorrow, Friday 20th March, and going forward after that, on Mondays and Thursdays.

‘For NHS and emergency workers, this will be Tuesdays and Fridays’

The announcement does not include franchise stores in petrol stations and railway stations.

Despite many stores announcing that they are also allocating specific times of the day for the elderly and the vulnerable, the result of these measures has been mixed.

Many elderly and vulnerable shoppers who have attended such opening times have said that there is just as much ‘panic buying’ and ‘chaos’ as there was before.

People have called for more to be done by the supermarkets to ensure that ‘hoarders’ do not clear the shelves, leaving nothing for anyone else who is not able to get to the shops during the morning rush.

JonathanH · 20 Mar 2020

trainophile said:
https://emergency-services.news/?p=...pKyZ-V0VnS_NyV0utu6AMjatNPhYYHYKBCqyhvprVtsH0

Hey presto!

Needs to be more - needs to be all day, not just an hour.

Howardh · 20 Mar 2020

If the disabled can't get out to shop the chances are they have a disabled badge which the shopper could carry on their behalf.

Bletchleyite · 20 Mar 2020

Howardh said:
If the disabled can't get out to shop the chances are they have a disabled badge which the shopper could carry on their behalf.

The trouble is that there isn't necessarily an overlap there. Someone who is in a wheelchair due to an accident, say, but is otherwise fully healthy, is not in a vulnerable group.

507021 · 20 Mar 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Nor are you going to die because you have to wipe your backside on the Daily Mail[1] for a couple of weeks.

[1] Other low-grade "newspapers" are available.

Erm, why should anyone have to resort to using a newspaper as toilet roll because people have been buying far more than they actually need?

trainophile · 20 Mar 2020

507021 said:
Erm, why should anyone have to resort to using a newspaper as toilet roll because people have been buying far more than they actually need?

I think you've answered your own question there.

507021 · 20 Mar 2020

trainophile said:
I think you've answered your own question there.

The point is people shouldn't have to...

This sheer greed is utterly ridiculous.

Bletchleyite · 20 Mar 2020

507021 said:
The point is people shouldn't have to...

This sheer greed is utterly ridiculous.

It is, but my point is that people really need to try not to get upset over that as it's just an annoyance. If you can't get milk, have your tea black. If you can't get pasta, have chips. Whatever. Nobody needs to worry about starving, there is food.

Momo and diggy · 20 Mar 2020

Baxenden Bank said:
There were lots of announcements about 'distancing' at my local Tesco yesterday. Most people queuing at the tills took no notice.

Been in the local Tesco today and the distancing rule was working ok apart from one young woman who pushed her pram complete with baby into the no go area.The till lady asked her to move the pram back behind the line which she eventually did after much muttering and complaining.

507021 · 20 Mar 2020

Bletchleyite said:
It is, but my point is that people really need to try not to get upset over that as it's just an annoyance. If you can't get milk, have your tea black. If you can't get pasta, have chips. Whatever. Nobody needs to worry about starving, there is food.

And what about people who have specific dietary requirements?

Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

Established Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member