Supermarkets and Covid-19

[221129]

You endure them, you get home delivery, or you end up getting arrested. Simple choices.

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

 

[Adsy125]

I don’t understand people saying that we won’t be able to queue for just half an hour, it’s really not that bad, just bring your phone! Even when it’s a bit wet it’s really not that bad. Those who aren’t capable of waiting already have arrangements already made, these can just continue surely?

Tesco is the only one I've managed to get any deliveries out of and that's been only 2 in however many weeks. The others all refuse as I'm not in the vulnerable category.

I am continually surprised by the number of people who don’t actually need a delivery slot but are still using them despite the widely publicised shortage or slots available to those who need them. I’m not picking on this poster in particular, just the first post I saw to quote, but why on earth would people who can go into the shop knowingly make someone who shouldn’t put themselves at risk

 

[Domh245]

I don’t understand people saying that we won’t be able to queue for just half an hour, it’s really not that bad, just bring your phone! Even when it’s a bit wet it’s really not that bad. Those who aren’t capable of waiting already have arrangements already made, these can just continue surely?

It's when you're waiting for half an hour and it's chucking it down (and cold!) - that's when it becomes problematic. Waiting for half an hour is fine, waiting when it's a bit wet is fine, doing both at the same time (or worse) is a different story.

 

[Enthusiast]

You endure them, you get home delivery, or you end up getting arrested.

Home deliveries are completely inadequate to handle anything other than a very small proportion of customers.

These arrangements are being complied with by consent, not because of the threat of arrest. Once ignoring them becomes widespread there is no way on Earth that compliance can be enforced. You have to be realistic. You see a few snippets of police clearing a beach or a park of sunbathers. All good press. They cannot visit every Tesco

 

[Non Multi]

I'd presume the large supermarkets will have temporary covered buildings (or walkways) in their car parks for queuing in winter, as Heathrow airport and rail operators have used in the past. Will be more difficult to do this for the high street stores.

 

[bramling]

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Yes quite so, reality has been there’s barely been enough police to enforce the lockdown, let alone to have people arrested for being arsey about queues.

Personally I do feel that some of the supermarket arrangements are worse in that they are forcing people to congregate.

At some of the London places this has meant an ideal opportunity to be pestered by beggars at close range.

I suspect the queueing will reduce once we don’t have so many people with nothing else to do.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

If you are healthy and wearing the appropriate clothes you can stand in the rain/wind/snow for half an hour without it being anything more than unpleasant.

If you are in poor health, it's easier to make special arrangements for that smaller amount of people than for everyone.

Seriously, stop whining. It's a non-problem. As someone from Yorkshire, what's happened to your big coat?

And cue a lot of very wet people inside the supermarket, dripping water all over the place and some poor bugger slips on the floor causing major injury.

Who is then liable?

 

[Busaholic]

There are no rules about the number of customers shopping together in my area, which includes a Sainsbury's and two of the other majors, neither apparently in the Waitrose I visited twenty five miles away yesterday while waiting to pick up my wife from her hospital appointment. However, the wait at Waitrose was long and tedious because there was only a trickle of customers exiting, and I soon saw the reason for this when I finally got in - only two of nine checkouts open, with everyone having completely filled their trollies, including plants in many cases, which take longer to go through. Self-checkouts were deserted, because no-one had only a few items. Someone took pity on the old guy with the stick when he started queuing, though, and opened another till for him, making sure he got tipped off before it happened. So, thank you, Waitrose.

 

[JamesT]

I am continually surprised by the number of people who don’t actually need a delivery slot but are still using them despite the widely publicised shortage or slots available to those who need them. I’m not picking on this poster in particular, just the first post I saw to quote, but why on earth would people who can go into the shop knowingly make someone who shouldn’t put themselves at risk

My understanding is all the supermarkets have been prioritising vulnerable customers so if I’m getting a slot it’s not at their expense.

I have been shopping mostly in Lidl as the closest supermarket to me. But I don’t have a car currently so there is a limit on what I can buy. Getting a delivery allows me to buy the larger sizes I couldn’t carry myself so I need fewer trips to the supermarket. We have been encouraged to make fewer larger shopping trips where possible.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's when you're waiting for half an hour and it's chucking it down (and cold!) - that's when it becomes problematic. Waiting for half an hour is fine, waiting when it's a bit wet is fine, doing both at the same time (or worse) is a different story.

It's not "problematic", it's "mildly inconvenient". I hate to think how people in here would have coped say 70 years ago when car ownership was very low and shops much smaller so you might well have had to queue outside!

And cue a lot of very wet people inside the supermarket, dripping water all over the place and some poor bugger slips on the floor causing major injury.

Who is then liable?

If it's raining, there will be dripping wet people inside supermarkets anyway because not everyone arrives by car in normal circumstances. As we are talking about those who arrive by car being able to queue inside their car, which is a good idea as "a door provides more distancing than any mask" or whatever that quote was, then we're talking about only those not arriving by car queueing in the rain. They've already walked to the supermarket in the rain, ergo are already wet.

This really is a non-problem.

 

[sheff1]

I don’t understand people saying that we won’t be able to queue for just half an hour, it’s really not that bad, just bring your phone!

Amazing ! How can bringing my phone make waiting in a queue any better ? If I want to phone someone I do so before I leave home or after I get back - I certainly don't want to be phoning anyone when I am standing outside a superamrket.

 

[Domh245]

It's not "problematic", it's "mildly inconvenient". I hate to think how people in here would have coped say 70 years ago when car ownership was very low and shops much smaller so you might well have had to queue outside!

Getting ill because you've been stood outside in the cold and wet seems like more than inconvenience somehow.

 

[sheff1]

You see a few snippets of police clearing a beach or a park of sunbathers. All good press. They cannot visit every Tesco

Except in Northampton.

Getting ill because you've been stood outside in the cold and wet seems like more than inconvenience somehow.

Ah, but getting ill due to anything other than Covid-19 is absolutely OK in the eyes of the "increase restrictions and fine everyone who objects" brigade.

 

[david1212]

My biggest grievance once in the store is those talking on their phone while others are queueing outside. If shopping for relative or neighbour a quick call if an item is out of stock to say what is there is fine but not just stood for a long time. Those who are physically fit but dawdle round and ponder what to buy rather than have a list realistically will never change so while frustrating not worth getting worked up over, just wait or move to another aisle then return in a few minutes.

I can not see number of people permitted in each store being significantly increased any time soon. Hence I'm expecting the stores will install some form of covered area queueing area. Managed parking has been suggested but that will require more staff plus they will be outside regardless of the weather so managers will probably struggle with that approach.

 

[Qwerty133]

My biggest grievance once in the store is those talking on their phone while others are queueing outside. If shopping for relative or neighbour a quick call if an item is out of stock to say what is there is fine but not just stood for a long time. Those who are physically fit but dawdle round and ponder what to buy rather than have a list realistically will never change so while frustrating not worth getting worked up over, just wait or move to another aisle then return in a few minutes.

I can not see number of people permitted in each store being significantly increased any time soon. Hence I'm expecting the stores will install some form of covered area queueing area. Managed parking has been suggested but that will require more staff plus they will be outside regardless of the weather so managers will probably struggle with that approach.

Managed parking may not be so undesirable for the shop staff in larger supermarkets where they employ people to collect trolleys from the car park and move them back to the entrance of the store, as said staff may well be happy to manage the queues on the basis that all of the trolleys for a similar time will be returned to the same hub reducing the need to walk round the entire car park every 10 minutes.

 

[david1212]

Wander if they'd install covered areas outside of banks as well? As seen massive queues outside them over the past few weeks as well.

A good proposal since the queue will be slow moving as if somebody needs to go into a bank their business is likely to take at least several minutes. The difference is most supermarkets are either a stand-alone site or out of town retail park which is still technically private ground but banks are on public streets.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Amazing ! How can bringing my phone make waiting in a queue any better ? If I want to phone someone I do so before I leave home or after I get back - I certainly don't want to be phoning anyone when I am standing outside a superamrket.

Maybe you only use yours for calls, but most people these days use them for more than that. You could use it to read the news, to scroll Facebook or even to use this forum!

Getting ill because you've been stood outside in the cold and wet seems like more than inconvenience somehow.

If you are in good health and wear appropriate clothes you will NOT get ill by standing in a queue outdoors for 30 minutes or so.

Seriously, you won't. Layer up and put your big coat on.

I speak as a Scout leader who has spent a lot of time outdoors in bad weather over the years. Unless you have a health problem it is genuinely just unpleasant if you are properly dressed for it.

Wander if they'd install covered areas outside of banks as well? As seen massive queues outside them over the past few weeks aswell.

Don't think managed parking would work with people who have walked to the supermarket or come in a taxi or on a bus either. As not everyone has a car they can come in.

The best way is probably to have two separate queues, a car one and a foot one, and let people in from each on an alternating basis.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I used to be a Scout and by definition, I am an outdoor person. Bad weather never stopped me

But there is a big difference hiking over hills and through woods (combining physical activity and enjoyment) compared to standing for 30min or more in a supermarket queue in a car park bored out of my head

And people like me don't do social media like FB. And often, I don't wish to have my phone out in public

 

[Merle Haggard]

Except in Northampton.

Indeed.
I could list the many different crimes reported to Northamptonshire police in the past, either by myself or by friends, that they have ignored - but it would just sound like a rant.
They are, however, issuing a lot of fixed penalties, particularly to in relation to cars parked away from home address.

 

[111-111-1]

I used to be a Scout and by definition, I am an outdoor person. Bad weather never stopped me

But there is a big difference hiking over hills and through woods (combining physical activity and enjoyment) compared to standing for 30min or more in a supermarket queue in a car park bored out of my head

And people like me don't do social media like FB. And often, I don't wish to have my phone out in public

Totally agree.

If I were to wear enough layers to keep warm in cold weather and stand in a queue for 20 mins or more I would simply overheat once inside the shop even if I unzipped the coats.

 

[PeterC]

There are no rules about the number of customers shopping together in my area, which includes a Sainsbury's and two of the other majors, neither apparently in the Waitrose I visited twenty five miles away yesterday while waiting to pick up my wife from her hospital appointment. However, the wait at Waitrose was long and tedious because there was only a trickle of customers exiting, and I soon saw the reason for this when I finally got in - only two of nine checkouts open, with everyone having completely filled their trollies, including plants in many cases, which take longer to go through. Self-checkouts were deserted, because no-one had only a few items. Someone took pity on the old guy with the stick when he started queuing, though, and opened another till for him, making sure he got tipped off before it happened. So, thank you, Waitrose.

Customers at our local Waitrose seem to be back to normal shopping levels. We only have three out of six self checkouts working but with self scanning it only takes a couple of minutes to go through.

 

[Tom B]

Some observations on the above from someone who is temporarily working weekends at a supermarket to manage queues :-

Queuing areas outside - if this continues for a significant amount of time (i.e. post September) there remains time to make provision for shelters of some sort. Organising parking etc may work, if you do it from the start of the day (it'd be a nightmare to implement midway through), and crucially, if a large enough %age of your patrons come by car (e.g. large format shops provincial suburbs - rather than town centre small formats).

Verbal abuse tends to increase in line with length of the queue and conditions (e.g. the v hot days we had). I have noticed an increasing number of persons become abusive when told they can't skip the queue in recent weeks.

Several people taking the mickey by asking to be let in because they need a refund at the kiosk/need a scrip/need the loo, then going on to do a shop. These are less so now that we are wise to it - they are directed to the counter and it is made sure that they don't get a basket when they enter.

There are a lot of people who are clearly bored and/or have lots of time on their hands, therefore they are happy to wait for a while to get into a shop to buy 2 or 3 things, often non-essential. A few local old age pensioners are coming down every single day at the same time and buying bits and pieces and stopping for a chat with Ethel and Doris in the milk aisle. On the other side of the coin, several are doing large shops.

Lots of people treat it as a family/couples trip. There is no enforcement of 'one person per trolley' for two reasons - firstly, there are a multitude of reasons why somebody might genuinely need two family members to go in, secondly the verbal and physical abuse of the staff attempting to enforce it. It can be suggested that people can come alone, but there are still large numbers of adult couples or families of 5 all coming to do an ordinary weekly shop. Again, this is frustrating, and really only impacts the others waiting in the queue. If the current queue system continues but people return to work, hopefully there will be less of this as people aren't tempted to see it as something to stave off the collective boredom.

Queuing times - if one comes at the busiest times, they can get up to 40/45 minutes, but that is perhaps at one or two periods of half an hour each per week. Typically, 20 minutes or less. Usually the times are quite predictable although some days are unexpectedly busy/quiet. This is for a large extra-format hypermarket. The staff are all getting used to it and keeping on top of numbers inside, so that the queues are moving smoother.

Several shoppers have commented that it is much nicer than usual in so far as that the entrance is controlled, but once inside it is spacious enough to be able to get around easily.

Earlier in the week we moved and remodelled the queuing system, which indicates to me it isn't going anywhere soon. I'd wager that the queuing will go on for several months whilst other controls are relaxed, as people crammed into a supermarket must be a fertile ground for the spreading of the virus.

 

[Darandio]

Anyone else noticing price rises starting to kick in? I've just got back from my nearest Asda and several things are starting to go up, examples of stuff we regularly buy include:

4 cans of my favoured beer - 20p increase per pack
Cherry Tomatoes - 5p increase per pack
3 onions - 10p increase per pack
Frozen pizza - 10p increase per pack
Birds Eye waffles - 8p increase per pack
Mince - 16p increase per pack
Toilet blocks - 30p increase per pack!!
Pork Pie - 8p increase per pack
4 Toilet Rolls - 20p increase per pack

Plus many more

Add the fact that deals are remaining non-existent, the price of shopping is noticeably higher here.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

We are lucky to have an Aldi and Lidl near us (the local Sainsburys is too expensive at times). We gave up going to Asda years ago as their prices were not competitive.

Aldi and Lidl are cheap but the only gripe I have with our local Aldi is that my wife and I were not allowed to go in together. We had to wait, go in separately and then reunite once in the store.

 

[Bantamzen]

Anyone else noticing price rises starting to kick in? I've just got back from my nearest Asda and several things are starting to go up, examples of stuff we regularly buy include:

4 cans of my favoured beer - 20p increase per pack
Cherry Tomatoes - 5p increase per pack
3 onions - 10p increase per pack
Frozen pizza - 10p increase per pack
Birds Eye waffles - 8p increase per pack
Mince - 16p increase per pack
Toilet blocks - 30p increase per pack!!
Pork Pie - 8p increase per pack
4 Toilet Rolls - 20p increase per pack

Plus many more

Add the fact that deals are remaining non-existent, the price of shopping is noticeably higher here.

Funnily enough my wife and I were discussing this last night. There definitely seems to be some price creep going on right across the board. Not helpful at a time when many budgets are being squeezed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Aldi and Lidl are cheap but the only gripe I have with our local Aldi is that my wife and I were not allowed to go in together. We had to wait, go in separately and then reunite once in the store.

I don't think that was quite what they meant you to do.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

I don't think that was quite what they meant you to do.

So you're saying a husband and wife can't go shopping together then?

That is ridiculus and makes a complete mockery of the system

 

[Tom B]

So you're saying a husband and wife can't go shopping together then?

Makes a complete mockery of the system

If a 1-in-1-out system is in operation, each couple who goes in (when one could have done the shopping alone) is an unnecessary delay to those behind.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

If a 1-in-1-out system is in operation, each couple who goes in (when one could have done the shopping alone) is an unnecessary delay to those behind.

Yes, just let couples go in together. Security at the door must know they will reconvene once inside

And it isn't always possible to go shopping alone

 

[Tom B]

Yes, just let couples go in together. Security at the door must know they will reconvene once inside

And it isn't always possible to go shopping alone

That is now the policy at the supermarket with which I am familiar - on the grounds that the verbal and physical abuse from people at the mere suggestion that they might consider going alone to help those behind, wasn't worth it.

It isn't always possible. There are a multitude of reasons why both members of a couple might need to go shopping. There are also a large number of people who don't see an issue and fancy a wander around the aisles shopping together, and stuff all the people waiting.