Dunnes and their codes.

Nolimits

Sorry if this has been mentioned before.



I work in dunnes, i work in the fruit and veg a few months ago they decided to do away with the dates on most products. Anything they have to have dates on eg prepared salads ect they kept them on but thats all. They replaced the dates with codes eg 5205 (todays code). What that stands for is week number 52 day number 5, the week starts on a sunday. That isnt a use by date though, thats just when they come into us.

They put up no signs informing customers of the changes and only those who asked know what the codes mean. They deliberately make them harder to follow like how in the hell is this week number 52, why couldnt they do a month number and day number eg 0129. This is a deliberate attempt to confuse the customer into picking up old stock without realising. Also the timing of these codes was curious, it was the start of a price blitz. I have explained these codes to hundreds of customers and not one of them have said "you know what thats a good idea, i wonder why more shops dont do that" infact alot of people have walked out or simply said "i wont be buying my fruit & veg here anymore anyway"

To add to that the codes regulary come in wrong, i find one or two instances a day where the codes are wrong, infact about two weeks ago we got in some organic potatoes with week number 46 on it. How the hell are we supposed to explain that to customers with out them thinking "pull the other one". Nowadays when i explain it to the customes and i get a confused look with them askin why, i just say "im not trying to be smart but there are customer comments forms behind the checkouts and if enough people fill them out they will have to chage it back".

Im not sure if this is the right board but i didnt know where else to put it and i wanted to get it off my chest.

Lafortezza

Sounds like Dunnes are shooting themselves in the foot if people are confused and mistrusting these new tags.
I wouldn't worry about it yourself unless you're planning a career with Dunnes, I'm sure when they review the sales of Fruit/Veg they'll notice a downturn in sales and then think 'Hmm whats changed since sales went down?'

You could try mentioning it to your manager, that people don't seem to like the new codes and they're preferring not to buy there out of mistrust, maybe you'll get a pay rise

Nolimits

i have mentioned it to the manager, he agrees with me but there is nothing he can do, it was a head office system

Jip

You sure you're not reading a bit of the bar code ? I shop for fresh fruit and veg all the time there and have never come across the codes you've mentioned.

Jorinn

Hmm, think there's some eu directive or something coming in where they have to disply use and sell by dates on everything except non-perishable goods or something. Heard about it in college today. So they might have to change it back whether they like it or not.

Nolimits

Originally posted by Jip
You sure you're not reading a bit of the bar code ? I shop for fresh fruit and veg all the time there and have never come across the codes you've mentioned.

Yes im sure.... dunnes have done away with the dates.

LFCFan

I've noticed that actually. We started buying Grapes in Dunnes recently and noticed a black bar over where the date usually is and a 4 digit number below it. First couple of time the grapes were fine but since then we keep getting crappy grapes and there's no way of telling when they were stocked. Since then we've stopped buying them there (and all other fruit) and get our fruit in Roches instead. €3.50 for a small punnet of grapes in Dunnes, €2.20 for a huge bag of them in Roches and they are a lot fresher.