supervalu - loughboy

englander

Most of the time I have a love hate relationship with this supervalu.

I'm trying to love the place but it keeps p!ssing me off.

- incorrect pricing (always scrutinise your receipt folks!)
- shoddy products (SV knife that snapped under little pressure)
- renovation and moving everything all over the place - months later I still see it as a stranger.
- stupid sloping carpark that has your trolley tw@tting off from you when not looking.
- stupid prices on some things (80c+ for a tin of SV tomotaoes wtf !?)

And the latest ...... 2 litre of no frills milk 1.69.
20c over what I pay in a normal lidl/aldi/dunnes shop. (even the garage is cheaper)

Supervalu I think this may be the end of us....and for real this time !

Does supervalu now see itself as a convenience shop with prices to match ?

Dan Chipowski

A lot of valid points there. Noticed the price of the milk today.

The pricing 'errors' if you want to call it that have been documented on here before, but it still goes on. Went back with a receipt the other day and got some sour faced manager type woman who let a grunt at me and refunded the difference.

I'd say about 50% of their special offers are actually priced correctly at the till, which is a fairly shoddy practice.

Don't do my main shop there any more, but it's still the handiest to me for convenience so I'm left with little choice but to go in the odd time.

seven_eleven

eh, nothing really worth complaining about here. Every single super market is like this, some have the same problems, others have different problems.

Dunnes stores is worse for moving around the layout, superquinn can be more expensive for poorer quality, lidl and aldi has a lot of products that taste like dirt, but its very cheap.

If you dont like it, don't shop there. I actually just came back from supervalu, and I was just wondering why they dont have later opening hours, they make a killing in there.

road_high

Have the same relationship myself. I love Super Valu, just hate that particular one. For all the reasons you outline.
Very unfriendly demoralised staff there and regular pricing "mistakes"...funny how they never work in our favour though

Reason why it is so bad is because there is no Tesco in Kilkenny and until Lidl/Aldi arrived there was a nice little cartel going on in KK. I believe it is Caulfields top performing store so go figure. There is a very large population beside the store but only Lidl and Aldi alternatives. That side of town is particularly ill served as regards supermarkets, as is the city as a whole. Just compare it to say Tullow or New Ross both of which have Tesco, Super Value ( very decent one in Tullow) and Lidl/Aldi too but a fraction of the population.

Sky King

The super valu in loughboy needs to sort out access / egress to that carpark. It's a disaster.

They seem to have revsied the queing system in there for small numbers of items, which works better than it was.

toe_knee

To be honest I do most of my shopping there and find the staff in general very nice to deal with. I do shop in Aldi and Lidl as well and Dunnes. Saying that I never take note of prices displayed versus prices at the till which I should really start doing because I often see people questioning these at the till.
One major attraction for me though is the free parking and the ease of access. I know Aldi and Lidl both have these but they don't have short Q times or baskets for smaller shopping trips. I feel like a right tit going up with a trolley with feck all in it

Sky King

toe_knee wrote: »

I know Aldi and Lidl both have these but they don't have short Q times or baskets for smaller shopping trips.

Totally disagree. I have shopped in both for quite a while becaue I live near them both, and it's something I've been keeping note of. I regularly go into aldi for 2 or 3 items. Invariably, any time i go into supervalu I have to queue for longer than I would in Aldi, and the car park is way more annoying to negotiate when busy. Sure, the Aldi queue might look a bit longer, but it's unreal fast.

Deathwish4

What SuperValu Loughboy do regularly is put up the advertising flap for the 'special offers' roughly a week in advance of the actual offer period.

Example : Weetos large box for €2 or something similar recently, sign was up 5-6 days before the offer came into play. Half the display stand was gone so I assume they suckered in the masses. Borderline illegal practice imo

And yes, i do love my weetos :pac:

PaulKK

seven_eleven wrote: »

Dunnes stores is worse for moving around the layout, superquinn can be more expensive for poorer quality, lidl and aldi has a lot of products that taste like dirt, but its very cheap.

Been shopping in Dunnes for 2 years and never noticed them moving things much?

I do like the selection of stuff in superquinn but they are that bit dearer, although I think their stuff is definitely the best quality, especially meat.


What kind of annoys me though is the way Dunnes have bag packers in every single week. I don't mind giving to charity now and then but if you throw a few euro in the bucket every week and pay for parking its an extra fiver on the shopping per week, or if your paying on the card and have no change you look like a plonker not giving them anything.

Absolute Zero

PaulKK wrote: »

Been shopping in Dunnes for 2 years and never noticed them moving things much?

I do like the selection of stuff in superquinn but they are that bit dearer, although I think their stuff is definitely the best quality, especially meat.


What kind of annoys me though is the way Dunnes have bag packers in every single week. I don't mind giving to charity now and then but if you throw a few euro in the bucket every week and pay for parking its an extra fiver on the shopping per week, or if your paying on the card and have no change you look like a plonker not giving them anything.

Superquinn definatly wins when it comes to the quality of their meat. I really dont like supervalu either. Dunnes is good for everything else.

HistoryKitty

First of all I used to work part-time in this particular shop. I'm not saying it is perfect but I just want to give you my opinion as an employee.

englander wrote: »

Most of the time I have a love hate relationship with this supervalu.

I just want to point out you say this supervalu but some of your grievances are general.

englander wrote: »

- incorrect pricing (always scrutinise your receipt folks!)

First of all that has to do with upstairs/scanning department. Checkout operators dont try to scam you out of money (it doesn't go into their pockets just the companies). So anytime you have a problem with a price on your receipt do say it to the checkout operator, they will try to fix it but please don't give out to them. The amount of times I've been given out to for problems with special offers that aren't on the system and despite what customers think I don't know every single offer in that store off by heart and if you spot a mistake tell me, don't eat my head off for something that isn't my fault. Maybe this is not what you're implying but you do not realise the amount of customers who believe that i'm in control of the prices that they get charged.

englander wrote: »

- shoddy products (SV knife that snapped under little pressure)

This is a general supervalu problem not related to sv loughboy alone. There isn't little elves making these products out in the backstore.

englander wrote: »

- renovation and moving everything all over the place - months later I still see it as a stranger.

I'm sorry that they renovated the store and tried to make things nicer for its customers. I'm not gonna go into the amount of night shifts that we all had to do to fix the store up. I worked on the shop floor and all you have to do is ask staff on the floor for help when you can't find anything. The shop now also has signs over each aisle telling you what's in it. I'm just saying open your eyes, the store isn't even that big.

englander wrote: »

- stupid sloping carpark that has your trolley tw@tting off from you when not looking.

Sorry again for this. Supervalu offer you free parking and you still manage to find something to complain about? I'm sorry but this is one of the biggest first world problems i've ever seen. Yes the car park isn't wonderful and it has its faults but god I know some awful carpacks like the friary/some in waterford where the spaces are tiny and its just downright dangerous and you have to pay for your stay in those carparks.

englander wrote: »

- stupid prices on some things (80c+ for a tin of SV tomotaoes wtf !?)

Most/All of supervalus own brand products are cheaper than branded products.

englander wrote: »

Supervalu I think this may be the end of us....and for real this time !

If you don't like it shop elsewhere.

englander wrote: »

Does supervalu now see itself as a convenience shop with prices to match ?

I'm not even gonna reply to this.

For those who commented saying staff looked demoralised?? I dont blame any of my ex co-workers from looking that way when we deal with customers complaining about all of this to us all day every day.

This post is mostly a rant but customers you are as much to blame for some of the problems in this store. Long queues are due to customers running back to get items/complaining/being slow about their business/not weighing stuff etc and checkout operators are really patient with these customers only to be called slow at serving etc.

Supervalu is a business and it tries its best to keep things running smoothly. It's far from perfect but the managers are constantly trying to fix these problems. Yes sometimes offers aren't on the system and dont scan right but offers change every week and there are a huge amounts of signage to take down/up every week. The people that work there are people and are trying their best.

gowley

Sky King wrote: »

Totally disagree. I have shopped in both for quite a while becaue I live near them both, and it's something I've been keeping note of. I regularly go into aldi for 2 or 3 items. Invariably, any time i go into supervalu I have to queue for longer than I would in Aldi, and the car park is way more annoying to negotiate when busy. Sure, the Aldi queue might look a bit longer, but it's unreal fast.

the aldil cashiers are constantly monitored by the amount of products they scan. this is why they are much quicker. they also get a bonus every month if they meet the targets.

gowley

toe_knee wrote: »

To be honest I do most of my shopping there and find the staff in general very nice to deal with. I do shop in Aldi and Lidl as well and Dunnes. Saying that I never take note of prices displayed versus prices at the till which I should really start doing because I often see people questioning these at the till.
One major attraction for me though is the free parking and the ease of access. I know Aldi and Lidl both have these but they don't have short Q times or baskets for smaller shopping trips. I feel like a right tit going up with a trolley with feck all in it

lidl do have baskets. they are inside the front door and are blue. you could pick an empty box up if it stops making you feel like a tit

Sky King

gowley wrote: »

the aldil cashiers are constantly monitored by the amount of products they scan. this is why they are much quicker. they also get a bonus every month if they meet the targets.

It's actually mainly because the system is designed to that I don't have to stand patiently watching some ould wan trying to pack her bags - she goes off somewhere else to do that, allowing the queue to move faster. Class.

englander

As I said, the final straw for me is the price of milk going up by 20c - a hell of an increase for a staple item that is usually found at the same price across all the supermarkets. (for very good reasons).

As for checkout people, most are ok in Loughboy - but saying that, I know the ones to avoid. I appreciate they have a very hard job but I believe you really need to have the right aptitude for being in such a customer facing position - and rewarded accordingly.

An employee with a 'If you don’t like it, shop elsewhere.' attitude shouldn't last 2 minutes in any well run shop.

Most disgruntled people will vote with their feet and silently decide to spend their money elsewhere, as I have done (not totally silently though !) and my extended family have done.

SV should be keen to keep their customers - do something like send out a €5 voucher to club card members to say sorry for the inconvenience of the renovations and thanks for sticking with us (basic stuff) – rather than introducing silly prices to pay for the work. Don’t take us for mugs !

Anyway off to Aldi now to give them some of my hard earned cash..

$kilkenny

Isnt milk going up by about 20c everywhere??

HistoryKitty

englander wrote: »

As I said, the final straw for me is the price of milk going up by 20c - a hell of an increase for a staple item that is usually found at the same price across all the supermarkets. (for very good reasons).

As I said before I don't set the prices, I can't fix that for you. Consult head office about that.

englander wrote: »

As for checkout people, most are ok in Loughboy - but saying that, I know the ones to avoid. I appreciate they have a very hard job but I believe you really need to have the right aptitude for being in such a customer facing position - and rewarded accordingly.

Most people on checkouts are sound and bend over backwards for customers!!! I worked there for years and I have never seen any checkout operator being rude to customers. I've seen more customers being rude and unnecessarily rude to checkout operators though and experienced it myself. Such as customers looking down on me cause I work in a supermarket, put me down while talking to me and made me feel like crap even after they left my till.

englander wrote: »

An employee with a 'If you don’t like it, shop elsewhere.' attitude shouldn't last 2 minutes in any well run shop.

I'm an EX employee so I can say what I like. Even if I was still working there, I'd still give you that exact same sentiment. This is boards, an open forum, I can say what I like when I'm not on duty. And my personal opinion is that. If you don't like it you don't have to continue shopping there.

englander wrote: »

Most disgruntled people will vote with their feet and silently decide to spend their money elsewhere, as I have done (not totally silently though !) and my extended family have done.

Hope you told them bout the price of milk!!!

englander wrote: »

SV should be keen to keep their customers - do something like send out a €5 voucher to club card members to say sorry for the inconvenience of the renovations and thanks for sticking with us (basic stuff) – rather than introducing silly prices to pay for the work. Don’t take us for mugs !

So after paying a load of money to make the store nicer and cleaner for its customer they should also hand its customers cash??? They did the renovations in the night time so as not to be an inconvience to its customers!! They didnt have to spend thousands renovating the store, they could have kept it as it was but they chose to make it nicer for its customers!!! Can you not appreciate anything they do?? They created employment for builders etc hired more staff.

englander wrote: »

Anyway off to Aldi now to give them some of my hard earned cash..

Hope you and Aldi are very happy together

I'm not gonna reply anymore ... its customers like you that made my time there a nightmare, I loved it apart from the paranoid customers who swore supervalu was out to get them by misleading them with prices etc.

I've been shopping in Supervalu Loughboy all my life Kitty so I probably knew you there . I've tried other supermarkets but I keep coming back. And the improvements they made recently are great. Must say I think it's as good if not better than other supermarkets in the city. Aldi and Lidl are always going to be cheaper but they are a different "shopping experience" as they say and they are not for me.

barneygumble99

I do 90% of my shopping in Loughboy Super Valu and the only gripe id have is that it can be hard to get out of the car park at times, other than that its a fantastic place to shop, staff always courteous, well laid out , well stocked and clean.

frankie2shoes

I've shopped at the LnN for years( though not when it was an LnN). Its a good store but it has its issues. Pricing is one. More than once special offers and reduced prices have not shown up on my receipt. When questioned they are sorted out but not without a grumble and never, in my experience, with an apology. I do most of my shopping now at aldi as I like their products, they're cheaper, car park access is better and the staff are more efficient. That being said I do loke the improved SV and wish them well but I always double check my receipt. Not because I think "they're out to get me" as a previous poster suggests but because I have been stung in the past and I dont got money to burn...