Tescos (rant sorry)
Just read 'tescopoly' and realised that, if what I read is all true, Tesco are possibly the devil incarnate. Whatever, there arent really any good things to say about them. The only thing to do about it seems to be never to shop there. However, convincing the unwashed masses to stop going will be difficult.

All I can suggest is that their cheap prices come at a cost somewhere. If the snap peas you just bought (that all suspiciously appear to be 70mm long) are 99p a pack, you can pretty much assume that a lot of people are getting absolutely bum-fucked for this to be possible. This is a pattern that continues for pretty much every product in the store.

Moral: If you buy cheap stuff from tescos, you are knowingly bumfucking poor African farmers.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 11:19, 14 replies)

what you fail to realise
is that it is the blood sweat and tears of the exploited farmers that makes those peas so yummy

its why fair trade chocolate tastes shite because its the suffering that makes it so delicious
( Reme Philips laid an epic dump on, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 11:27, closed)

yeah
I am conflicted. Although I have stuck to sainsburys for ooooh almost a week now. And the local shops whcih are bloody fantastic now i realise i've been driving past them on the way to bleedin tescos.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 11:32, closed)

monopoly
The problem is that most people dont have an alternative.
I live in the country where I grow some veg for myself, although not enough to live off, and the village has a few shops that sell local produce and a butcher that sells localy reared meat, which is all very "The Good Life", but most of the population live in towns and cities. Big cities still tend to have small independant shops, but they are often a chuff to get to or park near and can be dear. people go to the supermarkets because they can take the car, park easilly, buy a weeks worth of food and houshold stuff under one roof and have a mcdonalds when they finish shopping.
Most smaller towns now have a supermarket on the outskirts and a highstreet full of building societies and shoe shops because the local shops went under.
You CAN still get good local food, but it takes effort and people are too lazy. Also, they want strawberries in midwinter and argentinian beefburgers because the tabloids sway so much between saying BUY BRITISH and Dont buy British, its wiggling with BSE.
(dave likes cheese, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 11:42, closed)

On the subject of Tescos
I recently applied for a Tesco loan, as they seemed to be offering the best deal. I was refused on the grounds of my credit report, so I sent away for said report forthwith.

I have never been in chronic debt; I have never had a CCJ; never had a personal loan before; I have never defaulted on mortgage repayments; don't have a criminal record; always pay my council tax on time and most months pay off my credit card in full.

So it would appear that I have been refused a loan on the grounds that I am a model, upstanding citizen whom they probably wouldn't be able to squeeze any extra interest out of because I would be highly unlikely to default on any repayments...
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 11:44, closed)

Come to rip-orff Ireland, then.
Tesco here claim to stock local produce, but at the prices they charge, I wonder if the Brussel Sprouts are flown in from Brussels, Business Class? There's a small grocer I use in Donnybrook that gets local veg, with the dirt still on, for much less (usually).
( bnt what, me worry?, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:04, closed)

I can't be bothered to go into it

but if you really believe all the exagerated crap in the media then you are a fool. the truth is Tesco are large, but not large enough to set industry prices, those cheap peas are probably being sold at cost or for a loss to make you feel good and make buy something else.

As for the loan, it is an industry standard that so called "safe bets" can be refused credit becasue they are not profitable. May I suggest Halifax 12months interest free on purchases or TSB/Airmiles for 1500 free airmiles.

Remember "don't believe the hype."

PS I don't work for Tesco, I just find bandwagons extemely boring.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:04, closed)

I'm guessing
Mr Ape, that you are of the Tory persuasion!
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:07, closed)

Surely irrelevant....
All I'm saying is that anyone or thing that is successful in Britain is automatically derided by the public and press.

The only thing we can learn from our septic cousins is how to be proud of business success rather than turn our noses up at it with a feeling of diry "new money".
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:12, closed)

my friends dad
owns his own greengrocer and their stock tends to be cheaper than Tesco and tastes better as well... probably as it is carefully placed on the shelves by the family to ensure their family name is associated with the uttermost quality rather than the spotty teens who I have seen thrown fruit from a good few feet away onto the shelves in Tescos. Yeah I still shop there but I get my fruit and veg from my friends greengrocers as often as I possibly can
( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:26, closed)

Hear hear
The only time I went to Tesco last year was whilst Christmas shopping. I was desperate for a dump and the public bogs weren't close enough for my liking/comfort/ability to shuffle.
(oneinthepink is at your cervix m'lady, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:32, closed)

Naked Ape...
Once my application for credit was refused, it did become clear that I, as a 'safe bet' was probably never going to be successful in obtaining said loan. My point is that it's no wonder this country is so utterly crippled with personal debt when companies will indisciminately give credit to total financial fuckwits (I include much of my own family in that as well) that will probably never totally clear what debt they have, whilst penalising those who would at least repay the loan in full, and on time.

I personally don't begrudge success in business (hell, I'm employed to encourage business and enterprise growth in rural areas), but I do find the gradual encroachment of some sectors to be a little worrying. There should be room for everyone, but often the 'little people' are squeezed out of the marketplace, particularly in the food sector. Having said that, whilst I would love to support locally produced goods as far as I possibly can, I do find some of the prices asked ludicrously high in a lot of cases. Especially when it's come from a couple of miles down the road as opposed to from t'other side of the world. (Oddly enough, a recent study showed that milk imported from New Zealand had a lower carbon footprint than milk produced in the UK. So it rather fucks the arguement that buying locally is better for the planet. better for the local economy, perhaps...

I can well understand why people choose to shop at Tescos and the like (and yes, I do as well). I just think that the big companies should do more to support local producers than they currently are. This may be about to change

Erm, I'll stop now I think.
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 12:47, closed)

^^^ Absolutely

I have greasy sandwich fingers, local independant organic sandwich shop, so can write no more! Needless to say it's modern quandry with no easy answer!
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 13:28, closed)

Then again...
There is an argument that a lot of businesses go bust because the proprietors just don’t have a clue about business and marketing.

For example, a staggering number of farmers I have dealt with in my time. They’re not businessmen, they’re just in farming because, well, it’s the family tradition and it’s expected. They stubbornly refuse to adapt to the marketplace, and as a result get shafted left right and centre. Conversely, I’ve come across some very successful farm businesses that have been operated by people who don’t come from a farming background. Maybe that’s the way for farming in the UK to go…

Going off topic now…
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:05, closed)

I've always been of the opinion
that if a company comes to dominate the marketplace it's generally a 'success' in the way Napolean was a success or the way any other imperialist dictator in history was.

IE: it's bullied, racketed, dirty-dealt, exploited and generally slimed it's way into that position.

A real successful company is one that has, say, a half dozen shops, a good reputation and a loyal customer base - the sort of shop that will still be there in 200 years.

Corporate Capitalism is a horrible system. I say break the monopolies and tighten government restrictions. Bring back useful unions (though with similar controls so we don't end up with the farce we had in the seventies) and encourage shorter working hours.

The scandinavians are a good model for this.

Of course it'll never happen because money talks and it's the corporations that have all the money and most of the power, precisely because the tories gave it to them.
( chenobble rocking his explorer beard on, Tue 8 Jan 2008, 15:51, closed)