Supermarkets discussion

[Xenophon PCDGS]

What happens if you being in your own paper bag for them to put it in to?

I am sure you don't really contain yourself in a paper bag....

 

[DannyMich2018]

Regarding bags I work in a supermarket and it never ceases to amaze me people not providing/bringing in their own bags. This year will be 10 years since all large retailers have been legally obliged to charge for bags so you'd think they would bring their own by now. Personally I prefer bigger bags which will and do last years I've got a Wilkos Bee bag which I use for work and had for more than 6 years now. Most common at the till excuse is "I've left my bags in the car....."

 

[AM9]

Regarding bags I work in a supermarket and it never ceases to amaze me people not providing/bringing in their own bags. This year will be 10 years since all large retailers have been legally obliged to charge for bags so you'd think they would bring their own by now. Personally I prefer bigger bags which will and do last years I've got a Wilkos Bee bag which I use for work and had for more than 6 years now. Most common at the till excuse is "I've left my bags in the car....."

That must call for a bit of 'roll eyes' passive aggression sometimes. What do you do then, sell them more bags (so that they in turn can be left in the car)?

 

[Tom B]

It is, of course, entirely within the gift of such a customer to pack their groceries back into the trolley and then bag them at the car. Or momentarily leave their trolley and go back outside to fetch said bags before they go to pay.

I saw a (possibly facetious) thing online with those so called "life hacks" and one was "beat the carrier bag charge - bring your old ones back and you don't have to pay!" which was written in a ha-we've-beaten-the-system tone...

 

[AM9]

It is, of course, entirely within the gift of such a customer to pack their groceries back into the trolley and then bag them at the car. Or momentarily leave their trolley and go back outside to fetch said bags before they go to pay.

I saw a (possibly facetious) thing online with those so called "life hacks" and one was "beat the carrier bag charge - bring your old ones back and you don't have to pay!" which was written in a ha-we've-beaten-the-system tone...

That was the irony in the whining at the time the charges were introduced, some of them resigned themselve to bringing their own old bags with them. There was one persistent moaner though whose complaint was that the (free) single-use carrier bag were perfect for a kitchen waste bin. I can't be sure who that was but I think it's a member who still posts here, - though the moaning about carrier bags has stopped.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I saw a (possibly facetious) thing online with those so called "life hacks" and one was "beat the carrier bag charge - bring your old ones back and you don't have to pay!" which was written in a ha-we've-beaten-the-system tone...

That absolutely sounds like something out of the Top Tips section in Viz (assuming they have it still.....haven't read it in 20 years)

 

[bspahh]

That absolutely sounds like something out of the Top Tips section in Viz (assuming they have it still.....haven't read it in 20 years)

A real Viz top tip was "Save money on expensive carrier bags, by eating your food at the supermarket checkout"

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I am sure you don't really contain yourself in a paper bag....

Blasted autocorrupt...!!!

 

[sor]

Regarding bags I work in a supermarket and it never ceases to amaze me people not providing/bringing in their own bags. This year will be 10 years since all large retailers have been legally obliged to charge for bags so you'd think they would bring their own by now. Personally I prefer bigger bags which will and do last years I've got a Wilkos Bee bag which I use for work and had for more than 6 years now. Most common at the till excuse is "I've left my bags in the car....."

if you live in a block of flats with shared bins you'll see where they end up instead of the boot. Boggles the mind to see people throw away brand new reusable bags & then pay again for them next time.

It was amusing when the disposable bag ban came in as my parents had been using their own for decades. Not because they were environmentally concerned, but because the "trolley bags" (I think so called because they could clip to the sides of a trolley, not to be confused with the type with wheels) were much bigger, made of thicker plastic, and far less likely to fall apart.

 

[Bald Rick]

Personally I use the more sturdy bags available for sale in all French and Spanish supermarkets. They wear out eventually - I’ve just binned a couple bought in Eroski in Velez-Malaga. 14 years ago.

Following a few repack-into-trolley-and-pack-again-at-the-car events, my ‘life hack’ for remembering to take them from the car is to put them on the passenger seat when I leave home,

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Boggles the mind to see people throw away brand new reusable bags & then pay again for them next time.

Who says they're actually being paid for? Quite often the time that I've seen folk buy half-a-dozen or so various grocery items, pay for same, and then grab a bag to put everything in.

 

[py_megapixel]

Who says they're actually being paid for? Quite often the time that I've seen folk buy half-a-dozen or so various grocery items, pay for same, and then grab a bag to put everything in.

In most supermarkets you now have to ask staff for a bag, presumably for this reason

 

[Bald Rick]

In most supermarkets you now have to ask staff for a bag, presumably for this reason

Not in any suoermarkets I use!

 

[Belperpete]

I found with the bags for life, unless you accidentally tore the bag with something sharp like the corner of a plastic packet, the thing that generally went first were the handles. If you filled the bags full, the handles would fold lengthways, so you were holding a narrow strip of plastic which was more uncomfortable, and then they would start to tear.

The Aldi bag has to be one of my best purchases. It is large, so the base will easily accommodate two 2 litre bottles lying side by side, strong enough to easily hold as much as I can comfortably lift, and the cloth handles may be a bit grubby after a decades use but are showing no signs of wear. And it folds up to fit in my pocket. I have no idea what they cost now, but I remember that at the time it was a bargain compared to the significantly smaller eco bags that the big supermarkets sell.

 

[Kite159]

It’s the profits from single use bags that has to be donated to charity. Single use is defined by the density of the polythene used in the bag.

The bags retailers sell these days are generally made of denser polythene, meaning they’re not categorised as single use, so profit on them doesn’t need to be donated to charity.

And we all know how easy it is for shops to reduce profits by buying the single use bags from a supplier (they own) at such a cost it generates little or no profit which they can donate to 'charity'.

 

[py_megapixel]

Not in any suoermarkets I use!

Interesting. At my local Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, the checkout attendants keep all the bags and you have to ask for one, at which point they come over and scan it for you to make sure you're charged for it.

The smaller convenience stores don't seem to do this, but the local Co-Op do have some signs printed out and taped to the checkouts that say carrier bags "are not free" (their bold/underlining!)

 

[DannyMich2018]

That must call for a bit of 'roll eyes' passive aggression sometimes. What do you do then, sell them more bags (so that they in turn can be left in the car)?

They usually most cases just put their shopping in the trolley without bags.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Aug 2025 ==

if you live in a block of flats with shared bins you'll see where they end up instead of the boot. Boggles the mind to see people throw away brand new reusable bags & then pay again for them next time.

It was amusing when the disposable bag ban came in as my parents had been using their own for decades. Not because they were environmentally concerned, but because the "trolley bags" (I think so called because they could clip to the sides of a trolley, not to be confused with the type with wheels) were much bigger, made of thicker plastic, and far less likely to fall apart.

It's crazy yes. I've many a customer come to me and pay for several bags each and every week.one lady regularly has 10 bags most weeks!

 

[Bald Rick]

Interesting. At my local Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, the checkout attendants keep all the bags and you have to ask for one, at which point they come over and scan it for you to make sure you're charged for it.

At all the Tescos and Sainsbury’s I use, they are on racks by the s/s checkouts, just pick them up as you go through.

 

[Steddenm]

There was a woman yesterday in B&M in Washington Galleries ahead of me and all she purchased was six of the bags for life as, she told the checkout assistant, "they're the only bags that fit in my kitchen drawer bin".

 

[styles]

Interesting. At my local Aldi, Lidl and Tesco, the checkout attendants keep all the bags and you have to ask for one, at which point they come over and scan it for you to make sure you're charged for it.

The smaller convenience stores don't seem to do this, but the local Co-Op do have some signs printed out and taped to the checkouts that say carrier bags "are not free" (their bold/underlining!)

Presumably these are the green biodegradable bags? I can possibly understand people thinking they're free until they go to pay and it asks how many carrier bags they took. Certainly not value for money!

 

[Harpo]

Think I’ve spotted a future Tesco and Sainsburys loyalty card offer. Lynx have some new deodorant names that seem to be £3.95 everywhere, except for the big two now that have them on a ‘finer fragrance’ (cardboard) plinth at £5.95. 50% is quite an uplift.

So bloody predictable……

 

[RuddA]

Sainsburys Nectar Count up to Christmas started today on my app.
Need to sign up to create personalised tasks.
I have 5 tasks, each collect 400 points to earn bonus 300 points.
Ends on 11th November.

Just checked my wife's app and she only has to collect 50 points to earn 300 bonus points.

 

[ChrisC]

Sainsburys Nectar Count up to Christmas started today on my app.
Need to sign up to create personalised tasks.
I have 5 tasks, each collect 400 points to earn bonus 300 points.
Ends on 11th November.

Just checked my wife's app and she only has to collect 50 points to earn 300 bonus points.

I’ve just looked at my app and I have to collect 200 points to earn 300 bonus points. It seems to be a bit early for Count up to Christmas when it begins on 1st Oct and only runs until 11th November. I’m one of those miserable people who tries to avoid buying any Christmas items before December.

 

[DelW]

I’m one of those miserable people who tries to avoid buying any Christmas items before December.

Seems reasonable, since many of the Christmas items that are on the shelves now, have expiry dates well before 25th December!

 

[Mojo]

Thanks for the heads up. Mine are bizarrely easy, 5 lots of earning 50 points and getting 300 bonus.

 

[ABB125]

My Nectar Christmas challenge is 100 points gives 300 bonus... Seems to be a lot of variability!

 

[Hadders]

The points targets are personalised and are designed to lock in loyalty and stretch your spending in the run up to the most important trading period of the year.

I've got a high points target but I do collect lots of them - I don't spend that much in the grand scheme of things but what I frequently do is make use of the bonus Nectar point offers. That's the easiest way to build your Nectar point balance.

 

[ABB125]

I don't spend that much in the grand scheme of things but what I frequently do is make use of the bonus Nectar point offers. That's the easiest way to build your Nectar point balance.

Indeed - the bonus points are far more lucrative for me than the "normal" points. I could probably reliably hit 100 points with under £10 spend each time...

 

[Mugby]

Regarding Nectar points, I've noticed that bonus points coupons which you get at checkouts are very few and far between now.

I often used to get coupons for an extra 50, 100, 120 etc. points for my next purchase of certain products which I regularly used but they're almost non existent now.

 

[Hadders]

Regarding Nectar points, I've noticed that bonus points coupons which you get at checkouts are very few and far between now.

I often used to get coupons for an extra 50, 100, 120 etc. points for my next purchase of certain products which I regularly used but they're almost non existent now.

It's pretty much all in the Nectar app these days. Take a look on a Friday morning - I get around 20 Bonus Nectar point offers each week. You have to activate them and buy the product to get the points. The offers are all Sainsbury's own brand products on products I've bought in the last few months. I regularly get between 700 and 1,000 Nectar points each week this way.