Pettiness of Sainsburys

As I work on the checkout at well know supermarket you would be surprised what pops up on the till.

Challenge 25 will come up even when someone is buying a chocolate bar (we sell choc bars with Advocaat in them.even the slightest hint of any alcohol in them will spring up an ID challenge.

It does seem odd that they are still for sale on the chocolate isle.

Julia no we wouldn't sell them to minors as the challenge would come up on the till.

Its the same even with the little packs of pumpkin kits to scoop out the inners (they have little serated knife and scoop) plastic knives /birthday fountains candles etc

Even the red/white wine for cooking sometimes triggers a challenge .

Share your annoyance - but this is the way they are. Like insurance companies. I decide where I shop without taking notice of voucher rubbish and 'if' I ever 'get lucky' well and good. Really I wish the whole darn thing was illegal and you just paid the price as standard. I get a knitwear catalogue that always has '25% off' (cashmere) - every page has these supposed before and after prices [laugh] how pointless is that!

read the smallprint on coupon does clearly say not petrol or alchol or ciggs etc

I had several £4 off £20 vouchers from Waitrose.
The Whisky I like had been reduced by £2.50 to £18.50
I bought a bottle of Juice and the total came to just over £20
I got it all for £16
I then repeated the process without leaving the till .
I could have done it 4 times had I wanted to.

Without doubt e-mail them about it as I'm sure they will honor the transactions and voucher. This will have been a till coding issue and one the counter assistant could not override.

Enjoy your Baileys chocolates and treats with your extra money when you get it.

They should have asked if there was another item you wanted to purchase that would have brought the total to £60 - I often find I think of something I was going to add to my shopping as it goes past me at the till but don't usually pop back to add it on.

Does your receipt ask for feedback? Log in and explain all that happened this goes direct to customer service at head office.

It does seem a bit silly and over-zealous, but the chocolates do contain alcohol so yes, would be against the terms and conditions of the vouchers. I wouldn't have considered it to be buying alcohol, just chocolates, but I also suppose the staff have to implement head office's rules.

I would raise the matter with Sainsbury, but not in person, not to the store, and not to head office. I always voice my concerns/observations/complaints on social media these days. That way everyone else can see it (and the company's response) and businesses don't generally like that kind of adverse comment. I find I get far better responses from Facebook (I don't do twitter) than I've ever had direct from the store or head office.

I would voice the complaint along the lines of "I was so happy to have a bit of extra money, and thought I would treat myself to some chocolates. Imagine my embarrassment at the checkout when I was denied the use of the voucher" etc. Also, never threaten to boycott the business or go elsewhere. Why would they try and appease you if you're adamant you're no longer a customer of theirs.

I would tweet them ( they hate that ) Yes I think it is petty of them not you. You are not being silly they are I would stand your ground if I were you.

Using Waitrose self service till on buying a tin of French Onion soup an assistant had to be called to verify I was over 25. The soup contained a minute amount of red wine - the alcohol cooks off anyway during cooking.

I take it this ridiculous restriction would have applied if you had bought a Christmas pudding with rum in it? Or even a sherry trifle? Rum'n'Raisin flavoured ice cream?

Still, I suppose imposing these nit-picky rules makes some drippy Jobsworth feel important......

Cooked products with brandy in them do not have alcoholic content. You had a choice to add something else to your shopping to make the voucher valid so, whilst I understand your frustration, the shop did nothing wrong. Regardless whether the law requires them to make this clause, it is their money they are giving away and they have the right to uphold the clause. It was an alcoholic product after all.

If you have to be over 18 to buy it, it's alcohol. If you don't, it isn't.

Ring manager, if no satisfaction, ring head office.

If you can afford to buy in Waitrose, then lucky old you.

I cut and pasted the url to this thread to Sainsburys and Sainsburys News on twitter. I told them congratulations! You made it onto gransnet and they are saying 'never shop there again'.

I agree with jane56 and icanhandthemback. If the voucher lists exclusions in the small print then it cannot be used.

All the OP had to do is remove the alcoholic item and swap it for something not excluded and all would have been fine.

It is important to read the small print for everything. So many people come a-cropper because they don't. I know it can be awkward to read (I can only read it with my glasses on) but IMHO the shop was not in the wrong on this occasion.

Apologies - meant exclusions for alcohol!

Oh mabon1, It's so lovely to read your friendly, happy, positive (NOT) comments!

I cut and pasted the url to this thread to Sainsburys and Sainsburys News on twitter.
Oh dear, we tend to forget that it is all 'out there'.

Thinking the same as JuliaSeizer44. If the chocs are in the sweets aisle is there a warning they contain alcohol and cannot be purchased by under 18s or whatever their alcohol age policy is. Definitely follow up with Co.

Jalima, I hope it was ok to do that?This is pretty public and any can read it, and I thought Sainsburys would care more about annoying a group like mumsnet than one customer. It does not show on twitter when you tweet to them. Only posts they make show so the ulr and comment is not public on twitter. They should reply in message to me. That usually happens. I have complained that way before. I do complain when annoyed. I hope I didn't upset anyone here though.

Use this link and make a complaint: help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/refunds-returns/how-do-make-a-complaint

I for one aren't bothered either way Vickya as there's no Sainsbury's near me. A brilliant Morrisons and an Asda not too far away,though my real preference is M&S which again isn't a million miles away either.

The confusion arises because of the brand name. A similar situation exists with Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce. Even though the product does not contain alcohol, the manufacturer insists that the product is only sold to those of legal age to buy alcohol. This is so they cannot be accused of grooming underage children so that they purchase their brand in later years.

That having been said, you did not purchase spirits and I would have demanded that they honour the voucher. Had they not, I would have left them with the shopping to return to their shelves and contacted Head Office on my return home!

I am afraid you did buy alcohol. It was in the liqueurs, and it wasn't cooked out (as it would have been in Xmas puds etc) The only alternative you had was to hold up the queue while you grabbed something like toilet rolls or washing powder. And then bought the chocolates separately. I like to think I would have been brave enough to do that, but I'm not sure. Is there a time limit on the voucher? Perhaps you could have a stock up on non perishables in a week or two.