Worst shops in Ireland

Saskia

Am I the only one to think that the Boots shop on Grafton Street is HELL ON EARTH?

Was in their the other night and its so narrow and cramped I got about 5 foot inside the door and then got so pissed off standing waiting to get any further that I stomped straight back out.

Archeron

Tommys in Blanchardstown. Squashy, hot, full of people looking for cheap birthday cards, massive queues, mad ould ones at the tills looking at you like you have three heads, security guards with major power buzz thing going on, they have it all really.

ferdi

spar, all of them.

connundrum

€uro Shops.. all of em

~Leanne~

Hehe - have to agree with Tommy's in Blanch! I detest the place!!

projectmayhem

Game.

Nightwish

All Spars and Centras. Dodgy deli food and really overpriced and always long queues.

meditraitor

Supervalu-all them,

Retr0gamer

Game Henry St.

Manager is an arsetwat and they seem to practice their own consumer law there.

Lady_Macbeth

any where around christmas time. madness, hap-so-lute madness. :mad:

rainbow kirby

Any of the poundshops in the Square. Horrible...

Our man in Havana

Dunnes Stores and to a lesser extent Tesco. "Have you got a clubcard?" I so hate that.

Demetrius

Lidls...really soulless places.

Linoge

It was refitted not 6 months ago and its back to being the kip that it always was. Badly stocked shelves, fruit and veg not rotated out (you have to go routing through empty boxes to find a banana), rubbish and trolleys thrown EVERYWHERE, the worst car park entrance/exit i have ever seen - i'm sure its illegal. The only redeeming quality about the place is that some of the staff are quite friendly.

Creamy Goodness

Demetrius wrote:

Lidls...really soulless places.

don't go to germany then, most stores are like that there.

store i really hate is tk maxx, they have good bargains and all that but they really feck up on the airconditioning in the store, it would be roasted outside (well warm for ireland) yet they'll have the heat on full blast making you not want to rummage around for the bargains.

Angels

worst place for me is Pennys shops terrible specially on a Thursday!

C_Breeze

Archeron wrote:

Tommys in Blanchardstown. Squashy, hot, full of people looking for cheap birthday cards, massive queues, mad ould ones at the tills looking at you like you have three heads, security guards with major power buzz thing going on, they have it all really.

hehe, i think we're onto a winner here.

...followed by Lidl and Poundworld,...and game on ocassions simply because they sometimes get waaaay to cramped.

but yeah those cheapo shops, theres something about them - just cant put my finger on it

Archeron

Bond-007 wrote:

Dunnes Stores and to a lesser extent Tesco. "Have you got a clubcard?" I so hate that.

that always makes me laugh. Look at my face love, and tell me if you think this is the expression of someone who would willingly be here on a regular basis, or if its the face of a stressed out person who's in buying cheap beer because this store happens to be open at 2 o clock on a sunday morning.....Hmmm, let me guess.

Tobias Greeshman

I 2nd the poundshops in the Square, especially that one near the cinema. Once you get into it, its a right job to get back out of it. Tallaght Skangers left, right and centre you just don't feel safe and want to get to the door.

Along with any sort of poundshops in general, hate them all equally.

MorningStar

What are people actually complaining about?

Is it the layout?

The amount of people in the store?

The service?

THe thread is just a moan about nothing as people are complaining on all fronts.

THe generalisations of a franchise such as Spar is idiotic. Many are custom built with specific layout plans. Many modern Spars have excelent designs.

Fanny Cradock

MorningStar wrote:

THe generalisations of a franchise such as Spar is idiotic. Many are custom built with specific layout plans. Many modern Spars have excelent designs.

do you design spar stores then?

Pigman II

There was a shop near where I lived that sold clothes for auld women and all the windows were boarded up so you could even see inside from the street. Must have walked by it for about 5 years as a kid without ever daring to go inside or even seeing someone go in or out of the place. It was a mystery!

Anyway one day in my teens I decided 'ah **** it', took a deep breath and I went in. There was this auld wan behind the counter gawking at me so I made up some yarn on the spot about wanting to buy a dress for my grandmas birthday. The auld biddy behind the counter could see I was lying and was quick to kick me out of there in a flash.

Anyway, the place literally like something out of the League of Gentlemen's "are you local? " shop. Dank and dark and not exactly what I'd call welcoming I was glad to get the hell out of there before I was boiled down for glue or something.

The shop is gone now so I guess it doesn't qualify but the thread reminded me of it so what the hey.

youcancallmeal

MorningStar wrote:

THe thread is just a moan about nothing as people are complaining on all fronts.

Welcome to afterhours

This is why I rarely come in here.

Archeron

MorningStar wrote:

What are people actually complaining about?

Is it the layout?

The amount of people in the store?

The service?

THe thread is just a moan about nothing as people are complaining on all fronts.

THe generalisations of a franchise such as Spar is idiotic. Many are custom built with specific layout plans. Many modern Spars have excelent designs.

first and foremost, this is a rather lighthearted thread. I dont think any venom is intended. What are we complaining about? The layout, the lack of products, that crappiness of the products, the smells of sweat/poo/dirt/sewage, bad staff attitudes, big queues, cramped conditions, poor opening hours, poor parking, poor access, why, even down to horribly designed buildings. (Lidl take a bow). Anyway, we're Irish, we have to complain!! If we didnt complain about things like this, we could (God fobid) realize how crappy things in this country are on a bigger scale.

Caliden

typical irish, TYPICAL!

now if this was ancient greece.....

Archeron

Caliden wrote:

typical irish, TYPICAL!

now if this was ancient greece.....

"Amphora's 'R' Us" is a joke, I had to park my chariot 150 stadiums away last time I visited.

Martly

Spar In thomas street is so bad..The staff are crap and the stock levels are ****e too..What convienience store runs out of cans of coke??
The cheapest thing on the deli is 3.49 and thats just a sandwich!!!

Tazz T

Any shop that make their customers queue because they're too mean to put on extra staff because they think their customers will wait to be served.

That applies to all pubs too.

Particularly hate fast food outlets that aren't fast.

Bard

youcancallme>al wrote:

Welcome to afterhours

This is why I rarely come in here.

We miss you when you're not here.

No, really.

Aldi, btw. The shop is grand, I'm just not mad about the "clientele".

europerson

Saskia wrote:

Am I the only one to think that the Boots shop on Grafton Street is HELL ON EARTH?

Was in their the other night and its so narrow and cramped I got about 5 foot inside the door and then got so pissed off standing waiting to get any further that I stomped straight back out.

No, I agree. It's absolutely mad, especially around six o'clock in the evening. It's so narrow, and it's impossible to stop to look at anything, because one will be carried along by a current of people queuing down the shop for the cash registers.

Devon

There was a place in Ballyfermot called Paynes that would knock Tommy's off the top spot. It changed it's name to "Bettabuy" before it closed down but oh my GOD the smell of the place was stomach-wrenching. Filthy too.

RobEire

MorningStar wrote:

What are people actually complaining about?

Is it the layout?

The amount of people in the store?

The service?

THe thread is just a moan about nothing as people are complaining on all fronts.

THe generalisations of a franchise such as Spar is idiotic. Many are custom built with specific layout plans. Many modern Spars have excelent designs.

Easons on O'Connell Street - brilliant store with a good layout but staff and check out are crap - never make eye contact, never acknowledge you - just grunt and hold out hand for payment. Poor customer service.

Siogfinsceal

silas wrote:

I 2nd the poundshops in the Square, especially that one near the cinema. Once you get into it, its a right job to get back out of it. Tallaght Skangers left, right and centre you just don't feel safe and want to get to the door.

Along with any sort of poundshops in general, hate them all equally.

Im with Silas on this. You go into the poundshop in the square and then realise your trapped. The aisles are so narrow you cant turnaround with out demolishing a shelf and theres skangers all around that you just know its not a good idea to bump into!! madness.
and my local spar - great shop and everything but the staff are so incredibly slow that if theres a queue if more than 2 people you may as well leave you will be at least 20 mins waiting

Endurance Man

Those fairplay shops that they have at all the Statoils - RIPOFF :eek:

monksavage

Jackie Greens in Clonroache. Everyting is outa date.

Rockee

It aint around anymore (Thank ****) but Archers in Rush was a gas. When the rest of the country had Snickers they still had out of date Marathons. If you bought stuff in there they would hand you an old manky Dunnes Stores bag to put your groceries into. Also had a crackin illegal fireworks trade goin! Figured it was their best way of making a buck!:D

michaelanthony

The Spar on Newtownparkavenue

kirving

Spar across the road from the RDS, Sanwiches are 3.95:mad: , a CAN of coke is well over a euro, anything on the counter is like 90 cent, nd thats just wine gums. The place is packed at lunchtime. Four Star around the corner have hot pizzas, and coke for a fiver.

Our man in Havana

Kevin Irving wrote:

Spar across the road from the RDS, Sanwiches are 3.95:mad: , a CAN of coke is well over a euro, anything on the counter is like 90 cent, nd thats just wine gums. The place is packed at lunchtime. Four Star around the corner have hot pizzas, and coke for a fiver.

If people are foolish enough to pay these prices then these shops will continue to charge those prices.

MiniMetro

Brown Thomas, followed closely by BT2.

I'd rather eat my own faeces.

Corruptedmorals

^ Absolutely. Haven't ever been in BT2, but Brown Thomas is bad enough. I always feel so intimidated and looked-down on in there.

The Leixlip Lidl (haven't been to any other) is really depressing...there's no music, everyone's just slowly walking around.....and the way they have cheapo shoes thrown on top of frozen pizzas and such...

Kudos for their excellent chocolate though.

I hate TK Maxx. I can't go in more than a few metres without feeling completely claustrophic....the layout and order is AWFUL..everything's all over the place. I can't stand disorder and depressing layouts in shops.

Also, No-Name on Henry Street. >_<

The Song Thrush

Kevin Irving wrote:

Spar across the road from the RDS, Sanwiches are 3.95:mad: , a CAN of coke is well over a euro, anything on the counter is like 90 cent, nd thats just wine gums. The place is packed at lunchtime. Four Star around the corner have hot pizzas, and coke for a fiver.

Indeed, that place has been ripping people off for years. I remember when they used to charge £1.39 for a 500ml bottle of drink.

cashback

I've been working on and off in Ballsbridge over last few months and have been forced to visit the Spar there. Probably THE most expensive shop in Ireland. Bought A Cadbury's Fruit and Nut the other day for €0.95!! For a bar of chocolate! A bog standard cup of coffee is €2.25. Chicken Fillet roll €4.59.
Now I just go to the Bon Espresso across the road if i'm around.

holly_johnson

jerryadams wrote:

There was a place in Ballyfermot called Paynes that would knock Tommy's off the top spot. It changed it's name to "Bettabuy" before it closed down but oh my GOD the smell of the place was stomach-wrenching. Filthy too.

I remember this shop from years ago when I lived in Chapelizod... The grannies and skangers would literally be killing each other for the bargains! I particularly remember one day a staff member came out from the back with some boxes of shortbread biscuiuts. They were 3 packs for a £1. He was knocked to the ground by the gaggle of grannies ripping the boxes open for the stuff. I scarpered needless to say.

IvaBigWun

cashback wrote:

A Cadbury's Fruit and Nut the other day for €0.95!!

:eek:

I know Spar is a franchise but surely head office have some say on the price control?

Our man in Havana

IvaBigWun wrote:

:eek:

I know Spar is a franchise but surely head office have some say on the price control?

Nope! Each shop can do what it likes. Free market economy.

Siogfinsceal

Spar are very clever. i work in an industrial estate where a spar is the only shop in the place within walking distance of any company in the park. They make a fortune but theyre prices are crazy much to high. Theres another spar in the next village about 3 minutes away by car and the prices are so much lower it really bugs me. I hate statoils too they charge a fortune for eveything I could never justify buying a roll in there its daylight robbery. Id rather go to 4 star pizza and get myself a mini pizza and a drink for a fiver! theres also a fantastic cafe near me where you can get a tripl elayer toasted sandwich, crisps and a cup of tea, sit down and eat it and all for less that a fiver now thats quality!!

mickymg2003

I hate pcworld. The staff are idiots who dont know their arse from their elbows and thers something about the place that just doesnt feel right.