Dunnes Stores, Balbriggan - Is it always poorly stocked?

Fingleberries

Hi All,

Maybe a bit of a rant here, but almost every time I use this shop it seems to be missing many of the basic, useful things or the shelves are only partly full.

Is it just bad luck on my part that whenever I go there (different times of the week, different days of the week), and there's always something missing - be it fruit and veg, frozen food, etc.?

Yesterday was another example - at 5pm yesterday, there was practically nothing on the shelves in the Fruit section and the Freshness of what was there was questionable, the freezer section was mostly empty, the sauces section was the same. Although I could buy an Easter Egg of any sort, if I wanted.

Others were wandering around muttering about the useless stock levels, too.

We talked to a manager and he said "It's a balancing act in such a small store, and we don't want to be left with excess stock."

Ok - but the shop is open over a year, they should be able to estimate the balance better by this stage. Also, if you don't have enough stock to put on the shelves, what good is it keeping the store open until 10pm?

What is the experience that others have with this place?

coady

oh dont get me started .. :mad:

really bad , i only ever go there when im really stuck ,living quite near so I have been there quite a bit. Stock levels are a total joke. I have started shopping in super value no stock problems there..

dsmythy

The store room there is big enough so no problems there. Well it was last time i was there anway. Their goods inwards is small and cramped, but on a Monday, no excuses.

dubmick

slightly OT but I've recently seen Romanians taking stuff from the bins out the back of Dunnes. First time I seen it happen was on Christmas Eve , and that occasion it looked like a mother and daughter.

Last week I seen about ten of them at it. Depressing stuff.

Moonbeam

The way I look on Dunnes is it is a local shop and not a proper supermarket,and much better and cheaper then having a Spar or Centra.

Kintarō Hattori

Could it just be a Balbriggan thing?! Before I had left there Dunnes had just opened and so we used to go to Tesco for the year that I lived there. It was the worst supermarket I had ever used. There was rarely any fresh fruit or veg, bread was often scarce on the ground and many many other items. It was always very poorly stocked. And the really unbelieveable thing about it was that it closed at 6pm just as everyone was getting home from work!

Supervalue is far better than both Dunnes and Tesco's out there, but much more expensive too!

LouOB

Dunnes is always crap in Balbriggan
I usually end up in Blanchardstown one - which always well stocked.
Manager in Balbriggan clearly doesnt have a clue about their market base ie food. The 'fresh' fruit and veg are a disgrace, dont even buy it there anymore. I going to buy bag of onions there on Saturday and there was not one bag that didnt have a gone off (soft verging on furry) onion in the bag.
Tesco in balbriggan - went in there once never again - hell hole
Supervalu is only saving grace even though the staff on the tills are more likely to ignore or punch you. There are tow girls on those tills I refuse to go near - always end up in bad mood after getting 'service'

SuzyS1972

Badly staffed never mind stocked - I had to ask 3 people on sunday where I could find stuffing and was met by blank stares and pigeon English. Then the queues are a mile long with only 2 tills open.
This is a regular occurance to be honest.

I have started to get veg etc in Lidl - always plenty of stock.
Dunnes isn't too bad for basics but I just find shopping in it a trauma.

liverbird

see http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=53390836#post53390836

we moaned last june about Dunnes , Thank God for the new butchers , I keep at him to start stocking veggies too!

SuzyS1972

dubmick wrote: »

slightly OT but I've recently seen Romanians taking stuff from the bins out the back of Dunnes. First time I seen it happen was on Christmas Eve , and that occasion it looked like a mother and daughter.

Last week I seen about ten of them at it. Depressing stuff.

There were about 6 kids in the bins tonight and the parents watching them
They had Lidl bags with shopping in them so I don't know what thats all about - pretty grim

shopaholic

One reason why I hate dunnes is that they've about 8 check outs but only ever have 2 open....so you can spend 10 mins queueing!
Also hate they way they shut the doors early...shuts at 8pm at the weekend but arrive up at 7.45 and you can't get in!!!!

dsmythy

shopaholic wrote: »

One reason why I hate dunnes is that they've about 8 check outs but only ever have 2 open....so you can spend 10 mins queueing!
Also hate they way they shut the doors early...shuts at 8pm at the weekend but arrive up at 7.45 and you can't get in!!!!

So the workers can get out on time rather than have to wait for people to get out of the place.

Chinafoot

dsmythy wrote: »

So the workers can get out on time rather than have to wait for people to get out of the place.

Nah I don't buy that.

Workers in shops/supermarkets rarely ever get out at the stated closing time. Closing up after the place is free of customers is generally accounted for in the employees hours.

If the official closing time is 8pm then the doors of the shop should not close before that.

Beechman

There is no point in complaining to the local manager, get on to Dunnes head office! tell them about your concerns , refer them to this thread. If they had more stock on shelves they would sell more and not be putting money in Supervalues tills

dsmythy

Chinafoot wrote: »

Nah I don't buy that.

Workers in shops/supermarkets rarely ever get out at the stated closing time. Closing up after the place is free of customers is generally accounted for in the employees hours.

If the official closing time is 8pm then the doors of the shop should not close before that.

I wasn't thinking when i wrote that. Only on Sundays was it the case for me. Closing time was homeward time.

bcmf

Chinafoot wrote: »

Nah I don't buy that.

Workers in shops/supermarkets rarely ever get out at the stated closing time. Closing up after the place is free of customers is generally accounted for in the employees hours.

If the official closing time is 8pm then the doors of the shop should not close before that.

You are working on the basis that the staff there give a flying fcuk.They dont!!! On more than 1 occassion I have had my change dropped on the counter instead of my hand with at best a grunt instead of a Thank you (at the main tills and not the Newspaper/Lotto till ).
HAVING SAID THAT
I did ,last summer, go there with a relative looking for a computer with a relative.Was told that they didnt have it in stock but they would get it in 2 morrow.I rang back the next day and sure enough the girl got it in.
There are 2 differences here between staff attitudes and if I divulge further I will get into a whole heap of trouble from the Mods!!!!!!!!!!!

Chinafoot

bcmf wrote: »

You are working on the basis that the staff there give a flying fcuk.They dont!!! On more than 1 occassion I have had my change dropped on the counter instead of my hand with at best a grunt instead of a Thank you (at the main tills and not the Newspaper/Lotto till ).

Well that's a management issue, and highlighting these things is the only way to get anything changed.

Fingleberries

Funny thing - I tried to e-mail Dunnes 'Customer Services' on their address listed here , only for the address to be bounced back. I tried @dunnesstores.ie, which is their real domain name and the same thing.

Looks like it's down to an old-fashioned letter in the post to Head office, so.

bcmf

I should complain and I want to but at the end of the day I couldnt be arsed.It is after all Dunnes.I know if I amn't prepared to complain I really shouldnt come on here giving out.But I know deep down that if I complain in the end nothing will change so I just vote with my feet and shop elsewhere
My argument would be that if the managers/supervisiors cant see what is going on (and god knows there are enough of them) then well I .........I give up.....More coffee needed.

LouOB

Was on a nice walk on Saturday and popped around to Dunnes to get milk and a red pepper.
They have two f*cking mangy peppers left at 2pm in the afternoon - wtf

Hauk

Up until the start of January I worked the Fruit and Veg in Super Valu in Skerries, and from the sounds of what I'm hearing here, the place is poorly run, and there is no incentive for people to actually do well in their job.

With the freshness of the fruit and veg on a Saturday afternoon, it shouldn't be the managers having to moan at the chargehand to get the work done. The chargehand is specifically trained in HACCP and food hygiene, and is paid good money for this too. Those rotten peppers and onions I just read about should not have been there.

And a note on how the orders are done. I'm not sure if it's the same with Super Valu as it is with Dunnes because Dunnes are not a part of the Musgrave group, but the majority of the time the managers review the orders that are sent away. My boss in Super Valu used to sit at the system PC for about an hour each day checking orders. And if he didn't have time, he'd either ask the member of staff who placed the order, or review the stock card(the sheet you use to note how many of a particular item is needed).

So I'm guessing your wondering what can you do to get these problems diagnosed and fixed?

The best piece of advice I can tell you is:

1) Take a camera, walk into the shop.
2) Take a photograph of the general shelf areas. Like an overview.
3) Then take photo's of individual items on the shelf that are rotten.

Then phone, this number: 01 4751111

Thats Dunnes Stores head office in Dublin. Demand to speak to the Area Manager(or some such similar title) for the Dublin area. Make your case with him. Then get an e-mail address off him, and e-mail the photographs that you took. And at this stage you ask him is this how he likes to portray his company?

Once someone this high up gets wind of this, it's gonna work it's way up the top.

So good luck with it, and hopefully that works.

Hauk

LouOB

I wonder if any of us has the balls to actually go through with it

Gillo

Do it with a camera phone and it won't look as obvious.

Has anyone actually said anything to the store manager? From what I remember Dunnes do most of the transfers of managers in Feb / March, perhaps it's better to wait until April before you approach a manager as the person you complain to may be about to head to another store.

EimearMCD

I moved out to Balbriggan last year and thought it was going to be great to have a Dunnes on the doorstep, but if we do a shop there we end up having to go down to Supervalu to get fresh bread and carrots etc because the Dunnes stock is so bad. I thought that it was just that we were going at a bad time- but there never seems to be a good time. and I think its a disgrace that the Romanians are getting so much food out of the bins..the management dont seem to have a grasp on how to manage the stock levels!

Gillo

EimearMCD wrote: »

and I think its a disgrace that the Romanians are getting so much food out of the bins..the management dont seem to have a grasp on how to manage the stock levels!

Hey, if it puts a stop to the whole "Please sir, Big Issue, please" getting followed around town, it's fine by me!!!

Popsy

Totally agree about the level of stocked shelves in there, its awful. Plus another thing I have unfortunately noticed it they dont rotate their stock, I've gone home a few times with meat and cheese etc out of date.

Went in to complain and all I got was sorry about that we'll tell the fella in charge of the freezers/coolers... oh and heres a refund....

Disgraceful

grahamo

The Bins out the back seem to be well stocked. There always full of hungry Romanians!

COMEDYCORPSE

dsmythy wrote: »

So the workers can get out on time rather than have to wait for people to get out of the place.

Well why don't you try working in the **** hole for a living....:mad:

I work in the Dunnes in Balbriggan not because I want to but because I've no choice I need the money.

I get some pretty asshole customers..asking things like "Where's the Eggs?" And they're standing right in front of them.

Staffing wise about the checkouts it's not our fault it's management and Dunnes themselves. The store is given a budget for Staff wages..etc and they need to keep it down...

Bluetonic

COMEDYCORPSE wrote: »

I work in the Dunnes in Balbriggan not because I want to but because I've no choice I need the money.

You have a choice, move jobs. There are plenty of lowest common denominator jobs around the town.

Perhaps it's your attitude that limits your choice. :rolleyes:

Bigjez

Absoulutely rubbish shop. I go in on a thursday or friday and everthing is gloing out of date. So i try a tuesday, same thing.Wouldnt go near tescos. Stinking place. Supervalue is the only one but pricey. The wife goes to dunnes in donaghmede now while visiting her parents

Vico1612

COMEDYCORPSE wrote: »

Well why don't you try working in the **** hole for a living....:mad:


I get some pretty asshole customers..asking things like "Where's the Eggs?" And they're standing right in front of them.
quote]


John ? Is that you ?

BroomBurner

Urgh, I hate that Dunnes. The amount of times I've had to tell a manager about furry strawberries and blue bread. Of course lower level staff aren't going to care about this, sure "it's not their job" (translation - they have no pride in their job, ergo don't give a sh!t - find a new one, tools). Senior management, however, need to be constantly reminded.

I'd love to do that camera thing, next time I'm going, I'm bringing my camera :mad:

Moonbeam

Supervalu isn't much better out of date bread on the shelves there is common site and I have even had the displeasure of seeing out of date moldy bread there.

Tescos,Dunnes and Super Valu in Balbriggan are all pretty bad for anything fresh.
Lidl is fine for bread and veg.

DubArk

I used that store when it first opened and I thought is was going to be like a mini store concentrating on basics and the usual deli luxury items, as most of the mini stores do. It was very much like that too.:)


When I went back the second time most of the so called fresh food items were either out of date (One item was a week out of date on a special?) or had just one shelf day left. I too asked that manager; was I expected to eat everything tonight and why was this so? He gave some vague answer, telling me; they were short staffed and it’s work in progress. I just left my trolley there in the isle and walked out in front of him. :mad:
As if food wasn’t expensive enough!!


I drove to the Pavilions to shop there instead. I wondered if the Balbriggan branch was been used as a dumping ground for the larger outlets, that were having trouble shifting stuff. It’s really what Dunnes thinks of the shoppers in, the Balbriggan and surrounding areas.
Not very much I reckon!

Vote with your feet.

Lidl is excellent in Balbriggan.

NicheG

DubArk wrote: »

I wondered if the Balbriggan branch was been used as a dumping ground for the larger outlets, that were having trouble shifting stuff. [/COLOR]

I think you are probably spot on there.

Has to be the worst Dunnes I've ever been in. Live in Clonuske and try to avoid Supervalu as sometimes it can be a battle getting a parking spot down there. But am seriously considering goin back there. Only use Dunnes for milk. Rarely anything else.

Vico1612

The place was pretty decent until Dunnes changed delivery company last year.
At least when Wheelans was doing the deliveries, you had a chance finding what you needed. [ well better chances than today ... ]

Top of that , they changed the management team [ shop and regional manager ] and they don't really seem to be bothered now

Gillo

Funny, I don't really mind the range or stock level. Maybe I should look at my diet a little closer??

what really annoys me though is there's hardly ever anyone on the tills, I know the management have a fairly tight budget for wages , but stretching to one extra person manning the tills would keep the queue moving so much quicker.

Bigjez

yeah waste of time putting all those checkouts in when i've never seen them all being used at the same time