Is Dunnes gone very expensive?

Cee-Jay-Cee

We shop in Aldi each week. Max spend is €100 and that’s shopping for 4. Every so often we go to
Dunnes/Tesco to pick up a few things that can’t be got in Aldi. Max spend would be €50 every two weeks so averages out at €125 a week for family of four. Rarely buy beer or alcohol.

FFVII

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

We shop in Aldi each week. Max spend is €100 and that’s shopping for 4. Every so often we go to
Dunnes/Tesco to pick up a few things that can’t be got in Aldi. Max spend would be €50 every two weeks so averages out at €125 a week for family of four. Rarely buy beer or alcohol.

Put up receipt

Antares35

Abel Ruiz wrote: »

What about the queue? That is what I was really getting at. Its never small except for very early or very late everyday.
There is never enough cashiers on, and there are not enough tills in any of their stores. At least dunnes and tesco have the self checkout ones.

But we're told that they are great employers? Obviously they dont have enough staff at busy times.

When you said, "rush, rush, rush and everything thrown at you" I assumed you were talking about the speed at which you have to get your shopping through the cashier and into your trolley again. What about the queues? If the cashier doesn't rush people through then the queues will be worse? Re not having all the tills open, I think I covered that. Lower overheads = ability to offer discounted goods.

On self-service, I tend not to use them. I worked in a supermarket years ago when I was supporting myself in college. I scanned goods then because I got paid for it - I'm not going to do it now for nothing

Truckermal

Truckermal wrote: »

Long time Dunnes Stores customer and shopping was always about €155 before the Voucher discount so you get three vouchers for the next week.

Anyway it started to creep up until it reached €200 nearly every week so herself put it down to Beer ETC so cut that out and after a few weeks it crept up again!

Today Shopping cost €230 after the Voucher discount with no beer and just basic groceries for the week! Only 3 of us in the House I'm tempted to try Aldi or Lidl at this stage...

€273 before Vouchers Today..

Used to shop in Dunnes. With the vouchers I thought it was great value. But was creeping up every week. Spending 200+ a week.
Tried aldi and lidl felt the quality is crap and nothing left at the end of the week.
In tesco now for a good year.
Good quality, good own brands and spending 150_170 a week.. 6 people in the house, nappies, etc

Are ye buying own brand or branded stuff.
Aldi & lidl aim to be 15%ish cheaper then own brand stuff of supervalu, dunnes, Tesco etc but they aren't on loads of stuff as the other 3 have responded.

250/week for 3 people suggests ye buy lots of branded stuff.

Odyssey 2005

Antares35 wrote: »

It's only rush rush rush if you are trying to fill your bags at the checkout instead of just putting stuff back into the trolley after it is scanned and packing bags at the designated shopping counters. One of the reasons they can keep prices low is that they have only limited numbers of cashiers who are there to get people through quickly. It's a trade off.












They lost the right to rush me and stop me packing my bags when they introduced baskets a number of years ago. They can rush all they like I'll pack quickly and efficiently but I wont be rushed.

The J Stands for Jay

TheBigEvil wrote: »

Genuinely dont see how people are doing all of their grocery shopping in either Dunnes or Tesco. I was skeptical about Aldi/Lidl at first, but have seen a massive reduction in the cost of my food shop since I went to Aldi, would normally have been a Tesco shopper. Granted there may be a couple of items you wont get in Aldi/Lidl, but all in all you should be getting nearly all of your food shop items there.

The biggest problem with Tesco/Dunnes are the multi-buys/vouchers, you end up buying more stuff that don't need and they end up going off. With Aldi/lidl they just have lower prices.

Been going to Aldi for a few years now. Any time I go to Tesco, I find they don't have what I need or they have a very poor selection of certain products.

The J Stands for Jay

Doodah7 wrote: »

And one another extremely minor thing, the deathly silence in an Aldi store compared to other supermarkets. Would it kill them to pipe a little music in the background for a little atmosphere!!

The straw that broke the camels back for me in Tesco was the cover version songs they played all the time. Beautiful silence in Aldi, or sometimes headphones

Steven81

I shop in dunnes, family of 4 and would rarely go over the 100. I would make a lot of dinners that would need reheating the day after so get 2 days dinner. I would plan on what would be nice and not the same over and over again. I think people overbuy and throw out too much when it goes off.

I often go to m and s, some things are really good and good value if reduced, the people that complain about the price of foods in certain places would be out spending 20-30 euro on takeaways with nothing said.

FFVII

McGaggs wrote: »

Been going to Aldi for a few years now. Any time I go to Tesco, I find they don't have what I need or they have a very poor selection of certain products.

We've gone 180 now.

Antares35

McGaggs wrote: »

Been going to Aldi for a few years now. Any time I go to Tesco, I find they don't have what I need or they have a very poor selection of certain products.

I dont like tesco dairy products. I find lidl and aldi ones to be better. Aldi do a really nice yoghurt from cork with raspberry and pomengranate. Notions I know!

lawred2

Truckermal wrote: »

Long time Dunnes Stores customer and shopping was always about €155 before the Voucher discount so you get three vouchers for the next week.

Anyway it started to creep up until it reached €200 nearly every week so herself put it down to Beer ETC so cut that out and after a few weeks it crept up again!

Today Shopping cost €230 after the Voucher discount with no beer and just basic groceries for the week! Only 3 of us in the House I'm tempted to try Aldi or Lidl at this stage...

€273 before Vouchers Today..

Stopped shopping there a couple of years or so ago when the Lidl opened... It's crazy expensive.

Would still pop in for a few 'bits' - you'd come out with half a bag and be 40/50 quid lighter.

I think the vouchers were a plan to slowly increase pricing while keeping people coming back. Then slowly step back the vouchers.

Outkast_IRE

A relative of mine worked in Dunnes for about 40 years. From the original store on Patrick St Cork onwards.
He was a manager for many of those years he would be the first to tell me in Dunnes if there is an offer or a voucher being given you can be sure that the price has increased on numerous products around the store to more than make up for it.

That was not a slight against Dunnes but was simply a statement on the business practice of the traditional grocery retailers. In terms of expense i now find Dunnes and Super Valu are both quite expensive for a full grocery shop. I find we do our full shop in Aldi and just pop into Supervalu or Dunnes for a few small items every 2nd or 3rd week.

I find superValu own brand stuff in conjunction with their money off vouchers is as cheap (with 5%) as Aldi or Lidl with a much nicer shopping experience and plenty of staff. I tend to buy very few branded items these days apart from some sauces etc.

Own brands are at most 15% more then Aldi, Lidl who make loads of their money from the "specials" like safety boots and the other rubbish that takes up space in the centre of their outlets.

Mehan2000

I have actually switched to Dunnes from Tesco recently because I find its better value (for five people). For instance on Friday there , Total was €290 and then with vouchers 245. Trust me I got plenty of wine and Easter eggs and branded stuff so not too bad.

The J Stands for Jay

Antares35 wrote: »

I dont like tesco dairy products. I find lidl and aldi ones to be better. Aldi do a really nice yoghurt from cork with raspberry and pomengranate. Notions I know!

Go to Tesco yoghurt section. 47 different brands of strawberry yoghurt, chocolate bar branded 'desserts', health claim dairy products.

JustAThought

I’ve been watching the bottom line and there is a shocking price difference between Dunnes & Supervalue and Lidl - I simply couldn’t justify doing a weekly shop other than in Lidl as the difference is about e70 more in Dunnes/SV.

Lidl are very quick to keep n eye on build up of ques nd you will often have sraff bandining their shelve stacking to snap open a till or two and announce it iver the tannoy - its like a formula one sprint sometimes!

I also find the taff t Lidl/aldi are tught to be polite nd friendly - in Sv they are so busy chatting with eqch other they are as ofen as not downright dismissive, disinterested or plain rude. Dunnes staff are bored but patient - all that fumbling in hngbags and rummaging nd checking for viuchers and waiting while people return for an item costing e3.72 or whatever - they must all be on valium.

bYW -both dunnes own brand

12 rolls of toilet paper last week in Dunnes - e3
24 rills of toilet paper same day in Dunnes - e11

Proce gouging or just a sly one on their customers. Lidl far far better value.

JustAThought

JustAThought wrote: »

I’ve been watching the bottom line and there is a shocking price difference between Dunnes & Supervalue and Lidl - I simply couldn’t justify doing a weekly shop other than in Lidl as the difference is about e70 more in Dunnes/SV.
........

€70 on what total?

Stepping Stone

Augeo wrote: »

I find superValu own brand stuff in conjunction with their money off vouchers is as cheap (with 5%) as Aldi or Lidl with a much nicer shopping experience and plenty of staff.

The two nearest SuperValu shops to me seem to have hired the worst of bloody staff. Slow, lazy, ignorant and obviously not interested in their jobs at all. It’s not unusual to see rotting fruit and veg or be ignored in a queue cos they’re having a chat. Add to that that the car parks are awful and it’s so painfully slow at the checkout. I worked in one at school and we would have been ****ed from a height over that kind of behaviour.

I shop in Aldi. Pleasant staff, good quality food and a very fast checkout experience.

Dunnes is really expensive and painfully slow to get out of. The checkouts are enough to reduce you to tears if you’re used to the efficiency of Aldi or Lidl. Again, staff not great. They kind of look down their noses at you, which considering they’re scanning items and taking your money, doesn’t make sense! I suppose it’s probably a management issue but it’s really bad customer service.

If I need anything that I can’t get in Aldi, I go to Tesco. It’s not great here, but the staff are fine and as long as you don’t have notions about a big selection it’s grand.

Stepping Stone

Stepping Stone wrote: »

The two nearest SuperValu shops to me seem to have hired the worst of bloody staff. Slow, lazy, ignorant and obviously not interested in their jobs at all. It’s not unusual to see rotting fruit and veg or be ignored in a queue cos they’re having a chat. Add to that that the car parks are awful and it’s so painfully slow at the checkout. I worked in one at school and we would have been ****ed from a height over that kind of behaviour..............

My local one is great, underground car park shared with a hotel too so no problems there. I generally use the self service check out.

I don't really like the Aldi/Lidl checkout set up, I'm always waiting behind folk will trolley loads of stuff. There's not enough staff in Aldi or Lidl IMO. I just buy prawns and chocolate in Aldi and some cleaning products.

Gal2glam

Stepping Stone wrote: »

The two nearest SuperValu shops to me seem to have hired the worst of bloody staff. Slow, lazy, ignorant and obviously not interested in their jobs at all. It’s not unusual to see rotting fruit and veg or be ignored in a queue cos they’re having a chat. Add to that that the car parks are awful and it’s so painfully slow at the checkout. I worked in one at school and we would have been ****ed from a height over that kind of behaviour.

I shop in Aldi. Pleasant staff, good quality food and a very fast checkout experience.

Dunnes is really expensive and painfully slow to get out of. The checkouts are enough to reduce you to tears if you’re used to the efficiency of Aldi or Lidl. Again, staff not great. They kind of look down their noses at you, which considering they’re scanning items and taking your money, doesn’t make sense! I suppose it’s probably a management issue but it’s really bad customer service.

If I need anything that I can’t get in Aldi, I go to Tesco. It’s not great here, but the staff are fine and as long as you don’t have notions about a big selection it’s grand.

Worked in Dunnes while I was in college and the managers would rip you to shreds over the tiniest things, you could never do anything right in their eyes. It’s a hard place to work and be happy in.

Truckermal

OP here again I done a big shop last Tuesday week in Dunnes spending about €220 quid but had everything until today!

I went to local Lidl earlier and spent €90 but €20 was DIY stuff but picked up loads of food I think I'll stick to Lidl because it's much nearer plus they have lovely wide aisles and much quieter plus picked up some beautiful German beer...

OnYerPike

Truckermal wrote: »

OP here again I done a big shop last Tuesday week in Dunnes spending about €220 quid but had everything until today!

I went to local Lidl earlier and spent €90 but €20 was DIY stuff but picked up loads of food I think I'll stick to Lidl because it's much nearer plus they have lovely wide aisles and much quieter plus picked up some beautiful German beer...

You can't be suggesting you got the same shop (€220 in Dunnes) for €70 in Lidl?

OnYerPike

OnYerPike wrote: »

You can't be suggesting you got the same shop (€220 in Dunnes) for €70 in Lidl?

Buying brands in Dunne's v lidl own brand that's not implausible. I don't think that's the case here though.

OnYerPike

Augeo wrote: »

Buying brands in Dunne's v lidl own brand that's not implausible. I don't think that's the case here though.

No chance.

Shopped in Dunnes (Blanch) this morning. Full shop came to €171.30, lobbed in 4 vouchers (3 x €10 off €50 and 1 x €5 off €20), so came to €136.30. That means the Avonmore Protein Milk (2 for €3) came to less than €1.20 each. You say the above example is not implausible - so Lidl have Protein milk, or any milk for that matter, at less than 40c? If they have, then I wouldn't drink it.

Lots of other examples but I think you get my drift?

BENDYBINN

OnYerPike wrote: »

No chance.

Shopped in Dunnes (Blanch) this morning. Full shop came to €171.30, lobbed in 4 vouchers (3 x €10 off €50 and 1 x €5 off €20), so came to €136.30. That means the Avonmore Protein Milk (2 for €3) came to less than €1.20 each. You say the above example is not implausible - so Lidl have Protein milk, or any milk for that matter, at less than 40c? If they have, then I wouldn't drink it.

Lots of other examples but I think you get my drift?

Never shop in dunnes.......people that don’t have vouchers are payin for those that do.........

OnYerPike

BENDYBINN wrote: »

Never shop in dunnes.......people that don’t have vouchers are payin for those that do.........

Even without the voucher, using the above example, Lidl still don't have Protein Milk for less than 50c and, again, if they did I wouldn't drink it.

Also, nothing to stop people buying own brand in Dunnes.

jrosen

Did my first full shop in Dunnes the other day and it was more expensive than tesco. I didnt find the had the same selection either. So while I like some things I do prefer tesco.
I only buy branded for things we have tried and tested or when they have better nutritional value. Im own brand all the way when the products are the same.

Steer55

Augeo wrote: »

.

Lidl who make loads of their money from the "specials" like safety boots and the other rubbish that takes up space in the centre of their outlets.

Lidl have fantastic 'specials' I esp recommend their tools :-)

OnYerPike

OnYerPike wrote: »

No chance.

Shopped in Dunnes (Blanch) this morning. Full shop came to €171.30, lobbed in 4 vouchers (3 x €10 off €50 and 1 x €5 off €20), so came to €136.30. That means the Avonmore Protein Milk (2 for €3) came to less than €1.20 each. You say the above example is not implausible - so Lidl have Protein milk, or any milk for that matter, at less than 40c? If they have, then I wouldn't drink it.

Lots of other examples but I think you get my drift?

Rice can be €6/kilo branded & a euro/kg own brand.
Honey can be 4 euro per squeeze bottle branded and 1 euro or less ownbrand..... Do you get my drift.