Re: I need tesco
 

This 'debate' can go round and round forever, it comes down to individuals and what those indivduals want/expect/'need', every post on this thread is from a single individual's point of view and we're all different, which is what makes it such an interesting world. Compared to say someone living in the third world there is not one of of us here that wants or 'needs' a single thing, we are just fortunate enough to have a choice.

Why not? The way of life here is different, people live their day to day life differently, ie it is the norm to go to several different shops to fulfill ones 'needs', and as a bunch of immigrants why should we have any right to expect it to change to suit us any more than say an immigrant to the UK would be right to complain that shopping there is so very different to 'home'. I wouldn't say it as 'grow up and realise you are living overseas' simply 'you are living overseas' and if having a Tesco round the corner is such a major issue then perhaps emigrating 12500 miles to a different country isn't the best move. Surely there are more lifestyle factors drawing us whingeing Poms here than whether you can get a plastic Chikin 'Indaloo at a 24 hour processed food warehouse? Or perhaps a bit more research before jumping on the plane for the permanent move would prepare one for the worst.

But that is the point, here in Aus we ARE given that choice, it's what a lot of these [tongue in cheek] backward colonials [/tongue in cheek] do every time they go off on their hunter/gatherer expeditions to catch wild beasts for the charcoal pit. What people on this thread seem to be saying is that isn't what they want, they want to go to one huge, soulless building and buy lots of preprepared food, get their booze, clothes, petrol etc etc in one stop of air conditioned convenience, available 24/7, then get in their Chelsea/Toorak tractor and drive off home again.

Convenience Two Coles and Safeway within 5 mins of my house so fairly convenient,

quality Personally have found most food to be of an equal or better quality than in Tesco/Sainsburys etc,

range Less prepackaged crap (which I have never eaten anyway), other than that haven't found anything I am used to that I have to go without, different pretty picture on the packages maybe,

opening hours All the Coles/Safeways I have seen are open 6AM to Midnight, 7 days a week, and there is one up the road that is open 24/7, none close at 4PM on a Sunday so better opening hours I'd say.I work shifts and still have never felt the urge to go shopping at 3AM. ,

in-store restaurants Most supermarkets here are in shopping centres with huge or at least big food courts with more variety than you'll ever find in a Tesco/Sainsbury's caff,

cheap fuel I get a voucher for 4c off a litre of fuel every time I do my weekly shop, ,

ready meals Nutritionally deficient, salt laden rubbish,

alcohol range OK so it's not in store but my local Dan Murphy's, two mins walk form my local Coles is probably five times the size of any UK supermarket booze aisle and about five times cheaper for a bottle of vino too.,

self-packing Couldn't care whether I pack or the assistant does, surely the assistant packing helps parents with kids as they don't have to do that and try and watch the little 'uns?,

internet shopping http://www.coles.com.au/ Coles Online, http://www.homeshop.com.au Woolworths Homeshop ,

price For me personally my weekly shop has gone from £40 for the bare minimum to $120 with a lot more decent fresh food and some alcohol thrown in for good measure, an increase of $26/£10ish a week, depends what you buy and for fresh fruit/veg when you buy it (ie seasons are 6 months out from UK),

freshness Have found fresh food here a lot 'fresher' can't remember the last time I threw out a mouldy piece of fruit or veg two days after buying it unlike in the UK,

childcare Don't have children so can't comment,

trolleys We have trolleys here in VIC, what are they using in SA these days? Camels? Pit Ponies? ,

facilities Such as? The Coles round here has doors, trollies, groceries, tills etc. Can't think of anything else I actually 'need',

self-scanning Have seen several Coles with self scanning, personally I'd rather interact with a human being than a silicon chip.,

clothing Never felt the need to nip out for a pint of milk and a new outfit to drink it in, but hey we're all different.,

car washes My local Tesco didn't have a car wash, my local Coles has a Coles Express/Shell servo next to the exit with a car wash, I have a bucket and sponge at home.,

multi-cultural foods If you call 'Tesco's Finest Authentic Curry/Pasta/Cajun/Chinese' multicultural then yep Tesco's wins hands down. Go to one of the say predominantly Asian areas and see the variety of 'exotic' foods, fruit, veg etc on offer and how cheap it is and not a cardboard package in sight.,

organic range Yes I agree, the UK hypermarkets have more organic foods available, at a price. ,

speed of service. I'd rather wait a bit longer in queue and have a pleasant friendly assistant pack my goods carefully and have a chat than some surly yoof throw everything in a big heap down the conveyor, grunt once and have his/her hand out for the cash before I've even packed the first bag.

Shop elsewhere like the farmer's market It's what most Australians do, spose we should do the same or us whingeing poms will become extinct waiting for Tesco's to open up on every street corner. Wasn't that what happened to the dinosaurs?
EFTPOS is better than Switch I assume Switch is now Chip n Pin? If so no difference, how long has it taken for this to come about in the UK?
They are going to get scanning trolleys here How did we ever live without them? You can hear it now...'G-G-G-Granville, go and collect the self scanning T-T-T-Trolleys before Nurse Gladys sees I've been spending money again' ;)
The seafood in Australia is better Not in a supermarket it's not, but then there is a fishmongers next to the butchers round the corner, used to be one in the UK till Tesco/Sainsbury's put them out of business.....
Go to a restaurant instead Well it is the ultimate convenience, waiter(ress) service, no cooking, no washing up, agree hardly relevant to shopping in supermarkets though.
Chavs hang around supermarkets (and we don't get sweaty ferals in bare feet in the shops here of course) Chavs hang around in many different UK scenic locations, never had a feral give me a mouthfull of four letter filth for daring to walk into a shop before, or smash someones windscreen in the disabled spaces. Bare feet :O those nasty hobbbittttsessss! Come to VIC we have a better class of feral here lol.
and the best of all.... stop saying nasty things about Australia you are all so very horrible!!! Ha ha ha ha ha! Say what you like about the UK, Australia, China, the US, the Moon etc etc, I'm happy where I am and to me personally that is what matters.Ha ha ha ha ha!

Yes but £900 er sorry I mean $2000 for an airfare to go 12500 miles for the weekly shop is a bit out of most budgets, and they don't have a 'just nipped over to do some shopping' lane at immigration either :rolleyes: :D I think the phrase so beloved on this site is 'Same s**t, different trolley!

And before everyone starts jumping up and down waving their Union Jacks and shouting 'rose tints' 'rose tints' I'll go back right to the beginning of the post, This 'debate' can go round and round forever, it comes down to individuals and what those indivduals want/expect/'need', every post on this thread is from a single individual's point of view and we're all different, which is what makes it such an interesting world.

And on that note I'm going to take my inferior Australian Produce out to the feral kitchen in the garden, and burn the lump of dead cow from the inconveniently located butcher then sit down in the sun and consume my awful food with a bottle of ice cold beer bought from the equally inconvenient drive through bottle shop! :D :p :D

Re: I need tesco
 

The fact is that regarding supermarkets there is much more variety for a vegetarian in a UK supermarket versus an Oz one, as my wife finds out weekly.
There is a vegetarian society logo on a handful of items, but she basically has to check the ingredients of every product she buys. In the UK there are heaps more foods that have the vegie logo on them.
For an example the next time you shop at coles check what youve bought to see what animal by-products have been added. The cheese aisle is a good place to start.
My wife does cook a lot of her own meals from scratch, but the thread was a comparison between supermarkets

Re: I need tesco
 

PMSL :D Amen to you Flying Banana

Personally i loved shopping at Tescos when i lived there. OK.. when i first left UK i did miss it a bit, but since i returned to London for a visit and revisited, i realised i didnt really miss Tescos so much, but more the familiarity of it. As i hadnt been in one for 3yrs i realised it was just as alien to me now as Aus supermarkets were when i first went to them.

This "more choice" arguement really amuses me. Choice of what i ask myself? more choice of sugar disguised as food in brightly coloured packets and the same goes for salt riddled stuff as mentioned above.
I much prefer the choice of not only having my supermarket handy, but all the other shops that position themsleves right next to them. Butchers, baker, chemist, fruit and veg shop. I reckn that gives Aussies FAR more choice than the sheep brained concept that you go into an enormous aircraft hanger type building and have to buy EVERYTHING from one business!! I also remember that because these places were out on a limb i really couldnt be arsed travelling anywhere to find a better comparison. Wheres the choice in that?
All it means is that Tescos and their counterparts have tapped into the herd mentality of shoppers and their laziness to seek out better value.

Re: I need tesco
 

There is a time factor involved with the shopping around, thats the part I resent the most, how long it takes to go to the other places. I dont necessarily agree that the average green grocer is better than the green grocer section of Coles and Safeway either, Cheaper maybe, but The supermarkets generally have larger Greengrocery sections than A single Green grocers shops. I think for instance, This week Safeway has 5 different types of apples on offer, where as most of the local green grocers would only have 4 different types.. That might sound a silly argument, however it also could mean, that there is more choice in the Safeway section of greengrocers and even their butchery than the Equivalent shops. Possibly even more so in the UK ? The one Area that the supermarkets here fall down really badly on is The Fishmongers section.

I'd suggest its an unusual person, that thinks that the average Aussie Supermarket is better than any given Tesco or Asda or Sainsburys..... Hence whats wrong with wanting something better. Surely thats why we migrated for something better ????

Re: I need tesco
 

I 'm not saying that Aussie supermarkets are better. But for me personally, i have come to enjoy the shopping experience far more than i did in UK. I agree their fish section is usually crap but then, i always go to the market for mine, and have a hell of a lot more fun in there than i ever would at Tescos. In fact my shopping excursions usually turn into a day trip these days. All part of my DIFFERENT life which i thoroughly enjoy.
But i didnt come here to do everything the same as i did back there, i came to do things differently and experience a new way of life. I am.. and i like it!!

Re: I need tesco
 

Blatant Gobshite!

Re: I need tesco
 

I havent seen or read about any expat poms in oz that go hungry.

I dont care what the bloody supermarkets are like here, shopping isnt a recreational activity.
For the real whingers who complain about the great shopping experience they left behind in the uk perhaps you should have gone to canada where in the west edmonton mall you can live your entire life inside one big shopping centre, complete with theme park, wave pools, hotels etc. 5.3 million sq ft (570,000 sq m), 800 shops and over 20,000 parking spaces

Honestly, I dont know if anyone enjoys doing the weekly shop, I hate it but thankfully, after its done I can get on with the more important things in life like enjoying it.

Re: I need tesco
 

That surprises me; many people come here and the first thing they say is how geared up all the big stores are for baby facilities so you are clearly unlucky. It's a common theme in general - facilities are good.

Arkon: when I lived in the UK and had a DELTA? HSBC card, funds might take a day to come out of my account, here it is instantaneous. A pin is easier to type in than handle a pen when you have your hands full.

Luke: I agree; shopping is not the be all and end all; too many UK people treat shopping as their only leisure activity, and Banana's post is bang on.

Re: I need tesco
 

I couldnt believe how far behind the times the uk was with regard to the use of pin's. I was using pin numbers in the early 80's in canada for shop purchases. Its very surprising for the uk to have relied on an easily forged signature even to this day. I laugh at the advertising campaign on tv about chip and pin like its a revelutionary new thing !

Re: I need tesco
 

Take no notice. Most places ARE geared up for kids and DO have excellent baby change facilities. smaller independant supermarkets out on their own may not have facilities actually inside their shop, but the vast majority of supermarkets here are integrated within a shopping mall complex and to date i dont think i have been in one of these that doesnt have baby facilites, in fact i was gobsmacked at how nice they are!! I dont have small children but happened to go in the wrong door in a mall a while back and discovered i was in the mother and baby room. It was positively plush!! breast feeding cubicles with curtains. kiddie sized toilets and even had a TV in there!!

Re: I need tesco
 

oooooooooooo arent we posh, wonder where you shop ;)

Re: I need tesco
 

Is it because most supermarkets are in malls/shopping centres which have central toilets/baby facilities rather than being in the store itself? Having friends over here with a little 'un I was surprised how helpful most places were with things like baby seats, heating up baby food etc etc. Not a supermarket I know, but, try going into a busy restaurant in the the UK on a Saturday night with a push chair and then asking for some food to be heated up and I wonder what response you would get?

I definitely prefer using an easily changeable PIN than relying on the shop assistant to actually bother comparing my scrawl on paper and card (I have been told that my signature looks like an incontinent redback has crawled across a piece of paper :p :D )

Have you noticed how spending their whole weekend at B&Q/Bunnings, Tesco/Coles as a major leisure activity doesn't seem high on the list of priorities for the average Aussie?

Re: I need tesco
 

Whats a super market :rolleyes: ???????............. :beer: mm

Re: I need tesco
 

tis where ya buy beer an fags and maybe a lil tucker for when ya gets the munchies after smokin a joint :D

Re: I need tesco
 

Get a grip silly boy!! you cant get beer in there. You have to suffer the inconvenience of popping in the drive thru bottle shop on the way home. :D ;)