Dispatches - Secrets of Poundland

Roborob · 19-09-2012, 08:08

I saw this on Channel 4 the other night and I must admit one little thing;

IT WAS A PACK OF LIES!

Or put another way Lies, Dam Lies and Statistics.

Poundland may not be a saint but is it really any worse than any of the other supermarkets. I haven’t seen any news reports about Poundland being blocked in an area or blocking other shops from being built like Tesco or blamed for only building out of town shops but if you believed this weeks Dispatches - Secrets of Poundland then Poundland is a total lie with small packs and doggy goods and deceptive packets well I can tell you Poundland is not the only one at this game.

On Sunday I went to get some sausages from my local Tesco, I saw there was a 10+2 Pack on sale for £2.30 good value you may think but the 10 packs of the same sausages was £1.50. Sure the 10 pack was on offer but shouldn’t the 10+2 free be the same price?

How many times has watchdog revealed new smaller packets?

No they are all at it but I had thought TV was meant to be level not a hatchet job!

NicolaUK · 19-09-2012, 09:31

What lies were said on the programme? It just showed that Poundland uses retail slight of hand to make their customers believe they're getting a better deal than they are in conjunction with the major brands.

Poundlands on going issue is the name of the store. It can't halt inflation so must find ways to reduce the quantity of what it sells to stay at £1.

While they can have some bargains much of what they sell is no cheaper than the supermarkets at the lower end like Asda and Tesco.

Boink! · 19-09-2012, 09:38

That's... that's just crazy.

shteve · 19-09-2012, 09:38

Nasty evil Tesco, forcing you to pay £2.30 when you could have paid £1.50 if you'd have paid attention.

basegreen · 19-09-2012, 10:01

I watched this and it was the most embarrassing excuse for investigative journalism I have ever seen.

Q · 19-09-2012, 11:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by basegreen

I watched this and it was the most embarrassing excuse for investigative journalism I have ever seen.

That pretty much sums it up.They didnt compare any of the true like for like items and found stupid people off the street that dont know how to compare prices..After 25 mins it then said you should shop around for bargains!! If they had said that at the beginning then there wouldnt have been any need for the programme.Terrible waste of 30 mins,thankfully we didnt pay for it!

Supermarkets are much worse from what Ive seen.. Prices are all over the place at times.I'd like to know how Poundland can do 4 pint Milk for £1 and Tesco its well over £1.

Next weeks will be how Ebay isnt always the cheapest place to get something

dvds2000 · 19-09-2012, 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by basegreen

I watched this and it was the most embarrassing excuse for investigative journalism I have ever seen.

this is pretty much what I thought too
Shock horror, one shop is cheaper/more expensive than another. What a disgrace, poundland are evil as all other shops are the exact same price and its a waste of time shopping around. Oh wait...
Poundland have the nerve to have a factory repackaging goods into Signalex and Tool Box brands, so what, supermarkets have own brand products too.
Really pathetic programme.

NicolaUK · 19-09-2012, 17:54

We do have to remember that this programme was about Poundland and many of those people who shop there and then may have tuned into this aren't the intellectual giants we have on here.

Soprano · 19-09-2012, 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by basegreen

I watched this and it was the most embarrassing excuse for investigative journalism I have ever seen.

Roborob · 20-09-2012, 12:03

I checked out the Channel 4 website when I created this thread mainly to check I had the correct name but I also found the some comments that echoed what I have said, many people thing it was a por program that missed the point. It is best to shop around. but wouldn't it be better to do a programme on the techniques that the shops use to split us from our cash. And those techniques are not just tricks, it is a complete science.

NicolaUK · 20-09-2012, 12:10

There were no lies which kind of destroys your original post.

bigman · 20-09-2012, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q

Supermarkets are much worse from what Ive seen.. Prices are all over the place at times.I'd like to know how Poundland can do 4 pint Milk for £1 and Tesco its well over £1.

My Tesco does a 4 pinter for exactly £1 (different brand but it's definitely there).

I saw a similar programme a few months back about how supermarkets 'con' customers with pricing. But on the whole it was nothing of the sort - no shopper who paid attention to the labels and to what they were buying would have been 'conned' in any way.

Toge · 20-09-2012, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigman

My Tesco does a 4 pinter for exactly £1 (different brand but it's definitely there).

I saw a similar programme a few months back about how supermarkets 'con' customers with pricing. But on the whole it was nothing of the sort - no shopper who paid attention to the labels and to what they were buying would have been 'conned' in any way.

Yeah Tesco sell a Creamfields 4 pinter for a quid and their own brand for £1.18

rbullivant · 20-09-2012, 12:33

I'm well aware that better deals might sometimes be available, but I still like the shop. Its one of the few places in the town centre nowadays where you can buy a bottle of milk, can of pop, few groceries at a decent price.

Just need to be a bit savvy, I know that a quid for a bag of sugar is overpriced. They rely on people not knowing or more likely not much caring.

I never did understand those people with a trolley crammed high with stuff though, I don't imagine the shop does really as its not equipped to deal with them

wobbly Jelly · 20-09-2012, 12:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q

Next weeks will be how Ebay isnt always the cheapest place to get something

Blimey I didn't know that

Was an odd programme almost expected it to be sponsored by Tesco or similar.

With all shops you've got to know the price of things and what things are worth.

Although when they do the three for a quid - can of pop, choc bar / crisps, when other city centre shops can be up to a quid for a can of coke.

It's a funny shop - but makes me smile and have had some cheap books / dvd / CD

rbullivant · 20-09-2012, 14:10

Yes if someone could show me where I could get a Tractors of Yesteryear DVD cheaper than a quid, I'm all ears.

hannay · 20-09-2012, 14:18

Our Poundland is called Dealz and everything is £1.20

bigman · 20-09-2012, 14:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbullivant

Yes if someone could show me where I could get a Tractors of Yesteryear DVD cheaper than a quid, I'm all ears.

Nearly - but not quite

Can't beat Poundland

KennyVader · 20-09-2012, 15:27

All it proved was that people are stupid and gullible ... but we already knew that.

At least with Poundland a lot of the stuff is actually brand-name and specifically made for them ... not like the 99p stores which are generally stocked with a far higher proportion of dodgy grey imports, and almost knock-offs.

DrVenkman · 21-09-2012, 14:59

Yeah if they wanted to do this type of programme there were far better targets to go after, but then Poundland is a 'name' so it makes them the easy target. My favourite part was setting the toy on fire and then making out the toy is a danger to the child.

There was a pretty good documentary done by, of all people, Jane Moore, that looked at Supermarkets and in particular the conning of farmers with regards to fruit and veg. All the fruit and veg has to fall into this weird 'aesthetically pleasing' criteria so anything misshapen or mis-coloured goes to waste. Then she goes abroad to find that not only do they not care about the colour or shape of anything, as long as it tastes right, they only offer stuff that's in season, as local farmers tend to provide the supermarkets with produce.

There's plenty of programmes to be made about odious practices by Supermarkets. This isn't one of them.