Child free shopping! (Safeway)

Member Name: kimgraham

Product:	Safeway
Date:	06/09/01 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: special offers, creche(not at all stores), self scanning

Disadvantages: not especially cheap

I don't know about you, I love kids. I have four and I am a teacher. BUT.... when I go shopping I want to get it done in peace and quiet!I don't want to be tripping over everybody else's adorable little darlings or listening to them screaming (or their mum's come to that)! Don't get me wrong- I have every sympathy. I used to dread the weekly torture of shopping with the kids, and it isn't always possible to leave them behind.

I was thrilled when four years ago a new Safeway's opened up the road which has a creche! I know they don't all, but I wish they did. Everybody is happy! Ours has trained nursery nurses so you can leave tiny babies and they run it like a play school (only a bit cheaper). The children enjoy lots of different activities,such as painting, modelling, jigsaws etc. They will take them up to the age of 9.
Of course not everyone can afford to use this facility, but an awful lot do and it makes shopping much less stressful for all concerned. It also gets round the incessant whining for sweets! To be fair our branch has a policy of not putting sweets and chocs by the tills.
Safeway seem to work hard at making shopping as easy and quick as possible. We also have shop and go and collect and go.

I have read some negative ops of Shop and Go, and I will agree that sometimes it can be frustrating. It is vital, for instance, that if you have an item which won't scan (shop and go is a self scanning scheme)that you do NOT hand over your ABC card until the assistant has put it through the till. I was given this advice by a Safeway shop assistant. It was useful- it seems that if your problem items go through after the card has been swiped then you are very likely to be rescanned.The total comes up as an error. I was re-scanned far less frequently after I realised!
On the whole Shop and Go does save a lot of time. Also, if you are on a tight budget, and who isn't at sometime or another, you ha
ve a running total all the way round. Much better than being financially embarrassed at the till. We tried with a calculator as a comparison and it drove us nuts!
Generally I highly recommend Shop and Go. When you first register you do get re-scanned fairly often- it is their way of checking that you are doing it correctly and are honest! Once they are sure of you it drops quite a lot. I sometimes go 3 months between rescans.

Collect and Go is a different scheme where you can fax or phone your shopping list in and they do your shopping for you. All you have to do is turn up, pay and go.
When you first register they send you what they think is your typical shopping list so that you just tick what you want. It seems they can go back through your previous shops (when you have used your ABC card) and work out a pattern to your shopping. Nothing is sacred anymore is it? We can have no secrets!

Safeways also do a good range of offers which last for a fortnight at a time. The offers are usually very good indeed. Their food is not always the cheapest other than that, but is comparable to Sainsbury's and cheaper than Waitrose.

I think they are good. Their product line is good and it is all good quality. There is plenty of choice. If you spend £40 you get 5p a litre discount from your petrol if you buy it at their garage.
If you live near one of these bigger stores give it a try, especially if you have children. Ours also has a coffee shop with reasonable food. All in all shopping is just that bit less of a chore than it used to be!

Summary: