Snob? Sucker? Something else? Waitrose woman hits Aldi...

She certainly doesn't look as if she's popped in on her way home from the gym!

If she's a food snob then so am I. Waitrose is my local supermarket although I don't shop there exclusively. I dare say I would, though, given sufficient funds. It is a much more pleasant experience all round. The staff are extremely pleasant and helpful, the wider aisles and lower shelving units mean it never feels crushed and the displays are altogether more appealing.

I've not been to an Aldi but have been to Lidl. I go there for specific contintental goods for a bit of a change but the one in Gloucester is a horrendously depressing, dull, dingy shop.

She looks like a gerbil ?

What a horrible woman.

Still, I've never seen a human turd in the lift at Waitrose like I did at Lidl ?

I love Linda?

"Well Rosie love, given your own ample frame and double chin, you should be more at home in Asda. Looking at your plus size (dare I say blobby?) body, I'd say you popped into Waitrose on your way home from Pizza Express since you look very gym shy in your shapeless baggy top.

"And I believe it all - because it suits my self image"

Good for you Rosie old girl for believing you are better than you are (you aren't) and you look better than you do (you don't). "

I actually like shopping at Aldi, it's always fast and efficient.

That woman is one seriously snobbish about her shopping and I can't believe the stereotyping about shoppers at Asda (we shop at Asda as it's the closest to us and I'm not hugely overweight with a trolley full of junk food). Then again, she's stereotyping herself too and it doesn't make for a nice picture either.

PMSL at Lidl in Gloucester - it is, isn't it? (though great Gluhwein at Christmas).

At the end of the day this type of article truly irritates me. I assume it designed to be inflammatory to a degree - an article for an article's sake. Otherwise: shock! horror! Breaking news: you get what you pay for.

Waitrose is a lovely place to shop. If you can afford it and if you want to afford it. I wouldn't expect Lidl and Aldi to offer the same shopping experience. What did she expect, ffs? And why compare Lidl and Aldi (and even Asda, when it comes to it) to Waitrose? Typical present day media 'sensationalism' (on a low key scale)

Equally, though, she strikes me as the type of woman who has no real imagination when it comes to life. She doesn't come across as the type of woman who might be able to dress stylishly from the lower high street shops*, furnish a room with imagination and a bit of creativtiy, etc. I might be wrong but that's how she strikes me. So I can't imagine her being able to see the value of the cheaper supermarkets. I'm afraid I have little time for women who gain their self esteem from their credit card.

* I have a friend who used to love my clothes. Without fail when I met up with her she would say 'oh, I really love that jacket / skirt / necklace. Where did you get it?' but if I told her it was from H&Ms, Peacocks, etc would visibly turn her nose up! Where's the logic in that? ?

I was considering trying Lidl or Aldi to see what they are like as many have said for some products they are very good. I cant believe how this lady can justify the prices in Waitrose, although I am rethinking visiting Aldi and Lydl especially as she is talking about my local stores !

I thought it was a funny article actually. I'm pretty sure it was meant to be. I am a bit of a snob though. I have shopped in Lidl but I was aware the whole time it was because I couldn't afford nicer food ?

I buy my vodka, cranberry juice & lemonade from Aldi/Lidl. Sooo much cheaper than 'normal' supermarkets......

I'm a little confused as to why she's so astonished to find free range eggs in Aldi & Lidl. What? You can only have free range if you buy into the Laura Ashley/Suzie Homemaker/Domestic Goddess/ONly Waitrose will do lifestyle?

Thinking about this more (and I am, coz my boss is on holiday) I'm thinking she's a sucker. She knows she's paying over the odds for stuff, and yet still is going for style over substance and marketing tricks.

Personally if I went into a shop and found something proclaiming itself to be a "handful of beans" I would probably do a little wee at the pretentiousness (sp? Addled brain from no sleep) of it.

I'm not a regular, but I do enjoy the occasional trip to Waitrose. The one near I work is a haven of tranquility, a place of beauty and contemplation - the perfect way to spend a lunch-hour. By contrast, our Sainsbury's (despite a multi million pound face-lift) continues to look ever more like Kwik-Save, and attracts the sort of people who think its a good idea to bring all seven kids along and let them continuously fight over who drives the trolley.

I'm with LTP on the 'handful of beans' PMSL

I remember when I lived in Harlow being overly excited about a new Asda opening. There were 3 or 4 Tescos already, plug a heyoooge Sainsbuggers and my northern purse wasn't used to how much more expensive they were. Before the Asda opened H and I drove the 15 or so miles over to Hoddesden as that was our nearest Netto. Oh. Dear. Lord. There was rotten meat in the fridges, the lift had a dirty nappy in it (?) and it wasn't as cheap as we were expecting. Never again!

Then the Asda opened and you had to pay for parking! I went once and vowed never to go again, to say it was a brand new store it was really disorganised and none of the staff seemed to be trained.

I'm used to Asda staff being fantastic, they even have lovely pensioner types by the door to greet everyone.

Now we're back in Leeds I do most of our shopping at Aldi/Lidl/Netto with some of the top up shopping at Asda. I've not had a bad experience yet with any of my local stores but I must admit to being a wee bit excited about the Waitrose that's supposed to be opening here soon. (in posh North Leeds natch!)

Asda home delivery on the other hand... [eeehhh urrr noise from family fortunes]

Hmmm, I am a regular Waitrose shopper and would probably put myself in the sucker category.

I just find it a lot more pleasant an experience (lets be realistic, its still hideous, just less so) than going to the local supermarket. I loathe poor customer service and hate being grunted at by staff. I find the staff to be much friendlier andmore likely to be helpful at Waitrose than in any of the other place that are available to shop at.

Having said that, I do find that the fruit and veg are much better quality with significantly keener prices at Aldi, its just a shame that it is much further away from me and not really justifiable for a regular occurence

P&AP - Is 'multi million' your current phrase of choice ?

grrrr I'm only 1/2 way through the article but I wanna slap her with one of aldi's finest special sausages...or a kipper!

I shop all over the place as generally I have the time to do this. I like to buy fish in Waitrose as I have found it to be of good quality and I don't have a local fishmonger, but, and within reason I will shop around in other supermarkets including Aldi as their frozen king prawns are fantastic, they also sell incredibly cheap fruit and veg. Yes, Waitrose is reasonably pleasant as supermarkets go, but it's not so great that I'll hand over £5 for a punnet of under ripe berries when I know I can get them for 50% less somewhere else.

I'm not sure I would go as far as to say Waitrose woman is a sucker but she does seem to be buying into some kind of middle class boden styled fantasy, and I do think her article is incredibly snobby.

When in Britain, I always shop in Waitrose and I don't think it makes me a sucker. The experience is far more pleasant than that in our other local supermarkets, the staff are helpful and they stock more of the sorts of things I want to buy (not that I couldn't get 95% of what I want elsewhere, but I don't have the time or inclination to scamper about the city looking for 5p off a tin of beans). It's a question of how much value one places on different aspects of shopping and that comes down to personal circumstances, rather than whether or not one's a sucker. I also like the fact that Waitrose treat both their suppliers and their staff in a more ethical way than the bigger, cheaper supermarkets.

Re the self-image point, all successful businesses do this, including the budget supermarkets, who try to make their customers feel they're getting good quality while saving money and are therefore canny consumers, cleverly beating the system and resisting hard sell, despite the fact that many things sold in them are available more cheaply elsewhere and that customers are constantly manipulated by offers etc.

I thought the article seemed massively tongue-in-cheek and was clearly written to wind people up. Yes, the journalist came across as very dislikeable, but then 99% of what's written in the Mail (and the ghastly Femail section in particular) makes grim reading.

Only when describing yachts and face-lifts. ?

I shop in Waitrose 98% of the time but it's purely for conveinence. Our only alternative (without having to drive) is Somerfield and it's just grim. I don't care how much cheaper it is it's just not a pleasant experience. Saying that - our local Waitrose is not a great experience either. It had an overhaul last year and to cram more products in they've reduced the amount of space between aisles. Going round with a trolley is not advisable. Our closest supermarket is also a Waitrose and I have to admit that's much better because it's a bigger store. However, if there was a Tesco closer then I'd definitely rather use that.

This kind of sums up why I shop at Waitrose. I like the relationships they have with their suppliers. I like knowing that the meat if I have to buy it is, in the main, happy meat. I like the way that the staff know me and my daughter (or should I be embarrassed about that?) I like the cleanness, the wide aisles. If I ever go to any other supermarket the shopping experience is much much less pleasant.

This article could have been written by my sister. She actually said to my mum that she wantedto see the inside of a lidl so she dressed in trackie bottoms, pulled her unwashed hair into a ponytail and went with a friend to 'giggle' at all the other unfortunate shoppers. I personally couldn't believe what an out and out snob she was and when I said this to her face she lloked at me as if I had two heads.

I shop in Waitrose most weeks but thats only because of convinience more than anything, I used to go shopping in our local lidl everyweek when we lived nearer and there are times when I wished I did live nearer. That swaid I think Tesco is getting more expensive that Waitrose theses days

I haven't been in a supermarket for a few years but is Waitrose really that expensive? I bet if you compare like to like it probably isn't. For example a tin of Heniz beans are probably the same. However, asda is more likely to stock "value" range beans and Waitrose more likely to stock beans with fois grais in them,....plus I guess Waitrose shops to tend to be in more central and more expensive locations. I have a friend connected to Waitrose PR dept and he says he has the easiest job, people love it when a planning application for a new Waitrose is submitted because it increases the value of their house and the overwhelming comment he hears is "Thank god it isn't an Asda/Aldi or Lidl"