SUNDAY 15 JULY 2007 - BRITISH? RUBBISH!

Well, my wife has now returned and here we both are doing a 'big shop' as the fridge and cupboards are bare. And whilst I am no longer a bachelor again (yippee) it does mean that my Year at Sainsbury's is drawing to a close and with it my diary (boo hoo). But let's not be downhearted, it's business as usual for a few weeks anyway! So, what happened this week? Well, first, there is a new promotion - 'Swipe to Win'. Whilst this sounds like a prize for the person who can pinch the most stuff without being caught it is in fact a Nectar card promotion - if you spend more that £10 at Sainsbury's and present your Nectar card (hence the 'swipe') you get a game card. I (sorry, we) get one but despite the upbeat '1 in 3's a winner' when I peel off the front the disappointing message 'Have Another Go' is revealed. This involves going on to the Nectar website (yes, there is one), typing in the unique code from my game card, then my Nectar number and then my e-mail address and then there is a load of small print that tells me that I have now agreed to be bombarded with 'offers' from Nectar (spam in other words). Luckily I have a defunct e-mail address that I never look at for this kind of thing. Anyway, having done all that I then have a choice of 4 balloons to pop (why is this all so difficult?) - I choose the green one and, surprise, surprise I am indeed a 'winner'. And my prize? £8 off horrifically expensive family attractions such as Chessington Zoo and Madam Tussauds. No doubt the other balloons have exactly the same 'prizes' and all of this is an elaborate way of collecting up e-mail addresses for 'marketing' purposes. Well, I won't be logging on to the Nectar website again but hopefully soon I will win first time and will be able to report a more satisfying winning experience before my diary closes. Talking of being caught for pinching stuff there was a security man from Reliance patrolling around this week (aren't they the lot that let all the prisoners go?). Is this a new phenomenon or have I not noticed him before? Perhaps he only comes out on a Sunday? Whatever, I presume he is there to deter shoplifters but I cannot imagine a young lad in a uniform wandering around looking bored is going to make any difference but I guess it's worth a try. But it did remind me to look for cameras! I'll look round a bit more carefully next time but I think there is definitely a hidden one above the drinks aisle as there is an suspicious odd looking circular thing in the ceiling above which I bet lurks a camera. Moving on, you will recall I was unhappy with the 'Best of British' banner above the meat counter when most of the meat had been 'Produced in the UK' according to its labels as opposed to it being 'Sourced in the UK'. Well I e-mailed Sainsbury's about this and my fears were well founded as they told me that 'meat that is produced in the UK means that the animal was not born, raised and culled in the United Kingdom'. So, despite the impression given by the banner the vast majority of the meat beneath it was British it was in fact not British. I am appalled! And whilst I am sure that Sainsbury's are following the rules it is quite clear the rules need to be changed. Not sure who is responsible for this (is it the dreaded EU I wonder?) but somebody, somewhere needs to sort it out. And it is blindingly simple! To be labelled as British the product needs to originally come from the UK. Period. Ignore all the processing, packaging and so on it's where the product originally comes from that matters. Luckily the banner has been taken down otherwise there would have been hell to pay! Anyway, on to the check outs and a new experience this week! The cashier actually started a conversation! She asked me whether it was still raining to which I responded 'yes'. Not a great conversation I admit but it's a start ... Next week I will make a point of engaging my cashier in stimulating conversation such as 'Have you had your holidays yet?' (the good old hairdresser's favourite) and I'll let you know what transpires. Well, that's about it for this week other than to tell you that just like I said they would the animal Dyson hoovers have gone! I doubt they sold so presumably they have been rounded up and deported to Malaysia from whence they came.

Items bought 62

Cost £96.79

Cost per item £1.56

Checkout number 20

Nectar points 2339