Oh Brother! No printer cable at PC World?

I've just been to PC World over at Copdock. I bought a Brother HL 2035 laser printer, and lugged it home through the ice and snow.

Getting home, I opened the box with excitement. Out came the power lead. Out came the manual. Out came the drum cartridge. But... where's the printer lead?

I open the manual. It says "not supplied". It says "make sure you get a USB2 printer cable". Eventually I find a picture of the item, so I know what I need to get.

Only... it's Boxing Day. I can't get a printer cable. I can't go back to PC World now! So I'm buggered. I've spent £80 on this lump of electronics, and I can't use it. I can't use it until I can get a cable, which won't be until Monday now.

Nor will it be cheap. It would probably cost Brother, doing bulk buy, about 50p to supply a cable. It will cost me at least 10 times that, plus the cost of petrol to and fro. You bastards!

It's pretty bad that the first emotion you get on buying something is to find that it isn't all there. It sort of ruins the moment. Excitement is replaced by frustration and rage. Why would anyone do this?

Of course all businesses face cost cutting. But to cut a small cost that will really annoy your customer? Only an accountant could have proposed that. Indeed some suit probably got a bonus for proposing it. In the mean time... I'm stuck.

Oh, and PC World? Why the HELL don't you indicate on the box, on the display, somewhere, that it isn't supplied?

Taking Sainsburys down-market in Warren Heath

I frequently shop at Sainsburys in Warren Heath, and have done for years. But today I needed some stuff, and I deliberately went to Tesco at Copdock instead. Why?

Sainsburys at Warren Heath used to be rather like a Waitrose; good quality surroundings and goods, and quite upmarket. Over the last 10 years it has slipped, and slipped. Today you go into a large, cold, smelly warehouse-like building, with dirty flooring, and look at rows of own-brand goods. It's getting to be like a caricature of Aldi or Lidl. Often there are shortages of basic goods; or items just vanish. The shelves are frequently allowed to become unstocked over the weekend, at least for things I look at.

The other day I wanted some sliced pineapple. I always buy Del Monte; but Sainsburys had removed these! Not sold any more. Instead all I could buy was own-brand, or some unknown brand with a bright blue tin named "DOLE!" Reluctantly I bought the latter, ate it; and got a stomach upset. No more dole for me, thanks. Today I wanted some sliced pineapple again -- so I went to Tescos, and got the Del Monte. It's only 50p a tin. So why on earth would Sainsburys remove it?

I wanted some peas. I want Birdseye, as I can taste the difference between this and own-brand. Sainsbury feel that I shouldn't have the choice. So... off to Tescos for these.

Sainsburys bread has long been rubbish. I have no idea why Tesco can do bread, and Sainsburys cannot, but this is not a new phenomenon. When I want a loaf, again I go to Tesco.

I'm not glad at any of this. Sainsburys Warren Heath is my local grocer. I don't want to drive to Tesco. But increasingly it seems that I must.

Marks and Spencers - trimming the fat or shorting the change?

To Marks and Spencers in Ipswich today, to purchase my customary granny smith apples. But zounds! What is this?

M&S apples come packed in fours in a foam base, thereby reducing bruising. Except that this week M&S has removed the base. There's now just four apples in a shrink-wrap bit of clear plastic. Funnily enough, most of the apples are damaged, and I have some difficulty getting what I want. I notice that less popular apples are still available in the proper packaging.

I'm sure some fool will whimper that damaged apples saves the planet. But this is about cost cutting, surely? The price is the same; but the goods are inferior.

But onwards. On my way to the checkout I saw a box of sweeties in bags of string. Well, I'm quite partial to their chocolate money, so I pick up one of the little yellow bags full of "coins". But egad!?! The bag is about a third empty! Instead of the usual stack of thick coins, there's a miserable three big ones and a few small ones.

I look at the price; it's £2. It's the same as a big bar of Cadburys milk chocolate, and contains about a third of the amount. It's a rip-off, frankly.

Clearly Mr. Marks (or Mr. Spencer) has been at the accounts again. Instead of raising the already absurd price, he's decided to give short weight. At least, what else can I think that this is? So I throw the bag back. I can get a good big bar of chocolate at Tesco for 27p, after all.

I am depressed. I don't go to M&S to get cheap. I go there to get quality.

Years ago, people used to buy M&S clothes. An M&S suit was the standard interview suit. You paid a bit more, but you got rather better quality. Then the market started to be flooded with cheap chinese imports - rubbish quality, but bottom-dollar price. And M&S gradually reduced... their quality. The prices did come down a little, but suddenly you were getting much poorer quality clothes.

I still buy M&S shirts; just try buying a Tesco shirt and you can feel the difference! But I don't buy M&S as I did, and neither does anyone else, as their sales figures show. And it seems that the food department is now treading the same disastrous route.