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Metro again

cnotes11 (61 posts) • 0

I think Canuck was being Hyperbolic, and abc seems to me at least partially right. Obviously we don't have the benefit of hearing tone online, but that read a little bit hostile to me as well.

"Beatifying brilliance. Lovingly homely. Amazing new freshly. Stockingly pure. Facing futureness. Modernity definitive"

haha, thanks needed a laugh

tallamerican (396 posts) • 0

i thinks some people are being overly sensitive on this forum. If i have my back pack with me i give to security guard without ever having been asked because i know it is Metro policy. He gives me a tag and i pick up upon leaving store. Takes me 1 minute at most. They have never given me grief over other bags i bring shopping. Was same policy in Wuhan Metro. Do i like the aisles full of merchandise sometimes and longer check out lines No!, but compared to other issues i have faced here in China these issues seem very small. I have shopped at many stores in china where if you brought anything like a purse, backback, etc. it was locked in a red bag and unlocked as you exited the store.

YuantongsiYuantongsi (717 posts) • 0

One thing about Metro and Carrefour is that they charge the same prices for everyone, sounds simple but in my experience no matter how well you know the local market vegetable lady nor how friendly the conversations with them are, even after a few years of buying from them,,that you go to Carrefour and find you are being still (slightly) ripped off by your "friends" in the market.

abcdabcd (428 posts) • 0

glad to hear no one's pissed on you guys.

by the way, why did the wal-mart have to be shut down? did someone piss in the fish tank and then try to make off with a snickers bar?

@yuantongsi, you're not being ripped off. they can't compete with prices sometimes because large chain stores get bulk discounts.

The Dudeson's (1106 posts) • 0

For anyyone that isn't aware of it.
METRO is not a supermarket or superstore or however you call it these days.
It was never meant to be a store to swing by to buy a pack of salt or some crap like that.
It's a 'cash and carry' that means you swing by and buy half a pig, 100kg of fish or 20 boxes of wine, if your shopping list looks something like that, then you are right at METRO and that is why they have heavy discounts buying in large quantities.

The reason why you need a card is that a cash and carry is usually for business license holders, and you don't have to pay tax for the products you buy but instead the product will be taxed on resale. So you gain bulk discount and some value added tax as a business owner.
The usual customers in Europe are hotels F&B, and business owners. And here in China we already get the better treatment, because in Europe, if you don't have a card? -You are out, quite literally. No card, no business. So be happy that you have the option to shop at METRO China.

I have a METRO card for almost 7 years now and never had the tiniest of a problem. Maybe an overcrowded store at CNY, but Metro is hardly to be blamed for it.
They have helpful and knowledgeable staff and very good prices.
Still 'some' things are cheaper at Carrefour, especially booze. But to compare the Carrefour import section with Metro? Wow, I don't think Carrefour stands a chance.

Plus, a lot of the Carrefour wines are crap compared to wines at Metro, especially in the cheaper segment.

So far Metro did its job well .....and cheap.

yankee00 (1632 posts) • 0

@abcdabcd, fruits and vegetables are usually more expensive in supermarkets. They just sometimes have deals on one or two types of fruits/veggies, while the rest is 1-3 yuan more expensive than markets.

As for being ripped off, some of the sellers do it. For example, when I go to a seller who is dealing with a customer and ask "how much", she'd reply in-between "15/jin", when the customer leaves, I ask again and she says "16", while 15 is still marked on her scale.

abcdabcd (428 posts) • 0

if you go to the same market often, they won't rip you off because they know you live in the area and they want repeat business.

yankee00 (1632 posts) • 0

that's true, they also won't raise the price even more when they know you are from the neighbourhood and have already ripped you off on th einitial sale.

abcdabcd (428 posts) • 0

hey yankee, try to put things in perspective:

- the wal-mart owners own 12% of the galaxy. they use this money to influence politicians, so your life is influenced by wal-mart (arguably for worse) much more than by a little old lady tipping the scales in her favor for a few kuai.

- my vegetable woman has a freaking bed in the back room. i don't think she's turning tricks. i think she probably works 18 hours a day.

- people in india tried to block wal-mart from coming in because they negatively affect ma and pa shops.

we're trapped in a vicious cycle. there's too much disparity in wealth.

where's batman when you need him?

bjtokm (193 posts) • 0

Batman is a rich butthole...He sits in his mansion all day just chillen! We need superman to take out walmart..Superman could have all the money he wanted, but only lives on a reporters salary..which is less and less i would assume.

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