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Metro again

AlexKMG (2387 posts) • 0

Well Metro has dispensed with allowing you to use a temporary check out slip. But they still don't care if you just checkout by asking someone to use their card for you at the checkout.

How hard is it to get a Metro card? They said a business card and some letter from your company stating you are an employee. But doesn't the company need to be officially registered and how official do the business card and letter need to be?

I hate the fact I have to bother other customers (who are always very nice) in order to spend $$$ of rmb at their store.

abcdabcd (428 posts) • 0

Metro is everything that's wrong with modern shopping. Long drive through traffic to get there, ID cards needed to buy ketchup, long lineups.

We should buy fresh produce in markets. And all the other stuff in small specialty shops, most of which are located walking distance in our local neighborhoods.

Like the good old days.

Liumingke1234 (3297 posts) • 0

The problem in China anyway with buying at your local grocery store is that they sell 'fake' stuff more often. There's no accountability. When you go to buy that can of soda, is it the real thing?

abcdabcd (428 posts) • 0

oh, there are too many desperate poor uneducated people who have no other way other way of making a living than to sell fake shit.

ps. recently read one of the co-founders of metro (one of the richest guys in germany) killed himself. he was in his 80s and was diagnosed with some incurable disease. (or at least i think i read that).

hongxiongmao (50 posts) • 0

I used to shop in Metro quite frequently,even though I had to drive for almost an hour to get there,but nowadays I find less and less things I need from there to be available,that,in combination with the problems mentioned above,have made me shop more and more at Carrefour,their imported section has improved a lot over the past half year,the fresh produce are decent if you go early,their shrimps is a good deal(a personal favorite from there), and they usually open more than just two counters to check out.

Take notice,I've being only shopping at 3 carrefours that made me satisfied,one in Nanya,one in Century city,and lastly one in Anning when I visit there.

bjtokm (193 posts) • 0

I live near the metro, Its only a 5-10 min drive. Getting a membership only takes 15 min. (and you can park for free)..I park at the metro when i go anywhere around that neighborhood. I would not drive an hour to shop at the metro, but getting the card is easy and if you go during a weekday in the afternoon you have the place to yourself.

blobbles (958 posts) • 0

You guys don't get it.

To shop in Metro requires you to be part of a specially exclusive club due to the quality of its products, the sheer beauty of its stores, the overwhelming sense of home that you get from walking into their stores. It is a paradigm shift in luxury and exclusivity, the card sets you apart from your peers by showing that you are part of a club where you can buy exclusively available foreign food items not available within a 1.86 km radius. Your friends will be amazed when you accidentally flip your Metro card out of your wallet, pleading that next time they can join you, knowing that they could never be part of the exclusive Metro club and all the benefits it provides.

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

Wait wait wait... Chinese advertising has got to me.

debaser (647 posts) • 0

@alexKMG the card clampdown things don't usually last more than a few months so you might want to just keep on as you are. i got my card with a copy of the school's business license. if you work at a business that might be an option. it took just a few minutes and nothing else was needed (about a year ago). i haven't tried this but i suspect that 'authentic looking' materials might allow them to tick the boxes and issue a card.

true, it's not the greatest shopping experience on earth but they have things i can't find elsewhere (crates of Kirin beer for example) and it's only a 10 minute walk from my house. they have to keep up the card farce because they are licensed as a trade outlet iirc... it's exactly the same in the UK only that it's less well organised.

Canuck11 (11 posts) • 0

I haven't had the pleasure yet of visiting Metro here in Kun Ming. But it sounds quite similar to Metro in Vietnam... a bad joke. A simple trip for groceries turns into..passport checks, redundant paperwork, cards good for one use, ridiculous bag checks, carbon copied receipts that take 5 minutes to print, interrogation. Is it possible Metro modeled their business on Kafka?

GoK Moderator (5096 posts) • 0

The Metro card crackdowns usually only last a few weeks.

If you want to avoid a queue go on weekdays. Lunch time is also a good bet, in China the world stops at 12 noon.

If you haven't had the pleasure, then perhaps making comparisons that are completely wrong should be avoided.

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