The Spring issue of "Trident", the journal of the Central Hertfordshire Consumer Group, contains much useful information for members. For instance, the group carried out a survey of twenty one Catteries, which varied from veritable cat hotels like the Cat’s Whisker which can accommodate 90 cats to Cats Amwell which looks after just ten at a time. Several will look after other small pets. One establishment - "Happy Cats", in Northchurch, Berkhamsted refused to co-operate in the survey. One wonders what catastrophe they had to hide?
It was cheaper if your cat could double up in accommodation with another compatible moggy. Prices varied from £3.50 for a single unit and £6 double to £5.75 and £9.50. In almost every case the Catteries would not take un-neutered males and pregnant females and small kittens were not popular either.
The Group also looked at an alternative - Cat Sitters. They found two who would call twice a day to feed, fuss and do whatever the cat required. These helpful people also looked after other small pets (but not dogs) and, in one case drew curtains and coped with domestic emergencies. As you would expect, this service was more expensive than putting up your cat in a cattery. The more comprehensive service was £8.50 or £9 per day, the cheaper, no curtains etc. was £6 for one visit per day or £8 for the two which any self respecting cat would expect.
One of Plymouth and District Consumer Group members reports that she has stopped visiting the Debenhams store in the City because she is pursued on every floor by shop assistants eager to persuade her to open an account. Does this happen elsewhere?
Also reported in the Spring issue of "The Plymouth Consumer" is Debenhams 10% Privilege Week, for account card holders. A postcard announced in large letters "SAVE 10% OFF MOST ITEMS IN DEBENHAMS" but the 10% is marked with a dagger which refers, in much smaller print, to a footnote which, confusingly, states "Cardholders will receive 10% off the marked price of selected merchandise within Debenhams. A limited number of Departments will not be participating in the 10% Privilege Week and will be identified in the store". So, it would seem that "10% off most items" actually means " 10% off some selected merchandise in selected departments". However, everything was found to be clearly marked.
Another member decided to buy her husband a rechargeable electric razor, While in London she viewed them in a well known but traditionally expensive store, chose the model, but decided to buy it in the less rarefied and, hopefully, cheaper atmosphere of Plymouth.
She toured the whole of Plymouth, Boots, Co-op, Dingles, etc. and even Argos. Every single shop and store charged exactly the same price for the chosen object! She remarked "how strange! Is there some sort of price-fixing going on or is it just coincidence?"
Have you wondered why tomato ketchup is so called? The word, according to "The Plymouth Consumer" is derived from a Chinese word meaning "the brine of pickled fish" which is thought to have arrived, via Malaya in the 17th Century, as "catchup" which later became "catsup" (one hesitates to ask why?) and was used to refer to any spicy sauce of vegetable origin. From the early 18th century the word "ketchup" was adopted.
Despite this long history we still cannot get it out of the bottle without also splattering it everywhere. Leeds University is about to start work on solving this ancient problem - one can only say "more strength to your elbow", though perhaps that is not really the right exhortation in this context.
These thoughts were prompted when members of the Plymouth Consumer Group looked at prices of Tomato Ketchup in shops and supermarkets. In the smaller sizes there is a noticeable difference between glass or plastic bottles. The cheapest found was a supermarket own brand "value" bottle (550gms for 52p - 9.45p per 100gms). It seems odd to the Editor that the plastic bottles are more expensive than the glass ones. Own brand standard size glass bottles ranged from 12 to 13p per 100 gms while plastic ones vary between 16 to 19.4p per 100gms unless you buy the 1.4kg bottle when it drops to a "best buy" of 11.7p.
Heinz and Daddies sauce worked out rather more expensive and, in the case of Heinz, there is not much difference in the price of glass or plastic bottles. Because of the many different sizes available and the choice of glass or plastic bottles the advice is to look at the unit price on the supermarket shelf.
The second part of the Aberdeen Consumer group’s investigation into how user friendly Aberdeen is for those with children appears in the Autumn issue of "Consuming Interest" their professional looking quarterly journal.
The report shows that not only does child friendliness vary from shop to shop it also varies from day to day. Perhaps the most important facility required was somewhere clean and quiet to change a nappy. Nappy rooms were found in John Lewis, Boots and, naturally, Mothercare, and were exactly what was required. Also rated good were those at Bon Accord, Sainsbury, Adams and Safeway (where the free nappy was popular).
Elsewhere facilities were either non-existent or poor. Respondents to the Group’s inquiries thought that more should be provided and particularly commented on lack of facilities at Marks and Spencer and Pizzaland.
Toilets for toddlers also came in for criticism. Marks and Spencer refused to let a mother use the staff loo for a toddler with a very obvious urgent need. Other shops were not so brutal and will let mothers and toddlers use staff toilets if asked nicely, especially if a child is visibly hopping with need! The group thinks that shops should pay more attention to this facility but praised those that do, like Safeway, where the cubicles are large enough to take a push chair.
Where to take the kids to eat was also investigated. Children’s menus were found to be uninteresting, mostly something with chips and beans. The Group felt that places where children often eat should have plain food, such as bread and butter, available as a matter of course. Several places, including Safeway's restaurant, were reported to be good for children on all counts, The condition of high chairs is important. Some were found to be dirty and unsafe. John Lewis has, they report, lots of good ones.
The Group looked out for places where clothes and other children’s requirements were all on the ground floor. John Lewis, having been criticised for not allowing breast feeding in its ‘Place to Eat’, was praised for having all the clothes, shoes and toys on the ground floor. Other department stores were taken to task for having children’s clothes upstairs, aisles too narrow for push chairs and tills with sweets and other desirable items within push chair occupants’ reach and this is not just the supermarkets. Nearly all children’s shoe departments in Aberdeen are either upstairs or in the basement.
Aberdeen has plenty of toy shops. There are chain shops such as the oddly named Toys ‘R’ Us, Jolly Giant and Beatties, but best of all is a Toy Bazaar with everything from beads to rocking horses, wonderful staff and a cheerful cluttered atmosphere. In fact, staff in toy shops were generally praised as being cheerful and helpful.
Many shops were criticised for having huge and heavy doors, difficult to manage with a pushchair and/or toddler. A frequent criticism was that the distance between pairs of double lobby doors was often insufficient to allow poor Mum to bring a pram or pushchair in through the first pair and then have room to open the next.
The most frequent complaint was about the lack of space on buses for pushchairs. Of course, drivers cannot assist and there are no helpful conductors these days. There should be more ‘Mother and Child’ spaces provided near the pedestrian exits to store car parks.
The Group even looked at Children’s playgrounds. Too much concrete and not enough bark chippings was the verdict. Many need a good clean and paint. However where playgrounds had been refurbished, a good job had been carried out. The Group praised play areas in shops, particularly the play area in Lakeland Ltd., but there are not enough of them.
They summed up their findings by saying that mothers in Aberdeen should consider themselves reasonably well served. None of the grumbles are insoluble and very few shops and other places were actually hostile to children, but not enough were actively helpful. Politeness varied from day to day. Staff will help if asked but it would be nice if mothers could always expect help without having to ask for it. Pushchair access is the same as wheelchair access, improvements for one category helps the other.
It seems to the Editor that this impressively comprehensive investigation should be given more publicity as it may well apply to the country as a whole, not just Aberdeen. There are a number of ideas suggested to improve the lot of those shopping with young children. Let us hope that they are noticed by some of those responsible for designing shops, stores and supermarket.
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