I was refused buying meat in Tengelmann

Exactly JW - I think build it and the customers will come – I just wonder what commercial, political or union agreement is stopping them.
Tengelmann is a culinary wasteland. I would only go there to buy tinned dog food to make a spagetti meat sauce for my mother-in-law.

If you could let me know where you buy quality food, I'd be gratefull. 90% of the food I find in the supermarkets here is crap beyond belief. In recent weeks I've found mouldy bread on the shelves, yoghurts past their sell-by dates by over a week and frozen meat defrosted and sold as "fresh". Quality my arse.

As is rewe, aldi, lidl, etc..

If you want a fantastic supermarket right in the centre of Munich then go to Viktualienmarkt - it's just like a high quality, if expensive, open-air supermarket, complete with restaurants, fast food, and a quality biergarten. Honestly what more do you want?

@OG, I don't live in the "city" so go to individual shops for 90% of my produce (Baker, butcher, greengrocer). I know most of the owners and so get good service. I only go to Supermarkets for the general foodstuffs (Milk, butter, etc.) and automatically check the dates on everything (been here 20 years). As for the quality issue a lot of produce sold here has far less preservatives added than similar items in the UK and so "go-off" sooner. It's important for me to feed myself/family with as fresh produce as I can find. I just know that my family and I are eating better here than we could at home (Ireland/Scotland)...

With lots of open spaces to vomit.

Vikutalienmarkt is great, but the irony is that there you pay twice as much as you would for the same products abroad!? Why must I either buy cheap pork cut or processed in 3,000 different ways or have to spend €20 a kilo for a steak? There has to be a happy medium somewhere...

It's also not much good if you don't live or work in the town centre...

Try Tarot card readers and mediums for info.

Snare roll and cymbal crash on that one!

Thank you very much, I'm here all week. Veal, waitress, etc.

All fair points, but shop around on VM and it becomes more reasonable, don't just walk into the most obvious places - I've posted my favourite haunts before so won't repeat them but for chicken, meat, fish, cheese and delicatessen the prices/quality ratios are comparable to what you'd get anywhere else. Don't buy fruit/veg there, get these on a market or greengrocers.

Now we'll flush out the 'I don't have time in my busy important life to visit five shops for my food, I want convenience and quality all in one and it must be cheap', and to that there's only one answer: Fuck off back to the UK and convince yourself you get that in Tesco & Sainsbury.

About the socks...they were a gift for my boss and I only had my lunch hour to run around town to find them, they only had a few in Hertie and the guy was standing in front of the lot telling me no, so I ran to the next store I could find. I was too nervous running around speaking my crap german to fight back.

In the end I bought them from a really nice lady and subsequently bought my dirndl from her for the Fest, so Hertie's loss really.

P.S. They are damn expensive for a pair of socks...

[Sigh] Then again, German consumers are so price-obsessed when it comes to food, and gastronomically clueless, to be honest, that I don't know whether it would work on a massive scale. On a Saturday in Carrefour in Belgium or France, you've got both proles and high-flying "city types" shopping away. I don't see that happening here.

that is fine if you have the time to shop around. Most working people don't, which is why supermarkets became so popular. Also there are no decent butchers or greengrocers close to me.

The problem is NOT perservatives. It is stock management and the lazy attitude of staff and management in the stores. Milk etc don't have preservatives added in any country (as far as i know). It is simply unacceptable (not to mention ILLEGAL) to leave food past the sell by date on the shelves. Because every one here drops tools at precisely 8pm, there is little effort made in stocking, presenting and checking shelves. The bread I saw was in plain open sight. It wasn't a little bit green, the ENTIRE LOAD was green. The employees must have walked past it a dozen times a couldn't be bothered to pull it from the shelf.

An di wouldn't believe all the propsganda you here about German produce. It is as bad as it is in virtually every other country. The Germans are simply convinced of their own propaganda, and it seems you are too.

You are absolutely right. Sick of hearing this crap about the great quality here. Its crap if you ask me. Moldy bread, lettuce going rotten, nasty tomatoes, etc. Big supermarkets back home have great, fresh produce under misting machines, isles and isles of OPTIONS. BIO products abundantly available but if you want to argue about preservatives and all that crap, then go to WHOLE FOODS which is all natural. I will agree that food is cheaper here (except for beef of course), but the quality is no better and often its less. I'd rather pay a bit more and get quality, which is actually why I mostly shop at the new Edeca in Taufkirchen/Uberhaching... large supermarket, good quality in produce and I can check myself out like back home and not be forced to wait in some long ass line to be rang up by a rude employee.

Oh yes, the service here is really awful. Yesterday after I had paid, I asked the casheir to carry out my shopping to the bicycle and she refused. I then called the manager and he told me she was a cashier and this was not part of her duties. He also refused to carry the bags out to my bicycle. In anger, I just dumped the three bags of shopping on the cashier's desk and stormed out of the shop. Boy did I feel good!

I work, but I take the time to shop around as it is important to me.

Yeah but what the cows eat does. I buy milk etc also in supermarkets but always check the date. A loaf of German bread (as available in most bakers) will go off pretty quickly compared to a loaf of bread in the UK where it is generally more accepted to eat mass-produced packaged bread (which seems to last for weeks before going green).

I would hope so but don't know German law like you seem to.

I can only go by my experiences and still maintain it's easier to access and eat healthier food in Munich than it is in Ireland/UK. Thats got nothing to do with German propoganda. Just look around at what people buy and eat in the UK. Look at the rows of biscuits/crisps/pre-packaged ready made meals and compare it to the limited selection available here.

it's one of the joys of living back in the uk. when i have time i can go to the independents but when i don't, i know that the supermarket will have what i want and it won't be rotting.

I don't complain about much in Munich/Germany, but fuck me, the service here is appalling.

I wouldn't even say I'm a person that gives a shit about service most of the time, but when you experience a total lack of it you notice. When I first moved from Australia to the UK, I noticed a drop, but it really wasn't too bad, cause like I said, I'm not really fussy. I remember once when I arrived, I asked some guy at Sainsbury's where something was, and he told me he didn't know and pointed me to his colleague because it wasn't his department. At the time I thought this was pretty rude, because in Australia someone that is paid to provide service would drop what they are doing and find out for you. I don't know simply isn't an acceptable answer.

Here in Germany, I now dream of such service. I was in Conrad the other day, I tried to get some guys attention who was clearly trying to ignore me. I asked my question and he just said it's not my department and walked away. I wouldn't normally mention this but that was certainly not the first time something like that happened.

It's like backwards land here in regards to service. When people are getting paid to be friendly they are rude as hell, yet on the whole, I find people really quite friendly and sociable when you meet them in a beer garden or other such place where they could actually just keep to themselves.

People coming from America where the service at times is even too much must really be suffering.

please don't be offended but don't talk crap about the rows of biscuits and crisps in the uk and the limited selection in germany. there is the same amount available, just a more limited selection. fine if you like bloody paprika flavoured crisps or peanut wotsits. i love my walkers sensations caramelised onion and balsamic vinegar crisps.

Jebus I always have tremendous service in Conrad... one time I had some issue with some do-lally and the kid behind the counter just starts ripping into a bunch of stuff they had there , fucking the packaging about from brand new products they had in-store to get it to work... in the end we concluded that my do-lally was phucked ... I asked him what the charge was? nuthin... the amount of times I've brought back stuff to that shop and they've given me CASH back is hilarious - mostly they will not do this in the UK - Richer Sounds springs to mind...

What hellesangel said..

I guess it is fair to say that we each have our own unique experiences and our own unique set of preferences. I have found service in France to be, generally speaking, worse than in Germany, but I didn't expect much in that area anyway. Then again, I fall into the camp of those who regard quality food at a low price as what's most important, and agree with Hutcho that service in the US can be a bit much sometimes.

Well I'll take the person bending over backwards to make sure I'm a happy camper when I leave their store (American service) over the "get the hell out of here and stop asking me questions" non-service dominating the German retail market.

----

It wasn't really a complaint - I would take American service over German service any day..

I am american and agree that the service here is garbage. Not to mention most of the produce. I consider myself a foodie and enjoy good, quality food - but to get that here you have to pay and arm and a leg for it. I bought 5 tuna steaks the other day and it cost me more than 60 euros! And they weren't that thick. Oh well, what do you expect from a country where they pick up the trash in the middle of the morning rush hour. Clearly satisfaction is not high on the list.

yeah, we should get all the illegal immigrants to pick up the trash in the middle of the night and pay them a pittance for it
then we'd all be able to drive around in our big fat cars in peace
what a wonderful world that would be

Pay them? Screw that, just bring back slavery, then they wont be illegal will they!

But Topsy all those immigrunts you talk about are just stupid catholicks that give their money to the church or send it home to some corrupt government.
Not even Jesus would love people that fucking dumb.

The one shop I will rave about is the Edeka in Ingolstadt. Absolutely bloody fantastic - reminds me of back home, with the customer service to boot.

And another thing, why the hell do the majority of supermarkets not accept credit cards? Don't bother answering, I know...

Real at Euro Industry Park is really not so bad. It's as good as any standard Sainsbury's/Tescos for sure. And they take credit card, and there is rarely ever a wait at the registers. Since the upgrade there it's really a lot better. Cause I shop there now, I don't really complain about the supermarket situation much anymore. This thread is about customer service though, and that is still shit in most places. In Real it's just average.

Don't count your chickens young man!

The original incident was almost unbelieveable.

Are UK supermarkets coming to Germany? No. The margins are too slim for their tastes.
Why don't most German supermarkets accep credit cards (though they do all take charge cards)?
Because they charges are higher and it is regarded socially as silly to buy food on credit.

I just thought of the worst ever supermarket I know, Tescos in central Bristol and shuddered.

Back to what the OP said- you were probably refused the service because to the best of my knowledge Tengelman doesn't offer it! The ones I have been in get their meats from a butcher who prepares everything and ships it over...the meat counter (unless it was at one of the huge Tengelmans) most likely does not have the equipment to do what you asked.

As others said, just got to your local butcher.

or try Hit - their meat counter is excellent and they'll happily chop, de-bone, or do whatever you fancy to your mean. Ditto for Kaufhof or Hertie.

spend MORE than 20 euros per kilo I'd say. Treat steak as a...well, treat. Only have it occasionally, spend money to get good sheeyat. I spend over 40 notes a kilo on steaks man.

Anyway, enough on steak. Supermarkets here being rubbish is much better subject matter. And rubbish they are.


Spot on. The staff are idiots. I think everyone is an idiot really, but the staff in supermarkets here are serious idiots. Clueless. Hence, management must be shite too.


Hear hear.


3 reasons. We are nowhere near the sea. Tuna 'steaks' are in demand. You probably bought them at the fish section in one of the 'posh' supermarkets.

OK, back on subject time. The cut of meat you wanted to buy is a pain in the arse for the butcher. He's likely had no training, has no skill with the blade, and importantly, does not give a shit about your business. Means nothing to him. Its a real pain in the arse to debone those leg slices. There is tons and tons of connective tissue, and its tough. Cooked on the bone, not neccessarily as a soup I may add, all the tissue just melts away over time, but off the bone, cut into bits, the tissue shrinks on cooking, and makes all your little pieces of meat all scraggly looking like a screwed up manky ear on a homeless dog in Vietnam that you saw in the background on some BBC news report about something to do with vietnam and it just sort of stuck in your mind really wierdly.
Frankly, the bloke was completely correct not to let you make goulash with that cut of meat, because it would have meant him sitting there fiddling with a small blade for ages, or just giving you meat that was not really prepped enough to cook properly with, resulting in either a lot of knife work for you (which you were clearly trying to avoid seeing as you wanted it cut up) or worse still resulting in a crap, flabby, fat ridden goulash. Clearly his actual reasoning was more likely grounded in bone-idle laziness, rather than the lengthy pondering upon your choice of meat, but thats not the point. Well, I'm not really sure what IS the point either, so maybe it is.

For about the millionth time: UK (and I guess French too) supermarkets do NOT WANT to come to Germany as it is a matured market, with well established competitors, VERY tight margins and a population that still values shopping at small local stroes rather than driving once a week to a one stop shop on the edge of town.

On the "seasonal" thing, I have had discussions with this in PLUS about some of their dairy products (with the friendly staff who always greet me, also on the street etc). Some of the stuff that is only available seasonally is down to the fact that it simply shifts better in certain seasons and the smaler stores in particular need stuff to turn over FAST, to the point of almost daily. If feta with herbs moves slower in the winter months, pretty obvious really, they are going to use that space for lebkuchen or whatever innit.

Top post from DR on the issue of the cut of meat there. There are social or practical norms that we need to follow.
I remember the general HORROR when a visitng Preiß ordered weisswurst and sauerkraut to eat.

weisswurst mit sauerkraut??!!?
I'm not surprised folk were horrified. Quite justifiable, I reckon.

garibaldi...let me get this straight..you asked some fatarse at the kasse to take your shopping bags to your bicycle??!! I don't know what it's like in Bavaria, but in Berlin they've probably call the police. Well done!

Recently, I was in the Tenglemann's on Schellingstr. at Luisenstr.to buy some turkey filets for Abendessen. It was a few minutes before closing and all the meat had been taken off the racks and packed away. I sighed and was about to leave when a young (Turkish?) male employee asked me what I was looking for. I told him. He asked me to wait and disappeared into the back. Two minutes later, he returned with four different packages for me to choose from. Pleasant, motivated, and competent he was.

Wonderful post don riina!
What is the lesson Englishrose? Learn to bleeding cook before you go shopping. Your meal would have been bloody awful and made your guests go all green and vomity.

I don't know much about cooking, but I would tell sales staff what to DO and not WHAT I WANT IT FOR - that's my business. Can you de-bone the meat for me please, can I have these medallions please? Just ignore any further queries. If you tell people what you want to do with it, or that it has to have a particular quality, then of course they are going to use it to argue the toss esp when they want to sell off something that looks a bit odd, or when they can't be bothered doing something. Also, my german friends tell me that working behind the meat counter in a supermarket is regarded as a complete shit job, for people who can't get it together to get a better one, so they are probably not the cheeriest of individuals.

As DR explained that cut of meat is a buggar to de bone raw. Cook it and it comes off easy.

And the point about Beinscheiben is that they have a marrowbone in them, and when you cook the stuff in a lump the marrow adds richness to the juices. So why would you want to bone them? Bit like wanting to bone oxtails. Just buy goulash, or a boneless lump of some other cut and chop it up yourself.
Plus what Don said, of course.

Just been thinking about my own job which is kind of customer service related.
Hundreds of thousands of products leave out warehouse in strong sealed boxes with proper filling so the product arrives, safe, secure and fit for its purpose.

If ONE customer out of many comes to me and says: I want my products just tied up in strips of frilly pink crepe paper, what am I going to say?
No.
The customer can't expect to have a huge ammount of warehouse resources invested in tying up his product in frilly crepe paper which as a result means the product is not going to be useful for its fit purpose anyway cos it will be broke.

Same principle.

I think it's more about the quality of the staff in these el-cheapo chains that would hire robots if they could, rather than about some kind of national mentality crap or whatever. Just last weekend I was sitting in a Kneipe that served a Zwiebelbraten mit Kartoffelknödel special offer. I had a craving since the afternoon of the previous day for Zweibelbraten, and in parallel for Bratkartoffel. So I asked the waiter if I could swap the Knödel with the Bratkartoffel. Of course I get this "OMG, Zweibelbraten mit Bratkartoffel??" response, as if I was asking him to spread cottage cheese over the Braten and pour Lotus tea with capers on top of that, but in the end he succumbed and gave me what I ordered. And for the reduced price (almost, they have a fee for swapping side servings).

On the other hand, in another occasion we were looking for mountain shoes for my wife, and I left her for a little look-around in Karstadt Sport while I was doing something else. I came down after a few minutes to find her on the verge of tears, after the customer service person made fun of how small her feet are, that she has feet like a child's and should go to "Thailand oder sowas" if she wants to find shoes that would fit her, they don't have people with small feet in Germany. I was getting ready to chase his butt with my own shoe, was really infuriated. Even if your shitty store caters only for "ze vey every peepole shood be like", there's no need to insult your customer (I can't believe this isn't clear from the beginning to that asshole).

Of course we went to a specialist trekking and mountaineering shoe shop and found exactly her size, at about 15% cheaper .

Good point: the German banks have been shielding the country (remember the talk about "fortress Germany" of the 1980s?) from credit cards for a long long time and have pampered Germans with the EC Card.
Which by the way is better than your mastercard or similar stuff, if you are in Germany, Austria, Italy ...

HUH? I've had a German credit card dokeys years and have always used it.

Used it where? Come on, the credit card is seriously unaccepted here in Germany..