Not in our Coop, but the delivery times of around 2 weeks could make one tremble...

I'm not going far at the moment, we decided only to shop local as we have everything we need in our little district. The local bakery is kind enough to donate anything unsold to a homeless soup kitchen up near SBB railway station, they have put all the furniture outside and have a one person per table rule. I'm glad homeless and people with low incomes have some help at this difficult time.


However, I'm a bit concerned for my hairdresser, he only went self employed last August when he took on a third of a salon in Basel city centre. I don't know if he'll qualify for any help. He's Italian, mum and extended family in Milan, dad in Basel and sister in Ticino.

For those in the Via Mala area:

https://viamala.shop/#/m/GR-viamala

So today i thought i would support my local Hornbach store and order a couple of pieces of wood to fix a garden fence..

Got to the checkout .. And behold the delivery charge 159chf

WTF

Were you made aware of this delivery charge on your order?

At the moment, the Swiss Federal Council has made special provision for financial support for businesses which are forced to close due to government order, such as restaurants, hairdressers, sports centres, etc. As difficult as times are, these businesses are not the worst hit, as they do receive a little. It is not anywhere near their regular income, not even enough to cover costs, but does take some of the sting out of the losses, and keep them fed.

On the other hand, those businesses whose income is lost because they have no customers, but who have not been ordered to close, are not - yet - eligible for financial support. The owners or sole-traders simply have zero or almost no income, and that's terrifying. They go from earning, to burning through their savings, straight into having to apply for Social Support (Sozialamt).

The Swiss Federal Council is aware of this danger and currently working on measures to try to open the access to comparable financial support for those other businesses, too, step by step. The regulations are not yet finalised. They will be aimed at some or all of, for example: physiotherapists, taxi drivers, gardeners, etc.

World Radio Switzerland is offering free* advertising to local businesses. See the link here https://worldradio.ch/article/lets-p...ll-businesses/

The business has to pay for the ad to be made, (around f500) but they will then broadcast it for no additional charge.

They don’t cover the whole country but their DAB+ coverage is surprisingly complete. From their site:

“Listen to WRS on your DAB+ radio in Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, Zug, Winterthur and Schaffhausen in the German-speaking region, and in Geneva, Lausanne and lower Valais in the French-speaking region, as well as the nearby border regions in Germany and France. “ See here https://worldradio.ch/ways-to-listen/

I tune in in the morning and a couple times of day for the BBC hourly news. They have live commentary from 0630 to 1200 each weekday. Mostly contemporary music the rest of the day.

I have no business relationship with them, other than having won a few things on their contests.

P.S. I have already purchased something from one of these new advertisers.

Oh yes, well at the checkout page at least. Needless to say I did not complete the order.

The fence can wait.

I've had home delivery on Hornbach items a few times - it's quite good value compared with others if you are ordering a few pallets worth of items.

Been meaning to make an order for a while - seems a good time so expect one this weekend. The blues and sheep/goat look very tempting...

I wanted to repair a small border fence thing.. I had ordered:
3 planks of wood @ 3000 x 100 x 20
12 wooden steaks

The store is 15 minutes from my house!

They offer pick up from store if the value is a couple of hundred..

Crazy delivery charge.

If I understand their delivery charges correctly, the cost can depend on the dimensions of the items. I wonder if the 3m wood planks threw your order into a more expensive category?

FYI, we just got a delivery today, two pallets of garden soil and mulch sacks and another pallet of paving stones and assorted fence and other DIY bits. Came on a truck and offloaded with a forklift. Total order was ca. 500, delivery charge only CHF 60.

Your charges do sound high, maybe worth a mail asking for an explanation.

My sign making / sign writing / large format printing business is not covered by the government to receive financial help. According to the government I’m not in need of help. The 10% from turnover no-interest loan (returned after 5 years) is a simply not enough in my opinion

I haven’t done a single job since the closure of schools. I hope they change this regulation soon.

I wanted to order something from Landi but their website's traffic must be overwhelming.. I was put in their waiting room a few times until I finally left.

I think that the planks being so long and this being wood (so probably pretty heavy) is putting it into some crazy delivery category.

Maybe you can phone in and arrange a pick-up at the store?

Re: butchers and the whole food sector. It may appear good as customers are eating anyway and hoarding a bit too, but there's been some weird consequences. Certain cuts or animals or packages are almost only for restaurant usage, people just don't cook it at home.
Certain farmers or food processors are only B2B and have a sudden struggle selling their stuff.

A mill in Ticino said their business is down, but flour is +400% in the supermarkets. So they would redirect their flour there, except that the packaging line for those small packages is the same as before, so they can't just increase supply. Other mills have no way to sell to supermarkets in the first place as it wasn't their usual business.

Puts me in mind of sirloin prepared in an English pub.

Swiss post has restricted the size on parcels it will deliver, one of my suppliers has changed delivery options because of this. Any thing above 2.5m length always attracted a price penalty. Over the last 5 years I have seen free delivery options disappear from the industry I work in, I suspect all the online shopping has put pressure on delivery services so prices have increased dramatically. Disappointingly with the increase in online ordering options and a reduction in staff hasn't resulted in a reduction in prices.

#MeToo .. WTF is that, 60 second countdown between pages.. Other websites accept the order and make it clear that they're extra busy, possible delay etc.

I abandoned it too. Ordered from Migros, I ordered a BBQ, 20kg charcoal, couple of hundred kilos of compost, my wooden steaks (not for the BBQ) but couldn't get my planks of wood yet .. Free delivery!

Pays to shop around

I had also ordered outdoor floor paint from COOP Brico, had a fun call from them on Saturday morning, the lady apologising for the mess and inconvenience and offering to compensate me.. Huh?
Turned out she'd got a report that the package had burst and paint went everywhere - must have been at the couriers / post.. Ooops..

Rolls on normality again.

No such thing as "Free Delivery". There is a real cost of transporting from A to B. If they don't separately charge delivery, that cost is factored in with the price of goods.

The word ‘Free’ is abused quite badly. What they should be saying is ‘at no additional charge’

Buy one, get one free NO
Buy one, get one at no additional charge YES