Surplus to Purpose CIC Reviews 169

InFacebook they advertised red delicious, rose syrup, garlic, mangoes, courgettes, coriander mint spinach spices and watermelons for free with every £12 box.we opted for a £5 box but a staff member called nasreen told us £5 box not worth it and gave us a green £12 crate. It was our first time. She she had cakes, watermelon spices, spinach coriander etc behind counter which she’ll “sort us out with”
She said in these exact words “fill the crates best you can and take for family to share out there’s no limit on fruit/veg it’s unlimited so full fir family.” Halfway, she came over & saw we’d filled crate half full & said is this yours? I said yes. naz said “sorry sorry” & walked off. She didn’t say anything else or stop us. We queued which was a while as it was busy. We watched as nasreen spoke in Punjabi with her cousins. Pakistani female cousins were discussing in Punjabi about stealing overtaking free items. They paid £12 for 4 (yes 4 green crates) jammed pack full and sky high filled. These were more than £18 sized crates. Nas gave them free spices, a lot of garlic , coriander, watermelons spinach’s, chickpeas tins. Her cousins paid £12 for 4 large overfilled crates. This was not only theft but they were discussing on taking more free items. 1 cousin had over 12 fruit shoot bottles which were restricted to 6 per box. Anyway, after watching the theft/food heist of nas & her cousins doing their food heist & watching nas abuse her role and position we were ready to be served. Nas began yelling & shouting at us in front of everyone. We had apparently taken too many chillies and ginger. The real thieves were nasreen cousins who she allowed to wipe out or steal the chillies & over take. Nas started humiliating us in the queue. Removing items from our box . She made us stand aside and went to call manager. Manager came and checked. They said it was an £18 box. We &white customers behind confronted nasreen by telling her that she had let her Pakistani cousins go with 4 overfilled crates of free food and chillies fruit and drinks etc for £12. White customers backed us up. That was obviously a theft transaction. After putting basic things like bread crisps & afew chillies ginger out, we asked her if the box was ok level. She completely ignored us. She could well and truly hear but was yelling at the white customers who were saying to her that she had let a lot food go for her Pakistani cousins for £12. Nasreen was arguing saying “I’m not being funny but I can’t they’re taking for themselves” we told her this is for family to share. She replied “crates are not sold for families it’s per customer” we then confronted her saying “nas you said fill it up best you can and take for families. Share it out/no limits. Now you’re saying it’s not for us. And it’s not to be shared with family then why are you selling food?” All she could say was “no I’m not being funny but I can’t”
We waited for several minutes quietly. We asked her to serve us but we realised she’s refusing to serve us even though we did not argue with her just told her what she instructed us to do in the first place. She did not like that she was caught out giving free food away to her Pakistani cousins and that really she had allowed 4 crates of over packed food go for £12! She continued to serve customers who were qeued well after us and after we realised she was being racist prejudiced and unprofessional my husband had to go into the warehouse to call the manager who checked the items and served us. White folk had back us up after seeing nasreen allow a crime of theft and injustice. Her cousins had taken more food than they should and underpaid. Her attitude, behaviour misconduct is a concern. Charity commission needs to be investigating this charity. Staff abuse their roles to benefit their own families and mistreat and turn vulnerable customers away. This was our first time and we will not return as the staff are liars. Nas humiliated embarrassed and lied to us. 1 customer asked fir strawberries and was told by nasreen & another Asian boy that there are no strawberries left yet whilst in queue they bought out more strawberries.
Staff are stealing food & holding back food for themselves and their families who abuse the system. They are in it to benefit themselves. They are thieves, scammers. Nas displayed racist behaviour towards us. When advertising they advertised red delicious , mangoes mint etc none of these were there. They rope people in by false advertising and then hide the food. They’ll take it out for themselves or their families. When it was our turn they said it’s only 1 item . So only 2 garlics rationed whilst her cousin took a bag load and bunches. Vulnerable families are kicked humiliated lied to and mistreated pushed into mental health by this so called charity. They hold food back and allow it to rot which then thrown outside

Excellent place and excellent people Nasreen is an absolute delight and always is so happy to help.
Saving items from landfill and helping families in need. Absolutely worth a trip and you will continue to return.

Brilliant not only saving landfill but also supplementing the weekly shop and getting kiddo eat veg and fruit!!a win which ever way you view things

Brilliant, fab food and delivery on the day we requested

Really impressed by the quality of the fruit and veg box, as well as the quantity. Great value and reducing food waste into the bargain

Great service and help from Nas today, helping me fill my box and ideas of what to cook.

Order placed Friday for a Monday delivery.
Box arrived on the Monday with the contents as ordered, and was left in a secure location as I was out at the time.
Delivery driver texted to inform where the box had been left. Great food-waste initiative, great product and great service!

Have been a customer for a long time, but this was my first visit to the new warehouse. Nas was so helpful guiding me around and I left with an amazing box of produce! Incredible variety and value. I am against the profligate waste of food, and really applaud and appreciate this organisation's values. They are to be treasured, as should all the volunteers and staff. I can't speak highly enough. Thank you all.

Absolutely life-saving service. And what a fantastic way to reduce food wastage at the same time. I honestly couldn't believe how much came in my box and the quality of the produce. Fresh fruit, veg, cans, jars, and even a six-pack of effervescent vitamin C tablets! I've recommended Surplus to Purpose to all of my family and friends and personally will absolutely use again in the very near future. Thanks so much to all the staff and volunteers that keep it running!

I ordered a standard box and a small box of fruit and veg to be delivered - great selection, great value for money and the delivery team were friendly and polite as well. I'll be ordering again

What a great place with friendly and helpful staff. Nas went above and beyond to help as it was my first visit. I left with a £6 box full of so much food and amazing value, even got a bunch of flowers and a toy dinosaur too! I will definitely visit again soon. Thank you.

I went with my mum after following the page on Facebook for a few weeks. Times are so hard now with money and this place is amazing value for what you can pick and get. I wasn't too sure how the boxes worked, and didn't want to take too many items for my money. But 2 lovely lady's stood and explained to us. I will deffo be back!! (It's very helpfull looking on Facebook for stock updates)

Came across them during COVID and started to follow them. Always felt that what they were doing was so amazing and gutted as at the time I had no transport so could not get to them. When they opened in my local area was so happy. I have been a few occasions and the staff are so friendly and helpful. It is great value for money. The amount of fruit and veg you get is just so unbelievable. My most recent purchase was a mixed £6 box. The box was filled with fruit, vegetables, drinks, crisp, cake, bread items, muesli, curry sauce. Also purchased extra boxes of dates as gifts for Ramadan. Amazing stuff.

I've ordered a full box and couldn't be any happier with what I've got! Very good quality and value for money! I'm sure I'll be ordering again from surplus to purpose! And the driver couldn't be more helpful!

Friendly staff & great food, Glad it's not going to landfil.