Shops are their own worst enemies

I very much support patronising local shops, rather than shopping online, as vibrant high streets are essential for the wellbeing of our towns.

However it is often the retailers themselves who are their own worst enemies, failing to provide an efficient service. In recent days spectacles which I had ordered were produced using an erroneous prescription and other goods I ordered, and drove several miles to collect, were not available as promised.

Marks & Spencer’s stores are a disappointment, stocking little for vegetarians, even displaying beef products in the very limited section supposedly reserved for non-meat products. We were even advised in the same store to go online due to a failure to stock other items we required. There is little point in retailers complaining about a diminished footfall if they do not make every effort to provide a truly competitive service to that offered by the digital stores. Colin Bullen, Douglas Road, Maidstone