No Tesco New Year For You, Sir!

I visited Tesco at Duloch Park on my way home from work as it was the closest supermarket, BIG BIG BIG mistake. I went in, selected all the drink I was going to need for New Years eve as i was working a double shift this day and wouldn't be able to visit another store to purchase alcohol. At the check out i was asked for ID which was fair enough as i am under 21, however my friend who was also with me who was not purchasing any of the alcohol was then id'd. As she wasn't buying alcohol she wasn't carrying her id! DUH! I who had shown my id (driving licence) was then refused my items as my friend didn't have ID. In deep shock i explained that I was the one purchasing the drink and i had shown my ID, they still denied. They then had the cheek to ask if i still wanted to purchase the mixers (great when u've got no drink to mix them with). We politely declined as the whole of tesco looked on we then walked away humiliated. As we walked away we realised that we had been unfairly treated and decided to complain to the manager. The manager took her time to come down and by this time it was too late to purchase alcohol! We asked why this had happened to which she replied 'oh I don't know'. She said that she couldn't understand why this had happened and went to speak to the checkout staff and a higher manager. After a 20 minute wait she came back and said all she could do was say sorry and the staff were confused. There was nothing else she could do as it was past the time for selling alcohol. So we left the 'happy to help' tesco store in embarrassment!!

Tesco-Complaint Comment: To get to speak to a Tesco "Manager" takes ages which is ridiculous. This situation where time becomes a factor preventing resolution of a problem caused by Tesco happens regularly. They cannot sell alcohol after a certain time and apparently cannot give refunds after 11pm (!) yet they will still not rush to deal with problems. Our experience is that good Customer Service does not exist at most Tesco stores and where it does it is due to the good nature of the individual staff members as opposed to good staff training by Tesco. It does not need to be this way and Sainsbury's customer service in our experience is wildly better. Tesco continue in this manner because every penny saved on training and promoting good customer service can be added to the profit forecast: "Every Little Helps"

Mummy, why do Tesco lie?

I went into my local Kettering branch of Tesco at about 7.15pm 12th Dec,2006. I went to the bakery, chose a nice white loaf that needed slicing. There were no other customers at the bakery. The young chap working in the bakery was standing on the customer side of the counter, engrossed with a little hand held machine. After a wait of about a minute I said ‘excuse me.’ He looked up and glared horribly at me, said nothing, and went back to his hand held machine. I stood there quietly for a couple of minutes, feeling sheepish for disturbing him, but still needing my bread sliced. I was prepared to wait as long as it took. I waited passively and quietly with my son for a few minutes, when suddenly the baker chap lunged towards me and violently grabbed the bread from my hand and flew into a rage into the bakery to slice it.

I called out to him asking him why he was behaving so awfully towards me. He was in a rage. I told him I wanted to see the manager. He said things I could not understand and was swearing and shouting,at me for no reason! My young son was with me and he was as shocked as I was by this odd behaviour! I went to the clothing section and spoke to a member of staff who went to look for the duty manager. In the meantime, the baker came back and literally hurled the bread into my basket from about 7 ft away - and ran off! The duty manager arrived and I told him what had happened. I asked him if perhaps the bakery chap was someone with special needs who may be unable to relate normally, because that it how his behaviour towards me seemed. I sincerely thought this was the only logical reason for his lunge towards me! The duty manager said he was sorry, etc. and that he would have a word with the chap, etc. I was clearly dazed by it all. One never understands why someone would treat them so badly and with such bizarre agression for no reason!

I was very distressed and quite shaken, and tried to carry on shopping. I was bewildered, shaken, upset and distraught! The duty manager caught up with me in the pasta aisle and told me that the bakery chap was sorry. He said something about the chap’s boss leaving him there alone to do so much work and then mentioned something about ‘all the packing’ to do and people kept coming up to him to get their bread sliced and he just ‘took it out on you.’ I asked why someone doesn’t help him so he wouldn’t be so distressed. He replied, ‘Oh you know, targets, cutbacks, that sort of thing.’ It was an unhelpful excuse. As the duty manager walked away leaving us still in a state of confusion and some considerable shock, my son said “But Mum, the sign said; “We are happy to slice your bread”.

I sent 2 letters to Tesco, but did not get a reply. I sent an email to them and got this reply yesterday:

"Thank you for your email.
I was sorry to learn of the problem you experienced at our Kettering store and I apologise for the upset caused.
I would like to assure you that this is not our usual standard of service and I am confident this has been an isolated incident.
I have spoken with the duty manager and am happy with the resolution to this incident. He has advised that the appropriate action and retraining has been implimented at the store.
Whilst there is little that can be done to alleviate the inconvenience that has already been caused, I am very sorry indeed that this has happened.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
Kind Regards
Tesco Customer Service"

How's that for customer relations? It's alright for them, the guy has been talked to and has had 'retraining'! Great! In the meantime, the horrendous treatment of a loyal customer means nothing. There seems to be a total lack of care for the customer. I will NEVER EVER spen a single penny in Tesco again. If a customer can go in, shop, spend money and get practically assaulted by an overworked member of staff because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and all you get for your worst nightmare is a pathetic apology.... that is bad bad business. I spoke to Customer Relations today. He said "that is all we can do. Tesco does not give vouchers or any other type of recompense. We only say 'sorry'."

Fine. I'll be keeping my business from them. No business is so big that it can't crumble from it's own overblown incompetance, blundering customer care, cutbacks, targets and poor policies. Hey, imagine if he had hit someone... I guess Tesco would only say "Sorry".

It will all end in tears for Tesco because when these things start to work their way down to affecting customer's well-being, there's no way Tesco can go on like this and prosper. I went to Sainsburys today and spent £98. That would have normally gone into Tesco's undeserving coffers. I was most upset at my appalling treatment, now I am just furious!

Lynda

Tesco's Cruelty to Live Turtles & Frogs?

I was shocked to discover that Tesco is selling live animals for consumption in its stores in China.

For those of you who don't know, China is a country where dogs, cats and other animals, destined for the dinner plates of the growing ranks of the nouveau riche, are routinely skinned alive after being stabbed in their genitals. I should know, my family lived there for a year. A popular way of killing turtles, which Tesco is selling live trussed up in sealed bags, is to cut them out of their shells alive. In China there are no animal welfare laws and no regulations. Anything goes.

I am appalled that Tesco is cashing in on this cruelty. And before you reach for the patronising letter template explaining how it is wrong to impose our values on others, let me ask you if Tesco would consider selling child porn in countries where paedophilia was legal? Of course not. Then why stack petrified animals on shelves like they are tins of beans?

Of course, as a company driven by profit and not by morals, you will probably take the view that upsetting a few of your European customers is worth the headway you think you will make by pleasing customers in the world's fastest growing economy. You may be right, of course, but some of us have morals. And for that reason I shall not be shopping at Tesco while it continues to sell live animals for consumption. So please, no more vouchers sent to my partner in a bid to tempt us back to your Slough store.

A copy of this letter together with my address is in the post so you can take us off your mailing list. I will also be telling all my friends and family not to shop in your stores and shall be posting leaflets to neighbours.

Sincerely, Ms L de Sousa

Click for further information in the comments section
External Links: Tortoise Trust Asian Turtle Crisis Tescopoly Article Asian Animal Protection Network

Loyal Tesco Manager Bullied Out

I have been employed at Tesco for the past ten years and four months. Six years as a General Assistant, eighteen months as Dairy/CPM Manager, two years as Fresh Food Stock Control Manager and eight months as Checkout Manager Services. I handed in my notice just over a week ago and this morning I was told to ‘get out’ by the Store Manager.

I had confided in a ‘trust worthy’ colleague this morning that I would not be able to serve my full notice due the new company I will be starting with needed me in for an induction before I was due to leave. I felt guilty about this and spent this morning plucking up the courage to inform the Store Manager. You may think it strange that I needed to ‘pluck up’ courage to do this simple task but since the Store Manager has joined the store this year, the general consensus among the management team is that he bullies his staff and managers.

I have experienced this first hand on a number of occasions and to have a man who is in serious need of training around people skills and anger management in charge of a store, to me, is ludicrous.

This ‘trustworthy colleague’ went to the Store Manager and informed him of my intentions behind my back, I feel, to improve her personal credibility with him as most managers are doing since he joined the store. I cannot believe the ‘One team, the Tesco team’ attitude that was once in place when the previous Store manager was in charge has diminished into back-stabbing amongst the management team in a bid to stay on the current store managers good side.

After being laid-up in bed with the flu since Christmas Day, I returned to work this morning to my usual reception (and for many others) from Neil. Not a ‘How are you feeling?’, not a ‘Did you have a nice Christmas?’, not even a simple ‘Hello’ or ‘Good Morning’ but a cold shoulder and being ignored as if I was invisible.

I was called in to his office and asked what I had said to my colleague this morning to which I replied ‘I’m sorry but my last day will be today as I am needed in for an induction at my new company tomorrow so unfortunately I cannot work my notice until Sunday as previously agreed’.

He then said ‘I want you gone now. And I will be holding your pay back as long as possible’. Is this the thanks I get for ten years loyal service? Most companies would thank their staff for their commitment as it is very rare for someone to stay with the same company for that long, let alone the same store as I am sure you are aware. As I left the store, saying my goodbyes to staff, some of which I had been working with since I was sixteen years old, I was ushered out of the store by the Store Manager as he whispered in his usual aggressive manner ‘Good luck in your new job. You’ll need it. You know you’ll need it don’t you?!’ One final humiliation from Tesco as my leaving present. Thank you very much.

I did not want to leave on bad terms as you never know what will happen and I may well want to apply for a job with Tesco in future as up until the Store Manager took over (literally) I enjoyed my job working under the previous five or six Store Managers. But I now feel all my bridges with the company have been burned by his obvious bitterness and dislike towards me.

Every year as a Manager I have achieved a green light for my performance document and never had any indication I was doing an unsatisfactory job until the Store Manager found out I had been looking for another job. This happened the day of my half year review. He approached my as I came off a check out and said ‘I hear your looking for a new job, we’ll discuss it in your review’. ‘Fair enough’ I thought. It was never mentioned in my review or ever again. At the time I was just inquiring as I felt I had no chance in the near future of moving to the next work level and I am an ambitious person so I thought I would see what was about. He had obviously decided he did not want me as one of his team or surely he would have at least had a conversation about it with me.

I fear for the Store as I know for a fact many of the Managers feel the same way as I but are too frightened to speak out. Morale is at an all time low. The last eight months has been a living hell for me consisting of sleepless nights, worrying what I would get in trouble for or blamed for when I came into work. Is this how we should feel working for a company who preach how they look after their staff? How many more Managers will it take to step down or leave because of this man before something will be done?

Tesco Direct in Vegetative State

I recently decided to try the Tesco Direct service, but as I have a Tesco store nearby which has a Tesco direct counter, and that delivery was faster and cheaper, I decided to have the item sent there. The Item was a pair of GHD hair straighteners for my daughter for Christmas.

I was promised a delivery date of 23rd December after 4.00 PM (don’t ask why I left it so late, needless to say, being a man, I had no idea that GHD hair straighnters would not be easily available from high street shops). Anyway, I got a phone call from Tesco’s at 12.00 PM on the 23rd saying that my delivery had turned up early. At this point, I was feeling rather smug with myself for having managed to find a pair of the straigthners.

I eventually went to pick them up, but when the assistant went to fetch the package, it was a huge box. Naturally I was suspicious at this point and decided to open the package to check that it was what I had ordered. It turned out to be a vegetable steamer. After informing the assistant that this was not what ordered, she phoned Tesco direct HQ to enquire. I was offered a refund.

Naturally, being let down by Tesco 2 days before Christmas, I was a little aggrieved to be offered just a refund, and demanded that I see the manager. The manager phoned Tesco Direct himself, to see what he could do about the situation. I was told that I would have to re-order and there was nothing Tesco Direct could do , he even said that Tesco Direct were very little to do with the Tesco stores and that he should not really be dealing with complaints.

What upset me the most was that after dealing with so many internet shopping companies, was the lack of interest in Tesco Direct in offering anything other than a refund – as though a refund was an offer of kindness on their behalf. Companies like Amazon – a more reputable internet delivery company offer instant vouchers if they make a mistake – no quibble – you don’t even need to ask.

What did I get from Tesco direct, for completely wasting my time, and letting down me and my daughter at Christmas? ... only an automated e-mail informing me of my refund. Nice personal touch. Well, I know where I *wont* be spending my money in the future.

Pete from Long Eaton

A Tesco "Manager" replies...

I am a manager for Tesco. Firstly, I just want to make one point, no one is forced to shop at Tesco, if you have so much complaint about it, simply don't shop there. How boring life must be to spend time moaning about a supermarket! I have no complaint about my company, and the only bad treatment I have ever received is at the hands of customers including acts of unjustified aggression and threats of assault If any of you had the slightest idea about the work and effort that goes into providing the service to the customer at Tesco then you may think twice about the comments posted on this site. I just think that everyone is jealous of Tesco's position and no one likes to see anything successful. Why don't we celebrate a great British company.

My second point is about all these comments and dedicated websites on Tesco mispricing. Yes I admit on occasion there will be some pricing errors, either human error where a member of staff misses changing a label over or a computer error centrally. However, there are systems in place and a dedicated department to make sure prices are correct. Tesco is not intentionally over charging customers. Concerning the over charging policy, this is provided for as a gesture of good-will as way of apology for the inconvenience of being overcharged. Although it is VERY apparent that many "customers" are making a career out of this generous policy by intentionally purchasing high value products they believe will scan incorrectly. It is under these circumstances a refund may be refused by management and the "customer" banned.

Furthermore, it is well known that some criminals will intentionally swap labels around and even attempt to print their own labels to make out they have been overcharged. So if "customers" request refunds under suspicious circumstances then YES refunds should not be given out and these people banned from store.

Tesco-Complaint response in the comments section...

Tesco Staff Not To Be Trusted?

The Mirror reports: "TESCO is carrying out random searches on its staff in a clampdown on stealing. The supermarket giant, which makes £1billion [sic - it's actually £2billion+] profit a year, says the checks are necessary - but workers claim the searches are degrading. One said: "For loyal members of staff, they are utterly humiliating." The workers at Tesco Extra hypermarkets all have to press a green button as they leave work... and that decides who is searched.

A manager said: "It is randomly done and we do not discriminate [ie -we do not trust any of our staff?]." Shopworkers' union Usdaw said: "If staff wish, we will take it up with the management." The Centre for Retail Research claims 40 per cent of missing stock in stores, worth £8million a year, is stolen by staff."

Tesco-Complaint would like to put those figures from the CRR into context: Tesco made in excess of £2billion profit last year thanks to the hard work of it's staff. If £8million of UK retail stock is stolen by UK retail staff in the sector then the value stolen in Tesco by staff must be in the thousands or hundred thousands. Considering Tesco's £2billion profit this tiny amount of theft by probably a miniscule proportion of staff is not enough to demoralise all Tesco staff on a daily basis in this machine-like way. These people earn your company a huge fortune or should only Sir Terry Leahy get credit for Tesco's profit? Someone at Tesco PLC needs to think seriously about responsible corporate governance and about it's promise:

"We constantly review how we are performing and look for better ways of working to ensure a safe and enjoyable shopping and working environment for our people and our customers."

Tesco Employs Suffolk Serial Killer?

Detectives investigating the alleged 'Suffolk Murders' of five prostitutes are questioning a 37-year-old male Tesco worker. Police said the man was arrested at his home near Felixstowe, Suffolk, shortly before 7.30am. Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said "He has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering all five women - Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls," whose bodies had been found near villages south of Ipswich, Suffolk, during the past three weeks.

Police refused to name the man, but sources close to the investigation said he was Tom Stephens, of Trimley St Martin, near Felixstowe. Tom Stephens was named as "The Suspect" in a newspaper story yesterday in The Sunday Mirror and the suspected Ipswich Ripper was an employee of Tesco. Tesco-Complaint have tracked down Tom Stephens myspace page (archived here) where he nicknames himself "The Bishop" and which was last updated on 27 October 2006 - days before the first victim went missing. Tom Stephens writes on his myspace that he is a "Tesco, UK Team Leader ... from 1997 until they sack me." Tom Stephens lives in Jubilee Close, Trimley St Martin and worked at the 24 hour Tesco Extra store on Anson Road, Martlesham Heath, Suffolk. Tesco confirmed that the police had arrested an employee of Tesco's Martlesham store. Tesco said the investigation is a police matter and they had no further comment.

We've posted 2 pictures of Tom Stephens from his myspace page (which we've archived here). In these pictures, the alleged 'Tesco Serial Killer' is wearing what appears to be a Tesco uniform. In the first you can see the shirt of his Tesco uniform and that he has painted pupils on to his eyes and in the picture immediately above he appears to be at work in the same Tesco uniform shirt holding up some Bird's Custard Powder - was this picture taken at Tesco Martlesham? Tesco have now suspended their employee Tom Stephens.

Tesco Club Card Fraud?

I receive extra Tesco ClubCard points codes with my mailings from Tesco all the time, so I ordered online to get 1500 extra points which would have been great if they had been added but they weren't.

I phoned 3 times, 1st time told it takes 28 days, 2nd time said they would add them, 3rd time said they would add them.

E-mailed them and haven't got a response, I could have got the stuff in store and saved myself £5 delivery. Surely this is false advertising? Is it against trading standards to offer deals like thses and not honour them?

Tesco Sucks but their Vac Doesn't!

To Tesco Customer Service, cc: tesco-complaint, A few months ago my wife (a Tesco employee) bought a vacuum cleaner and then promptly lost the reciept, until recently it has given us really great sevice but the smaller belt that operates the primary drive for the revolving brush snapped and since then i have been to various stores (Tesco) around where i live only to be told "we don't have those belts" or "we don't know where you can get them try another Tesco store" then yesterday i was told to try other electrical stockist to see if they had any belt that would fit.

That kind of service on one of your own products although made in China is not one of the things i would have expected from your company who i can not raise even the slightest complaint against up untill now. Would you please inform me of somewhere in can get the replacement part for my apliance or one that will fit.

The make and number of the vac is as follows:

1800 MAX TESCO
UPRIGHT VACUUM CLEANER
220-240-50Hz
POWER-1600(nom,)-1880max
SC 104020
Made in CHINA

Could you please make it a priority to reply as it is making it a considerable inconvinience in not having the cleaner in a working condition for the house work plus I am getting it in the earache from the wife as well. My nearest Tesco store (where my wife works on checkout) is in Huddersfield.

Tesco's Wii on ebay?

Good morning Mr Leahy, I would like to make a complaint about your Tesco Llansamlet store. I have a disabled husband who has decided in the last couple of weeks, like so many others, that he would like a Nintendo Wii. He fully accepted that he may not get one for Christmas as he had not pre-ordered anywhere. Wanting to make it a nice Christmas for him, I decided that I would try wherever I could to get hold of one for him. One of those places was your store in Llansamlet.

I went to the Llansamlet store yesterday to enquire if they had any stock, only to be told they had just run out having had 28 in. I was advised that I could not reserve one should they come back into stock which I fully accept. The store policy is to announce over the tannoy that they have just had a delivery and they are sold on a first come first served basis. This I also fully accept.

I finished my shopping and proceeded to go to customer services after a mix up with my clubcard points on one of the self service tills. Whilst I was being served, a member of your staff proceed to talk over my shoulder to the gentleman serving me which, in itself is very rude. They were quite happily talking away about how Leon had put a Nintendo Wii away for her to buy when the delivery came in and how much they were going for on ebay.

This is where I have the problem. How is the general public supposed to be able to get hold of these sought after items if they are never going on sale. Was that member of staff actually buying that item for herself or to make a fortune ripping people off on ebay? How many of the allocation went to staff? Surely if it is a first come first served situation, that member of staff could not have come off the till or wherever she was to buy the item and therefore your staff are receiving preferential treatment.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Yours Sincerely,
Judith
cc: Tesco-Complaint(at)gmail.com

Tesco Value Bananas - Truth?

tesco dot complaint

Dear Sir Terry Leahy,
I have a major complaint about your online services. I personally think you need to have a major overhaul in your operations, as other companies such as Play.com and Amazon.co.uk offer much better services. Apart from my home shopping, other orders such as flowers or entertainments never get delivered or there is a major mess up. I’m now fed up with this and I would like some one to investigate my complaint.

Order number: No1

Placed Tuesday 21 November 2006, - Cancelled by Phone on 22 Nov, and about 3 more times after that date. I called you a number of times about this order and your staff informed it was cancelled and that you have not taken any money from my CC. So today I have checked and surprise, surprise you told me a fib. This is unacceptable, and far as I’m concerned the transaction is unauthorised. I have not even got the item and now have to wait until 17th December to see if it turns up before I get the £30.91 you have taken without my permission. Bloody marvellous…..

Order number: No 2

Placed Tuesday 21 November 2006, Never arrived, despite your system said it would be delivered within 24 hrs of the order. The lady tells me to wait 10 days, after you “alleged to dispatch the item on 30 Nov” Now it’s 13th December and my boy’s birthday was on 9th December and you guys have ruined it. I have phoned today and the lady was going to refund me the £9.11. I then said what about my £12 vouchers I used, do I lose them? God knows what she has done, either way you have let me down again.

Order number: No 3

Placed Wednesday 29 November 2006, 9:48pm. Cancelled on Friday 08 December 2006. I placed this order on 29th November, as you were a few pounds cheaper then play.com and your system said it would be delivered within 24 hrs of the order. What a lie, you gave me a story that your machine was “frozen”, and it’s now fixed and you will be in a queue and it will be sent out. It still was not sent out on 8th and my boy’s birthday was on 9th, so I cancelled it. But thanks for letting me down again.

Order number: No 4+5 - Flowers

I have ordered flowers on a number of occasions and I have had them stolen due to a certain driver leaving them on my doorstep, and the same driver is very rude to my wife. I now order my flowers elsewhere as Tesco’s or parcelforce are not interested in customer complaints.

I’ve had enough now and all Tesco Extra and Jersey shopping has caused me is misery and nothing but lies. If your system said it would be delivered within 24 hrs of the order, it’s not really true is it? It a trick to get more orders in and send them out when you’re ready! I would like you seriously to look in this complaint and if I do not have a satisfactory response from you within 7 days; otherwise I will take this up with trading standards.

I have never known a service as poor as Tesco’s. I’ve had rude customer services operators, and endless lies from the call staff. You have failed your core purpose to “create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty”. Your two key values: No-one tries harder for customers, and Treat people as we like to be treated is a joke. I would never treat a customer the way you have treated me.

AA

How very dare you!

I am just sick and tired of coming across, disinterested, rude arrogant staff in Tesco Stores. I went into my local store in Bury St Edmunds yesterday was looking at the newspaper stand, reading a few of the headlines deciding which one to purchase. A Tesco Staff member who was obviously busying himself stacking the top half of the stand with magazines, leant right across me as I was looking at the papers. I let the first rude gesture go but he did exactly the same again.

On the second occasion I said "excuse you" and he looked crossly at me and just said "what". I told him he had leant right across my personal space with out any regard to me or any other customer and he just muttered under his breath and turned away. I immediately went over to him and said how rude I thought he was and asked for his name. He just said Doug and stomped off.

I then went to find a Manager to complain relaying my concerns regarding this rude arrogant man. She assured me she would speak to him - I continued with my shopping went back to the Manager who gave me a pathetic excuse for his terrible behaviour. As I left the store, the chap just scowled at me. I will never ever go back to Tesco's as the customer service is just non-existent. I have shopped in Tesco's for the last 25 years and have obviously spent a great deal of cash in the stores but I will now go elsewhere. Also the quality of fruit and veg is also appalling - to match the appalling staff.

I don't suppose I will get any response but I have written my complaint never the less.

Brigitte Butcher

Every little helps the fraudsters (AGAIN!)

Following on from Tesco's previously reported assistance to credit card criminals as detailed here on Tesco-Complaint (see "Every Little Helps Credit Card Fraud?" and "Tesco self-scan tills open to card fraud"), Tesco has managed to find yet another way of helping criminals as reported in The Sun by consumer journalist Charles Rae:

THOUSANDS of Tesco customers have been left open to identity fraud after a horrifying security blunder. Store receipts listing FULL credit card details have been found scattered around a depot where they were taken to be destroyed.



In the hands of crooks, customers could be cheated out of millions of pounds — siphoned from bank and credit card accounts. Fraudsters could also use the details — including card numbers, expiry dates and authorisation codes — for shopping sprees on the internet and elsewhere. Amazingly, the receipts were taken to the depot in plastic Tesco carrier bags instead of secure containers.

Workers at the Christian Salvesen recycling depot left the bags in piles unattended or tossed them in skips where they burst open. One said: “I found hundreds of Tesco receipts holding sensitive customer information just blowing around the depot. Some even had signatures. “It put thousands of customers at risk. There is no security at the depot. Anyone could walk in, scoop up a few receipts and walk out. Confidential information is supposed to be put in locked cages and destroyed. “I’m worried people could use the details to set up credit cards and accounts in customers’ names.”

The source told how a driver at the depot in Snodland, Kent, complained to bosses about receipts everywhere — so a cleaner dumped them in a bin. The Sun was given a batch of receipts — in waste collected from some of Tesco’s 1,000 stores in Kent, Surrey, Essex and South East London. A security expert said: “Tesco could have given a crook all they need.” Campaigner Scamsdirect.com said: “It’s an awful lapse.”

Furious bosses at Tesco — whose slogan is Every Little Helps — have now tightened security. A spokesman said: “We have new procedures so it can’t happen again.”

Contact Tesco

It seems that it is rather difficult to find Tesco's contact details especially on Tesco's own website... Are Tesco trying to discourage contact with customers? We're sure Tesco would thank Tesco-Complaint for posting Tesco contact details here to make contacting Tesco that bit easier for their customers.

Perhaps you want to complain to Tesco or write to Tesco about the quality of their in-store or online customer service. Perhaps you want to contact Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco PLC? Perhaps you're simply searching for Tesco's complaints email? Either way it seems a lot of visitors to this site stumble here after a Google search for Tesco's contact details, telephone number, head office address or customer service email address. We'd like to make life easy for you so below are the best contact details we have on file for Tesco:

Tesco Head Office address:

Sir Terry Leahy
Tesco PLC
New Tesco House
Delamare Rd
Cheshunt EN8 9SL

Tesco Telephone numbers:

Tesco Freephone: 0800 50 55 55
Tesco Clubcard Freephone: 0800 591688
Tesco Switchboard: 01992 632222
Tesco Press Office: 01992 644 645
Tesco PLC Investor Relations: 01992 646484

Tesco CEO (Tesco Chief Executive) email address:

terry.leahy@uk.tesco.com
terry.leahy@tesco.com

Tesco Customer Service email address:

customer.service@tesco.co.uk

PUBLISH YOUR COMPLAINT ABOUT TESCO HERE BY EITHER:
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(2) Emailing us directly - click below:


We always recommend contacting Terry Leahy's office as opposed to Customer Services and we also encourage you to publish your complaint on Tesco-Complaint since doing so actually improves the chances of a successful resolution to your query (see here).

If anyone would like to add their own Tesco contact details please feel free to do so by adding your comment to this post using the "Leave Comments" link below.

Lights Go Out at Tesco...

On December 9th, I purchased a box of 200 Tesco white multi-function christmas tree lights at the Wrexham branch of Tesco. Before putting them onto the tree, I plugged them in to check that they were working. Only half of them lit up. I painstakingly checked every bulb but to no avail. As it was 21.45 on saturday evening, I re-boxed them as best I could and on sunday morning (10th December) I returned them to the store.

I was told to take another set, which I did. On arriving home, again I plugged them in only to find exactly the same problem. Dispite ill health, I returned to Tesco yet again. This time I decided to try a different type as these particular lights obviously have a fault. I picked up a box of 120 micro lights and two boxes of blue neon lights which were labelled as £4.95 for 40. I took them to the customer service desk where I was then told that they were actually £14.95 each and the £4.95 label referred to boxes of 20 pink fluffy lights that worked by battery.

The female member of staff at the desk was most unhelpful and spoke to me as if I was an annoying child. This is not the attitude I use when working with the public and it is certainly not the way I expect to be treated either. I returned the lights to the shelf and observed that a good half of them were stacked above the wrong price labels.

I also watched in disbelief as the box of faulty lights I had returned were put back on the shelf and were about to be purchased by another lady until I told her that I had just returned them.

What on earth are the staff at at Tesco playing at? I can assure you that as person in full time employment, I have better things to do with my time on a sunday morning than travel up and down to Tesco. I ask that you investigate this matter and I await your reply.

Julie Lloyd

Tesco's extreme poverty for extreme profit?

Workers in Bangladesh are regularly working 80 hours a week for just 5p an hour, in potential death trap factories, to produce cheap clothes for British consumers of Primark, Tesco and Asda’s ‘George’ range. The charity War on Want today issued these findings in a new report, Fashion Victims, based on research among employees at six Bangladeshi factories in the capital Dhaka which employ over 5,000 workers, mainly women, making clothes for the three bargain retailers. Meera Syal, star of the television series The Kumars at No 42, is supporting moves for regulation to bring these companies to account.

Primark, Tesco and Asda have all made public commitments to the payment of a living wage to suppliers – commonly calculated to be a minimum £22 a month in Bangladesh. Yet starting wages in the factories researched for War on Want’s report were as little as £8 a month, barely a third of the living wage. Even better paid sewing machine operators receive only £16 a month, which equates to 5p an hour for the 80 hours they regularly have to work each week. The minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh halved in real terms during the 1990s, and many complain their pay is too low to cover food, housing and health costs.

Primark, Tesco and Asda have also pledged that their suppliers must not be required to work more than 48 hours a week on a regular basis, and should have at least one day off in seven on average. But workers interviewed for War on Want’s report can toil up to 96 hours a week – double the supposed maximum – and often lose their day off. Factory owners have forced staff to work up to 140 hours a month overtime, often unpaid, or face dismissal.

Louise Richards, Chief Executive of War on Want, said: “Bargain retailers such as Primark, Asda and Tesco are only able to sell at rock bottom prices in the UK because women workers in Bangladesh are being exploited. The companies are not even living up to their own commitments towards their overseas suppliers.

Jonathan Church, a Tesco Spokesman, tells us that Tesco "deal with [supplier] problems when they find them." Lets see if Tesco turn a blind eye or sit up and act. In the meantime you may wish to think about the extreme poverty of those who make Tesco's clothes before you wander down the clothing aisle.

Tesco secret police are watching what you buy

Question: Why did Tesco try to spoil a charity event? Answer: Because they can

Today I went into the Tesco extra store at Trostre Park in Llanelli to purchase 50 boxes of mince pies (200 mince pies in total) together with tea, coffee, milk, sugar and squash to provide refreshments at a charity concert organised to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. There were plenty of mince pies on the shelves and I was not asking for any discount – I was just purchasing everything at the full retail price.

At the checkout, the cashier was good humoured and we laughed about the quantity of mince pies as I loaded up the conveyor. Clearly the cashier had no problem with processing my purchases. However, a manager approached me and stated ‘You cannot purchase all those mince pies. You will be depriving other customers.’ I explained that there were plenty left on the shelves. He would have none of it. He said that it was not company policy to sell in large quantities. I explained that they were for a charity concert taking place in a matter of hours, but he would have none of it. No matter how much pleading I did, I met with a ‘stone wall response’ from Tesco’s Gestapo manager, Mr Jobsworth (Its more than my job’s worth to……..) I had to leave my purchases and leave the store.

It was not as if I had cleared the shelves of all the mince pies! Neither was it that I was asking for a donation from Tesco or even asking for a discount. I was not!

Fortunately, although I wasted a lot of time, energy and even money by going to Tesco, another company saved the day. I telephoned the duty Manager at ASDA in Llanelli and was met with the response “They will be waiting for you ready boxed on the bakery counter in five minutes”.

All I can say is ‘What a difference in response!’

From Peter Morris in Llanelli

Tesco staff abused, Management don't care

I work nights for Tesco in a petrol station and have had loads of problems with local yobs (15-18 years old). I am locked in I am away form the store and on my own. One particular night the yobs came back despite being "banned" from the store and the garage (for damaging Tesco & customers property) and I ended up in tears, shaking & absolutely terrified as it was an hour or so before I was due to go home & I didn't know if they would be waiting for me.

I rang the duty manager for help explaining that I was terrified (by this point I was shaking so much I could hardly speak) he said he would come over, the police arrived at the same point as a lad from the shop floor saying the manager had sent him over to see if I was ok. I was fuming at the fact that the duty manager couldn't be bothered to come over and even the policeman was confused as to why a lad from shop floor had been sent over in his place.

On another occasion I was told not to push the panic button as it causes to much paperwork despite arguing with the same manager 3 times in one night about the level of verbal abuse & threats I was receiving from these yobs (the third time they came back he said he would call the police although I suspect this was to shut me up as 4 hours later they still hadn't turned up). This had now been going on for several weeks yet Tesco don't seem to be able to give me any support.

Tesco-Complaint on the March!

Tesco-Complaint is on target to become the number one destination for disgruntled Tesco Customers and Staff who wish to publicise their complaints. In our second month we have grown from just under 1000 visitors to almost 2500 and the page views have risen from under 2000 to over 6000. Our number of subscribers and returning visitors has also risen as has our ranking on Google. We are delighted with this and hope we will grow further in December. Please support the site by sharing our web address (tesco-complaint.blogspot.com) with your friends & family. Thank you for reading and contributing to the site :)

Tesco's "Think 21" policy needs a rethink!

I am a 27 year old teacher from Newcastle, who will be 28 in a few months. For the last four years I have shopped every week at the North Shields Tesco Extra branch, just off the Coast Road.

Several months ago I noticed your think 21 policy on alcohol sales. As a secondary school teacher I appreciate the need to be alert to under age drinks sales, it is hard to judge the age of some children. I visited the store on many occasions since the posters went on display, without being asked for any identification.

However, today I was asked for identification by the checkout assistant and was unable to provide it in the form requested. I have never been asked for this before, and clearly do not look 21 or under. I was even in my formal clothes, having come directly from work. I had a Newcastle Council pay slip which showed my job title as an Advanced Skills Teacher (equivalent to a Deputy Headteacher status). Obviously I must have graduated some time ago to be in this post. My trolley had a full weekly shop which included 4 bottles of beer and a bottle of wine.

I spoke to the manager who would not accept the pay slip as a form of identification. He would not directly answer my question when I asked if he thought I looked 21 or under. He was rather patronising and suggeset that I "take it as a compliment".

Today I left your store feeling humiliated and offended that I could not complete my shopping visit. I was most upset and drove home in tears. I wasted an hour of my time and had to visit my local Sainsbury branch, who did not ask for proof of age. Their staff are obviously able to judge the age of a customer.

It is unfair that adults who are clearly in their late 20's are refused service because of the subjective judgement of one member of staff. Have the checkout staff at this branch received any training and guidance on estimating a customers age? This is obviously an issue at the store. The checkout assistant commented that she asked lots of people, and that a lady earlier that day "had claimed to be 30". You will offend and loose many customers with this approach

I still have the problem that I have no acceptable form of identification that I can carry with me. My driving licence is a bulky old style paper issue which does not fit in my purse. I am not prepared to carry my passport with me at all times, in anticipation of an impromptu visit to one of your stores.

I do not wish to be embarrassed in this way again, so will not be shopping at your store. I will also alert my friends of a similar age to this, and suggest that they do the same.

Regards, Helen.

Tesco's Double Standards for Staff

I work at Tesco and was shocked to find that when I park in the carpark as a member of staff that I am treated differently to customers. On a very windy day my car had its back lights smashed in by a wind blown trolley, I filled the necessary forms in and someone came out to look at the car. Forms were sent off to Dundee from where I received a reply saying that they were not accountable. I wrote back and a second letter basically confirmed the first. I then spoke to the Regional Manager who looked into it for me and told me that it was Tesco’s policy to only pay out to customers. I had witnesses to the event and I know that customers who had the same problem on that particular day were paid out for damage to their cars by the store.

I can’t believe that this is right, there isn’t a staff car park so we have to park amongst customers, some of whom just abandon their trolleys anywhere. The particular trolley in question actually blew out of a trolley bay which should have had a raiser on the ground to stop this happening. Shortly after this they put these raisers in place but the trolley boys removed them as they said it hurt their backs pushing trolleys over them. Obviously a problem which still needs resolving. Think I’ll buy a tank!

Fed up employee of Tesco

You shop, we block your street (illegally)

Following on from this rather splendid picture of a huge Tesco truck blocking the High Street while parked illegally on a bus stop, we have just received a fresh set of pictures of a Tesco van blocking not one but two streets in Crouch End, London (Harold Street and Hillfield Avenue)! Please send in any more pictures of Tesco's excesses to:

Every Little Helps Credit Card Fraud?

I was thinking about this issue after Tesco failed to deliver my home delivery on Wednesday - a failed delivery which Tesco maintain was delivered! The issue I have is with the way they handle potential card fraud. If you ever use Tesco online to order groceries you will notice that Tesco never ask for your billing address. I realised this most recently when I used my card to pay via my housemates Tesco account.

Any responsible retailer online has security measures in place to prevent card fraud. I'm not talking about the encryption, but rather the level of information you have to enter about the card. Tesco asks for the name on card, the card number, the issue number, the expiry date, and the security code; all information present on the face of a card. If this transaction was in a High Street store there would be the added security of a signature check (or Chip and Pin). On the internet that's currently impossible. Which is why, all other online stores I know of will ask for the billing address for that card. In most cases it would be the same as the delivery address. But in my case it is different as I live away from home at uni halls.

I intially thought the whole billing address and delivery address was all just pointless data to enter until I entered the wrong details on another site. It refused my payment and flagged the card for fraud. Pretty drastic perhaps, but at least I knew it was there for security (and the bank did release the card once they rang me and I confirmed everything). Anyway, sorry about the diversion. My point is, Tesco online don't ask for billing address. There isn't that added security which I think is damn well required.

Consider the possibility someone found a credit or debit card on the floor (or how about someone who quickly notes the details off it say in a restaurant?). Consider they go out to try and use it. They can't go down the high street, they'll want a pin number. And you can't normally use it online because it'll ask for a billing address. Both the PIN number and billing address you wouldn't know. But, go onto Tesco.com and you can use it. You don't need to know anything other than the details that are on the card.

Now, my question is, what is the legal stance of this? Isn't this somewhat irresponsible of Tesco as a retailer. What do you think Trading Standards or whoever would say about this? Something like this could hit Tesco pretty hard I think. What's your take on all this?
I anticipate your response, JC.

TESCO-COMPLAINT EDIT: Thank you for highlighting this issue. It is not the first time that Tesco's lapse attitude to credit card security has been exposed - see our "news and links" section for this entry: "Tesco helps credit card theft" via self scan terminals without chip and pin.
Continued in the comments section...

Tesco-Complaint ready to sue Tesco for Misleading Price Indications

We here at Tesco-Complaint have had enough of Tesco's rampant misleading price indications and failure to consistently honour it's own "Refund & Retain" policy, particularly on higher value goods. The Tesco R&R policy is "In the ... event you are charged a higher price than on the shelf or the product we will refund your money and you can keep the product" but is purposefully ignored as reported on Tesco-Complaint by a Tesco whistleblower.

So it's time to act. We need to find someone who has purchased something from Tesco and has been refused a Refund & Retain on that item. You must:

1. have evidence (receipt, emails, letters, names, dates etc); and
   
2. it must be a clear case of a misleading price indication; and
   
3. you must be willing to allow the case to be written about.

By doing this we hope to force Tesco to act consistently with all their customers and apply their own policies fairly whilst at the same time providing our visitors with an example of how to litigate. For us to consider your case please email us at our gmail address:

Home NON delivery

Please find attached a Complaint in respect of your Home Delivery Service from your Peterborough Branch. I have also sent hard copies to the above recipents. Regards, Sally Duffen.

TESCO-COMPLAINT EDIT: Sally, Attachments only work to our gmail address as shown on the right. We're guessing Tesco didn't deliver. If you could send another email it will be posted here. Good luck!

ASA: Tesco Lies to Customers

The UK's Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has upheld a complaint made against Tesco Personal Finance, for a misleading TV advertisement that promised a 50% discount for consumers who bought a home policy online but failed to actually provide such a large discount.

In fact the discount was as little as 15% even though the advert implied that customers who enquired within the promotion period would receive a 50% discount compared to the price that would have been quoted prior to the beginning of the promotional period.

The ASA ruled that the ad breached rules relating to misleading advertising and accurate pricing, and has told Tesco Personal Finance that the ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

More at Brand Republic and Insurance Business Review and click our labels for more false advertising by Tesco.

Pensioners mugged in Tesco store!?

Pensioners were robbed of £350 pension money in the Pingle Road store on 15th November by a known offender in this store. These pensioners had almost completed their shopping when this happened.

The store manager let them go home with no shopping as although they had a Cheque book they had no card to go with cheque book! How heartless and unprofessional to let them go home without their shopping, especially when after being robbed they were trying to pay for the food they had struggled round the store to buy, unbelievable!

Today is the 18th November and they have had no contact from the store. Now for all Tesco knew they could have had no food in the cupboard, I think this is disgusting behaviour from Tesco. I spoke to customer services on the day this happened and we have heard nothing. I am about to ring the store again now!

TESCO-COMPLAINT EDIT: If you posted this complaint please post a comment to let us all know the UK town/city where this Tesco Store is.

Asda cheaper than Tesco - OFFICIAL

For the last eight years Asda has beaten all the other main supermarkets to be the cheapest according to industry magazine The Grocer. Tesco doesnt like this fact and so complained to the ASA that Asda was claiming to be Britain's lowest priced supermarket.

Why are Tesco always complaining about Asda anyway? Like was said before - it's time to roll back some justice - maybe Asda should start adding small text to TV campaigns saying

"Asda is cheaper than Tesco -The Grocer"

- that should get the point across without allowing Tesco to run to the ASA.

Rotten Tomatoes for Tesco CS

I recently complained to customer services in my local Tesco (Flitwick Bedfordshire) that I could not buy loose - unprepacked- tomatoes. I filled out a customer complaint form but was told that the complaint would stay "in Store" and that the reason they did not have loose tomatoes was that they had changed supplier and the supplier did not supply loose toms. "You can buy tomatoes on the vine" they said. "Not the point" said I. If this complaint stays in store how can the managers of Tesco know that there is another dissatisfied customer out there and try to do something about it. The assistant said she would pass the complaint on and eventually phoned me later that day to confirm she would.

Waitrose have recently opened a store in the next town -3 miles away. When reminded of this the supervisor said that I would be very lonely there as she had been in Waitrose the day before and there were only two people in the store. I suggested that shopping for me was not an exercise in social interchange but a need to buy goods. The staff at Waitrose are helpful well trained and very polite. I have no connection with Waitrose except as a customer who used to spend nearly £1000 a year in Tesco.

Misleading prices keep on coming...

I am a checkout operator at Tesco. After reading through a number of posts here about misleading Point Of Sale information being displayed on shelf edges and on products, I want to share some of my own experiences.


There is no coherent policy. The displayed 'Our Promise' sign is often blatantly contradicted by staff members of all levels, including senior managers. This has led to a number of checkout operators (myself included) never divulging ANY information to customers about whether they will get a refund, discount or whatever on an overcharge in case a manager blatantly contradicts us five minutes later.

Most of my colleagues have developed ways around this. For many 'Buy 2 for £2' and similar offers, the tills used to offer ways around this in case of automatic discounts failing to apply. However, being able to do this has been gradually taken away, and the checkout operator is only able to alter the price of a few 'price verified' items which are subject to 'price-flexing' (also borderline unlawful, and used to drive down competition), leaving the only solution to a failed automatic discount to be a full refund, which stores are not inclined to do.

Tesco's policy on overcharging backfires against itself, which is why so many stores are unwilling to rectify their mistakes. Having to go 'above and beyond' what the customer expects (in theory) has led to the policy of a full refund + keeping the product, but when this happens for expensive items it becomes less appealing than when it's for a £1.99 bag of salad. The reports I've read on this forum of such incidents where stores have refused to refund expensive items are truly appalling. It is about targets - stores are monitored on their individual profit and loss figures - but this doesn't make it right. The fact that you could be refused a refund one day, then go in the next day and speak to a different manager and then actually get a refund isn't right either.

It's also interesting to note that all my knowledge of the refund and overcharging process has been gained from experience. Neither I nor any of my colleagues have received formal training on correct, legal refund procedures. This only adds further to the stupidity of Tesco's refusing to honour their refund policy.

Tesco's Misleading Price Indications

Whilst reading the earlier post about Tesco overcharging and being guilty of misleading price indications contrary to the Consumer Protection Act 1987, I recalled an incident in Norfolk in September 2001 where Tesco complained to Trading Standards about Asda resulting in Asda being investigated and ending up in court with a hefty fine for misleading price indications. Read about that on BBC News.

It seems to me most ironic that today whilst Asda don't seem to have a problem with wrongly labelled prices, Tesco have a huge problem hence their refund and retain (R&R) policy. Isnt it ironic that whilst Asda have sorted out their misleading prices, it is Tesco who complained about Asda that are now facing problems. Report any misleading prices to Trading Standards who can see to it that hefty fines are imposed and if Asda are reading - perhaps it's time to roll back some justice?

Tesco-Complaint Logo

We're looking for a graphic logo to go across the top of the page. Can anyone help? Please email. Hope you like the new sidebar design :)

Does Terry Leahy Care about Customers?

Since Sir Terry took over as chief executive of Tesco eight years ago he has more than doubled profits and pulled in a record number of customers - but does he care about those customers? Nearly two months ago I emailed Sir Terry Leahy and was promised that he would respond to me personally by letter. A month later and emails go unanswered; he has clearly breached that promise. Here is the email promise as proof:

From: Tesco Customer Service [mailto:customer.service@tesco.co.uk]
Sent: 06 October 2006 19:09
To: [EDITED by Tesco-Complaint]
Subject: Tesco

Thank you for your e-mail addressed to our Chief Executive, Sir Terry Leahy. We are currently looking into this matter and I can assure you that Sir Terry will personally reply to you by letter once our investigations are complete. Thank you for your patience.

Kind Regards
Paul Welsh
Tesco Customer Service

So I ask the question in the title - does Terry Leahy care about Tesco customers? My experience is that Tesco breaks promises and so clearly Tesco and Terry dont care. If the CEO of Tesco doesnt care about his customers, why should any of their staff care about us?

TESCO-COMPLAINT EDIT: We have added a lovely picture of Sir Terry, apparently he stacks shelves one week per year but we cant seem to find a picture of that - keep your eyes peeled next time you're shopping for some baked beans and perhaps snap off a picture for us! Like you, we wont be holding our breath for Terry's shelf stacking picture...

Tesco-Complaint off to a good start!

Great news for this public Tesco complaint blog! Since we opened up on 6th October to take the complaints of Tesco customers and make them public we have had nearly 1000 visitors from all over the world and almost 2000 page impressions:
We even made it into the top ten search result in Google at number 6 (for Tesco Complaint) and that was after languishing in position 357 just a few days ago! Now that we are becoming more prominent on Google the visitors are really rising rapidly and this blog is certain to continue to grow from hereonin.

Please add your comments to posts and get involved; this blog is powered by YOU and is here to stay!

Richard Eisner
Editor
*Special thanks to Jean McKinlay, a Tesco Disservant, who is the inspiration for this blog. Keep down the bad "work" Jean...

Tesco Express blocks the high street...

The Tesco Express on England's Lane in NW3 Belsize Park should never have been granted planning permission. It sits on a small street with a number of old (and very good) local shops which are now seriously feeling the strain - thankfully the very good butchers next door is still open, but one wonders how long it will last.

However, this is not the reason for my complaint - my problem with this Tesco store is that they have nowhere to park their lorries except directly outside on a double yellow line within 20 yards of a zebra crossing and close to a T-junction. Every day, at least once a day, they purposely illegally park the lorry on the corner and seem oblivious to the resulting choas and danger to pedestrians and other road users. A £50 fine for the parking ticket that is always issued is I guess a small price to pay for Tesco. I fear that it is only a matter of time before this delivery routine causes a serious accident.

Why is it that Camden council didn't ask Tesco how they planned to make deliveries when they waved their planning application through without a second thought?

TESCO-COMPLAINT EDIT: You should somehow force tesco to use a smaller delivery vehicle just as this man did using the simple weapons of a chair and a cup of tea! You might want to log your comment here as well.

Tesco's Cruelty to (Pet) Fish

My attention to the following product was raised by members of a forum I visit, and although it isn’t intended for saltwater use I was so disgusted by this product I though I would feature it and the campaign for Tesco to remove it from their shelves.

The first thing that struck me was how utterly tacky and unpleasant the thing is. I know it is our aim to replicate the natural habitat of any species we keep in aquariums, this items not only makes no attempt to achieve this, but looks pretty horrible too.

The item description recommends the tank for Guppies & Tetras, both tropical fish, yet there is no heater or filter supplied with the tank. As for keeping goldfish in here - forget it. They require 10-20g of water per fish.

The final great piece of advice for this is; “Tank rinses off & refills under the tap” So no mention that chlorine, chloramines and numerous other chemical additions to tap water, which are added to make it safe to drink, will kill fish? Or any mention of water treatments that can be used to make tap water safe for fish?

I feel Tesco have been incredibly short sighted in stocking this product, and by doing so are condemning thousands of fish to an unpleasant demise. I am sure Tesco are a responsible retailer and when they learn of the public feeling towards this product and its unsuitability for fish of any sort, they will remove it from sale immediately.

I urge you to email Tesco to reiterate what has been said above, if enough of us do so I’m sure they will do the right thing, as we all know “Every little helps!” customer.service@tesco.co.uk.

Even easier - just click on the "email post" picture link below and send this article to 'terry.leahy@tesco.com' to show your disdain for Tesco's animal cruelty.

Customer Disservice - A Tesco Standard?

I got so irritated by the queues and unmanned tills at the Elephant and Castle Tesco Metro that I wrote to complain and received a bland, form response. So I wrote back:

You say your 'aim is to have no more than three other customers waiting in front of you at any one time'. I reiterate that the Elephant & Castle branch of Tesco Metro consistently fails to meet this aim. No doubt this is because most of the staff are off sick most of the time. I imagine Tescos is a pretty sickening environment to work in and that alarm that goes off every couple of minutes @ the Elephant is especially enervating. I would like to spend as little time in the place as possible and that is why I would prefer not to have to queue for ages at the checkout.

A couple of weeks later, I had another go:

I recently wrote to complain about the queues at the Elephant and Castle branch of Tesco and received a bland response about your corporate target of not having more than three customers queuing at at till. As I pointed out in a subsequent e-mail, the Elephant and Castle consistently fails to meet this target. I've just been there and, just after nine o'clock in the morning, only a couple of tills were open and there were queues of at least two dozen people at each. It's not as if they were short of staff, either, as herds of them were restocking shelves and standing around in little groups with their arms folded, chatting. Happily, this enervating circumstance did not detain me as I merely dumped my basket and left. I'll go to Somerfield on Walworth Road later, but thought I would take a few more minutes, from the kindness of my heart to remind you how appalling your store @ the Elephant is. Roll on the demolition!

And I received the same insincere corporate response:

I am sorry to learn of the problems experienced with delays at the checkout in our Elephant Castle Metro store. I can understand how inconvenient this was for you. Our aim is to have no more than three other customers waiting in front of you at any one time unless, of course, all checkouts are open. To ensure this, the queue lengths are monitored regularly and the information is used to compile schedules to make sure that there is an adequate number of staff on duty. Our staff are multi-skilled, in case the need should arise for extra cover on the checkouts. We have also installed a paging system, to keep management informed of the situation at all times. Despite these efforts, there are occasions when the '3 in front' standard cannot be achieved, i.e. when there are staff shortages due to illness. I can assure you that all of our stores try exceptionally hard to serve customers as quickly as possible. Thank you for bringing your views to our attention. We will bear your comments in mind when we next review this policy.

Yeah. Right. Bollocks!

Every Tescos Little Help?

I visited Tesco at Clifton Moor, York on Thursday 25th October 2006 at around 9.20am to do my weekly shopping, other to my normal weekly shopping I hope to purchase a computer printer as well. I visited the area where the printers were shelved, (as I am in my sixties and not that clued up on these items), I look for a member of staff to help me with my queries regarding the printer, iImanaged to find an elderly assistant, whom stated he knew about books but not anything to do with computers and suggested I go to a service desk/point, this I did.

On arrival at the desk, an elderly lady in a Tesco red top was ticketing some items, and totally ignored my standing at the desk (even though she knew I was there, maybe she hope I would go away), I asked her if she could help with my queries about printers, she stated no, and that the only person who could was on holiday and would not be back until next week, however she asked a staff member if she could assist, which she did in the way that if I did not want what was written on the printer container, she could not help, being quite abrupt due to being disturbed from what she was doing.

I noticed two female members of staff quite near me wearing different uniforms, I asked them if they were management, they said yes, (good I thought I will get help now) I asked them if they could assist me with my queries, one with blond hair and wearing a various coloured top stated that she could not help, and that they were short staffed due to the half term holidays, and that they do not employ any one person just to advise about electrical good, and that if I required to know more about printers I should go to Curries or the like, I stated that if they were selling such items surely they should have some staff trained up on these items, she stated - no we don't do that, this is why we are cheaper than other and is a way of cutting the prices!!

With this they both walked off, then the lady with the red top said to me that this is why the printers are one hundred and fifty pound cheaper than others, this is why we (meaning Tesco) save you money, and that if they issued customers with information about the products the price would have to go up. I gave up my quest fora new printer in that store and took the Tesco management advice and went to a Competitor of Tesco's where I got help and managed to purchase a printer. It is my opinion as a businessman myself that the Tesco Store at Clifton Moor, York lacks customer service training and politeness.

Mel Fox.