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Tesco direct: Double stress points with your sofa

On 26/09/09 I ordered a sofa from Tesco direct for £398 on a buy one get one free basis. Tesco confirmed my order and I was told of a delivery date for the 30/09/09.

The delivery turned up on time, and this is where the nightmare begins. The sofas ordered were advertised as self assembly, as one was for a narrowboat this was ideal, as I was getting one free, I decided to donate it to a nursing home where my wife works. So, on the day of delivery, I dismantled the furniture from the narrowboat that we live on, and disposed of it. When the delivery arrived there were 2 sofas, one in brown NOT self assembly, so would not fit into our boat, the other was a three seater in cream!

I complained via phone to Tesco direct and they are giving me a refund. Not being a happy bunny, I went to my local Tesco store, which had re opened following refurbishment 2 weeks ago. They did not wish to know and said that they were not part of tesco direct, to which I pointed out that they were the same company, and it was in the Lichfield store that the catologue had been handed to me - still no joy, but I was told to drive to a direct store 15 miles away!

To say i am disgusted with their service is an understatement. I have informed them that I will never buy another item from them or their related company in my lifetime, I also informed them that I have every sympathy with the fellow that drove his Rolls Royce through one of their stores in sheer frustration.

I send this email, sitting on a deck chair in my boat. My wife is in tears, and I am fuming with anger.

What can be done to stop this company from treating customers in such a shoddy fashion? - I wish I owned a Rolls Royce because I know exactly what I would like to do right now!

Martin Lewis

GTA 4 HITS TESCO STORES!

Good Morning Sir Terry,

Some background information on me - I am a disabled person with both physical and mental health issues. I do not like crowds, suffer paranoia and struggle to stand/walk for long after fracturing my back some years ago.

I have just returned from your Fforestfach, Swansea store, where I was assaulted, because of your poor handling of the release of Grand Theft Auto for the Playstation 3 and X-Box 360. I decided too late that I would like GTA and was unable to pre-order a copy from the usual games retailers. Knowing that Tesco sells games and is often competitive on price, my Wife phoned the store yesterday evening to check they were going to have stock. We were told that they had plenty, there was no need to queue early but they could not confirm the price.

11.35 arrived and we set off for the store. We arrived approximately
12 minutes later and entered the store, heading immediately for the games aisle. I didn't see the point of getting the electric buggy as usual as I wouldn't be doing a lot of walking. There was a queue already formed but, it didn't seem too large so we joined it. At this point I commented to my Wife that we may not get a copy but as it was approaching midnight, we may as well wait. On or just after midnight, the queue rapidly moved forward. It soon became apparent that instead of placing the games on the shelves, they were going to be sold from the customer services desk. I walked as quickly as possible and soon became embroiled in a scrum of people to get a game. This was an extremely difficult thing for me to do because of the amount of people and their close proximity to me. There were several people that were pushing in and forcing their way through to the front. I stood my ground despite being jostled and pushed back and forth putting pressure on my back. Suddenly out of nowhere, I was punched or elbowed in the ribs. I stood there for a moment afraid of what to do and then, enraged, I left the queue to complain to the security guard.

I explained to the security guard what had just happened and I now apologise for my use of language towards him. You have to remember that I had just been hit and was quite upset to say the least. I asked him who was responsible for the situation. He advised it was the problem of the Duty Manager and duly went to make a call for him. The Duty Manager some moments later meandered up to me. I explained what had happened yet again, still quite shaken by the whole thing. He informed me that it wasn't his fault but that of the Store Manager for choosing the method of sale. Now, I am not stupid, I realise that having dozens of gamers wandering around with their copy of GTA could pose a security risk but, the organisation was a big problem. I reiterated this point to the Duty Manager who spoke to a colleague on the security desk and wandered off to check the CCTV footage. Some time passed whereupon he meandered back to me with his hands in his pockets head bowed. He duly asked what I expected turning up when I did quoting the time on the CCTV. He said there were people in front of me who deserved to get their copy first.He implied that I had not queued and was trying to get a copy by dubious methods. I again reiterated that it was not about actually getting a copy anymore but about being assaulted. I had given up on getting a copy as they had run out of PS3 copies whilst he was reviewing things. There were people in the original queue behind me, that actually managed to avoid being assaulted, and stay in the scrum, who received a copy of the PS3 version. At this point, we left.

The whole management of the release was poor. Had a book of raffles tickets been booked out, they could have been handed out to waiting customers. Had the customers been informed by the staff they were queuing in the wrong place, the scrum could have been avoided. Had the security guards who were chatting the whole while with some friends bothered to do their jobs, they could have monitored the situation and prevent it being the bun fight it was. Especially as their desk is a matter of feet from the customer services desk.

Had your Duty Manager given a damn about what I was saying, I may not be writing this now. His attitude was slovenly, disbelieving and rude.

I know GTA is a violent game but I didn't realise actually buying it would affect my health.

I look forward to your comments Sir Terry.

Steve Birkett

Tesco's Wholemeal Beard - Fancy a slice?

I am writing with regards to a loaf of Thick sliced Wholemeal Kingsmill Bread I purchased from Tesco in Leyton E10 on 23rd April 2008.

As I opened the loaf I was horrified to find several strands of hair approximately 6 inches in length embedded in the slices. There is no possibility this hair could have been mine as I had just broken the seal. Not only did this deprive me of my breakfast but also prevented me from making my sandwiches for lunch, thus this inconvenience left me with no choice other then to buy lunch from outside.

I have now lost faith in purchasing any of your products and this incident has now put me off eating bread so far to the point that I am now considering only eating bread that I bake at home myself.

I am very disappointed in the breach in the quality assurance of the manufacturing process of this product and have now lost faith in your company, because as a consumer I trusted that your product would have been fit for its purpose. This has also lead me to believe there could easily be other possible more serious contamination. I would not wish any other consumers to experience what I have been through i.e. having strands of hair wrapped around their fingers.

I have retained my receipt and will now be contacting Tesco for a full refund and will also be notifying the local food standards authority.

Tesco's "Complete Mess" Delivery Service

I have emailed the letter below to online@tesco.co.uk and terry.leahy@uk.tesco.com after a really distressing experience this evening.

I placed the above online grocery order and arranged delivery for 28th March 2008 between 9-11pm. The driver arrived at 9.10pm approx and straight away i noticed that my order was not 'in carrier bags' as requested. Furthermore the order contained 2 items of dog food, one bag of dried dog food plus six tins of dog food - i do not have a dog. It also contained a packet of 6 snow ball cakes, which i had also not ordered. There was only one '21 pack' of walkers crisps - i had ordered 2, and to be honest this was the final straw. Myself and the driver began to 'tick' items off on the receipt but it became clear that the order was a complete mess, the driver said it would look badly on him as he was limited to time spent at each address so i asked him to take the order back. He advised me to telephone customer services to re-arrange the slot which i did soon after. I explained the issues to the operator and they arranged re-delivery for the following day - 24 hours after my original order. I also explained that i do my shopping online as i am disabled and have a young child at home, and we now have no food. The operator apologised - i also pointed out that as my delivery was completely messed up through NO fault of my own i objected to paying delivery charges, he said 'Tesco delivered your shopping - you sent it back!' - is this what you call customer service?? My order was totally incorrect, packaged incorrectly and now i'm told its my fault and expected to pay for an inferior service. The call ended.
I then went to log into my Tesco account to check the change of delivery time, to my surprise the total amount of my shopping had increased by almost £20! Again i telephoned customer services only to be told that as the 'home delivery team' worked short hours there was no-one available to find out the reason. I requested that the order be cancelled completely.
Now this leaves me with not only no shopping but no further funds to do my shopping elsewhere as the funds have been debited from my debit card and upon speaking to customer services for a third time i am advised that it can take up to 5 days for a refund. I really cannot believe that i could be left in such a complete and utter mess and no offer to rectify the situation. None of this is my fault and i will certainly think twice before using Tesco again - which is a real shame as i have used Tesco for almost 12 months now - but i suppose my business hardly makes a difference.
I just hope someone in a similar situation to myself may not have to experience anything like this, i will be sending a copy of this email to Watchdog and Motability Magazine as i think you're customer service is non existent.
I would like to continue shopping with Tesco but do not feel confident my custom is valued or that you are able to provide a basic delivery service.
I hope you are able to get to the bottom of these problems and look forward to speaking to someone in authority who is able to take ownership of this and bring it to a mutually acceptable conclusion.

Yours Faithfully
Mrs Diane Dawson

More Easy Less Fresh!

I know a Fresh & Easy driver in the US with the same problem in regards to the Tesco not washing out the trailers prior to reloading. Tesco is opening new stores under the name Fresh and Easy all over the Phoenix Arizona and metropolitan area and they seem to be using the same bad habits as far as not washing the trailers after each delivery and pickup (usually plastic containers, bread racks and cardboard. They haven't encountered the same hideous conditions as the European drivers (as yet) but they seem to be following their practice of not washing dirty trailers.

Tesco's FUCK YOU to customer!

A fortnight ago Tesco’s delivered my weekly shop, 20 minutes late as usual and with a list as long as my arm of substitutions that made no sense. I’d ordered my shopping “bagless” as per their new green initiative. So the delivery guy showed up with his crates which he dumped on the floor and stood their while I grappled around on the floor emptying the things into my doorway.

I decided to mention that he was 15 minutes late (knowing that some supermarkets offer a voucher for your next shopping if their late, but only if you point it out), to which the driver responded angrily saying he wasn’t. I assured him that it was in fact 15 minutes past 12 and my slot was between 10-12am. I then asked him politely to note that some of the substitutions I did not want were not even there. He told me there was nothing he could do. I asked him to note that I’d ordered Fairy liquid, and they’d sent me Tesco’s. Nothing he could do, he said, grunting. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind moving one of the empty crates so I could get at the last of my shopping, and the man blew up in my face!

“How dare I speak to him like that” he said. I didn’t consider that he might have been stuck in traffic, did I? He asked. No I said, because that’s what I pay HIM to do. He started yelling at me. He stepped into my doorway and started waving his hands about. I couldn’t shut my door on him because it was stuck open by my all the shopping on the doorstep. I thought he was going to smack me. He eventually grabbed the remaining stuff and crates and stormed off, yelling “f*** you” as he left.

I called to complain, naturally. Two weeks later they’ve offered me a £10 Tesco online voucher. Needless to say, I won’t be accepting their insult of an apology.

Sarah

NO% more shopping hours as Tesco Lie AGAIN?

Tesco has been advertising on tv, in the press, and in my local metro store (corner shop) that some of their big “Extra” stores will be open from 1 minute past midnight today. What a great idea - do the Christmas food shopping without the crowds. (The opening times are here).

So I and about 60 people turned up at the ISLEWORTH EXTRA and guess what ?

The security guard looked a bit confused and slightly nervous. He stated that there was no-one in the store, and it would not be opening until 10AM. He advised we try the nearest Extra store at Osterley. And guess what?

There wasn’t even a securituy guard there.

So all my Christmas food and booze shopping will be done at Sainsbury’s – this year and every year from now on.

Every little helps – my arse.

Dare You Feed Baby Tesco Yoghurts?

I was looking for the address of Tesco's head office on the Internet and thought that this may also be something which you could post on your blog.

I visited the Oystermouth Swansea store on the 5th December to buy some Petits Filous yoghurts for my 9 month old daughter. When I picked up the yoghurt pack it was dated 22nd November. All other yoghurts items on the shelf were also 2 weeks out of date. Presumably people had been buying these out of date yoghurts. These are popular first yoghurts for babies and new mothers buy them because they presume they are healthy for their children but it could have made a baby really sick. I went to the customer service desk to inform the attendant who wrote ‘Petits Filous’ on a scrap of paper . I have no idea if these yoghurts were ever removed from the shelf.

Unfortunately, when I mentioned this to other mothers they also commented that it wasn’t the first time and that they had regularly seen items several weeks past the use by dates still on the shelves. This has now put me off continuing to shop at Tesco and I feel so strongly about the harm this could do to young babies that I will go to any length to make others aware of the poor quality and stock control mechanisms operating at Tesco.

Tesco Still Don't Like Disabled People?

hi just felt i had to put my case on this site, i'm disabled i have cerabal palsey which has left me with muscle spasms in my back weak muscles in my legs and mobility problems. i started working for tesco in 1994 as checkout worker with the help of remply,ive had various time off with my back spasms and being unwell and have suffered the consequenses of the disapliarey process on a number of occasions ,in the last year i have had two stomach infections (one day each time ) then in july had to be rushed to hospital with burst appendix had 6 weeks off recovering,this was delt with under sya with just a welcome back and put down to mitigating so that was fine,last month had three days off with flu went back for one shift then pulled muscle in back worked another shift in pain then back got worse went docs got sick notes had four weeks off in total.now i thought my back compaint was always covered by the DDA (disability rights) had an ari meeting last night got told it wasnt covered ,although every other time was and because i had had two verble warnings in this year although expired my warning this time was excellerated straight to a first writen warning .i protested my case with them but they wernt intrested they read warning out asked me to sign it i refused then my blood boiled over and i walked out and came home.i feel victimised bullied and totaly frustrated their system stinks.

Tesco's Cheapside Manager Alan is an Ape!

I bought some Bahlsen biscuits marked on special earlier this week and noticed that the till price was £ 1.03 compared to the £ 0.79 on the shelf. I noticed while doing a self-service check out that the price was wrong and a member of staff corrected the price back to what it should be. Today I thought I would see if they had bothered to fix the error and bought the biscuits again but sure enough the price still came up at £ 1.03 in the check-out despite the shelf price still being £ 0.79.
I insisted on seeing the manager (Alan in the Cheapside Branch in London) who acted in a surly manner and just shoved the £ 0.24 owing and my receipt at me. He was upset because he thought I should have just called another checkout supervisor and had them correct the price while I was checking out. When I explained that it wasn’t my job to correct their prices when I have already told them that they are wrong and said I should have been given an apology for this attempt to rip me off, he got surly and told me “there is a Marks and Spencers nearby – go there in future”. When I said I would report him he then started telling me not to come back to the store and was yelling at me as I left the store.
Clearly staff training is a low priority at Tesco as is correcting “mistaken” prices – especially given that the new price-correction only policy now makes it a very lucrative business.

Tesco destroy all humans!

Whilst looking for an official e-mail to complain to Tesco (think I'll have to write to them as no e-mail was forthcoming) I stumbled across this site. A whole site dedicated to grumbling about Tesco. Fantastic.

Anyhow at my local store in Kentish town they are replacing the nice friendly (mostly) staff with those self service machines. Fair enough in a large store its good to have the option of fast tracking through self service- but in a tiny express store? And to have no choice is ridculous. Staff are gloomy at the prospect of loosing their jobs and it is hard to use your own bags with the machines.... I don't want a carrier bag i want to use my own bag. I dont' care about so-called green club card points... just reducing waste and helping the environment! Grumble grumble.

I am boycotting them now, I know it won't make a feck of a differnce but damn does it make me feel better.

Whew, rant over.

Tesco please refund what is rightfully mine!

I ordered a dishwasher for my sister who lives in Andover England as a gift. (I live in the U.S.A..) The order # was 05426139. The dishwasher was supposed to have been installed and it was not. I had paid the extra 20 or so pounds for the installation. The people that delivered the washer informed my sister (who is 53 years of age and has no plumbing expertise whatsoever) that the pipe they had was not long enough. Then the same people told her that if she "had any problems to call them." My sister called and was politely informed that "if the pipe was too short they would not have been able to install the item." I do not believe when the 20 pounds was taken from my credit card that it said anything about, we can install, only if the pipe is long enough? I had intended the dishwasher to be a gift not an added expense. I had also intended to replace her stove and refrigerator one at a time. The dishwasher was delivered on the 16th of October and finally my sister was able to get enough money together to pay someone to come to her house and install the dishwasher November 2nd. I have emailed and called and up to this point received one response that says "we promise to be back in touch as soon as possible." That was dated 10/26/2007.
I am very disappointed in the lack of / slow response to both my sister and myself up until this time. I want to be refunded the amount that was taken from my credit card under false pretenses.
I am very unhappy with the whole situation. Tesco ruined the surprise that I had for my sister, then went on to ruin my perception of what I believed was a reputable company who really did care about their customers and customer service.
Again please refund that which is rightfully mine.
Yours Sincerely, Erika Culliford.

Tesco Nightworkers Depressed

Ive been working for Tesco for about 5 years pretty much. Market Deeping (2875) store. I work at nights with a few others and feel very very depressed. Because from what we see is that the whole store is relying on us all the time. And when something fails its all our fault. Yet things could be sorted out in the day if they work around things better instead of relying on us 100%. Cause the grocery department workers mainly at night. And about 4 in the day.

And to make it even more stupid. Our store manager apparently came up with this idea letting us have christmas eve off if we work Boxing day this year. Now that be taking the biscuit far as i'm concerned. Its a national holiday. So it aint gonna happen no matter what.

But the main thing that is really upsetting me the most is, The constant relying on me. Just cause i know a fair bit of the shopfloor and stuff. Doesn't mean i should be a Jack of all trades compared to the other G.A's. Everyone should be treated the same. And i do hate the constant asking on how im getting on and which gives me the feeling they need an extra body somewhere else every 5 seconds. Or i aint going fast enough for them.

And last off all. Ever since the nights have been going. We dont get the great food benefits compared to the days. All we got is Sweets and rock hard sandwichs in the vendor machines. Bit unfair dont you think.

Alex

Tesco internet service pay as you (dont) go!

I had a Tesco Anytime Internet package which i tried to switch to pay as you go as i obtained a broadband package with another ISP. The Tesco screens went through and switched my package to pay as you go but then did not load the browser for me to use pay as you go. I didn't worry about it as didn't really need to use pay as you go.

I then emailed Tesco.net to resolve this and emails went back and forth giving mixed information. In the end i was told i would have to phone in.

Imagine my shock when my credit card was billed the following month. I tried to cancel it again online and it went through the motions and then did an error message about pay as you go. Then i was billed again for another months usage!

I phoned the number they suggested at Tesco.net and they cancelled my package and said if a refund was due it would be applied to my credit card.

To date this has not happened despite several calls to Tesco.net and two conversations with a Manager. He agreed i should not have to pay for the service if i had not used it. i asked him to check their records to see if i had used the net via Tesco since i switched to broadband.

No refund or contact has been received since. i have stopped shopping at Tesco's as i have decided to vote with my pocket.

Thank you for a great site.

Tesco won't even give water to staff?

I worked part time at Tesco whilst I was at uni. the staff are lovely but the managers are awful. I’m not sure what it is that makes them think they are better than the general assistants, I was there finishing off my PhD yet was treated like I was educated to 11+ standard. The attitude towards the staff really put them on a downer, especially when they put them on a disciplinary for having days off sick, yes, that’s right, if your ill then you get in trouble. They also flaunt human rights, telling staff they are not allowed to have a bottle of water with them on the tills which is a direct violation of the ‘portable water’ that all staff are entitled to have. All in all they make a lot of money because that’s their motivation, they are not concerned about staff welfare and flaunt human rights and safety laws where possible. it’s a disgrace.
Sincerely
Anna Stapleton

Dem Tesco man be racist... (but me not)

My self and a friend (work-colleague), both of us of British -African/Caribbean origin. Were in the Tesco Metro store on Kingsland road North London, weds 8th aug, approx 5.50 pm. We are regulars to the store, especially as my friend has his own business situated around the corner, to the Tesco. To our annoyance, we found that the security guard (Indian) took it upon himself to follow us around the store. As if to say, 'I'll follow these two black guys, they look like thieves'. He was a bit too blatant, as he tried to make out that he was moving around shopping baskets. Me and my friend noticed what the security guard was doing and decided to complain to a manager. The manager of the store was eventually found. I took him round to face the security guard. Then we made known our grievance. The manager seemed to find the whole episode quite amusing-(he was grinning from ear to ear.) I let him know that I didn't find this incident amusing, but rather offensive. The manager explained that the security guard was 'just doing his job'. (Tesco's must have a racist policy then, of instructing their security to tail only, people of colour!) The security guard at this point told me to, 'Shut up!' Then the manager stepped between us, as if to keep the peace. As I mentioned my work colleague owns his own business around the corner. I myself am a freelance -writer. (We are NOT thieves and are fed up of being treated as such @ your store.) We have enough funds between us to go to court if needs be! We therefore want a written apology from BOTH the security guard and the store manager. We will be notifying the CRE and I may well document my 'TESCO experience' in some way using online media...(If the Indian security guard knew his history, he would know that Africans inhabited 'India' which means 'black', a long time before the people living there now, they come from African blood.)

Charlie Bins
mob: 07949 99 88 23

Update: I've not had a reply to my email to Tesco. (The whole thing has started a furious debate online within the African community.) I and my work colleague have stopped our custom at all Tesco stores. If you aobserve Tues London Lite 14 aug page 4. You will see that the Met Police have stats to show that foreigners commit 20% of all London crime. TOP of the list are the POLISH!!!

Tesco's Fresh Prawns are FROZEN?!

I love my prawns!!!! However, visiting my local TESCO store in Montrose on Thursday 16th August, I was about to put my TESCO Jumbo (fresh) prawns in my basket, but noticed they were in fact FROZEN!! Label clearly states that the product can be frozen at home - dilemma! Are they fresh or frozen - can they be refrozen at home??

I managed to (finally) attract the attention of one of the two assistants standing immediately behind me - busy talking to friends (customers?) - though it took a few attempts! I explained my dilemma about "fresh", "frozen", health hazzards, etc. After around 6-7 minutes, they called "Chris" (presumably the person in charge?) who, VERY reluctantly shook the packages about, mulled over the situation (I'm still waiting for a decision) and, even more reluctantly, took the few remaining packets of prawns away (I think?) muttering something about "contacting the supplier"!

So, I left for home (minus my dinner) in the hope that I'd perhaps saved a few other unsuspecting shoppers from possible food poisoning?! Today (Friday 17th August) visited the TESCO store in nearby Forfar - guess what? Same "fresh" prawns - FROZEN! Unfortunately, I was in a rush, and couldn't find a nearby assistant to help - needless to say, I didn't buy the product - no dinner again!

This is a disaster waiting to happen - my biggest issue is (apart from the obvious health implications) that there were only a few items left on the shelf by the time I discovered this - how many people didn't actually detect this before purchase/consumption??

I, personally, am a long standing, faithful TESCO customer, however, I now have very serious doubts about the food standards - too many incidents recently in the media regarding health issues for my liking!!

TESCO, please do something about this - someone could end up VERY sick and, unfortunately, your staff appear blissfully unconcerned....

A VERY concerned customer. Vicki P viccatpat@yahoo.co.uk

Do not touch my BOX!!

Not so much a complaint about the companies ethos as the sheer rudeness of one of their staff. I visited their store in Fulbourn, Cambridge, this afternoon.

I had a look around the wine section and found a number of offers to tempt me. I selected half a dozen bottles and then looked around for a box to put them in. The Tescos employee in charge of the wine section was emptying half cases of wine in order to make an end of aisle display so I asked him if I could have one of the empty boxes; he refused! In a very abrupt tone he told me I would have to use the flimsy card carriers they provide instead. He then appeared to make a point of tearing up the box he had just emptied.

Half way along the aisle was one of their rubbish cages with a *complete* empty box beside it, so I picked it up and went to put my bottles in it. No sooner had I picked it up than I noticed the employee was bearing down on me! He shouted that "THERE IS ALWAYS ONE" at me in an aggressive manner and just stood there glaring at me.

At this point I tried to politely explain that I don't like using their carriers as I find them too flimsy. Indeed this same employee had had to fetch a mop the last time I used one as the bottom gave way mid way to the till and all 6 bottles shattered on the floor. Evidentially his memory isn't that hot. Was there really a heinous crime in me using an empty cardboard box that had been consigned to the rubbish pile?

Apparently so. He stormed off again muttering at me.

Thanks Tesco, there's nothing like sheer rudeness and public embarrassment to make me go to Sainsburys.

Tesco not kosher...

Today my wife was humiliated at Tesco Hurst Park West Molesey Surrey.

Due to staff neclect the security tag was not removed from a£3.96 hand mixer. She was detained at the door when the alarm sounded.

We are well known in the area and people who know her are witness to this. It was very embarrising for my wife.

We were not offered any compensation for there mistake.

We have had on two occassions fish and chicken that was off and if eaten would have cauesed harm.

The nice Jewish couple who started Tesco would not have approved. Sorry Tessi Cohen.

Shezian Morris