Topic: TESCO - I'm fuming!

[Tora]

I've never been a big Tesco fan but this one really got to me. I need to vent!

I sent my OH to buy a tub of double cream yesterday and he came back with wrong one (the smallest tub and I needed bigger one). So he went back to Tesco for me today to return it (I went with him but I was shopping while he was at the customer service).

Then what happened was they refused to give him a refund saying "Chilled items must be returned within 20 minutes of purchase"! Nowhere in the shop does it say "Chilled items must be returned within 20 minutes of purchase". And the cream was in the fridge and never left in a warm place before he took it to Tesco (and our place is only several minutes from Tesco) but they said "We cannnot trust you". OH says "Feel the tub then, it's cold".  They say "It doesn't mean anything". They went on arguing apparently for ages and the staff said "You should have phoned us yesterday when you got home" - how were we supposed to know that??? In the end, they said "OK, we'll make an exeption and give you the refund but the cream will be chucked away. You know now what happens if you do this!" ::). Obviously OH didn't want to waste the cream so he brought it back. The staff (several women) at Tesco was laughing at him too. >:(

I just cannot believe how they treat customers these days. They used to be brilliant several years ago but have gone down hill recently. ASDA has no problem taking things back and give me a refund...

I'm not shopping at TESCO anymore! I think they are disgusting...

[Suzanne]

Looks like they went to wrong customer service training course - "How not to keep customers happy"!

[asbean]

I was kept waiting at the enquiry desk at Sainsburys the other week, and spent an interesting 10 minutes snooping at their paper work.  They have an observation sheet for the checkouts - it's a page of A4, with a list of things like did they set the roller going immediately, did they offer to pack, did they greet in a friendly way, etc etc.

My problem is, the checkout staff tend to be over friendly - A good morning, would you like help with packing is OK, it's polite and all that's necessary. But to be asked how my day has been so far by someone who I have never met before is OTT familiar, especially if the day has been going really badly, or, as has happened it has been one of the worse days of my life. If I ask why they want to know, they say madam, I'm only trying to be polite.  I then say you shouldn't have to try to be polite, it should come naturally.

Grrrrrrr I hate them all.  >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

[gtm41658]

Shop online...its easier...can be cheaper
quicker, less hassle and I don't have to drive her their or pack the bags

 ;) ;) :-X

[Paulines7]

I am sorry Tora but I am with Tesco on this one.  I wouldn't want to have cream that had been out of the fridge for any length of time.  They only have your word for it that it was for a short time.  Some people exaggerate and it could be much longer than they say.  Bacteria in cream multiplies rapidly.  They couldn't put it back on the shelf nor use it for staff.  However, they should not have said "We cannot trust you". 

It was your OH who picked up the wrong size so I would have thought the best plan would have been to keep the one he bought then go and buy another one to make up the size that you needed.

I have always found Tesco extremely helpful with complaints.  I have often have a home delivery and find fruit and veg not up to standard.  One phone call to their internet office and my credit card is refunded immediately for the faulty goods.  They are very generous because if there are one or two fruits in a punnet or package that are bruised, soft or brown, they make a refund for those items so effectively I am getting the rest of the punnet/package free.  Over the past year I have had to get refunds on grapes, bananas, apples, strawberries and peppers.

Mind you, the fruit and veg shouldn't be on the shelves in that condition but unfortunately, it often is.  That is my only complaint with them but I have always found their customer services helpful.   

[tim]

I would never ever try to return chilled food.

Just think?

[Uncle Joshua]

I would never ever try to return chilled food.

Just think?

No I wouldn't.

[Old bird]

Tora

I am sorry I am in agreement with Tesco's.  I would not be happy purchasing something that had left the store and come back the next day.  There are so many freaks out there that potentially the cream could have been poisoned/tainted/or just gone off for not being refrigerated........They certainly should not have said that they didn't believe you though! (By the way I am not saying you are freaks!)

Whilst I have no choice as such as to whether or not I use Tesco I do find the staff always helpful and always mostly polite.  They do a job that I would probably hate and so many customers are just plain rude to them - so there is another side!

Old Bird

 :o

[redimp]

I do not like any of the supermarkets but I agree with Tesco on this one.  Any shop only has a legal duty to change if goods are unfit in anyway. I.e. the cream was off when it was bought, or if it was trousers, the seam was split.  If somebody buys the wrong cream or the wrong sized/coloured trousers, then that is their fault and the supplier has no duty to change it - the fact that they usually do, is down to customer relations, not law.   And I for one, would certainly not want a returned dairy product - they are right to say they cannot be sure where it has been between times - how are they to tell the difference between you and a potential poisoner for one.  And, just how much did this pot of cream cost?

[theothermarg]

ooo fraid I,m with tesco,s too and I think you would find all supermarkets would do the same. when you calm down about not being trusted I,m sure you will see that you wouldn,t like to eat something that had been somewhere unknown for so long
marg

[Hyacinth]

The way the complaint was dealt with was wrong by the staff, but they're right in refusing to exchange, for all the above written reasons, I'd say.

BTW I was in Lidl once & the person in front of me remarked in passing to the checkout girl that some fruit she'd bought the previous week was "off". The girl, and without recourse to a manager, promptly refunded the putchase price.

And nope! She'd not returned the fruit, and yep! I thought....

what a fabulous scam ::) ;D

[springbok]

Last saturday, my friend was asked leaving ASDA if she paid for all her goods.  She said yes, and showed the man she just spent nearly 200.00 on shopping.
She walked around the store with a woolworths bag in the trolley with other shopping she did previously.
Again the security man said, are you sure you paid for all your shopping.. and again my friend said of course I have .. here are the receipts.
Well... he then said, please come this way... he then started to check all her bags... and pulled a 74p body spray out of the Woolworths bag.. and again said are you sure you have paid for all your shopping.  My friend was dumbfounded and explained it must of got in there by mistake.. she had not taken it.   She apologised and offered to pay the 74p.
Security was having none of it, and called the police.  She was arrested, and was made to sit in a police car outside ASDA for 2 hours while the police got details and go through CCTV tapes on how this 74p body spray ended up in her Woolworths bag.
Well to cut a long story short, even the police were astounded that they were called .. as ASDA kept insisting she was charged.  Police gave her an £80.00 fine and let her go.
I have walked out of ASDA with loo rolls on the trolley, but not intentionally.....SO BEWARE OF ASDA!!!... last week a chap was arrested for a Mars Bar.

[Tora]

I must have been in the wrong if everyone thinks that way, but I still cannot forgive the tesco staff to treat OH (or anybody) like that. The staff were actually having a good laugh at OH. He complained and said there's no need to laugh but did they apologise for being rude? No. IMO the manager should educate the staff not to insult customers unnecessarily at least.

I'm not that bothered about the cream. After all, my OH took it. I was just appalled by the way they dealt with it. They could have explained it to OH in a more pleasant way.

I've lived in this country for only several years and I kind of expect the high standard of service offered in my country, which is obviously a bit naive.

springbokgirlie, I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your friend. That must have been awful. :-\

[manicscousers]

Tora, complain, either in person or to head office by letter, nobody should be treated like that, courtesy costs nothing  :(

[Tora]

Thank you :) I may write a letter - it might help me calm down. ;D

[SMP1704]

Tora

I think you and your OH are right to feel offended at Tesco's approach.  Probably to return a chilled item was a bit unrealistic, but I think they were making up the 20 min rule.  Your OH is right, this should be clearly displayed in the store.

They clearly need some training.........

[SamLouise]

but I think they were making up the 20 min rule. 

No, it's very real.  It's the same instore too.  I used to work in a supermarket and if any chilled goods were left by the tills that couldn't be put back in the chiller within 20 mins, they were thrown.  Quite right too.

Tora, agree with the Tesco rule but no need for rudeness on their part.  Go past the store manager and straight to head office (but be sure to put a cc to the local store manager so he knows what's coming ....hehe)

[Jeannine]

Tesco had absolutely no right to speak to you like that, the customer service is very poor and yes I would complain that you were humiliated.


I am sure you are very careful with your food but regarding the return I am surprised that they even take  anything like this back, 20 minutes or not. I can see a tin, but not something in a carton  that could so easily have been tampered with or kept in an insanitary condition. I find it very scary that they would accept this kind of return, I would be scared to death to think I had bought something that had been out of the store.

Maybe I am old fashioned but it gives me the creeps to think about what could happen if someone wanted to be nasty. I remember vividly the  over the counter tablets that were tampered with and caused several deaths.

However I would certainly complain about their rudeness.

XX Jeannine

[valmarg]

Whilst I agree with Tim, et al I would never have taken a chilled product back to exchange.

The bit that I cannot understand is the nasty way that your husband was treated.  All right, he had made a mistake.  What would it have cost Tesco to have taken the carton back, and chucked it in the bin.  That's where an enormous amount of their food ends up!!!  Just good PR.

My personal grouse was with Morrisons.  They had charged me £9.99 for an item that was only priced 99p.  When I  went back and queried this, I was told by some undermanager that they were not prepared to believe me and, basically I was trying to rob the store of £9.00.

I have never been in one of their stores since.

I object being called a liar for £9.00

valmarg

[alienwithaview]

Try reading the book Tescopoly by Andrew Simms or go to www.tescopoly.org - both deal with the destructive powers of supermarkets in general, but do focus on the biggest success of them all, Tesco.
No need to tell you where I'm standing, but I have successfully boycotted all supermarket chains for 18 months now, and don't feel I'm missing out.