Tesco-Complaint

The British public needs YOU!

2011-01-10T20:43:00.008Z

If you would like to expose your Tesco complaint or story to the public and wider media immediately, rather than emailing them to TC, please post them on this blog post.

Please refrain from using detailed personal information, bad language, etc. Journalists often read this blog.

Sun Grown Discount Brands (Tesco) Apple Juice _ RANCID FOREIGN BODIES

2011-01-10T20:25:00.004Z

Yes we're back, we've been indundated with complaints from customers about Christmas deliveries. All emails to us are read and treated in confidence. Only your name will be posted or you can remain anonymous. Members of the press often contact TC. The best selection of emails are posted here. Check out this awful picture and story below we have just received:

2nd January 2011

FAO: Environmental Services Commercial Team

Subject: Foreign Object in Sun Grown Discount Brands (Tesco) Apple Juice Carton

Ref: xxxxx

To whom it may concern,

Please find attached photos of the offending foreign bodies within a carton of Tesco Sun Grown Apple Juice. This was discovered on 02.01.11. A mouthful of the liquid was drunk by two people, which was sour and vinegary, causing instant 'wretching'. At this point both parties feel slightly sick, however nobody has been taken ill; if this should change I will inform you accordingly.

If deemed appropriate by Environmental Services we would very much like to know what this object was and the potential health risks associated.

We will also be looking at pursuing compensation from Tesco in due course.

We will deliver the items (carton & foreign bodies) to the Ely office on Tuesday/Wednesday, please do let me know if this is incorrect.

Best Regards,

Oliver Hawes

** We want to know how the VAT rise has affected your Tesco shop. Drop us a line **

The twelve days of Tesco (are not happy)

2009-12-19T01:15:00.004Z

This blog has been swamped with complaints from many disgruntled customers over the 2009 festive period. While Tesco boast of increased profits through internet sales of toys, one family has been left waiting in twelve hours per day for twelve days and still hasn’t received Christmas presents for their cute little toddler, Andrew, aged 3, and his older brother Peter aged 8. The “12 days of Christmas” are famous as a time for receiving gifts. The “12 days of Tesco” is a sorry tale of 12 days of empty promises and bungling couriers. Tesco’s first attempt was to send Andrew a Snow White costume!

On the first day of Tesco, Friday 4^th December, Dorothy ordered a toy aeroplane, 4 police toys plus a Power Ranger suit for Andrew. She was told that she would need to be at home on the Monday from 7am until 7pm. 12 hours is a long time to wait, but Dorothy considered it worthwhile for the tremendous value that was on offer. Dorothy admits her house in south-west London isn’t easy to find, but gave clear directions for the delivery with the instruction for the driver to phone if needing help in finding the property. She repeated these instructions time and again in endless phone calls over the next 10 days, but no driver ever phoned to ask for help.

Hoping for delivery

On the second day of Tesco, the 12 hours ticked by slowly, but at 6.15pm Tesco were still confidently promising delivery within 45 minutes. Nothing arrived.

On the third day of Tesco, Tesco said that they had tried to deliver but needed more information (which had already been given) to find the house. Dorothy was promised a £10 discount. Ten days later, this had still not been credited to her account.Tesco couldn’t tell what had happened to the toys as their computer scanning system had failed as it couldn’t cope with the high volume of orders. At this stage Dorothy was put in touch with Eddie who was extremely helpful if trying to progress the order and gave Dorothy his direct number. Dorothy rang Eddie many times but realised eventually that she was running up a massive phone bill as, to contact Eddie, she had to ring a national-rate number at peak hours.

For the fourth day of Tesco, Dorothy was promised a 2 hour delivery slot and then later told that the couriers couldn’t offer a 2 hour slot to her address. She would have to wait in for 12 hours again. Still, it would be worth it to get those bargain toys.The hours passed and a delivery arrived. Dorothy’s blind neighbour was looking after the house at this stage. Of course, she couldn’t check the order. So when Dorothy returned, she found that there were no toys. There was no Power Ranger suit. Instead, Tesco had sent little Andrew a Snow White costume! Whilst not believing in gender-stereotyping, Dorothy didn’t think that this was what Andrew would want from Santa and thinks that his older brother Peter may make fun of him.

Goods lost

On the fifth day of Tesco, Tesco admitted that they had now lost the goods. They tried to get Dorothy to cancel the order. However, as the bargain prices were no longer available, Dorothy insisted on continuing with the order.

On the sixth day of Tesco, Tesco found the goods and promised to deliver. Nothing happened. The weekend came and went. Still no toys.

On the seventh day of Tesco, Tesco claimed to have tried to deliver on the Saturday evening, This time, they hadn’t asked the family to be at home, but they were in the house. No driver came to the door or phoned to ask for directions.

Sunday came and went – the eighth day of Tesco.

On the ninth day of Tesco, Dorothy tried a different approach. Instead of phoning, she e-mailed Tesco. This led to a flurry of phone calls with Tesco definitely promising immediate delivery. Dorothy was contacted by a Warehouse Supervisor called Angela. She had the Power Ranger suit and would put on a van. What about the toys? Angela seemed unaware of these, but eventually found them. She reassured Dorothy that everything was together in two packages. She’d personally put them on the van and given the driver instructions to phone to check where Dorothy lived.

Empty van

The hours passed and eventually the doorbell rang at tea-time. Everyone rushed to the door in excitement. Tesco had delivered. Of course they hadn’t. A delivery driver had indeed turned up at the door – without any toys. She had come to collect the Snow White costume!

Dorothy asked if the warehouse supervisor, Angela, had spoken to her, but the driver insisted that there was no one called Angela at the warehouse. Dorothy refused to hand the Snow White costume over before phoning Tesco to see what was happening. The delivery driver refused to wait.

Dorothy yet again phoned Tesco and was told that a second van was on its way. At 7.15pm, Tesco phoned saying that delivery was continuing until 9pm and the goods would definitely arrive by then. Of course, they didn’t.

Ultimatum

On the tenth day of Tesco, Dorothy’s husband David contacted Tesco’s Chief Executive, Sir Terry Leahy, demanding delivery at 7am the following morning. That day, a delivery driver came with a package. Once again, Tesco hadn’t asked the family to be at home at this time, but the family were at home.

The Power Ranger suit had finally arrived, but the driver still didn’t have the bulk of the order, £60 worth of toys. The driver also refused to take away the Snow White costume.

In the evening, Tesco phoned to say that they couldn’t meet the 7am deadline. In the Christmas spirit of generosity, Dorothy’s husband, David, agreed to give Tesco a further 24 hours to deliver.

On the eleventh day of Tesco, David again contacted Sir Terry demanding the delivery of the toys, an apology and compensation for the wasted hours, massive phone bills, stress and sleepless nights. There was an acknowledgement, but no toys, apology or compensation.

On the morning of the twelfth day of Tesco, David and Dorothy were hopeful that Sir Terry would respond to their ultimatum. It was now only one week to Christmas and Tesco had already wasted the previous fortnight of their time, not to mention the intense stress that they have suffered. Sir Terry’s company did precisely nothing. Andrew and Peter are really excited about Santa coming, but may be surprised that Tesco’s Santa thought that Andrew should have a Snow White costume and that, with one week to Christmas, neither have any toys from Tesco and very little hope of Tesco bothering to do anything about it other than possibly giving more than empty promises.

Dave Innes

TESCO COMPLAINT HAS BEEN INUNDATED WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT TESCO'S SERVICE OVER CHRISTMAS. KEEP THEM COMING.

Tesco direct: Double stress points with your sofa

2009-10-05T02:26:00.012+01:00

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

Do you need a carrier bag? Er.. yes.

2009-10-05T02:23:00.002+01:00

Dear Mr Leahy,

I write to you today as I'm rather concerned that after writing letters to your complaints address in Enfield I never seem to receive a reply? After a short search on the web I find this is not only common practice for Tesco, its actually rife!

I'm left with no option but to contact you directly, and also have started a blog on the web about it, with copies of all letters and e-mails due to be posted there!

The letters of complaint went as follows:

First letter, was asking, quite politely why the Tesco store in Broughton refuses to stock carrier bags? Severál times we've visited the store the do our shopping however there never seems to be any carrier bags. You're often confronted with a deadpan question of "do you want any bags" - well considering I've just spent £250 in your store of course I want carrier bags. If this had happened once, it wouldn't have riled me, however it happens time and time again! My response now is just to leave the shopping there and walk out of the store. I have asked staff time and time again why there aren't any carrier bags available, the response I've had on more than one occasion is: "The Welsh Assembly have made it illegal to give out new carrier bags" or "The Welsh assembly only let us give out so many bags per year" or "its more environmentally friendly" - The Welsh Assembly haven't yet put any restrictions on the provision of carrier bags, I practice as a solicitor in Wales and the last I knew the plan was still in consultation stage... Furthermore, you cannot argue on the basis of it being more environmentally friendly, if this were your real concern you'd be issuing sustainable, recylable paper bags, the same type they've been issuing in America for many years now!

The fact that your staff are willing to lie to a loyal customer is one thing, the fact that they feel you've got no right to ask for a carrier bag is one thing. After buying a basket full of shopping after work one evening, which totalled £46.51, and asking if I could have a carrier bag, the member of staff said "I haven't got any" after asking if she could ask for some more, or get some more she said "There's nothing I can do about it, I haven't got any" - so my response was to walk out of the store without the shopping and without having paid for it, hearing her grumble something under hear breath, which I shall not repeat!

Further to this, as stated before, your staff in the customer care address on your website simply do not reply to letters your customers have taken time to write and spent money to post, and same as I've said there are acres of coverage on the net, which makes this out to be quite common place!

Unless I receive a response, in a timely manner, I will stop shopping in Tesco stores. I've looked through my credit card statement from last year, and in total I spent: £12,272 in your stores. In a climate where your competitors are seeing their customer base increase whilst yours doesn't seem to be doing anything (hence giving away double club card points etc) it is of no surprise, perhaps their finding a better quality of service at places like: Sainsbury's; Waitrose; Morrison's and Asda.

I look forward to hearing from you, and this letter can be found on the internet.

Yours Sincerely,
Gareth Baines

Bumper Bargain? Bumper damage?

2009-09-13T21:29:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago a trolley collector at Tesco damaged my car with a line of trolleys, saw the damage (albeit minor) and continued on his way. I was in my car at the time; when I got out and called to him, he immediately replied that he'd "never touched it" (how did he know what I wanted then?) and then was very aggressive, shouting at me that it was my fault and coming to the conclusion that I had rolled into his line of trolleys (rolled sideways? after he had first denied any collision).

Luckily another witness had seen him check the side of my car for damage so I had back up. However when he went to get the manager who I assumed would be apologetic, he was just as rude, and refused to acknowledge that any damage had been caused.

Once we brought a trolley over to my car and demonstrated that the scratch had in fact been caused by the trolleys, he still did not apologise on behalf of the other employee, or Tesco, nor did his attitude towards me change. Throughout the conversation he was incredibly rude, and acted as if I had done something. I could go on! I then complained to Tesco about the attitude of these two men, not the damage to the vehicle itself (my car is old, and had the first man apologised, or acknowledged fault I would happily have accepted the 'bumper restore' I was finally offered after half an hour of questioning).

Their only response is that the manager did not record the incident, or has lost the incident form, so it is not in their database, so they cannot 'take my complaint further'. It is no surprise that the manager has 'lost' the vehicle incident form, given his attitude on the day, but I don't see why they need that form to uphold a complaint about the behaviour of 2 of the staff. What they have told me to do, with again no apology for losing the incident form, is go back and make another complaint in store. After the aggressive and hostile attitude of the two men in question, do they really think I am going to go back, and complain to their faces???

eleanor watson

Food waste piling up at stores?

2009-07-17T23:03:00.004+01:00

I am writing to you to express my utter disgust at a food wastage policy that I discovered when shopping in a Tesco Express store in Ocean Village, Southampton.

I entered the store in the evening time and proceeded to go to the bakery section. Whilst there was a sizeable quantity of pastries etc left on the shelf, one of the members of staff was loading them into an already full dustbin size bag of pastries and I was informed that they were being thrown away. Whilst I was told that I could still buy the ones on the shelf at the full price (just before they'd been put in the bag), I was told that neither I nor the members of staff could take them for free and thus preventing the shocking food wastage that was occurring.

This slightly baffled me as I was told that even though the food was to be thrown away, the staff had been told explicitly by the store manager that any attempt to take the food home that was to be thrown away would be considered as theft and would result in the loss of their job. Adding to this puzzling and ridiculous practice was the fact that I was told that such food wastage was common in that store, to the extent that sometimes, due to space issues or delivery sizes, the food would be transferred directly from the delivery van to the rubbish bin without even seeing the shelf. Perfectly edible food. That has been transported in expensive, fuel-thirsty lorries halfway across the country.

In these times where fuel-economy and food shortages are key issues that need to be taken seriously by large corporations as they finally take up some vestige of global responsibility this (admittedly minor on the grand scale of things) practice, to me, revealed a worrying disregard for such matters and a deeply perturbing hypocrisy.

In Southampton alone, there are plenty of organisations and groups that would be more than happy to distribute (in an environment of quality control and food standards observance) the left over (or unused) food to the many disadvantaged people that populate the city.

Therefore I request that you heed this complaint and address this issue by re-examining such scandalous wastage policies and exploring the alternatives to throwing the food away.

Yours Sincerely,

Tom Price - Customer, Tesco Express Ocean Village Southampton
tomalprice@googlemail.com

Bagging a load of nonsense

2009-06-15T17:30:00.002+01:00

As I am fully aware of the impending doom that humanity faces by using carrier bags to transport purchased goods from your stores, I am getting rather tired of fighting for a carrier bag every lunch time when I purchase at least 10 items or more for my department’s lunch. Most companies, as mine does, requires a ‘clean desk’ policy, which unfortunately includes stockpiling carrier bags like a tramp. So I am, unfortunately, required to obtain a plastic death bag from you on a regular basis (although, we do only use 1 bag for 3 peoples lunch!)

As much as I enjoy a daily lecture about global warming from someone as qualified as a checkout girl, I don’t particularly enjoy being told that that you ‘don’t have any bags’ when I can clearly see them in view. And I also don’t appreciate being looked at like I’m using said carrier bag for drowning puppies in when I DO insist on one. I personally do not own a pair of clown pants with giant pockets capable of holding 10+ items in them and simply carrying them in my arms isn’t an option as I was only blessed with two of them.

Might I suggest a series of training exercises for your staff in the skilled art of ‘the customer is always right’ or possibly screen your staff for fundamental environmentalists before hiring them? Or possibly offer me an alternative, environmentally sound paper bag? As now, after a year of constant battles I will go elsewhere for my lunch where checkout staff understand their jobs and simply serve me.

Yours sincerely ,

Jon Keddie

Standards flushed down the pan at this store

2009-05-16T23:19:00.007+01:00

On Tuesday 12th May I stopped off on my way to work in your Colney Hatch Lane store. It was around quarter to seven in the morning and I just wanted to grab some lunch for the day. As I have a 50 mile journey I thought I would quickly use the customer toilets.... I'm sorry to say I didn't!!

I went into the toilets and I have to say I was very shocked and disappointed with what I was confronted with. The three cubicles and hand washing area were all absolutely filthy to the point they couldn't be used. There was rubbish and toilet roll all over the place but worst of all there was excrement and blood all over the walls and toilet seats. I know the toilets cant be checked every minute of every day but to make matters worse, as I was going in through the female toilet door I passed a member of staff coming out..... (and she wasn't a cleaner!!)

As there were only two checkouts I waited at one and was going to mention it to a member of staff but then a third till was opened... By the time I had listened to the two cashiers shouting and arguing with each other across the four tills between distance them I was running late so I had to leave. They were arguing about the new till opener being too lazy to go to the warehouse to get their own carrier bags and leaving the first till with none. They were shouting to each other to shut up and stop moaning etc etc much to the embarrassment of all the customers.

Up to this point I have never had any reason to even think about complaining about any aspect of Tesco but I was truly shocked by this store..... it also made me think..... if the stores senior management are happy for the customer areas to be like this what must the staff only and food storage areas be like?

Cassandra Paton, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Blood on your shelf, you big disgrace

2009-05-16T23:04:00.004+01:00

View complaint letter and photographs sent to Tesco CEO by Ravi here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13965520/Tesco-complaint-letter

Received a very nice letter of apology on behalf of Terry Leahy.

Six weeks on following the letter, the store, Wood Green Express is still a tip, blood on the shelf, rubbish on the floor.

Ravi Vadgama.

Tesco staff give me a headache

2009-04-05T21:14:00.002+01:00

Dear Tesco,

I have just been to your new South Road store in Dundee to do my usual weekly shop. As a sufferer of chronic headaches and recently diagnosed IBS I decided to get medication for both of these illnesses at Tesco as the local pharmacy does not open until later in the morning.

I tried to purchase paracetamol and ibuprofen for my headaches and buscopan for my IBS.

At the checkout (where three members of staff were huddled around chatting about Disney holidays) I put my messages through. WHen it came to the medication I ( and the other members of staff that were stilll chatting about holidays) were told that I couldn't purchase more than two types of painkillers.

Confused - I told the girl that there WERE only two types of 'painkillers' - paracetamol and ibuprofen. She said that the buscopan was a painkiller also. Confused, I said it was a muscle relaxant or antispasmodic.

SHe said she would have to ask her supervisor. So the box of Buscopan IBS (oh - it's clearly marked on the box) was shown to the supervisor and the members of staff who had stopped speaking about holidays. She said it was a painkiller. I said it wasn't - she should check the British National Formulary if she wasn't sure.

In the end my IBS meds were put through as a separate transaction - the mind boggles - and I suffered a lot of needless embarassment.

I am a longstanding and good customer of Tesco but this makes me want to shop somewhere else. Shouldn't your staff be taught to deal with these things a lot more sensitively? Why the hell were they allowed to hand about at the tills for so long chatting about personal things? Is there not a canteen for that kind of thing?

Thanks Tesco for making the start of my weekend so crap.

Kind regards,

Joanna Forbes
Clinical Research Nurse

Diet to disaster - Healthy tesco profits

2009-03-01T00:19:00.002Z

I cannot believe how money grabbing an organisation like Tesco is. I joined their online diet service last Thursday and within an hour of looking at it had realised it didn’t offer the facilities I wanted from it. As they don’t offer a trial period like other sites you have no choice really but to pay the £30 and see what it’s like (rubbish). I immediately called customer service to make them aware of my error and to cancel the service, however they will only cancel the service from the end of the period paid up to. So I have paid a 10 week membership for something I have used for an hour.

After complaining hard, I was told that just one woman can help me – Debbie Mallerman. I emailed her to complain and it has taken exactly a week (and 4 emails) to get any response from her – which looks to be a standard response just refusing to refund.

How can they justify charging someone for a 10 week service when they cancel within an hour of signing up? It is not a lot of money but out of pure principal I am seething and have pledged to boycott Tesco completely – they will lose more than the £30 from me that’s for sure.

I know what you’re saying – its £30! But it is the principal. Tesco probably have a few thousand off me over the year and I feel that a little flexibility is appropriate in order to maintain happy customers. I run a business and would not dream of ostracising a customer in this way. If this is the way Tesco want to work then they will lose me, and I will become a permanent fixture in Sainsburys. The old saying look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves translates well to customers too. I may be just one tiny speck in the Tesco spectrum, but if they upset enough of us, they’ll start to feel the pinch!

Malina Bergeman

Tesco chickens, PR bunch and the credit crunch

2009-01-30T22:02:00.035Z

Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Poo: The awfully arrogant Tesco spinner
View here: http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=2126270640859779693&hl=un

You may have seen the second documentary earlier this week by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Channel Four, highlighting some of the horrifying conditions that cheaper Chickens endure before being slaughtered.

The disgusting PR arrogance from Tesco HQ at Cheshunt was enough to make customers fume at their TV sets. It's labelling is 100% accurate and all its chickens live in harmony... right?

TC has been inundated with comments about the contents of the programme. We'd like to hear more of your views - so why not post your complaints in response to the programme on this post.

Will you be buying Tesco chickens again? Or are you now buying 'free to roam' only? What do you think of Tesco's response?

Here's a selection of complaints received by TC on 31st January 2009:

Dear Sir/Madam,

As a loyal Tesco customer I was extremely dismayed to watch Channel 4's Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's documentary on your treatment of chickens. Not only was I horrified by Tesco's interpretation of the RSCPA standards, and of how far short you fell of actually adhereing to these basic guidelines; but I was angered by the treatment shown to anyone who dares to challenge your practices. I consider this treatment corporate bullying at its most powerful.This behaviour is something that has been highlighted to customers in recent times through several mediums and something which I feel strongly against. Your PR response for this show was arrogant and typical of what one has come to expect from a powerful chain like Tesco's.
As a result of your treatment of us mere mortal customers and small shareholders I have decided that I shall never shop in your store again, choosing stores that treat people with respect and social conscience instead, and I look forward to sharing my views with many others.

Yours Sincerely,
Aoife Kelleher

Gareth said...: Re : Intensive Standard Chickens

Complete corporate arrogance - well just watch Tescos.... people power will win the day and ultimately MAKE you take action because the only thing you understand is ££££££.

Im taking my £5000 p.a shopping business elsewhere and never stepping foot in a Tescos ever again.

Bye Bye.

And another complaint, also received today. Alison sent a duplicate to Sir Terry Leahy:

To Whom it may concern,

Firstly, can I ask why it is so incredibly difficult to find an e-mail address so I can write to you...There is not 1 general contact e-mail on you website.

The reason I am writing is to register my utter disgust at tescos after watching the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's channel 4 programme about your lack of policy and disgraceful underhand tactics with regards chickens. I must spend at least £300-£400 each month at your various stores, so I am not just a do-good hippy jumping on a band-wagon. Your company makes billions of pounds profit every year, yet you seem to be happy to put basic morals and basic animal welfare below the need to make still more money.

I doubt your'e overly interested in my complaint or my concerns so I will keep it brief.....unless you change your policy and begin to act responsibly, I will no longer shop at your stores. I have written my club card details below so you can confirm this.

With this regard, even in the current economic climate, you have shamefully underestimated public opinion.

Regards

Alison Holden

RECEIVED 15TH FEBRUARY 2009

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tesco Chicken program

After watching the highly publicised ‘Chickens, Hugh & Tesco Too’ aired on Channel 4 on the 26 January I feel compelled to write to express my disappointment and anger at the way Tesco management have dealt with the matters raised by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

It was pleasing to see Supermarket chains such as the Co-op and Sainsbury’s respond to Hugh’s request in a timely manner as well as promote their association with the Freedom Food scheme, in which the Co-operative group was the first major retailer to support this initiative and Sainsbury’s launching the freedom food endorsed chicken range.

The programme highlighted how a shareholder of an organisation can have a say in the running of the business in which they own a portion (however small) of a company. It also highlighted the attempts that Tesco took to thwart and obstruct a shareholder in exercising their shareholding rights. As the program highlighted it seemed that Tesco ‘changed the goal posts’ to prevent a resolution being put forward at the Tesco AGM. Chicken package labelling was also highlighted and how the wording used is meaningless and fails to state explicitly how the birds are actually farmed. When queried by Hugh about having accurate labelling stating whether a chicken was reared indoors or outdoors the Tesco representative (the one who appeared on camera) stated ‘We don’t need to patronise our customers like that’. The comment caused quite an outburst at our household and clearly demonstrated a clear lack of understanding on behalf of the company. The comments and attitude displayed by the Tesco representative did not help the cause and proved to strengthen in the viewers mind that the company’s position and attitude on this issue is clearly opposing the increased consumer awareness and understanding of moral and ethical standards of chicken farming. I applaud the Coop in taking steps to introduce their new chicken labelling which is explicit in identifying the environment a chicken is raised. I also am happy to see Sainsbury’s educating the consumer and promoting the ‘Freedom Food’ range and donating a portion of sale price to the Woodland trust. Further from the 5^th of February Salisbury’s have stated in their brochure (see attached) that they will stop selling eggs from caged hens. It would appear that Sainsbury’s are promoting and advancing their freedom food range and strict standards of welfare. On the other hand it would seem, certainly based on the recent television program, that Tesco management have chosen to adopt a different direction.

The program highlighted a range of areas that Tesco management rated poorly in – they are least willing to cooperate with responding to request for interviews for products consumers buy, thwart attempts and change rules for shareholders to put forward resolutions, and, it would appear, do not fully appreciate the gravity that such a program and surrounding publicity can generate and influence a company’s public perception and good will. I do not hold shares in any food producers or companies or associated with any animal welfare organisations. I am a concerned consumer who believes in high standards of welfare for livestock that produces the food we buy. I do believe that Tesco can change the public perception and travel along the path of increasing the welfare of its chickens (through its farmers and suppliers) and chicken labelling as its competitors have or are in the process of doing.

I look forward to hearing from Tesco.

Yours sincerely

A.M.

CREDIT CRUNCH TESCO £££

Does the Credit Crunch affect whether you buy an intensive farmed Chicken or Tesco Finest? Post your response to this blog post for the public. Or even perhaps you've opted for Asda or Morrisons....? Tesco recently announced a loss of revenue due to the launch of their 'discounter' brand...

"The total shopping bill had gone from £15 to £60"

2008-12-16T02:23:00.008Z

Phil Barnes sent in this email to TC on December 11th:

Here’s a snippet of a complaint I sent to Tescos…

I write extremely angry and frustrated at the shoddy service provided by Tesco online. After hours of searching and selecting for products online, entering my personal and bank details I finally place my first order online, due to be delivered the next day between 9 and 11pm. I didn’t mind this effort as it would save me having to go shopping for some stocking fillers; I don't have much free time.

The order arrives and I'm informed by the driver that some of the products have been replaced with others due to stock shortages. Fair enough I said, expecting a couple of items to be replaced with alternatives. On checking the invoice 17 or the 20 (approx) items I ordered had been replaced. To make matters worse, the prices were not comparable. For example an item costing 50p had been replaced with an item costing £7.99. All in all the total shopping bill had gone from £15 to £60 (approx). I find this ludicrous that common sense didn't tell someone that this would be unacceptable to me.

At this time I am still awaiting a call about refunding me accordingly but I guess it's not a priority to you. You have completely wasted my time and I am unsure how I am going to find time to repeat the process. As you can probably expect, I will not be shopping with Tesco online again. I have fear of ordering £100 of shopping and getting £500 bill. In fact, I am that annoyed, think Sainsbury’s can now take my £1,000 per month spend.

I can't even believe I have wasted more of my time writing this. Idiots.

We don't want to give you that!

2008-12-16T02:08:00.006Z

I have recently accepted voluntary redundancy from Tesco after 18.5 years Service, before this happened we had a one to one with a Manager and one of my queries and the deciding factor as to whether I accepted the redundancy was I kept my loyalty card.

Just a couple of weeks after left my card was stopped, when I contacted customer services at Tesco, they said that I am not entitled to keep the card and was told by Managers that I would not be able to keep it. Just one of many lies that have been told to Tesco's employees by Managers has anyone else encountered this probably or am I the only one. I have e mailed customer services and have got a standard letter back, reading between the lines they think I tell lies as well.

As for Terry Leahy, he cannot even be bothered to answer, Tesco do not deserve the loyal staff that they have working for them.

All I can say is Morrisons's here we come!

- Ex Hinckley employee

I am 29 and I have a right to Intoxication!

2008-05-16T11:41:00.005+01:00

At 4.30.pm today, 1st May , I went into your Consett branch with my 6ft tall son who had a stubble and is 29yrs of age, actually looking about 35yrs old. He had in his basket 2 bottles of wine and some cans of lager. I left him at the till while i went to look at magazines. Two minutes later he rushed up to me in a blazing temper.

The stupid woman on the tills wouldnt serve him until he showed ID. Hes a man for gods sake and certainly looks a man. There was a lady waiting behind him who just couldnt believe what this woman on the till was saying. My son actually thought she was joking when she asked for ID, but soon realised she wasnt. He then told her what he thought of her and left.

I myself do my shopping there at least twice a week, and have done so since it opened, but I can assure you I will never set foot in there again. Its a total joke. If u saw my son you would know the reason why I feel so strongly. [Tesco-Complaint: See REAL picture of Alan above & click to enlarge]

With staff like her she makes your shop a laughing stock.

Yours,
Mrs Pam Lambert

Every Little Patronise Helps Tesco's Dum-Dum Customers!!

2008-05-16T11:28:00.005+01:00

I read in the paper yesterday that you have empowered your sales personnel to decline selling alcohol to adults accompanied by teenagers or underage persons on the off chance that they may break the law by passing it to the underage person.
I have been a customer of Tesco for many years. I encourage everyone to use Tesco as you carry a range of foods and goods which is very diversified and pleasing and at very reasonable cost, I tell people that your service is excellent and you deserve to be market leaders. But I am afraid I cannot condone this insult to your customers, nor the role of big brother you are assuming. Is the person who encouraged this in your stores naïve???? Do you really think that anyone intent on doing this will take the teen ager in the store and only pass the alcohol under these circumstances??? Worse, do you assume that anyone who drinks alcohol will do so in excess? Have you not heard of France and Italy and Spain and other Mediterranean countries, or of the effect of prohibition in the USA??? You are opening a huge can of worms by taking the responsibility to enforce moral choices on people, only fuelling rebellion, as in my case.

This is the country, leading the world, in ‘NO you can’t’ idiotic lifestyle rules and I cannot support your stand, as this patronising attitude is just the sort which, by removing responsibility from individuals, encourages people to lose the ability to make their own choices and take the consequences. Will you be doing this with people who smoke too, deny them the purchase if in the company of children????

I hope to read soon that you are retracting this policy, as I shall seriously consider shopping elsewhere.

Franca

GTA 4 HITS TESCO STORES!

2008-04-29T10:55:00.004+01:00

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?

2008-04-25T16:22:00.002+01:00

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.

Mother care or despair ?

2008-04-23T15:27:00.004+01:00

I started working for Tesco on the 19th of November 2007, two weeks after that I found out I was pregnant with my third child, i informed Tesco of this just before we were off for the amazing amount of days at christmas :s ! Thinking to myself that they would finish me for this to my surprise they kept me on permenantly part time , for that i was grateful!

Anyway, I am now 31 weeks pregnant and still working on fresh, and don't leave till i am nearly 36 weeks , during which time i knew that I had to get maternity leave and pay / state pay sorted out - In this case i asked for the pregnancy pack or booklet Tesco supply about all the information i required . To my disgust i was given a booklet from 2006 as that was all they had, and the booklet specifically suggested, speaking to your personal manager about information you need to know.

Unsure if the booklet had the correct information in it, I went to see this person , only to be told she did not know anything about maternity leave or pay and would get back to me that was at 26 weeks into my pregnancy. I am now 31 weeks and still waiting for a manager or memeber of staff to help me in this situation i have also asked for Cardiff's number to contact them to see if they can give me the correct info and still waiting for that aswell !

I have never had a day off in all the time i have worked there. I make all my appointments on the days that I have off. Tesco talk all the time about training and 'knowing your stuff', silver bronze and gold this - it makes me laugh when even the senior managers don't know what they are spose to !

Tesco want to pull the finger out there profit wallet and put some money into training there senior staff and update all there booklets, but no no no Tesco are all about profit profit profit , we have also heard that there will be job cuts yet again in our store even though we are short staffed as it is even more so on a sunday me and another member of staff for all of Dairy / Fresh ! I hope you put this on your site as not being given the correct info and support for this is disgracefull for a firm that earns up to 3 billion pounds profit !

We'd better start walking down the motorway

2008-04-21T02:14:00.003+01:00

Hi,

Just had a bad experience with Tesco... for the sake of 30p. This is the email we just sent them which explains it all...

Dear Sir,

My partner and I have been customers of Tesco for some years now, both instore and online, and have always felt valued and cared for as customers.

Unfortunately, that experience has come to an abrupt end!

Having placed an order online on 18.04.2008 and received a confirmation email, I was contacted by telephone this morning, Saturday 19th April 2008, to inform me that my payment was not authorised. The advisor offered to call me back within five minutes once I'd obtained my card details. She never called back.

Upon further investigation I discovered the reason for the payment not going through; although I had left £35 in my account and the order was less than £34, a £2 debit was removed from my account to verify my card details.I called customer services who transferred me to the store responsible for the delivery. The manager explained there was nothing he could do, not even remove 1 item from my shopping as there was less than £1 difference. He blamed my bank for not re-crediting the £2 in time.

This resulted in me calling my bank three times and Tesco customer services a further two times as each company blamed the other for witholding the £2 that caused my payment to fail.

As a working couple with two young children we were relying on this shopping as we can't get to the store without spending £15 on taxi fares.

This experience has left me very upset and worried as we know that we can't spend that amount of money and get the same volume of products and quality from a "convenience store " that we've always received from Tesco.

Due to this, my partner has had to come home from work earlier, sacrificing a days pay as we have no food in the property and need to get to a supermarket before we're left with no provisions for the entire weekend.

I am hoping that you will be able to give me the kind of service I've come to expect and reply to this email with any suggestions you may have regarding my situation.

I am hoping that I do not have to remove my custom in favour of another retailer.

Not holding out much hope of getting it resolved. Oh well, we'd better start walking down the motorway to the supermarket 10 miles away or our kids will starve.

Fresh? £2.8billion profit smells fresh enough....

2008-04-15T19:13:00.001+01:00

It's all very well Tesco making these collossal profits, but put your house in order and give your customers good quality merchandise. Not for the first time, I have found fresh produce, fruit and vegetables, to be of poor quality. I have had problems in the past with freshness, in particular sliced beans which never make their sell-by date as they turn mouldy if left to the date. Also the case with strawberries. I purchased both these items on Friday, both with sell-by dates of the 15th April. I went to use the beans today, which were in my fridge, and had to throw the lot away. Inside the sealed pack they were wet and grey. Four of the strawberries had green mould underneath them.

I bought some fresh cod loin three weeks ago, put it straight into the freezer, took it out of the freezer yesterday morning to cook for dinner but the fish smelled "fishy". I know that fresh fish should NOT smell. However, I cooked it and my husband refused to eat the fish because it tasted "off". Another waste of money.

Over the years so much has been discarded and so much money wasted. I always vow I will never shop in Tesco again, but I get "sucked in" because I have a huge store (Lakeside) near where I live and its an interesting place to shop. I may shop there again, but I will NEVER BUY FRESH PRODUCE.

Would you like help packing Terry?

2008-04-12T19:46:00.007+01:00

SOURCE: BBC News

A grandmother from Merseyside has applied for planning permission to demolish the home of Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy.

Dot Reid is retaliating against plans to bulldoze her home and 71 others in Kirkby, to make way for Everton's new stadium and a Tesco supermarket.

The 58-year-old said Sir Terry, who lives in a mansion in Hertfordshire, deserved a taste of his own medicine.

She plans to turn the site of the Tesco boss's house into a community garden.

The grandmother lives on Spicer Grove where there are a mix of bungalows and houses, which would be bought under a compulsory purchase order and demolished under the plans.

She helped set up a housing co-operative which was given government money to build the homes, which were finished in 1992.

I want Sir Terry to have a taste of what we have to put up with

Dot Reid

She said: "These are more than just houses, they are homes.

"I have been living under the threat of losing my home for 18 months now and it is very stressful.

"I want Sir Terry to have a taste of what we have to put up with.

"When we found out about the plans by Tesco and Everton, we thought it was disgusting."

Mrs Reid has submitted an application to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire for permission to demolish Sir Terry's 1930s mansion in Cuffley.

'Publicity stunt'

Mrs Reid has plans for the site.

"It's going be a nice community area. Trees and ponds and a little play area for the children, somewhere for the old people to go and sit and relax."

A council spokeswoman said: "Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has received a planning application from a resident of Kirkby relating to the demolition of a property in Cuffley and use of the space as a community garden.

"This application will go through the normal planning process."

A spokesman for Tesco said: "This is just a publicity stunt.

"Unlike this application, for our application we spoke to hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in Kirkby, the vast majority of whom recognise this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which will create 2,000 jobs."

*****

THE APPLICATION ITSELF CAN BE VIEWED HERE:

https://fastweb.welhat.gov.uk/detail.asp?AltRef=S6/2008/0668/FP&ApplicationNumber=&AddressPrefix=&submit1=Go

Actual Documents open as .PDF file!

*****

Tesco's "Complete Mess" Delivery Service

2008-03-29T12:39:00.000Z

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

Pointlessly pointed nowhere

2008-03-26T23:59:00.008Z

Hello Tesco-Complaint. Thought i'd share this experience with you.

I work for Sainsbury's, and the other day while at work, a customer bought to me some keys with a Tesco Clubcard keytag attached.

The keys/card were kept in lost property for a while, but as the day progressed no one came in to claim them, so I rang the customer service number and asked them to contact the customer and ask them to come in as it was obviously important as there were keys there. I explained the situation to the man in the phone and he brashly informed that he wouldn't. I protested that the customer would need the keys, presumably to get in and it was very important. They again refused and hung up!

This incident just reminds me why i chose to work and shop at Sainsbury's and go nowhere near Tesco! If the guy wasnt allowed to contact the customer then fair enough, but his attitude stank of Tesco through and through!

Anonymous

Tesco's express way to hell

2008-03-24T22:04:00.006Z

We were delighted to hear that a Tesco Express/Esso Petrol Station was arriving in Rotherham at the bottom of Fenton Road last year.

We have used the Tesco on regular occasions since its opening as we like to use Tesco for our shopping and it is more convenient than going into the main town centre. Also it gives us the opportunity to fill up with petrol.

However, the organisation of the petrol/shop has been cause for concern since its opening and we are surprised that we have not been involved in a serious accident, as we have come close on many occasions, entering or leaving the premises. The problems have occured due to the bad layout of the parking and also the two entrances/exits to the shop/petrol station. The petrol station/shop is entered via two separate entrances/exits which are from different roads, however, this results in cars being head on to each other at the petrol pumps and being unable to move away from the pump. This causes tailbacks onto the main road which is the major access route onto the roundabout.

The two areas for parking for the store are at two separate ends of the petrol stations and due to the tailbacks at the pumps often you are unable to get to them.

It is apparent that this has also been raised by other members of the public as some efforts have been made to restrict the entrance to entry/exit but this is not policed by the staff and therefore is of no use as many of the users of the petrol station/shop do not adhere to it. The security guard is there, as explained to us today, for drive offs and nothing further.

On our last two visits at key times there has been various sections stopped up by cones. The first cordoned off the bottom car park being that there was nowhere to park the car and therefore had to wait, leading again to tailbacks onto the road. People start to get annoyed and just reverse their cars back into the main road in an attempt to get out but this leads to further problems and potential accidents.

Today, upon entering the car park all but two of the petrol pumps had cones left next to them but it was not clear if the petrol pumps were empty/out of order etc. We spoke to the security guard who advised he was unsure as to why they had cut off the petrol to those pumps. This meant that we ended up having to park up in front of the other car, preventing her from leaving the car park until we returned - after we had purchased our food shopping. Our choice was to wait in the long queues to pay for our petrol, move the car and drive out of the car park and back in to repark to purchase our dinner or to buy our dinner. We where too scared that the security guard would think we stealing the petrol if we had moved the car into the car park before paying.

This is becoming a regular occurrence which is causing a lot of undue stress when going for a pint of milk. It is obvious that the people attending the shop are getting very annoyed and this is coming out in their driving. We really do not want to stop using the shop - we really do like Tesco and the convenience of attending the local shop but we sure that something could be done to ensure that the one way system is imposed - surely the problems were obvious when the designs were being discussed.

We do hope that you will be able to address these concerns and enable the local Tesco Express to be a safe environment for its visitors.

You might end up in a Korma

2008-03-24T18:41:00.008Z

SAFETY RISK

Dear Tesco Complaint,

We purchased a Tesco Chicken korma and cooked it according to guidelines in the microwave. On removal from the microwave, it exploded everywhere, showering everything in the very hot korma sauce.

We consider this to be highly dangerous and would like to know who we should complain to, someone is going to get seriously injured - trusting you can help ?

T.C: Hopefully you'll find someone here who can listen and help you.

Don't mention the Store!

2008-03-24T00:02:00.004Z

Regarding Tesco Store Lotherton Way Garforth

I have used your store for many years when you were in Garforth Main Street and more recently at Lotherton Way I am sorry to say it is falling far short of your usual standards.

1) The shelves are poorly stacked quite often items are missing for several weeks. (this week no medium Heinz beans no 12 oxo cubes no crisp & dry no small warburtons loaf on display)

2) Food quite often out of date, most recently a loaf of bread purchased from home bakery when I unpacked my shopping it was two days passed sell by date I returned it to store and was given a refund the young woman at service counter didn’t even apologise or indeed speak to me.

3) The floor is quite often dirty.

4) Why do they have to restock during the busiest time of day with cages strewn all over the place they are a health hazard.

5) Why don’t staff smile anymore? Smiles are free.

Perhaps a mystery shopper would be a good idea to get some of these issues addressed.

WAITING for the eggs to hatch

2008-03-21T16:52:00.006Z

Yesterday I went for shopping to my local Tesco Express (Argyle Street, Glasgow), to buy some groceries for the Easter weekend. As I have choosen all items, I went to the till in order to pay.

There was a queue of about 15 people in front of me, waiting to be served.

I am afraid to tell you that it took almost 20 minutes to checkout.

Since the last couple of year I have always been a faithful customer at Tesco and do enjoy shopping there very much, however, the checkout time and the unfriendly sales assistant made me feel very uncomfortable. If this will not be changed in the near future, you might loose me as your customer.

In hope to hear from you as soon as possible on that matter and the solution you will come up with.

Shop till you Drop onto a verge

2008-03-20T00:10:00.006Z

I was driving north on the A 24 through Horsham on March 8th 2008 , moved to outside lane to let joining traffic on at slip road, and a Tesco delivery van came over in to the outside lane, forcing me on to the central grass verge at 60 mph.

I got back on to the road and tried to get the Tesco.com driver to pull over, but he did NOT stop and turned off to Horsham at next roundabout.

So I am keen to meet driver of KX 06 KWW at 19 10 of above date.

-unhappy driver.

Additional Information: May Contain Metal!

2008-03-19T21:16:00.006Z

On Friday 7th March I went to Tesco Extra Cirencester and happily completed my usual weekly grocery shop.
As a treat for my children I decided to buy a box of the new Tesco All Butter Flapjack Squares. Over the weekend we decided to have some of the flapjacks and you can imagine my horror and disgust to find after chewing one a large sharp metal shard! I promptly spat the mouthful out to be shocked at what I saw and I discovered I had cut the inside of my mouth. I kept all the metal, packaging, remaining flapjacks and prevented anyone else from eating the flapjacks.

On Monday the 10th March I contacted Environmental health to ask for advice on how best to deal with this situation and they advised that all evidence of the metal/packaging/remaining flapjacks be kept for there own inspection. I felt something needed to be done to prevent others from possibly doing the same so I called Tesco's helpine to advise them of what was happening and to ask them to remove any remaining boxes of the same batch from sale. I spoke to a young lady on the helpine who instead of asking any of my details or the products details only told me to see someone instore and let them have the metal. As soon as I said I couldn't leave the metal at the store as Environmetal Health wanted it she no longer wanted to deal with me and said very curtly that they will only deal with Environmental Health regarding the issue and cut the phone call short. I would've expected Tesco to at least want the details of the product and my own personal details.

As a loyal customer to Tesco and spending on average £150 on my weekly grocery shop with yourselves, I would have expected to received a decent standard of customer service. However, your customer service personal could not care less. I can assure you that this will not be the end of this matter and I would also like to add that it is lucky under the circumstances that was myself that had this particular flapjack and not one of my young children. I will await the visit from Environmental Health and let them deal with the issue as they obviously took it as serious as it should be.

Tesco-Complaint Needs YOU!

2008-03-19T13:16:00.006Z

We have a problem and we thought it best to appeal to the readership to get some help. We are getting a growing number of visitors and feed subscribers every month and lots of complaints but we haven't got enough time to put them all online since half of our two man team (Steve) has been unable to post the complaints for a while now. So we thought we would put in an appeal here for someone to become an Editor of the site.

Putting a post on the blog is really easy and basically involves copying the complaint and choosing a nice picture from say Google Images and then the fun bit of coming up with a cool headline! The site has a backlog of complaints which are suitable to be posted. So if you have 10-15 minutes to spare each day and would like to become an Editor of Tesco-Complaint please email us and let us know.

Thanks,
Richard/Tesco-Complaint.

UPDATE: We have one new Editor already! If anyone else is also interested please do email ^__^

More Easy Less Fresh!

2008-03-08T12:37:00.001Z

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!

2008-01-18T17:31:00.000Z

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?

2007-12-24T15:40:00.000Z

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?

2007-12-19T17:26:00.000Z

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 Revile Me!

2007-12-19T12:24:00.001Z

I am writing to express my complete revulsion for this Company I have worked at for a number of years now. (And still do unfortunately). Slowly, and surely, the Tesco Empire has grown and grown into this monster that cannot be tamed. It's rapidly consuming our island's land and swallowing up small businesses. Ok, so it's a company that is performing well. Fair play.... but the fact is, it isnt FAIR play... obviously coming at a price...

Every day I feel more and more contempt for the behaviour of this company. When I first joined, it was an average British Supermarket. Now, it's agressive approach is hidden behind fabricated PR slogans and friendly fonts, adverts, etc etc. Caring for the Environment with Green Clubcard schemes, degradable packaging and flowers that have travelled by air - Everything is so la de dah in Tesco's eyes.... NOT in the Staff's eyes it is NOT.

I used to like working for Tesco. But feel I cannot anymore. It used to be such a nice place to come to work and there was a nice atmosphere and Customer Service was excellent. Now, for Checkout staff it is about Fast Scan Rates, High Throughput rates, Low Idle times, low Tender times, max Clubcard/Customer rates.... How can we deliver good customer service when the goal is to PUSH our customers through so that Tesco can cash up quick?? - Why say our performance is 'Crap' in front of Customers when we are supposedly trying to give ECOH - 'Every Customer Offered Help?????!!! Total Lunacy and humilation.... The attitudes of most managers are appalling. They dont have a clue how to deal with customers. Nor do they care. Good 'One in front' rates and their wage is all they care about.

Secondly, our job has become more and more stressful and un necessarily difficult. The removal of the Void Key has meant that we feel completely distrusted and frustrated everytime a Team Leader fails to come down, EVERYTIME a customer decides to no longer want a product.

Thirdly, the equipment is TERRIBLE. It appears that the Tills run on ancient Windows 95 (or older) software ... they always freeze/crash. Scales barely work, chip and pin reader buttons fall out and broken chairs. They Tesco Value or something?!?! Is this what your staff really deserve as we RAKE in your BILLIONS? For goodness sake Tesco. Wake up. YOUR STAFF WANT TO ACTUALLY GIVE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE HERE. Even though you may like to fob them off with excuses....

We are left to deal with the fallout of every eventuality. (i.e. abuse from Customers). We DO care about our customers but the Managers DONT. WE CARE when customers have to wait but the MANAGERS dont and supervisors never come. Managers speak to Customers very rudely and we are left feeling embarrassed and feeling sorry for the Customers for their disgraceful lack of concern for customer's needs. If it wasn't for them then their wage packet wouldn't be paid.

There are TOO MANY CHIEFS AND NOT ENOUGH INDIANS at Tesco. Far too many people huddling round a little podium doing nothing except banter and phaff around. Come on, if Tesco has such high standards then why is it employing these people?

1. WHY IS IT you get a disciplinary when you have one day off SICK?
And why are our holidays always refused, yet we always help you out with Overtime??!!!
2. WHY do you not collect put backs from customers at ends of tills
and put them back? (i.e. Frozen products/ meat). Holding them to
see if they are cold still to put back on the shelf is UNACCEPTABLE !!!
3. PRICES - Why are they so high? Why have you cut back giving time and a half to new employees on Sundays - Why have you failed to give compensation to your staff that have had serious injuries at work?
(I have heard the story or two).
4. TIGHT - That, they are. New Clubcard reciept policy. Can only redeem points within 14 days from reciepts, and 2 at a time. Also they do not pay for our xmas parties. etc. They also cut back pay from packet from unfair clock in times. Every penny helps....

- I appreciate Tesco is a business but this is a business that has been making lives difficult for not only producers but its own staff. Tesco must seriously sort these issues out ! Before the media gloss backfires! New Slogan should be: Tesco. You shop, We Stress.

Tesco Still Don't Like Disabled People?

2007-12-19T12:18:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-16T18:26:00.000Z

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!

2007-11-15T13:30:00.000Z

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.

Welcome to TescoRipOff.com

2007-11-08T14:23:00.000Z

TescoRipOff reveals the shocking truth about Tesco's serious and widespread overcharging of its customers by leaving out-of-date prices and offers on display in stores. Amazingly, Chief Executive Terry Leahy has said he sees nothing wrong in doing this.
Click here for more amazing info on Tesco's ripoff.

Tesco please refund what is rightfully mine!

2007-11-07T13:28:00.000Z

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.

Whistle Blown at Terry's Head Office

2007-10-28T14:17:00.000Z

I work at Tesco Head Office and came across some very interesting material :

- Commercial staff having 'secret' accounts with suppliers whereby the Tesco buyers overpay in the good times with the understanding that they can call on the deposit to artificially show improved management of margins when demanded by senior management, up to £25m would be 'squirrelled' away in this manner at any one time. On 2 occasions that I was aware of these secret accounts were used to commit fraud;

- land buyers having to buy x sqft of land to achieve objectives and in turn receive lucrative bonuses, regardless of whether there was any real chance of building a store on the land;

- staff particularly in the property department receiving excessive hospitality, such as receiving multiple fully paid skiing holidays a year;

- mislead staff about the planned offshoring of jobs to India, Tesco senior management knew from the start they intended to lose 2,800 jobs in the Head Office and move them to India. Even when the headcount in India made it above 1,000 they still managed to keep news of this out of the press - other companies were hammered in the press for losing far less UK staff to India;

- a case of bullying and poor management in a store lead to an employee with mental health issues committing suicide, the initial investigation was a cover up;

...more to come

Tesco Nightworkers Depressed

2007-10-28T14:09:00.000Z

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

This is why Tesco is not hot!

2007-10-05T12:48:00.000+01:00

Cages left out for hours, sometimes the whole night. especially yogurts and long life. chiller too full for this stock as spliting down the order needs to be done in there. Unless its christmas and raw meat has overflowed into the provisions chill, then the split is done in the warehouse or shop floor.. how long do you think it takes to split down 80+ cages and then put it on the shelf? more than 20mins.. try hours..

Waste on the shop floor. Fresh waste I mean.. often catch customers digging around the baskets of now out of code reductions.

The policy of never paying staff for half hours.. so if you start at 2130-0700 you only get 2200-0700 pay.

Confidentiality of the 'sick book' when you phone your name, dept and reason for absence are put in a book, this book is then taken to every handover where anyone there can browse through.. any team leader, manager, options candidate, pre options.. and trust me.. it's not confidential.

A thing called 'rolling stock' Where a loose produce item is out of date.. the label on the side of the basket/dolly somehow vanishes (making it illegal) but gets sold anyhow.. or another one is out of date loose things again.. being bagged and put in the reductions cabinet.

The same old one about fire exits blocked up.. always blocked up.

Working in a 24hr store on the tills by myself with no security guard. what about the 2 at all times rule?? i now refuse to work there by myself on such occasions.

Produce Dollies with raw meat stacked in baskets above fresh unwrapped produce.. mainly apples, they dont even have a plastic cover. think of that next time you give your child a tesco apple.

Tesco internet service pay as you (dont) go!

2007-09-10T23:29:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-09-10T23:21:00.000+01:00

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)

2007-08-25T14:00:00.000+01:00

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?!

2007-08-25T13:50:00.000+01:00

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!!

2007-07-31T13:46:00.000+01:00

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...

2007-07-31T13:36:00.000+01:00

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

Media Request FAO Tesco Staff

2007-06-11T18:02:00.000+01:00

"Are you a current or former Tesco employee? Did extreme targets cause you to cut corners in your job? Are you a manager or supervisor who was forced to compromise your standards in order to keep profits on track? If so please get in touch with this site."

Sheer disgust!

2007-06-02T22:14:00.000+01:00

I am typing this email in sheer disgust ! My name is Donna Ramsden, and I have been a Tesco customer and club card member for approx 6 years now. Until recently I actually enjoyed shopping in your stores, for the baby products we require. However, on Friday I went into Tesco express in Birstall Batley, for babywipes and groceries for that nights dinner. Now the only money I had access to at that hour (6.30) on that day (fri)happened to be two scottish 10 pound notes. I finished picking out what I needed, and stood in the que for around 5 to 10 mins, only to be told (after she had scanned all of my shopping through the check out) that the store now has a company policy of NOT accepting the notes due to too many forgeries ! So, after I told her she had to take it because it was after all, legal tender, she called the manageress to explain to me why they couldn't take it. Therefore I had to leave the shop empty handed, and feelin like a criminal.
So, my partner (who is scottish, and finds this whole affair very offensive) called the tesco customer services number and was told by the customer service advisor that he knew nothing of the so called ban ! To cut the rest of a long story short, Tescos head office phoned the Manager of Tesco Express that this is not company policy, and that he should re-train his staff to check for forged notes ! We were satisfied by this action and were quite willing to forgive and forget ! But then this (sunday) dinnertime my partners brother (who is obviously also scottish) went to the same store only to be made to feel like a criminal aswell. This is totally out of order. We are as a family, all of us hard working people who have never had any trouble of any kind before. I cannot stress enough, how embarrased I was, and brother in law says he has never felt to racially belittled in his entire life.
Can you please sort this issue out one way or another, or I will be taking it further believe me ! I am very angry and unsure as to weather or not I will be using any of your stores again, as a result of this. Seems to me that we have been lied to by the staff, as they said it was now company policy, and then told the opposite by customer services. Please respond to this email, as I cannot just ignore this matter !
Donna Ramsden

Tesco Staff: rat problem is bigger than you know!

2007-05-07T13:19:00.000+01:00

The Andover Advertiser reports: An Andover Tesco superstore worker claims their rat problem is far bigger than has previously been suggested by the supermarket - and the infestation has been known about for at least 18 months.

But Tesco strongly refute the claim, saying they would have been shut down if that were so.

The store worker, who does not wish to be identified for fear of losing his job, claimed trays used in the home delivery service (the dot-com delivery area) were regularly found covered in rat droppings. He said staff joked about getting a cat in to deal with the vermin.

He said: "They've known they've had rats for ages but there's nothing they will do about it.

"If it was a little bakery or corner shop then a health inspector would be straight in there but because it's Tesco they think they can get away with it."

The worker said the issue was only being resolved now because of the Andover Advertiser breaking the story three weeks ago.
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The original report of a mum spotting a rat inside the River Way superstore has generated dozens of comments on the Andover Advertiser's website since 20 April. Most of the comments state readers' disgust at Tesco's handling of the situation.

But a spokesman for Tesco said:"It's absolute rubbish that there have been rat droppings in the dot-com' delivery area. It's complete nonsense and I would query that source of information. We would refute these claims very strongly.

"The main thing to point out is that if there was any problem at all and the Environmental Health and Health and Safety Officers were concerned they would shut the place and of course that's not happened.

"Staff are taking it very seriously. There might be one or two junior guys that find it quite amusing but we take it very seriously.

"As for it only being sorted out because of the newspaper's involvement, well that's just complete nonsense."

In response to the original story on the 20 April a Tesco spokesman said that the store was aware of the problem but was adamant there was no risk to customers.

He said: "It's a case of taking every possible step we can to make sure these horrible things don't gain access."

A spokesperson for Test Valley Borough Council said: "Tesco has received, and will continue to receive, regular visits from the council as part of our regular food hygiene programme.

"We have been working closely with the store's management and the company's pest control service.

"They continue to take pest proofing measures which we will review with them."

Shock for mum as she spots Tesco rat in aisle

2007-04-27T09:05:00.000+01:00

This Is Hampshire report that an Andover mum was left shocked and disgusted when she saw a rat running around Andover's Tesco superstore. Hayley Kirby, from Pilgrims Way, was shopping at the River Way store with her 12-year-old son Jordan when she saw the rat running under the bread aisle.

"I was just so shocked when I saw it come running out from under the bread.

"It was huge, definitely bigger than average, and it had obviously been eating in the store.

"Rats are vermin. They shouldn't be anywhere near Tesco.

"They are definitely the last thing you expect to see when shopping in a food store," she added.
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While she was waiting at the tills she told Jordan to look in the aisle to see if he could see anything.

"He told me members of staff were all on their knees looking under the aisles but whenever customers appro-ached they got up acting as though they weren't doing anything," she said.

Hayley later contacted Tesco's head office only to be told they were aware of the problem.

"I was told they have pest control coming in three times a week so they obviously know what's going on."

Hayley, who has shopped at Tesco for as long as she can remember, will now only shop at the superstore because its convenient..

"It's only down the road and I admit I'll be wary whenever I walk in there but I'll just remember not to buy any open ended food. Who knows which French stick the rats have been eating?"

A spokesman for Tesco said the store was aware of the problem but was adamant there was no risk to customers.

He added: "The store is based next to land used by Southern Water and rats have been an issue for the whole of the retail area. We are working as hard as we can to eradicate the problem by meshing and sealing up points of entry. It's a case of taking every possible step we can to make sure these horrible things don't gain access."

Tesco HGV Driver blows the whistle on Tesco's dirty habits?

2007-04-27T08:55:00.000+01:00

This is a note that should be brought to the attention of all customer's at Tesco's. I used to be a HGV driver delivering all types of food/produce fresh chilled frozen etc.

I was working via an Agency company for several months, however when i applied for the vacancy i was turned down for the job not because of my excellent driving nor the fact i always did my job well. NO the fact that i dare complain to Tesco....

Having been a chef in HMFoces for several years, My health and hygiene is of reasonably good knowledge. So when i refused to take rubbish back in my lorry, that had been left outside a store for several days, The managment were not too happy. If my vehicle had been empty fair enough, however i had fresh produce on, and i think it is disgusting to have fresh produce in cages next to rubbish which could have anything inside of it , inc vermin. WOULD you buy produce if you had known it had sat next to soaking wet cardboard?

I am desperately trying to get hold of tesco's to make a formal complaint however the no i phone never seems to be answered, I hope this helps in some way.

Mr G Jones Peterborough.

Free Condom in your Tesco Sandwich?

2007-04-27T08:50:00.000+01:00

MK News report that a horrified Michelle Lewis was violently ill after she bit into a Tesco cheese sandwich and found a condom inside.

The single office worker from Milton Keynes, Bucks, has contacted her doctor for tests after fearing she may have contracted a sexually transmitted disease.

The 28-year-old said she was disgusted when she bit into the £1.30 ploughman's sandwich and chomped down onto the unwrapped prophylactic which was hidden between the lettuce and tomato.

She was instantly sick and concerned colleagues contacted Tesco to complain.

Michelle said last night: "I bought the sandwich from the petrol station shop for my lunch while I was filling up my car.

I started to eat it while sitting at my desk. I had taken one bite out of the corner, which was fine.

When I took the second bite I felt something rubbery in my mouth. I ran to the sink and the condom was hanging out of the sandwich. I threw up in the toilet straight away.

"It is a disgusting and vile thing to put in a sandwich. If this was somebody's idea of a practical joke at the factory they are clearly very sick minded. This is the most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me.

"This has put me off buying prepacked sandwiches for life. I shall bring my own in from on." The vegetarian sandwich, which claims to contain 'no artificial flavours', was in a sealed package when Michelle purchased it at the Tesco store Buckingham.

The condom, which did not appear to be used, was unwrapped from its foil covering and covered in Branston pickle.

Michelle, who works as a training assessor for Protocol Skills in Milton Keynes, contacted Environmental Services to take away the soiled sandwich.

She said: "My complaint to Tesco has been ignored. I just want someone to take it seriously but instead I had a manager telling me there was nothing they could do and it was just something that happened.

I was outraged by their attitude.

"Tesco is the largest grocery store in Britain and this sort of thing shouldn't happen." A spokesman for Tesco's store said: "We can't imagine how something like this would happen, but we will be carrying out an investigation with our supplier. We would like to apologise."

Tesco make another customer feel bad... this time she's 74 years old. Nice one Terry.

2007-04-05T11:22:00.000+01:00

On the 29th Match 2007 I had an unfortunate incident where, through no ones fault, I had a spillage on a pair of trousers in the Tesco Branch at Nailsea. The matter was dealt with efficiently and courteously by Customer Care who made a record of the incident on their computer - I was told that I didn't need a record as it would be stored on their computer - told to take the trousers to be dry-cleaned, return with the receipt and I would be reimbursed.

On the 2nd April 2007 at approximately 3.15 pm I returned to the Nailsea Branch with my receipt making a round trip of 10 miles, unfortunately, no record of the incident could be found. The Duty Manager who dealt with the query decided that I should be reimbursed for the dry-cleaning but when I asked for mileage was rather dismayed.
She did suggest £2 but I was not happy with this and 32p per mile was agreed upon.

The reason I am writing to you is that I was far from happy with the way I was dealt with by the duty Manager. She ignored me until negotiations for mileage came up and I felt I was being a nuisance. I am a loyal Tesco Customer, 74 years old, who can ill-afford to pay for unnecessary petrol money. If the young lady in question hopes to progress up the management ladder at Tesco's she needs to improve her customer relation technique.

What if an accident like this happens when you are miles from home? I am sure, if the matter was recorded correctly on the computer arrangements could be made with your local stores. I look forward to hearing from you on this matter

Mrs M T Bateman

Tesco Crew Not Down With Tesco!

2007-04-04T13:27:00.000+01:00

Hi there I work in an express store in the city centre of Glasgow and its the worst job i've had. We have only been open a matter of weeks and the staff and managers are overworked and stressed out all the time. The shelves are empty and dirty and most of us are looking elsewhere for jobs.Anonymous disgruntled employees........

Tesco Direct goes Indirect with Poor Delivery

2007-04-04T13:08:00.000+01:00

I want to keep this brief as I have already wasted weeks trying to get an oven delivered, fitted and old one scraped. Not a difficult process - you would hope.

Urgh I feel sick even just thinking about the whole thing. Here goes. It was all arranged for Tuesday the 20th March so I took the day off. At 8.30 the cooker was delivered, but to my surprise the delivery men just left, the cooker dumped in the middle of my sitting room. Chasing them down the road (in my best pink slippers) I told them that I had also paid for installation and scrap. They told me someone would turn up later as it’s a separate job. By 7pm I was sadly still waiting.

After waiting 20 mins to get though to Tesco I was told that engineers only come out on Saturdays in my area (I live in south London not the Shetlands) anyway Saturday no show (no phone call to say they had cancelled it) so I took the following Friday off work as it was arranged for then (by a private engineer to take on the work they can't handle …he is a very busy man!) anyway AGAIN no show, so they promised Saturday by now 11 days late.

To my delight he showed upand installed the new cooker, to my horror I still have the old cooker outside sadly waiting to be scraped, the scrap people again did not bother to show up or call to say they had cancelled. I have now been promised Wednesday which will make it 3 weeks late!

I have been given my delivery cost back and offered £100 in compensation, but when I weigh that up with the fact that 2 weeks after it was meant to all be completed its just crap - I was even told to get my council to collect it!!!

I feel old and tired and will never ever order from Tesco extra again, if you value your mental health don't go near them!

Emmeline Keith-Krelik

Tesco Still Not Recycling Properly!!!

2007-04-01T13:07:00.000+01:00

I am very disappointed and extremely annoyed, I visited the Warrington Tesco Superstore like I do every week, to do my recycling and at the same time my weekly shop. I was very annoyed and disgusted when i visited the store last week (wed) mid morning, to go to the recycling bins, and find that they were all over spilling with rubbish, and there were 10 - 15 bags full of recycling rubbish that had just been dumped in and around the recycling bays, the bins looked like they hadnt been emptied for at least 2 weeks.

I think it is so wrong that the government are extremely hot on members of the public recycling even to the point of us being charged if we dont recycle items properly and stores like the Warrington branch cant even be bothered to control their contractors to empty the bins regularly and keep the bays clear of rubbish.

Needless to say i was so annoyed that i did end up going to Morrisons in Warrington where i did my recycling and my shop at the same time.

A response as to why it was allowed to get in that state would be good, i know my mother is starting to recycle and i told her whatever she does dont bother going to tescos as they dont even bother to empty the bins, that i have also introduced her to morrisons where she does her shopping aswell as recycling. Im afraid if Tescos dont improve they are going to be loosing alot of business.

Regards
M Bowden

Tesco's Bad Customer Service Lottery!

2007-04-01T13:00:00.000+01:00

I am writing to complain about a member of staff in your Tesco extra store in Galashiels. Whilst in the store today my 17 year old daughter was refused a lottery ticket because the woman who was serving did not believe that she was 17, even though both myself and her dad was present. This I understand is store policy and I would have been okay with this but the way that she spoke to me when I asked to buy one was disgraceful especially in front of other customers. She spoke down to me as if I was a child made out that I was a liar and she then refused to serve me a lottery ticket in case I gave it to my daughter.

I'm actually 45 years old and have been a customer of yours for many many years and I have never before been spoken to like that before. I spoke to one of the managers who actually apologised on her behalf which I think was also wrong, I should have received an apology from her. For someone who deals with the public on a daily basis her attitude needs to change or I am sure you will lose many more customers.

Yours sincerely
Mrs G Campbell

Tesco - rotten on the inside!?

2007-03-27T14:48:00.000+01:00

We are forever buying fruit that looks just beautiful from the outside but is often actually inedible or of very poor quality. Having lived for half my life in a sub-tropical country (South Africa) you can rest assured I know tropical / sub tropical fruit VERY WELL.

The current example is of Nectarines purchased on the 20/03/2007 at 15:54 As I said it is all very well having fruit arriving here from all over the world LOOKING perfect on the outside but when you try and eat it, as is often the case, it is not correctly ripened and or has a powerdry texture and when allowed to ripen a bit, as in this case a few days, goes off or at least ends up inedible.

The picture shown reflects the fruit as it was on Friday 23rd March 3 days after purchase. It is a shamefull indictment of the lack of interest TESCO actually has in supplying “good quality” products.

My complaint is not aimed at getting something back from Tesco (although I often feel that I should because to be sold fruit like this is not on, in simple terms IT'S a rip off !) but more towards offering valuable feedback on the problem of picking, preparing and transporting fruit over long distances and getting TESCO to DO SOMETHING about the problem.

Before I move on, I do however wish to point out that these nectarines were and still are on a special offer, HALF PRICE, and I could just not help thinking that TESCO is simply dumping stock that is not quiet up to standard or stock that they know will not last and reach the customer in the quality it should, at special prices, to get the public to buy the sub-standard product and minimise TESCO's wastage / loss.

Back on the more general matter, as you may be aware fruit can be successfully picked early, held in cold storage and ripened on demand by raising the storage temperature and spiking the natural ripening process by the introduction of Ethylene into the air.

Unfortunately this process needs very tight control and degradation of the quality of the fruit, as has happened in this case can occur, amongst other things, because...

Fruit is overheated between time of picking and cold storage for transport.
Fruit is over cooled during the cold storage transport stage.

I think Tesco should have a hard look at the procedures involved and make it the responsibility of the suppliers / transporters to keep accurate recorded temperatures from beginning to end of the process, recording the temperature every 30 minutes during of the process using an inexpensive digital device that accompanies the fruit throughout it's journey. This way TESCO can refuse to accept fruit that will not reflect the high standards we, your customers demand. There are however also other actions / factors that govern the fruit final quality that should be considered.

This way Tesco can live up to it's name of bringing high quality to it's customers in every aspect of your service.

Grey Smith

Tesco-Complaint: This is far from the the first rotten produce complaint we've received - Tesco must receive hundreds if not thousands of rotten complaints. Will they ever do anything about it?

My beef with Tesco over meat labelling

2007-03-20T16:11:00.000Z

DAN BURGLASS writes in The Scotsman that SUPERMARKETS are a fact of life and, over the past 30 years, the intense competition between the major operators has resulted in a massive decline in the real cost of the shopping basket.

However, while the shareholders who invested in these monoliths have stacked up healthy dividends and seen their capital worth increase enormously, not everyone is a winner.

I find that consumers are becoming increasingly confused, especially in regard to labelling and sell-by dates. I reckon that I am normally a fairly calm person, but my blood pressure must have shot up to a dangerously high level on Saturday during a visit to the local Tesco. Among the various items on the shopping list was some cold meat, preferably beef, to go with a salad. Sure enough, I found pre-cooked beef in a packet.

Ever one to read the small print on the labels, even though occasionally it requires something akin to a magnifying glass, I scrutinised the fine detail. There was no complaint with the declaration that there was no added water and that each 105 grams of the product contained 100 grams of raw beef. That satisfied me, but my eyes moved on down the label to the part titled "additional information". This was getting more interesting, but it was then that the real sense of confusion set in: "Tesco assured beef [comes] from farms in the UK, EU or South America."

To my mind that is simply not good enough and is thoroughly misleading. But since there was no "red tractor logo" or the Specially Selected Scotch branding, I suspect that the beef originated in South America since very little beef is imported from the EU into this country. So why cannot Tesco, and its competitors, inform customers from which specific country particular products are sourced? The packet of beef remains unopened. My inclination is to put it in a jiffy bag and dispatch it poste haste to Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy with a note requesting him to explain just what the label means. However, by the time it arrives on his desk it will be well past its ridiculously short recommended sell-by date!

Later that afternoon, in the pub during the half-time break in the rugby international in Paris, I put that object of my concern on the bar and asked a couple of friends to have a good look at the label. I was pleased to discover very quickly that I was not the only to be confused over the country of origin sentence. "Well, where does it come from?" asked Sandy. I could not help him.

But it is not just that single packet that is causing confusion. In recent weeks, the National Beef Association, along with NFU Scotland, has highlighted the practice of "co-mingling". This occurs when the multiples have beef from different countries in the same display cabinet. This is contrary to EU regulations, but it is widespread. There is at least one major store in the heart of Edinburgh where beef from Scotland, the UK and South America is all on display in the same cabinet. I raised the matter with the store supervisor, only to be met with a shrug and advice to write to the relevant head office if I was not happy. It should not be left to consumers to enforce the rules. That is what trading standards officers are supposed to be doing.

I am also intrigued by the claim that all Tesco beef comes from "assured farms". I can accept that declaration in respect of UK beef. Indeed, Scotland led the way in the entire concept of farm assurance and one of the pioneers in that field was the late Sir Alistair Grant in his time as head of Safeway. I recall interviewing him in his office in London's Park Lane as part of an item for BBC Scotland's television's farming programme, Landward.

Grant was a great enthusiast for farm assurance, stating quite categorically that this was the way ahead. The initial reaction from many farmers who saw the programme ranged from outright scorn to that of fearing that the principle would lead to further costs for the industry and that they would only consider joining up if they were to be guaranteed a premium. But there were some visionaries, not the least of whom was Maitland Mackie, that eponymous agri-business operator from Aberdeenshire. Maitland said all those years ago that it was not a case of expecting a premium for being assured, but rather finding it increasingly difficult to find a market, even at discounted values, if a business was not assured, and to increasingly high standards. Of course, Maitland has been vindicated and now virtually all the beef, lamb, pork, milk and cereals produced on Scottish farms is assured, and to a very high level with independent certification.

And that brings me back to imports of beef from South America. There is no possibility of the EU producing all the beef it requires and recent figures from Revenue and Customs reveal that, during past year, the UK imported 41,200 tonnes from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Production standards vary, but a clandestine visit by the Irish Farmers' Association last year concluded that very few of the units they viewed in Brazil would comply with EU protocols. Publication of the findings strained relations between Dublin and Brazil, but consumers have a right to know how their food is produced. Shoppers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with a growing thirst for accurate information, fuelled by the popular media picking up quickly on any shortcomings on the part of UK farmers. The concept of fair trade is admirable, but it must be fair and equitable for everyone. A more robust labelling regime on the part of supermarkets would be a good place to begin.

Tesco Still Hatin' Disabled People

2007-03-18T13:01:00.000Z

I wish to complain about the new signage above the goods in the aisles at Tesco in Newport, South Wales (the branch on the Harlect Retail Estate).

Some of the signs have recently been replaced with white lettering on pale blue/green backgrounds. I have 53-year-old eyes and I find these impossible to read, especially from a distance as the colour contrast is appalling. Someone with even a minimal visual impairment would find it even more difficult to read these signs.

In order for you to comply with the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005, you need to make a "reasonable adjustment" and replace these dreadful signs as quickly as possible. In order to comply with the Acts, you need to have the writing in black on either a white or pale yellow background. If you insist on white lettering, the background will need to be black, dark blue or dark green at the very least.

There will be no acceptable excuse for not making these signs visible given Tesco's huge profits. I cannot believe that with the size of the Tesco organisation, you do not have access to someone who could have advised you on the signs; I hope this position is not replicated across the UK.

Please make your stores accessible to people with all forms of disability. Your record in other areas is very good. I look forward to hearing from you.

Ann Morgan
Project Director

Tesco's Arswydus Cwsmer Oedfa!

2007-03-18T01:35:00.000Z

Swansea Marina store lock their unmanned changing rooms and you have to ring the bell for a member of staff to unlock them. Trouble is no one ever responds to the bell. Yesterday I stood in queue for 15 minutes but no one came so I dumped the clothes and left as did the others in the queue.Come on Tesco get your act together and while you are at it tell your staff on tills and CS to stop chatting to one another and help the customers. Don't sit there with your arms folded while I finish packing and don't yawn constantly in my face.

Tesco helps fuel alcoholic binge drinking

2007-03-17T21:53:00.000Z

Tesco are selling glasses labelled "Small Wine Glasses" with no information on capacity. According to health professionals, a small wine glass would contain 75 ml, approximately one unit's worth of alcohol. Tesco's small wine glasses can accommodate 300 ml.

I have written, commented and telephoned Tesco's and other relevant authorities about this and I have been ignored.

I enjoy a few drinks, am no kill-joy, but am appalled at the misrepresentation of the facts Tesco are upholding, and increasingly annoyed at the arrogant manner in which they are treating my complaint.

Lindsay Tether, Evesham, Worcestershire.

‘Tesco jails’ planned

2007-03-14T23:42:00.000Z

THE TIMES REPORTS Short-term “jails” are planned for supermarkets and town centres to deal with yobs and shoplifters under Home Office proposals to ease the burden on police. Discussions have already started about building a “retail jail” inside the Selfridges store in Oxford Street, London.

Suspects would be held for up to four hours in a small room with a clear plastic front so they were visible to custody officers at all times during their detention.

The Home Office proposals for a network of “short-term holding facilities” in shopping malls and high streets aim to help police to process high-volume crimes such as shoplifting. The move to speed up the handling of suspects and save money was outlined in a consultation paper on rules to govern how suspects are treated by police.

The paper also suggests another radical change to existing rules by allowing police to question suspects after they have been charged. The proposal for short-term holding facilities is intended to facilitate cases where suspects’ identity cannot readily be confirmed.

“A potential solution in dealing with high-volume offending is to enable the police to make use of short-term holding facilities located in shopping centres and town centres,” the paper said. The facilities would be secure but would not be the same as standard cell design, it added.

“Persons detained would be subject to detention to a maximum period of four hours to enable fingerprinting, photographing and DNA sampling,” the paper, Modernising Police Powers, said.

“The aim would be to locate the short-term holding facility in busy areas to allow quick access and processing of suspects to enable the officer to resume operational duties as quickly as possible,” it added.

As well as its plan for Selfridges, the Metropolitan Police is understood to be interested in placing units in other stores and is planning custody units in every London borough.

The Home Office document also suggests allowing police to fingerprint people over 10 accused of nonrecordable offences – crimes for which an offender cannot be imprisoned. At present fingerprints and DNA and other samples are only taken for recordable offences.

The consultation said that extending fingerprinting would send a strong message to offenders that, whatever their crimes, they would be subject to indenti-fication that could be checked against other databases and linked to other offences. Gareth Crossman, policy director of Liberty, the civil rights group, said: “The Government is fast replacing the best traditions of English law with a chilling presumption of guilt.

“Dropping litter and bad parking are proposed as lame excuses for an ever-growing national DNA database.”

Tesco Trollied My Car!

2007-03-14T23:37:00.000Z

On 28 February 07 my car was damaged by one of your trolleys.It was seen by a customer who saw trolleys being placed in the trolley park by a member of staff. Several trolleys were not stacked properly behind the rail.On that date it was very windy and raining. One of the trolleys that was not correctly stacked came adrift and struck my car causing damage to back wing and wheel arch also rear back door.

Since the incident I have been calling Tesco on a daily basis to try and get someone to take me seriously. I have been fobbed off, ignored, and generally treated as if I were a nuisance. I have waited in for return phone calls that never happen, and yesterday I was told to attend the store at 6pm, only to find that the manager was not there. On one occasion I was told that my complaint was of no priority because of the fuel problem - even though my incident occurred before the fuel problem - and surely all your customers are important? I have now been asked to send in a witness statement to your claims office - my reference is 7653970.

I have absolutely no confidence that anything is going to happen as a result of my sending in this statement - your track record so far has left me very disillusioned. I feel the customer comes a very poor second with Tesco - you do not seem to have any facilities in place for the customer to speak to anyone - you seem to prefer to keep them at arms length - happy to sell goods to me, but not willing to take any responsibility when things go wrong.

I shop regularly in Tesco - please restore some of my faith by dealing with this issue for me by return.

Regards

Ian Comerford

Inverness Council wisely refuses 'Tesco Town'

2007-03-14T23:32:00.000Z

THE HERALD REPORTS THE conquest of Inverness by the supermarket giant Tesco - which already rakes in more than half the population's grocery spend - was halted yesterday. The group, whose three existing supermarkets have resulted in the Highland capital being dubbed Tesco Town, wanted a fourth.

But members of the Highland Council's City of Inverness Planning Applications Committee were unanimous in turning down the application for a development on Ness-side at Dores Road. The 4447sq m superstore was to have been part of a district shopping centre, also including unit shops, a petrol filling station, and sites for a hotel and doctors' surgery.
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The site is at the western end of the Inverness trunk road link. The committee was told that 73 letters of representation and a petition containing 1054 signatures against the proposal had been received by the council, and that Holm Community Council had expressed serious concerns regarding the proposal. The decision brought relief to local campaigners alarmed by the threat to small local shops from the encroachment of the store chain. Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket chain, whose presence in Scotland burgeoned after the takeover of the William Low chain, now accounts for 51p out of every £1 spent on food in Inverness.

Planning permission for the Ness-side development was refused on the grounds that the proposal went against the Inverness Local Plan in respect of retailing. The committee said the scale of the proposed foodstore was out of proportion to the scale and function of the Ness District, to an extent where it would hinder the establishment of smaller district-level shopping areas they wanted to establish in the other centres identified in the local plan.

It was also contrary to Policy G2 of the Highland Structure Plan in respect of design, since without an indication of parking associated with the hotel and surgery uses, the layout and siting of the buildings might have affected the overall integrity of the development.

The applicants will now be entitled to appeal to the Scottish Executive Inquiry Reporter's Unit. A spokesman for Tesco said later: "We are very disappointed at the decision and we are reviewing our options."

'Tesco town’ opponents to petition Tony Blair

2007-03-14T23:27:00.000Z

GLASGOW EVENING TIMES REPORTS THAT OPPONENTS of the planned Tesco development in Glasgow's West End are calling on Prime Minister Tony Blair to stop the project. Campaigner Andy Watson insists the supermarket firm's proposals for Partick are "wholly inappropriate" and has started a petition online. Mr Watson, who lives in Partick, said he was prompted to approach Mr Blair after Tesco demolished the disused historic former railway station building on the site.

Tesco's plans for a supermarket, flats, houses and car park near the foot of Byres Road, which have been branded Tesco town', caused an outcry when they were lodged last year. Another petition calling on the Scottish Executive to intervene has already been launched.

Mr Watson said he decided to go straight to Mr Blair because he wanted Partick to keep its mix of independent retailers and corner shops. The 28-year-old web developer, of Caird Drive, said: "I had written a letter of complaint to the city council, but I was wondering what else I could do. "I heard about an online petition to the Prime Minister to stop the fuel tax and I thought that was the best way to do it. "It shows the strength of feeling about the plans and it is easy for people to register their protest."

Mr Watson's petition, which will be sent through the internet to 10 Downing Street, states: "We petition the Prime Minister to stop Tesco building a wholly inappropriate 9950sq m 24-hour hypermarket in Partick, risking Glasgow's independent retailers, markets and wildlife.

"Demolishing Partick Central ticket office was gratuitous; an application was under way to list this building." Mr Watson said Glasgow City Council had a financial interest in the proposal because it part-owned the site. He also quoted Scottish Executive planning guidelines that said: "Designs that fail to integrate developments with surroundings and fail to create links with surrounding urban fabric should be refused planning permission."

Mr Watson also said a transport impact survey agreed with the claim a store of that size was unjustified. And he claimed the development would have a big impact on the viability of businesses in Dumbarton Road, Byres Road, Woodlands Road and Hyndland Road.

A campaign group - Stop Tesco Owning Partick - has been set up to coordinate the opposition. It has its own petition, which has more than 200 signatories, and is to be submitted to the Executive. The group is holding a public meeting in Partick Burgh Hall on April 16 and is to invite officials from the council and a representative from a traders' association to address it.

Tesco's planning application has been submitted to the council, but no date has been set for it to be heard. The address for anyone wanting to join the e-petition is: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/STOP-TESCO/

'Concerned' Parent: My 17 year old son is daft enough to risk dying for our country in false wars so kindly let him smoke Tesco' s filthy cigarettes!

2007-03-11T23:23:00.000Z

While in Tesco Wrexham yesterday with my 17 year old son we both went to the cigarette kiosk to purchase cigarettes. My son is does look young for his age although he is seventeen and expected to be asked to produce I.D.

As he is a serving member of the British Army he carries an official Army I.D card with him at all times which includes a photograph. At the kiosk he produced this I.D but was told it was not acceptable as a form of I.D and was not served.

He was asked if he could produce a drivers license or passport as these were acceptable. These are left with the army back at his barracks in Aldershot. I am disgusted that this I.D was not accepted as if it is good enough for the military and every other place he has been asked to prove his age why do Tesco decide it is not valid I.D to them.

The I.D is only granted to members of the British Army and is therefore not a usual means of I.D but it is recognised by any other place including the Police. I am disgusted that at 17 he is old enough to defend his country but because he only looks young your store takes it upon themselves to reject military I.D.

I hope you look into this and inform your staff that a military I.D card should be accepted for identification, I know it is not a usual form of I.D but they are only issued to soldiers!!!!!!

From a Very Disgusted Parent.

Tesco tries to takeover Glasgow West End!

2007-03-10T23:15:00.000Z

Uproar against Tesco’s proposal for a ‘Tesco Town’ in Glasgow’s West End - By: Samer Bagaeen of STOP (Stop Tesco Owning Partick).

This proposal by Tesco involves a Tesco 24-hour superstore, student accommodation, student union, leisure centre and underground parking on land on Beith Street in Glasgow’s West End. All details relating to this on-going dispute can be found on the website of the residents group formed to campaign against this application - STOP (Stop Tesco Owning Partick) www.stoptesco.info. Supporting documents from Architecture and Design Scotland, Historic Scotland, and extensive media coverage including the BBC television and BBC Radio Scotland can be accessed via this site.

STOP is arguing that this proposed scheme by Tesco (http://www.stoptesco.info/tescoplans.htm) does not comply with Glasgow City Council’s own policies on retail developments, quality and design, greenspace or landscape and several Scottish Executive policy notes including those on transport, retail and town centre development. The proposed density on site is totally inappropriate given that the density of the proposed student accommodation, located on top of the 24-hour store, is excessive in both height and footprint.

STOP is arguing that the traffic flow impacts of this scheme will be overwhelming. Tesco’s own traffic impact assessment is flawed. The traffic impact of the development will be substantial and the mitigation suggested will not adequately address this increase in congestion and traffic levels, and makes no assessment of the likely impact of the development to the problems of on street parking already existing in the surrounding area.

Early in March 2007, the group’s chairman has set up an e-petition on the Scottish Parliament’s website calling for the Scottish Parliament to consider and debate the traffic, environmental and sustainability impact on existing communities in designated town centres of large 24-hour supermarket developments. This can be accessed here.

There was an uproar in Glasgow when the old Partick Central Railway Station Ticket Office (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partick_Central_railway_station) which sat on the disputed site until it was demolished by Tesco at the end of January 2007 (http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/display.var.1156641.0.0.php) by means of a suspect building warrant issued by the Council’s building control department a few months previously to demolish other dilapidated buildings on the site. A video of the demolition can be seen on YouTube at (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuBGju0Lvug).

The STOP group have been active in disturbing leaflet throughout Glasgow’s West End and have already organised a public meeting in December 2006. The next public meeting on this development in Partick is scheduled for 16 April 2007 (details will be posted on www.stoptesco.info).

Tesco Dirty Filthy Disgusting Fuel: Update

2007-03-10T23:11:00.000Z

As predicted by one of the posters on this site, TESCO finally issued an 'apology' for their dirty fuel on Tuesday 6th March. You can read their 'apology' here however there are some interesting points within that statement that need careful scrutinisation.

For example; "Tesco petrol is now back to normal." An admission that the petrol they had been selling was abnormal. This is the same petrol that they continued to sell in the face of overwhelming evidence of a problem wherein a complete withdrawal of the fuel would have been a more appropriate step to have taken.

And then there is; "if petrol bought at Tesco has damaged your car, we'd like to say how sorry we are." Yes, we're sure you'd like to say sorry. How about actually saying sorry?

In a similar vein; "More to the point, we'd like to promise to pay for the repairs." So, you'd like to promise to pay for the repairs, but you actually haven't promised to pay for the repairs have you? Why don't you just say "we promise to pay for the repairs"? Oh no, that could be construed as a legally binding statement, you have to leave an escape route somewhere.....

"M'lud, the respondent never actually promised that he would pay for the repairs as insinuated by the applicant, merely that he would have liked to be able to offer a promise. There is a distinct variance in those statements..."

All you have said is that you feel for our situation and are offering your sympathy, when a promise of hard cash reimbursement would be much more appreciated.

But I'm sure TESCO really won't want to wheedle their way out of paying for the repairs. In the past they have never tried to avoid compensating people for their admitted liabilities. have they?

Hang on a minute! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6423923.stm

"Although the retailer later admitted liability, Tesco said it was only prepared to pay 25% of the cost of the repairs. "

So, TESCO admitted the fuel they supplied caused damage to a vehicle, but then state they are only prepared to pay a quarter of the repair bill? But this example is almost exactly the same as the situation that thousands of motorists now find themselves in; their vehicle has been damaged by contaminated fuel bought at TESCO. Could we see this situation repeated many times in the small claims Courts of the land? The upside of this story is that clearly the weight of the law has fallen on the side of the consumer and TESCO find themselves on the receiving end of the bailiffs. £60,000 worth of alcohol has been ringfenced and barred from sale until TESCO settles it's County Court Judgement, the enforcement order and the bailiffs fees. The depressing fact of this case is that the victim has had to wait more than three years before getting to this point....

At last, the bully has tried to push around the biggest kid in the playground and has received a bloody nose for his belligerence.

TESCO. Every seizure counts.

Iconoclast vs Terence: Ten Paces Please!

2007-03-08T11:35:00.000Z

Dear Sir Terence, I am not a violent man, nor ever have been, nor do I condone violence or intimidation in any way shape or form. I also do not like the sight of blood (particularly my own).

However, I was brought up in Derbyshire, when English men behaved like gentlemen, and the traditional way of sorting things out was not via lawyers at £300 per hour,but by a duel. (I am from a poor working class mining village).

I will be 52 years old in July, have diabetes, a heart complaint and am on medication for blood pressure, however I am quite happy to settle our dispute once and for all in a Boxing Ring to Marquis of Queensbury Rules (although I have never boxed or been taught how to fight).

My proposition is that the fight takes place in public and all proceeds go to Children in Need (Red Nose Day). The loser would renounce all their worldly material posessions and go and live in a monastery to contemplate the error of his ways until death

I am quite happy to do this, you have ruined my once beautiful country so much that I no longer wish to live in it. Your plans to build a Tesco's in my beautiful home town of Belper, Derbyshire,and ruin my one place of retreat by building a bypass into it is the final straw.

Please accept my challenge, you look a lot younger than me and could even win (I doubt it)... I have the power of honesty and truth on my side, which I have found to be invincible.

With love and looking forward to the final battle, David

Iconoclast David Nicolas Banned From Tesco!

2007-03-06T14:40:00.000Z

A truly dark event has happened, following the iconoclast David Nicolas' wonderful film reports for Tesco-Complaint which showed Tesco's pitiful lack of customer service, our roving reporter has been banned from every Tesco store in the land (and beyond!). Gloria in excelsis deo!

David Nicolas writes: "Today, I took the computer back that I bought when filming 'Tesco's the Movie', as it was not to the described specification. Double click here for movie:-
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJ5JPBVWd0

For the crime of openly filming with a camera (such as can be bought in Tesco's or as is on any mobile phone), I was presented with this pre-prepared 'banning order' by the 'duty manager':

What a result.... the first iconoclast in the U.K. to be banned from every Tesco shop and store :)..... unless you know differently?

David says 'A wonderful result, I was only too pleased to do my shopping in the lovely local town of Shoreham-by-sea' where I got British food from the Co-op, Organic potatoes and fluoride free toothpaste from 'The Healing Light', a coffee at 'Angels Bar '... (and a chat with a beautiful manageress), and a hair cut at the barbers next door... Wonderful! I also bought a nice video in the Dogs Trust Charity shop (for 50p)... and best of all 'The Guardian' newspaper which has actually published some truth, which the metropolitan police and the Attorney General spent last night trying to ban :)

What a wonderful morning.... all thanks to being banned from Tesco's.

Thank you so much.

David was also reminded of the old Kenneth Williams line 'Infamy! Infamy!.... they've all got it infamy!' :) as Tesco's Security Staff spread around the car park of the Holmbush Centre to observe David re-parking and shopping in Marks and Spencers."

Fear not David for the law on trespass is on your side and if you were to enter a Tesco store and film or shop Tesco would need to do the following in order to sue you:

Establish you are/were indeed David Nicolas
Establish your home address or place of business
Establish what damages they have suffered by your trespass (likely NIL)

There is no criminal offence of trespass and to state one can be prosecuted for trespass is an untruth at law. Don't worry David, this banning order's threats are as empty as Tesco's apologies and promises over it's filthy fuel.

The great news is David is not banned from the Cheshunt Head Office so we look forward to some lovely film footage of the Terence!

Triumph The Insult Dog, Tesco's New Head of CS?

2007-03-06T14:11:00.000Z

My partner and I have received appalling treatment from some staff members of the Carrickfergus Castle store, County Antrim, NI. Tesco Customer Services department in Dundee has been ineffective in dealing with this. We have demanded a sincere, personal apology from all 3 culprits in this store. I have preserved the anonymity of the staff and I expect the same in return from Tesco if and when Sir Terry replies to me.

We have given Tesco every chance to sort this problem but their response has been completely abysmal. It is our opinion that Tesco has got so big they don’t really care. So now we have decided to spread the word about our experience. I apologise if this posting is rather long but you can see we have been led a merry dance! I have summarized the main points below:

1. 30 Dec (yes, that long ago) – a rude and surly CS assistant barked a question at me like I was a dog then stomped off like a stroppy teenager.
2. Same day – Acting Duty manager was patronizing and arrogant towards us. She leveled an unsubstantiated, very insulting accusation at us and upset my partner a great deal. We challenged her about this but didn’t receive an apology
3. 17 Jan – we received a totally inept reply from Customer Services HQ for NI, to whom we had complained. They referred the matter to the Store Manager (who was absent on 30 Dec)
4. 14-Feb – a telephone message from Carrickfergus Castle Store Manager, asking me to contact him.
5. Same day and next 3 days – I kept phoning the store, the manager had gone home early, he was off or else when I rang the phone wasn’t even answered. Next thing I heard – he was off for a week’s leave.
6. 20 Feb – I wrote to Sir Terry, asking for the matter to be resolved either by him or (in his absence) one of his immediate subordinates
7. 23 Feb – received an e-mail from a Customer Service Executive informing us he would deal with the matters
8. 26 Feb – Carrickfergus Castle Store Manager eventually phones us. It was not worth the wait. He quickly became quite aggressive, choosing to rant about one point in my complaint about which he took exception. Even after I conceded that particular point to him he carried on ranting. He even ranted at my partner when she tried to verify to him how upset she had been by the Acting Duty Manager’s comments. He glossed over our complaints and stated that the 2 culprits had denied everything. He was very rude and at no stage did he even attempt to deal with our complaint. I am convinced that the only reason he phoned was to rant at us.
9. Same day – I sent an e-mail to the same CS Executive as before, complaining about the telephone manner and behaviour of the Store Manager. I asked him to handle matters personally as I did not want any further contact with anyone from the relevant store, unless they were prepared to apologise in person.
10. 28 Feb – a bland reply received from CS Executive. He had spoken to Store Manager and stated we were not getting an apology. By now I suspected that this person was not a senior manager, he didn’t even have his own personal e-mail address!
11. Same day – I replied to CS Executive stating that he had not dealt with my complaint about the Store manager. I assured him that we would be taking matters further.

Tesco have tried to justify the long delay overall (now 59 days) by stating that the Store manager was absent for some time. It took from 17 Jan to 14 Feb before the Store Manager contacted me. That is totally unacceptable. If he was absent that length of time, Tesco should have organized someone more senior to investigate our complaint i.e. area manager

I will shortly be sending a further e-mail to Sir Terry Leahy and asking for a personal response, preferably by telephone. I won’t hold my breath. I will also be spreading the word about our experiences both nationally on another popular consumer forum (which I am told has over a million hits a day) and locally by e-mail and word of mouth. I have lived in Carrickfergus for 43 years and I know a lot of people. Bad news travels fast, especially with my foot on the accelerator!!

People reading this site may wonder why I am pursuing this but ask yourself if the person you loved was insulted and upset very much, what would you do? Also if we all let Tesco get away with appalling Customer Service, they will never change

NiteRider
Carrickfergus, County Antrim

Tesco's Deceptive Fruit and Veg Pledge...

2007-03-06T13:43:00.002Z

Mark Mcgivern of The Daily Record reports that for Tesco, EVERY LITTLE CHEAT HELPS: SUPERMARKET giants Tesco have been accused of a half price fiddle. Trading Standards officers found they put big hikes on the price of fruit - then slashed them by 50 per cent days later.

Tesco, who take in £1 in every £8 spent in British shops, use TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh to advertise their "Fruit & Veg Pledge". They promised to halve the price of five types of fruit and veg every week of this year.

But research showed that four of the products featured in the first week of the promotion in January suddenly rose in price at the end of December. For example, Gala apples cost £1.19 a kilo on December 11.

They went up to £1.99 on December 18, but were reduced to 99p on January 1 for the promotion. A 500g punnet of peaches cost £1.99 on December 11, before reaching £2.99 on December 28. On New Year's Day, the price was reduced by half to £1.48. Nectarines and plums followed a similar pattern.

Mart in Fisher, of the Trading Standards Institute, said the supermarket were "grossly exploiting" loopholes that allow them to cut prices on goods which quickly go rotten.

The Department Of Trade and Industry states that shops can only advertise a discount on a product if it has been priced at a higher rate for the past 28 days.

But with fruit and veg, the discount has to relate only to the last advertised price.

Researchers also found other evidence of unusual pricing.

A pack of three courgettes were halved to 99p - at the same time the price of loose courgettes rose by 35p a kilo. Celery hearts halved in price, but celery sticks simultaneously rose by 51 per cent.

A Tesco spokesman blamed seasonal fluctuations. He added: "Any suggestion we ramp up prices in order to cut them again is the purest nonsense."

Labour MP Jim Dowd, of the all-party small shops group, said: "It amounts to the deception of customers."

Tesco.com Vans Attacked in SE London

2007-03-06T13:33:00.000Z

A series of attacks on Tesco delivery vans has prompted the supermarket firm to ban its vehicles from the SE1 2 postcode sector after 6pm as reported on London-SE1.

A Tesco.com delivery van

"Unfortunately we have had to suspend delivery to this area in the evening following several incidents involving our dot com vans. The last slot available for delivery is 4-6pm," says a Tesco spokesman.

"We have not taken this decision lightly and hate to disappoint our customers. However we are sure that they will appreciate that the safety of our drivers must come first."

The SE1 2 postcode sector includes most of Tooley Street, the western end of Jamaica Road, the Dickens Estate as well as Butler's Wharf and Shad Thames.

The ban applies to all addresses with postcodes beginning SE1 2.

Tesco's Buzz Collapses!

2007-03-06T13:18:00.000Z

Tesco's brand image has collapsed due to it's bad handling of the filthy fuel forecourt fiasco (well done Jon Church - now we see Trevor Datsun representing Tesco instead of course!!). According to mad.co.uk the silicon contamination at the forecourt pumps has seen thousands of cars damaged in South East England, arguably Tesco’s heartland. The supermarket has had to empty its unleaded tanks at 150 forecourts and to compound motorists’ fury the price of petrol has to rise to compensate for a shortage. Tesco has seen its “Buzz”, as measured by YouGov’s BrandIndex tool, fall dramatically since the beginning of the contamination crisis.The Buzz measures whether people have heard positive or negative things about the brand and Tesco has seen a robust rating throughout the year. It registered -3 in March last year but soon rose and in October was hitting 19.

While incidents began to surface over a week ago, it was not until last Wednesday (28 February) that it looked like there was a widespread problem. The impact of the first rumours can be seen in late February with Buzz dropping into minus figures on 20 February. It bumped along at -4 until 23 February then rallied until the confirmation of problems last Thursday (1 March) when it dropped sharply and by last Friday (2 March) the supermarket’s Buzz stood at -9.

Over the same period Tesco also had to deal with a clearance of contaminated humous from its shelves and issue a warning. The supermarket’s Recommend rating is also at its lowest recorded point this year, standing at 31. Last year it reached as high as 44.

The Red Brick Road advertising agency picked up the Tesco account last year. While marketing is only one factor among many influencing perceptions of Tesco, one would hope that the agency’s work helped with the strong Buzz throughout the year. It’s likely the agency is being consulted even now on how to help placate and reassure Tesco’s motoring customers.

Setting the petrol problem aside, Tesco’s Buzz has been falling steadily since the start of the year, and the reasons will be manifold. Among issues having an impact could be the avian flu poultry scare caused by Bernard Matthews and the noise surrounding rival Asda, which has been flexing its muscles with announcements about new openings and initiatives.

Tesco's Finest is just not good enough!

2007-03-02T01:50:00.000Z

Whilst the customer service email contact address for internet purchases is displayed through my search engine (Google) the customer service contact for supermarket purchases is not. My search led me to a web page of complaints from concerned customers titled "Tesco-Complaint". That website provided the correct information on how to contact your Company.

The reason for contacting you was to express our concern about the new Finest Scandanavian Blackcurrant Conserve. We had used up our small stock of Finest Blackcurrant Conserve which was a superb product with residues of tangy blackcurrants in it - just like a home made product!!

We expected the new Finest Blackcurrant Conserve to be similar but alas it is a totally macerated pulp without the tang of blackcurrant and doesn't deserve the label "Finest"

We no longer have the receipts but would seek your authority for a refund on the used jar and for the three additional jars we purchased as stock - the cap coding are October 2008 with serial numbers 6300 13:06 and bar code 5 000436 288473

A previous complaint we made about Finest Slow cooked Lamb Shanks was ignored. Originally that product had a distinct taste of herbs and the vegetables were reasonably firm. The last batch we purchased had soggy vegetables in a gluey gravy similar to that made up from gravy granules.

We are disappointed that the standards of Finest products seems to be deteriorating.

Vic Sullivan

Tesco's Dirty Fuel Keeps on Damaging Cars!

2007-03-01T18:55:00.000Z

I filled my '98 2.3 ZETEC Galaxy up to the brim with £55.31 of TESCO's finest regular unleaded at 10.51 on the morning of the 15th February. (I have the receipts AND my bank statement, so there's no getting away from it!).

Just about halfway through the tank, I noticed that I was getting a little hesitation on the motorway and the drive was lumpy during town driving. As the tank got lower and lower, the problem became increasingly worse. I also noticed that flooring the throttle would eliminate the problem, but we can't drive at full throttle all the time can we?

At the beginning of this week (26/02/2007), I called my mechanic and explained what the symptoms were. I suggested it might be a fuel starvation issue (blockage/fuel pump) because of the hesitation but he suggested that it might be a sticky inlet butterfly valve or a gummed up sensor. He told me to put some injector cleaner in the tank and try it for a couple of days to see what happened. If it didn't improve, he would come over with his diagnostic kit. I did as he suggested but the problem became progressively worse as the fuel level dropped.

As the news broke in the media yesterday, I paid carefully atttention the symptoms; "misfiring and juddering", "losing power". 'This sounds familiar...' I thought. I spoke again to my mechanic who suggested the best thing to do would be to completely fill the tank up with 'good brand' fuel to dilute the residue.

I did this and immediately took the car for a 40 mile motorway blast to clear out the 1 to 2 litres of pure TESCO filth that I knew would remain in the delivery system (pipes, filter, fuel pump, injector pressure manifold, etc). The engine was better behaved, but still was a bit lumpy. This morning I drove to work and the difference was marked; only a slight hesitation when cold and virtually no power drops on the motorway. I reported to my mechanic and he told me that I might have got away with it. I called up Ford and got them to put aside a Lambda sensor for me 'just in case'. I decided the drive home would be the acid test; it was much better still! Slight hesitation at first pull away, no power dip on the motorway. So it seems I may be lucky. I called Ford and cancelled the hold on the sensor, just in case some other poor unfortunate needs it. Hopefully the repeated heating/cooling cycles of the sensor will help to clean it up further still, if the Lambda sensor requires changing in the next 1000 miles, I know who to blame!

As for registering a complaint, I called my local Trading Standards Office and they told me they had been instructed to refer everyone to Consumer Direct (www.consumerdirect.gov.uk - 08454 040506). I called them and was held on hold for 20 minutes as they are swamped with complaints. They took all my details and where and when I bought the petrol. They will then pass my complaint on to the local Trading Standards Office who will then contact me.

I just hope that my full tank of Shell will clean everything up nicely. What I find most disgusting though, is TESCOs/Greenergy's total refusal to take responsibility for this mess. Clearly this is not a coincidence. Clearly, not everyone suddenly decides 'You know what, I think I might put my car in for a service/Lambda replacement for a couple of days, use public transport instead and pay a bill of between £150 to £1000 and HOPE that I get compensation from TESCO.' That would be ridiculous, but apparently TESCOs/Greenergy seem to believe that they are the victims of some kind of conspiracy!

The official line coming from TESCOs/Greenergy is that their fuel conforms with BS EN 228 (the standard for Ultra Low Sulphur Unleaded Petrol). That may be the true. However I have read BS EN 228 (and you can too: LINK )and the standard makes no mention of an upper or lower limit for either Ethanol or Silicon, the two suspected contaminents of your fuel.

Message to TESCO/Greenergy:

Wake up and smell the coffee Tesco (especially you Jon Church!)

YOU sold us the dirty fuel.

YOU damaged our vehicles.

It is YOU we hold responsible.

The longer YOU hold out on telling us the truth, the harder will be your PR exercise.

I would suggest YOUR reputation as a fuel retailer is already damaged beyond repair.

It's a bitter pill, but it's time to swallow it.

Admit liability, take the rap, 'fess up homies.

If not, I will obtain approximately 60 litres (1 sack) of my local bovine fecal detritus and deposit it in the filling station where you sold me the same volume of your filth.

One good turn deserves another, I always say.

Yours, Mark Garner

Tesco-Complaint: Thank you Mark and Deborah for an informative and well written complaint and also for exposing Tesco's devious spin on this issue - instilling false confidence by quoting British Standards when they are patently irrelevant as they do not deal with the suspected contaminants.

Tesco's Dirty Fuel - Latest + More Complaints!

2007-03-01T12:38:00.000Z

The latest news via the AA is that Tesco's 'Faulty Fuel' as the BBC is labelling it contains contamination by way of high levels of silicon. It is understood that the element - which should not be in petrol - has been detected in the fuel tanks of some of the affected vehicles. This may explain why they have been juddering and misfiring. Given the spread of petrol stations affected by the contaminated fuel, silicon would have to have entered the petrol at some point in the supply chain. Motorists were today told to consider replacing the petrol in their tanks, even if they are unaffected by the contaminated fuel scare. Ray Holloway, the director of the Peter Retailers’ Association, said drivers should think about getting fresh fuel even if their vehicle is not suffering any problems. Will you be refuelling at Tesco?! While you think about that read below for 4 more email complaints all received overnight:

(1) "What a way of discouraging customers like myself to never use their services again. Every little helps, I'm sure it does especially with my car. I knew something was wrong as soon as I drove away after re-fueling as it was more difficult to get into gear and build up speed, to my horror the amber emission light came on and there goes my chances of getting to work in the normal fashion. What must we do to get Tesco to listen. Regards, Mr Luong"

(2) "I wrote to Tesco in Sept last year to complain after I put £15 worth of Tesco Diesel in my VW Turbo Polo car at the Tesco Extra in Bolton and as soon as I got on the motorway no power in my car at all. Even with my foot completely down on the accelerator no power. I had to drive the next 50 miles home on the M6 which is a busy motorway in 3rd gear in the slow lane with Wagon's pulling out and going faster then me. I have since had my car at two garages and spent in the region of £1000 over the last 12 months and still can't take my car on the motorway. The reply I got from Tesco when I complained is that there is nothing wrong with their diesel and that was it. One of the garages I use actually told me the problem was caused by the Tesco diesel. I will never ever go near a Tesco garage again and the ironic thing is it was the first time I had ever used anything except BP Diesel in my car. Having now read all the other complaints about Tesco Diesel I am angry and want to try and persue again for some form of compensation for the stress and upset and the repair bills I've had to pay out. Any ideas from anyone what I could do??"

(3) "I fuelled at Tesco on Sunday after driving for 3o mins my car started to go slow. Then I heard a loud bang as if my main exhaust box blew up and this made my cat go. Tesco did not want to know. Don't use Tesco."

(4) "After filling up at the tesco extra store with petrol, I started to experience problems with car. I took it into mercedes benz, who confirmed that the petrol tank was contaminated with dirty fuel. I have had to have the petrol tank emptied and new oxygen filters fitted at a cost of £ 500.00 I have also been without my car for over a week and as a full time working single parent this leaves me almost stranded..are tescos going to foot my bill?? Tina Duffy"

Whilst this website is solely concerned with Tesco, in the interests of accuracy and fairness, some of Morrison's fuel is also affected. Please see comments section for some basic legal advice from Consumer Direct.

Quentin Wilson: Tesco's Dirty Fuel Not Fit For Purpose (Reported Here First!)

2007-02-28T22:36:00.000Z

The media have now started reporting widely that Tesco's fuel is not fit for purpose and Quentin Wilson, motoring journalist, is warning drivers not to run their cars on Tesco's seemingly dirty fuel which he states seems to be contaminated after coming here to the UK on unclean chemical tankers. Tesco have been saying since early February when we first covered this complaint that they had tested their fuels and nothing was wrong and also that hardly anyone was complaining - given what is emerging in the media now it seems probable that Tesco were lying to customers, certainly about the number of complaints. Can we ever trust Tesco again when they appear to lie to customers so readily?

While we wait for the official line to come through (via Trading Standards who are now investigating Tesco's dirty fuel), here's another report of Tesco's fuel damage that we have recently been emailed:

I had a problem with diesel I bought on Tuesday 30th January from Tesco Bursledon, Hampshire. In the afternoon I had a new fuel tank fitted and my 'old' diesel put back in, then I filled up in the evening with diesel from Tesco. On Sunday 4th Feb I was driving home on the M3 near Winchester when I started to lose power. I drove very slowly to my friends house as she and her daughter were passengers at approx 10mph or less. As the car was getting worse I decided to call the RAC who did various checks and drained off some diesel which I still have. I managed to get home with the RAC van following and then took the car back to my local garage the next day. I had to use two buses to get to work for two days so it was inconvenient as well as the cost of labour, fuel filter and fresh fuel.

Judy Dunkley

Tesco: A Picture of Pathetic Customer 'Service'

2007-02-27T12:31:00.000Z

When I arrived back from my Christmas holiday in Las Vegas I compiled a photo-book on the Tesco Photo website, paid for 2 copies and sat back and waited for them to arrive. After 2 weeks of waiting I emailed them to ask where my books were and was told that they were 'investigating'. Soon after I was told that there had been a problem with uploading ONE of the photos and that if I wanted to re-send it they'd try again. Not likely! How did I know it would work a second time?

I emailed David Petrie (head of Tesco Photo) back to ask Tesco Photo why they have NO computer exception reports in place to tell them that an order has been outstanding for 2 weeks and hasn't been printed, or to tell them that there has been a problem with a photo upload. I got no reply.

I then emailed Terry Leahy and got a reply from Suzi Harris on Feb 13th 2007 saying she would investigate further because my direct email to David Petrie at Tesco Photo had not received my email. Yeah, right! To date (27 Feb 2007) I have not received any more correspondence from Tesco Photo or Suzi Harris, showing that they really don't care. I will not be using Tesco photo in future and have been advising everyone I know not to use them.

Tesco fuels another knackered diesel engine!

2007-02-23T00:00:00.000Z

Dear Tesco-complaint readers, I am writing to you after reading with interest your feature posted on Sunday 11th February 2007 entitled ‘Tesco lies about ‘petrol mix-up’ fuel driver anger.’

On Friday 9th February, exactly the same situation which happened at Tesco Newton Aycliffe in your feature happened to my wife. She filled up the family Diesel Nissan Pathfinder with a full tank at Tesco Watford Extra with what she believed to be Diesel. She even has a Diesel receipt to prove it.

Five or so miles after leaving the Tesco fuel station the vehicle started a ‘knocking’ noise from the engine accompanied by bellowing black smoke. The RAC ‘saved’ my wife, father in law, and my two young children from the hard shoulder of the M25 on a wet Friday afternoon and took the car to the local main dealer (Glyn Hopkin) in Watford, Herts.

Glyn Hopkin reported to me on the following Monday morning that the car had petrol in the tank, therefore it was broken due to fuel contamination. I have taken a fuel sample from the car which is currently being analysed by the RAC.

We are currently up to £2,000 in costs to pay for cleaning of the fuel system and new fuel injectors. Worst case scenario is that the pump is damaged which will take the total to £5,000.

Our local newspaper, the Watford Observer ran a story in last Friday’s edition which is attached (click to see larger version which you can save and zoom into to read). The response the Watford Observer got from Tesco is exactly the same as me, and also the response reported in your feature on the 11th Feb. Tesco denied that a Diesel fuel pump at Watford store was dispensing petrol, and it was for me to prove any claims I may have. Tesco stated to me my wife had a receipt for Diesel so its diesel which she received and paid for. They also claimed that no other motorist filling up on that day had complained about any similar fuel issues.

There is clearly something not right here, as the stories reported by you and my own are identical. The big questions for Tesco, –

How does a tank of Diesel fuel turn into Petrol a few miles after leaving Tesco in a modern car which is just 17 months old?
How and why could/ would a mother returning home with her two children contaminate the cars fuel?
Why are Tesco responses so flat, non-customer friendly and offer no credibility to customer claims?

Please could anyone who knows let me know how the other reported cases progress, and I will with ours. I am currently seeking advice as to what action to take next.

Kind regards,
Allan Pattison, Hertfordshire

Tesco don't like disabled people!

2007-02-22T23:53:00.000Z

My complaint is regarding the parking at Tescos in general but at the Blackpool superstore specifically. My personal complaint is regarding the disabled spaces but I think that the same complaint applies to the parent and child places.

Every time I visit the store, I have to drive around for ages to find a space where I can park near enough to the store for my mum to be able to walk from the car to the store. Some of the disabled spaces are at the far end of the car park, which covers a vast area. Surely the idea is that the disabled bays should be close to the store. Not every disabled person is in a wheelchair - a lot of people have difficulty walking because of other reasons, like heart problems or lung problems. When we do eventually manage to park, we find that the majority of the other disabled spaces are occupied by people without blue badges. However, when we complain to Customer Services they can't even be bothered being civil to us and simply say "nothing we can do", which is funny because other supermarkets give out tickets to people parking without disabled badges.

The custom of disabled people is obviously not valued by Tesco or something would be done about it. When I have challenged somebody myself about parking without a permit they just say "they don't bother here - anybody can park in disabled bays"

As the biggest supermarket in the country I think the treatment of Tesco to its customers requiring designated parking, whether disabled or parent and child, is shabby to say the least.

Tesco Shoppers conned by 'healthy' food labels

2007-02-21T18:55:00.000Z

The Daily Mail reports that Tesco Shoppers are being misled by a new food industry labelling system which can make products appear healthier than they really are, campaigners have claimed. The labels adopted by Tesco, Walker's, Kellogg's, Nestle and many others, are claimed to offer clear information.

However, health campaigners believe the system is being manipulated to give a false impression. Under the GDA system - it stands for Guideline Daily Amount - the amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt in one serving of a product are shown on the front of the pack. ach figure is also shown as the percentage it makes up of the recommended daily intake or GDA.

But campaigners says manufacturers may use artificially small servings as the basis for the figures, while the consumption data is calculated against the diet of an adult man, making the percentagesmisleading for children, teenagers and most women. The National Heart Forum has published a report detailing failings in the GDA system.

Its deputy chief executive, Jane Landon, said: "Some manufacturers and retailers are failing their customers by using nutritional food labels which are overly complex and misleading. "Some even appear to be manipulating the front-of-pack label to promote their products rather than to inform their customers."

The Daily Mail highlighted the problems with the GDA labelling last September. We revealed that Tesco was among firms using unrealistically small servings as the basis of its figures. For example, the serving used for its wafer thin honey roast ham was a single slice while the one for its Value Milk Chocolate was a single chunk.

The forum has published further examples. It said the GDA figures on a bottle of Tesco cola are calculated on the basis of 100ml, though a typical serving is normally regarded as a 330ml can. The label on Kellogg's Ricicles, says a 30g serving of the children's cereal provides 13 per cent of an adult's GDA for sugar. However, it would be 24 per cent of the daily sugar consumption recommended for a child aged between five and ten.

Tesco's Cheese Singles, from the chain's Healthy Living range, gives nutritional information for a single slice. The label says this serving offers 7 per cent of the GDA for saturated fat and 10 per cent for salt. However, the pack picture suggests a serving of five slices, which would be 35 per cent of the GDA for saturated fat and 50 per cent for salt.

The food industry, led by Tesco, developed the GDA scheme as an alternative to the Traffic Lights system promoted by the Government's Food Standards Agency. The FSA scheme uses red, amber and green logos to identify whether a product is high, medium or low in fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar.

Miss Landon said: "Consumer research shows that the Food Standards Agency's traffic light labels work best to enable real, healthy change in people"s shopping habits.

"Repeated surveys show that consumers would like to see one, universal labelling scheme - such as the traffic lights - whatever the brand, wherever they shop."

Richard Watts, of the Children's Food Campaign, said: "The case for supporting traffic light food labelling is now overwhelming. This report will put real pressure on the stuck-in-the-mud retailers and food companies that still use the discredited GDA labels."

Tesco said it was reviewing some of its GDA labels, including those on cola, chocolate, ham and sausages, with the intention of changing the size of the servings. A spokesman said: "We know that customers find GDA labelling helpful in choosing healthier options, and we reject the idea that the scheme is complex and misleading. The test of any nutritional labelling system is whether it changes behaviour, and our nutritional signposts are doing just that."

Kellogg's described the attack on GDA labels as "amazing". A spokesman said there are plans to develop standard portion sizes to help consumers make comparisons, and to put GDA figures relevant to children on packs.

Tesco-Complaint: "Helpful" is not a word which we would not use to describe Tesco's despicable behaviour in allowing obesity by purposefully misleading and failing to educate its customers - all this in the name of profit. This is one reason why Terry Leahy is so close to Tony Blair and this is one reason why Tesco sponsors Labour to the tune of tens of millions of pounds (compare to Tesco's charitable donations...) - by handing out money to political parties Tesco can make sure that the Government will not regulate in this area and force fair food labelling. Obesity crisis for your kids? Very possible if you shop at Tesco...

More info in our previous article: "Red light for Tesco PLC's obesity"

Tesco announces 600 redundancies in Crick

2007-02-19T23:55:00.000Z

Today Tesco announced 600 (approx) redundancies from their Crick depot. This is becoming a regular occurrence, to the point of my having lost count, but it runs into thousands around the UK in Depots and Service Departments.

I hope they get the best deal possible and wish all who have found themselves in this awful position all the best for the future. I fear todays are not the last. It's not all sunshine and roses, working for Tesco, that's if you are fortunate enough to be allowed to keep your job.

The Mrs
www.VeryLittleHelps.com

Tesco's Mass Overpricing forces end of Refund & Retain Policy

2007-02-19T23:36:00.000Z

TESCO is ditching its refund policy after being forced to GIVE £300 Xboxes to shoppers. The rule promises customers who are overcharged at the till a full refund, plus they can keep the item they bought. The People report that some punters seized on the generous scheme and deliberately tracked down mis-priced gear - costing the chain at least £100,000.

The cheeky freebie-hunt - fuelled by internet tip-offs - peaked when a pric- ing blunder left store chiefs no option but to give away Xbox 360 games consoles. They were marked on shelves as £297.81 - but came up on tills at £299.97.

Return and refund-takers have also bagged themselves DVDs, wine, food, chicken nuggets and nappies. Tesco - whose motto is Every Little Helps - tried banning the worst culprits. But now bosses have decided that does not go far enough.

A source said: "We have lost too much money through the policy. People were just taking advantage and Tesco had to draw the line somewhere."

But Martin Lewis - who runs moneysavingexpert.com, which runs details of Tesco price gaffes - was unrepentant. He said: "If thousands of pounds worth of Xboxes walked out the door then it should teach Tesco to be a bit more careful about prices so that customers are not misled."

The new policy from February 26 will see shoppers receive double the amount they were overcharged.

Tesco Own Range Houmous with Extra Salmonella?

2007-02-19T23:29:00.000Z

Tesco is recalling it's private own label houmous produced by food manufacturer Bakkavor which has been found to contain unacceptable levels of salmonella which could cause health problems if ingested. All date codes up to the 28 February are affected. Tesco is advising consumers to return products to the store at which it was purchased for a full refund.

Tesco stores sell alcohol to children

2007-02-19T23:23:00.000Z

Three Tesco stores have had their drinks licences suspended for a month, after selling alcohol to children as reported in Retail Week. The supermarkets – in Crawley and Worthing, West Sussex – were caught selling alcopops to 15-year-olds in an undercover police investigation.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We take the sale of alcohol to underage people extremely seriously and continue to dedicate substantial resource to improving our Think 21 procedures and supporting our staff in tackling underage sales. We are disappointed with this decision and are considering our options."

A recent survey analysing hospital admissions data, revealed record numbers of pre-teens and teenagers now require medical treatment for drink-related disorders.

Tesco stole from my credit card!

2007-02-17T15:36:00.000Z

On Tesco.com We ordered 12 bottles of a Montana Sauvignon Blanc 2005 that was on offer @ £25.79 per half case, with free shipping total £51.58. A week later the wine was delivered (in the earliest delivery slot available). On checking the invoice the total was £120.90 - two half cases of wine @ £57.95 PLUS £5 delivery.

We looked online and found that Tesco cancelled our first order the day before delivery. The invoice we received with the delivery was against another order number that they had raised. They charged our credit card without our authority. On ringing them, they said that we should have been contacted. We weren't (and we were in all day the day before delivery). They have refunded the money, but have not said how they can take almost £70 of our money without even asking! We have emailed Sir Leahy suggesting that if we took £70 of goods from his shops, but offered to give them back when caught, Tesco would still take us to court for theft. What they have done is no different!

Where do they stand on this? Surely they can't just raise and order and take money off a card without authority? Even though they have refunded the extra money taken (we shall see next statement), they must have committed an illegal act?

Their investigation was slipshod and full of the usual platitudes that so and so has been asked to tighten up on this and so and so on that. It was all rather devalued by the fact that they didn't even bother to check that the wine we bought has never sold for almost £10 a bottle! £6.00 (= £36 a case) is more typical. Even the "Reserve" version of the wine sells for less than we were charged.

And then "It is always a matter of regret when one of our customers remains dissatisfied with any aspect of our operations but I do hope that, despite this, we can still look forward to your custom in the future". As if!

Tesco's Obesity to be Exposed on C4

2007-02-14T12:34:00.000Z

The Supermarket That's Eating Britain.

Monday 19th February 8pm Channel 4 Dispatches

Tesco is Britain's favourite supermarket by far. With 2,000 stores and 15 million customers a week, it's almost twice as big as its nearest rival. But Dispatches shows how Tesco could soon become even bigger, and asks if this retail giant is abusing its power. This film examines the ways in which Tesco avoids paying tens of millions of pounds in tax by exploiting legal loopholes, as well as chronicling the links Tesco has forged with New Labour.

Tesco Heart Attack Soup ('healthy' living range!)

2007-02-14T12:25:00.000Z

Dear Tesco, I am an avid buyer of your healthy living range but have a complaint on your soup. I bought a tin of your soup last week and checked the salt content it has 3 grams of salt per tin which is half of your (RDA) for one day!

Yes well done you have worded it to sound better by putting 1.5 grams per half serving but who opens a tin of soup and only has half a tin?

When I am ill I usually have soup and up to 4 tins so if I used your soup I would be having twice the (RDA) for salt which is really bad worse than having less fat which you range promotes.

For Example your Tesco own chicken and mushroom frozen pies have a gram of salt in each I could have 3 pies yes 3 and still only have the same salt as one of your tins of soup.

More people die from strokes and heart attacks by having to much salt than to much fat in there diet, also for you to be promoting this as healthy eating is worse because people are less likely to check the salt content because they think because your product says “healthy eating” its ok not to check.

By having only 3 tins of this soup a week people would to have a lot less protein and carb foods just to not go over on there salt count it doesn’t make sense in which case your soup is classed as “unhealthy eating” because people are not getting there full nutrients. Even if they replace carbs with vegetables because you need carbs and protein to maintain a healthy body

Please could you email me back an answer? Richard.

Tesco lies about 'petrol mix-up' fuel driver anger

2007-02-11T00:20:00.000Z

The Northern Echo report that Tesco is facing legal action from motorists who say a fuel pump mix-up has cost them a fortune in engine repairs. Tesco has denied claims that a diesel fuel pump at its filling station in Newton Aycliffe was dispensing petrol. But drivers who filled up say their vehicles have been damaged by contaminated fuel.

In one case, a motorist says he has been left facing a bill for £1,500 to get his Mercedes back on the road. Derek Wood, 61, said his car ground to a halt within 25 miles of filling up. His insurer, NFU Mutual, is seeking to claim the cost of the engine damage back from Tesco, but the supermarket maintains it is not to blame.

Officials say that if the pump had been dispensing petrol instead of diesel many more drivers would have complained.

However, other motorists have come forward to say their vehicles suffered a similar fate, and the store chain now faces the prospect of court action. Sharon Heathcote, 30, a community nurse from School Aycliffe, said her Nissan Micra diesel had fuel problems after a visit to the petrol station. Her car broke down a few miles after filling up and her garage told her the car had petrol, rather than diesel, in the tank. It required a new fuel injection system, costing more than £3,000. She told the supermarket in a letter that she was prepared to take the matter to court.

Tesco told her no one else had complained.

When Mr Wood's insurers wrote to the supermarket they received the same response.

Mr Wood said last night: "We are quite prepared to take it to court."

Tesco replied, again saying that no one else had complained.

Miss Heathcote said: "It has cost us nearly £4,000 to fix the car, including hiring another one while ours was repaired. "We have three small children and have just moved house and for us, financially, this is a big thing."

A local paper has also published an open letter from another driver claiming to suffer the same problem.

Tesco finally admitted last night that it had really received "four or five" complaints but maintained there was no problem with the pump. A spokeswoman said: "These four or five complaints have been spread over the past six months.

"Trading standards checked our fuel in July after the first complaint was received and it was found to be clear. "They came in again last week following the latest complaint, and we are awaiting the results. "However, this is an extremely busy petrol station and if there was a real problem we would expect to have received many more complaints."

Tesco leaves elderly instore during fire evacuation...

2007-02-06T23:12:00.000Z

My elderly parents were shopping at The Tesco store in Chelmsford, Princess Road, on Friday 2nd February 2007 at approx 10.30 am in the morning when the Fire Alarm went off. As the alarm went off everyone looked at each other wondering what to do, then everyone started making their way to the store entrance. All the checkout staff seemed to disappear, there was no announcement over the tannoy, and no direction from any of the staff whatsoever. The fire exit in the centre of the store by the window near the checkouts was locked due to building works. Everyone was going towards the main entrance, no one was being directed to any alternative fire exits. Once outside shoppers were blocking the entrance by standing about, so that others could not get outside. What has happened to Fire Safety at Princess Road, Chelmsford, why was there no direction from any of the staff. It seems that customers were left to exit the store without any guidance or direction from staff whatsoever. Fortunately this was either a very small fire in some small section of the building, or a false alarm, or the alarm had been accidentally set off by the builders. If this had been a more serious fire I dread to think what would have happend - mass panic with injury and loss of life I imagine. Please investigate this incident!!! Could someone reply please. Helen.

Iconoclast finally gets his GT50545b!

2007-02-06T23:10:00.000Z

Iconoclast records Tesco's poor customer service!

2007-02-05T19:40:00.000Z

Bernard Matthews' Turkeys going Cheep at Tesco?

2007-02-04T22:32:00.000Z

Dear Mr Leahy, Having seen on the news this morning that nearly 2000? Turkeys were slaughtered overnight at Bernard Matthews' farm in Norfolk, and at the same time being reassured by a Government Expert that there was absolutely no danger to the public, I wondered whether Tesco's has any plans to sell these tasty morsels at discount?

I was very impressed with my last Bernard Matthews Turkey from Tesco's and wonder if there is any chance in you now bringing down prices... because as we all know 'Every little helps'.

My latest art based upon the H5N1 Avian Flu virus is here:- (I am a bit of an expert myself). Would you be interested in selling my art at discount?

Kind regards
David Nicolas - GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

www.davidnicolas.tv
www.davidnicolas.co.uk
www.myspace.com/davidnic0las