Tesco.com Sucks, as they say

I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for Tesco’s deliver-to-your-home online service. You just go onto their website, tell them what you want and then wait for them to bring you your shopping for the week.

This service is particularly attractive when you’re home sick.

So I placed an order on Saturday, for delivery Tuesday between 8pm and 10pm. I got a confirmation email and all. Happy day.

But, come 10.30pm on Tuesday, and no food having arrived, I wanted to go to bed, so I rang the Tesco helpline. This is a funny number (00 800 00 225533) which puts you through to a call centre in Dundee. They said that it was very bad that I hadn’t been contacted, even if there had been some delay. They said they’d contact my local Tesco, Clare Hall, and have them ring me.

At 10.45pm, when my eyes were drooping, the phone rings. An unfortunate woman on the night shift had been told to call me. She said that their online service had been down all day Monday and Tuesday, that she had just started working and that she had been given a list of people to ring and tell this to- though I wasn’t on the list.

Yes, that’s right, the unfortunate woman on the night shift was told to ring people and tell them that their food hadn’t arrived. How late into the night they were planning to ring I don’t know.

So I asked for the store manager, who came on and was suitably apologetic. He’d only just come on too. He didn’t know anything about it. There was nobody on in the home shopping section. If I left a number I would be called, for sure, between 8.30am and 9am the following morning. I could then sort it out over the phone, as I only lived a few minutes drive away, and they’d deliver at a time convenient to me.

So off I go to bed without my coco, as I have no milk.

At 9.15 this morning I call up Clare Hall again. No answer. I call the Dundee call centre. They say they’ll get Clare Hall to ring me. They don’t. At 10am I get through to Clare Hall. I speak to the Customer Service manager. She tells me that they, contrary to previous conversation, can’t deliver to me today. She has all her orders already filled for the day. She tells me that they couldn’t contact customers to tell them their orders weren’t arriving because they didn’t have any numbers for them. I tell them that the lady on the night shift had been handed a list of numbers to do just that.

She then says that she meant that they couldn’t contact all the customers.

This is starting to be a bit farcical.

I ask what she suggests I do. She just says to put the order through again. Will I be moved to the top of a queue, ahead of those who placed orders after me? No. There’s nothing she can do about it. Will there be some form of recompense for this delay? (Though really all I want at this stage is my food) Waive the delivery charge, she tells me. That’s what she was told.

I ask her who made those decisions. Tesco Head Office Ireland, it seems. And who should I speak to there? Mr. Willie Macken, head of Tesco.com Ireland. Off I go ringing Tesco Head Office. I’m resigned to the fact that I won’t be getting my food at this stage, but still annoyed enough to want to complain.

At reception my voice is sweet enough that when I ask for Mr. Macken, they give me his mobile as he’s not at his desk.

I call his mobile, and tell him my story. He tells me what I already know- his database server broke, it effected the whole country, the Dundee helpline ought to have explained that to me, that they couldn’t get the phone numbers to contact everyone, that it has been happening to they don’t know how many orders since Saturday, including his own. (And of course- Who Put Me On To Him?) That, as it had never happened before, he had no plan for what to do when it happened.

I say that he ought to have gone public if he knew he couldn’t get back to everyone, even if it was embarrassing. Having taken a look there, they don’t even have a message on their website.

He did ring me back when he said he would, though! A first. He said that he couldn’t get me a delivery today, and would offer me the value of the order as recompense. I thanked him and told him that, if I could make a constructive comment, I felt that his staff hadn’t been given enough autonomy not to do things they were told to, even when they didn’t make sense- such as ringing people on the night shift to tell them things they already know, like you’ve no food. He said that he was off to a meeting to try and learn from it all. I said I was off the shops to buy bread for my lunch.

So there you are. Tesco sucks, as they say. Who knows what other unprecedented event they have failed to plan for? As a first ordering experience, it beats the band. And I’ll be slow to try again, even if I do have the sniffles, no matter how many happy-faced cartoon vans they try to show me. Tell your friends.

And complaining, sometimes, can be worthwhile. I feel better, at any rate.

59 Comments

  • suzanne says:

    I work for tesco and found this message by mistake whilst looking for head office complaints address….I can believe all you say, we get the same reaction from the managers all day every day…Tesco management stills and attitude very poor if at all…
    I’m trying to find out where all the fresh christmas turkeys came from, we have had so many returned smelling high as a kite…most people fell for the British emblem on the package but please all read the small print on the back British only means they have been packed here..usually imported from another country…..our FRESH turkeys came from the EU …. anyones guess.

  • Jayne Adams says:

    Sainsbury’s are little better! I have had an experience exactly the same, but I am a wheelchair user and wanted some help. Never received my groceries!

  • Simon McGarr says:

    I hope you got your money back, at the very least.

  • Jules says:

    Tescos completely sucks yes it does.Does customer service actually exist?18 months ago my fiancee had cause to complain.He filled in a card at the Whaley Bridge Customer Service desk which promises a response within 5 days.He never got a response and when he enquired they had conveniantly lost it.I too had cause to complain some 18 months later about a very abusive checkout assistant.Knowing of my finacees troubles I decided to telephone through with my complaint.All my details were taken and I was promised a response within 2 days.I got nothing.I have just rung Tescos head office to be told the person daling with my query has gone on holiday and not passed the query on to anyone to be dealt with.Every little helps?Yeah Right

  • Rach says:

    Tescos phoned me on Saturday saying that they were sorry and they couldnt deliver because 2 of their vans had been in an accident. Whilst I am sympathetic, they had made no arrangements to reschedule my shopping telling me simply to phone their customer service helpline. We rearranged for today. We then have another phone call today saying that they cannot deliver because one of their vans has broken down. For gods sakes, are these people taking the pee or what? They make huge profits yet they have no contingency measures to provide the service they say they will. Hmm, I actually didn’t believe them this time and just cancelled the order and went somewhere else. I will avoid tescos in the future.

  • suzanne says:

    I’m in the same predicament today ie food should have been delivered last night ,but van broken down so no food .You would think that they would A : have spare vans and B: deliver it the next day …… no way I have to wait till tomorrow night for my delivery and even then I’m not so sure it will arrive
    They are always late , the time before last 1h45 late .
    Years ago back in the good old days when Tesco was number 2 and Sainsbury’s top dog I had some excellent customer service when they delivered goods to my house that I had been unable to get at the store ( home shopping didnt exist then ) . Obviously now that they are top dog and have such a monopoly they no longer have to look after their customers

  • Jamie says:

    I have also worked in Tesco and that sounds like a day to day thing. I was based in tesco.com in dundee and the training was crap. I tell you, its not our fault its tesco as a whole. 3 Days training and thrown right in.

  • lulu larkin says:

    Why is it that the Tesco customer is always wrong? I was overcharged 3 times recently on promotions and it was “Well what flavour crisps was it? Was the orange juice smooth or did it have juicy bits? No, that promotion finished yesterday (but we couldnt be bothered to change it). If you want to traipse out here again at your own expense having already spent time and money on the phone telling us about your complaint and if you’ve got your till receipt – and only IF, don;t waste our time) I’ll try and sort it out but can’t promise anything. Wow, thanks!!
    Has anyone got a Tesco complain hotline, please?
    Hang on in there – or better still, shop elsewhere.
    lulu (Eastbourne)

  • joe says:

    all this comments are rubbish.tesco deliver groceries for millions of costumers and it is immposible favour 100% of costumers.we are so demanding these days.i think people envy tesco how good they are.I have been with commpany for 3 years and it is about people working for company and not tesco its self.I think the way they run the bussines is absolutly fab.

  • CTD says:

    Tesco in Ballybrack is a Kip. I have shopped there at least once a week for the past 4 years. This morning I visited the shop at 11am. There were no baskets available and I had to search for one. There was no staff on hand to help. There was fruit on the shelves which was rotting. There was bluemolded bread on the shelves also. The lids had burst off some yogurt pots and they had spilled in the refridgerator. The floor of the lobby area of the shop, close to the customer service desk, was extremely dirty and there were cigarette butts strewn about. I had to queue for a substantial amount of time to pay for a small basket of goods. Out of about 20 Cash registers, only 3 were open. All 3 open registers had at least 3 customers waiting, most of which had full trolleys of items. I spoke to a Manager named Mr Adrian Dunne. When I raised the point about no baskets available he informed me that all the baskets had been removed from the store by the customers. That is not the fault of the remaining customers who need the baskets to shop! He gave me the well rehearsed line that he would take my concerns on board. I complained once before but nothing changed last time either.
    Tesco in Ballybrack has never been a well run store. The managers in Tesco Ballybrack must have no pride in their store or indeed themselves to allow such a poorly run establishment. All in all, the place is a dirty and very badly run establishment and because of my experience in Tesco this morning, I certainly will not shop in any Tesco store, ever again. I suggest Tesco in Ballybrack employ additional cleaning and cash register staff.

  • Sarah says:

    I thought I was just very unlucky that when I went to Tesco it is always a terrible experience, now I know I am not alone. Today I came out of my local Tesco store near to tears, as no matter what checkout you go to you can guarantee that you will be served by some miserable and impolite person, who throws your shopping at you at such a speed that you can’t get it in the bags fast enough and you find yourself getting very hot and bothered as the shopping piles up higher and you try to shove it in the bags as fast as you can, it’s like some weird Krypton Factor game and I never win! Every time this happens I go to customer service and complain and they say they will speak to the offending cashier but nothing changes. I would stop going in there but Tesco have the monopoly in my area the nearest sainsbury is about 5 miles away. Help, what can I do?

  • Stephen Pennington says:

    Having recently come from the UK where in most cases the supermarkets are clean and well managed I have been appalled at the state of the supermarkets – particularly Tesco in Eire (and the prices are higher – much). The stores in Dunn Laoghaire are a discrace – food that falls onto the floor including fresh food is ofter seen being put back on the shelves; the stores are understaffed; the shelves are often empty of key items – and all this just a few yards from the Tesco IRL head-quarters. We’ve stopped shopping there. I can’t imagine what a UK store manager would make of a visit to an Eire store.

  • Eva says:

    I just want to say not all Tesco Stores are the same, I worked in Hoowood near Gatwick, there the manangers go all the way to back their staff and customers alike,and the store is very clean and well run, I now work for Swindon Ocotal Way and oh boy the managers treat the staff like dirt, they scream and shout at the staff in front of customers, they have no idea of manager/staff relationship, also I must admit they have the “I don’t care attitude”, I now can see why they have the worst name in the west and go through store managers like loo paper, because if they do not worry why must the rest of the staff.Security is also very slack, as well in store janitors in fact the whole store sucks, I sometimes am very ashamed to say I work for Tesco, I have never felt like this about my work or workplace in my entire life,you cannot practice living service if the morale is low, and you get broken down all the time. Come on Tesco clean up your act or get professionals to help put things right.

  • Syd says:

    I’m actually American, so customer service is a particular bug up my butt, but my British husband agrees with me — for a company of that size and general reach, the way we were treated by Tesco home delivery was absolutely abominable. Our groceries were “lost” with a driver on her first day who could not tell matching stories about what location she was actually at, or when she had picked up our order (we were given her direct number after a few hours of calling and complaining). The funny thing is that we are more than understanding about a driver’s first day…things happen. We would have been relatively mollifed with a sincere apology and some vouchers for a few quid from Tesco corporate, who are in the end responsible for administration and scheduling. But when my husband first called the help line to find out why we weren’t contacted about a five-hour delay, the rep’s exact words were: “Well, what do you want ME to do about it? You can always cancel your order.” It went on from there, complete with conflicting stories mentioned above. I won’t repeat the drama. But I will say that we were two hours late dropping his daughter off at her Christmas disco because we were unable to resolve this in the morning, as we’d expected, and wasted an entire weekend day on the phone. Most working people understand that a Saturday isn’t something you can get back, for any price. Mistakes, we understand…arrogance and dismissal for the privilege of having Tesco take our cash? Not so much.

  • Joseph Grey says:

    I work for Tescos.com in Dereham. I currently work in all areas of the department because i multi-skill. I can tell you now that it is bloody difficult to pick,handle, process and deliver 120+ orders a day without a few slip-ups. I hope you people recognise we have to go out and pick items from the shelves while customers are shopping, are expected to pick to a deadline or we lose our jobs and then on the other end of the scale there is moutains of paperwork on the other side to deal with. Tesco.com are mainly good people, but I have to agree that administration and customer services could improve quite a lot. but compare this to inland revenue or the government and Tesco are pretty good. They deal with the same volumes of business as IR but handle it much better. Don’t be too quick to judge, ok? If you just look at the job we do you will think different maybe.

  • S McKee says:

    I have just had the same experience with a £250 wine order. It didn’t arrive and Dundee told me that they had technical problems and, although he could see my order, it wasn’t in the live system (??) so I would have to re-order it. I tried, but – what a suprise – the wine which, on 28Nov was £19.89 a case was then £39.85! Obviously just a scam to get more money?? After a week of emails between me and their ‘customer service’ department, I have reordered the wine as they say they will refund me the difference – however, the woman sending the emails simply won’t confirm how much this will be. I think I’ll be in for a long fight.

  • A.Corscadden says:

    I bought an item through tesco direct & paid for next day delivery at £5,this was the only delivery option given by tesco direct… I received the item five days later!! I complained by e-mail five times to their customer services without the courtesy of a reply to any of my e-mails,so I then posted my complaint to Tesco & guess what! still no reply. I’ve now given up on this company & will never shop with Tesco ever again. I’ve switched my shopping habits to ASDA & occasionally Morrisons. nobody should put up with the total arrogance of this company towards it’s customers & I would urge shoppers to go elsewhere.

  • Pauly says:

    Went to 24 hour Tesco at 11pm at night to buy some clothes. Big mistake. First problem, the fitting rooms are closed. So I buy my normal size trousers and when I try them on at home they don’t fit. I take them back the next day at 11pm but I am refused a simple exchange because the customer service desk is closed. Therefore I need to travel to Tescos a further time during the day (when I am working) to get a simple refund. It is convenient for them to take your money, but not convenient to provide customer service and provide a refund or exchange, hence making it very inconvenient for me, the customer to get such an easy issue resolved. Swap 1 pair of trousers, simple ? No, come back another time (when you are working !)
    Could Tesco afford a customer service agent whilst the store is open ? Yes. So why not provide one ? We know the answer…….

  • MATTHEW says:

    I agree very much with that. i work for tesco and ive see the stupidest situation that could have been easily solved. I don’t work on the internet shopping but when it comes to problem with delivery they get a taxi to bring out the deliveries in the crates. their only gaven one driver a single order for delivery. and the cold stuff that were ready to go are kept in the cooler room. and i grab them they go straight into taxi with rest of shopping and goes straight to the home address. but i remember one annoying customer that send the cold stuff back cause it came in taxi and not in delivery van. i would of like to of spoken to the customer and told her its no different from doing shopping your self and putting it in car. but in this situation the cold stuff were straight from cooler and straight to taxi to home address and if she done shopping her self she would of been walking around with her trolley then queing for checkout then heading to car park then driving home and then unpacking. so it wasnt a problem at all going in taxi cause taxi had ten minute drive. so to work out the time cost id of love to of told her she was just a thick as anything. CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. that phase is stupid and always an excuse for customers who feel they are really wrong.

  • Sue Weaver says:

    I went to Tescos in Castlebar Co Mayo. I went to the toilet after i had loaded my shopping into the car. I could not believe the state of the toilets, had i seen the toilets before i did my shopping i definately would not have shopped there. They were filthy, it made me feel sick. I asked to see a manager, he came into the toilets with me & said he had been in a meeting all day & would get them cleaned! why dont they have a toilet check every 2 hours like most places. I think its disgusting considering they serve food too. Health & Safety would have had a field day there, probably closed it down.

  • jane doe says:

    tescos in ballybrack is a load of boloks,u go into the shop u get trown out for nutin,and the securty gards hit young kids there has to be sumin done about it …..

  • Mark says:

    Tesco Newbridge has awful customer service, and is a right mess. Toilets are a disgrace too. Seems to me Tesco just don’t hire good managers. Dunnes all the way!

  • Vicky says:

    I have worked with Tesco for a year and a half now and yes there are some things that they don’t handle well, but every shop has a weakness. They are a great company.
    It isn’t actually the store’s fault when promotions don’t work, it’s head office that put them on the systems, yet the staff in the store are the ones who take the brunt of it when the offer doesn’t work. They do offer a ‘No Quibble’ policy that says if you were charged a price higher than the one on the shelf you will get your money back plus the good you were overcharged for. Is that not fair?! I worked on customer service instore for a year and in my experience the majority of ‘offers not coming off’ complaints occured because the customer had not read the sign properly and had picked up the wrong product(s) – yet I still got shouted at?!
    Also, as regards to the shop being so messy… there is only so many staff rostered on in a day, as with every store, but when queues form at the front end/checkouts the floor staff are taken to the checkouts in order to get people through the tills faster, so how can you complain about how dirty the store is and not being able to find a basket – Is there no pleasing people these days?!
    I haven’t had to deal with delivery services yet as the two stores I’ve worked in, Bray and Ballybrack don’t operate these services, however when you think of the amount of online deliveries they process each week it will become apparent that not everyone is going to be satisfied with the service. They can’t get it right 100% of the time. Nobody can.
    They are a very good company to work for, they treat their staff very well and give them every chance to improve their skills. I am currently training as a manager with them so hopefully someday I can look into imporving services in these areas. Apologies for your inconvenienses.

  • Mia Loane! says:

    Tesco sucks, FULL STOP dot com!!

    I was once a regular and loyal Tesco shopper, cheerfully accepting my clubcard vouchers (having my shopping habits scrutinised every week – for my own good, so I was given to believe! – so that Tesco can give me more of what I want!!) and then watching my preferred goods steadily being discontinued. In the meantime I was supposed to just accept what was offered, and adapt my shopping to suit Tesco’s whimsical notion of what I want.

    An e-mail to Tesco’s head office to express my disatisfaction, yielded the reply, these decissions are made at store level, it’s up to the local stores to decide what to sell in their area. Tell us what’s been discontinued and we’ll look into it. An expression of my disatisfaction to my local store, yielded the reply, these decissions are made at head office! we only sell what we’re sent and if they decide not send a product, that’s it, you won’t get it.

    Suffice it to say I now shop at Morrisons! and Somerfield, and any other shop/store that I fancy. In short Tesco have done me a favour! by getting me out of the ‘Tesco rut’. Now I get what I want, I’ve rediscovered the delights of shopping around, I save money! I get a better choice, I meet more people, I get more excercise (think about it!) and I don’t have a ‘Big Tesco Brother’ prying into my shopping bag every week, and guess what? I don’t miss those vouchers (paper carrots) one bit, nor do I get suckered in by the offers of extra points if I return to Tesco’s, nor the little choccie bars that used to come, in an effort to entice me. I’m not that thick!!!

    SO – YAH BOO SUCKS TO YOU, TESCO!!!!

  • James says:

    I have worked for Tesco ireland for the past 8 years in a store middle management position building an unfortunate but solid backup career. I have seen everything they do and they are so currupt it makes me cringe having to go in everyday. I have been treated like shit for the past 5 years and because of that i come accross as giving bad customer service as I just CAN’T care about the job. luckily for me i am leaving shortly to pursue a dream. One point, with regards to customer service, people dont realise sometimes, that just because we’re duty managers etc we’re not actually responsible for certain things that happen in store and the general public should realise that the bullshit that customers have to face in store may be caused by the way middle management are treated.

  • James says:

    @Mia Loane!
    The decisions to get rid of certain products are made by head office marketing team, at store level we have absolutely no say in the matter, and we are toll to stop complaining when we raise the issue!

  • lady lorimar says:

    I ordered a considerable amount of goods from tesco direct, items were broken, and four items were missing.
    i got no emails what so ever at first about any detail of my order i got the fair weather practiced bullshit cliche’s when i approached the situation by email.
    i want what i paid for, and i shall get it if your company is avericious enough to take my money faster than a nuclear bomb1 then i want my rightful goods without this crud dissention..and to joe who said earlier up the comments line here, and i quote “all these comments are rubbish” (incidently he works for the store lol!) what a fabulously now obvious and contemptuos way! to think of those who give money to your arrogant company on a daily basis for your cheek!. how dare you! you really must have a vested interest from the higher echelon point of view!. All these comments of complaint are valid and more are coming and coming and i think you will find your complaicancy will nip your arse in the end!, or at least the tesco company. because arrogance comes before the fall of the swine!.
    AND BY THE WAY DO WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING THAT MAY SOUND HARSH… HERE IT IS.
    tHE REALITY OF THE CUSTOMER IS IN FACT THIS! we do not care about who is doing what at tesco from the bottom to the top, we customers, are not interested in your internal politics who’s right who’s wrong for the most part. we want what we pay for!! goods and customer service. if the floor staff get abused then please feel frwee to challenge the upper echelon;s of your store and do not berate the customer who could not care and should not care about what you have to put up with! that is the reality you chose your career or job so just do it to the best of your ability and stiop the blame dominos from falling please! wWE DON’T CARE!! we know the excuses are mostly lies like”the van broke down”? what a croc lol,etc etc etc..

    some one who will visit argos more regular and sainsburys where the manners are good…

  • Debbie Morton says:

    Again I found this by accident trying to find Tescos head office address to send a rather long complaint letter. Our local Tescos has the monopoly and I am disabled so have no choice but to shop in Tescos most of the time. I have had numerous causes for complaint over the last 18 months. Filled in the appropriate card and have been promised someone will call me. No one evrr does. The customer services attitude stinks, they couldn’t care less.

    Various causes of complaints range from out of date food (a regular occurence) Trading standars have now been informed. No small trolleys outside store (I can only manage to push a small one). I was told by customer services that they were all in the car park and I should go and get one.

    Mouldy and inedible fruit. Poor sell by dates with food not being put on the shelves and when it does eventually make it there it on;ly has a day to go before it is out of date.

    Goods from the frsh bakery being frozen when I go them home and the list goes on. I have never had a satisfactory answer from anybody and have been told that it happens all the time.

  • Tom Moore says:

    Tesco really does suck!! i worked for tesco for 1 year and 6 month and in that time i did not see one hint any managerial action, sure enough there were people who dressed like managers n got paid for sittin on their backsides but no proper managers. The only time i heard that the store was run by someone wa when i was told i was breaking company policy by taking food upstairs on my break and paying for them after my shift – this breaking of company policy ended up with them accusing me of having the intent to steal this item (which was a pint of milk, yes A PINT OF MILK….36p), then saying they would have to dismiss me and so i resigned!! that place is not a place to work it is full of people who, once in a while need to reinforce their authority and choose to do so in any way they feel the need, whether its for 36p or stayin signed on on a till…..but thats another story about the hellish hole in the ground called…yep u guessed it…TESCO!!!

  • Sandeep says:

    Well, I just joined the club which had been bitten by the Tesco (BAD)Service bug.
    Its two days that my groceries have not been deivered. And today, they delivered a 2.45 worth 7UP cans with a delivery charge of 5.99 DUH!!! But hey was this item on the orginal list which was worth GBP 60 …NO !!!! How silly of me.. I still await my groceries with utmost patience and a wicked smile.. 🙂

  • Carrie says:

    Well iv shopped at tesco’s for three years at the same store and didnt have much hassel with them until today,, i was in tescos in Rathmines in Dublin. At one of them self service check outs put all the shoppen threw and started paying for it, put one €10 note into the machine, then the alarm thing went off and the girl came to sort it out, i told her i put a €10 note in and she said yes, she tried to fix the machine but couldnt so she called the security over, he then tried to fix the machine and couldnt either so the girl brought me to another check out put my shopping threw again and at the end said thats €30.10 and i said but iv already put a €10 in that machine they secuirty man said no you didnt, i said what? he said you didnt put any money in that machine i was fumming there were loads of ppl around and this man was calling me a liar in front of everyone, my bf went mad and was throwen out of the shop all he did was tell security not to keep callen him a f**king liar and he was barred, they said they will call me tomorrow when they count up the till and tell me if it is over but i can safely say ill never shop there again

  • Carrie says:

    me again surprise surprise i never got my money back YET and i am not gonna stop till i get it back because in my eyes its theft and if i went in there and took €10 worth of food id be lefted right away, ill let yous know when i get it resolved

  • Carrie says:

    well i went to the tesco SCUM store, and iv got my money back but havent been told they are sorry for callen me a liar but they are goin to ring me on sat if they dont ill be back down there for my public appology and if i dont get it i aint leaven the store, if you can go to tesco store and complain do coz it seems to get a better respone than phoneing or emailing them does to does of yous that cant get to the store i wrecken yous are fighten a losen battle they are not a business they are a joke

  • Marie McCrorie says:

    Not only are Tesco’s very poor in the delivery area, now they are not refunding monies owed for returned goods! An all-time low here methinks. However let battle commence…..
    Such an easy way to make money – however I think it’s also illegal too.

  • mica c says:

    i work for tesco last 6 years. we try do our job as best we can but its da fault of management, they dont have a clue and they dont care bout customers or the staff.all that bothers them is their bonuses.

  • maureen delmar says:

    I have done online shopping 3 times and had a problem each time. First time got out of date food and rotton applies plus I got 24 bananas which I hadnt ordered so some poor unfortunate with either a zoo or a creche had to do without. Second time I had ordered fresh cream and they didnt pack it properly so yes it had spilt over everything. So I spent my time cleaning all the items I had got plus the kitchen floor. Would have been quicker to go shopping !They get you to call a number which is outside of Ireland and they couldnt help me on either occasion. They couldnt bring up the order so whats the point in getting you to call this number? They then tried to call the local store- Clare Hall- and of course they couldnt get an answer and said they were sorry but were unable to help me on this occasion. I tried and after the phone had rung out 6 times I eventually got someone. It was 4.30 pm Sunday and my order was supposed to be delivered between 1-3pm. I checked the status online and it said delivered ! There never appears to be a manager available – I dont think they have any- is everyone working on minumum wage ? if this is the case then why dont they have more staff. It appears that the orders were all wrong that day – its hardly rocket science is it ? and they didnt think that they should phone anyone until they had it sorted ! So we had nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon other than wait around for them to call. Needless to say the order never arrived. Dont know why I just didnt stick with Superquinn in the first place

  • annie col says:

    tesco newbridge is filthy. the publics toilets are a nightmare.no soap or toilet paper provided.there is nothing on the shelves and the fruit goes off as soon as you get it home. if you dare have the cheek to complain you are met by a grumpy manager who just passes the blame to the staff. how i miss quinnsworths!!!

  • francois says:

    Hi there, thank you for sharing your story. Here is mine: for the 3rd time today, Tesco didn’t deliver the goods to our door on time. The first, it was delivered the day after, the second time: 2 days after. After having been called by a customer service representative, we decided to trust tesco service once more. It failed again. I must say that this is most unfortunate since we have nothing in our fridge.

    I read the terms and conditions, that: “Whilst we make every effort to deliver your goods at the agreed time, we will not be liable if we fail to do so due to circumstances beyond our control.” Of course. What a lovely sentence it is! It can be used for all the delivery problems they have. I imagine they will tell me there was a traffic problem?

    Of course, nobody called us at this point and we still don’t know what happen to our goods. The number: 00 800 00 225533 desn’t zork anymore (!) and writing to [email protected] return a delivery failure in my inbox.

    Tesco sucks, I’ll never go back to them, never

  • linda says:

    has anyone ever ordered from clare hall not got the delivery , rang lots of time just asked to put the order through again ,or they will refund the money, no explanation no apology, and now a week later still no refund

  • sheila says:

    Tesco are very good at getting out of tight spots the latest xbox fiasco where they offered a really cheap xbox and then backed out when they got too many orders claiming it was a misytake is typical of them but they keep getting away with it. Stop shpping there!!!

  • emma says:

    As i am a loyal tesco customer of many years…and former employee it upsets me to have to contact you about the way tesco have treated me this weekend… i had a shop ordered for delivery sat 1st dec and got a call saying they had to cancel it due to staff issues…but had already taken payment from my account.£100 ( so i would have to wait for a refund to be credited to my account taking 3-5 days)… they rescheduled for today ( sun 2nd dec )taking another £100 from my account ( which i had to borrow as the refund for the first order will take 3-5 days to go into my acc ) i waited and waited today …no delivery.and no phone call… i phoned them up to see where my order was the first person said it had again been cancelled…. the 2nd person i spoke to said the driver attempted delivery and left a ticket to say he had called…..which i know never happened as besides the fact i was in all day i also checked my cctv and at no time today has a tesco van pulled up outside my house… ( should you wish to see the CCTV footage please let me know.) so the situation now is i have to wait for both refunds to be credited back to my account and now the stores closed. and im stuck in with the flu and 2 ill children and virtually no food in the house ….and im £200 down in my account as both refunds will take 3-5 days to go back into my account and i cant get any food shopping till the refunds credited and im really annoyed!!

  • Lorraine says:

    I complained to customer service in Leighton Buzzard store about a 9p per can increase on canned tuna – a whopping +30.3%. I bought some two weeks previously at 29p and when I went in again it was 38p. It was not on special offer either the first time either. This morning a leaflet fell out of the paper with price comparisons of various products with Tesco’s competitors. Guess what – the tuna was 29p and Sainsburys 38p. I wrote to Tesco on the 6th December about the price increase but needless to say I have not received the courtesy of a reply. I wont be shopping there again. What is the address of Tesco Customer “SERVICE”? The store gave me a pre addressed envelope which had a Waltham Cross address. Anybody know if that is correct?

  • David says:

    Hi , I work in Tesco in Ireland for the past 4 and a half years . I recently moved to the systems department. Anytime i go up for a customer query i find that another customer puts the wrong product on the promotion shelf then refunds have to be given becuase of the customers mistake and not Tescos ,

  • Ewan Duffy says:

    So many complaints, so many dissatisfied customers. But so much profit for Tesco. Of course, the sheeple of Ireland wont take their business elsewhere. I have recently switched my shopping to Aldi & Lidl and have deprived Tesco of all bar about €10/month of business.

  • sazzy says:

    I have just applied for a job as a dotcom driver with Tesco, And I am now wondering if I should even go for the interview!! I always thought that customer satisfaction should be gaurenteed, obviously mistakes happen but surely with a sincere appology and a refund of some sort, plus a gaurentee that the problem would be addressed would be all that is needed to make a mends for any issue? So why is this not taken on board by Tescos, after all it is the CUSTOMER that is providing the huge profits that tescos have seen in the past, I suggest some serious training in CUSTOMER relations is needed in some stores. That said I must just add that the Bursledon extra tescos in Southampton is a clean well managed friendly store, where I have had no problems (SO FAR!)

  • BR shark says:

    I’ve worked for tesco for 8 years and their attitude has never been worse towards staff and customers alike. My store is severely understaffed, i am often left to cover areas that i am not trained on alone. I have been covering the photolab lately which took me a year to get off in the past because the stress was not worth the money, only now i am not getting paid the photolab wage which is 40p more an hour than my wage, yet i still have to work on there because “there is nobody else to cover it”

    Cashiers rush customers through the checkouts because if they don’t have a fast enough throughput they get their till numbers displayed in a “wall of shame” style display in one of the corridors. The shop floor has no staff because they are all say covering checkouts stupid “one in front” system which is a complete sham. I work on the dvd’s and games which i love but i rarely spend anytime on my own department, therefore it is a complete mess which i partially get the blame for eventhough they know i am away covering elsewhere.

    When asked for help i always have to rush serve customers because “i was serving someone” just isn’t seen as an excuse for taking an extra few minutes.

    I’m not complaining about the managers, some of my managers are great. The pressure put on them to cut costs and do the impossible with f**k all staff is the problem. I work in cardiff extra and at the moment my store is a time bomb.

    Tesco seriously sucks!!!

  • susan says:

    I have read all these comments and although I sympathise, would like to point out that there are thousands of dot com deliveries per week most of which run smoothly. I work for the Tesco Call Centre in Dundee and we bend over backwards to help customers when they have cause to phone. In a perfect world the deliveries would be right everytime, but unfortunately, this is the real world and things do go wrong. We have excellent training and support from our colleagues and duty managers and are proud of the job we do, which isn’t, I would like to point out, to sit there and have customers shout, swear, use personal derogatory comments.

  • tracy says:

    Well I go to Tesco’s in Letterkenny in Ireland and it is terrible. Many of the shopping trolleys are extremely dirty and strewn with rubbish! It’s nasty having to clean them out before we shop. Going into tescos we find old and damaged products on the shelves. The vegetables are neglected and not freshened up. I wanted a nice fresh lettuce and the ones that were fresh were in a container under a pile of old and nearly rotten lettuce.There were very few staff seen working except at checkouts and I did see a man with a mop standing chatting up a girl for about ten minutes while ten feet away a very dangerous puddle of fabric softener was left unguarded lying on the floor. Omg the checkout area was really dirty, fingerprints on the glass areas, crumbs everywhere and all the dividers for the checkouts broken. Only a few check outs open too. Well every week we go to Tescos and we have to check every product we buy to make sure that seals arent broken or they arent out of date and damaged.
    We have gone to other supermarkets but find that they dont stock everything we need and here in Donegal there arent so many big supermarkets to choose from.
    I have to say though I cant wait to go somewhere that I wont have to shop at Tescos anymore. What a disgrace.

  • fred says:

    get a life, whingers!

  • Adam says:

    Jesus Christ!!!!
    I am waiting since last year for a refund of a delivery they did not make.
    I have made phone calls and dozens of emails. They “will fix” but dont move their ass.

    Yesterday they failed again to provide another shopping of 120€ value.

    They number they provide for customer “service” is not working or a kind of dummy number.

    No i am wasting my morning chasing these assholes when i have business much more important to do.

    I am so happy!!!

  • KIM says:

    Tesco in Hanley,Stoke on Trent. A very pleasurable shopping experience. The store is nice and clean. The food fresh, and most of all, the staff very helpful, curteous and kind. I did’nt have to wait for more than 5 mins to get served when I went in.ALL the tills were manned, and not one person was kept waiting to be served.I have signed up for a club card that I can use when I visit again. Read the comments about the state of some of the stores,especially the Irish ones, they need someone to turn them around and get things sorted, and the places cleaned.So if Tesco are in need of the right person to sort the mess out in their Irish stores, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I get the job done, and don’t stand any shirking from any member of staff NOT pulling their weight.They will be easily replaced by those who WANT to work.

  • doc says:

    i work on the checkouts in tescos,i have done for the past six months..its ridiculous you expect the floor to be sparkling while there is no waiting at checkouts..that cant happen as the floor staff get called when its busy.and thats alot..pretty much all the time offers dont work out is because customers read the SEL wrong.and then they give out to me..all i do is scan the groceries in,the machine does the deals,not me..but i try to treat all my customers right..i show manners and try to make shopping easier for them.btw i didnt want to be on checkouts,i wanted to be on the floor,but they needed checkout staff,and theres not many places i can get a job..and i NEED money.so i do it..and i definatly pull my weight..im just saying were not all bad

  • Sandy C says:

    I Live in Ireland and cannot understand why the Irish people, a proud people, are such hypocrites. It seems we Irish want to Irish goods on the shelves and jobs being created in Ireland, yet we seem to give the majority of our hard earned cash to foreign companies that could not give a damn about us or the community we live in. I think it is about time we started to support our local supermarkets and local butchers. I use to shop in Tesco untill I decided to try my local Costcutter supermarket and I only realised then how much I was getting screwed by Tesco. I can now get better value and what I believe is probably the best customer service I have come across in my life. The management and staff and other regular customers seem to do nothing but enjoy the experience of both working and shopping in this store. It is a family run business and they could certainly teach all the bigger supermarkets how to treat the customer and from what I hear from the staff they seem to treat the staff better than any other company I know. They tell me it is not how much they get paid as they only get minimum wage but they get something much better which is respect. The boss told me his attitude towards the staff is simple. He expects the staff to have a laugh and joke with the customers and be mindful of getting the job done at the same time. He also tells he can usually beat Tesco for overall value due to the fact he can buy certain quality value products and sell them at much lower prices than the German discounters. I have purchased some of these products and he is not kidding, they are top drawer and at amazingly low prices. I cant give this supermarket enough praise and only wish everyone in Ireland could experience this for themselves. I believe this shop is managed as a very customer friendly environment. Incidentally, they do home deliveries. You can either go into the shop and do your shopping and they will deliver it or if you know what it is you want and they have it in stock you can call them on the telephone and speak to one of the staff who will take down your order and then deliver is a COD (Cash on Delivery). This is a great service when you are sick at home and whats even better is you get it the same day and usually within 2 hours of phoning in your order.
    This shop is in Abbeyleix in County Laois if you happen to be passing by it is worth a visit, even if it is only to experience the friendliness of the management and staff.

  • mark j says:

    tesco w***kers. I was recently escorted back into TESCO WHITFIELD, KENT, UK. by a neandertal thug wearing a security badge. this prick is lucky he still has teeth. I asked to speak to the manager or ass manager and was told “we don’t have either of them in store” this thug tried to use his chest as a battering ram and on one occcasion he almost over balanced me causing what would have been a nasty fall into shelving. Of course (as i had done nothing wrong up to this point)I was now fuming and in between swearing demanded his name so that I could report the assault to the local police. I was refused his name and banned from the store for one year. upon my return home still fuming I tried to phone the store direct to voice my complaint. after some 10 mins on an automated line the phone was eventually answered by cust services.I asked to speak to manager and as if by magic, they located (in-store)deputy manager. I spoke to him and said I would be prepared not to report the assault if the thug apologises to my face, and my 12 month ban be lifted with immediate effect. I’m awaiting a phone call from him after he’s looked at the security video. I have been unjustly dealt with for an offence I didn’t commit, and to have the staff “lie” to me as to the locality of any management is an absolute f***ing disgrace!
    I do want to get back into tesco if only to load up one of the really big trolleys with the most expensive frozen food I can find, then line the top with stuff from the hot deli, wander around for a few hours, have a meal, get half way through the check out and say “no thanks, changed my mind” just to piss them off and hit them in the pocket. It might only be a couple of hundred pounds worth at a time but as they say, “every little helps” wonder how many times I can do that before they cotton on.

  • Tim Murphy says:

    Tesco Tullamore are ripoff merchants. Twice in the last 4 weeks, I have been overcharged with items that are on 2 for the price of 1 offer. On the most recent occasion , I had to drive 22 miles return journey to try and get 6 euro that I was overcharged. This has happened on the automated teller machines, that do not allow for proper reductions on 2 for 1 offers. I was offered 6 euro refund , but no reimbursement for my travelling costs. TESCO TULLAMRE,s policy does not allow for this. Their contention is that the customer should check their receipts. WHY the machines should be properly set. I intend to complain to Consumer association, as I believe many customers are getting over charged. I told the manager in Tesco Tullamore to shove his 6 Euro.

  • james says:

    Very similar experience no show for delivery no phone call to explain why. After phoning customer dis-service was told my payment had been declined. My credit card statement tells a different story 108 euro charged then miraculously refunded. Still waiting for a proper explanation but won’t be shopping there again.

  • Dave says:

    I used to work in Tesco Castlebar and the toilets are chronic but not because of staff not cleaning them. They are cleaned every 2 hours, A sheet in the bathroom wall has to be filled when its cleaned. I used to be a cleaner there and I have withnessed sanitary pad smeared on the wall excrement smeared on the wall, used needles, people regulary steal handwash and toilet paper so next time you complain about the state of the toilets think of the poor unfortunate that has to clean up the mess. If it was up to me I wouldn’t have public toilets because from what I have seen people aren’t able to use them without leaving them in a state, actually comparing them to the staff bathrooms that are cleaned the same amount and they are spotless.

  • Mary says:

    Tesco sucks rudeslness arrogance patronising call centre staff Cal

  • Mary says:

    Tesco = nightmare. I cannot describe horrific experience reonline grocery shop Wexford. Obnoxious call centre Cardiff. Cancelled delivery because promotions stopped. Money taken not refunded 106 euro. Banned from on line delivery. They should be investigated by Competition Authority or such like. People place order and pay in good faith only to be told price has gone up by 10 euroor so few hours later. Never had trouble with either SuperValu or Central in 16 years only Tesxi Ridiculous allegations made against me by driver. Delivery on door step when yet man whoever he is rings to say payment not gone through because offers off. Payment had gone through my paid goods removed. I never got refund. Feel from what I has happened to me here more than personal vendetta against me from ignorant pig in store. No one to complain to. E mails ignored. Appealing customer service so called people in Cardiff . Yes Tescos policies should be investigated. Definitely.

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