AIBU to think the 80 item limit at Tesco is a bit tight?

[womaninatightspot]

I don't have delivery saver so I'm at the back of the queue as far as slots go still there's some available most weeks. I got a delivery today but there's none next weekend(payday for most) till the 7th. I could of just done a big shop but because of the limit I've had to book another slot for Monday which seems crazy.

Surely it must be hitting Tesco's bottom line as I (and I'm assuming most people)focus on getting basics first and luxury items which have higher profit margins get left or bought elsewhere.

Are people still panic buying? I'm just buying what we need/ refilling the stuff we've used up whilst the shops were bare. Shopping for two houses so maybe tighter than most.

[EinsteinaGogo]

I'm with you, OP.
The 80 item limit has always been bonkers.

[KTyoupigeon]

I’m on priority list so managing to get regular slots with Tesco but still shopping for two households and topping my parents up so I’ve had to source my vegetables/fruit/salad from a local supplier - we are a family of 2 vegans and 1 vegetarian and 1 omnivore so we get through so much fresh veg that I can’t shop in the 80 items for a weeks shop.

[Time2change2]

It’s because of the lack of delivery drivers and trucks. Bigger shops take longer to load and unload. They get less deliveries in. Smaller shops = more deliveries for more people. It’s not because of lack of food supplies.

[TheHarryFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

It’s unfair that large families have the same 80 item limit as single people! But how they could check who lives in your household I do not know!

[Lockheart]

It's not about panic buying or stock. It's about maximizing deliveries.

Demand for deliveries can't be met at the moment. There are many people who now rely on deliveries to get food, as they're vulnerable and can't leave the house or take public transport.

80 item limits mean they can fit more deliveries in each van and try and deliver to as many people as possible.

[peoplepleaser1]

I agree. I'm shopping for frail relatives as well as myself and the 80 item limit orang fat me far. I definitely have to skip luxuries.

@EinsteinaGogo has the 80 item limit been in place since before corona virus?

I do understand that they need to limit the size of orders to avoid running out of space but 80 seems very low.

[peoplepleaser1]

Typo! Doesn't get me far....

[BigBairyHollocks]

I agree.80 items is nothing. I don’t want multipacks all wrapped in plastic, so 10 bananas takes ten items rather than two! Ridiculous!

[EinsteinaGogo]

@peoplepleaser1 - no, sorry, my post made it seem that way though.

[Chillipeanuts]

You’re right. There are 5 adults and a child in our house. 80 items are quickly used up.

[Abbccc]

It's 80 items for click and collect as well.

[EinsteinaGogo]

@BigBairyHollocks - that's just it, exactly.

We had been buying loose items to avoid plastic packaging, and hey presto - carrots, bananas, apples & tomatoes would have you virtually at your limit.

[Mistressiggi]

Where I live, it's hard to get a Tesco slot and there's the 80 limit. Asda much easier to get a click and collect, and no limit.

[Covidpolice]

Yeah its pretty tight. Theres 3 adults here plus a few external shielders. 80 is really difficult but I'd rather have the limit than not get a slot at all.

[lyralalala]

We had been buying loose items to avoid plastic packaging, and hey presto - carrots, bananas, apples & tomatoes would have you virtually at your limit.

The bigger issue atm is that getting multipacks is almost impossible. So people have no choice but to buy single potatoes, single apples.

It's really daft that you can buy 3 x 2kg potatoes, but if they have none you can only by 3 single potatoes

[Unshriven]

For the fruit/veg, order by the kilo rather than number.

So 2kg bananas as 1 item rather than 19 bananas.

[Mapless]

Yes it's been frustrating. We have five vegetarians and one omnivore across 2 households to buy for and if we cannot get a bag of eg bananas or apples the items are used up fast. As pp have said, the only way I've managed is to buy fruit, veg, dairy and bread from a farm delivery. I have also jumped ship to Sainsburys who have slots every time I look. Teseo make me queue from 11:55pm only to tell me there's nothing until mid June. I feel let down by them. I am in a vulnerable group so we have relied on deliveries or collect. I feel happier sourcing fresh produce from local suppliers so it's working out ok, from that angle.

[womaninatightspot]

@unshriven that's a really good idea but if you do it by weight they guess the number of items so 2.16 kg of bananas adds 12 items to my total (gutted as I thought this would be great at reducing items I bought six bags of bananas today!)

[womaninatightspot]

I have to admit I've been ordering the biggest size available so enormous pack of toilet paper, big boxes of cereal, largest packets of pasta, box of wine rather than bottles :) to hopefully free up an item or two for non- essentials next slot so I imagine I'm using up loads of space

[Tonz]

The 80 items is not ideal but was put in place because of the massive increase in online orders. It takes more time than you would realise to pick and pack shopping so by reducing items would be a quicker pick and tesco could reach a lot more vulnerable people. Their orders have gone threw the roof and they need to reach as many people as they can. They can't just employ 50 new pickers as they are already working with the night team and staff safety has to be priority so reducing items is the only way to reach as many vulnerable customers as they can. It's not the best but its for a good reason

[Pixxie7]

Depends on size of household but I don’t know how they can get around that.

[cornish009]

80 items only once a week is impossible for my family and I. We are shielding so cannot go out to the shops, and are also foster carers of teenagers so I buy for 8 adult appetites. I have tried every way possible by buying the largest sizes of everything to manage within 80 items, but I cannot. Ironically I always used to get a Tesco delivery each week anyway, but looking back that would usually be about 130 items. So I have to use another supermarket for delivery - annoying because I would prefer to use Tescos.

[notangelinajolie]

It's bloody annoying when you like to buy your fruit and veg without all the packaging. I used up 7 items in bananas alone.
And peppers I always buy 2 single green ones - who actually wants the yellow or orange ones in the mixed bag?
I wanted 3 mushrooms for a pie I was making - so that was another 3 items. Why would I buy a big plastic carton full of them when I only want 3?

[SkelingtonArgument]

Misses point of thread, but yellow & orange peppers are much nicer than green ones