Tesco delivery- is this normal?

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My entire household is quite sick with Covid at the moment.

Tesco isn’t my usual supermarket, but we live rurally and they’re the only supermarket that deliver (we’re not in the UK so no Ocado etc).

I normally don’t have shopping delivered but have used Tesco before and found them good. Since Covid hit, the delivery driver no longer brings the crates into the kitchen which is fine. Previously, I’ve just had a laundry basket by the door they I’ve transferred my stuff into to bring it to the kitchen myself- all very straightforward.

Anyway, as I said, Covid hit and I did an online order. In the notes, I added a message to say we’re isolating (the site has a note saying to do this). In addition to my shopping, I also added a number of shopping bags (at €0.70 each- big reusable ones), thinking it’d be easier for me to pick the packed bags up off the doorstep. I was expecting that some chilled/frozen items would be in a crate so I over-ordered beach’s thinking that each one would have some spare capacity for me to add chilled/frozen stuff on top.

Delivery driver arrived and everything was in crates. The shopping bags I ordered turned up in the fourth or fifth crate, neatly folded on top of the groceries.

Typically, it was the pouring rain, and we had to spend ages lugging crates off of the doorstep, into the kitchen, unpack them, and then bring them back to the delivery driver. Because he was unloading crates faster than we could unpack and leaving them on the doorstep, our groceries got rained on- a few things were in paper bags that disintegrated.

We (husband and I) were both on day 3 of Covid and feeling pretty miserable and definitely not moving as quickly as we normally would.

It would have all been so much easier if the shopping had just arrived in the bags that I had paid for, and that way I could have just picked them up from the doorstep and brought them in pretty quickly. Instead, the delivery man had to stand in the back of his van, waiting for us to return empty crates to him.

If you purchase shopping bags with your shopping delivery, do you expect the groceries to arrived bagged?

No I wouldn't expect them bagged just because I had ordered bags for life. Tesco don't bag groceries any more. I'd expect the bags just to come separately, as they did.

Buying the reusable bags on tesco is just like buying mangos or bread or whatever, you're just buying the actual product rather than a service.

Sorry but no I would expect the bags to be in the grate rather than my groceries packed.

Yep. Customers would complain (seriously) if their expensive bag for life arrived crumpled with items already in it.

I'm a picker, and sometimes things like bags come at the very end of the list, when everything else has been loaded into the crates. We are timed constantly on our pick rate so no, we cannot then repack everything into the bags unfortunately.

Yeah, this is typical. During lockdown they had crate bags so you could life everything out in one go and that was ace. But no, you have to grub around at the door step picking each thing up, God help you if you had back problems.

I wouldn't expect them to pack, no. However, if you put in the note a request for them to pack because you are ill with covid, they probably would have done.

I mainly shop at morrisons now. As they still bag things its so much easier.

When I have occasionally used asda/tesco I just tip the crate on to the floor in my hall way . Looks a real mess. But it means I don't feel to rushed. It does seem silly not to pack as it slows the driver down.

I think it can make is more difficult for people with disabilities. Special needs elderly people ect

Yes I would have expected the stuff to be in bags. I mean what on Earth would you be ordering bags for otherwise?
by ticking this option I would have expected to pay extra for the staff to bag it.
I really feel for elderly or unwell people who arnt able to keep bending down to get the stuff out of the crates, or who can’t carry a crate or for whom multiple trips esp if up stairs is just not feasible. I thought that’s why they had the bagging option there! It used to be so good before covid.
I have a bad back. I can’t carry a crate at all. I can’t bend down to get things over and over so it means I have the option of

1. Getting the Tesco person to hold the crate up for me to get 2 or 3 things at a time, repeat over and over (I have £150 of shopping average around 90-120 items)


2. Get the tescos person to come in to my kitchen which they will do now, but I don’t feel safe if I’m on my own in the house and an unknown man is following me into the kitchen so I won’t do that if alone


3. bend down at the knee to get the 2 or 3 items at a time which when done repeatedly is very painful on the knees.


4. I can’t go physically to the shop unfortunately for a full shop as my back is too bad to load and unload the car. Loading isn’t too bad but unloading means carrying bags from where my car is parked which is just too far.

When bagged items were around it was far more manageable as small groups of 4-6 items were in a bag at a time and east to pick up and carry. So much quicker and pain free!

tesco havent bagged stuff here for a good few years, def pre-covid. Just because you ordered the bags doesn't mean they will bag it!

Thanks all, you live and learn.

I just feel miffed because the bag option came up as I was doing the online checkout. Literally a line saying “click here to confirm now many bags you need” so I just automatically assumed adding them on meant they’d arrive containing groceries.

I now have 8 very uncrumpled and beautifully folded Tesco bags for life 😁

We had this exact same situation - it struck us as very odd! I was v poorly in bed with covid, with my partner and toddler isolating. Partner did a tesco delivery, telling them we were isolating, and all the food arrived in crates and not bagged. Therefore he had to bring the crate INTO the house??? and unpack it in the kitchen and then hand it back to the delivery driver?

Didn't seem very sanitary at all 😂

Tesco don't deliver goods in bags, though other supermarkets do. I have some plastic tubs (small ones which I can pick up easily) and leave them outside the door for the delivery staff to put the goods into.

I assumed they would pack it too op.

I did grab the laundry basket I normally use and brought it to the door but the delivery driver refused to put items into it as we had Covid.

Which is fair enough, but then he was taking the crates that we’d carried from our front door to the kitchen and back again, in between unpacking them and basically breathing all over them.

As @Lovetogarden2022 said, it just didn’t feel very hygienic.

We order regularly from them. When we had Covid they just left the crates outside and said would pick up next week

All very odd, whats the point in telling them you have covid if the process is exactly the same regardless?

Never had an online supermarket order but I would have expected bags to be used because thats what they are for? Maybe they should put a note by the bag items stating for purchase but won't be used for the immediate shop and for customers future
use in store only.

I’ve never heard of any deliver drivers bringing it into your actual home.

When I had covid I too did an online shop at tesco (I shop there regularly anyway).

It said, like I’m sure most supermarkets do, that they won’t be providing bags.

Then it said something like - “If you are isolating then tick this box and we will bag your items for you so you can distance safely”.

So I didn’t bother having any baskets ready as I was going to just shove the bags in the hallway and carry them through later.

But when it came none of it was bagged even the fruit and veg, I had to bring in each individual carrot, apple and bell pepper etc which was such a pain.

I didn’t say anything to the driver as it wasn’t his fault and I didn’t bother complaining as I felt too poorly but it’s annoying they give you that option but don’t follow through with it.

Why didn't you just put the stuff in the bags/washing basket at the door, rather than dragging crates backwards and forwards?

When I had Covid, my Tesco driver let me keep the crates. I returned them to the store when I was better.

In my experience, the only supermarkets that bag shopping still is Iceland and Ocado. Morrisons don't, neither do tesco and Sainsburys/Waitrose don't deliver in my area.

Lur Tesco delivery drivers always do what they did for your delivery ie bring groceries in crates. We then lift crates into the kitchen and unpack them and bring them back to the driver.

This is standard practice surely.

I don’t understand why you ever had a laundry basket. That’s unnecessary.

Why didn't you just put the stuff in the bags/washing basket at the door, rather than dragging crates backwards and forwards?

Because the driver wouldn't come close enough to the house to put the crates into the hallway, and would only put them on the doorstep, standing way back.

The bags didn’t turn up until crate four or five, the last ones he unpacked.

Using the basket, I would have had to either-

Take the basket outside and transfer items from crate to basket on the doorstep, in the pouring rain (actually bucketing down).

Or

Pick up the drenched crate, put it into the hall. Transfer the items from the crate into the basket, return crate to driver, bring now wet basket into the kitchen, unpack basket- basically it would have taken longer than just doing the crates.

I just pile everything up on the floor by the door and put away after the driver has gone.

This is standard practice surely.

Totally standard and that’s what happened when I’ve ordered before. I just don’t understand why they make such a thing out of confirming that you have Covid, only to not deviate from the standard practice at all.

I don’t understand why you ever had a laundry basket. That’s unnecessary.

Out of courtesy to the driver. That way I can just pop everything into the basket at the door and give him back the crates immediately so he doesn’t have to wait for me to bring then crates in, unpack them, and then bring them back out.

Even if I have two carry one or two crates of stuff that don’t fit into the basket, it’s much faster.

Normally, the driver will grab some items and help with moving them in the basket, but he didn’t this time, because of us having Covid.