To feel like crying in Tescos

[bluebeach]

I am 8 and a half months pregnant and very hormonal so just having a moan really.

Have just popped to Tescos and as usual ended up with a basket full of shopping. Having lugged it round the shop I got to a free checkout isle and put my basket on it. A highly 'efficient' store manager approached me and asked me to take my basket to the basket isle at the other end of the shop as people with trollies wanted to use the isle I was on (looked around, no one behind me). Ok I thought, but then looked to the other end of the store where the basket isle had a queue. I said 'look can't I just go through here' I had a massive basket full and really didn't fancy hauling it to the other end of the shop and then queuing.

Looking at me like I was being very unreasonable she was then verified as a man came up behind me with a trolly with about 10 things in...much less than what I had. '
"see, other people need to use this isle'.
Actually feeling like crying I then had to carry my basket to the other till and wait about 10 minutes till I could pay. In the mean time, the trolly man whipped through and then isle again stood free. I would have put up more of a fight but I was so knackered after going round the shop and thought I would probably just cry in front of everyone if I tried to protest.

I know she will have had some kind of quota for keeping queues down, but it was just sh*t customer services.

Sorry rant over!! Tescos is bollocks anyway, I'm never shopping there again.

But then I bet if you had been in the basket aisle with your 19 items some jobsworth would have said you needed to move to the trolley aisle as you did not have 10 items or less!!! You can't win!

What is going on with supermarkets and customer service at the moment? Am thinking of the recent thread where OP was not allowed to buy over 15 DVD as her son [under 15 years of age] had scanned it through self service till even though OP [definitely over 15 years of age] was clearly the one buying it! Some posters who work at Asda joined the thread and said that they would lose their jobs if they sold these items to an adult who was present with a child as they could not be sure that adult was buying item for child and would be held responsible for it. Absolute madness and complete lack of common sense on behalf of management of these major supermarkets.

Think you should send this thread to Tesco management as it is very bad publicity for them [and Asda] imo.

And it does seem that some supermarkets do better in customer service than others - Waitrose and M & S repeatedly are mentioned here on Mumsnet with positive reviews.

Thanks all!!

I've emailed Tesco's the link to this thread.

xxx

Sounds ridiculous to me - I know some supermarkets have 'basket only' checkouts where you're not supposed to take a big trolley, but never heard of a problem with anyone taking a basket to one of the normal checkouts!

Really awful customer service IMO. It doesn't even make any sense!

Agree, write and complain.

So if you had taken a small trolley instead of a basket that would have been ok?

The woman sounds like a jobsworth.

YANBU. Normally I would suggest a , but in the circumstances have a bar of choc. (Why haven't we got a choc bar smiley thing?

MarioandLuigi I think you shop in my local Tescos! I feel like I am being told off at school, not doing my weekly shop!

I think she went for you because you were pg and vulnerable. She wouldn't have got past me believe me. Pls complain!

Hate,hate,hate Tesco. Seeing as they are being sent a link to this thread, I'd like to point out to management that the one in Abergavenny has trolleys with wonky wheels, often no trolleys at all, because the staff don't seem to collect them. The shop looks dirty. I went in there last night and half the fridges were closed and if you collect your shopping from the back of the store (no car park), it is absolutely filthy (overflowing bins etc) and the staff take ages to answer the bell.

As I lug my million bags of shopping to the car(parked miles away), I question why I am putting myself through this when I could drive somewhere else. Also in town with little competition they appear to stock little 'value' range because they have a captive market.

Until they raise their game, I have decided to go elsewhere.

sorry for rant OP_

I go to Tesco more often than the other supermarkets. Most days, actually. I am going to make a point of taking my basket through the non-basket tills from now on.

Ooooooh, I hope someone tries to make me move to another checkout

I wish we had a Sainsburys or even a Waitrose near me. We are surrounded by Tescos

That's terrible OP! I'm 38 weeks pg and I would definitely have ended up in tears.

Tesco is terrible. My nearest is Clapham South and some of the staff there are awful. I popped in recently (against my better judgement) and the woman on the till was having some kind of fight with her colleague on the adjacent check out. At one point she stood up and went over to the other till leaving gets wide open! So apart from holding up the queue and being rude to waiting customers she opened up the opportunity for theft.

I emailed Tesco the link to this thread too, and a customer service lady rang me to say that she couldn't do anything about my email because I wasn't the customer concerned, so I am glad to see that bluebeach has emailed them too.

What I told the customer service rep who spoke to me is that the policy of sending people with baskets to the baskets only till needs to be operated with a degree of common sense, so the checkout supervisor would use their discretion to decide whether it was in the best interests of the customer with the basket to send them to the baskets only checkout.

I sincerely hope they are reading this thread and see the comments here. Frankly, it is only the fact that I can shop online, that the online service here is good, and the clubcard vouchers, that keep me going back to Tesco. Otherwise I might well use Sainsburys - their products are as good (better in some cases) and we have a lovely new Sainsbos store at Braehead.

Toby - I am going to be going through as many ordinary tesco checkouts with baskets as possible! And I would love someone to tell me to move to the baskets only checkout!

I don't see why it matters, anyway. If I'm going to be stuck behind someone at a till, I'd rather it was someone with a basket with maybe 15 things in than a trolley with maybe 50 things in.

I had this just the other day in Tescos. I was queueing at a normal till with just a couple of items. A floor manager type came along and (trying to be helpful) pointed to the far end of the store and said "We do have a basket till down there". I said (equally pleasantly), "Yes I know, but the queue for that till is even longer than this one" and showed not the slightest intention of moving.

She said "Right -" in a slightly alarmingly brisk way and then said ...

... "I'll just open up this till for you then." And opened up the neighbouring till just for me! I was utterly amazed and rather chuffed. (Am not pregnant, encumbered by tantrumming toddlers or in any way disabled by the way - no reason for her to put herself out on my behalf. But it was nice.)

YANBU

complain complain complain not to the store to the cheif exec at 41 weeks pregnant my local tesco's had a computer failer and we all had to que up to get our refunds as they had over charged us manager refused to come doenm and security guard was abusive DH walked out no excuse for this poor behaviour

You should have told her to wait, left your basket,, grabbed the nearest trolley and said 'here's the f***g trolley you jobsworth'.

I'd have probably sat and cried and then shed feel really shit.

This is all in hindsight of course.... write and complain.
What a horrible way to treat you.

I was horrified, when I read the OP.

So I WROTE to Tesco myself, here is their reply;

Dear Mrs

Thank you for your email. I would like to apologise for the delay. It is not our intention to make our customers wait on a reply as we know how important it is to answer queries as soon as possible. Normally, we can get back in touch with you within 24 hours and I am sorry that I have not done so on this occasion.

I'm sorry to hear about the experience which another person on Mumsnet had whilst shopping at Tesco and I'd like to assure you that this certainly isn't the standard of service which we usually wish to offer to our customers.

We?re always happy to have any feedback about our stores, whether good or bad, so that we can look into any complaints and do our very best to resolve them.

If the person which this happened too would like to email, write or ring us, then we'll be more than willing to look further into this incident for them.

Our contact details are:-

By telephone - 0800 505555

By email - [email protected] or www.tescocomments.com

By post:-

Tesco Customer Service
Free Post SCO 2298
Baird Avenue
Dundee
DD2 3TN

Thanks for your feedback and I'm sorry to hear that you?re so disappointed with Tesco. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make you feel that we can offer you the service you both deserve and expect in the future.

Good luck with your new baby when he or she arrives and I hope the rest of your weekend is enjoyable.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] quoting TES9169545X.

Kind Regards

Pat Cronin
Customer Service Manager
Tesco Customer Service

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FindginStuff - the rule works that if they're a little bit arsey, or you feel hard-done-by, like most of the posters here, they bend over backwards to appease you. But if they're very, very in the wrong, they will ignore you and pretend it hasn't happened, because they're worried you'll sue them.

Try Morrison's in Norwich - when I was 8 months pregnant and doing anything involved a lot of huffing and puffing I was carrying a basket with something like a loaf of bread and some milk in, so not exactly huge. Anyway, one of the shelf stackers ( a young teenage lad) saw me and immediately jumped down and offered to carry my basket for me :)

I suppose it also shows that not all teenagers (and boys in particular) are complete social washouts :)

I am shocked and very glad that I used a trolley in Tesco the other day as the thought of carrying a basket was too much. I am also 8 months pregnant, nearly 9! I think I would have cried. And probably left my shopping there, walked out, never to return.

Honestly Tescos, get a bit of a common sense.

Mmm ... Tesco could do without a mumsnet campaign ... profits down in the last quarter (blamed on the bad Xmas weather), increasing customers patronising Aldi, Lidl etc. - :) :)

Check out www.tescopoly.org - a great anti-Tesco campaign !

When we moved to our lovely town 25 years ago, there were two greengrocers, two bakers & two butchers, along with other shops ... now it's just the Tesco monster complete with many obnoxious staff :(