To think that Tesco don't give a monkeys - twin trolley issues

[Ilovemyself]

I have been having an on and off battle with my local Tesco (the only supermarket without driving 13 miles or so) for a while.

Ever since my twins were born I have struggled with trolleys.

When they needed the reclining seat trolleys, they were always tucked away at the back so I had to pull out 10 or 20 trolleys to get them out. I would the have to clean them as they were always filthy (I did find a manager once and gave him a handful of really manky baby wipes from where I had cleaned one)

Now they are in the normal trolleys, I always struggle to find a twin one. They are normally half way down a row of trolleys because the trolley boys don't seem to have a brain cell and put them there.

I have complained to the store manager and have even been on a customer focus group where I made my feelings known about the trolleys. I was told then ( over a month ago) that trolleys were on order.

Today, after searching the lines of trolleys in the dry storage area, I had to check all of the trolley bays in the car park, in torrential rain. There were none, so I had to put one twin in the seat and the other in the trolley (which I detest as it isn't fair on the next user to have dirty shoes in the bottom of a trolley)

Should I really kick off about this now?

Theadorakisses I hope you have triplets. Soon.

I stand at customer services and get the trolley man to go and find me a twin trolley.
One in 30 births in my region is a multiple birth, there are loads of twins around. And we spend a bloody fortune so it's worth kissing our ass.

Do you honestly think it is economically viable for every supermarket to discard all their existing trolleys and replace them with twin trolleys just so you aren't at all inconvienienced?

I think it is entirely economically viable for them to put in double trolleys whenever they replace worn-out trolleys. Parents who only need one seat can easily use a double trolley, but the same does not apply in reverse.

The comments about being a celebrity are horrid, the staff at my local waitrose knows my granddaughter's name, always have a chat with her and they are always pleased to see her, I have no doubt they would be delighted to see twins regularly, customer service is not only for celebrities.

The OP wasn't suggesting replacing worn out trolleys though, she wants all trolleys to be twin which I think IBU.

How hard is it to ask someone to find you a trolley? Every supermarket I go to has a 'greeter' on the door. I'm sure they'd help you, particularly if the staff enjoying seeing the twins so much.

all our trolleys used to be twin too, haven't noticed what they have replaced them with (but they have new ones)

i would ask customer service to find you one each time you shop there - hopefully they will soon get the message and make sure some are available, if they don't you can write to them etc

it must be a complete pita. i loved taking my children supermarket shopping when they were little, online shopping isn't the same.

Am amazed anyone could enjoy shopping with one small child/baby, let alone twins.

I would also go to Customer service every time. get them to give you a bit of customer service

Bearbehind. I never said that they should all be replaced immediately but that wouldn't sort your view would it.

But if they had thought of the issue in the first place it wouldn't have happened.

Average number of children in the UK is 1.7. I doubt whether there really is a need for very trolley to be a double.

But there is every need for each trolley to be able to carry 1.7 children.

Actually, another point in favour of the double seated trolleys is that the actual trolley tends to be bigger, thus enabling the shopper to purchase more items. A benefit for the store.

It's a shame you don't have an aldi near you. I've noticed in ours that the single seat and double seat trolleys are slightly different sizes so you can't stack them all together, they need to be returned to the right place.

Yanbu, I have a relatively small age gap (20 months) and the older dc is a bolter, so I need a double seated trolley too.
I'm not keen on online shopping as I like to pick my own fruit and veg and check use by dates, browse the clothes, and I am also hopelessly disorganised, so often don't remember I have forgotten to put something on the list until I walk past it in the aisle
The DC really like supermarket shopping, so the rest of the trip is not an issue, just finding a trolley!
At least the local Tesco do have a few, but it would make more sense if they were all double. I very occasionally go to Sainsbury's where they have just one. I was a little stressed when I couldn't find it when I was there about six months ago, and now the trolley attendant runs off to find it when he sees me getting out of the car

I think tesco do give a monkeys which is why they've got 1. Online shopping and home delivery. 2. Online shopping and click and collect (if you still want to leave the house).

Handing a manager a bunch of dirty wipes is hardly going to make them bend over backwards to help you is it? I bet they move the trolleys on purpose now to piss you off.

When my Mum was having Chemo and I had to do her shopping once a week as well as mine after just having ds, my lovely local supermarket had a tiny baby trolley that they stored at the back and I only had to ask a member of staff and they would fetch it for me.

Put one twin in a sling, job done.

Hi SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius, clearly there is no benefit in alienating customers, although to be fair, I didn't suggest alienation. OP has tried to resolve the issue with her local Tesco without a satisfactory conclusion. If that branch of Tesco was losing large numbers of customers, then I am sure they would react by getting more double trolleys in. The fact that they have not indicates that they are (a) incompetent/irrational - making kicking off at them a worthless exercise (b) not bothered by the risk of losing the odd customer here or there vs the additional cost/congestion associated with the larger trolleys (again making kicking off at them a worthless exercise).
Life is too short for such battles - especially with two young ones. FWIW, I tend to get the big stuff delivered, and then just get odds and sods that I can easily fit in a basket inbetween shops. I can just about hook a basket onto the double pushchair (although it can get a little precarious!). Now the eldest is toddling of course, I have the new challenge of avoiding accidental shoplifting. I swear I only turned my back for a split second yesterday and my 2yo had slipped a pasty into the basket, and handed a bottle of Lucozade to the 1yo. Cue mini-meltdown as I attempted to wrestle Lucozade back of 1yo and return it to the shelf!

I have 2 yo twins, my Tesco is ace, the attendant puts all the twin trolleys in one place, so I run to the front of the store (park in P&C as it is close as I cannot leave them for long in the car) and then run back as fast as I can.

I don't the OP is asking that the bays in the car park have specific areas for putting larger trolleys, just that they could all be put in one place. Maybe wrong but I'm sure you'll me know.

I usually do an internet shop but go into Tesco as a top up - usually bulk buying nappies so a basket and a pushchair doesn't cut it.

Slings don't work me at this age, back is a bit dodgy anyway. Reins make shopping an exciting game of grab and put back as a tag team.

Why is it so difficult or entitled for the OP to ask Tesco to have 5 /6 twin trolleys which the staff return to the same spot so they can be found. The cost of a twin trolley cannot be that high compared to a single and it isn't that much bigger so the cost / congestion argument doesn't really wash. Plus Tesco with its buying power, what was it £1 in every £10 spent in the UK is spent at Tesco, should be able to negotiate a reasonable price for the twin trolleys.

Maybe bypass the local store and write to the Head office suggesting that they use twin trolleys. Either that or lobby for Sainsbury's / Morrisons and Asda to open stores.

Ocado price match with Tesco, deliver free in lots of time slots and are totally wonderful..... Don't make life difficult for yourself - even one online shop a month would be a huge help to you

I have now written to head office. The obvious choice is to replace singles with twins. If they only ordered twins the price would drop.

If not have the twin trolleys returned to a separate location ( like the baby trolleys) and a simple sign that says "for the benefit of shoppers with more than one child please only use the double trolley if you have 2 children that need them "

And again I say I don't want to shop online. I want to chose what I buy myself. And I like to get out of the house. It's a simple thing really but it makes a big difference

Sorry suedoku. Wasn't stressy with you.

Oh, and to the person who Sao dumping dirty wipes in the managers hands won't help, if you are getting nowhere with teas

Reasoned argument then you need to show them the issue.

Blueberry hill, nothing wrong with asking at all. Lots wrong with tantrums, 'kicking off' and finding managers to hand dirty baby wipes to as it is unlikely to achieve anything other that annoying everyone and increasing OPs blood pressure.
If OP had asked whether it was reasonable to ask for additional trolleys, I'm sure the response would have been a unanimous YANBU.

Stop giving them your money - shop somewhere else.