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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to tell everyone to return the Tesco Bags For Life

181 replies

swg1 · 30/05/2018 22:49

Can we talk about Tesco's Bags For Life because it's pissing me off.

So, everyone agrees that people using and chucking away carrier bags is an issue. Awesome! Government introduces a charge on all plastic bags. Tesco still offers the 5p bags but also 10p bags for life that they promise to replace forever. Good strong bags, nice strong handles. Great!

A while later they quietly get rid of the 5p bags. Fine.

Except now, having clearly realised that most people don't care enough to return a 10p bag, they've changed the design of the Bags For Life. Gone are the nice strong separate handles, instead we have holes in the bag itself which are nowhere near as strong. The plastic itself is much thinner. I've had these die after one use on some occasions. Yes, it's only 10p but it's also one more useless piece of plastic which I'm sure is because they know no-one will call them on their Bags for Life guarantee -- and the amount who do isn't enough to cost them more than they save with cheap nasty bags.

OP posts:
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LeighaJ · 30/05/2018 22:52

Yeah, the new bags suck but at least we have some of the old still. I personally like Aldi's reusable bags, especially the cold bags, well worth their price.

Weezol · 30/05/2018 22:55

I use bags like these instead of plastic ones.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JUJP1BK/ref=psdc_1769594031_t1_B00557A6M0?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Rocinante1 · 30/05/2018 22:56

I think the point is, they want you to stop using the 10p bags as well.

But proper reusable shopping bags - all the shops sell them. They maybe need replaced after a few years. But stop using the plastic altogether.

AlbertaSimmons · 30/05/2018 22:56

Completely agree. I complained about this very thing at Tesco the other day. The lady on the checkout agreed with me and said everyone was moaning about it, so maybe they'll think again.

HoneyBadgerApparently · 30/05/2018 22:57

They promised to give all the proceeds from 5p bags to charity then quickly did away with them. Cheeky fuckers...

Whisky2014 · 30/05/2018 22:57

We should be usung the cardboard boxes that were holding all the stock. Then we should use the boxes as the recycling bin in our homes.

Original poster
swg1 · 30/05/2018 22:58

Yeah, I tend to use hessian ones when I plan to be going shopping but I have a tiny car and a few bags for life fit in my glove compartment for emergencies whereas the hessian ones really don't.

And realistically the vast amount of people going to Tesco are buying the bags for life, using them twice and then chucking them because they suck which voids the whole point of the policy. It's not about people who were already thinking about the best reusable shopping solution, it's about changing the habits of people who will use whatever is available.

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OyO · 30/05/2018 22:58

Why does the amazon link end with ‘mumsnetforum’?

LilMadAgain · 30/05/2018 22:59

Eurgh, bloody plastic bags! My Asda bag for life collection are poor quality but I've been switching them for the heavy duty 38p bags and they're great. Strong, durable and hold two bags worth of shopping at least.

scrivette · 30/05/2018 23:04

The best plastic bags are Sainsburys as they are really thick and strong.

However, the Aldi and Lidl thick ones are very good and strong and I use these as well as an Ikea bag which has lasted me for about 5 years so far!

SoupDragon · 30/05/2018 23:05

Why does the amazon link end with ‘mumsnetforum’?

I think it’s an automatically added referral link.

SimonBridges · 30/05/2018 23:07

Yeah, I tend to use hessian ones when I plan to be going shopping but I have a tiny car and a few bags for life fit in my glove compartment for emergencies whereas the hessian ones really don't.

I keep my hessian ones in the boot.

Original poster
swg1 · 30/05/2018 23:07

The ikea ones are great. I used to use some for collecting wood and they held a massive amount.

I feel like there should be a standard set before you can call something a bags for life that is at least a little higher than "Well, we're charging you for it but you can officially return it if it breaks (we bet you won't though)". Should be able to hold at least 5 loads of average shopping before breaking or something. (It should be higher than 5! But 5 is still better than 1)

OP posts:
HoneyBadgerApparently · 30/05/2018 23:09

@OyO if you delete the tag=mumsnetforum-21 bit the link still works it's added by mumsnet not the poster.

Original poster
swg1 · 30/05/2018 23:10

SimonBridges -- my boot is full of pram :D When I am officially going shopping the pram comes out, otherwise anything I buy on "oh crap, just remembered we need milk, oh well there's tesco" trips is crammed in footwells and the passenger seat. It really is a very small car

OP posts:
Maelstrop · 30/05/2018 23:10

Morrison’s! A couple of years ago, we bought 4 of their very big reusable bags. I don’t think they make them that big anymore, sadly, but they’re amazing, not really plastic, more like a laminated non rippable thing. Bonkers strong.

AjasLipstick · 30/05/2018 23:12

Oh God OP....just buy or make some canvass or thick cotton shopping bags and be done with it!

FASH84 · 30/05/2018 23:12

Those 10p ones aren't bags for life just slightly sturdier carrier bags. Get proper bags for life, the Aldi cool ones are great. I also have some very large cotton ones I got from Primark for £1 each which easily go in my glove box and can be machine washed if there are any leaks or spillages. Handle is also just long enough to go over the shoulder if needed (our m and s doesn't have a car park directly outside)

SimonBridges · 30/05/2018 23:12

Ah I see. My car has a handy bit under the floor off the boot for such shite.

AllMYSmellySocks · 30/05/2018 23:14

YANBU but surely even better is to just use genuinely re-useable bags all the time.

PaulAnkaDog · 30/05/2018 23:16

Waitrose hessian bags that zip. 👌 Never loved a bag so much.

LizB62A · 30/05/2018 23:19

Ah that explains it.

I took 3 ripped Bags for Life back to Tesco the other day to get them replaced and they tried to give me the ones without the proper handles.
I didn't want those so I took my ripped bags back and said I'd try a big Tesco to see if they still had the proper bags.

I guess I wasted my time then !

And while we're talking about bags for life, why can't clothes shops give me a paper bag liner to keep my new clothes clean inside my well used bags for life? (that the frozen blueberries etc have almost certainly leaked in....)

LapdanceShoeshine · 30/05/2018 23:19

I have masses of proper shopping bags from masses of shops (plus 2-3 fold-up nylon ones in handbag) - never get supermarket carriers & get very cross if family members come back with one.

They're a bit unhygienic though...

Original poster
swg1 · 30/05/2018 23:24

SimonBridges: Yeah I drive an Alto and decided my PFB needed a pram that was basically a tank. On Child2 and may be SLIGHTLY regretting that decision, being that just getting the wheels in the boot with nothing else involves a lot of manoeuvre and praying and putting the seat in my front passenger seat.

And I think people are missing the point. I have proper hessian bags! I know the joy of true reusableness! But the point remains that they are still SELLING the 10p bags as Bags For Life (there is a great big sign saying just that in my local over the top of them) and people are being encouraged to buy them rather than other bags. In my Tesco at least, 10p bags are at the till, 50p bags mean tracking back to another aisle end. Even if I never buy another 10p bag again ever, they are still selling poor quality plastic bags, knowing full well that they're not really reusable, and the majority of people will buy them as the offered option.

OP posts: