Asda ridiculous substitutions and they also don't log returns

[ikeptgoing]

I'm am so fed up with Asda. I'm shielding abs have relied on Asda home deliveries but they are getting more and more ridiculous

I'm disabled so bagged up is important for me or I can't move it- rarely do they bag it up despite me paying for it

This week 15 substitutions and 5 unavailable. Want to know what the substitutions were???
Toilet gel instead of quaver crisps
Caraway seeds instead of spaghetti pasta
They never put them in nags despite multiple phone calls to hq that I'm disabled and need the bags and PAY for the bags , so you have to ring customer services telephone to get those refunded.
I ended up ordering Tesco delivery as so much was missing and what a polite abs reliable difference 🥰

I agree OP. Asda are shite. I shop with tesco but every now and then I order from asda as my children love their fresh pizzas and they do a eider range of quorn products, also I had fsm vouchers that I had to use from asda as tesco I csnt use them for delivery. Twice I ordered a few pizzas and both times no pizzas. The second time I ordered over £12 worth of their pizzas, it said they had sent them, I had been charged, but I didn't receive s single one. I was so annoyed. Also there was apparently no substitute for a loaf if warburtons white bread...what, no bread st all in asda? Absolute joke. Tesco are fantastic overall.

Our delivery driver told us that Asda are not doing bags for home deliveries any more but they haven't updated the website yet. Its a right pain in the arse.

We haven't had any odd substitutions.

Yes, Asda are a bit crap at this, though my substitutions haven't been quite that wild

The couple of times when they haven't bagged my groceries (the first time doing click and collect, the second home delivery) I've written an email to the customer service email address to explain its impact on me as someone with mobility issues. Both times they applied a voucher to my online account afterwards (I think the first time for £12 and the second for £7) as well as refunding the carrier bags, so it sounds like it's worth emailing them instead of phoning them.

I'm not sure why the first time was a bigger voucher, other than maybe from having to chase them up after not having gotten a response after two weeks (or, maybe it was the photo I attached of all the unbagged groceries - or mentioning the equality act!). The second time I heard nary a word, and just got automated emails informing me first of the carrier bag refund and then of the voucher. I CBA to chase them up. The vouchers are handy but frankly I'd rather my groceries were bagged so my day wasn't wrecked each time - and to have the courtesy of a response, to make it seem like they actually gave a crap and plan to do better.

I might switch to Tesco too.

@ikeptgoing

No Asda delivery men won't help me or let me take boxes through

Tesco's will

I don't get how Asda believe they are Equality Act compliant as they aren't

They won't let you take the boxes through!?! How bizarre. What are you expected to take each item individually? Their deliveries must take them bloody ages waiting fir people to walk through a few items at a time (appreciate that's not even an option for you). How is that practical for any customer or the delivery process?

We get a Tesco home shop and carry the boxes through, unload in kitchen and take boxes back out to delivery person.

I'd go with Tesco in future if I were you. Asda sound like a nightmare.

I cannot fathom why someone would go, oh no crisps, you must want toilet cleaner instead!

@smoothchange

Why do you keep shopping with ASDA when Tesco, by your own posts, are so much better?

Because it has just happened, and it takes ages to get a delivery slot. I can't magic up recurring slots with Tesco's to replace my Asda ones. It's a big deal to switch over when I'd have no alternative if I got it wrong and we'd rather not run out of food regularly (I'm unable to go to shops)

There are other reasons including Ive shopped with Asda for 25+ years, know & like the ranges/ specific products, pricing on those, so I posted to see if delivery issues were common or if I'd just had bad luck. It looks like I'm not the only customer not only disable person experiencing difficulties with Asda pickers and deliveries

Thank-you everyone, there's been enough replies that tell me this is likely to be unresolvable with Asda and it's clearly an Equality Act fail but they don't care- I've even cried multiple times on phone to their customer services.

There's no button in app to request refund of no bags supplied again despite paid for . 40p is not huge amount - but Asda are skimming a lot from thousands of people if this is occurring a lot. I thought it was just my store .

Thankyou RavingAnnie you understood!

I'm CEV so was surprised when Tesco's delivery man offered to carry boxes through to my kitchen but couldn't take him up on that kind offer.

This week I had bags lined up by the door to move it all into but it was still painful & exhausting bending from crate on floor to bags in floor, whereas in store reaching to trolley and conveyer at hip height doesn't hurt and isn't such a huge endeavour.

Tweet to Customer Service gets faster and best response. I rarely use Twitter but after a hideously frustrating tune with Kwikfit did this - sorted immediately and have used that ever since with other organisations customer service not delivering

FSVin

I've written an email to the customer service email address to explain its impact on me as someone with mobility issues. Both times they applied a voucher to my online account afterwards (I think the first time for £12 and the second for £7) as well as refunding the carrier bags, so it sounds like it's worth emailing them instead of phoning them.

Thankyou, I'll try that. Although I have explained repeatedly on telephone

They've given me a £5 evoucher twice but not the last 4 times it happened and it's so stressful to keep ringing them.

For others asking why I don't say no substitutions, well 1/3 - 1/2 my shopping would be missing if I did and most of substitutions are ok

They 'price match' match too but it's less product far more costly. Still some food is better than none but throws out my budget and menu plan -I've gone without and fed kids some meals because Asda puts in a 3 pack of meat instead of the 6 pack I ordered and it's almost same price , so price match can be dodgy

I'm not unreasonable as understand there can be supply shortages but it's like the pickers no longer care or more likely they've hired lots or new ones that don't care or too much time pressure on them. As I've shopped online with Asda for years and this is a sudden new issue

@EmmanuelleMakro

Tweet to Customer Service gets faster and best response. I rarely use Twitter but after a hideously frustrating tune with Kwikfit did this - sorted immediately and have used that ever since with other organisations customer service not delivering

I get this can be effective for some people, but I don't want to self identify on Twitter saying how difficult it is for me, partly due to my job and partly because it's humiliating enough experience as it is , to choose to share it publicly on my account forever more .

It evidently varies up and down the country. We regularly do Asda click and collect and get a really good service (except that they insist on using bags when we would rather they didn't, but no option to say no). The subs we get are generally sensible, the quality is giid and the staff are fantastic.

A couple of weeks ago we did a sainsburys click and collect instead as we gave a super-fussy cat who only ears sainsburys grain free food. What a difference. Had to press a buzzer to tell them I'd arrived. They finally brought the shopping out 25 mins later. It was all thrown in random bags (one contained a mixture of toilet cleaner, raw meat and fresh veg!) and loads was missing. Clearly that store were massively under-staffed that day (I suspect they picked my shopping when I arrived) and unable to cope, but I won't be going back to them again.

My family are all vegetarian. ASDA substitute beef burgers for veggie burgers, chicken curry for vegetable curry, etc.

However, unlike Tesco, ASDA send an email in advance with the substitutions. So I tell the driver straight away “I don’t want the burgers substitution” and hand it back when I find it in the crate. Then the refund happens automatically, I don’t have to phone or email anyone.

My elderly Dad drinks a bottle of whisky (or 2) every week, and really can't go without (alcoholic). 80% of the time the whisky is delivered with the security cap on, and he has to saw it off with a hacksaw. He's very unsteady. So dangerous! Last week they didn't have the whisky I'd ordered for him, and they didn't provide a substitute, so he had to go to the shops, even though he's not meant to. I can't help, as I am 100's of miles away.

ikeptgoing

I have two Twitter accounts, a work one and cute animals and petty complaints one.

I think I might start sending an identical email with the date changed to save the stress of having to think about it too much. If customer service don't have the energy to send a personalised response then I'm sure we could get away with sending the same template over and over.

But yes, it's a really awful, stressful and, as you said, humiliating experience both having to explain why the lack of bagging is such a problem, and to be made to repeatedly feel that nobody at the company really cares, other than fobbing you off with a voucher to retain your custom. Especially when they get such a huge sum of money from us over the year, and each time I order it feels sort of like I'm condoning their disinterest in serving their disabled customers properly.

I'm still struggling to get delivery slots with anyone. Asdas customer service can't even be bothered to acknowledge my complaints. Our nearest tescos in miles away and they don't have delivery slots in normal times. Morris ons, sainsbury, waitrose and ocado, no chance.

I am disabled. I can't stand in a queue or push a trolley. We're a family of 6. Trouble is none clinically extremely vulnerable disabled people have been totally ignored throughout this pandemic.

We've had no issues with asda bagging up the shopping and at least they do it logically unlike Morrisons who just seem to through things into bags randomly which is exhausting to deal with.

I feel your pain totally

@WyfOfBathe

My family are all vegetarian. ASDA substitute beef burgers for veggie burgers, chicken curry for vegetable curry, etc.

However, unlike Tesco, ASDA send an email in advance with the substitutions. So I tell the driver straight away “I don’t want the burgers substitution” and hand it back when I find it in the crate. Then the refund happens automatically, I don’t have to phone or email anyone.

That's good you get refunds automatically, frustrating for you to have meat products sent instead as subs for vegetarian- that makes no sense at all. Usually I do get refunds on items I can find on original list but when they've gone wild on replacements or different packs of meat, you can't get easy refund. I recent but this time driver failed to refund any of the meat I returned to him

Some of the drivers are great, a couple haven't been but they are visibly under pressure and I get their frustration that it takes me longer to unload without bags. it's becoming too unpredictable except starting to guarantee they'll charge for bags but rarely send them.

@ikeptgoing

I tried to post this, please tell me it is reasonable??!!

Tweet them the bleech substitution.

Neve know trump might have taken over asda and is conducting his own vaccination program

"Because it has just happened, and it takes ages to get a delivery slot. I can't magic up recurring slots with Tesco's to replace my Asda ones.
It's a big deal to switch over when I'd have no alternative if I got it wrong and we'd rather not run out of food regularly (I'm unable to go to shops)"

Could be worth giving tesco customer support a ring and seeing if they can guarantee you/set up th slots before you cancel asda.

I know it varies from store to store but tesco stuff do seem well enabled to help more than others. There's more of a "give me a minute i think I can find a way around this" attitude compared to the "computer says no" of others

Sinful8
Thankyou xxx

If you phone Tesco they can add you as a vulnerable customer who gets priority delivery slots

I gave up on Asda as the subs were awful

With Tesco you can write a note for each item so for say bananas you could put green ones please

I often wrote if sub then write what I'd like and they always send them

I find it's a bit more expensive but so much more reliable

I told them this week that I would never be shopping with them agsin.

Abd I mean it

Tesco don’t guarantee slots for those shielding. They offer “priority slots” but that’s just an 8 hour time slot and you need to be on as soon as slots of released here to get one for 3 weeks later

I agree Asda have been shocking lately. I've never had problems before but two weeks running i've had my deliveries just... not arrive.

This is after i've had the subs email so it had been picked and packed.

Local store just has an answerphone message saying basically theyre not bothering to take customer calls "because covid"

@superstar84

If you phone Tesco they can add you as a vulnerable customer who gets priority delivery slots

I gave up on Asda as the subs were awful

With Tesco you can write a note for each item so for say bananas you could put green ones please

I often wrote if sub then write what I'd like and they always send them

I find it's a bit more expensive but so much more reliable

Wow, that's good news I don't know what I'm going to do. I spend 1/4 my monthly earnings in Asda/George (kiddie shoes and clothes) and always have, food, clothes everything as even pre Covid it has been difficult for me to get to shops

... sorry, app won't let you see more than a line of text or you do a reply.

... so, it's actually a huge deal after 25 years to move to a different further away supermarket and trust they will deliver even if I get half my food i ordered and random subs that I have to send back, it is still half.

There's no food boxes, so if Asda forgets or says there's no bread butter potatoes or pasta that's it for me. We go without. If they win more expensive meat for a bargain bulk pack I picked, and there's not enough for me, kids get it and I go without hot meal and have toast because otherwise it isn't enough for meal plans I made. It isn't just about cost of bags that we don't get it's about replying in not having silly substitutions and making it workable.

I feel awful saying anything about Asda delivery drivers, I get impression they are timed and they each say pickers haven't bagged it up to save pickers time but it doesn't help disabled customers who paid for bags nor delivery drivers.