Shocked at hidden fees in my Asda shop

[Lucie984]

I’ve shopped through Asda online for years and with the exception of a few minor issues have generally found the service and produce to be good both online and instore. I’m also aware they have a £40 minimum basket charge ( fair enough) we have an anytime pass so as long as I do a £40 shop I should only be paying for the groceries purchased….
However the cumulative basket total shown in the corner as shopping can show £40 but this does not mean you have actually reached the minimum £40 basket total. Was very upset to look back through the full receipt of many of my recent orders I have been charged £7.50-9 in these hidden fees. Shockingly even when actually adding a few extra items would have still made the overall charge on our credit card nearly 25% cheaper!

I'm more shocked that you are only just hitting the minimum spend.

I put Tuna sandwich filler as a first item in my trolley and the total showed 9.50 🤯 I couldn’t get it sorted so went to Sainsbury’s instead

We order a couple of shops a week as obviously bread etc only keeps for a few days and we haven’t got a big freezer. We have to use our credit card and not sure when we’ll have the money to pay it off so often taken items out (fruit etc) to get it down to around £40 (both working but children and large mortgage etc)

Yes I think what hasn’t helped is they have a featured where you now just tick to add favourites from a list and it doesn’t add them to the basket until you press add to shop at the end of the list, so the first basket total that comes up is often e.g. £43-44 and then I’ve been taking a few items off to get it to £40-£41

Surely it shows the final total and any charges at the checkout stage? Tesco and Sainsburys do.

Exactly what I was thinking 🤔

What are these hidden fees called on your receipt?

I haven't seen this I must say. Mine has charges etc if I'm not over £40 and then they vanish when it goes up over £40. It also shows me the final bill in the app.

It does. It shows you a breakdown of costs at checkout and on the emails they send, including the delivery fee.

Personally I’ve never had this issue due to spending the GDP of a small country on groceries anyway.

I suppose the ‘hidden’ aspect is that discounts and multi-buys may not be shown in the basket view but they are clearly displayed at checkout and on the receipt.

Are they actually hidden, or unnoticed and unexpected? Surely you see an itemised costing at checkout.

Not particularly clearly unless scroll through to the end end and read through each potential extra charge they might have added and even then it isn’t particularly highlighted. Every other online supermarket app I use does not have it hidden in the cumulative basket total and then still makes it very clear if you haven’t reached to £40 minimum spend.

You may be better having a larger midweek shop delivered and a smaller top up for bread milk etc at the weekend so you are not so close to the minimum spend.

No it’s the fact they actually include these fees in the basket it would be reasonable to assume only has your items purchased

Well obviously now I know they are hiding these fees in the basket then I won’t be caught out again, the point is all the previous shops that I have been charged for. A bigger midweek shop wouldn’t work for us as bread etc will have gone off before the next shop and not room to store more in our freezer

That's why I suggested you do a top up shop for bread etc.

When you scroll down and confirm the order it shows you any and all charges, sounds like you’ve just skimmed it rather than looking, I’ve never found it hidden personally. That must be disappointing to realise especially when money is so tight, but it’s not really Asda’s fault

Where are you looking for the extra charges OP? I can see mine if I open my basket and when I go through to checkout? They don't appear before I book a slot because if my basket is over £25 I could select to click and collect without any fees. I've taken some screenshots, hopefully they'll appear once mumsnet has reviewed them.

I was simply relying on the basket total being correct for the items I was adding, just like every other supermarket seems able to do. Any further fees are then usually added on at the checkout stage. You should not have to read through the whole receipt with a fine toothcomb. I don’t think they used to do this either as obviously when I first start shopping with any retailer I do double check how they work, carefully read through each total etc before paying, I think this might be a relatively new feature, made worse by their new feature of ticking to add any favourite items all at once.

You really don’t have to read it with a fine toothcomb though, and as you’ve said it’s shown on the receipt too.

Hi, @Lucie984 - worth a quick email to Asda customer services. Worse that happens is they say no/don't reply

I wasn’t looking for any extra charges as the basket was stating it was over £40 so I wouldn’t be expecting any? I’m a busy mother who does her online shop whilst cooking dinner, watching a baby and supervising homework, I’m relying on that basket total to be correct. How come the other supermarkets manage to have a basket total stating only the items added and even something that flashes up of you try and check out without reaching the minimum basket charge (e.g. if items taken off as unavailable at the checkout stage)

Their instore staff are lovely but unfortunately same cannot be said for their online team

Is that not just the sandwich filler plus delivery charge plus minimum spend charge? Because until your basket hits a certain value you are incurring those 2 charges.

That would be cost of tuna filler plus delivery