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!

Yes I did purchase an anytime delivery pass so was assuming as long as the basket total showed above £40 my delivery would be £0

As I’ve said multiple times, as have other posters, the implication on the asda app is that we reached the minimum spend as that is what the basket total stated and was the same as the payment asked for and taken

Obviously the anal types read through the non highlighted small print on the check out page also

Or just regular, extremely busy mums like yourself who want to know exactly what they are paying for! You've now moved from using the term 'fine toothed comb' to 'anal'.

Yes OP, we are ALL very, very anal at wanting to know what we are being charge for by actually checking the small print before we pay!🙄

I've just checked on the app. In order to pay you have to scroll past the bit that clearly shows these "hidden costs" in the order summary.

But it’s obviously not the implication if the fees are clearly added at the start, which they are.

You are right. They have changed the way it works when they updated their app. Before charges were added at the end. Now they are added first so show in the top right hand corner (basket amount) and then get taken off at the end if you’re over £40.

Is this the same screen you get? I’ve put stuff in there and it now shows £40.52. You might have to wait until the screenshot is visible.

This seems more like laziness on your part vs them “hiding” fees.

What bread are you getting? A loaf keeps fresh for a week here.

No, what she is saying that Asda has changed their usual format of having a basket with a running total that didn’t include delivery charges and under £40 charges, to a running total that includes these charges. When you are used to one system and then they change it without any warning, it is frustrating.

Those who don’t get smaller
shops from Asda won’t understand it. I get a larger shop on a Thursday and the new way doesn’t affect me for that shop. When I do my smaller shop on a Sunday for things for packed lunches, my aim is for a £40 basket. I add various extras to bring my total over £40.
Until a couple of weeks ago, this was easy, my total was in the top right corner and told me when I hit £40. Now my basket could contain £33 of shopping with £7.50 of charges, or it could be £40.50 of shopping with no charges. Yes, I should be checking the charges at the final checkout, but when this has never been the way that Asda have worked, it’s not hard to see why many are falling for this.

When I shopped in Waitrose at Christmas (when they use to send me money off vouchers) the cashier kindly informed me they took the gross amount (before deducting any offers) as hitting the target to get money off. I too would have presumed this was the same for all supermarkets. However, I would have checked. Alas, Waitrose no longer sends me any money off vouchers so I don’t go not even at Christmas😂

I would love the CEO of ASDA to be made aware of this thread but I don't suppose Mumsnet is on his(or her) reading list!

I agree, it’s misleading. Yes it’s there if you look but I understand completely that you were looking at the total. Should be added at the end.

Can you not just buy a loaf of bread in a local shop?

I understand your grievances with the changes.

But unfortunately it's not "broken" or "badly designed", etc. - it's just a typical example of cunning retail strategy to rinse a few more pounds out of their customers before people cotton on to their new way of doing things.

It's been cleverly designed to catch out those who:

A) ASSUME that it will work the same today as it's always done.

B) ASSUME that if every other retailer works a particular way, Asda must surely work the same, too. (a very effective way to catch people out!)

C) Are too important busy to check the confirmation screen before committing to the purchase. (a good lesson here - today you've only done yourself out of 5 quid's worth of groceries. Next time it could be a vital clause in an insurance policy or mortgage/rental agreement, etc.)

Devious - Yes.

Immoral - Probably.

But perfectly above board and legal.

These big companies are only loyal to themselves - They don't care about us, despite what those cosy adverts might try to have us believe!

Confusing the customer is a standard retail tactic - tie them in knots, double-back a few times. Now they've got no idea whether they're getting a good deal or not!

I find that with the Domino's Pizza "Deals" - So many combinations, I can never figure out which is really the "best" deal for this order!

I can’t help think if you have time to post on mumsnet you have time to go through your check out with “a fine tooth comb”.

I understand your point about the system changing and that other places add the small basket change at the end. We’ve not done delivery for a long time as my husband doesn’t work Friday so he goes on a Friday now after he’s dropped the kids at school. I have had some Iceland deliveries in the holidays though as they’ve had great offers on stuff to feed the kids over the holidays/easy snacks to take out to the park. They give everyone (who lives near enough to a store) free next day delivery over £40.

However, I do find it odd that you don’t look at the final totals before checking out, regardless of how long you’ve been doing it for. It takes 10 seconds to cast your eye over the totals at the bottom of the checkout screen, which is well laid out showing totals for everything. To me that’s a perfectly normal thing that nearly everyone would do so most people would have clocked the small basket charge added.

But they are UPFRONT about the fees.

Hidden fees would be chosing a £4 slot, thinking your basket was £38 then going to the checkout and the total is £47 because of a small bag fee that they were not upfront about.

It's the law in the EU that fees have to be displayed in the total basket price before checkout so they might not want it different on each app, or they just realised that it is only fair to tell the customer what they are paying upfront.

You look at the total on check out, that’s where it shows the actual price.

Asdas whole new site is abysmal now. It takes ages for ANYTHING to load, all previous saved items & shopping lists got deleted, the rewards are non existent & so many items unavailable all the time. Unfortunately, with being disabled & having an autistic child who will only eat certain things, & also having looked around, I would have to shop at about 4 other shops, just to get most of what we usually get & it worked out a lot more expensive!!! I'm probably spending £50 a week more than I was 18 months ago as well.

This sounds like a bit of a hidden racket to me for ASDA to make a even more money on the side. They know what they are doing.

Not exactly being duped but l suspect all supermarkets and retail employ lots of bright young things in Online. Sales and Marketing To see how they can squeeze even more from customers where profit is King.

Perhaps this is the latest business scam. Sorry,, practise from a Blackrock Consultant.

Leading edge chancers?

You could report this to your local Trading Standards. See what they have to say.

Yes I’ve noticed this too. They changed it recently it never used to do this.

I’ve used Asda online for many years and never had an issue but this happened to me the other day. I was so cross! Think I’ll move to Tesco

Your username is revolting 🤣