Offensive Customer Services at Tesco and 19 Months out of date food.

saintscouple

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Sssssss

you had nothing better to do on your hols then go around tesco checking out of date products? was it raing all week?

uktim29

These seem remarkable dates. Could they not have been the manufactured dates? They are often displayed. Sometimes the dates are miss-printed or difficult to read. Could what looked to be 2006 or 06 actually really have been 2008 or 08?

System

OwtForNowt wrote: »

These guys should sort it out;

let me know if dirk comes to sort it out !!!!

uktim29

raphanius wrote: »

remind tesco its illegal to sell out of date food...its as simple as that.

It's not. You can sell best before products.

People must know what they're talking about before saying things like "simple as that".

uktim29

adamhodg wrote: »

That is a shocking comment from an Assistant Manager!.
We have rotation checks all the time at my store.
They have set weeks where they rotate all of the grocery stock and check all the dates.
Various items are found out of date are removed and thrown away.
Things can be missed but im very surprised at the poor attitude of the assistant manager(if it was).

If you've worked in retail then aren't you like me struggling to figure out how they had 19 months out of date products in the store? This just doesn't add up.

Isn't it far more likely they weren't actually out of date by that much and more likely to have been either one of the suggestions I made in my post above?

I would say theres a 99.9% chance I'm right on this one. It would almost be impossible to have stock that out of date. Much more likely one of the errors I suggested. Quoted again below.

uktim29 wrote: »

These seem remarkable dates. Could they not have been the manufactured dates? They are often displayed. Sometimes the dates are miss-printed or difficult to read. Could what looked to be 2006 or 06 actually really have been 2008 or 08?

Lacrimosa

I've had some dealings with Tesco Customer Service too, and felt the same way as luridhue - I didn't want compensation, just wanted answers and to ensure my experience didn't happen to anyone else. All I got, after a long hard slog and several letters, was some limp apologies and a £30 voucher.

I notice that someone posted the address for Head Office. Assuming you've only dealt with the Redruth store thus far, you might like to try the main address for Tesco Customer Service, as your letter's likely to end up there anyway.

Ian Naylor, Head of Customer Service
Tesco
Customer Service
PO Box 73
Baird Avenue
Dundee
DD2 3TN

Freephone 0800 505555

Note that this information was correct as of January 2006, so maybe double-check it first via their freephone number.

luridhue

uktim29 wrote: »

These seem remarkable dates. Could they not have been the manufactured dates? They are often displayed. Sometimes the dates are miss-printed or difficult to read. Could what looked to be 2006 or 06 actually really have been 2008 or 08?

In this case, uktim29, even being '99.9%' certain, you are mistaken. I can assure you that we have the correct dates and they are very clearly the best before dates as they are directly underneath the 'Best before' stamp. We have a picture of the beef jerky pack and quite clearly see the date (for beginning of 07.) I can understand a mix up on certain products but this is very clear cut case of it being a best before date. I have also worked in the retail industry and struggle to comprehend something that old still being on the shelves, that does not mean that such a situation has not arisen. What is disgusting is that either the checks are not in place or they are not rigourously enforced. While browsing the net I did discover a few news articles on fines that Tesco have recieved for having foods passed there use-by date on the shelves.

Sssssss wrote: »

you had nothing better to do on your hols then go around tesco checking out of date products? was it raing all week?

Very constructive Sssssss.... it was raining pretty much full-stop but that is neither here nor there. We didn't 'go around Tesco checking out of date products' we unknowingly bought a severely out of date product from within a very small section and when returning for further shopping a couple of days later we had a quick check consisting of a moment of looking in the relevent section. I still miss why you felt the need to post.

Also, many have said that it is not illegal... it may not contravene the Food Labelling Regulations but it could easily be argued that it is contravening the Food Safety Act. The nuts, as far as the staff were concerned, had no date on them at all... this does break the Food Labelling Regulations.

Thank you Lacrimosa for the name of the head of customer services :rotfl: very appreciated.

Lacrimosa

luridhue wrote: »

Thank you Lacrimosa for the name of the head of customer services :rotfl: very appreciated.

You're welcome. I didn't get a reply from Ian Naylor himself, of course, but it was using this name and address that finally prompted someone to take my complaint seriously. Good luck!

uktim29

luridhue wrote: »

We have a picture of the beef jerky pack and quite clearly see the date (for beginning of 07.).

Can you upload it to a free image hosting site and post a link. I'd have to see this to believe it!