Tesco Help Wanted

kimstar_2

Hi - First post so I'm sorry if this is wrong board etc but was hoping for thoughts on my shopping experience today...

Went to Tesco and spotted a Nokia for my mum for xmas. Said on the price that if you spent £40 at a checkout then get £20 off handset so me and sis started hunting round for bits to make up to £40 (never usually a problem but typically today couldnt seem to find things we needed!)

Sis remembered that she needed cigs so the price of those would take it above the £40 but so we could get it all in one transaction would need to go to the cigarette till not normal one. We qued and were ready to ask politely if we could pay for the 9 items we had at that till when the cashier saw our basket started saying "you cant pay for that here go over to the tills" so I tried to explain that we wanted to spend the £40 in one transaction but she again quite rudely :mad: stated cigarettes wouldnt count and for us to go to the other tills and come back when we had finished shopping for cigs (didnt realise at the time we had already qued up in her line and she was suggesting we go pay for rest then come back and que again! - she was VERY rude though)

so back over to self service and ran goods through to find we were £6 out which meant the two packets of cigs we needed would have totalled more than the £40. So asked another member of staff to show us where it started on the display that the £40 total spend that we couldnt use some of that on cigs. The reply was 'we cant put everything on the tickets and you just cant spend it on cigs'. Now it was my first day back in work after some leave, the trip to tesco was originally for a 'quick' dinner and then home and to be honest i really couldnt be bothered making a big fuss so instead went and bought a bronzer and some eye make up (any excuse) that i didnt really need but will use

Now I am home I am more annoyed - maybe because of the first womans attitude but also because I have spent more than £50 in the store today and if they want to put T&C's on things surely they should make you aware

Any help, advice or even someone just telling me they are in the right and why would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance

CG19a

Cigarettes are excluded from all promotions. Its illegal to promote smoking in any way, including using them to help discount something else. I believe, although I may be wrong, its more a point of law than anything else.

toffeegirl

I've never known a promotion to include purchase of cigarettes. Same exclusion usually applies to medicines, gift vouchers and lottery tickets too...

durham_girl

Yep, also includes baby milk

Loonytoons

Like others have said, cigarettes are never included in offers, same as with infant formulae, lottery etc as it is illegal to promote smoking, bottlefeeding etc etc. Unfortunately for you most people are aware of this.

sinw

just complain about there rudeness to head office - every little helps

robpw2

the promotion is an invitation to treat by your acting on this you are making an offer and they by saying they wont accept cigarettes are refusing your offer

they havent done anything wrong really you could have bough two boxes of quality streets for 6.00 to make up the £40

Enterprise_1701C

As above - the best you can do is complain about the rudeness to HO, it is illegal to promote cigarettes, medicines and baby milk (Stage 1), you don't get clubcard points on them either! If I'm hunting for things to top up my shopping (mostly to use a £X off £X voucher, I tend to go to the shopping powder/softener aisle - maybe next time you could get yourself a nice expensive shampoo or bubble bath?