Warning about using Tesco online

fat.taff_2

Hi,

Not sure if this is the best place for this, but here goes anyway. I'd appreciate it if anyone could advise on what seems to me to be a very dubious practice by Tesco online.

Last night I created an online grocery order via the tesco online site. The total value of the goods was £85, with a £6 delivery charge. There were a number of promotional discounts which brought the total down to £79. On top of this I had some clubcard vouchers which reduced the total by about another £30. The bottom line was that the amount payable was £49.66. The order proceeded through the checkout phase and I received an order confirmation. The 'guide price' was listed as £73.66 but the amount to pay was confirmed as £49.66. I had about £50 in my bank account so paying this shouldn't have been a problem.

However, when the delivery driver turned up this morning he told be that he couldn't make delivery as there had been a problem with payment. What has since transpired is that Tesco expect there to be sufficient cleared funds in my account to meet the gross total of the bill before any discounts, vouchers or promotions are discounted. In other words I have to have £92 available in order to pay a £46 bill.

This seems ludicrous to me and I can't see how it's either legal or normal business practice - you wouldn't after all go into a shop and buy a discounted item but still expect to have to have the full amount in your wallet would you?

Anyone got any comments on this? Is it as ridiculous as it seems to me?

sarah1972

They all do this as far as I am aware and to me it makes total sense.

They 'hold' the full amount from your card just in case the promotions have stopped by the time of your delivery and also they have to make sure your codes are valid for your account.

Once your shopping has been picked and actually gone through the till and everything is validated, then it drops to the actual amount to be paid.

For example, if you ordered something for £5 on a bogof and they had none in stock so they substitued it for something that cost £8 they need to know that you can pay for it.

I hope that makes sense.

jcr16

how bizzare, i've never heard of this and i've done loads of shops with tesco. i have before only had enough in bank to cover the cost of the order, not the guide price and it has gone through. and if an item is out of stock they price match it with another. i had value oats on my order at 49p but out of stock so they swapped it with tesco finest and i still only paid the 49p.

Also i have before put down my wrong card detail's it was to an account i didn't use so no money in it. Tesco phoned me and said they just did the shopping for my order and are going through checkout and card not worked do i have another card. i realised my mistake she took new card details and processed it over the phone. then said driver will be tiwh you at x time. still within the delivery time i had booked.

i'd phone customer services up and find out excatly what happened. as i personally wouldn't see it would be the drivers job to tell you , your order isn't coming. could you only imagine how some people reactions could be. could put him in danger . if some one was of the volitile disposition.

JessicaFletcher

That is strange and I've never had it happen to me before. Once, when I put in the wrong security code for my credit card by mistake, the manager of the store phoned to tell me there was a problem and we sorted it out then and there. I agree with jcr16 - it certainly shouldn't be the driver's responsibility to tell you that your order isn't coming. I'm shocked that someone from Tesco didn't phone you to discuss it rather than send a driver round!

Madison

I ordered some wine from them last Thursday which is being delivered tonight, but the charged my card at the point of order so essentially I've paid for it up front. Previously it's alway been charged upon delivery or after 5.00 pm the day before. Anyone know if this is an error or a new system?

sarah1972

Madison wrote: »

I ordered some wine from them last Thursday which is being delivered tonight, but the charged my card at the point of order so essentially I've paid for it up front. Previously it's alway been charged upon delivery or after 5.00 pm the day before. Anyone know if this is an error or a new system?

They hold the money so once you have signed for it, they take it from your bank. So its usually the difference between your available balance and your actual balance. If that makes sense?

Thats what Tesco told me.

Abbafan1972

I order my groceries from Tesco and the delivery driver has never told me of a problem with my card.

It has only happened to me the once, my card wouldn't go through for some reason, (not sure why as there was enough funds in there), but I had to pay with another card and Tesco c/s phoned to tell me on the morning the delivery was due.

delain

I've always had a phone call if there was a problem.

I've also done this week's shopping this morning for tomorrow knowing full well there's no money in that account until midnight and no one's ever called me as long as the money is in there in the morning.

Storck

Why would they waste a drivers journey to come and tell you something that a simple telephone call could have done?

Weird.

Madison

sarah1972 wrote: »

They hold the money so once you have signed for it, they take it from your bank. So its usually the difference between your available balance and your actual balance. If that makes sense?

Thats what Tesco told me.

They've actually taken the money from the account on this occasion.

fridayschild_2

fat.taff wrote: »

Hi,



This seems ludicrous to me and I can't see how it's either legal or normal business practice - you wouldn't after all go into a shop and buy a discounted item but still expect to have to have the full amount in your wallet would you?

Actually that has happened to me, the shop was holding a 10% off everything day and we worked out we could afford an item but at the desk the cashier insisted we give her the full amount and she would then give us back the 10% - very bizarre - we had to do a lot of scrapping around of odd pennies to find the extra infront of a huge irate queue!