Tesco - What can I do

Pattie1968

Hello everyone,

I had a delivery of home shopping on friday from tesco. The delivery was an hour late and they refunded my service charge. Last night I went to cook the sweet potato's that came in the delivery. They were rotten & mouldy. The best before date was 26th Feb. I called them and they refunded my £1.79. then this morning I discovered that 2 of my lemons were covered in mould too. I have kept all the offending items in their packaging.



what can I do next, should I complain to trading standards, should I complain to their head office.

many thanks

Pattie

Channard

If this is the first time this has happened, I'd write a strongly worded letter to Tesco's head office, emphasising how disappointed you were with their service, etc etc, hoping they send you some vouchers. If this has happened before, I'd let trading standards know.

SaraSeahorse

just ring up the customer services number
0800 505555

they will ask for some details from packaging and will refund you

shaymenRup

Organisations such as Tesco want quick fix methods of customer satisfaction. Phonecall solutions will never amount to any thing being changed unless there are substantial numbers of complaints about one product (which there seldom are). Letters are recorded, monitored and need responding to. This ties up their staff for longer and is more likely to result in something being done about the problem. I have found that they will generally give more than the product is worth + postage in vouchers.
It depends on the individuals time and the effort they want to expend.

gyzmo

It sounds like the storage system has gone wrong for whatever reason at some point. It may be down to them or possibly down to how you stored them (it is possible). I would let environmental health know - they may want to send someone down to ensure their procedures are in place and being followed.

If the food was in that state when you got them, then certainly get a refund.

Pattie1968

I'm going to write to head office and compain, as it's not he first time i've received food from tesco that had goen off.

Does anyonwe know who I should write to??

Many many thanks

furrypolka

Not sure of HO address but it would be on Companies House website, don't have any contacts etc I'm afraid.

I'd also report it to Environmental Health, as someone else said it might be a fault in the way the goods are being stored etc. I don't think there would be any breach of Trading Standards enforced legislation, unless you were being sold goods past their use by date etc, as this could render items unsafe to eat.

peterbaker

I agree this is annoying but I don't think it is worth any more of your effort other than a quick call to the store and arranging to receive replacements or a refund as you did with the potatoes.

I complain about most faults I find, but a sense of perspective is useful.

There are many things about big supermarkets which we don't like but making a big fuss about how sweet potatoes sometimes (or even often) get bruised and thus soon go rotten, or citrus fruits get bruised and then go mouldy is like warring with life itself! It happens. It's natural! That doesn't mean you have to pay for it, but it does mean that you shouldn't let your blood pressure rise too many points over it!

Produce like this is termed 'perishable' in the grocery business. That means that over time it will rot and become waste.

If a vegetable or fruit is slightly less than faultless due to Monsanto's or nature's random or sometimes built-in imperfections then it will rot faster than the norm.

If it is in any way mishandled by the picker, the packer, the distribution warehouse, the shop warehouse, the shelf stackers or other customers then the rot will be excerbated, irrespective of the use by date.

If, however, you do wish to make a big fuss about it, to see just how far you can push the mighty Tesco off their lofty perch, then try calling 0800 505555 once for each sweet potato and lemon and tell us what the consensus is!

ollyshaw

Ring the customer line and calmly and politely explain what has gone wrong. This is usually enough for most reputable companies to offer some form of refund/exchange. If that fails then consider the other options.

Olly

Astaroth

All letters go to Dundee for tesco and are answered by exactly the same people in exactly the same was as telephone calls.

Of all the companies I have worked for Tescos was actually one of the better ones for listening to customer complaints/ requests and doing something about it (and I have worked for many companies and dont work for tescos now)

belfastgirl23

It is worth asking them to review their procedures in the store your delivery comes from. I use Tesco's delivery service fairly often and it has always gone really well. In fact I think they pick better f&v than I do So your experience might be down to the individual store or even one person doing the shopping in it.