Tesco home delivery, over doubled delivery costs for their vulnerable customers

pinkladyvenus

Tesco have decided to increase there delivery cost for vulnerable customers from £2.00 to £4.50 from 3rd August, I only discovered this when logged on to do my mothers shopping for her. This is really not on Tesco !!

warby68

Its not just vulnerable customers although I suspect the cessation of anything preferential for this group is to do with the end of the shielding programme from 1st August.
Their whole pricing model has changed - it used to be very cheap midweek and evenings and expensive at weekends, for them to even out demand. Now demand is heavier overall, they have moved to level pricing so some are cheaper and some more expensive so everyone gets the same chance, in theory anyway.
I think the supermarkers did their bit by supporting vulnerable customers with slots and cheap or free delivery but it wasn't going to last forever. Their regular customers were pushed way down the queue, again not sustainable for ever.
There is more choice now though if you want to try elsewhere but it wouldn't surprise me if others follow suit. They tend to be broadly similar in operational changes.
Just waiting for all the bags to go again.

[Deleted User]

pinkladyvenus said:

Tesco have decided to increase there delivery cost for vulnerable customers from £2.00 to £4.50 from 3rd August, I only discovered this when logged on to do my mothers shopping for her. This is really not on Tesco !!

 Shielding will be over so you'll just be charged the same as everybody else. Don't see what the issue is? 

Morglin

I was shielded, but the cost for a delivery saver pass, which I pay for, doesn’t appear to be going up in cost.

They suspended taking payments for delivery saver, for a couple of months, so that vulnerable customers could be prioritised, now it’s getting back to normal.  Shielding ends 1st August for everyone.

Delivery Savers can see a week’s slots before everyone else.

JJ_Egan

Complain to Tesco .

oldagetraveller1

And, if a regular online customer, delivery saver is really cost effective.

I pay £36/annum for midweek deliveries. Just recently renewed. £40 minimum spend though.

Mum would have possibly been better with that?

KxMx

Delivery saver has gone up to £7.99 a month or £47.94 for a six month contract, for new sign ups at least. 

Undervalued

pinkladyvenus said:

Tesco have decided to increase there delivery cost for vulnerable customers from £2.00 to £4.50 from 3rd August, I only discovered this when logged on to do my mothers shopping for her. This is really not on Tesco !!

Why is it "not on"?

Just because somebody is vulnerable does not mean they are necessarily poor!

In any case Tesco (and the other supermarkets) are not charities. It is widely reported that it costs them around £11 to pick and deliver an online order so they are losing money for every one they service.

pinkladyvenus

my mum only shops once a month,  was getting flexible  slots for £2 or £1.50 even before the pandemic started and had to get her self registered with Tesco as a vulnerable customer.

warby68

If you log in yourself you will see that all the slots are now the same price.
Yes those that used to use the cheap times will feel a large increase, those that use Saturday morning a reduction.
Its a wider policy than just the vulnerable customers.
Tesco have posted messages about it.
If she only shops once a month then Delivery Saver probably doesn't work although they do guarantee that you will never pay more with it if she wanted to give more frequent shops a go.

Undervalued

pinkladyvenus said:

my mum only shops once a month,  was getting flexible  slots for £2 or £1.50 even before the pandemic started and had to get her self registered with Tesco as a vulnerable customer.

So Tesco (or in effect all their other customers) were subsidising your Mum to the tune of £9 or £9.50 per order!
OK, at the time that was Tesco's chosen business model and I don't blame your Mum for taking advantage of it but it was never going to last long term even without the current crisis.

Expect the price to keep creeping up across all supermarkets as they are still making a significant loss on this.