Morrisons plastic bags scam

Money_Grabber13579

Are you sure it’s not just a flat 45p per order, in respect of carrier bags that might be needed? One of the Asda stores near me charges 40p for plastic bags, it’s the same for everyone and doesn’t matter how many bags you get (I normally end up with 2 or 3 bags)

Yahoo_Mail

Eydon said:

Ocado do the same, but they also refund you 5p per bag that you return. Morrisons bought their system from Ocado so do they not do the same?

The only time I ordered through them (during lockdown) I was told I could return them for a refund, but they were not taking them back right now but I could return them at some nebulous point in the future when they were accepting them (are they even doing that yet?)

Like the OP I did not request bags and would have been happy to take the crate in to empty it (or even just empty it into the bags in the porch if needs be) but for "my protection" I couldn't do that.  It was the last time I ordered from them.

Asda and Tesco were a lot more reasonable, bagging everything for free because I hadn't requested things in bags and shouldn't have to pay for something I didn't ask for.

Spank

Tesco have been charging for a few weeks, now they have what's called tray liners, which are bags that cover the tray & they charge you for it. It's utter codswallop that you can't just take the crate inside. How is it safer for you to put your hands into the crate to put things in your own bags at the front door than take the crate inside your kitchen and remove the items there?

PollyPainter

Morrisons have responded to my complaint and refunded the 45p on the grounds that I didn't receive the plastic bags that they charged me for. They also confirmed that their bags cost 5p each and hence I was charged for 9.

However, they don't see an issue with adding these unrequested bags to a customer's order, and then charging for them without the customer's consent. (Could retailers foist other unwanted items onto customers, I wonder ... or is the tactic restricted to plastic bags only?!) 

I do find it rather odd that I received 3 emails from Morrisons prior to delivery ... all of which indicated the amount I'd be charged for my groceries plus the delivery fee, but none of which mentioned the additional charge for 9 bags. (Email #1 "Order Confirmation"; Email #2 "Order Reminder"; Email #3 "Order on its way"). I only discovered the charge on the 4th email (ie: "Receipt"). 

And With regard to the purchase of plastic bags being a contribution to a Morrisons-approved charity. Personally, like most responsible people, I prefer to avoid buying unnecessary plastic items ... I'd rather donate in a more environmentally friendly way.    

     

Eydon

Yahoo_Mail said:

Eydon said:

Ocado do the same, but they also refund you 5p per bag that you return. Morrisons bought their system from Ocado so do they not do the same?

The only time I ordered through them (during lockdown) I was told I could return them for a refund, but they were not taking them back right now but I could return them at some nebulous point in the future when they were accepting them (are they even doing that yet?)

Like the OP I did not request bags and would have been happy to take the crate in to empty it (or even just empty it into the bags in the porch if needs be) but for "my protection" I couldn't do that.  It was the last time I ordered from them.

Asda and Tesco were a lot more reasonable, bagging everything for free because I hadn't requested things in bags and shouldn't have to pay for something I didn't ask for.

Yes, Ocado started taking bags back at the end of last month. And to be fair to them, during the period where they weren't taking bags back because of Covid, they suspended the bag charge.

jon81uk

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If the supermarkets really cared they'd leave lots of boxes out for customers but why give away something for free which you can sell (for recycling) and instead charge the customer for something else. Since the tax the bags for life have become more predominately displayed from what I've seen as they don't come under the plastic bag tax, one way or the other they want to sell you bags. 

Many supermarkets are moving away from cardboard boxes so they won't have many to put out. Most fruit and veg comes in plastic crates as does meat. Other items come in shelf-ready trays or similar not large strong boxes. The days of heavy strong boxes in supermarkets are long gone. Independants where they don't have own brand fruit and veg are more likely to have boxes, for example Costco put out the fruit and veg boxes for customers to use.

If customers really cared though they would bring their own reusable bags.
For delivery I think places should be switching to bag-free so it arrives in crates, unpack and hand them back as Tesco do. I'm not sure what Ocado & Morrisons insist on the use of bags.

davidmcn

jon81uk said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If the supermarkets really cared they'd leave lots of boxes out for customers but why give away something for free which you can sell (for recycling) and instead charge the customer for something else. Since the tax the bags for life have become more predominately displayed from what I've seen as they don't come under the plastic bag tax, one way or the other they want to sell you bags. 

Many supermarkets are moving away from cardboard boxes so they won't have many to put out.

They also have targets for recycling, and I doubt they can count boxes taken away by customers as having been recycled (even if you'd hope that the boxes have at least been reused once).

yksi

My supermarket simply does not have the room to store whole, usable cardboard boxes in any place accessible to customers. Most of the fresh produce and meat arrives in reusable plastic crates. Most of the boxes that come in do not have a top, or the top gets removed in order to display the goods in the shelf (have a look, many products are sitting in a "half box"). Cereal arrives in more like a "cardboard frame" than a box. Banana boxes, which are very sturdy, have a giant hole in the bottom. The strongest boxes are those which grapes arrive in, which again have no top and are very shallow. The only large boxes are those which crisps arrive in, which are obviously very flimsy, and they often tear just by the process of opening them.

We have very limited storage space "out the back" - which is standard for supermarkets - and in order to use this space effectively we crush all our waste plastic and our cardboard immediately into collection cages. People seem to be under some kind of illusion of vast warehouse spaces, but the reality is very different. Ours are about double the size of a standard bedroom and are about half full of stock and equipment at any given time. When you're looking around at a supermarket of eight aisles, that's the reality.

Making the boxes useful, reusable and accessible to customers would make my job much slower, meaning we'd need to pay for more workers, plus change all the packaging processes, then we'd lose valuable selling space to host your boxes, and then the prices would go though the roof. End result is you wouldn't be willing to shop at my supermarket and you'd go to a competitor which crushes their useless boxes.

born_again

Spank said:

Tesco have been charging for a few weeks, now they have what's called tray liners, which are bags that cover the tray & they charge you for it. It's utter codswallop that you can't just take the crate inside. How is it safer for you to put your hands into the crate to put things in your own bags at the front door than take the crate inside your kitchen and remove the items there?

I won't say who we use as it's hard enough to get a delivery as it is.
But I go out to the van, take a tray and bring it into the house to unload, driver then brings any other crates and we swop over.
Drivers are more then happy to do this.
As it saves them time and effort

We also get the odd item in a plastic bag, even though not asked for. Do not get charged for them. Seems that they do it on certain products on safety grounds.

Manxman_in_exile

We have about ten bags for life/reusable bags from assorted supermarkets in the boot of our car.  I literally cannot remember the last time (it's certainly over ten years ago) that we needed to buy a bag or had to root around for a suitable box.

The toughest and most durable bag is from Morrisons.

EDIT:  Something that annoys me - but totally off topic - is that our LA started collecting batteries and electrical equipment on recycling day, but they have to be bagged up separately in "a carrier bag or similar..."   Who has carrier bags these days?