Asda Complaint

Chrysalis

Tomby1 wrote: »

I've used Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys home delivery services and found Sainsburys to be the better of the three.

My two experiences with Asda weren't positive - missing items and useless expiry dates (I think both times I had two or three packs of meat due to go out the next day - great work!)

Tesco were much better with expiry dates but absolutely useless for substitutions.

If I shop online, I now use Sainsburys. They generally get things right - but most importantly they'll wait while you check to see if you're happy with everything for a few minutes. I think you pay more for delivery than the other two, but you do get what you pay for.

sad to hear asda still have that problem, I had the same with expiry dates using asda. Teco as you said much better on dates. Since I live alone I am not going to eat a full loaf of bread in one day as an example. Plus food quality goes down when its near expiry.

Wychburylass

Sadly I am here to add a post to the other 132 that complaints about ASDA. In particular their online shopping service.

I used to think they were a reliable service and would receive communication if there was a difficulty with my shop. This is so not the case.

Not only did they fail to notify me about a delay in delivery, but after further waiting, more time than anticipated, and 3 calls to customer services. They still couldn't tell me when the shop would arrive.

So I cancelled the order.

Don't think ASDA actually understand what timeslot means. And reasons why people shop online. What if I had been housebound!! The management structure of ASDA, is thoughtless and careless. And they are not prepared to spend the time and money to engage and train staff properly. So they have the capacity to deal with your queries.

I am not going to waste my time and money with them any longer.

shydarkangel

Been having troubles with asda now for a month!..its never been a easy time with delivering my orders and the customer services are never that helpful but this week I've had enough, I've had no delivery for the 3time this week...ive been called a lier, heard every excuse possible get told they would sort it out but never phone me...this is a order I've tried to get 5times now! all it is 10bags of wood cat litter lol..its been a month worth of hassle as it started with me putting order in then being told 2hrs before delivery was due they didn't have stock of my product, then they canceled order the next day..
Im annoyed as I've actly spent more in going to tesco and buying cat litter as had to get some in as asda hasn't delivered so whats my rights? do i have a case to complain about?..:mad:

drajling

I also have an issue with ASDA customer service and their photo department. I was told that my 22 disposable cameras to CD would be £1 each. I thought this was a cheap but that's what the sales assistant said so I took them in. Was told to wait 3 days before coming back, not the 2. No mention of the cost. When I went to pick them up they charged me £63. Of the 4 members of staff I spoke to no one told me there was a £2 charge for each camera to be developed. The only action they were willing to take was to return the CDs and give me £22 back. Leaving me with a £41 bill and only the negatives which I would had to take elsewhere.
I emailed a complaint but am unsatisfied with the response - we will display prices in out store. That's it!
Can anyone advise me on what to do next, surely they cannot get away with being so terrible?
Thanks, Liz

meer53

Would have thought that most people would understand that the £1 is the extra charge for putting the pics onto a CD and not the cost of developing them !

Dave_C_2

drajling wrote: »

I also have an issue with ASDA customer service and their photo department. I was told that my 22 disposable cameras to CD would be £1 each. I thought this was a cheap but that's what the sales assistant said so I took them in. Was told to wait 3 days before coming back, not the 2. No mention of the cost. When I went to pick them up they charged me £63. Of the 4 members of staff I spoke to no one told me there was a £2 charge for each camera to be developed. The only action they were willing to take was to return the CDs and give me £22 back. Leaving me with a £41 bill and only the negatives which I would had to take elsewhere.
I emailed a complaint but am unsatisfied with the response - we will display prices in out store. That's it!
Can anyone advise me on what to do next, surely they cannot get away with being so terrible?
Thanks, Liz

You seriously expected them to:

• Open the disposable camera in light -proof conditions
• Remove the film in light -proof conditions
• Load it into the developing machine in light -proof conditions
• Develop the film using expensive chemistry
• Feed the negatives into the film scanner
• Check and produce a CD

All for £1 a time?


Shops such as boots charge about a fiver.


Dave

johnnyboyrebel

nnsa wrote: »

I have been having some problems with Asda and just to prove what a bunch of uncooperative sc*mbags they are I have included my correspondence with them to date:
1st complaint sent 30-sep-08 @aprox 16.00

Dear Asda.
I would like to make a formal complaint about my recent order, order no: *******, customer number: *******
My complaint is this, my order arrived today and there were quite a lot of items missing and short expiry dates, the items missing are:

885974 Tomato puree

544336 herbs...

533120 chicken (all 3 missing)

1057572 mince (both missing)

511179 burgers (all 4 missing)

793579 sausages

2312486 peas

Items not available but advertised on web site:

1847766 Sweetcorn x2

1712542 Black Shoe polish

1712542 Malt loafs x2

Items with a short shelf life:

1949573 Peppers, 1 pack expire today 30-Sep, the other pack tomorrow 01-Oct

871289 rolls, both packs expire 02-Oct

152400 mushrooms, all 4 packs expire tomorrow 01-Oct.

Let me explain again! why this standard of delivery is causing me massive problems.
I am currently very unwell, I am unable to work (so money is short) and it is near imposable for me to get to the shops. As a result I am dependent on home deliverers, if items are missing/short dates, I have to go through this rigmarole to tell you, then wait 7-10 days for my refund, as money is short I don't have spare cash to replace the items so for that 7-10 days I have to go without.
When I do get the refund I have to arrange transport (usually a taxi which cost more money I don't have) and someone to come with me.
I am sure you can imagine this scenario is less than ideal for me, and when you consider this is what happens every time I make an order, I am sure you can understand when I say I am totally brased off with Asda home delivery.
As I mentioned earlier I have explained all this before in a complaint but if I remember correctly, I received a refund but no one
bothered to reply to the complaint, which I thought was just rude!
As a result I think Asda should take responsibility for problems that have been created by the order and send the rest of my shopping out to me in one of your vans.
Due to the way complaints have been handled in the past I have made this a formal complaint and I DO expect someone to reply.
As a side note I have been shopping with Asda for getting on for 20 years (but only using the home delivery service for about 8 months)
and I feel to have these problems every time I give you my custom, is rubbish.
I have used Tesco home delivery a couple of times (due to the issues with Asda) and I have not had any problems so unless the service improves I will be giving all my custom to Tesco as for me it is worth paying the extra money to know it is going to be right 1st time.

Yours sincerely

Mr Neil ****

1st reply from asda

From: [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL] <ASDACR@za.didata.com>
Subject: Response from ASDA (Ref #000000020996098)
To: *******@******
Date: Wednesday, 1 October, 2008, 5:04 PM
Thank you for your message.

Dear Mr ****
I am sorry that you have not received a satisfying service from us. I am sorry for the frustrations and inconvenience caused.

I can confirm that I have referred the matter to the store and spoke to Cath who is the Customer Services Manager and she has assured me that she will call you with regards to the experience.

I have refunded the cost of the items to the value of £20.70. This will show as a credit on your payment card within 7 - 10 working days.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We look forward to serving you again soon.

Kind regards

Ursula Binang
ASDA Home Shopping

ASDA Stores Ltd, Registered in England No. 464777. Registered Office: ASDA House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, LeedsLS11 5AD.
My reply sent 01-Oct-2008, 17:44:

Hi

I would like to now escalate my complaint, I did receive a call from "Cath" yesterday, she said someone would phone me back to arrange a second delivery but the phone call has not come, and can the person who responds to this actually read my complaint this time as I very clearly pointed out for a second time in writing, that giving a refund as appose to delivering what was ordered places me in a nightmare situation.
Ursula Binang has clearly not bothered to read the complaint as the outcome is exactly what I asked not to happen.

Yours sincerly
Mr N ****


This complaint was ignored so I sent another on the 04-Oct-2008 @ 15:09

Dear Asda
It saddens me that I am yet again having to contact you again with regards to my complaint (your ref: 000000020996098).

As you are aware I sent this complaint on the 30th Sep 08: [please see 1st complaint]

I received a phone call from someone at the Eastlands store at 19.44 on the 30th Sep (which I believe was the site manager) and I explained the situation again, I was promised there would be a £10 off evoucher credited to my account and the order would be picked again and redelivered, I was also told I would receive a phone call back to arrange a time for the delivery.

Then on the 1st Oct at 17.04 I received the following reply to my complaint:

[see 1st Asda reply]

I was rather disappointed with this so I sent the following reply:

[please see my reply sent 01-Oct-2008, 17:44]

To date there has been no phone call from the store to arrange delivery nor has there been a delivery so I am now having now had to go without which I feel is unacceptable. There has not been a £10 evoucher credited to my account, this issue is somewhat academic (as I don’t think I can risk ordering a home delivery again due to the substandard deliveries, awful customer services/complaint handling and implications for me when you get it wrong) but I feel it should still be raised as an issue, as this is another example of Asda failing to do what was agreed, which I feel is unacceptable.

With regards to the formal complaint, the initial reply to my complaint ignored many of the issues I raised and the outcome was completely the opposite of what was requested. This leads me to think the complaint was either not read or Ursula Binang could not care less, which I feel is unacceptable.

There has been no acknowledgment or reply to the escalate complaint, which I feel is unacceptable especially when you consider part of the complaint was that Asda don’t reply to complaints.

As a result I am now escalating my complaint AGAIN and I do expect the complaint is read and properly replied to this time and the delivery is completed within 48 hours.

Yours sincerely



Mr N *****


P.S. This complaint has been sent via the online contact us page and via [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL]
2nd reply from Asda:
From: [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL] <ASDACR@za.didata.com>
Subject: Response from ASDA (Ref #000000021045096)
To: ******@******
Date: Tuesday, 7 October, 2008, 12:23 PM
Thank you for your message.

Dear Mr ********

I am sorry that your complaint has not been resolved. I understand that it must have been inconvenient.

I have spoken to Ian in the Home Shopping Department and on the 7th October 2008 and he informed me that Clare the Home Shopping Manager will investigate the matter and then call you.

I have attached a £10.00 evoucher discount onto your account on the 05th October 2008 which will be valid for the next 60 days after the process date. Please note that you will only be able to use the evoucher once.

If you need any further help you are welcome to call the Contact Centre on 0845 300 7771 and one of my colleagues will be happy to help you.

Thank you for your taking the time to inform me about the matter.

Kind regards

Mo Van Der Vent
ASDA Home Shopping

ASDA Stores Ltd, Registered in England No. 464777. Registered Office: ASDA House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, LeedsLS11 5AD.
My reply sent 08-Oct-2008, 17:39:

Dear Asda

As you are aware this is a formal written complaint that has been escalated twice so I don't thing a phone call is a suitable way to handle the complaint. So may I suggest that any reply is in writing. I also want to inform you that despite being promised the shopping would be redelivered, still to date Asda have failed to redeliver the shopping! this means I have had to go without for 8 days!
Whilst Asda may think this and the awful complaints handling/customer services is acceptable, I assure you I do not.
Again I expect a written reply to my complaint and the delivery of the outstanding shopping to be completed within 48 hours.

Yours sincerely

Mr N ****

P.S. This has been sent via the online contact us page and via [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL]
3rd reply from Asda (this is the best one):

From: [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL] <ASDACR@za.didata.com>
Subject: Response from ASDA (Ref #000000021071353)
To: *******l@*******
Date: Thursday, 9 October, 2008, 11:53 AM
Thank you for your message.

Dear Mr *****

I am sorry for the frustrations caused with the regards to the call that you have not received.

I can confirm that I have spoken to Claire who is the Home Shopping Manager and she has assured me that she will call you about this as she is gathering all the relevant information about this matter.

Thanks for getting in touch.

Kind regards

Ursula Binang
ASDA Home Shopping

ASDA Stores Ltd, Registered in England No. 464777. Registered Office: ASDA House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, LeedsLS11 5AD.

My reply 9th-Oct-2008 14:09:
Dear Asda
Another case of Ursula Binang failing to read an email and/or failing to respond in an appropriate way, I don’t understand how my written comments of “As you are aware this is a formal written complaint that has been escalated twice so I don't think a phone call is a suitable way to handle the complaint. So may I suggest that any reply is in writing.” and “I expect a written reply to my complaint” can possibly be misunderstood for I haven’t received a phone call (from Ursula email) “I am sorry for the frustrations caused with the regards to the call that you have not received.” Furthermore the reply of “I can confirm that I have spoken to Claire who is the Home Shopping Manager and she has assured me that she will call you about this” is totally inappropriate and I assure you I will not be entering into any phone calls with any member of Asda staff.
As a result it is clear Asda are refusing to put anything in writing despite my written complaints and requests that the issues are addressed in writing, Instead Asda are clearly trying to force me into a verbal discussion/agreement about the complaint, despite part of the complaint being about a verbal discussion/agreement that Asda have failed to adhere to or even comment on in writing, which has caused me (a housebound unwell person) a huge amount of problems.
I now totally give up on Asda, You can keep the food that I was promised would be delivered and I assure you Asda will never receive any further custom from myself, I am also explaining the issues to my friends and family and asking them to stop using Asda.
Please delete my account and remove all my contact details from your databases as I don’t want to receive any spam or junk mail from yourselves and confirm IN WRITING when this is done.
Shame on you Asda
Mr N ****
Sent via the online contact us page and via [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL]

4th reply from Asda, still refusing to do as requested:
Thank you for your message.

Dear Mr *****
I'm sorry for the inconvenience and trouble caused as you had missing items in your order and it was not redelivered. I understand how frustrating this must be and I hope you can accept our apologies for letting you down.

I have checked and my colleague has spoken to Claire the Home Shopping Manager who said that she will contact you about this matter; however she is still investigating the matter.

I have checked and we have attached a £10.00 eVoucher and a free delivery eVoucher on your account, in the hope that you will use us again. I hope you will accept this on our behalf and I do hope that this incident will not deter you from shopping with us in the near future.

All the details of your complaint have been noted as it is important that we are made aware of any errors so they can ensure that it does not happen again

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. If Claire has not contacted you, kindly contact us on 0845 300 7771 so that we may be able to take this further.

Kind regards

Ameen Jacobs
Asda Home Shopping

ASDA Stores Ltd, Registered in England No. 464777. Registered Office: ASDA House, Southbank, Great Wilson Street, LeedsLS11 5AD.
My reply today 12-10-08
Dear Asda.

Whilst Asda may hope that I will use the service again I assure you (as advised in my previous email) I will not be using Asda home delivery ever again furthermore I will not be using Asda as a walk in customer ever again. To be frank I would rather crawl for 20 miles over broken glass, naked, with an elephant sat on my back, whilst dragging my reproductive organs along the ground than give Asda my custom again. I would also add I have asked my friends and family to stop using Asda, which has met with universal agreement tho I will admit I don't think they are up for the glass, elephant and reproductive organs scenario.

In my last email I very clearly requested Asda delete my account and remove all my contact details from your databases "Please delete my account and remove all my contact details from your databases as I dont receive any spam or junk mail from yourselves and confirm IN WRITING when this is done".
So I am sure you can imagine my surprise when I received Ameen Jacobs email in which he made no reference to deleting my account, and my further surprise when I logged on to Asda to find my account is still active. Incase your imagination is not that good I wasn’t suppressed at all.

I can confirm Clair did leave me a voicemail asking me to phone her, I declined to reply to the voicemail, in all fairness I did advise "I assure you I will not be entering into any phone calls with any member of Asda staff", which is why I also find Ameen Jacobs advice "If Claire has not contacted you, kindly contact us on 0845 300 7771" unacceptable as these are further examples of Asda "clearly trying to force me into a verbal discussion/agreement about the complaint".
Am I surprised? In a word no.

I am now giving Asda 24 hours to delete the account, remove my details from all your databases andconfirm IN WRITING that has been done.

This is a disgrace and it would appear standard behavior from Asda

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=738407

you might notice the post by nnsa, yes that’s me, you probably don’t like me shaming Asda in this way but you know what, I don’t care, Asda clearly don’t care about their customers so I think it is only fair.
Yours sincerely

Mr N Richards

Sent via the online contact us page, [EMAIL="response&#64;asdacustomerservices.co.uk"]response@asdacustomerservices.co.uk[/EMAIL] and royal mail to
Customer Services,
ASDA House,
Southbank,
Great Wilson Street,
Leeds,
LS11 5AD


Sorry for the long post everyone but I hope you find it both informative and funny, I would have found it funny if it didn't cause me so many problems.

It was very entertaining and the way it should be done, thanks for this

I certainly do not agree with the people that say when complaining it should be polite and short. If the service is that bad that you have to complain, noone should EVER !!!!!foot around companies like this. They are a disgrace.

Oasis1

After being over an hour late my order has now appearing as 'rejected'. This is the second time it's been late in a row.. well if you can count this as late - they've not turned up at all!

I've e-mailed them to complain - such a shame as in my previous property (I've just moved), I had no problems whatsoever with delivery times. I think I'll be moving to Ocado - any good?

NoNonsense

I had numerous problems when trying to order a new tumble dryer from Asda Direct. No show deliveries, faulty dryer, no show collections, incompetent customer services, no call-backs and then finally Asda attempting to short-change my refund. This went on for 2 months!

The minute I got my full refund, I wrote a strongly worded letter that detailed every single infraction in a clear and easy to read manner.
Their offer of a £15 e-voucher was not enough. I told them exactly what I wanted from them as compensation.
I made sure to use the words 'Breach of contract' and let them know that I was fully prepared to take them to court.

In my experience of complaining about service, you HAVE to complain to the right person. Don't talk to the monkey, talk to the Organ Grinder. You have to get your grievance to the person who has the power to do something about it. That is NOT the check-out girl or shelf-stacker.

Talk to a Manager or Supervisor first. No matter how angry you are, stay polite. It's human nature to be defensive and unhelpful if you feel personally attacked and Managers may be representing the company they work for, but they're still human. Your aim isn't to attack the person, it's to complain about the service or product you received.
If you're not still not happy, find out who THEIR boss is and write to them. Make sure your letter is literate and to the point. People can tune out or become unsympathetic if you rant or put in irrelevant details. If your letter writing skills aren't up to it, find someone who is best able to do it for you.

Never underestimate the power of a well written letter. I have received all manner of compensation and goodwill gestures from just 1 letter to a company. In the last 2 months, I've received £250 from PC World and £40 from Barclays (yes, the bank gave ME money for waiting too long on a phone call!).

Don't take no for an answer. The first Asda Manager I spoke to told me that they never give more than £10 e-vouchers no matter what the problem. After 1 phone call to the Customer Relations team and 1 letter to Executive Relations (copied to) the Directorate at Asda, I kept my £15 e-voucher and received a £100 Asda store card and a brand new iPad 3 (worth £579).

The_Stoic

Typical my daughter went hungry read on:
Firstly, i'd like to say that I have been a loyal Asda customer for over 10 years. I spend over 52 per cent of my annual income (£3273) in my local north Watford store. I am a single parent of a child aged 14 and a son of 20 who live at home. Over the years I have been an enthusiastic supporter of your store recommending them to many friends and family. In all my ten years of shopping at Asda I have never had cause to complain and the staff on the whole have been helpful and friendly. I did have cause to complain on Thursday 13/12 and, given my previous experience, was in turn shocked, humiliated and angry at the way I was dealt with by a number of staff including the Duty manager "Gary" (no surname as it is the policy of this Asda store not to give out surnames - Liam Birmingham informed me there is only one Gary)
The Security manager Vicky
The customer service manager Sue
Security guard Riz.

Before leaving for Asda I phoned my bank and confirmed that my available credit was £17.45. It was my intention to go to Asda to make a small purchase and obtain £10 cashback. I arrived at the store at approx. 2.45 p.m. went to the cigarette counter bought some tic tacs for 40 pence and asked for £10 cashback. At some point after entering my security pin code the transaction was somehow cancelled. Having encountered some problems with the card readers at the kiosk previously I asked the colleague if I could make the same transacation at a different terminal. This time my card issuer denied the transaction. I tried again at the self service area and again my card issuer denied the transaction. I was now concerned that my account had somehow been wrongly debited and that I would not have money to buy food for the evening meal and for breakfast the following morning. I phoned my bank and ascertained my account had been debited or appeared to have been debited a total of £10.80 (the first attempt to buy tic tacs and obtain cashback and the 2nd purchase of tic tacs) the colleague assured me that Asda had not taken the £10 from my account merely the 80 pence for the tic tacs and indeed this is what the til receipt appeared to confirm. I tried to explain that whilst that APPEARED to be the case the actual reality was that I now could not obtain access to the £10 I was intending to use to purchase food. At this point I become upset and in a raised voice asked her to call the manager. The colleague then disappeared behind the desk and appeared to be on the phone. A security guard, Riz, had now arrived. He intruded my personal space, and being intimidated I had to ask him to stand back - I explained to him that I merely wished to see a Manager. Two women appeared, Sue the customer service manager, and another woman who was not wearing a name badge (Liam informed me in a telephone call on 21/12 that this woman was Vicky) . Now surrounded by 5 colleagues confusingly talking at once I tried to explain that whilst it may not have been Asda's total responsibility (I believe the bank also have a responsibility to me as it later turned out), I asked Sue, if Asda had not debited my account of £10 then who had. I got some answers from Sue and Vicky ranging from "the bank has it", "we haven't got it", "it has been earmarked for debit by your bank but hasnt actually been debited" and most confusingly of all from Sue "in limbo". I tried to point out that I didnt really care who had it - one thing was certain I most certainly did not have access to it - that my child would be returning from her long walk home from school, tired and hungry. I had nothing to eat in the house and that I was extremely worried that she would have to go hungry unless something could be done by somebody to try and find out what had happened to the £10.80 I had in my account before I went into Asda and the available balance in my account which was at that moment £6.50. A tall man now appeared who I now know to be Gary the duty service manager, although at the time he refused to give me his name or position due to the Data Protection act. He appeared to have some authority and made the sensible suggestion that this be continued in private (quite a large group of onlookers had formed) I was escorted to the security guards room - I was humiliated as I felt like a shoplifter which is exactly what I supposed I would have looked like to a casual bystander.. In the security office I was asked to sit down whilst Sue, Gary, Vicky and Riz stood over me. Sue now explained to me that my account had merely been "earmarked" for debit by my bank and that the money would be re-credited to my account in 3 to 4 working days. I was obviously clearly upset and angry by this point and told them that none of this was helping my in my current situation, namely, THAT MY DAUGHTER WOULD GO HUNGRY, if I could not get this issue resolved. At this point Gary, clearly having lost his patience with my irksome presence suggested that I should leave the store and "go and sort it out with your bank". Very angry now I left the store informing them all that I would return.

I made the 1.5 mile round trip, in freezing weather, to a Lloyds branch in Garston. I explained the situation to the cashier and she looked at my account she confimed that I had attempted to make two purchases each of £10.40 however the 2nd had failed. Asda had only debited my account for 80 pence. £10 HAD been "earmarked" for debit and that was not available to me to spend. The cashier informed me that if Asda could remove their "earmark" I could then phone Lloyds and they could remove their "earmark". This would involve a short call from firstly Asda and then Lloyds to the 3rd party (paystream I believe) and the money could then be re credited back to my account. I returned to Asda pretty confident that all this could now be sorted out and my daughter would not have to starve.

I returned to the store and asked Riz if he could telephone Gary as I would like to talk to him. For the first time in any of this he asked me for my name. He then, I presume, called Gary and said "we have a Mr. Toss" waiting for you, at this point I repeated my name very loudly and clearly. Gary did not want to see me unless I had a printout from the bank. Riz and another man at the security desk (no name badge) had a short, obviously amusing, conversation during which I think he referred to me in the Asian vernacular as "ben chod" (phonetically spelt).I might have misheard this, although, I have a wide circle of Asian friends and giving that he had already insulted me by calling me Mr. Toss I dont think I did. I was livid and said nothing and made my way to the customer service desk. I was really really concerned now that my daughter would indeed go hungry that night.

Whilst queuing at the customer service desk I luckily caught sight of Sue and after listening to me explaining what my bank had told me she deigned to actually make a very short call to Paystream who informed her that nothing could be done until the following day. Again I explained that I had no money to buy food that evening. She remained totally unconcerned about my circumstances. She told me to return to the store the following day made some comments in the complaints log and informed me that Tracy would deal with me the following day.

I returned home in tears. Luckily I had an egg and 3 slices of bread in the house and Ailsa, my daughter had egg on toast for her evening meal. My son went to a friends for tea and I fasted. She did, however, for the first time in her life leave home in the morning without any breakfast inside her.

I returned to the store the following morning at 9 a.m. I told Beverley on the desk that I was here to see Tracy and that there was information regarding me in the book. Tracy was not to be found so I asked to see a manager. Without any shouting or hassle I was quickly joined by Jameel who I believe was the night manager. He quickly ascertained what the problem was and made the necessary call to Paystream. Finding a more sympathetic ear than I had the previous day I outlined my treatment exactly as above. I told him that I didnt really want to mention the "ben chod" incident (FYI it means go f*** your sister or sister f**cker) as I felt that this was probably a very serious matter and could result in disciplinary action (it would have at any of the companies I've worked at) it is also possible that I did mis hear this as well but regardless of this I dont feel that colleagues should be speaking in a foreign language in front of customers. He appeared as shocked at my treatment, as anybody who has heard what happened has been shocked, and offered me £10 vouchers as a goodwill gesture. This course of action right at the beginning of all this would have saved everybody including me the time and trouble that all this has now taken up. I thanked him for the gesture but informed him that the way I had been dealt with was more important than £10 worth of gift vouchers. I told him that I wanted some answers and he told me to write out a summary of my complaint in the complaint log.

I'd like to say that the service I received from your customer service call center has been outstanding. Jason and Danny were particularly helpful and eventually someone from the store, Liam Birmingham, People Services Manager, contacted me by telephone. He told me he would investigate and get back to me today which he did. He did not answer ANY of my questions during this conversation. He felt I was "patronising" and was "offended" by some of my assertions. I told him that I sympathised with him and being talked to in that fashion is not pleasant and I had exactly the same experience on 13/12, add humiliation a feeling of shame and impotence at not being listened to and he had some idea of my shopping experience that day! Anyway he offered a general apology. The staff concerned, there has been enough time and there are enough of them to have got their stories straight, have obviously been engaged in much !!!! covering and I am sure I am portrayed as some kind of nutter, a habitual complainer or some such other character. Seeing as he would not answer my questions maybe someone at your head office could. I intend to send a copy of this letter to the local paper "The Watford Observer", the BBC consumer affairs programme "Watchdog" and tell anyone who will listen of my treatment. If you dont answer my questions I will take my custom, along with that of my immediate family, and anyone else I can persuade after telling them my story to your rival Tesco store. I intend to ask Tesco how they would have handled my complaint and ask if their press department might like to help me tell my story. I will, literally, walk (I have no car) those extra miles just to avoid being treated like scum.

I would like a written or face to face apology with the members of staff concerned and answers to the following:

1. Do you have CCTV footage of this incident to confirm numbers of personnel involved.
2. Why did nobody initially ask me for my name or any contact details
3.Why was I told by Sue that it would take 3 to 4 working days for the money to be returned to my account. It actually took less than 24 hours after calls by Asda and Lloyds
4. Why was the data protection act invoked in order for staff not to reveal their names to me as if they had something to hide. Is this Asda company policy. Liam said it was company policy in "that store".
5. How should have this issue been dealt with according to company procedures
6. Is it acceptable for Asda colleagues to speak, and unless I misheard insult customers in a foreign language
7. I dread to think what my Christmas would be like if this had happened during my Christmas shop. What procedures will you put in place to prevent this happening to me or other customers in the future.

Regards