“You live in a remote area…”

Monday 31st August: After checking out different shops I finally decided to buy an item that has been at the top of my wish list for a while: a well deserved dishwasher from Tesco Direct (online). I chose the model and delivery slot (Thursday 3rd September) and paid. Shortly after that I received an email confirming my order and delivery day.

Wednesday 2nd September: I checked the order tracking and see that the machine is actually due for delivery on Friday 4th…. So I phone customer service and a nice guy (!!) tells me that as I live in the Highlands it usually takes 24hrs more. DO I want to cancel the order and buy it from some other shop? He really did ask me twice if I wanted to!! I told him I am keeping the order going, so he confirms that the courier will phone me an hour before delivery. I write an email complaining about it.

I was meant to attend a market on the Friday, but I cancelled so that I could be at home for the delivery…

Friday 4th September: it’s early afternoon and still no phone call. So I phone customer care again… this time Tracy answers and she tells me that I live in an outlying area (IV codes) and it takes longer….she checks with their courier and is told that the item has been given to a local company (as I live in a remote area!) that same morning, so there is no way I am getting it that day. I complain (a lot) and, in the end, she gives me a £10 refund as a gesture of goodwill, as the delivery terms are not well explained on their website.

By the way, she refuses to tell me who the local courier is and that “...there is no point in writing complaints because things are dealt faster on the phone, and anyway nobody checks the emails!” She adds the courier will phone me on Monday…..

Monday 7th September: afternoon comes and still no news. So what did I do? I phoned customer service again!  Moira is on the phone today. She apologises for the bad service, but manages to find out which local courier. Another couple of phone calls and I find out that my dishwasher is being delivered to Inverness that night!

Tuesday 8th September: the local courier phones me saying that my machine is actually there, and will be delivered on Thursday 10th September or I can go and collect it… well, I had free delivery from Tesco so will wait for it to come.  The driver will phone me when on his way here. 

Wednesday 9th September:  Tesco Customer service phones me to deal with my email! I drown the poor woman with a list of complaints… I tell about the terrible service, and that they should be more honest on their website, and just say that it will take more than a week to get an item if we live up here.

Nothing wrong in that, if you know it is going to happen at time of buying.  Within their terms and conditions they say that if a delivery takes longer than usual they will keep you informed (NOT!). Anyway she credits me with another £20 (it think this is just to shut me up!).

Note: it will take 3 to 5 days for the money to be put back on my account but they took the original payment straightaway.

Thursday 10th September: it’s only 9am and I hope the courier will phone me today……10am and I finally get the phone call! The courier is in Achnasheen!

The dishwasher is now in my kitchen and it is working!

Finally, I was told that the machine had been passed onto three different couriers….
Laura Gauna


Ed’s note:
I have also had similar problems - although I only had to wait an additional 24 hours, when I raised this with Tesco’s I received the following email:

“...As a regular online shopper, I realise how frustrating it is when a delivery does not arrive as specified and the inconvenience this causes.

I see from your follow-up email that the goods were delivered the following day, 24 hours later than expected. I apologise that the courier delivered your order late and I have passed details of this to our Courier Service as well as the Tesco Direct Team. Together we will do our best to stop this from happening again. I have also requested that we build in an additional day when quoting delivery times for the Highlands as per your suggestion.”

Then this was followed up a day later with another very short email, as follows:
“...Please be advised that on the delivery information in our terms and conditions we do state that delivery times vary in remote parts of the country. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank you for taking the time to let us know.”

As Laura has indicated, we don’t mind waiting a few extra days, what we do mind is being told one day, waiting in, only to find that we’ve been let down. In my opinion Tesco’s haven’t tried to address this problem - on the plus side I can report that Argos and Currys seem to be able to meet quoted delivery slots….humm…. anyone from Tesco’s customer care team like to comment?
Jackie

PS: have you had similar experiences - good, bad or indifferent customer service? If you’d like to share these with us here, do write to me.

Funnily enough, I was going to write a Grumpy Old Woman piece about a recent experience at a large hotel in Ullapool, when, with friends, we battled (oh yes!) to get three cups of tea, one coffee, and scones for our afternoon tea - we were treated with indifference, and if we had not questioned the bill we would have been ripped-off too! Fawlty Towers is alive and kicking in the Highlands! What impression does the visitor get when coming up against this sort of service!

It was great to get back to our end of Wester Ross, where our local hotels and shops know how to treat customers!
End of rant…..