Ever tried complaining to Tesco's?

Byker28i

Byker28i

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So this morning a Tesco articulated lorry pulled out of a side junction without looking, forcing my vehicle off the road. I was travelling around 35mph on a 50mph road, headlights on due to the poor weather. I've got up the kerb and the car didn't feel right so pulled up next to the lorry at the traffic lights a few hundred yards up the road. My tyre is flat.

I tried to speak to the driver but he had earphones in so I took a photo of his number plate, went to speak to the driver, got as far as "You absolute idiot, you ran me off the road, when he ducked behind his door as I tried to take his photo. I was saying I wanted his details, when the lights changed and he drove off, leaving me with a flat tyre.
As this was junc 16 of the M4, I limped the car into the nearest hotel and spent sometime with the pump getting air into the tyre hoping I'd just force it off the rim, but unfortuneatly not. I've limped the car home slowly, stopping frequently to pump up the tyre.

So I called Tesco customer services, who didn't deal with drivers, I had to speak to Well Driven.
Speak to well driven who don't deal with incidents involving damage, I had to speak to Tesco Motor Unit.
Speak to Tesco Motor Unit who don't deal with incidents after 1 Nov 2013, they now outsourced to someone else.
Phoned the nice lady there, whoi was busy dealing with another driver but called back. They didn't deal with it either, I have to phone Tesco's insurance broker who aren't open today
None of the above said they could log any complaint about the driver or deal with the incident, they just passed the buck to the next person.

So I've called back customer services to log a complaint, register the issue at least somewhere in their system, even though 'we don't deal with that here...' Shocking run around, they really gave the view they just didn't want to know.

I can't get a tyre my size until Monday so now I've no family car for the weekend. Incident happened at 10am, I've just finished trying to deal with it. What a waste of half a day.
 
I`m not 100% sure, but I think Tesco sub all the transport out. Stand to be corrected of course.
 
Can you not report the driver to plod? I thought drivers had to give their details to anyone who had a valid reason for requesting it? Isn't failure to do so an offence? One of our uniformed friends will no doubt give us the benefit of their wisdom - they usually do!!'
 
You should have reported it to the police straight away, you would have a better chance of an acceptable outcome if you had. That said a letter / email to Tesco managing director won't hurt you now and keep trying the numbers you were given.
 
Also, if you haven't got one yet, buy a dashcam.
 
Report incident to the police. Tesco will have logs of who was driving when.

Don't claim from your insurance company as they'll decide they can't be bothered to chase tesco and you will probably lose NCB.

FB or twitter tesco accounts are other avenues to tackle. It's much harder for them to ignore. CEO email address is another.

If you have run off the road with enough force to burst a tyre the wheel might be damaged and there is potential for suspension damage as well. I'd get a garage or two to quote to fix and tackle tesco again.

Treat yourself to a dashcam as it is much harder for claims to be denied when there is video evidence to the contrary.
 
I'd be firing off a letter complaining to the traffic commissioners . Its the gov body who regulate hgv/pcv licences. Objecting to the way your being treated also for the driver,s bad driving. Hgv/pcv companies and drivers usually sweat a bit when commisioners get involved. Drivers hgv/pcv licence can be revoked without involving police.
Operators licence can be removed too.
 
John Raymond Transport are currently Tesco's main haulier, though there are smaller outlying operators I believe.
 
Cheers all, not keen to go through my insurance as I've been loaded before for non fault damage (reversed into in car park), especially if it's just a £200 tyre. Depends if the alloys damaged, I'll know on Monday.

Lady who passed me onto the insurers said is was a Didcot depot lorry. No numbers available to call them though.
 
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viv1969 said:
John Raymond Transport are currently Tesco's main haulier, though there are smaller outlying operators I believe.
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Like Stobarts...............:)
 
fracster said:
Like Stobarts...............:)
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Big as ES are, they're still a much smaller part of Tesco's fleet.
They also retain their own livery which would have made them identifiable at the incident. Unlike JRT :-)
 
Steep said:
You should have reported it to the police straight away, you would have a better chance of an acceptable outcome if you had. That said a letter / email to Tesco managing director won't hurt you now and keep trying the numbers you were given.
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This, but...

Contact tesco pr or media dept. send the story to them and say you will put that all over social media unless u get a response in 24 hours.
 
cambsno said:
This, but...

Contact tesco pr or media dept. send the story to them and say you will put that all over social media unless u get a response in 24 hours.
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Ever so slightly classed as blackmail.
Don't threaten.
Do.
 
Unless the lorry actually made physical contact with your car, I'm fairly sure you will be onto a loser. You will just have to buy a new tyre yourself. Anyway, unless you can prove the wrecked tyre was brand new, you'd be billed for part payment for wear and tear.
 
as ever,you know best.
viv1969 said:
Big as ES are, they're still a much smaller part of Tesco's fleet.
They also retain their own livery which would have made them identifiable at the incident. Unlike JRT :)
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amateur way of complaining. You need to book a course in the Lynton school of sorting out large companies!
 
nilagin said:
Unless the lorry actually made physical contact with your car, I'm fairly sure you will be onto a loser. You will just have to buy a new tyre yourself. Anyway, unless you can prove the wrecked tyre was brand new, you'd be billed for part payment for wear and tear.
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I'll already be paying for it in Monday, just annoyed with the cost but also with the run around that Tescos gave me.
 
viv1969 said:
Ever so slightly classed as blackmail.
Don't threaten.
Do.
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Its not a threat, I had an issue with one of the big mobile companies and a unpaid bill my company was chasing. 3 months later, I did this to their PR team and got paid within 24 hours!
 
As already said, I will complain to the CEO. Someone should have taken some responsibility for connecting you to the right person.

I find this is a useful source for email addresses. Will give you CEO and Chief Customer Service Manager, amongst others.

Good luck.
 
Byker28i said:
So this morning a Tesco articulated lorry pulled out of a side junction without looking, forcing my vehicle off the road. I was travelling around 35mph on a 50mph road, headlights on due to the poor weather. I've got up the kerb and the car didn't feel right so pulled up next to the lorry at the traffic lights a few hundred yards up the road. My tyre is flat.

I tried to speak to the driver but he had earphones in so I took a photo of his number plate, went to speak to the driver, got as far as "You absolute idiot, you ran me off the road, when he ducked behind his door as I tried to take his photo. I was saying I wanted his details, when the lights changed and he drove off, leaving me with a flat tyre.
As this was junc 16 of the M4, I limped the car into the nearest hotel and spent sometime with the pump getting air into the tyre hoping I'd just force it off the rim, but unfortuneatly not. I've limped the car home slowly, stopping frequently to pump up the tyre.

So I called Tesco customer services, who didn't deal with drivers, I had to speak to Well Driven.
Speak to well driven who don't deal with incidents involving damage, I had to speak to Tesco Motor Unit.
Speak to Tesco Motor Unit who don't deal with incidents after 1 Nov 2013, they now outsourced to someone else.
Phoned the nice lady there, whoi was busy dealing with another driver but called back. They didn't deal with it either, I have to phone Tesco's insurance broker who aren't open today
None of the above said they could log any complaint about the driver or deal with the incident, they just passed the buck to the next person.

So I've called back customer services to log a complaint, register the issue at least somewhere in their system, even though 'we don't deal with that here...' Shocking run around, they really gave the view they just didn't want to know.

I can't get a tyre my size until Monday so now I've no family car for the weekend. Incident happened at 10am, I've just finished trying to deal with it. What a waste of half a day.
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I feel for you, why do we always end up paying for someone elses fckup.

If there are no witnesses to the incident then I'm not sure a good outcome is on the horizon.
 
I had a confrontation with a Tesco driver (Tesco liveried truck) and an e-mail to Tesco customer services got forwarded to Well Driven who responded. Don't know what the outcome was but hope the guy was fired. He ended up driving AT me (not towards, AT) with a mobile phone in front of his face... The truck was based at their Avonmouth distribution centre so could be the same base.
Avonmouth Distribution Centre
Western Approach Business Park
Lanson Roberts Road
Severn Beach
BS35 4BR
The woman who replied was Tessa Dodd who signed PP for Simon McKenzie.
This was in May last year.
 
jakeblu said:
I feel for you, why do we always end up paying for someone elses fckup.

If there are no witnesses to the incident then I'm not sure a good outcome is on the horizon.
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Witnesses or not, if there was no contact between the vehicles, forcing him off the road, I'm fairly sure no claim can be made against anyone else.
 
Thanks Nod, Well Driven said it was noting for them as my vehicle was damaged and bounced me to someone else. I spent an hour with everyone of Tesco's departments or representatives saying there was nothing they could do it was nothing ot do with them.

Every Little duck helps - Tesco driver not wanting to be photographed, just before driving off
158162302.jpg


I can't get a tyre now until Tuesday, it's an unusual size :(
 
nilagin said:
Witnesses or not, if there was no contact between the vehicles, forcing him off the road, I'm fairly sure no claim can be made against anyone else.
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At this point I'm fairly resigned to losing £200 for the tyre, I just hope the alloy isn't damaged. The real annoying thing is not being able to report the driver. I'll see what Tesco's have to say tomorrow, but at the moment am considering reporting it to the police as he effectively failed to stop.
 
It's a road traffic accident. Just because you didn't make contact, doesn't affect that.
It's probably too late in the day now, but you should have reported it to police, as you don't exchange details at the time.

However, there's nothing stopping you from using your insurance company. Even if not to directly claim from Tesco's insurance, many companies have a legal assistance program chucked in for free.

or you could do it yourself, serve a written notice on tesco that the damage happened, and you hold them responsible, mention small claims court and they have 7 days to respond. If not issue proceedings. You can represent yourself and its a reasonably informal hearing. I doubt it will go that far though.
 
Thanks Bernie. As I said I've been loaded before for a non fault accident, that loaded my insurance so it's really not worth that for a tyre.
 
Ok, well then you can simply write to Tesco, don't phone them, you'll get no where and everyone will deny it's their department as you've already found out, so all it will achieve is a rise in blood pressure.
Do it in terms of on Day Date Time this happened. Here's a photo of your vehicle which caused the incident.
You hold them fully responsible, and here's the bill for the damage (enclose a copy of the reciept). Tell them you expect a cheque from them within 7 working days or you will be forced to issue proceedings and they will be responsible for the costs, lots of love Byker.
Wait 2 weeks, if no reply, then issue proceedings.
 
nilagin said:
Witnesses or not, if there was no contact between the vehicles, forcing him off the road, I'm fairly sure no claim can be made against anyone else.
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That doesn't seem right, if turn a bend and a car is on the wrong side of the road forcing me off then that is surely an accident and I should be able to claim on their insurance assuming I can prove the accident of course.
 
When my wife was pregnant she'd made a lovely roast beef dinner. She noticed the horse raddish was out of date 1/2 hour before she was going to dish up, and she'd bought it that day. So she decided to take it back down before dinner was ready. Being heavily pregnant she burst into tears and the lady in customer services felt so bad for her she gave her a big bunch of flowers and a £15 voucher. :jawdrop:
 
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Raptor Mike said:
she burst into tears and the lady in customer services felt so bad for her she gave her a big bunch of flowers and a £15 voucher. :jawdrop:
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I'm not totally convinced that would have the same effect if Biker did it TBH :D

But I agree the whole scenario its pretty disgraceful :(
 
jakeblu said:
That doesn't seem right, if turn a bend and a car is on the wrong side of the road forcing me off then that is surely an accident and I should be able to claim on their insurance assuming I can prove the accident of course.
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I agree it's utterly wrong...but proof is the key. :(
 
My friend has a camera on his windscreen after quite a lot of non fault accidents. He got his the other day and he recons rather than it going 50-50, he'll win for sure. Price of the camera, £70
 
Raptor Mike said:
My friend has a camera on his windscreen after quite a lot of non fault accidents. He got his the other day and he recons rather than it going 50-50, he'll win for sure. Price of the camera, £70
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There's no doubt they're becoming more and more of a good idea.
 
viv1969 said:
There's no doubt they're becoming more and more of a good idea.
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Not content with Big brother watching us,
We are "snooping" on each other too :D

1984 v 2014 :D
 
Cobra said:
Not content with Big brother watching us,
We are "snooping" on each other too :D

1984 v 2014 :D
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Yep...As it happens 1984 was a light look at the subject! ! :-)
 
viv1969 said:
Yep...As it happens 1984 was a light look at the subject! ! :)
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Its been years since I read it TBH, And not when it was first published either :p

Anyway, moving on, Animal farm anyone ? :D
 
The Orwell version or the banned one?
 
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