Tesco Deliveries Missing the Mark?

It’s not quite the weekly shop people had in mind…

Dozens of Tesco customers on the island have been left frustrated after reporting late deliveries, missing orders and some serious struggles trying to get hold of the local store.

While most people expect their groceries to arrive somewhere between ‘tea time’ and ‘hangry meltdown’, some say their orders haven’t turned up at all, with little or no warning.

Douglas resident Amanda Shimmin said she’s even lodged a formal complaint with the Lake Road store after repeated issues.

She said: ‘Twice our order has simply not turned up in the last couple of months, with no communication from the store. I understand there may occasionally be cancellations due to staff shortages, but I just want to be informed so I can collect or rearrange.

‘I called the store, but there was no answer, so I called the UK line and spoke to someone who tried to contact the store but also got no response.

‘Last week, our order didn’t arrive in the allotted time so we called again and they still couldn’t get hold of anyone at the store here.’

Amanda said the order did eventually make it onto another driver’s van, with the driver calling to apologise, but she feels that should have come from the store itself.

She added: ‘I went into the store a couple of weeks ago to ask about the lack of communication and was told it would be raised with the manager, but here we are again. It’s really poor from Tesco.’

After sharing her experience, it quickly became clear she wasn’t alone, with other shoppers reporting similar delivery drama.

One customer said: ‘We had this issue a couple of months ago with a delivery from Port Erin. There was no communication and when you ring customer service they are never able to get hold of the store or track the driver.

‘Someone did call me the next day to apologise and they sent me chocolates, which was nice.’

Another added: ‘The last few orders have been a disaster. One was cancelled during the allocated time slot and I had to get a taxi to Tesco to collect it.’

Others say they’ve now given up on deliveries altogether.

One shopper said: ‘I don’t get deliveries anymore as they are too unreliable. Recently, a delivery was due at 1pm but didn’t arrive. They called hours later to say they would be back between 7pm and 9pm but turned up at 9.30pm.

‘When they missed our slot I messaged Tesco, but they couldn’t get in touch with the store and offered a £5 goodwill gesture.’

Tesco, however, insists this isn’t the norm.

A spokesperson said: ‘The vast majority of our online orders are delivered exactly as ordered and within their booked timeslot.

‘Due to a temporary technical issue at our Lake Road Douglas Superstore, a very small number of orders were recently delivered later than planned. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

The supermarket giant also said no deliveries had been cancelled, adding: ‘On the rare occasion that we need to amend a customer’s delivery slot, we will always try to contact them to discuss alternative options.’

They also confirmed that contact details for the Lake Road store have now been updated. so, in theory, getting hold of someone should be a little less of a mission next time your milk goes missing.