Tesco Direct > Reviews (66)

Background:

High Wycombe delivery.

I have for the past two years taken advantage of the Tesco home delivery service. For the simple reason I hate going to the supermarket. I always seem to get stressed out by out of control kids or people with massive long lists not looking where they are going. As a result I got more bruises than I did when I played football.

What I do now is place an order once a month online and top it up with fruit and vegetables in between direct from the store.

The Home Delivery service is an excellent idea for those who struggle to get to the shops for example the elderly, my mum swears by it. It is also really handy for those heavier items; it can be hard work lugging all your bags of shopping around. And also for lazy people like me who just hate shopping.

So I like to do it from the comfort of my home at a time that suits me and not have to worry about queuing to buy my goods and parking in a very busy car park, trying to avoid the mad people with their trolleys.

The web site for ordering is very easy to use and it automatically stores what you ordered last time in your favourites. It also tells you the special offers so you don't miss out on them either, so no real disadvantages there.

Deliveries:
These are in two hour slots Monday to Saturday 10:00am to 10:00pm (finishing at 8:00pm on Saturday). So there is plenty of choice, I am surprised they have not started on a Sunday yet as I'm sure it would be very popular as that is when most people are at home. I placed my order on Saturday Lunchtime and the earliest slot was Monday morning, which I think is pretty good. In all the time I have used them they have never been late and occasionally they have called me to see if I wouldn't mind taking the delivery before my two-hour slot.
Occasionally a driver may struggle to find you especially if he is new but whenever this has happened to me he has just called me up and I directed him in, they don't seem to have Sat Nav in their delivery vans.

Cost:
The charge for the Home Delivery Service varies between £3.50 and £5.50. I have noticed the price has gone up since the start of the service but then again so has the price of food, while petrol has gone up and down too!! With Friday's and Saturdays tending to be more popular and thus more expensive. The cost currently is regardless of whether you spend £5 or £500.

Short life items:
I have tended to find that both fruit and vegetables are very fresh and can be stored for a week or so. I do not think the person who picks your goods is necessarily as particular as you or I, but in general I think they try their best. I have never had to return either of these items for that reason.

Frozen food:
Again from my experience all the frozen food is in good condition and although not as frozen as if I had just bought it from the shop myself still quite acceptable and never has de-frosted yet.

Other items:
Most of the food that is delivered I never have had a problem with, the only way I do struggle a little is when I order processed meats for sandwiches.

If I were buying the items I would pick the ones with the longest shelf life. Unfortunately the picker on my behalf will pick the nearest item and sometimes this means the item must be consumed within 2-3 days. I can find this frustrating especially when after a week I have nothing to put in my sandwiches.

I have not noticed this with other short life items, certainly yoghurt, cakes and milk have always been fine, but it is something you need to keep and eye on.

Returns:
I have had to return items in the past, but I have always managed to do this directly with the deliveryman. I have had two occasions when a couple of my eggs have been cracked and they have automatically credited me for these and taken the offending items back. Again if it were me I would check they were ok in the shop so knowing there and then they were ok to purchase. The only time damaged goods where a problem was when the four loaves of bread where all squashed, the driver immediately credited me for it, but it meant I had to go down the Supermarket the next day and buy some bread, quite frustrating.

Substitutions:

If an item is out of stock the company with give you a substitution. You do not have to have this but in my experiences they have been sensibly chosen and a very similar article. The driver always advises me so I have the option of rejecting them and thus being credited for them if I do not want them.

Orders:

I have never been able to check all the items off when I have my delivery, the driver is too busy to wait around for me to do this, but I have never had a problem. Anything that I have ordered that isn't in stock has either had a substitute or has been taken of my order and I have been advised about it on the sales docket with is very easy to understand and logically written.

Club card:

You still get all you're club card points when you request a home delivery.

Payment:

This is only taken from you bank account after you have signed for your order. A bit like if you were doing it on store. In the past I have placed an order two weeks ahead of when I wanted it actually delivered and I was impressed I was not charged for it before it actually arrived.

Packing:

I have always been impressed by the way the company packs my goods, probably in truth better than I pack myself! But just lately they have reduced the amount of bags for the goods, now it seems a lot of the good are just supplied in the basket. The advantage of this is the environment and less plastic bags in lakes and rivers. However the disadvantage is I have to take out each item and carry them into my kitchen, slowing him down and the whole process. If I request bags when I place my order I do expect them!!

Drivers:

These always seem very helpful when they deliver to me. They always moan about how many deliveries they still have to do though maybe that human nature though! But they are helpful and usually smartly dressed in the Tesco uniform. The ones that delivery to my mother always helps her to get the delivery to her kitchen even.

Feedback:

After this delivery I was impressed to receive an e-mail survey asking what my delivery was like and how they can improve their service. It's always nice to be ask your opinion so hopefully things can improve.

Conclusion:

The Tesco Home delivery service is a very reliable way of ordering all your bulky groceries. It saves a lot of time and trouble and means you can get your food delivered straight to your door at a time that best suits you. My only word of warning is with the short life items; you need to check the use by date on these to ensure these can be consumed. For fruit and fresh vegetables they usually are fine but they are probably best picked by you in the shop as you pick the best and the freshest.

Many thanks for reading.

This review is on both Ciao and Dooyoo under my user name.

@CPTDANIELS February 2009.