ASDA Grocery Online - Just Plain Poor

[Ligeti]

Please forgive my first post being a long rant. However, perhaps my post will warn others away from ASDA.

A Chronology of Order

 

Wednesday 14th May

 

I placed an order with Asda Home Shopping (Groceries). I book a delivery slot of between 17:00 and 18:00 the following day. I received confirmation of my order via email. The groceries were to be delivered on Thursday 15th May within the time slot requested.

 

Thursday 15th May

 

19:00 No delivery had been made, so I called the Home Shopping Helpline as directed by ASDA web site. I spoke to someone there and was told there was road congestion due to an accident and all orders were delayed – however, my order was on the truck to be delivered. I of course accept this without issue.

 

21:00 I had still not had my delivery, and I called the 0800 number a second time. This time I was told that payment for the order was refused. I mentioned that I thought it highly unlikely ASDA put orders on a truck to be delivered when they have not been paid for, and anyway, there was no issue with my bank account. I was told my order was showing as being on the truck for delivery, and requested I give them more time. While I was concerned about this specious introduction of a bank problem, I accepted my order was still on its way. I was told I would get a call if there were any other issues. No call was ever received.

 

21:50 Still without a delivery, it was clear to me that my order was not going to arrive (I know they stop delivering at 22:00). I called the 0800 number a third time. They apologized, and said I would get a call back first thing in the morning to discuss my issue.

Friday 16th May

 

I waited until midday (12:00) but no call was received. I called the 0800 number for a fourth time. This time I was told “The delivery was attempted, but no-one was home.” This is complete nonsense, I was here the entire time. I asked to speak with a Supervisor to escalate my concerns. I was put on hold for a few minutes, and then the representative came back and said there were no Supervisors around – did I want to continue waiting? I said yes and was put on hold again. After a few minutes the representative came back and said there were still no Supervisors around, and anyway they would only say the same thing as they themselves was saying. I enquired why ASDA bothers to have Supervisors if all they do is say the same thing as the people answering the phones, but to be fair I was perhaps simply impolite. I was told I could be added to a queue to speak to a Supervisor, which I accepted. The phone simply rang and rang and rang. No-one ever answered.

 

At this point I decided to call my local store (Ipswich), rather than the 0800 number. I got through to them easily enough, and spoke to someone named Cr***. Cr*** looked up my order and said it was “Cancelled”. I asked him when it was cancelled, but he said he didn’t have access to that information. I explained I’d be told – on three separate occasions - that my order was on the truck to be delivered. Cr*** assured me, the order was never on a truck, it had been cancelled. I asked to speak to Cr***’s manager (Ch****), but Cr*** told me she was in meetings all day and wasn’t available (I was later told that Ch***** is on holiday all week, I have no idea which was correct – and anyway, Ch***** didn’t call me in response to Cr***’s message).

 

At this point it was clear that someone wasn’t telling me the truth – either the order was on the truck for delivery or it wasn’t (I suspect it never was). It was also clear that the information in their systems regarding my order was being changed, though no-one could tell me when, or by whom. Either the 0800 line people were telling me untruths about the order, or Cr*** was. The system was being changed, but there was no record of who had changed it, and when it was changed (alternatively the representatives at the 0800 number weren’t looking at the order at all and were just making things up, which seems highly unlikely.) At this point I had exhausted the Helpline (spoken to them four times, been told supervisors would call back and they don’t etc.).

 

So I called ASDA Head Office in Leeds. I asked to speak to someone to make a complaint about Home Shopping. I was transferred to the 0800 number – which is not what I wanted. No problem, I called Head Office again. I told them I wanted to speak with someone in management about a problem I was having with Home Shopping. I was transferred to a lady by the name of Ja***. Ja*** could not help me, she couldn’t access my records, and besides, she is not a manager (as an aside, Ja*** was VERY polite and helpful, especially as by this time I wasn’t too happy, she should get a raise). I asked to speak to Ja***’s manager, but was told this was not a customer facing role, and they only answered from a queue. Ja*** also told me that her manager would not be able to help me anyway, because I needed to speak with management in Cape Town. I asked for the name and email address of a person (Manager) in Cape Town, but was told this information couldn’t be given out.

 

You see the dilemma, I’d already been in the queue to talk to a manager in Cape Town – but they never call back. I asked Ja*** for the name or telephone number or email address of a Director or VP, in Head Office, who had responsibility for Home Shopping. I was told there was no-one, everyone was in Cape Town. I was back to square one.

 

Saturday 17th May

 

Nothing.

 

Sunday 18th May

 

Nothing.

 

Monday 19th May

 

I finally received a call (midday my time) from a member of staff in Cape Town. I was told the issue had been looked into, and had been discussed with the manager at Ipswich. However, though the order was indeed Cancelled, no-one knew who had done it, nor why. So that must remain a mystery. I was offered a £15 voucher and a free Delivery Charge. The lady then asked if I wanted to make another date for the delivery of the original order. I replied “Yes, you’ve locked the money in my account anyway, so please deliver it.” At this point I was informed that “it didn’t work that way”, and that ASDA must put ANOTHER hold on my account for the amount of the order. I was not happy with this, clearly. So I asked how I could get my original money back - ASDA had locked the amount in my account, and have had it locked since 14th May. I was told that the only way I can get the amount unlocked is if I call my bank and get a fax number and authorization code from them. When I enquired why they couldn’t just deliver on the original locked funds, I was told it was because that order had been cancelled. Since I didn’t have the information from my bank, we arranged to have a call Tuesday 20th of May.

 

Tuesday 20th May

 

I received a call from the same lady. I had been unable to get the information from the bank. I am now fed up and tired of being led around in circles for a problem created entirely by ASDA. Every problem in this case is within ASDA, and caused by ASDA. So asking ASDA to fix it doesn’t seem unreasonable. I was told ASDA could do nothing. I asked for the contact details of the ladies boss and was told “Anyone else you talk to will say the exact same thing.” I pressed for contact details and was told she could not give out any details, and my only option was to write a letter.

 

In one final effort, I called my local store again. Spoke to Ch****. I explained that all I wanted at this point was the delivery of my groceries. Just take the funds that ASDA has frozen, and deliver my order. Ch***** said she would call me back once she had looked into it. Ch***** called back within the hour. It seems it’s not possible to deliver on the original order any longer, because the order is closed on the system. She had spoken to someone in Customer Service who would call me back.

 

However, at this point I know where this going, and all hope is lost. I did received a call from a representative on the 800 number – they just repeated there was nothing that can be done.

 

This is where I stand today. I have had no delivery of the groceries. I cannot access my money. No-one, to my knowledge, is working on this issue in ASDA, and there is no-one to talk to about it.

 

I feel I have been entirely reasonable - and I've just about given up on ASDA. To be frank, they don't care enough.

Edited May 20, 2014 by Ligeti

[rebel11]

Hi Ligeti

 

Welcome to CAG

 

Write a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such, explain what's happened, how they have let you down and what you want them to do. I would try to summarize it, it's too long.

 

Send it to:-

 

Mr Andy Clarke

Chief Executive

ASDA UK

[email protected]

[Ligeti]

Much appreciated, Rebel.

 

Yes, it's too long. And boring. But it may act as a warning to others.

 

I will, of course, follow up as you suggest. Hopefully I'll eventually get either a) My groceries; b) My money back!

[rebel11]

Hi ligeti

 

Please do let us know what they say. Remember to get proper compensation for your time, phone calls etc.

 

Much appreciated, Rebel.

 

Yes, it's too long. And boring. But it may act as a warning to others.

 

I will, of course, follow up as you suggest. Hopefully I'll eventually get either a) My groceries; b) My money back!

[cubertf]

nothing seems to have improved since the ops original post.

 

 

I booked a delivery between 5pm and 7pm yesterday. it never arrived.

 

 

at 8.30pm, I phoned their 0800 number. 40 minutes later, I was still in the call queue, and gave up!

 

 

I found a message function on their order site, and filled in 2 separate messages to them.. I am now waiting for a response.

 

 

the order site states my order is still out for delivery. the money has been taken off my pre-payment card... but no order.

 

 

I have to go out today, around 8am, so am unable to waste the day chasing the stuff.... I will have to pop into Morrisons or Tesco and get the time sensitive stuff from there, and hope it is not delivered again. Friday, I can chase my prepayment credit card people for a refund, then go to my local Morrisons.

[cubertf]

my order has just been updated as cancelled.

 

 

all I have to do now is wait for a refund before I can eat anything but dust!

 

 

I will never be ordering from asda again.

Edited July 3, 2014 by cubertf

[Conniff]

We stopped using Asda home delivery at Christmas because half of what we ordered wasn't available. This wasn't the only time. We ordered a pile of small cakes, the sell by date expired just 2 days later, yes a complaint got them changed, but the amount of goods not available over many orders was getting us angry then to have Christmas spoilt was the last straw.

 

 

We now get our deliveries from Sainsburys. What a difference. The delivery people have a friendlier attitude, we often get free gifts or samples and hundreds of free Nectar points.

 

 

Is this Asda policy or just the local Asda not being run properly, I know which one I believe it to be.

[Ligeti]

Well, here's my follow up. I never got a response from my emails to CEO, but magically the money was returned to my account within 48 hours. This after being told by the 0800 number that it was impossible for them to do this. Clearly, they were wrong.

 

Then the question was - would I use them once more to cash in on the £15 coupon they gave me? I decided yes.

 

I placed an order and everything went perfectly. Great - I later placed another order. This one was slightly different in that I had someone else paying for it (won't go into the details why). So I added their credit card details. All worked, and I got the usual notifications.

 

However, something had gone seriously wrong with my address. This WAS mentioned in their notification email (it tells you the address the goods are being delivered too) but I overlooked it because I never imagined the address would change. I noticed it was wrong on the day of delivery. Also, while the address was wrong, the post code had NOT changed. Very strange. The address on the notification email was the address of the credit card holder.

 

I called the 0800 number. Got a lady in South Africa. She noted the address was wrong, and told me I must cancel my order and reschedule it. She said this was the only way to proceed. I asked her: "But surely if there's an address problem, they'll call the telephone number on the account?" I was told, no, the delivery must be canceled and rescheduled.

 

I was reluctant to do this. The reason is obvious - experience now tells me that if they "Cancel" an order and change delivery dates, they'll want to refund me my original payment - which will take days - and rebill me for the "new" order. I told the lady on the 0800 number that I didn't want her to do anything. I would wait until after the delivery time, and if the groceries didn't arrive, I'd call her back.

 

The good news is - what I assumed would happen did. I got a call from my local store about an address problem. I gave them the right details, and the groceries arrived on time.

 

So what have I learned?

 

1) If you have a problem don't bother with the 0800 number. It is utterly and completely worthless. They are pleasant people, friendly even. But as for doing things - they're nothing but a nightmare.

 

2) Find out which local store is actually doing the delivery (in my case it was on a note stapled to the back of the delivery receipt) and call them. In order to get someone local call the local store and say something like "Can I speak to someone about Home Deliveries please, someone not on South Africa." if you don't make it very clear you DO NOT want South Africa, they will transfer you there and you might as well give up. Local staff are much more helpful, and know exactly what deliveries they're doing that day and where they are.

 

3) There is a limit to the amount of information the local stores have. They only have TWO DAYS of data. They know about today, and tomorrow. NOTHING ELSE. If it's outside this time frame then I guess you're stuck with South Africa.

 

4) None of my problems have been caused by the delivery person. ASDA delivery staff have always been excellent for me.

 

So there you have it. I'm trying one last time, and in fact am expecting a delivery within the next hour.

 

In a nutshell - South African Customer Service is a joke, and you're in trouble if you're calling them because while polite, their responses vary between scripted platitudes and information that is just plain wrong. Local stores are better, but the system only allows them access to a limited amount of information - so be quick. The local store is at least more in touch with things. Calling their Head Office is equally, I'm afraid, worthless.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Ligeti

[cubertf]

my order has just been updated as cancelled.

 

 

all I have to do now is wait for a refund before I can eat anything but dust!

 

 

I will never be ordering from asda again.

despite numerous phone calls and several emails to Asda, and their escalation to 'urgent '; of my case, they did nothing.

 

 

today, after 30 days, the hold they had on my money with the bank card expired (by default), and the money was returned.

 

 

It will be a very very cold day before I use them again

[citizenB]

Have you made a formal complain to their Head office, in writing ?

[cubertf]

no formal complaint, I cannot see the point, as I do not intend to shop with then again.

 

 

They had no idea as to why my order was not delivered. thus if I did try again, I could have the same problem as before, and have to wait a month to get my money back and end up ordering stuff from elsewhere... which was delivered on time...thus I may as well use Morrisons permanently - they have not let me down....YET..

[renegadeimp]

If you dont complain then in their eyes theyve done nothing wrong and will continue to keep doing it.

 

Youre complaining here so why not redirect it to the ceo and let him know how you feel.

[Stirling2005]

If you dont complain then in their eyes theyve done nothing wrong and will continue to keep doing it.

 

Youre complaining here so why not redirect it to the ceo and let him know how you feel.

 

Tesco are no better. Similar story a week to refund but they reckoned they'd rung the door bell five times and got no reply. In 24 years at the address we've never had a doorbell and on the delivery day the door was open as we were in the hall decorating!! Liars I'm afraid.

[renegadeimp]

Tesco arent liars in that case. The driver was.