TESCO

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Tesco is scrapping its refund policy after being forced to give £300 Xboxes to shoppers. The rule promises customers who are overcharged at the till a full refund, plus they can keep the item they bought. But some customers deliberately tracked down mis-priced gear, costing the company at least £100,000. The scheme peaked when a pricing mistake left store chiefs no option but to give away Xbox 360 games consoles after they were marked on shelves as £297.81, but came up on tills at £299.97.

Tesco tried banning the worst culprits but now bosses have decided that does not go far enough. The new policy will see shoppers receive double the amount they were overcharged. Martin Lewis, who runs moneysavingexpert.com, which runs details of Tesco price gaffes, said, "If thousands of pounds worth of Xboxes walked out the door then it should teach Tesco to be a bit more careful about prices so that customers are not misled." (Source: Sunday People, Feb/07)

The sudden closure of the Mitre pub in Allenton has renewed fears that the development on the site of Allenton Market could be back on the cards. Last year, 1,000 people signed a petition against proposals to demolish the pub and the adjoining market and houses in Whitehurst Street to make way for a Tesco supermarket. Owner Mountview Securities Investments Ltd has confirmed that it is in talks with Derby City Council over the site, on the corner of Osmaston Road and Harvey Road. And Mountview, which bought the pub site for £1m in June 2004, has so far refused to confirm that a supermarket is planned for the site. The company's chief executive, Nick Chappell, admitted that he would like to develop the area but Steve Meynell, the city council's chief estates officer, said that keeping or relocating the market would be a condition of any deal. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Feb/06)

Tesco said 100% cashmere jumpers will be selling at stores for as little as £25 but laboratory tests carried out on one the garments found it contained only 88.3% cashmere. More than 6.5% was made up of unidentified fibres, 3.2% was wool, 1% was camel hair and 0.7% was rabbit fur. Top quality cashmere sweaters, made from hair combed from the soft undercoat of cashmere goats, usually cost up to £300. Tesco insisted the V-neck sweater was 100% cashmere and made in north China from Mongolia goats.

Tesco said, "Our cashmere jumpers are knitted in the same factories as those on sale in other major retailers and they have been tested by the UK's two major accredited cashmere testing houses, who have both confirmed they are 100% cashmere. We are at a loss as to why the same tests carried out by the same people have produced different results from a press sample sent to them to those from a number of randomly selected jumpers they tested from our range. We will not be satisfied with any garment which is less than a 100% top quality." (Source: Daily Mirror)

A deer hunter who took his photographs to Tesco in Barnstaple for processing, was reported to police who questioned him for several hours. Although the sport is legal, Tesco contacted the police without telling him, despite their privacy policy which states: "We will never pass your personal data to anyone else". When he took his film to the store staff deemed photographs of him with his gun and a deer he had shot "inappropriate", although he had broken no animal cruelty or firearms laws.

Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, replied that staff had acted appropriately, "On being asked to view the prints, our store's management team decided that there was cause for concern and as such contacted the police." A letter sent on behalf of Sir Terry said, "Tesco does not discriminate against any lawful section of the community… We are confident that the actions of our staff were… within the law."

A spokesman for Tesco said, "We are sorry for any upset or distress caused to the gentleman. However, if our staff are concerned about the content of photographic material it is right that they should seek advice from the appropriate authorities, in this instance, the police." (Source: Sunday Telegraph, Apr/06)

Alexandria Walsh was threatened with a £150 parking fine from Tesco because she spent two-and-a-half hours to do her shopping. Two weeks later she received a letter warning her she had exceeded the two-hour time limit and would be fined if she did so again. Mrs Walsh, of Crank, near St Helens, Merseyside, said, "I spend £120 a week in Tesco. It was not unusual for us to stay that long. Not any more. I am going elsewhere." A Tesco spokesman said fines had been introduced where parking is being abused and added, "It is not meant to penalize customers. We are sorry." (Source: Daily Mirror, Jul/06)

Tesco has been forced to delay the launch of its £30million online catalogue after a series of catastrophic technical problems. The Tesco Direct site was created to help the supermarket take on catalogue giants Argos and Ikea, and retailers such as Marks and Spencer. But glitches in the system left the site inaccessible for 36 hours.

It was running so slowly shoppers hoping to view the 8,000 products on offer were giving up. The site then crashed and Tesco later pulled the plug on it. A spokesman for the company said, "We have experienced IT problems which are affecting the level of service on our websites. We are proud of Tesco Direct and want to offer customers the best possible service, therefore we made the decision to delay the launch." (Source: Daily Mirror, Sep/06)

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