OT: Contacting Tesco

Write to them, details on Companies House website:

No company wants to be easily contactable nowadays, most seem to want to deal by phone or web chat but that won't achieve what you want.

Web chat is rapidly becoming WhatsApp (checks: yes Tesco is an example).

That's fine, but I do not use Whatsapp, and I should not be forced to do so simply to communicate with the company.

Thanks, I will try that.

Yes. but if it sends you round in a circle that is apparently OK

I've had the same problems in so many places that I no longer do business with.

So stop doing business with them. Then you wont have to.

In the end the most powerful political tool you have is your debit card.

Neither do I ...

... and the premium had gone up excessively anyway.

The website ceoemail.com is a useful source of info about how to contact companies. [I hadn't heard of it until a few minutes ago, when it was mentioned on BBC R4 'You & Yours'.

One of the addresses it gives for Tesco is snipped-for-privacy@tesco.com

Was that the programme I came across at lunchtime? They were talking about AI on Chatbots, and I immediately pricked my ears up until I reached my destination and had to stop listening.

"They are rapidly losing any credibility as a customer-oriented business."

I assume there _are_ some large businesses which have this to lose, but none spring to mind at the moment.

I walked into Waitrose in town A today, went to the customer services desk and said 'I bought this product at Waitrose in Town B yesterday and its not as it should be"

Instant replacement no questions asked.

Yes, that's the one. I heard a bit of it while I was sitting on the loo!

...which is where I do most of my reading. But this time, I was on my way to my local garage.

When a company is bought and run by venture capital private equity, with very few to none of the original founder families involved, it's very much profit-orientated and this is what ye get.

Then they load debt, sell some bits, sell the customer list and exit - while the carcase slowly perishes.

ASDA has seen a turbulent change of ownership over the last few decades. Morrisons is also private equity owned.

Seems Tesco, Sainsbury, CoOp & Waitrose are relatively safe for the moment.

How about Homebase?

If Björn and Benny had been called Steve and Dave, then Abba would have been called ASDA.

Hasn't that just gone?

I think a lot of chains do that. I've done it with Screwfix (back on DIY) when I've not needed something.

Local Homebase is now a branch of The Range