Conversation between me and two Tesco folk by email in the uppity titled= "Tesco Customer Engagement Centre":
Me: The 4 hour slot option is not working, virtually none are available, yet= the whole day can have 1 hour slots free. Almost every delivery I get, = the driver tells me that he's been given deliveries in an inefficient or= der. If you fixed the 4 hour slots and people used them, the system coul= d make his route in a more efficient way.
Tesco person 1: I'm sorry you couldn=E2=80=99t get the delivery slot you wanted. Our stores have a limited number of delivery slots which are available o= n a first come, first serve basis. Once all the slots have been filled, = we can't accept any more orders for that day. You can book your delivery slot before you start placing your order. Thi= s guarantees you a slot, rather than being disappointed after adding all= your items to your basket. Here=E2=80=99s how to book your slot first: [snip]
Me: I don't have a problem booking a slot, I just select one of the 1 hour s= lots. I was just pointing out that the 4 hour slots are not available wh= en they should be, since the 1 hour slots are available for the whole da= y. If this problem was fixed, drivers could get more sensible routes, as= the customers could be placed at any time within the 4 hours. A number = of the drivers have told me they're getting very inefficient routes.
Tesco person 2: I've had a look into this and unfortunately all the 4 hour slots have be= en booked up. I'm afraid this is not actually a website error. As my col= league advised previously our slots are subject to availability on a fir= st come, first served basis. We know that, during this incredibly challe= nging time, it=E2=80=99s been hard to find home delivery and Click+Colle= ct slots. It=E2=80=99s down to a huge increase in demand for online deli= veries across the whole country.
Me: Sorry but that doesn't make sense. If the one hour slots for 6-7, 7-8, 8=
-9, and 9-10 all have a free slot, then it should be possible to pick 6-=
10, and the system will put me in whichever slot ends up free.