A Tesco employee has expressed her frustration over a common customer request that she insists staff have "no control" over. The worker, who posted on Reddit's dedicated Tesco forum, highlighted her "biggest pet peeve" regarding the supermarket's 'Whoosh' express delivery service.
Customer Demands for 'Longest Date'
"My biggest pet peeve is 'LONGEST DATE' on every single item in their tray like we aren't already e-trained to the teeth to pick the best dates," she wrote. "Or if they request a certain range 'must be 7+ days' as if we have control over the date range in the shop. Best I can give you is two days for strawberries, pal."
Tesco Whoosh is an express delivery option available in selected areas, allowing customers to order thousands of everyday essentials for delivery in as little as 20 minutes. The supermarket's website notes that "when you make an online order, we show your basket total as a guide price" because certain products, like pre-packed meat, poultry, and cheese, may vary in price.
Staff Training and Frustrations
The employee later conceded that her irritation might stem from her "ADHD brain" and the specific training at her store, but maintained that her frustration was valid. "I also don't deal with home deliveries, only collect-from-store orders," she added.
Her post sparked a wave of responses from fellow workers sharing similar experiences. One Reddit user commented, "If Tesco is anything like Asda, that could be due to managers' priorities changing on a weekly basis. One week they tell us to make sure products are 4+ days at least. The next week they'll tell us the only thing that matters is availability, and to avoid substituting or marking products as unavailable at any cost - even if it means giving products with today/tomorrow's date."
Impact of KPIs on Date Selection
A second contributor claimed that the issue is widespread: "To be honest this is going to happen with the company constantly pushing up KPIs higher and higher that no one has time to look at labels/dates and would rather deal with a customer complaint."
A third person added, "I work at a different supermarket that uses Uber/Just Eat/Deliveroo and we aren't even told to check dates on picking, we just grab the first item off the shelf regardless." Another Reddit user pointed out, "If the only option is the next day's date, then that's what you'll likely get unfortunately. Some stores don't like sending nothing (unless there's a substitute) as it makes the availability figures look bad."
Tesco's Freshness Guarantee
Tesco explains its "freshness guarantee" online: "We pick the freshest products with the longest use by dates - but if you're not happy with an item, just hand it back for a refund." The supermarket advises customers to "hand it back to your delivery driver or Click+Collect colleague and we'll arrange a refund to your payment card."
