A SUPERMARKET’s online refund policy could leave families going hungry, warned Leamington’s mayor.
The town’s mayor Coun Nick Wilkins – drawing on his own experience with ASDA – said it was no leap of the imagination that district residents using the supermarket’s online delivery service could be left with with no food for the week – if, like him, their delivery failed to show up.
He explained that when his own online shopping delivery didn’t turn up last week, he was told ASDA had a five day refund policy.
He pointed out if a person was “skint” it was all very well ASDA customer services saying it was possible to place a new order but if someone had no extra money in their bank account to cover it, how were they meant to pay for more food?
He told the Observer that he put in an order for an ASDA online delivery on Wednesday November 23 to be delivered that night.
A message came through later in the day to say there were some items missing from the order as they were no longer available and could not be substituted.
Nick said this was fine as this was a common message.
His worry was the missing items took the delivery below the stipulated £40 minimum purchase limit.
Concerned this could mean his shopping would no longer be delivered, he rang the national ASDA customer service number to enquire and they said the delivery could still take place.
His mind not completely set at ease, Nick decided to ring the manager of the Leamington store. He was again told the delivery was on its way and would be delivered between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
He waited up and when it got to 11.30pm, he decided he had had enough and went to bed.
On Thursday morning (November 24) he had a message through to say the shopping had been delivered – but it hadn’t.
He called customer services again to be told he could put in a new order but would not be refunded for the original order for five days.
He said: “Now this is the problem. With the cost of living crisis making money tighter than ever, if I was skint – and let’s face it there are more people than ever in that position – I wouldn’t be able to get my money back for those five days and basically wouldn’t be able to get my shopping as I wouldn’t have any other money to pay for it. That’s a real issue.
“I put what had happened on my Facebook page and I had countless messages from residents saying they had had similar experiences.”
An ASDA spokesperson said: “We successfully deliver 800,000 orders every week. Refunds for our online delivery service can take up to five days depending on your bank. If a refund takes longer than this, customers should contact their banking provider for assistance.”
