Exigency in Specie - Latest Comments

Re: Who Benefits from Tesco Self-Service Tills?

mikeeeo_o — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:33:50 -0000

The other security flaw with these self service tills is that anyone can put say an item that costs £20 on the scales and press the on-screen button for carrots and the till lets them have it for what ever the equivalent weight is in carrots. No bagging issue and if the staff are busy they are never going to know! :o/

Re: Who Benefits from Tesco Self-Service Tills?

Darryl Cooper — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:28:24 -0000

hi i have been reading this artical and find it very intresting... Sue has a good point but too much spare time :(

B K

Re: Who Benefits from Tesco Self-Service Tills?

Sue — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:20:13 -0000

I sent this email to the Tesco Chief executive on 27/8/09:

Dear Sir Leahy,

Ref: Complaints about Checkouts Evening Closing Policy at Borehamwood Store

Having exhausted the complaints procedure within the store, I am writing to you on behalf of a number of Customers and I would really appreciate your assistance with our Group complaint:

Summary of Complaint:

Tesco have operated a 24 hour service at the Borehamwood Store for some years now and as residents of Borehamwood we find this very beneficial.

However over recent months this pleasure and benefit has been severely marred by what appears to be a new policy of closing all your manned checkouts between 10pm to 11pm for the remainder of the night. Customers then have no choice but to use the self-service checkouts. This is not practical for many customers and many of us are now very angry. I am in the process of setting up an Action Group, Petition and Media pack (subject to your initial response).

Whilst some customers like the self-service checkouts, there are many of us who don’t. E.g. disabled people, people who aren’t feeling 100% fit, people who can’t cope with the stress of self-service tills, people shopping on their own without anyone to help them, people with big full trolleys, families with young children, lonely people who like someone to speak to, people who need assistance with packing their bags, people who like to feel they are treated with respect and people who just want to put their items through a manned checkout where it is much easier to unload and load up their goods. Tesco’s have clearly not considered the impact of this policy on any of these groups of people.

In practical terms - I spoke to a number of other customers tonight (who are now part of this Action Group and some who are copied in on this email) and we all had large trolleys of items, whilst on this occasion we were all able to use the manned checkouts, had any of us joined the queue a short while later we would have had no choice but to use the self-service checkouts. It just simply isn’t practical to unload 100 or so items, self-scan them, put items in the packing area which then starts to overflow, whilst you are still trying to unload and scan what is still in your trolley etc. I can’t repack my trolley till its empty by which time my goods are now being placed on the floor – this is very unhygienic! My goods get damaged as I am trying to do all these tasks without any assistance and a lack of packing space available and I end up feeling highly stressed and anxious, knowing there’s a big queue of people waiting for me and the other customers to hurry up, along with the self-service tills frequently coming up with error messages etc. Then there is the poor Checkout Employee who supervises these 8 self-service tills without any other staff support, and who gets no end of grief from the queuing customers and is also trying to deal with all the till errors/assistance required messages on these tills. I would politely like to challenge you to do this job one busy evening so you know what happens in reality. I would also like to seriously suggest that customers using the self-services tills get a discount off their shopping for having done the checkout work themselves!

Last week, by luck, one checkout was manned till later in the evening (I was so thankful) – there were 15 people in this queue – I was fourth and it still took 30 minutes before I was served! The self-service queue was 30-40 people long, with 8 people using the checkouts. I would politely like to ask you to visit this store on say a Thursday evening between 10pm to 11.30pm and see for yourself the chaos that is going on, the level of complaints and the feeling of the customers etc.

I do also feel there is a serious potential risk for both customers and staff's health and safety e.g. with customers anger getting out of hand and an incident occuring or injuries occuring from trying to use the self-service tills and the likely increase in damaged goods and spillages etc! Has a risk assessment been carried out? The bad publicity and legal costs don't bear thinking about! All because Tesco want to save some money .............

Progress with Complaint:

I have complained in-store on a number of occasions and quite frankly I hit a dead-end with store staff and managers who said they sympathised but it wasn’t down to them. Last week I spoke to a slightly more helpful member of staff who informed me that the complaints were now being passed on to head office, along with photographs of the evidence of the long queues. Well the problem is still occurring!

So the buck is now being passed fairly and squarely on to yourself, in the hope that you can help us resolve this ridiculous policy. Of course, you may not even be aware of this situation.

What do we the Customers understand and what do we the customers want Tesco to understand?

We understand Tesco’s is a business and want to make a profit – that’s fine – we know from the media that Tesco do in fact make a substantial profit. So if Tesco do want to still cut costs, please do this where it doesn’t impact on the customer or frontline staff, who are worth their weight in gold. Instead cut costs and reduce salaries higher up the hierarchy if you really want to save money!

If it helps focus minds – between myself and the six other customers I spoke to tonight, we have probably spent around at least £500,000 to £1m over the years at Tesco and all we want in return are reasonably priced items and a good customer service.

Bearing in mind that Checkout Operatives get paid something between the minimum wage to maybe £8 per hour if they are lucky – then to man one of the checkouts for a further three hours will only cost Tesco say a maximum of £24 per day – even if you times that figure by all the stores with this new policy I think you’ll find it is worth it by means of keeping us customers happy! I think Tesco’s money saving idea of doing away with this longer manned checkout service is an argument rather dead in the water if I may say so! As customers we all know that bigger savings can be made higher up the hierarchy!

What do we the Customers want as the solution?

In simple terms all we want as customers is a choice of checkouts – manned checkouts say until 1am and self-service the rest of the night and good customer service and respect.

Thank you for reading this email and I look forward to hearing from you shortly.

Regards

Sue Alford – Borehamwood

Re: Should Have Gone To Specsavers?

Ivan Rowland — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:04:09 -0000

I too have a horror story about spec savers, I wear bi-focals and suffer astigmatism, Spec savers in their wisdom first removed the correction for the astigmatism prompting me to have to get the glasses remade! this time with one of the reading bits at the bottom of the right lens totally cock-eyed!! an assistant offered to bend the frame to compensate, I don't think so!! once more new lenses!! so eventually I went back to wearing my old prescription, which are bi-focals and I can wear for 24hrs without problem.. So when it came time for a retest I went to Boots, so far so good, but as I couldn't find any frames to suit me in Boots I (stupid of me I know) took my prescription to Spec savers, yes thats when the problems began, an hour after first wearing the new glasses the headaches started!! Spec savers said get used to the new glasses, so I spoke to the Boots opticial who tested me, she said no,no,no come back and see me, bring in your old glasses and your new ones from spec savers and we shall see.. any way that appointment is tomorrow (04-09-09) so I will keep you posted

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Catherine — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:45:19 -0000

Hi! Having similar problems to Karen and Heather. Picked up new Specsavers glasses yesterday (as I snapped my last pair in half due to trying to straighten them myself after the factory-style-contact-lens-checker told me last week my right eye was dry and to skip the lens and use drops for a week). Paid an extra £60 for the 'extra thin and light' lenses and they have come back thicker than my last unthinned pair. No idea if these are actually thin lenses or not. I have a prescription of about -3.75 and the edges of these lenses are a full 5mm thick. Does that seem right? The glasses are rimless at the bottom - not sure if that has any effect on the width. I do have a mild astigmatism as well as far as I know. Want to go in and ask but would like an opinion first if possible?

Also the prescription is giving me headaches... seems loads stronger than my contacts. My eyes feel strained and dry too. ALll doing my head in as I was perfectly happy with my contacts and didn't have any problems with my eyes being dry at all. One of the types drops the optician told me to take doesn't seem right either - makes vision blurry which is perhaps normal, but woke up this morning with swollen eyelids - surely not normal?

Any knowledge / opinions appreciated!

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Denise — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:44:00 -0000

Hi, from what I read I will definitely not go to specsavers to get my new glasses. My prescription is around -9 and -8 so I think will need 1.74 index, is that right?
Can anyone recommend me a place wher I can get these thin lenses at cheaper price but with good quality? I know only the lenses are 250 pounds at vision express, but maybe somewhere else it is 200? I am an international student that's why I dont know much about good opticians in England. Thank you!

Re: iPod/iPhone Cannot Be Synced, Required File Not found

Dylan — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:44:23 -0000

Wow apple is ridiculous sometimes! Thanks this worked perfectly for 3gs. Now if only apple could provide it's own troubleshooting that would be amazing.

Re: Who Benefits from Tesco Self-Service Tills?

ken.sampson — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:46:35 -0000

Tesco implements compulsory self service. Scan your own club card, insert your debit card in the reader at the rear of the checkout and 'don't forget to take your receipt' Well done Tesco for being the first UK supermarket to abandon customer service. With staff becoming excess to requirements expects prices to fall!!!!

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

sammy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:36:45 -0000

my 2 year old son does not have very good eyesight as we have found out recently! like any mother i want the best for my children, i am apalled at the way we have been treated in specsavers! jay (my son) his glasses were really thick and i had asked if i could have them thinned down as they would be too heavy on his nose and didnt want him to be put off waring them. we got them and not only were they thick but they didnt fit properly and he was looking over them. no one spent any time fitting them or took any time to even talk to him which i found rather strange, i know they r not in child care but a smile or somthing wouldnt have hurt, after all its a big thing for a child to be given glasses! after taking them back they gave him a new frame and this time got fitted for them properly! got told to pick them up in one week as they had to send them away, 5 days later i got a phone call from them asking me where his prescription was!!! obv they had it or he wouldnt have got his first pair. so it was another week without glasses.
went to pick up his new glasses eventualy and they were twice as thick as the first pair! not only would they have been too heavy but the lense was sharp an could have cut him! i was fuming and refused to take them, the lady had the ckeek to blame the frame for being square, so why didnt they give him a circular frame? after all i am not the optician! all i can say is i wont be taking my child back there, i am also writing to the head office to take this matter further!

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Joyce cartmell — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:23:29 -0000

I,VE NEVER KNOWN A COMPANY SO DIFFICULT TO TRY AND FIND OUT HOW TO COMPLAIN,,SHAME ON YOU SPEC SAVERS

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Joyce cartmell — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:19:34 -0000

I have ,together with my husband and son, been a valued customer of spec savers in kings heath, birmingham.Now I am disgusted at service I recieved today, I had taken a pair of glasses there to have lenses changed, and duly paid the 39 pound charge. When going to pick them up today, I told assistant they were a little loose, she told me theyt must have been like it before(which they werent) and went to adjust them. When she returned, she told me nothing could be done because both arms were cracked and must have been like it before AS THEY HADNT DONE IT. She was straight on the defensive, and could do with learning some customer skills. I pointed out that i couldnt say if they were like it before, as I had only ever worn them a handful of times, but if they were cracked when i took them in, why wasnt it pointed out to me by the lady who took them off me, and even if she had overlooked it, why didnt the technitian pick up on it, instead of wasting his time and my money..I now have a useless pair of glassses that have cost me twice..The assistant offered me a discount on new frames and thought that was appropiate.....I want my money back, and expect a reply to this problem, sooner rather than later..If a satisfactory conclusion cannot be reached I shall be cotacting the local radio station my son works at, to be aired on The Ed Doolan show.. Time is of the essence.. J.CARTMELL

Re: Should Have Gone To Specsavers?

Nichola C — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:43:12 -0000

I walked into the shop in Letchworth and was tatally ignored by the staff for about 10 minutes. Only after I made a comment about standing like an idiot at the counter for nearly 10 minutes did someone come over to attend to me. Now is not that I mind waiting...but for goodness sake, it doesnt take much to give a customer a friendly smile and say that they will be with me in a few minutes, but two assistants who were obviously going on lunch walked right past me. God forbid if they looked my way and said anything....and the other 2 assistants refused to give me any eye contact let alone a couple of words to acknowledge I was waiting so long. I spent over £200 a few weeks ago, but thats the last they see of me ...Im off to somewhere else that makes me feel welcome. Remember staff at Letchworth, its people like me who pay your salaries. Disgruntled

Re: Keeping Cool

Hugh — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:52:49 -0000

We certainly have ceiling fans in all the rooms in the upper floor, and it even makes a difference in the winter (if you run them in reverse the warm air at the ceiling gets circulated down to the "people" layer)

I would have LOVED to have installed the shallow-profile fans that hug the ceiling, but they cost about 200 EUROS. EEK! So we made do with the DIY ones at 60 EUROS.

Re: iPod/iPhone Cannot Be Synced, Required File Not found

iPhone 3GS — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:54:12 -0000

A perfect explanation !!!!! it worked with my 3GS, thks !!!

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Jenifer Comeau — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:44:18 -0000

Specsaver this year for me has been such a pain!!!!

Wednesday 3rd June – I had my Eye Test and Specsavers ordered both sets of lenses 2 reactions lens in silver pair and 1 lens for my pink pair (left lens is a balance lens and did not need changing)

Friday 5th June – I was called at 5.15 to advise my silver glasses were ready (Reaction Lenses)

Saturday 6 June – Collected silver pair and gave them my pink pair to have lens changed (right lens only), I was advised that the process should take around 30 mins. Whilst waiting I was called and told that there had been a problem with the glaze on the pink glasses (I was not told what the actual problem was). Specsavers said they would re-order them and they should be ready by the Tuesday. I said this was fine. My glasses felt slightly odd when wearing them as I just assumed this was the slight change in prescription. Approx 12 midday I look in the mirror whilst in my car and notice that only the left side of the glasses was reacting ( I do not have a lot of vision in my left eye, so had not noticed) . I was quite upset when realising this as I had been walking around outside for quite sometime. I took the glasses off as there was no way that I was going to walk around looking so ridiculous. I rang Specsavers (Redhill) and advised them what I had just found. They advised me that they were very sorry and too come in as soon as I could. That afternoon I was doing my Race For Life (which I would had to do with no glasses on). I told them I would come in after that. I arrived at specsavers around 3.30- 4 o’clock. I took the glasses to the desk and told them how I had picked them up that morning and also about the problem that morning with glaze being wrong on my other set (which they still had). The gentleman I spoke too was very helpful and apologetic. He spoke to the lab then returned to me to tell me that because when the reaction lens are indoors they are clear and the people in the lab had got the two sets of lenses mixed up without realising. He said he would re-order 2 new sets of lenses and in the meantime they would put a clear lens in the left side so I had a pair of glasses to wear. He also stated that as compensation they would thin the lens on my pink pair for free. (Wish was done and I am happy with).

Tuesday 9th June – Specsavers rang to advise me that my glasses were ready for collection. I went down on my lunch break to pick them up. I asked about the lenses for my silver pair (reactions) which I was told they could not find anything about them being ordered and that the guy I spoke to on the Saturday she could not find. She told me she would re-order the lens and that I would have to wait another week.

Sunday 14th June – I was finally called and told my glasses were ready for collection which I picked up that afternoon. (I also had a car accident in a car park on the way to pick them up, so if they had not have messed them up the first time that mite not have happened.lol. what a bad day!!!)

I am quite shocked that both sets of glasses were not checked before they were cut and fitted. Especially are one set were clear and they other reactions. Also, when they found mix up with the glaze on the pink pair did they not wonder where the other lens went too?

I have never had such a terrible experience with Specsavers.

Re: The Jade Peony

El — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:44:25 -0000

I would like to just say that i never understood the book perfectly, it seemed to not have much of a plot, and was mainly boring to me. the ending was exciting though. I must just not be matured enough for the book.

Re: Who Benefits from Tesco Self-Service Tills?

Leesome — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:06:57 -0000

If ever we had a chance at job creation, then refusing to use theses robot tills could be that chance.

Why people cannot understand just how many jobs have been lost?

Obvious question, what shall they do if they want to work. Over a year ago, quiet clear. at least you could rely on a local super-market for a few shifts.

Seperate issue. When you fail to control the input of an external workforce - how do you control boom & bust?

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

heather — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:22:36 -0000

i also have collected my glasses from specsavers today not happy having ..paid for the thinner lenses and ultra clear coating ....and found out they are actually thicker than the normal glasses i got 3 yrs ago ...was told they were higher spec than last prescription ..(only slight differnce so should not have been a problem ....and ultra clear ...cant even see my eyes clearly when looking in mirror with light on .... reflecting on lenses is terrible looking had anti reflection coating on all my glasses so ..know its differnt .. so will be taking back on monday to see if the coating was added ...
2nd pair was reading glasses ...never had these before but as soon as i put them on it was blurry and could even see th eletter she asked me to read ...bring them back in a fortnight if you can see cleary ...you eyes just need time to adjust ... also cut a bit too much off legs when adjusting ..that they dont even come round me ears properly

used specsaver last 4 yrs and this is the first time i have had cause to complain

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

John — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:16:29 -0000

I was lured into buying a pair of BOGOF 'designer' glasses at the Liverpool Lord Street Branch and took my new varifocal prescription with me.The sales lady advised the frames I had chosen would fit varifocal lenses. Having waited an age I saw another assistant who took my details and then went into a long sales pitch about the different types of varifocal lenses I could have fitted. Then came the shock - varifocal lenses were not included in the BOGOF offer although the previous sales person advised they were.

To cut a long story short I decided to go with the premium varifocal lenses. I collected the glasses and advised to try them.I have found the distance sight in my right eye to be blurred and peripheral vision also blurred, driving the car is almost impossible as when you look in the wing mirrors everything is blurred.

I went back to the Liverpool store and saw a very abrasive assistant who told me to persevere for at least two weeks, I told her I knew now that the glasses were not right or indeed varifocals did not suit me and that I was initially advised that normal distance lenses could be replaced. She plonked the glasses on and asked me what I could see. The fire escape nitice was blurred, she turned around and said' oh I wouldn't expect anyone to see that'.Everything she said was 'on the attack' and most confrontational. I felt as if she had not only personally spent £200 on the glasses but given them to me free as well.No matter what I said there was no changing her.

Upn returning home I was so fuming I called the store to speak to Scott the assistant manager, basically gave me the same speel to persevere though in a more pleasant manner.Having worn glasses for years I know there is something very wrong with these glasses, I really feel I just want a refund and move on elsewhere.This assistant was no more than a loud mouthed bully with no respect for customer care or feelings.

This is my first and last dealings with Specsavers, at the end of the day they are salespeople, not professional opticians, I wish I had stayed with my old optician, a bit on the expensive side but as they say you gat what you pay for. I want a refund, no confrontation, no argument, no bullying, how do I go about it anyone?

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Karen Jones — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:41:54 -0000

Has anyone ever had problems with Specsavers High index lenses they are the the ultra thin and clear I ordered 2 pairs of glasses at index 1.74 but when the glasses turned up they were much thicker than my existing glasses which I bought elsewhere 4 years ago. firstly i was told that they were thicker because my perscription had changed even though one eyes is still the same spec and the other has only changed marginly. then I was told it was to do with the size of the frames which are only about 3 mm wider. I asked the assistant to check for me with a technition she did and assured me they were correct. I am still not happy with them and was going to take them to another opticans to check, can anyone offer advice.

Re: Should Have Gone To Specsavers?

Sarah Bedford — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:53:44 -0000

Went into a Specsavers store today and it was so busy, I mean it was like a supermarket! I feel sorry for the employees working so hard running around! I've got nothing but praise forthem all! I'd like to see anyone (including me!) working in that sort of environment full-time! My spex were great and I can't help but laugh at one of those earlier posts on this site that points out just how narrow minded some people can be!! Your right, go to any other opticians and their 100% perfect and will never make mistakes!! errr me thinks not!

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

sara — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:57:37 -0000

hi everyone,

last week my almost OAP father had an eye test done at the local specsavers Batley branch.

he gets confused when dealing with exceptionally rude 20-something sales assistants who use all these technical jargon to get him even more confused and scam him into buying glasses one for each day (i couldnt accompany him because of work duties)

anyway he returned home and told me he bought 4 glasses as they were in the BOGOF offer, and he was really chuffed with himself as he was acquiring his first ever sunglasses for his long-sightedness. (my father is both long & short sighted so needs to pair of glasses: 1 reading one driving etc)

he went in a week later to collect them and what did he find? specsavers had made sunglasses for his short-sightedness. WHY may i ask? maybe to wear inside the house whilst 'watching TV'?? or whilst driving the car outside and crashing into everyone and everything. anyway he came home and told me the tale. we checked on their website for the no quibble no fuss returns policy and the defective goods policy....well they are technically defective.... So he went back a few days later and spoke to one of the sales asssistants who said even though he was returning to them within the 30 day period he would have to pay £30.00 or maybe more as this particular spectacle was bought in the bogof offer and was essentially 'free' and the returns policy was only for the glasses which he had paid for so he would have to pay for it to be corrected...in total 4 the 4 specs, he paid over £150.00!

i cannot believe how stupid some people can get, how stupid do you have to be to make short-sighted sunglasses to wear inside? and why should we pay for the glasses when it was THEIR fault? im going bakc with him this weekend to get it sorted and im definitely not paying to get them corrected...

anyone have any tactics or advice for when i do go?

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

shekha limbani — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:41:54 -0000

I think the customer service specsavers go on about for example we will listen to your needs and requirements is a load of crap as I was not dealt with in a professional and caring manner the lady (sue) at the leicester branch spoke to me in a harsh tone, and I did not once raise my voice to her I believe specsavers and their staff need to get their act together were paying customers at the end of the day.

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Ian, Birmingham — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:48:58 -0000

Given up with Specsavers entirely now. After all the problems where they finally cobbled together my rimless specs with eventually no optical problems (see above), one of the arms has finally gone. You can see where the other is about to go too - a fine crack that must be akin to metal fatigue due to the daily parking into their case at night and assignment to my face in the mornings. Nothing more untoward than that. So I'm going to scour and search the Internet, find a pair of rimless frames for a tenner or less that fit the lenses (2mm hole and notch) and finally get rid of Specsavers once and for all. I shall also have to look for the appropriate nut drivers too! Oh well

Re: Specsavers Don’t Quibble

Annoyed — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:18:27 -0000

I had my eyes tested by spec savers nearly two weeks ago after having problems with my vision, i was informed that i needed glasses, i ordered my glasses and paid up front, i was given a date in over a weeks time to pick them up to make allowences for the holidays, however when i rang to confirm they would be ready i was told the lens hadnt turned up and as soon as they arrived they would fit them and i could pick them up, after hearing nothing i rang afew days later and was told (in a not to polite way) that the lens had arrived but i would have to wait 3 more days!! even though i was told they could be done on the same day, it seems specsavers dont like working ready hard! i am now worried that when i do eventually pick my glasses up they will be wrong! i will never go to specsvaers again.