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'Animal' shopper gets Tesco apology

6:30am Thursday 12th February 2009 in


The chief executive of supermarket giant Tesco has apologised to a customer who alleged he was called an “animal” by a worker at the chain’s Cowley Road branch.

Sir Terry Leahy sent a letter to Dr Sang Lee apologising for the “upset and annoyance” caused by the “poor level of customer service” he experienced at the store.

Dr Lee, who lives in Cowley Road, wrote to Mr Leahy and the store’s manager after being barred from the shop for a day on Sunday, December 28.

He claimed to be one of a number of customers waiting by the reduced section when a member of staff came out with a basket of goods. Dr Lee suggested there was a bit of “frantic happening” as customers tried to get the reduced items ahead of others.

The 60-year-old claimed in the letter to Tesco that the worker said: “You are like animals, fighting and pushing. I will not put these things out if you behave in this way.”

But when he protested about the language he was asked to leave the store.

Dr Lee said: “I was awfully embarrassed, not only because he called us animals but also, in front of all the staff and everyone, I was barred from the store.”

On the same day, Dr Lee wrote to Mr Leahy, the store and Tesco’s customer service centre to complain about the incident.

He also complained about another incident at the store when he was among four customers waiting for nearly an hour for cooked chickens to be reduced on Christmas Eve.

The customers were told 10 minutes before the shop closure that the chickens would not be reduced and would instead be given to the store’s staff, Dr Lee said.

Dr Lee sent another three letters to the store, Mr Leahy and Tesco customer services in Dundee after he was unsatisfied by the response.

On January 22, Mr Leahy replied, and said: “I hope you will accept my sincere apologies for the upset and annoyance this matter has caused you. I can assure you that the comments made by (the member of staff) were of his opinion and in no way reflects our corporate opinion.”

The letter included a £30 money-off voucher.

But Dr Lee remained unsatisfied about the incidents, and Mr Leahy has since written to him to say he will enter into no further correspondence about the issue.

Dr Lee said: “Big companies will do anything as long as they think they can get away with it. That is what Tesco is trying to do.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “At Tesco we expect our staff to offer the highest levels of customer service. We have apologised to the customer and offered a gesture of goodwill by way of apology for the service he received.”

Comments(19)

Quentin Walker says...
7:55am Thu 12 Feb 09

Given Dr Lee's shopping habits, Tesco appear to have been very fair to him.

To wait an hour for a chicken's price to be reduced is ridiculous.

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steve23002 says...
8:29am Thu 12 Feb 09

Dr Lee has too much time on his hands. Waiting an hour for a chicken to be reduced!! Writing 4 letters to complain? People are like animals, look at the woolworths fiasco. Like vultures waiting for an animal to die!
Im no fan of tesco but Dr Lee needs a hobby.

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Peat says...
8:32am Thu 12 Feb 09

I agree. I have seen simular 'swarms' at reduced counters before and end up just laughing to myself.

If you are willing to act like an animal, dont be offended to be called one!

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Sid Hunt says...
8:32am Thu 12 Feb 09

Very generous of Tesco, I would have told him to take a running jump. What a parasite.

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CURRYMAD says...
8:34am Thu 12 Feb 09

CHICK CHICK CHICK CHICK CHIKEN lay a little egg for me.
Dr Lee needs to get a life, waiting on Christmas eve for a reduced hot chicken. I bet he goes into Tesco every day ten minutes before it shuts just to get reduced food, and moans all the time when he does not get something for five pence. He has nothing better to do than then moan.

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Lovebike says...
8:37am Thu 12 Feb 09

You deserve what you get in Tesco. I am proud not to have shopped in Tesco for more than two years. Local shopkeepers don't serve animals.

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Lee Blackbird says...
9:27am Thu 12 Feb 09

Instead of a voucher, Dr Lee should have been given a hen, a cockerell, some timber and wire netting. Then he could breed his own chickens and have eggs whenever he wanted them!

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Lee Blackbird says...
9:27am Thu 12 Feb 09

Instead of a voucher, Dr Lee should have been given a hen, a cockerell, some timber and wire netting. Then he could breed his own chickens and have eggs whenever he wanted them!

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oxfordgirl83 says...
9:29am Thu 12 Feb 09

Having seen these type of scrums myself I have to say people in them do behave like animals. My 4 year old son was pushed to the floor by a lady trying to get to reduced spuds a few days before Christmas and we were only walking past to get a carrot for Rudolph!! It is ridiculous and I have heard comments from tesco workers (ring road shop not cowley road) to the same tone as dr lee experienced. would he have got an apology if he didnt have the dr title ... i doubt it!

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Andrew:Oxford says...
10:33am Thu 12 Feb 09

Hanging around for an hour? That kind of behaviour is rather disturbing. Certainly not something that I, as a customer, would wish to be exposed to.

In these kind of circumstances it would be better to discontinue the discount to customers and offer goods only to staff.

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LadyPenelope says...
10:50am Thu 12 Feb 09

Tesco were correct; these people DO behave like animals!

Is it any wonder than rather than reducing items, some supermarket just through the food out, or give it away to the homeless?? I certainly would if it meant not having to deal with nutters who hang around for an hour for a reduced price chicken!

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bifocal bill says...
11:19am Thu 12 Feb 09

perhaps the tesco staff thought he needed stuffing as well after hanging around 1hr to get a cooked chicken i admire them

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oxmale says...
1:01pm Thu 12 Feb 09

Frankly I sometimes wonder which are worse in the Cowley Road Tesco - the staff or the shoppers. However, Westgate Sainsbury's is no better and on this occasion the remark was probably justified given the fracas that was happening. Maybe Dr Lee should have paid full price - I'm sure he could afford it...

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robbo81 says...
1:43pm Thu 12 Feb 09

Dr Lee haha what a pathetic loser, how can you get annoyed at Tesco deciding to give the reduced chickens to staff who gave up their xmas eve to work? what a selfish little man. and to wait an hour just to save a pound or two, I'm sure he could've spent his time better.

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STBO says...
5:52pm Thu 12 Feb 09

To wait an hour for reduced priced chicken? Even the minimum wage is £5.73 per hour. What kind of Doctor is he that he can waste an hour to save less than this? What a moron. Some people really have nothing better to do with their sad little lives.

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wend says...
7:18pm Thu 12 Feb 09

Well well - a 60-year old doctor actually needs to wait for goods to be reduced before he can buy them! Is he retired, what kind of doctor is he? I find it hard to believe that anybody would have the time to wait for a whole hour for something to be reduced. The chairman of Tesco should have sent the £30 voucher to the staff member and not Dr Lee. It sounded perfectly acceptable to me for this person to tell the scrum not to behave like animals. I've seen these scrums and they do behave like that at times.

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Terry Chandler says...
7:00pm Fri 13 Feb 09

What a stingy git, he must be able to afford to pay the full price.
People with money are tight fisted, they should have given the chicken to someone more deserving.

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making sense says...
9:02am Sat 14 Feb 09

He probably thought it was a BBQ rat. Bit of a delicacy, and in short supply i understand

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Sophia says...
8:07am Fri 20 Feb 09

For God's sake someone give 'Dr' Lee a cheap chicken and let's move on. What a pillock. For the first time in my life and I hope the last, my sympathies are with Tesco

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