South Oxhey Tesco Express disabled bay regularly blocked by store's delivery cages, say angry residents

Residents' anger as Tesco deliveries block disabled bay Residents' anger as Tesco deliveries block disabled bay

Empty delivery cages are routinely left blocking a disabled parking bay outside Tesco Express in South Oxhey, according to fed-up residents.

Mel Withero, 38 of Woodhall Lane, South Oxhey says she has repeatedly contacted the supermarket giant using microblogging site Twitter to report the problem and send pictures.

The patient safety worker at West Herts Hospital Trust says despite repeated claims from Tesco that the problems will be resolved, the trolleys keep returning and blocking the space.

"This has been going on for two months and has probably happened five times within that period," she added. "There are 12 regular spaces. Why can’t they use one of them if they need to store the cages somewhere?

"I have spoken to Tesco on Twitter several times and they have always got back to me and said they will address it, but the cages are always back within a couple of days.

"I grew up with a disabled grandfather and a number of times we went to shops but had to come home without anything because we couldn’t park."

Tesco said on Monday they would keep the disabled bay clear of cages until they have painted a new disabled bay in a new location but Ms Withero said the cages remained in place as recently as Wednesday morning.

Comments(24)

Reg Edit says...
10:16pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Has anyone with a disabled badge had trouble parking their car at Tesco?

I am unsure of the merits of complaining about something that doesn't affect you in case it affects someone else. That's where the worst of political correctness comes from, people taking offence on behalf of minorities who would not themselves take offence at something.

As for complaining via twitter, what's that all about?

TRT says...
10:33pm Wed 17 Oct 12

Twitter? Well Reg, every little helps.

LSC says...
11:08pm Wed 17 Oct 12

I won't shop at Tesco until they pay their UK tax bill anyway, and nor should any disabled person in danger of having their benefits cut due to the country having no money.

In fact, nor should anyone.

LSC says...
11:27pm Wed 17 Oct 12

From 2004-2008, which are the only figures I can verify, Tesco underpaid their tax by 832 million pounds by basing their business in Luxembourg and I believe the Solomon Islands.

Source: Guardian, BBC and Telegraph.

Now £832 million isn't quite the national debt, but it might have been handy. And who knows from 2008 until now?

garston tony says...
7:55am Thu 18 Oct 12

Tesco are only one of many companies that do financial contortions to get out of paying proper taxes in this country. Wasnt Starbucks the latest one to be outed on Monday for not paying taxes here?

Anyway, the problem with mini supermarkets is that quite often the facilities for them to receive deliveries are totally inadequate and due to their size they need deliveries probably every day.

Hence why you have things like cages being left out in car parks etc.

I'm sure it can cause difficulties to disabled customers but this sounds just like something that they have to do in order to get stock on the shelves and that they are possibly 'forced' into this by the layout of the store and car park.

TRT says...
10:48am Thu 18 Oct 12

If they are forced into this by the layout of the site, then they shouldn't be there. Isn't this what planning permission and restrictive covenant supposed to sort out?

garston tony says...
12:34pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Maybe, maybe not. Is there anything in planning or other law to say they cant do this?

It might be one of those situations where there is no real alternative despite the inconvienience it causes

LSC says...
1:12pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Yes, Starbucks and Boots have recently been 'outed'. But Tesco I find particularly distasteful because of the amount of smaller shops they have put out of business who DID pay tax, so the loss of revenue cannot even be calculated accurately.

Wasn't it Beaconsfield where the residents didn't want them, the council refused them planning, but they built a store anyway by putting it over the railway line, exploiting some obscure loophole in the law?

They don't play very fair, and are very, very rich.

Phil Drackley says...
1:23pm Thu 18 Oct 12

As a holder of a 'disabled badge' I have had a problem several times trying to park at Tesco Express. I solve the problem by parking in front of their doorway. Seems only fair.
Also, several times at Waterfields Tesco, the trolleys shelter in the 'Reserved' parking area is regularly overflowing. On one occasion, when we got back to our car, (after only an hour), it was surrounded by the things! We had to get a minion to move them, so we could leave.

G_Whiz says...
1:51pm Thu 18 Oct 12

LSC wrote:
Yes, Starbucks and Boots have recently been 'outed'. But Tesco I find particularly distasteful because of the amount of smaller shops they have put out of business who DID pay tax, so the loss of revenue cannot even be calculated accurately.

Wasn't it Beaconsfield where the residents didn't want them, the council refused them planning, but they built a store anyway by putting it over the railway line, exploiting some obscure loophole in the law?

They don't play very fair, and are very, very rich.
It was in Gerrards Cross and it collapsed!. The tunnel - not Tesco's

LSC says...
10:29pm Thu 18 Oct 12

G_Whiz wrote:
LSC wrote:
Yes, Starbucks and Boots have recently been 'outed'. But Tesco I find particularly distasteful because of the amount of smaller shops they have put out of business who DID pay tax, so the loss of revenue cannot even be calculated accurately.

Wasn't it Beaconsfield where the residents didn't want them, the council refused them planning, but they built a store anyway by putting it over the railway line, exploiting some obscure loophole in the law?

They don't play very fair, and are very, very rich.
It was in Gerrards Cross and it collapsed!. The tunnel - not Tesco's
So it was. I wonder who picked up the bill for that. Is your money on Railtrack or Tesco?

englishrose123 says...
12:14pm Fri 19 Oct 12

phil- what a nasty man you sound! what a pity that 'minion' didnt tell you to s*d off and do it yourself!

horrible little twerp!

TRT says...
12:29pm Fri 19 Oct 12

@Englishrose. Not so quick... Phil may, by dint of his disability, be unable to shift those cages himself. It really does smack of poor planning for the logistics of operating the store that they have no storage area for their, we used to call them Winsfords, frame cages. And it is hardly the pinnacle of customer care to block your punters car in, is it?

Phil Drackley says...
12:55pm Fri 19 Oct 12

I would point out that we were unable to open the rear door of the car to get the mobility scooter in, let alone drive out. In that instance it was trolleys that were the problem, not cages (It is likely that these would be confined to the delivery area at the rear of the store). Nowadays, when I take my wife (the disabled person) into Tesco, we use a parking space away from the trolley shelter. And why should I do a job the "workers" at Tesco are supposed to be doing?

garston tony says...
1:14pm Fri 19 Oct 12

Phil Drackley wrote:
I would point out that we were unable to open the rear door of the car to get the mobility scooter in, let alone drive out. In that instance it was trolleys that were the problem, not cages (It is likely that these would be confined to the delivery area at the rear of the store). Nowadays, when I take my wife (the disabled person) into Tesco, we use a parking space away from the trolley shelter. And why should I do a job the "workers" at Tesco are supposed to be doing?
Dont think anyone is saying that you should do the job of a Tesco worker, it was the use of the word minion that I believe and agree was out of order.

As to trolley shelters yes its up to Tesco to clear them when they get full but its their customers who continued to pile them in until they surrounded your car

TRT says...
2:48pm Fri 19 Oct 12

minion
noun
a follower or underling of a powerful person, esp. a servile or unimportant one.

I think that sums it up for Tesco's, but your fellow human beings deserve a bit more respect. Just 'cos the big employer treats them as minions doesn't mean you have to. Trolleys being left in your way is down to your fellow customers. I'm no longer surprised by the way people just ram yet another trolley into the back of a stack sticking three-quarters of the way across the exit roads at the Water Lane store anymore.

Phil Drackley says...
4:29pm Fri 19 Oct 12

Fair point.
I apologise for any offence caused to anyone by my misuse of the term minion.

englishrose123 says...
11:08pm Fri 19 Oct 12

thanks garston Tony, that is exactly what I was getting at.

perhaps in future phil, you will consider how your choice of words will affect how people view you and also how you are treated. By using the derogatory term minion, I immediately thought of you as arrogant, rude and possibly deserving of having your car surrounded by trollies!

A little bit of niceness and a kind word will get you far- especially in customer services!

Phil Drackley says...
12:54pm Sat 20 Oct 12

I would say, in my defence, that I never realised that people would find 'that' word offensive. My colleagues (not at Tesco) and I regularly referred to ourselves as such, both to each other and to customers.

Phil Drackley says...
12:55pm Sat 20 Oct 12

(At least my comment got the thread back to the subject in hand and away from tax-dodging allegations.)

LSC says...
4:45pm Sat 20 Oct 12

Phil Drackley wrote:
(At least my comment got the thread back to the subject in hand and away from tax-dodging allegations.)
Well; it does have some relevance, because my question is why are people shopping there in the first place knowing full well the company is doing as much damage to the country as the much reviled bankers ever did.

If people boycotted them on principal, who cares about the parking situation?
But I suppose to some, getting a tin of beans for 2p cheaper matters more than all the benefit cuts and Fire Stations being closed because the country has no money.

If these huge companies paid the correct tax, I expect a tin of beans might go up by about 3p to compensate. If that is beyond your means to afford, then carry on.

garston tony says...
1:44pm Mon 22 Oct 12

LSC wrote:
Phil Drackley wrote: (At least my comment got the thread back to the subject in hand and away from tax-dodging allegations.)
Well; it does have some relevance, because my question is why are people shopping there in the first place knowing full well the company is doing as much damage to the country as the much reviled bankers ever did. If people boycotted them on principal, who cares about the parking situation? But I suppose to some, getting a tin of beans for 2p cheaper matters more than all the benefit cuts and Fire Stations being closed because the country has no money. If these huge companies paid the correct tax, I expect a tin of beans might go up by about 3p to compensate. If that is beyond your means to afford, then carry on.
Because people don’t care and because people pay more attention to the wallet/purse/bank account they see in front of them everyday than the tax that is silently a little bit more than it should be due to tax avoidance that is deducted from their wage packet.

Phil Drackley says...
5:03pm Mon 22 Oct 12

LSC wrote:
Phil Drackley wrote:
(At least my comment got the thread back to the subject in hand and away from tax-dodging allegations.)
Well; it does have some relevance, because my question is why are people shopping there in the first place knowing full well the company is doing as much damage to the country as the much reviled bankers ever did.

If people boycotted them on principal, who cares about the parking situation?
But I suppose to some, getting a tin of beans for 2p cheaper matters more than all the benefit cuts and Fire Stations being closed because the country has no money.

If these huge companies paid the correct tax, I expect a tin of beans might go up by about 3p to compensate. If that is beyond your means to afford, then carry on.
No it doesn't. The article is about a local Tesco store leaving cages in disabled parking spaces. It has nothing to do with the main company's tax avoidance activities. I agree that it is a subject that should be discussed, but it is more likely to be a subject for a National Paper.

LSC says...
1:57pm Tue 23 Oct 12

Phil Drackley wrote:
LSC wrote:
Phil Drackley wrote:
(At least my comment got the thread back to the subject in hand and away from tax-dodging allegations.)
Well; it does have some relevance, because my question is why are people shopping there in the first place knowing full well the company is doing as much damage to the country as the much reviled bankers ever did.

If people boycotted them on principal, who cares about the parking situation?
But I suppose to some, getting a tin of beans for 2p cheaper matters more than all the benefit cuts and Fire Stations being closed because the country has no money.

If these huge companies paid the correct tax, I expect a tin of beans might go up by about 3p to compensate. If that is beyond your means to afford, then carry on.
No it doesn't. The article is about a local Tesco store leaving cages in disabled parking spaces. It has nothing to do with the main company's tax avoidance activities. I agree that it is a subject that should be discussed, but it is more likely to be a subject for a National Paper.
Well I think it does, because under the new austerity measures there is a chance you will have your disabled badge withdrawn anyway, and the whole parking thing won't be an issue.
If companies like this paid their taxes, then that wouldn't be happening.
Yes, it is a big national issue. But it affects you. Right now. Today. So I say it should be discussed everywhere and anywhere, including here.

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