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Tesco stopping letting customers have tray liners

(278 Posts)
ElderlyPerson Mon 05-Apr-21 10:26:54

Tesco has decided to remove the option of having tray liners with online grocery deliveries. So no tray liners in the middle of a pandemic yet with social distance delivery.

I currently opt for tray liners and the delivery driver leaves the trays on the doorstep while I am at an upstairs window and when he or she has gone I go down and get the shopping in, using a number of reusable shopping bags bit by bit so that there is no great weight in each bag. The process takes about 20 minutes and is gentle exercise and I do not rush and as I am retired there is no need to bother about how long it takes. I get my food deliveries so I am content.

I am wondering just how this is going to work when there are no tray liners.

Is there anyone out there who is currently not opting for tray liners who can say what they do for delivery please?

Are there people out there who are currently opting for tray liners who are also now wondering how to cope with this change while the pandemic is still active?

ixion Mon 05-Apr-21 17:58:10

What do you with your clothes when you have changed elderlyperson?
Do they go straight on a wash in the machine? Would it not be easier for you just to pop on a wipeable or disposable pinny?
What temperature do you wash these clothes at?

SueDonim Mon 05-Apr-21 17:27:15

I’m another who is fascinated at not having anything to put in a fridge. Even if you don’t eat meat/dairy you surely must need somewhere to keep salads and so on.

I have disposable gloves from Lakeland. There’s no powder on them and they seem to last, though I don’t use them often, mainly for heavy jobs such as cleaning out the fireplace. I find it easier to just wash my hands.

Kate1949 Mon 05-Apr-21 17:16:31

Yes anne I was having a mooch today to see what hessian/cotton bags we've got. We use the trayliners etc as bin liners.
DH went to Aldi today and they gave him a paper carrier bag. Very stylish.

Teacheranne Mon 05-Apr-21 17:06:06

Kate1949

Well Elderlyperson No trayliners this morning! We'll be ready with our bags next time. Trouble is we're running out of bags as we're recycling what we have and not going into shops.

I suggest you invest in some hessian bags or sturdy plastic ones that will last for ever. I use up to six each time I do click and collect and just keep reusing them. I’ve tried to reduce single use plastic and use newspaper for lining my bins and stretchy tops instead of cling film.

Teacheranne Mon 05-Apr-21 16:55:50

Yammy

Didn't know tray liners existed. Sainsbury's deliver to the door in their crates and suggested you use washing baskets for you to unpack in. They step back and you have to do it yourself. At first, they used plastic bags and it was easy and we recycled them in the bin after a few weeks in the garden shed but now they are cutting back on plastic. It is all a bit of a rush and we have to sanitise the baskets and the kitchen table afterwards.

I stopped sanitising most things ages ago when the risk of transmission from touching objects was recognised as very low. The bags for life that I use for shopping are put straight into the boot of my car when empty and not touched for a week. If I used baskets I would do the same, just leave them tucked out of the way until I needed them again, after a few days they will be fine.

MissChateline Mon 05-Apr-21 16:51:43

I was wondering myself how one keeps the white vino and champagne chilled without a fridge......
Though having said that I do have a built in wine cooler but still need the fridge for the bubbly as the bottles don’t fit in very well. !!

Callistemon Mon 05-Apr-21 16:46:14

no fridge items
My Sav Blanc goes into the fridge

MerylStreep Mon 05-Apr-21 15:50:58

I’m also fascinated by the no fridge items surely that’s not possible if you have a ‘normal’ diet.
I can only assume it’s mainly tinned and dried food.

MissChateline Mon 05-Apr-21 15:38:32

Elderly Person......I don't have any fridge goods. That is not because of COVID-19, I have no need for fridge items. I have not had fridge items since long before COVID-10 came along.

I don’t wish to be inquisitive about your diet but I’m really curious as how you manage with no fridge items?
I eat meat, fish and dairy, all of which I would keep in the fridge. What about milk? and yoghurt and fresh herbs? And salad? And vegetables. Even if one was vegan I presume that you would keep food like tofu in the fridge?
Why on earth do you leave your shopping out for a week? Especially if you are donning PPE to handle it? I would be tripping over the multitude of bags and bottles and as we have weekly deliveries the kitchen would be a permanent disaster area.

sharon103 Mon 05-Apr-21 15:38:24

I've had the email too. In fact I said last week to the Tesco driver about doing away with the tray liners after April 19th. I said to him it's all very well but what about the elderly people.
I have loads of shopping delivered as I shop for my brother too.
To be honest lifting tray liners, some with really heavy goods in hurt my back. I much preferred carrier bags , with less items in they were easier to carry. Tesco's could have saved plastic as many times the packer had put just one item in one bag when it could have fitted quite easily in with something else.
I always re-used the carrier bags for other uses.
I'll be getting my knickers in a twist after the said date. I always unload the liners a fast as I can, but that's just me, I get in a panic when I get served in a store and there's a queue behind me.
I'm not pleased Tesco.

ElderlyPerson Mon 05-Apr-21 15:26:39

If this thread goes from being topical and you want to find it again, it is the Other Subjects section.

ElderlyPerson Mon 05-Apr-21 15:21:28

SueDonim

I’ve never been hassled by the driver to get my goods out of the crates asap, they’re all remarkably patient. Prior to CV they used to bring the goods into the house, which took time, going back and forth to the van, so I really don’t think the new way takes any more time. Last week, though, my neighbour had a Tesco delivery and there were two workers doing it. Never seen that before.

Elderlyperson, why do you have gloves from a vet? And don’t your fridge goods go off if you leave them out for almost a week?

My mum is 93 and she doesn’t do any of this sanitising stuff. Her nice young delivery chap puts her goods onto a trolley for her and she wheels it into the kitchen. She hasn’t caught Covid and hopefully won’t now, as she’s been vaccinated.

I have had two delivery drivers at various times.

Once in thick snow around 2010 or 2011 when they were going round in pairs wearing wellingtons.

A few times when a new driver was being trained.

Once when a regular driver had something wrong that prevented him from driving and a man who could drive but was not a trained deliverer was driving him round and also helping.

Once when a driver had got stuck trying to do a three point turn down a muddy lane with a grass verge and the van wheels sank a bit into the verge and a manager and another driver had gone out to the van, transferred all the shopping and then completed the delivery round, leaving the original driver with the stuck van waiting for the tow truck to arrive to pull the van out of the mud.

I originally got the gloves from the vet for use with my cat. They are good quality as used by vets for non-sterile needs, such as looking in the mouth of an animal so as to avoid getting saliva on the hands.

They cost about twice the shop ones and are about ten times better and do not have powder on them.

When COVID-19 came along I used them as I had them. Since then the vet has sent me a couple of boxes when I request them, sending them by post. The postage costs but it is still cheaper than having a taxi driver do a collect and deliver from the vet to me, though I have done that when I needed some special food for a cat.

I don't have any fridge goods. That is not because of COVID-19, I have no need for fridge items. I have not had fridge items since long before COVID-10 came along.

Greeneyedgirl Mon 05-Apr-21 15:20:33

I, as some others do, put boxes at front door and Tesco driver distances whilst I transfer. I get an occasional delivery from Ocado, who deliver in plastic bags, and my groceries are always damaged & squashed, as driver carries 3 in each hand. Much prefer boxes.

I think advice at the beginning of the Pandemic was not necessarily “over egged” but cautious, because the way the virus spreads was not as well understand as it is now.

PGAgirl Mon 05-Apr-21 15:11:41

I will really miss Tesco's tray liners, they were great for click and collect which I started to save asking my daughter to do my shopping. Just drive up open the boot pick up the tray liners into the boot, took 2 minutes then drive off, carry the tray liners into the house. I got annoyed at those who did not order tray liners as they spent ages unpacking the trays while I was waiting. I reused the tray liners in my swing bin. not ideal but adequate. Tesco please bring back the tray liners.

GillT57 Mon 05-Apr-21 14:46:48

Thanks Fannyc, I must have missed that post!

Jaxjacky Mon 05-Apr-21 14:16:46

I’m with others who like deliveries, for food I have sturdy bags by the front door, the delivery drivers don’t seem to mind while I unload, we did have liners, but never lifted them, I’ve had deliveries for over three years. 90% of my shopping is online, has been for years, I find most shopping is for necessities and quite boring, I’d rather spend time on other things. The exception is an Asian cash and carry I visit 2/3 times a year. I’ve ever ‘quarantined’ shopping or wiped it down with bleach or anything else.

SueDonim Mon 05-Apr-21 13:51:01

I’ve never been hassled by the driver to get my goods out of the crates asap, they’re all remarkably patient. Prior to CV they used to bring the goods into the house, which took time, going back and forth to the van, so I really don’t think the new way takes any more time. Last week, though, my neighbour had a Tesco delivery and there were two workers doing it. Never seen that before.

Elderlyperson, why do you have gloves from a vet? And don’t your fridge goods go off if you leave them out for almost a week?

My mum is 93 and she doesn’t do any of this sanitising stuff. Her nice young delivery chap puts her goods onto a trolley for her and she wheels it into the kitchen. She hasn’t caught Covid and hopefully won’t now, as she’s been vaccinated.

Galaxy Mon 05-Apr-21 13:36:46

I agree doodledog it's most bizarre, I think its fear of change or a need to control or something! I couldnt care less of people want to go to the shops 5 times a day it's just not for me.

ElderlyPerson Mon 05-Apr-21 13:36:18

Kate1949

Well Elderlyperson No trayliners this morning! We'll be ready with our bags next time. Trouble is we're running out of bags as we're recycling what we have and not going into shops.

When the announcement was made that tray liners would be introduced I bought a lot of reusable shopping bags, delivered with the grocery by Tesco, and have used them since, then quarantining the shopping until a few hours before the next delivery, so shopping a week in hand.

I accept that my precautions - I wear disposable gloves from the vet and scrub up and have a change of clothes afterwards - may be more than necessary, but I started doing it in March 2020 and thus far I have not caught COVID-19. Which for me is the important bit.

So I am reluctant to stop carrying out what has been routine for over a year now. Better to have too much caution than too little when not knowing how much caution is needed.

Maybe the drivers have never been asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19, maybe there have never been any COVID-19 carrying fomites on the shopping, who knows.

I really do not want to have to unload my shopping while the driver waits - I doubt if their schedule would allow it.

Following your experience I suppose I need to be ready for the possibility that my next order, due before 19 April, might not have tray liners.

I do feel that the fact that I am a CUSTOMER seems to have been forgotten in this change.

I am supportive of reducing plastic use, but, to adapt a well-known phrase, throwing the customer out with the plastic does seem to be missing the fact that some plastic is needed.

So maybe I should put boxes on the doorstep, and put a request in the delivery instructions for the driver to put the shopping in the boxes and I will get it into the house after the driver has gone.

The driver might do it.

If the driver refuses, well, cross that bridge if we get to it.

FannyCornforth Mon 05-Apr-21 13:25:39

GillT57

What on earth is a tray liner, plastic or otherwise? Sorry, I haven't read every single post as I was starting to lose the will to live grin, but I do feel that my day will be unsettled until I know.

It's a large plastic bag
There is even a photo of one upthread

BlueBelle Mon 05-Apr-21 13:22:13

elderlyperson a doctor has just been on the radio saying that the idea of needing to sanitise everything has been overegged and is mostly unnecessary and it’s more about the air we breathe not things we touch so misschatline is probable correct

I m another whose never heard of tray liners and cannot see the difference between them and big carrier bags except how does an old or frail person manage to lift them

I shall continue to do my shopping in the supermarket which I much prefer, seeing what I m getting, having said that I m greatly in favour or deliveries for anyone unwell or fragile must be a boon

GillT57 Mon 05-Apr-21 13:16:32

What on earth is a tray liner, plastic or otherwise? Sorry, I haven't read every single post as I was starting to lose the will to live grin, but I do feel that my day will be unsettled until I know.

MissChateline Mon 05-Apr-21 13:08:25

Elderly Person. I didn't say that the numbers of deaths had been over egged but that the fear factor had been to increase compliance. However i do think that in some cases the numbers have been bumped up.

Kate1949 Mon 05-Apr-21 13:03:24

Well Elderlyperson No trayliners this morning! We'll be ready with our bags next time. Trouble is we're running out of bags as we're recycling what we have and not going into shops.

nanna8 Mon 05-Apr-21 12:57:29

Tray liners? Never heard of such a thing here. More plastic to pollute the environment I suppose.