Tesco stopping letting customers have tray liners

I use a large storage box - transfer the goods from the delivery box a bit at a time and carry into house, the delivery drivers are very patient and even have a chat with a lonely old woman while I am doing it. Surely, less plastic being used is a good thing.

I can’t imagine what a tray liner is or what purpose it serves! Our groceries come via Sainsbury’s, we bring the crate inside, empty contents onto kitchen table and then give the crates back. It takes five minutes.

The chance of catching CV is minimal, ewcpially if you’ve been vaccinated.

How strong are these tray liners? Are they similar strength to bags for life?

I'm not saying it's not a problem for some, but I'm struggling to see what the issue is. I can't see the difference between having your shopping bags (or, brilliant suggestion above - a laundry basket or two) by the door, and putting the shopping from the delivery trays straight into the bags or the baskets, to be taken from point of delivery to your kitchen at your leisure.

Sainsbury's has never used tray liners (or not in my area, anyway). They went straight from bags to nothing, and it is a pain in the proverbial.

The food is piled into pallets, and depending on the sense if the packer can have heavy items on top of fragile ones (so squashed bread and burst cream tubs), and even if the stuff is sensibly sorted some of the deliverers put the pallet on the pavement (as opposed to the step) and stand back, so I have to ask them to stack the pallets to stop me having to bend and stretch over and over.

I keep a trolley by the front door, and load heavy items into that, so that I just have to wheel it into the kitchen, and the rest goes into a giant cool bag that lives in the trolley between deliveries.

It works better for me than going to the supermarket, which I haven't done for years before the pandemic, but it is becoming a real nuisance. I appreciate that the safety of the drivers has to be paramount, and that not much that is reusable is likely to be safe just now, but there must be an easier way than this.

Also, I do get sick of hearing people going on about how they do their own shopping as though it is somehow virtuous. It's great if you have a convenient supermarket, have enough time on your hands, have a car to get there (or to click and collect), or are healthy enough to carry the shopping home and that is what you want to do, but the low-level sneering at those who use home delivery is unnecessary.

For anyone who is interested (yes I am this sad) a Tesco tray liner. It fills the whole pallet and you just lift it out. We recycle them.

Callistemon

MissChateline some of us have been shielding right up until 1st April so home deliveries have been very useful.

Although I must say I have never seen one of these oft-mentioned tray liners from Tesco or Waitrose!

I’m not saying that home deliveries are not useful, we have had Ocado delivering for years. It saves having to do a big heavy shop and I just go to the co-op daily to get fresh veg etc.

My 90 year old dad who lives alone 200 miles away has refused to shield or let me arrange a delivery and loves his weekly shop to Tesco as he enjoys the outing and chatting to store staff. He also takes his elderly next door neighbour with him.

My point is this obsessive and unnecessary sanitising of everything. The delivery chap wears a mask, pops the bags at the front door and we have always taken them down to the kitchen ourselves. We don’t sanitise anything or quarantine the shopping or even the post and I have never bothered to sanitise my partner either. She would consider me to be bonkers if I did any of this. Additionally there is little or no evidence that the virus lives on surfaces as it is transmitted via aerosol.

Given that I’ve had 6 months of trades people in the house renovating my kitchen, knocking down walls, electrical work, plastering, decorating and rebuilding work all of whom I have worked closely with whilst they were here. At no point did any of us bother to wear masks etc. I think it would have been unreasonable to have expected them to work all day wearing one.

I so worry that as restrictions are relaxed the fear of mixing with others and doing normal things without worrying will stay and that many will remain imprisoned within their own fears

Further to Kate's helpful explanation - tray liners are an alternative to bags. They are very large.

So basically, Tesco aren't using any bags at all now, so customers will have to unpack their own stuff.

I do all of my shopping online and will continue to do so.
I use Ocado and Morrison's. They deliver in bags.
I have stopped shopping with Sainsbury's because they don't use bags, and won't use Tesco now either.

I have mobility problems and chronic pain, for this reason I would find it very difficult and inconvenient to deal with my 'loose' items on the doorstep.

Thanks for the photo, Kate1949.

Don’t the contents all get jumbled onto each other when you lift the bag out? It seems easier to me to just lift items out of the crate onto a worktop of table. The boxes are usually pretty well packed by my Sainsbury’s branch, I’ve only ever had a couple of incidents of spillages.

MissChateline you are missing the point.
It's not about 'sanitising' (unless I've missed something) it's about Tesco not using any bags.

It's rather awkward Fanny. Today's delivery was the first one with no bags/liners and we've been having Tesco for a year now. We had a wine order from Asda a couple of weeks ago. We paid online for bags but when the order came there were no bags and the bottles were rolling around in the pallet. One bottle was broken.

I think it is partly about sanitising. However there are already reports appearing in the news that the government and advisors greatly over egged the fear factor in order to increase compliance.
This may backfire horribly when normality is required the economy to recover.

Sue They pack them well but yes the contents do get a bit jumbled. Not ideal. We won't have to worry now as they've stopped providing them!

Reading through all these comments, I am not being smug, but am so glad I am able to go to the supermarket and do my own shopping.

Am sure there will come a time when I cannot do so, but hope to ‘keep shopping’ as long as I am able.

Much prefer looking and choosing my own stuff.

I'd pay a little extra to be sure the nice delivery person would unload the green baskets into my own containers on the doorstep. I do appreciate the drivers' professionalism :politeness, friendliness, wearing good quality masks.

My choice of shopping trolleys rather than wash baskets is because I am frail and can wheel the shopping trolleys over the step and into the kitchen.

No sneering here Doodledog but also no home deliveries either. The closest this part of France gets is 'Click and Collect' count your blessings UK.

Anyone else think that the word 'sneer' actually looks like one or am I rambling

You're right Kate, it is a nuisance.
It's not customer friendly, and it must be a pain in the bum for the delivery folk.
Whatever happened to the biodegradable bags that were all the rage a few years ago?
I'm sure that it isn't beyond the wit of man and these mammoth companies to deliver their products in a more sensible and user friendly manner.

Kate1949

For anyone who is interested (yes I am this sad) a Tesco tray liner. It fills the whole pallet and you just lift it out. We recycle them.

Thanks Kate1949, I'd never seen one.

There is no way I could lift one of those!

I felt a bit sorry for the young delivery man, standing on the drive while we scrabbled to unload the pallets!

Not me Callistemon Fortunately I have DH but even he went a bit red in the face at times trying to lift them.

Nor me not Not.

And again its lovely that people like going to the shops but I dont nothing
to do with covid I realised that home delivery frees up my time to do things that I like to do.

FannyCornforth

MissChateline you are missing the point.
It's not about 'sanitising' (unless I've missed something) it's about Tesco not using any bags.

Yes, your post is a divergence, MissChatelaine.

It's nothing to do with sanitizing, it is to do with convenience.

We find it convenient to put our Waitrose shopping bags ready by the front door (because the Waitrose bags stay open, don't close in on themselves like some) and transfer the items from the crates into our bags without any need for plastic bags or liners.

I am glad I am not the only one who has never heard of a tray liner!

Just googled it. How does it differ from a plastic bag? It looks exactly like one.

Actually, rereading Tesco's original email it says.

> If your order is being delivered, we recommend having your own bags ready to pack into.

It does not actually say who is to do the packing into.

Kate1949

Well Tesco have just brought our order. We usually have trayliners but nothing. Just everything put in their pallets. It took us ages to unload them. The young man confirmed no more carrier bags or liners.

That is concerning.

The email said that orders choosing tray liners ordered before 19 April would still get tray liners.

> We wanted to let you know that from 19 April, we’re removing tray liners and non-essential plastic bags from all online orders. If you place your order before 19 April for delivery after that date, you’ll still receive tray liners if you’ve asked for them.