COVID-19: Latest from TESCO & Sainsbury’s (Updated + Morrison’s)

TESCO

Dear Jayne,

Thank you for your email.

All customers who were identified as on the original vulnerable list provided to us by Welsh Government received emails inviting them to access priority slots within 24-hours of that list being received by us. Over the weekend we received an additional list from Welsh Government and have contacted the additional customers we have identified from it to offer them priority slots.

In those instances where customers have received shielding letters but have not been invited to take up priority grocery home shopping slots by email we are encouraging them to call our customer services team on 0800 917 7359. Please share this number with any of your constituents who may find themselves in a similar position.

I hope I have been able to resolve this matter satisfactorily for your constituents. Should you have any further queries then do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Communications Manager – Wales & West of England

Corporate Affairs

SAINSBURY’S

Dear Jayne,

Thank you for getting in touch regarding online delivery slots for vulnerable constituents in Wales.

Firstly, apologies for your constituent receiving inaccurate information on how we are prioritising customers.

To clarify, the Welsh Government has shared a list of individuals it has identified as being extremely vulnerable to coronavirus and most in need of home deliveries. We have also updated our website to reflect this which can be found here. Currently Sainsbury’s, along with other supermarkets, are currently working through this list. They are being treated as high priority by Sainsbury’s and I’m delighted to say we have already contacted nearly 30,000 people on the list.

I thought it might also be helpful to provide you with a brief overview of how we are supporting customers who consider themselves vulnerable but are not on the government list. If any of your constituent’s consider themselves vulnerable they may want to contact our helpline on 0800 328 1700. We will do our best to help but I must advise you we are dealing with a major backlog and the sector simply cannot generate enough slots to cope with demand.

I appreciate that, at this time, many of your constituents would rather just order online deliveries through a supermarket. However, in light of this unprecedented situation,  I thought it might be helpful to set out other options available to constituents desperately in need of groceries.

Options available for vulnerable people:

·        We know many elderly and vulnerable people who need to self-isolate are relying on the kindness of family, friends and local communities to shop on their behalf and we actively encourage this. To that end, we have lifted buying restrictions on thousands of products in order to make it easier to shop for others. To help people shop for others more easily, we will be introducing a new volunteer gift card and online voucher in the next week or two.

·        The Welsh Government is providing a weekly food service of food boxes for those who are not able to get deliveries from friends and families. More information here: https://gov.wales/get-coronavirus-support-extremely-vulnerable-person.

·        Sainsbury’s has donated £3 million to FareShare. They will be using this money to distribute food to the people who need it the most. Please contact your regional FareShare centre for more information.

I hope this email is useful.

Kind regards,

MORRISONS

I wanted to set out the steps Morrisons is taking to help the most vulnerable in society during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are aware that many of your constituents will be unable to visit the shops at this time and I know you will be concerned to ensure that they can access home deliveries of food and other essentials.

We have substantially increased our online capacity and created thousands more weekly delivery slots to cope with the increase in demand. In addition, we have created a new Doorstep Delivery service, which is designed for vulnerable and older people and offers next day home delivery. We are mindful that not everyone is familiar with online technology and so we have set up a call centre that people can phone and place an order from a list of essential items. These items will be delivered the next day by the local Morrisons store and customers can pay by contactless payment on the doorstep to minimise contact. There is no delivery charge.

We have heard from many customers using this service that having a chat with someone is sometimes as important as the order they are placing and we are happy we can bring some cheer to their day. Please do advise your constituents who need this service that orders can be placed between 0800 – 1700, Monday – Saturday, by calling 0345 611 6111 and selecting option 5. For more information please visit https://my.morrisons.com/doorstep-deliveries/.

In addition, we are working closely with the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments to support the clinically vulnerable shielded group who are at the greatest risk from Covid-19. We are being sent by the UK and devolved governments the names of individuals in this category and are cross-checking them against our customer database. Where there are matches we offer these customers priority online delivery and inform them about our Doorstep Delivery service.

We have also created a range of different food boxes to meet the needs of customers who are self-isolating. These boxes can be ordered online through https://www.morrisons.com/food-boxes/ and are delivered by courier, usually the next day. Whether customers are looking for store cupboard essentials, ready prepared dishes or fresh food to create favourite meals, we have a number of different boxes to choose from.