Sheffield pensioner left without half his Tesco delivery order after panic buying surge

John Halstead, who lives alone in Intake after his wife, Pamela, was taken into a nursing home, was left without essential items when Tesco Extra Spital Hill was unable to fulfill his order on Tuesday (5 January).

The supermarket chain said a technical error caused by ‘a surge in web traffic on Monday evening’ meant some items customers ordered were missed.

John’s daughter-in-law, Virginia, placed the Click & Collect order on his behalf ready for when he returned home from hospital after a three and a half month stay following a urine infection.

She said the error left her “angry and upset”.

Conisbrough-based Virginia, who works as an Uber driver in Sheffield, added: "I’m a bit cross with them. They have offered me £10 but I’ve said I don’t want it. It’s not about the money, it’s how they are treating people.

"To say it was a surge, most people knew lockdown was coming. I just thought it was unprofessional.”

Virginia and her husband Martin have been avoiding supermarkets to protect John, but she was forced to try and find the rest of the items he needed in-store.

She said: "I had to go and do more shopping because there was just so much of it missing. It just put extra stress on and because I was so pent-up I have missed things out, so at some point I will have to go get other things.

"The next Click & Collect available to me was next Tuesday – and I tried three stores. That’s no good."

A Tesco Spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that a small number of customers who received their orders yesterday may have found that some amendments made to their basket on Monday night did not save correctly. This was due to a technical problem caused by the surge in website traffic on Monday evening.

“Any unwanted items can be returned to the driver upon delivery or collection for a full refund. Customers will not be charged for any missing items.”