Rude and lazy staff. Talked to me like I'm stupid and told me to wait at an unmanned 'customer service' desk because they were too lazy to help. Back to Tesco/Aldi/Lidl for me.
They rarely have any products in stock. The tills don't work half the time and you have to wait a long time to get helped because they only ever have 1 person staffed there or if there's multiple then they're just standing there chatting so you're better off going to a different till if there's a free one. Also there's always a large amount of cardboard all over the floor, particularly in the aisles close to the bakery which doesn't look appealing and makes it harder to get items or get through the aisles themselves.
Tip. Bring your own trolley. ASDA trolleys have a nasty habit of stopping suddenly. I got a trolley from one of the trolley bays. It started playing up, constantly stopping, so I swapped it for another trolley, same problem. Inside the store, same problem, for some reason the trolley would suddenly stop. At the trolley self service checkout, you should be able to put your bags on the bagging area, then scan and pack in one smooth operation. This facility doesn't work, anything more than one small plastic bag and it won't accept it. Only just got outside the store when the trolley decided to stop again, almost tipping my shopping on to the pavement. A stressful experience.
Only 5 "staffed" checkouts remaining now. Huge queues at the small number open (3 on my visit today). Recently enlarged area (replacing a few more proper checkouts) where apparently staff will help you to scan your shopping if no checkouts are open. No thanks. Update 19/07/23. A couple of weeks ago I made a point of asking one of the checkout operators what time they normally close the staffed checkouts and was advised 9pm. So today I arrived at 8pm (only for a few items) and noticed that no checkouts were open. BUT I saw the Asda response to another recent review that stated that a customer only has to ask for assistance, e.g. for a checkout to be opened, and they would be "happy to assist". THIS IS NOT TRUE. They refused. I was also refused service at the "kiosk" because they have been told that they are not allowed to serve customers there if they are not purchasing any kiosk items. I had a chat with the duty manager, who was not particularly helpful, just gave me a long explanation of the company policy on opening checkouts. Staff offered to put the items through the self checkout for me but I'm not interested in that. Ended up putting back my few items and will get them elsewhere. Note to Asda HQ responders to Google reviews ... Please do not post untrue information about the service that is available in your stores. Thanks! Update 2nd November 2023... I have been shopping here much less than in the past due to the shocking lack of staffed checkouts. Now some bright spark has had the ridiculous idea of putting glass doors on the front of every chilled cabinet (except the milk). This is madness. Apart from making the chilled aisles look like something you might find in a petrol station mini supermarket, it is totally impractical with customers wheeling their trolleys up and down trying to get past the various doors that people are opening. No doubt it is some energy saving nonsense. Can't wait until the store gets busy close to Christmas. Also the doors are very difficult to see through (too reflective) so it takes a lot of careful peering through to find what you want. Also I was shocked at how empty many shelves now are. It seems that customers are ransacking the shelves and empty cardboard display boxes in their hunt for things making it all very messy. I was also very disappointed to read a recent review mentioning how a customer was treated by a staff member. Note to that reviewer ... The responses to these reviews are NOT FROM ANY LOCAL ASDA STAFF. (This was confirmed to me by the duty manager recently.) So don't expect your concerns to result in anything. Here are some recent photos of the empty and ransacked shelves, the madness of the glass chilled section doors and the huge queue of customers waiting at the measley two staffed checkouts at lunchtime on a Saturday.
Update: I've made 2 further orders since this incident and each one has been a waste of my time. I ordered the broken items again, click and collect this time, and was told my order was delayed 48 hours. Went into store after 48 hours and the customer service desk said they couldn't do anything and I would have to call up. The guy on the phone said they were sold out. No communications from asda regarding this. Waste of time coming to store and wasted staff on customer service if they can't do anything useful. I made another order for something different this week. Same issue as the previous order. What is the point in ordering things if they are always out of stock but tell you they are in stock!!!! Useless customer service (online and in store) and useless packing team. Ordered a dinnerware set online and it all arrived smashed. Took it to asda where they said they can't process any refunds or exchanges or even just order in the new things for me and I'll have to do everything online. I said I don't want to order online again if its just going to arrive smashed, and they said there's no other option but to try click and collect. Called customer services to get a full refund as I was told I wouldn't receive a postage refund. They asked me to respond to an email with photos of the damages, but there was a glitch with their delivery system not recognising my email so I couldn't respond to their emails. They said we will call you in 2 days and fix it that way. 2 days passed by and they just sent me another email - useless. Had to call up again just to go through the whole process again. Ridiculous service. You should be able to do ANY refunds on the tills. Stores have done this before, I don't understand why policies are moving backwards. Photos for proof.
Click and collect is unclear, faulty & disorganised. 1. You’ll have trouble finding where to park, it’s the disabled bay with a nonentry sign and no directions. 2. You have to log in to the app to say you’re there, but the app is faulty. 3. They have a phone number + extension number that doesn’t work. If you go to switchboard it says go to the app/website then hangs up. 4. You have to go and queue in the store to speak to customer services to say you are there. 5. Cue judgemental looks as you’re parked in a disabled space during a 10 minute wait for a store colleague
I visited the Basingstoke store with a friend on Saturday 3rd at around 2.30pm to purchase a Christmas tree and lights. I found a tree and a set of lights and made my way down to the tills. It scanned through at a different price to what was advertised. (This was advertised on the website. I understand online and instore can have different prices/offers however everything else in the store was marked down the same as the website so assumed it was the correct price too) A manager went to check the price. Whilst I was waiting the queue was backing up so I asked if my transaction could be cancelled just so they could scan the other customers through and let them on their way as it wasn't fair they was having to wait. This was refused as they needed a manager to verify what I was actually doing with the products and also only a manager could cancel it. The cashier spoke in a rudely manner to myself and my friend whilst we was waiting. The manager eventually came back and said ' well I don't know where you saw a price but it is not discounted ' When i showed the website i got a reply of 'yeah, well that's online, not in store' ... I admitted defeat as it was my mistake and said okay that's fine. The cashier then called the manager over for a very hush hush chat, all whilst looking at me. The manager came over and asked ' so what are you doing? Are you buying these or not? '..(I still had the products in my hand) I explained that I was waiting for the transaction to be cancelled and that I was going to put them back for them as the staff seemed stretched. The manager then snatched them out of my hand and said 'no, I'll do it' She walked off and was joined by 3 other managers who all proceeded to watch me and talk about me and my friend. They even had a security guard watch me as i walked away. I always shop in the Basingstoke Store and have NEVER had any issues, apart from today. I was made to feel intimidated and uncomfortable when I did nothing wrong. I work in retail so I know how frustrating it can be around the festive season so was going to put the items back for them but apparently that was wrong of me. I have come home feeling upset, angry and embarrassed and have been made to feel that if I go back into store, I will be watched. The way I was treated, spoken to and made to feel by the staff on my visit today has been disgusting and very unprofessional.
This is my usual local Asda and generally the staff are helpful and friendly. Unfortunately not my experience this afternoon 9th Dec. I went to the small counter at the front of the store, staffed by 2 young people I presumed were newly employed. I asked the young lady if she was serving as she didn't appear to be. She said "Yes but I wish I wasn't!! I asked for a book of 2nd class stamps so she turned to ask the young man colleague where they were. He shrugged his shoulders and said "We ain't got none" At which point I said 'Sorry would be nice, not just we ain't got none! More customer service training needed I feel.
As much as the staff are lovely and the store itself is fine - who on earth looks after the fresh veg? The onions in particular this week are a VERY sorry sight and it's not the first time they've been like this. If they're not mouldy on the outside, I get home to find them rotten on the inside! It's my only major gripe that the fresh loose selection is always dodgy.
Asda Basingstoke Superstore is located at Brighton Way, Brighton Hill, Basingstoke RG22 4DH, UK
You can contact Asda Basingstoke Superstore at +44 1256 375100
You can find directions to Asda Basingstoke Superstore by following this map link