A Tesco shopper has hit out at the supermarket chain for rolling out a new parking regime which slashes the time customers can leave their cars at night.
Taking their frustrations to social media, the incensed customer blasted Tesco for introducing a policy change that now restricts late-night shoppers to just one hour of parking. An image posted by the shopper showed a Tesco notice saying people can only park from 8pm until midnight for 60 minutes.
The new restriction doesn’t stop there – from midnight to 6am, you’re limited to a mere half-hour stay, whereas daytime visitors from 6am to 8pm are still allowed the long-standing three hours. The angry customer told the Mirror about the negative impact the new rules would have on them, preventing evening trips to the store for a leisurely shop in solitude.
Each Tesco store has its individual parking limits, so the duration permitted may differ from location to location across the country. In response to the uproar, company said it continually reviews policies based on what customers say.
The vexed patron reached out to Tesco via X (formerly known as Twitter), complaining: “Hey @Tesco I do my shopping at night so I can wander round without my kids and buy nice things that I can hide and eat by myself. It’s a couple of hours to myself once a week. This new policy sucks.”
They further clarified in a subsequent post, stating: “I’m aware the store is shut 12 until 6am, I’m talking about when I like to go at 9pm for a couple of hours when it’s nice and quiet and I can shop in peace.”
They stated: “I know to a lot of people this probably seems petty and not a big deal, but to anyone who either has kids or works weird hours and has to shop in the evening, or for anyone neurodivergent it’s absolutely not okay.”
The grievance hit a nerve with lots of customers who came out in support. One empathized: “I agree @Tesco I’d need more than an hour in the evening. Have enough stress in work that I don’t need to be rushed going shopping too! ” Another customer voiced their mutual sentiment: “Totally agree, if you’re going to have a 24hr store, make the car park 24hrs too! Plenty of people like to do full shops outside their busy hours.”
One more shopper explained their circumstances: “I don’t go to this particular @Tesco but as a sole full time carer for my dad who has mobility issues and mixed dementia, I also can only do the shopping on an evening. Similarly, it’s two hours to myself once a week. This is a really inconsiderate thing to do. Shame on Tesco.”
A Tesco spokesperson said: “It is important to us that all our customers can find a space when they visit our stores and, where we have parking limits in place, this is to allow us to better manage spaces, and to deter anti-social behaviour in the car park at night, especially outside of opening hours.”
