Frustration and upset over late cancellation of Morrisons orders in Peterborough

Customers have been affected for at least the past 10 days, including one elderly couple who were told their order had been cancelled on Monday despite the supermarket chain insisting the problem had been fixed last week.

The couple, who are both aged 73 and live in Orton Brimbles, said their delivery slot had been booked two weeks in advance but was cancelled the day it was due.

The husband, who did not want to be named, said: “Myself and my wife are currently housebound due to the ongoing pandemic.

“We may not be in the worst of health, but as we are made aware every day on the news we are more at risk than the majority of the population.

“The fear of shopping in the current climate is very real for myself and my wife, so to receive an email to say our shopping was cancelled came with a wave of fear and dread wondering how we were going to get the essentials we need to get through life every day housebound.

“We have children and grandchildren who have been very helpful since this began in March last year but we are reluctant to ask them for any help because they are working, live in different parts of the country and have their own families to support.

“We were shocked and saddened at the response from Morrisons’ customer service, not only with the poor excuse for a cancellation email but how they dealt with the situation.

“I am aware many people are in the same situation and the supermarkets are doing everything they can to help everyone, but we are 73 year-olds who are following all guidelines by staying at home, I had hoped we would have been met with a bit more respect and compassion.”

Green Party city councillor Julie Howell said she had also had the same issue with Morrisons, with her delivery cancelled on Sunday, January 10.

The member for Orton Waterville said she was offered a £10 voucher but saw that the next available delivery slot was only in a week’s time.

She too claimed not to have received any response from the chain, instead receiving an email stating that the cancellation was due to an “incident”.

Cllr Howell said: “I totally appreciate that the supermarkets are under great strain with staff needing to self-isolate but they are advertising that they have slots available, though they seem to have no Plan B when they can’t fulfil the orders.”

The Peterborough Telegraph contacted Morrisons last Tuesday (January 12) after hearing that it had cancelled a number of deliveries in the Peterborough area due to Covid-19.

At the time, a Morrisons spokesperson replied: “One of our colleagues has had Covid and we wish them a speedy recovery. As a result, and in order to follow government guidelines, a number of other colleagues have been self-isolating but none have shown any symptoms.

“Due to the team shortages there were, unfortunately, a few delays to the service but it is now back up and running.”

Approached for a further response this Tuesday (January 19), the spokesperson replied: “There were a few delays to our service last week which we apologies for but the service is now up and running again.”

Told that the problem was still occurring this week, she replied again: “The store is running a reduced home-delivery service at the moment and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Any elderly or vulnerable customers who are self-isolating and need a delivery should try our Doorstep Service where they can place an order over the phone and have it delivered free of charge the next day.”