Tesco apologises for contaminated fuel

Has anyone had problems with contaminated fuel in the Whitehaven area as I have just been informed that my car running problems are down to contaminated fuel. Problem occured after filling up with diesel at Tesco, Whitehaven on 6th March....

Seriously that contaminated fuel really create a lot of problems and had resulted in hazardous effects. But still one thing that helps in forgetting everything is an apology....

Hi all, i have been trawling the net all night to see what is wrong with my car, just drove all of 3 miles up the road and engin management light came on my diesel peugeot 206 and experianced loss of power. After reading posts on various topics realised today was the first time in ages i have filled my car to the top with diesel, and at tesco too, to make use of the 5p off a ltr. Makes perfect sense that the fuel has caused the problem. Stay away from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk filling station.......

Ref Blog 195 - Have you had any joy from Tesco, are they going to pay for the repairs to your car?
I filled up with unleaded 95 on Friday 18th at Milton, Cambridgeshire, and by Saturday my car was losing power, kangarooing all over the place .... I suspect it's the O2 sensor - I recognise the symptoms from the last time this fuel crisis happened.
Does anyone have any Tesco contact numbers that are specifically dealing with this issue?

Ref Blog 187, 190, I have had a reply from the current CEO, who is about to retire, the sooner the better. Tesco is still claiming that the fuel they sell, in my case Diesel meets the BS EN 590 specification and that Tesco has rigorous testing proceures in place to ensure that the fuel IS compliant to the BS, they, Tesco will not accept liability for the problems I had, they will not be meeting my repair costs and they blame me for parking my vehicle outside. The CEO closes his letter with the following, he hope's that I can appreciate our, Tesco's position. Again another CEO who is out of touch with and has no respect for the people, Tesco's customers who have paid good hard earned money for fuel that has not and is still not fit for purpose or meet BS EN 590, but the same customers earned the same CEO 5.2 Milliom last year.

Purchased diesel at the tesco st neots (cambridgeshire) garage on 16th jan 11 and my 58 plate car started losing power. Contacted tesco who sent the standard letter described by everyone about how there were no other complaints and that they have such foolproof systems in place that contamination is impossible. After 11 phone calls to customer services today they have finally relented that they are aware of a contamination and will investigate with the garage that had to drain my car and repair the damage. It would appear tesco will do anything to avoid taking responsibility.

Further to 189, I am the ‘other customer’ who bought 30.36lts of diesel from Pump 5 on 13th January 2011 at 11.16am from Tesco’s at Tetbury, Gloucestershire. On my journey home (8 miles) the car had lost power and within 15 miles the Fuel Filter warning light illuminated. This culminated in a complete draining and flushing out of the fuel system, replacement filter and sensor and a very expensive garage bill. Add to that the severe disruption to our lives and plans.
I rang Tesco Tetbury on Monday 17th January and informed them that they had sold me contaminated diesel. I was told that this would be escalated to Head Office. Despite four subsequent telephone calls to Elliot Duckett’s office in Dundee no one was ever available to discuss the issue with me, even though assurances were given that someone would always ring back.
I received a ‘standard’ letter on 3rd February to inform me that ‘there was not a problem with our fuel on the day of your visit’………………Oh yes there was, the issue is not closed!

Ref 192 there are lots of cars damaged by tescos fuel and tesco is paying for the damage in tetbury my own claim has been settled Ref185

Mine was December 18th and the January 13th, Tetbury. Tesco decline any responsibility. Quoting their standardised letter," If there had been a problem (on the day of your visit), then we would have received many complaints." Two of us same day and almost the same time obviously isn't enough, and now another after Christmas complaint (191) makes three plus we have heard of others. Please register on this site - we need to hear from anyone who has had the same problem.

Ref Tetbury Tesco Diesel.
I have bought Diesel on both the 24th of December 2010 and 6th Jan 2011.
My car is now in the garage, they have found water, sand and grit in the diesel and have given me a quote of over £4,000 to sort this problem out. I am going into Tesco Tetbury in the morning to complain, my neighbours bought diesel on 20th December from Tesco Tetbury - same problem and another friend in Tetbury same problem. A friend has also heard of several other cars with the same problem.

If they don't agree to pay this bill I will be seeking legal advice.

Ref blog 187, customer services at Dundee investigated my claim, and guess what I got the same answer as blog 189 so i wrote to the C.E.O of Tesco, and guess what I am still waiting for his reply, he was paid 5.2 million last year, yes 5.2 million and I bet he does not use Tesco fuel, he should pay our repair bills and reinburse ud for fuel lost out of his own pocket lord knows HE can afford it.

Bought diesel at Tesco Tetbury, on January 13th 2011 at 10.53. Drove home (5 miles) and the following morning drove the car. Warning light came on and car taken to garage, where it showed water in fuel. Bill of £350, fuel drained and showed a high water content, plus a new water sensor fitted, £84. Reported to the tesco store, on 14th and customer services in Dundee, who have "investigated" and today decline to accept responsibility. Has anyone else had this problem during this time? My last fuel was also bought in Tetbury on December 18th. I have contact with one other person, same problem same day!! 20 minutes after me at the pump!!

Has anyone else had this problem at TESCO TETBURY, around January 13th??

hi all - filled up with tesco's diesel at Elmers End (south London). have a kia sedona which i bought in November and have only filled up 4 times, last time at tescos was first supermarket diesel used. today on the motorway the engine warning light came on and i suffered a loss of power. phoned Kia and they asked me if i'd used supermarket diesel as they've had a number of vehicles in with this problem. anyone else had this recently at Elmers end?

Tesco Thirsk North Yorks.
Diesel purchased on 2/12/10, car stopped on A1 in traffic at 50MPH, how the other drivers missed me I dont know, had car checked told it was dodgy fuel, lost half a tank, had to have full system flushed, 3 days in the dealership, large bill all at my expence. I submitted a claim to tesco a week latter, got a responce tosay 13/1/11. Not our fault as no one has complained about dodgy Diesel from this garage. has onybody had the same problem with fuel from this tesco garage?. Tesco seem to think they can fob me off, well tesco think again you enjoy takeing our money for services but when it is your fault you dont care. Well watch this space.

the e/mail adress is elliot.duckett@uktesco.com some advice go to garage and ask them to keep all cctv of your car if you paid by cash and remember the pump you used Hope this helps

has been confrimed by tesco on the 31 dec 2010 that their diesel was contaminated with water in tetbury in gloucester my partners car broke down because of this .Tesco sent a hired car to the door same day have agreed to pay for car and loss of earnings . Their offer for 9 days without a car ruined xmas unable to go anywhere unable to see new grandchild stood on side of road for 2 hours waiting for recovery in snow £100 ha ha ha what ajoke will have to take to small claims .You have to keep at them .Give me a min and i will give you the e/mail address of the chap dealing with all the claims tetbury 30 last count

On 7th December I filled my diesel car with fuel from Tesco at Warwick filling station the tan was full taking 88 litres of fuel and took the car a further mile to my home and parked it for the night.

On 8th December I needed to journey to Warwick University some 10 miles away from my home. After 5 miles of this journey the car went into "limp home mode" the dash board telling me that the car required urgent servicing. I took the car to my local Volvo Dealership who diagnosed a fuel contamination problem which required the fuel tank to be drained and the system to be cleaned out and the fuel pump and filters replaced (the fuel that was drained from the vehicle was black and the fuel filter was completely blocked with whatever the contaminate was.

I have a letter from Tesco who deny any problems with fuel and say that they have not received any other complaints from customers.

If this is a long standing problem with Tesco fuel then new car owners using Tesco fuel are potentially sitting on a time bomb.

I filled my car up yesterday at Tesco Mereway in Northampton and my car appears to have exactly the same symptons as it did in 2007 when there was problems with Tesco fuel.
My petrol tank was empty at the time of filling up so it is running on a completely new batch of petrol. It seems a bit of a coincidence that it has now started spluttering and mis firing.
Has anyone else had problems with Tesco fuel in the last 24 hours?

Filled up with diesel (47Litres have receipt to prove it was from Diesel pump too!) on 23/12/2010 at Tesco Wrexham PFS. Car broke down and has been sat on my drive all over Christmas. Mechanic came out yesterday and said fuel has a lot of petrol in it. Spoke to Tesco who said no other customer had complained. There's no other way that the fuel tank could have petrol in. The customer service rep has asked that I call back today and speak to the fuel manager, he also said it was impossible to have petrol dispensed from a diesel pump.... strange as a quick google search shows Tesco Wrexham did exactly that around a year ago! How can I prove this and where do I stand if Tesco refuse to take responsibility?

ref blog 180 Went to tesco this afternoon to make sure they keep cctv of my car being there to be told by garage staff they had a problem with fuel tanks last week put 2and 2 together ?

Just bought saab 93 working perfect only had 1 /2 a day put £20 of petrol in tetbury drove a mile car started pinking loseing power has to be tescos fuel anyone else had problem with fuel in tetbury glos

I filled up my Saab 9-3 TiD with diesel @ Tesco petrol station in Bedford, the same day a warning message came on my dashboard saying "WATER IN FUEL - CONTACT SERVICE". I will never ever use Tesco PS to fill up my car, even if I run out of diesel next to it, I'd rather walk to another petrol station like Total, BP or Shell, even if it's 10 miles away!!!!!

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Didnt fill up but put petrol in at Scunthorpe Tescos last week didnt drive far home but later on my Porsche would not move - it starts but dies and there are great plummages of white smoke. Ive just spent a fortune getting everything done on my car it now doesnt drive - the mechanic took it yesterday and is pretty sure its water in the fuel. I would be interested to know of anyone else with similar issues in my area as when its clarified and damage accertained I will be contacting them. I do only buy my petrol there so Im pretty sure they are responsible.

Filled up with Diesel on Sunday 24th October 2010 at Tesco Westo Favell, Northampton. 20 miles later noticed drop in performance & eventually cut out. Had to get it towed, at great expense. Had tank emptied and fine after that.

Any body with similar expereince?

Filled up my 1600cc rover 25 on sunday morning at Hatfield Tesco with unleaded .Ten minutes later up the A! at 70 miles an hour clouds of smoke from the exhaust ,like aformula one engine letting go !!! Crawled along hard shoulder to Baldock services ,no more smoke all seemed ok so carried on caerfully . After checking oil and water levels at destination( about 15 miles on ) returned home to harpenden and today checked everything again .Thought maybe head gasket ,which was replaced two months ago had gone but all seems well now .Then I rememberrd about filling up and have just found this site with other peoples problems.Any one else had a problem yesterday ? let me know steven.lawie@ntlworld,ocm

On the 17th July 2010 I purchased what I thought was Diesel from tesco's in wellingborough, had trouble starting it on the forecourt,then at home would'nt start at all! Garage confirmed that fuel in tank was contaminated!This also then resulted in a cost of £2,500.00 bill for a fuel pump, I have a receipt for the fuel,CCTV footage which tesco would'nt show me but confirmed they had and a sample of the fuel the garage took out of the tank. Conplained in the store,to head office but all to no avail,tesco told me that they do lots of checks on their fuel and no one else complained, so basically they did'nt want to know! I have had to put this through my insurance and I am still waiting for answers.I (and anyone who I speak to!) will never use tesco fuel again or their store-they really have got too big for their boots and I believe they do not care about their customers!!!

Both my partner and myself filled up petrol at Tesco Doncaster (Edenthorpe branch) garage last week and within 24 hours both cars had their engine managements lights illuminated and the engines were juddering ....they are both in the garage now under repair

About a month to six weeks ago I put £20 or £30 of Diesel in my Nissan Primera 2.2 Cdi. Since then I have been experiencing some engine cutting problems. These problems have been intermittent and at various speeds including 70mph motor driving.
It probably happens once or twice a week. One minute fine and the next the engines dies to a minimum rpm but does not switch off. The only way I can rectify this is by switching off the engine and switching back on again - rather concerning if your on the outside lane of a motorway.
Has anybody else experienced this?
And more importantly, has anyone else purchased Diesel form Shell on the A24 at Horsham on the (Shell Hop Oast station 112 - Worthing Road, Horham RH13 0AR).
Shortly after my filling up the garage was closed and all the old tanks / pumps were taken out.
I would be most grateful for your replies.
Ciao
Trevor

I put £40 worth of unleaded petrol in my car at Tesco s in Great Yarmouth
at lunchtime on 6th September. I noticed that the car was very sluggish on the 5 mile journey home. Next day it would not even start. I called in the RAC who carried out a fairly detailed inspection. The conclusion was that it was possibly the petrol pump. The car was towed to my local garage where a pump has been fitted but the car still won t start. They are in the process of examining the fuel system so it could be in much longer.
It seems too much of a co-incidence that the problems commenced so quickly after filling up and I am convinced that it is the Tesco contaminated fuel
problem re-surfacing!
My car was running perfectly before the re-fill and wonder iof any other motorists have had recent problems with petrol bought at the Tesco Great Yarmouth supermarket?
Basil Magson

i filled my car up with diesel at stockport tesco and the next day my car was losing power i took it to the garage and they said it was the fuel after doing tests on it has anyone else had any problems please could you comment

Has anyone had problems using tesco's ( LEE MILL PLYMOUTH ) new 99ron petrol. My son filled his car up on Monday this week and on Tuesday it cut out and will not re-start. On draining some fuel out of the system today I noticed a lot of water in the container. I phoned Tesco who said they knew of no problems with their fuel. Any information would be helpful,thanks.

For everyone who believes Tesco fuel has damaged their car, and has significant proof, remember this:

"If you have purchased fuel from a filling-station then you have formed a contract with the company who sold you the fuel. In this case the main sellers that have been identified are Tesco and Morrisons.

Your rights are provided by virtue of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 which states that when the seller sells goods in the course of his business, those goods should be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. If they aren’t then the seller is said to be in breach of the contract and as such could be liable to pay a buyer of the defective goods some compensation."

Check this link for more info about claiming against the company that sold you duff fuel: http://www.doyourselfjustice.co.uk/contaminated.asp

From a personal perspective, I filled my car up with Tesco unleaded at Kings Lynn, on 21/08/2010, and it almost immediately started misfiring and flashing it's Engine Management Light at me. I have the original receipt, and the car went straight into my local garage.

they found the "petrol" was contaminated with diesel, which has obviously damaged the engine of my car. Tesco will be receiving a claim for damages and compensation as outlined in the above linked article.

I will keep this forum informed as to the outcome.

To All posts ,
There is a Fuel Contamination form on a Tesco site . Just type Tesco fuel claims in Google & you can print one off for pursue a claim . I have had my car since March and has only done 14,000 miles and I to have purchased petrol form Tesco { Longton in Stoke - on Trent } on Tuesday last week which I thought would be ok now because I did hear about the bad fuel in the past and I normally got to BP or Shell . I started my car up on Sunday & it started with difficulty, was mis-firing and my engine management light came on. I have only done 4,000 miles in it since iv had it an alot of people form my work have had the same problem . All there cars were checked by garages or the AA / RAC and told them that was down to fuel comtamination and guess what they all had been to Tesco ? Whats there company saying ??? EVERY LITTLE HELPS ?? I FIND THAT VERY HARD TO BELIEVE . They are trying to sell off bad fuel that has been stored for years and they dont want to throw it away or they are selling 91% as 95% Octane petrol fuel. We need to sort this out people & claiming is the way forward hopefully.

I have had my car for 6 years, its 8 years old, petrol Renault. I was caught by the Tesco fuel problem in 07, but since March this year I have repleated been back to the mechanic to try and solve the pinking in the car, now it has started breaking down and the RAC recommended a change of plug, I only had a service 3 thousand miles ago. When the plugs and sensor were removed they were bright red. New ones were replaced but the car is still jumping along. I alway use Tesco fuel and keep my receipts. It is at a Renault garage tomorrow, I don't know who to take my report to or who can help? I'd be grateful for advice.

does anyone find that the fuel from morrisons petrol stations makes your car drive like a bag of spanners. last week i filled up as usual and since then the car has been running terrible, i thought it was my turbo that had gone but there is no issues with the turbo. there is a severe lack of power, i added redex to it and i have power intermittantly, i let the fuel run low intentionally filled it with fuel from BP and within a half mile the power was back. have u had this problem or is there issues with my mercedes

I have a repair bill for £1209 and am 100% certain its due to Tesco fuel.

I always fill up at my local Tesco in Hereford and have been told by the garage its due to poor quality fuel damaging the diesel pump.

I have also incurred hire car charges, lost wages and having to get my car towed to the garage.

Has anyone got any advice on what I should do next with regards to trying to claim some of this money back!?

Has anyone else had problems with contaminated petrol in Mansfield. I filled my car up at Tesco £50.02 250 miles later it broke down and has cost £700 today to repair due to contaminated diesel!!!. Spoke to manager at tesco who said there has been no other problems reported so basically tough.

I have purchased diesel petrol from Tesco petrol station in Barking on the 05th June 2010 and i have been experiencing the same faults to my car.
My car was MOT'D the same day and was driving ok, until i put the petrol into my car. The car has lost all acceleration power and was driving fine before i put diesel into it from Tesco.

Further to everyone else's comments about Tesco fuel(Diesel) Crewe, I filled up my car on Monday the 7th June 2010 and 2-5 minutes later it breaks down. Like with the other comments off people the engine management light comes on and car loses power, then won't start when I turn off the engine.

Fingers crossed not a big bill! Seems Tesco haven't rectified their original mistakes...according to comments this year alone!

Further to my comments no 151 I would just like everyone to know that Tescos do not care at all if you buy dodgy fuel from them. After writing to them 3 times with our complaint and speaking to them, they really do not care at all about their customers, the best quote from their call centre staff was "our fuel comes up to the minimum standards" -well that says it all. When we bought fuel and it did not. We no longer buy anything from Tesco- food nor petrol, its their loss as over the year that amounts to a big sum of money. Having spread the word about their fuel and customer service many of our friends and colleagues are now also boycotting the store. Another thought of interest, now we are buying non supermarket fuel we are getting a noticeable amount extra miles per gallon!!!

Has anyone had problems with petrol from Tesco Newtownbreda Belfast (12/05/10). Shortly after filling the car warning lights came on and the car went into limp mode. The Honda dealer established it was contaminated petrol, thought to be water.

I put petrol in twice last week at bletchley milton keynes tesco...car started spluttering..loosing power..and bunny hoping...also engine management light came on...run the petrol down...filled up at bt instead...low n behold...engine management light gone out and car is running smooth again?>??>>?>>./

Had problem with Tesco diesel from Handforth branch. Car had sudden loss of power. Anyone else had same from this branch. Car is in garage and looks like an expensive repair. They are yet to confirm that it is a fuel contamination but all the symptoms are exactly how other people have described - drive out the petrol station and loss of power. Very fustrated as I've contact Handforth and they have said that there have been no other complaints...

Is it justTesco? I filled up my £16000 ducati at a Sh#ll garage in Woodston Peterborough, the reserve light was on, so it was a full tank, it ride / run very badly after that, almost fetching me off a couple of times, because of the unepectecting nature of knowing when the engine was going to 'almost' cut out mid ride. Plenty of witnesses who can cooberate this.

I have my receipt,and contacted the garage but nothing & so will be phoning customer services tomorrow

I filled up my tank from near empty at Tesco in tetbury yesterday.
I don't usually use Tesco fuel, but thought I'd try it. NEVER AGAIN!
Ever since my car has been spluttering and bunny hopping. I seriously
hope no permanent damage has been done. I will never use Tesco fuel again.

Has anyone had problems with diesel at Tescos Feetsbridge Poole. I filled up Thursday 8th April approx 20.15pm. Went to start car next morning wouldnt start or turn over, felt really juddery. Called out RAC who confirmed it was unleaded in the tank, had to have tank drained, cost £150 & now car isnt running as it should, Tescos confirmed that I did fill with diesel as got receipt to prove. Wont be going back to Tescos for Diesel again....

Our commercial vehicle - van (diesel) always filled up at Tesco Harlow. It's okay when driving but when idle (traffic lights), revs drop and feels that it will stall. Took to garage for service, and they had to change the fuel filters yet again. They suggest different fuel source!!!

south derbyshire petrol stations diesel prices are 116.9-118.9 why the hell is the tesco fuel station charging 128.9 in ashby-de-la,compare to morrison, asda, total garages when there still below £1.20.

Has anyone had problems with Tesco ( Tring Rd) Aylesbury petrol in Feb/March 2010. I have filled up twice in Feb. I have the receipts to show I completely filled the tank from being in the red £52.00 worth (to use my 5p off voucher) and then on the next visit put a further £22 in tank, filled to top again. After that I started getting smoke pour out the exhaust and on the third time of driving it smoke was bellowing out all over the road, pavements, etc and losing power. Only just made it to the local garage. They investigated and found I had diesel in my petrol tank. How can this happen when my till receipts clearly show I bought unleaded??? Our local repair garage has kept the fuel. We contacted Tesco HO Dundee via our local branch that we got the fuel from. They are not even interested in our problem, they do not even want to check the fuel. I understand all their fuel is tagged somehow so why will they not even check it. We are £250 out of pocket as it damaged our fuel injector. How can they just fob us off. Has anyone else had a problem at Aylesbury as they say we are the only people to complain, but having read all your other emails it looks like they fob everybody off.