CUSTOMERS of the Basingstoke Asda store have complained that it is “in disarray” with blocked aisles, empty shelves and long queues.

Shoppers at the Asda in Brighton Hill say it has gone “downhill” in recent months after the store reportedly made changes to its night shifts. 

Julie Challis, of Bernstein Road, Brighton Hill, who uses a mobility scooter, said: “If I had a car and I was mobile, I wouldn’t shop there anymore.”

The 55-year-old mother-of-three said customers have been complaining to Asda staff, but nothing has been done.

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Basingstoke Gazette: Asda at Brighton Hill and, right, Julie Challis

She said the queue to use the self-service checkouts at the weekend had around 100 people in it, with all the checkouts closed because staff were on the shopfloor stacking shelves that are reportedly no longer replenished during the night.

“Everybody is disgruntled,” she said, adding: “On Saturday, the queue was from the self-serve tills and there were about 100 people in the queue and it went right down to the freezers. People were stood there moaning and I thought ‘stop being a sheep and go and ask the assistants’.

“I hobbled down to the self-serve tills and said quite abruptly because this is a continuous thing, that the manned tills aren’t manned. There are usually five or six staff on the self-service tills and I asked if please someone could help me because I couldn’t stand much longer. I said ‘please, could someone open up a till’.”

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Julie, a grandmother-of-seven who has a spine condition and also suffers with fibromyalgia and COPD, said a checkout was eventually opened.

However, she said despite raising concerns to Asda multiple times about the poor service, nothing has changed.

“They have taken away their night staff so there’s people stacking the shelves during the day which gets in the way. They are always short staffed. The service we are getting, we expect a decent service,” she said.

Julie added: “It’s shoddy and it’s in disarray down there. The staff they don’t openly grumble because they might get in trouble but they aren’t smiling or helpful anymore. The morale of the staff has been brought down.

“It’s our money we are spending in there and they should be giving a service and they aren’t. It’s not a nice shopping experience anymore but I really don’t have much else available.”

The grandmother considered complaining to Asda’s head office but feared it would be ignored.

She said the store used to be “fantastic”, adding: “The staff were cheerful and helped you. The shelves were filled and stacked. There weren’t obstacles in the way and they had manned tills open. It’s easy to see this is affecting the staff.”

Asda has been asked for a comment.