Tesco fan who got Clubcard tattooed on arm says he can’t afford to shop there now

A man who had his Tesco Clubcard tattooed on his wrist says he no longer shops at the supermarket because of soaring prices.

Dean Mayhew, 34, from Bideford, got the QR code of his Clubcard tattooed on his wrist in July 2022.

But now the Clubcard prices are getting too much even for him.

Mayhew said: ‘I don’t even shop at Tesco anymore, they’re a rip off. Even a midweek shop for a few days of food was costing us around £200.’

The dad-of-three claimed the Clubcard deals don’t save anyone money anymore and guessed they are designed instead to get rid of unpopular items.

‘You might get a couple of products a little bit cheaper, but they’re the ones no one wants anyway.’

Mayhew first got the tattoo in July 2022 at A Star Tattoo in Chessington, Surrey, after considering the idea for months.

Shortly afterwards, he went to his nearest Tesco to test it out to see if it worked.

He said: ‘Sometimes when I go in there, the cashier doesn’t believe it’s real – I have to tell them, “Just scan it, please!” and they’re shocked.’

But Mayhew said he hasn’t done his weekly shop at the supermarket in over a year.

Instead, he shops at the nearest competitors, Morrisons or Asda, as they are cheaper.

Research by Which? analyzed 93 common supermarket items across eight of the most popular supermarkets in the country – it found Asda was overall cheaper than Tesco for a weekly shop.

The weekly shop at Asda came to £186.71, while at Tesco it came to £193.45, without the Clubcard.

With the Clubcard, the price was brought down to £187.71.

Despite falling out of favour with the supermarket, Mayhew says his tattoo still comes in handy when he’s on his lunch break.

He said: ‘No one can complain about a meal deal, you know, £3.50 for a drink, crisps and sandwich. I use it for that.’

Mayhew said he still has ‘no regrets’ about the unusual tattoo.

‘It’s in the past, you know. And it’s a conversation starter. It’s just a laugh, isn’t it?’