Online grocery shopping

The cold weather warning was enough to remind me that it is so difficult to get a delivery slot so I shopped for Sunday and 11th Feb. First was Morrisons and I had vouchers for Tesco. In cold weather, even without brexit, slots are used up very quickly. Morrisons are very booked up for this week. Not surprised because of the weather. It is prudent in case there are shortages but to me the slot is more valuable to make sure I get bread and milk etc.

In the Times to-day, it reported that M&S was in talks with Ocado about delivering their food range. Good move.

l used to have Waitrose and then another Waitrose opened and our orders came from there but ther=y did not stock the items l like so l would have to drive to Waitrose and get them. l have had Ocado for the last 5 years and find them great. As someone said they price check and their own lines are very good. l do get some stuff from Lidle and you need to know your prices as they are not always cheaper. l can very often get specialist items from Ocado which saves me the hassel of going to specialist shops. The Drivers are helpful and will carry stuff into the garage etc. Having said that ALL the drivers from both Ocado and Waitrose have been helpful

I have been ordering groceries from Ocado for about 15 years, I think. I’ve had very few problems, and none at all recently. They bring the shopping up to my flat and into the kitchen. Very occasional substitutes but it hasn’t been a real problem.

I occasionally use Tesco, who are a great deal better than they used to be. I’ve been doing this for so long that I have seen services improve over time. Everyone in my family, all ages and scattered round the country, uses online grocery delivery, virtually all Ocado. Nobody trails round supermarkets unless they feel like it.

maggiemay your post is a delight to read! That has never happened to me.

When you think that the pickers and drivers are the only people between store and customer you would think they would pay more attention to training. I do not know how much pickers/packers earn per hour but it cannot be all that much and they are in a way the most important contact for customers. Are we at the receiving end of a dispute I wonder?

I order weekly from Asda. I have tried Tesco, Sainsbury's & Waitrose but I find Asda the cheapest and so far so good. The drivers bring my shopping (we call it the messages, here in Scotland.) into the kitchen. They are very pleasant. Thank goodness for online shopping I couldn't cope without it!

I use Sainsbury, Morrisons, Tesco, Waitrose and Asda (the latter if we are ordering things they can't muck up, not fresh). One Sainsbury order came with a burst cream package and the whole tray was refunded, about £40, all of it was washable stuff, so I was happy. Ocado don't know Devon exists except Exeter

It's a myth that Ocado are more expensive than the others. They are not. And they do the price matching thing.

They bring in the bags for me and leave them on the kitchen table. Rarely get substitutions and on the odd occasion you do they let you know in advance, so you are ready to reject if not suitable.

Thank you JaquiG. The shop is Tesco, the location of the online orders is Bicester. I am glad so many people have had a good experience with them. I did from 2006 until about 5 years ago. The food is great quality, especially the salad and fruit and I do not know what went wrong and why. The stuff was good, with plenty of days to use it. I did not tick the sub boxes and everything was fine bar a few unfortunate incidents. The drivers were polite and helped me put things away. Then they started sending me short dates. You see the offers for chilled meals and note the days they last, yet they started making a habit of sending everything ending the same day, usually the day of delivery or the next day. I complained, got refunds etc. but I explained to them that I was housebound. All that seemed to do was make things worse, then just before the first delivery saver started (£60 for a year) things got better and I thought it would be a good idea to have the saver so that I could have a delivery any time. After I paid the problem got worse and I was stuck with it. That first Christmas I had an order which included gifts and I could not tick the sub box. Of the £100 or so spend, the driver delivered less than half. He was very sorry about it and said that I should have ticked the box, but with some things you cannot. All that year the same thing was happening. I have emails from them telling me that it is because I did not tick the boxes, so then I ticked the boxes but the substitutes were nothing like the ordered item. Then I was not fast enough when the delivery saver came up for renewal and they took it and just before then my orders were fine and the stuff fresh, then the problems started. I don't know why. I do not know anyone who works there and as far as I know I have no 'enemies' so I cannot say why it is, but the same problem keeps cropping up. If I do not tick the box I do not get the item. If I do, there is an unsuitable replacement. There is a world of difference between bird seed and peanuts! I think it may be because I usually choose something on special and it now seems to me that if they do not have a similar item - like sliced white bread - at the same special offer, they send the same item uncut, because the price is the same and looking back, that is mostly what happens. They promise that if they have to send a higher priced item they do not charge the difference, and I think that is why the subs are so unsuitable. The bird seed, for example. (which I rarely by from them because I use so much I buy in bulk online,) they have quite a selection of bird seed so when I ran out I ordered two bags of their own which obviously they did not have and replaced them with peanuts and I could not understand why for ages because I do not think Tesco stocks no other bird seed, but the others are a higher price, and it was the same last week with the bread. The bread on special was their farmhouse bloomer. They said something about the bread slicer not working. so they sent unsliced, but they have done that repeatedly and last week I had completely run out. The thought of waiting until I needed another £40's of groceries to eat a slice of bread was the last straw. In the spring last year I kept on at them until they finally told me that they would not take the delivery saver payment this year and I got that in writing. It meant that I had to pay them and order elsewhere. I started ordering from Morrisons and they give the dates of things and only sometimes make an error. There are no sub boxes to tick and they have so far delivered the essentials, but they do not have filtered milk online which lasts longer and is a better taste than long life, so in 2018 I paid twice for delivery. I ordered at Christmas because of the offers but it is so traumatising and I just do not understand. They know I am disabled because I have told them. I have been registered with DLA since 1992 and the Equality Commission says the Act applies to me because of the disabilities and now I wonder if someone who picks in Bicester is using that to bully, because it is incomprehensible why it is happening so often, especially now that you have all had such good service from them.

There’s a lot of money to be saved by grocery shopping online if you use more than one store. I’ve just had an email from Ocado, offering me £15, £10 and £10 respectively off my next three fortnightly shops of £60 or more, plus free delivery for the next three months. By the time I’ve used those deals both Tesco and Sainsburys will have missed me and offer voucher codes. It pays to shop around.

I have used online shopping for some years now with differing degrees of success, but was so annoyed today.
Asda delivery driver told me he was not allowed to carry the shopping in, as it was too heavy. I live in a bungalow with no steps.
I pointed out that every other Asda driver has volunteered to bring the shopping through.
And if it was too heavy for him, it would be too heavy for me.
He begrudgingly did carry it through, but carried on complaining.
I said the only alternative was me to bring things in a couple at a time, and that they should not put so much in each crate.
To add to the problem after he had gone i realised he had not checked the subs with me and that the beef joint i brought for the weekend had a use by date of tomorrow !
Needless to say a phone call to Asda resulted in a refund for the beef and apologies for his attitude. Apparently the policy is not to bring shopping in but the driver can do so at their discretion.
I will be changing to Tesco

Same for me.
Cleaning supplies, washing powder, all that kind of thing makes up the bulk of my shop.
I get no pleasure from selecting them myself; usually can't manage to even look properly once I'm loaded up with other stuff.

A combination of internet and direct shopping works for me. I have all weighty and bulky stuff delivered, leaving me time to enjoy a wander around shelves for fresh and little bargains.
I have gone bagless with W/Rose who have lovely drivers who will help with unpacking.
I couldn't manage without internet deliveries; my husband despises shopping and all the humping would be on my back without this service.

I love ordering from Tesco, as I always get everything I want, plus usually someone elses!!

The last time this happened was near Bonfire night, was having the family round, so did a huge shop online to give the kiddies some treats, so, I was expecting a huge order....but it just kept coming!
My entire kitchen was covered in bags and I panicked a little, as I saw doubles of a few things that I knew I had ordered once, and quickly re-checked my account as I was certain they had sent me my order twice!
No, they must have sent me my order PLUS someone elses!
I rang Tesco, I don't mind a few freebies, I'm poor lol, but not someones entire shopping when they must be waiting for it! They told me to hold onto it for now and someone would be by in half an hour......no-one showed up. I rang again, not knowing what to do with umpteen bags of someones grub, and they again told me the driver would be coming back. I waited until half 11, luckily it was cold so stored lots outside in the shed, and rang them the next morning.
'Ahh yes, the driver will be by in half an hour!'

This time I said, if he isn't 'by' by lunchtime, I shall consider the stuff mine (half joking.)
They never showed up!
Kids were very happy!

Gosh llizzie2 what a horrible thing and good for you sending it back! I hope you find a good service after that experience.

How lucky you all are to have choices. There's only one supermarket here who has an online service but I never have anything delivered, the fee is far too high but Click & Collect is free if the order is over $50 which is about my weekly food budget.

When they first started, there were numerous mistakes but in the last year they've got their act together and now they know me in-store and greet me cheerily, or write notes on my receipt and always find me excellent bargains if subs are required.

Last month I ordered a leg of lamb as all the family were coming to dinner.
Online it was $27 but when I picked up the order I found my personal shopper, bless her heart, had substituted a much bigger one at the whopping price of $46.70!
I looked at my receipt in fear and trembling but it was still only $27. We feasted royally that night.

Yes Llizzie I've refused a whole Waitrose delivery although it never got here! According to the delivery manager - I had to phone them - they had tried to deliver it at another Mrs justwokeup's house, even though an assistant had just told me it was still in cool storage at the shop. We reorganised delivery for the following day and again it didn't arrive. By this time I suspected some of the fresh food and frozen would be less than fresh so I told them not to bother. Back to Ocado, always lovely drivers, and excellent notice of food substitutions. And you can ask for a paper copy of the receipt if you want one.

Gabrielle: I wish I could do that too but alas I cannot shop personally. The pavements are too narrow for my powered wheelchair and no disability access in the old shops. That was what made them sending me the unsliced bread for the umpteenth time. I have told them over again that I cannot access the shops. Last year one time I asked for bird seed and despite the fact that they had lots of different bird seed they sent me two big bags of peanuts!! The driver said it was what the computer said for sub!! It reminds me of the comedy programme Little Britain, when they had sketches about 'computer says'.

riverwalk: I am astonished too. It is the most shocking thing anyone could imagine happening. It was so obvious and the bread was not very nice at all. I wanted to refuse it again but I did get some refund on the frozen.

I never have or will do online food shopping, preferring to choose food that I have, myself, seen and picked over.
M&S and Waitrose, where I do my main food shops, are places where I like to spend time deciding what to buy and Waitrose will deliver goods at a time of your choosing that you have pre picked, packed and paid for.
IMO, it's a false economy to order online and get lots of substitutions or not quite the freshest fruit. In any case, when shopping, I might see other items that interest me, something you can't do having placed your order online.

Ikwest: I do understand that problem. I live alone and have told T many times that I need them to stagger the meal dates. I prefer chilled to frozen. They are a little more expensive. You usually have to buy two or three to get the offer and dates are something that is a real bugbear with online shopping. I do not mind if they spread over several days (and they do say how many days) but when they are all about to expire the next day it is impossible to eat them, so I end up freezing them.

Teetime: I did try Ocado twice. I chose the delivery and the basket minimum was the usual £40. Then I saw the cheaper delivery - about 1.50 I think, it was two or three years ago - and clicked on the cheaper time and immediately the basket minimum rose to over £70 so I did not go there again. I had sainsbury's once, about 8 or 9 years ago. I was not impressed. The eggs flattened in the pan although the date was right so I tested them in a basin of water and they all rose to the top, and I did not like the alternatives - about six replacements for items they did not have.

I've used Asda a few times, but was cross at a delivery being cancelled at very short notice.
Not as cross as I am when my arms are dragging along the pavement carrying heavy bags though, so I will probably use them again.

Love that story MawBroon. I’ve used Ocado every week for some years and am full of praise. Email and text on delivery day noting any substitutions, drivers always come up to our second floor apartment and will deliver to the kitchen worktop if I want. I’ve had a very occasional cracked egg, reported to them and promptly credited with cost of the entire box. Never had any problem with short use by dates.

I use Ocado or Waitrose and both are outstanding.
I once somehow omitted to complete my order for the smoked salmon and Prosecco for the bridesmaids’ breakfast the morning of DD3’s wedding only finding out as we were about to leave home. It was in London and we were driving down to stay in boutique hotel (little chance of finding a supermarket en route) Somehow their charming customer services manager found me a delivery slot the next morning to deliver the needful at DD’s flat and this MOB’s reputation was saved.

I use Sainsbury's, cannot fault them, brilliant polite drivers with a smile - I always stipulate no substitutions. Occasionally use Waitrose and Ocado, no complaints either.