online grocery fiasco
Only yesterday I was harping on about the benefits of online grocery shopping. I’ve taken to doing my bi-weekly shopping at Sainsbury’s online. In case I needed further justification other than I don’t have to physically get off my chair to buy two week’s worth of groceries, it is said to be better for the environment because there is only one van driving to a number of households rather than all those people driving independently to the grocery store. However, it must be said that the number of carrier bags that usually arrive at my door surely counteract the carbon emissions saved. Details, details…
Unfortunately, yesterday’s delivery did not prove as efficient as those that have come before. Fox and I were due to head out for a date and I assured him that the delivery always arrives towards the start of the delivery slot rather than at the end. So we waited…7pm, 7.10pm, 7.25pm, 7.40pm… “Where are these groceries?” I baffled.
When the delivery man finally did arrive, I scanned the till slip to find that a large proportion of my choices had been ‘substituted’. For those of you who are unfamiliar with online grocery jargon, if an item is unavailable you can give permission to the store to find suitable substitutes on your behalf. Usually the substitutions are close enough to the original item for me not to worry but this time I was perplexed by what was sent.
Is it unreasonable to think that Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked and Baked Alaska, on special at 2 for £5, is simply incomparable to Sainsbury’s own-brand toffee and vanilla ice-cream? Ben and Jerry’s is not just ice-cream; it is an indulgent dessert in an appealing little tub full of deliciouness.
I also ordered two bottles of wine. Both were fairly decent bottles - on special - for which neither I was willing to pay full price. It is then evident that I have only selected these particular bottles because they are half price so when one isn’t available, surely the obvious alternative is another bottle of the same quality, also on special. Instead, I was sent a different bottle by the same winemaker at full price. Who pays full price for wine at the supermarket? If logic didn’t kick in, they just needed to look to cultural trends.
On top of that, I sent a butternut squash rather than a coquina squash. To be honest I don’t even know what a coquina squash is but I was really hoping to find out. Perhaps another time.
The most amusing was the arrival of one tiny lamb chop when I ordered 'Sainsbury's Lamb Chops x2 (approx. 200g)’. Sometimes the pictures aren’t entirely clear and something might look substantial but it arrives looking fairly measly. I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do with one lamb chop now so perhaps I’ll just freeze it and order another one next time.
As a result of all these replacement items, our groceries cost quite a bit more than usual but on the upside, we did receive a free copy of Radio Times that I definitely didn’t order. I suspect some other Sainsbury’s Online customer is blogging about how a delivery guy with his iPod in, oblivious to his presence as he shifted groceries from crate-to-counter, didn’t deliver his weekly magazine. Or perhaps he’ll just think it was substituted with the coquina squash that he never ordered.
Unfortunately, yesterday’s delivery did not prove as efficient as those that have come before. Fox and I were due to head out for a date and I assured him that the delivery always arrives towards the start of the delivery slot rather than at the end. So we waited…7pm, 7.10pm, 7.25pm, 7.40pm… “Where are these groceries?” I baffled.
When the delivery man finally did arrive, I scanned the till slip to find that a large proportion of my choices had been ‘substituted’. For those of you who are unfamiliar with online grocery jargon, if an item is unavailable you can give permission to the store to find suitable substitutes on your behalf. Usually the substitutions are close enough to the original item for me not to worry but this time I was perplexed by what was sent.
Is it unreasonable to think that Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked and Baked Alaska, on special at 2 for £5, is simply incomparable to Sainsbury’s own-brand toffee and vanilla ice-cream? Ben and Jerry’s is not just ice-cream; it is an indulgent dessert in an appealing little tub full of deliciouness.
I also ordered two bottles of wine. Both were fairly decent bottles - on special - for which neither I was willing to pay full price. It is then evident that I have only selected these particular bottles because they are half price so when one isn’t available, surely the obvious alternative is another bottle of the same quality, also on special. Instead, I was sent a different bottle by the same winemaker at full price. Who pays full price for wine at the supermarket? If logic didn’t kick in, they just needed to look to cultural trends.
On top of that, I sent a butternut squash rather than a coquina squash. To be honest I don’t even know what a coquina squash is but I was really hoping to find out. Perhaps another time.
The most amusing was the arrival of one tiny lamb chop when I ordered 'Sainsbury's Lamb Chops x2 (approx. 200g)’. Sometimes the pictures aren’t entirely clear and something might look substantial but it arrives looking fairly measly. I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to do with one lamb chop now so perhaps I’ll just freeze it and order another one next time.
As a result of all these replacement items, our groceries cost quite a bit more than usual but on the upside, we did receive a free copy of Radio Times that I definitely didn’t order. I suspect some other Sainsbury’s Online customer is blogging about how a delivery guy with his iPod in, oblivious to his presence as he shifted groceries from crate-to-counter, didn’t deliver his weekly magazine. Or perhaps he’ll just think it was substituted with the coquina squash that he never ordered.
Labels: experience
posted by foxy_roxtar at 5:29 AM
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