Sainsburys Online shopping warning!!

[Arch]

I'm not sure I see why they should offer any compensation, really. As long as they don't charge you for your order... Niggling over a goodwill gesture seems a bit tight. I'd be pretty chuffed with a tenner.

I think I'd find ordering online more stressful myself, but I tend to shop in small batches and rely a lot on what's reduced, on offer and so on, or what I see and fancy there and then. Hoiking a big shop up two flights of stairs from the road would be a right pain, whereas when I shop, I never get more than I can carry comfortably... And I know I'll get just exactly the things I want, and know if I've got them, rather than wait for a van to turn up with a list of out-of-stocks etc... So I suspect that's why some people don't do it. Also, in the time it takes someone to go to the library, log on (perhaps not being a regular computer user), work out the system, order it all... I could be at Sainsburys and back and have my feet up with a cuppa...

 

[Arch]

We have started shopping online with Sainsos or sometimes Tescos because it's much cheaper; although you pay a £5.00 delivery charge you don't wander round picking up all the 2 for 1 promotions and you only order what you really intend to eat.

Alternatively, you can go in person and still not buy more than you actually intend. I manage, as does my Mum. We must be specially proof against marketing...

 

[domtyler]

Alternatively, you can go in person and still not buy more than you actually intend. I manage, as does my Mum. We must be specially proof against marketing...

Agreed, it doesn't take that much will power to stop and think if you really need an extra pack of frozen broad beans does it?

 

[magnatom]

I'm not sure I see why they should offer any compensation, really. As long as they don't charge you for your order... Niggling over a goodwill gesture seems a bit tight. I'd be pretty chuffed with a tenner.

Arch, my problem is that they have an online promise. They promise if for any reason your shopping is even 1 minute outside their quoted delivery time then they will provide you with a £10 voucher. We didn't receive any shopping at all, never mind late, so the £10 offer is a little insulting.

I'm not bothering chasing it up, but companies need to take responsibility for their mistakes. They should have had systems in place enabling them to cope with this type of problem.

 

[magnatom]

I should add that shopping online is a blessing to us. The thought of dragging two weans around the supermarket every week fills me with dread!

Our weekly bill is normally close to £120, so not a small amount of shopping.

 

[domtyler]

I'm not sure I see why they should offer any compensation, really. As long as they don't charge you for your order... Niggling over a goodwill gesture seems a bit tight. I'd be pretty chuffed with a tenner.

It's not about that, the opportunity arose to make an extra tenner profit from someone else's fuck up, why not take it?

I think I'd find ordering online more stressful myself, but I tend to shop in small batches and rely a lot on what's reduced, on offer and so on, or what I see and fancy there and then.

Have you looked for websites tailoring to your exact requirements? I know there are searchable databases of all special offers out there and then you just pick the ones you need, you could be missing out on hundreds of pounds worth of savings a year.

Hoiking a big shop up two flights of stairs from the road would be a right pain, whereas when I shop, I never get more than I can carry comfortably... And I know I'll get just exactly the things I want, and know if I've got them, rather than wait for a van to turn up with a list of out-of-stocks etc... So I suspect that's why some people don't do it. Also, in the time it takes someone to go to the library, log on (perhaps not being a regular computer user), work out the system, order it all... I could be at Sainsburys and back and have my feet up with a cuppa...

Why not just install some kind of electric, or even pedal powered winch in your flat near the window and then you could hoist up whatever you bought.

 

[domtyler]

I should add that shopping online is a blessing to us. The thought of dragging two weans around the supermarket every week fills me with dread!

Our weekly bill is normally close to £120, so not a small amount of shopping.

This is just wanton profligacy and an excessive 'loadsamoney' display of wealth.

 

[Arch]

Arch, my problem is that they have an online promise. They promise if for any reason your shopping is even 1 minute outside their quoted delivery time then they will provide you with a £10 voucher. We didn't receive any shopping at all, never mind late, so the £10 offer is a little insulting.

They fulfilled their promise of 10 quid, didn't they? How is it 'insulting'? Sorry. I'm feeling a bit grumpy this morning, and thinking there are worse things to worry about than not getting extra on top of ten free pounds... Insulting would be not giving you anything, and then charging your credit card for the shopping you didn't get...

If I go to the shops and for some reason they are out of stock of something I wanted, I don't expect then to give me free money. I just change my list, or I go elsewhere.

Having worked in a supermarket and done home deliveries (back when Iceland started it all off - you went in and shopped, and we delivered it later at a time to suit, so you didn't have to dash straight home with the frozen stuff), I can well see what it's like to be on the shop side when it goes wrong. 10 quid for a minute outside the delivery window? If time's that tight, shop in person! (And a minute by whose watch? Mine's often a minute slow or fast)... I certainly wouldn't want to be doing the job in those circumstances, sounds very stressful.

Also, it strikes me that I'm paying towards all those ten quidses...

 

[magnatom]

This is just wanton profligacy and an excessive 'loadsamoney' display of wealth.

Aye, whatever Dom. How much is it you used to (or still do) spend on sandwiches...

 

[marinyork]

Chuffing hell I managed to resurrect this thread into a discussion. I was really pointing out a news item I didn't spot the other day and that it did make national reporting.

As for the £10, if any of the sainsburys premium loyals used the on-line shopping service I'd be very worried being sainsburys. On the other hand like I said other supermarkets have had this sort of screw up, a nuisance but not the end of civilisation as we know it.

 

[Arch]

It's not about that, the opportunity arose to make an extra tenner profit from someone else's fuck up, why not take it?

An extra tenner paid for out of my shopping bill....

Have you looked for websites tailoring to your exact requirements? I know there are searchable databases of all special offers out there and then you just pick the ones you need, you could be missing out on hundreds of pounds worth of savings a year.

I haven't worked it out ever, but I'm not sure I could save 'hundreds' on food. I reckon I spend about 20-30 a week, plus a bulk order from a wholesaler on some stuff, so that's 1560 annually at supermarkets etc, plus maybe 100-150 from Suma. That's the basic, obviously, there is the odd takeaway treat and so on. Couple of grand a year on food? I'm not sure how I can save more. If I had a freezer maybe, or a lot more cupboard space. But I don't tend to buy the stuff that gets on offer - fizzy pop, crisps, branded biscuits, ready meals... Thanks for the idea though.

Why not just install some kind of electric, or even pedal powered winch in your flat near the window and then you could hoist up whatever you bought.

Believe me, whenever I get back from holiday with baggage, or have bought anything big, or need to take a bike upstairs, I think about that possibility...

 

[magnatom]

Blimey! I'm scared! If Arch is against me I'm doomed.....

Food is an essential. We have two kids in the house and on that day they were waiting for the food to arrive for lunch. It didn't arrive and 10 minutes outside the delivery window my wife got a call saying that it never would. That caused my wife a lot of hassle and stress when she didn't need it. As you say there are worse things to worry about. Of course some people say that about cyclist complaining about being cut up..... However, I know of others who are not able to get out of the house who depend on these deliveries. They would have had it a lot worse than us. Large companies only learn when it hits their takings, so I felt that £10 was a little mean considering that they give that out for late deliveries anyway.

Anyway, in my original post I just asked what people thought. I'm not going to chase them up myself, I just wanted to know what peoples opinions were. We can easily go elsewhere (we often flit between Tesco and Sainsburys) if we are not happy, but my wife prefers the food from Sainsburys.

 

[Arch]

I'm not really against you, perhaps just fed up with being back in England after my hols, and a bit tetchy.

I understand the point about the elderly or infirm, but in that situation, it's not the money that matters, it's not having any food in. It sounds a bit like when the relatives of an accident victim say "the money can never replace him", but still fight for every last penny... Ok, companies learn through their wallets, but aren't there some things that are just going to happen, unless they make their systems hugely redundant? (for which we'd all pay in our bills)

Anyway, 'just in time' groceries sounds a bit badly planned to me. There wasn't a tin of beans in the house for the weans? Even after three weeks away, and having run down the contents of the fridge before I went, I had the wherewithall for a quick pasta supper (pasta, olives, cubed cheese, pesto) on Thursday when I got back and all I needed instantly was bread and milk...

 

[magnatom]

Anyway, 'just in time' groceries sounds a bit badly planned to me. There wasn't a tin of beans in the house for the weans? Even after three weeks away, and having run down the contents of the fridge before I went, I had the wherewithall for a quick pasta supper (pasta, olives, cubed cheese, pesto) on Thursday when I got back and all I needed instantly was bread and milk...

I'll tell my wife your are questioning her bad planning.....

The fridge we have at the moment is way too small, so we keep running out of stuff. I am awaiting a the delivery of a lovely new fridge freezer (A rated of course!) next Monday. The two boys are both good eaters. I do wonder how people survived without pasta and yogurts!

 

[Fnaar]

I do wonder how people survived without pasta and yogurts!

Spuds and Blancmange, back in the 70s