Streetlife

Yes, on the occasions I have had a Friday delivery it comes 2 hours late. Monday around 6pm is always on time so I have the service which reserves you the same slot every week unless you cancel it. Maybe try earlier in the week? 

Sainsbury's charges are much higher than Ocado for delivery itself but you may save on the shopping I suppose.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

We're going to try Friday, 4:00-5:00 this week and see how it goes.

The problems on Thursday started when they opened a depot in Wimbledon which is supplied from the original depot in North London - the excuse being that the trailer (delivery) to the Wimbledon depot was delayed. 

Sainsbury's as far as I am aware the online service is very good (maybe a little biased as I work for them), another option maybe if you like all the products from Ocado is use Waitrose Home Delivery directly rather than Ocado as they do their own service now on their website, Just a thought.

I stopped using Sainsburys three years ago because at that time the Fulham store was supplying Earlsfield (may have changed so may have improved) and kept getting my order wrong or supplying food which was almost out of date. So I kept getting money off vouchers but actually would have preferred the right food in the first place and not having to ring them up all the time. At that time Sainsburys, like Tescos as well I think, were just sending their staff round to do the shopping for me, so it was rather dependent on the aptitude of the staff. E.g. once I got a very strange veg substitution, fennel for kohlrabi as the person clearly didn't know what a fennel was. And strange meat substitutions e.g. beef brisket instead of steak so unuseable, I switched to ocado and have been very happy with them. Have also lately had problems with lateness in the evenings so now I have a 7.30 am delivery and it is always on time. Keep meaning to use the Waitrose Home Delivery as is free delivery I think? But it depends which store it comes from, as I think it is also shop-picked. My nearest Waitrose is the new one now opened on Alexandra Road where B&Q used to be in Wimbledon. Useless selection of food. Has anyone else noticed this?!

I've been using Sainsbury's (delivering from the Fulham store) for about four years now. Unusual these days to get any substitutions, and extremely rare for them to be late. They also have one hour (rather than two hour) delivery slots which saves you having around for too long. There's rarely anything missing from the order, and if there is the refund is almost immediate. The website has recently been updated and is very easy to navigate through. I did consider trying Waitrose when were we sent an introductory offer, but the selection of fresh food (as opposed to ready meals) was very meagre - and more expensive than Sainsbury's.

And  no, I don't work for Sainsbury's....

I used to use Tesco's but as mentioned earlier I got a lot of substitutions and they weren't always similar to what I ordered. After a few late deliveries and then a delivery which never arrived after more than an hour late I called to see what was happening to find out they knew there was a problem and it would be at least another two hours. When I said it was no use as I had to go out my delivery got cancelled with no offer of an alternative delivery slot and no apology. They then took a week to refund the payment to my credit card so needless to say I will not use them again. I have used Ocado for the last two years and have been very pleased, the product life is very good, very few substitions and only one occasion my delivery was delayed. On the delayed delivery they called in advance to advise of the problem and gave me options so I asked to reschedule a morning delivery for early evening and the delivery arrived as promised. I tend to book early morning slots for before I go to work on the theory I will be on the first runs of the day.

I have been using Ocado for a few years now and very happy. Only on occasion have they been late but more often they are on time or early. The quality of food at Ocado is great and they have now introduced speciality departments- Italian, American, organic etc. I am loving the new brands they are carrying.

Once I looked into switching just out of curiosity - First off, I found the other websites (waitrose, sainsbury, etc) harder to navigate than Ocado. I also like that Ocado isn't associated with one of the big supermarkets anymore, their only business is grocery deliveries where the other ones are huge corporations. I think that this shows in the quality of the food, the politeness of the drivers, and general customer service (if they ever forget something or you aren't happy they immediately refund your money- no questions asked) and their ever-growing of selection and variety. Actually once last year my order was late and I had to leave the house- I called Ocado and they immediately deducted the delivery charge and the driver arrived within a few minutes. I am not sure if the other companies do all this but in my opinion I would stick to it and just give them a call so they understand your frustration- maybe you will get a few free deliveries! ;)

I used them thrice and they were late by 1.5hrs on average (worst being 2.5hrs) so I stopped using them as I end up waiting at home and not making any plans for the time slot, only to be told that they cannot honour that slot for some inexplicable reason.

I am so surprised !  I have been using Ocado for about 3 years - one weekly delivery - and I don't think they have ever been late.  If anything sometimes they call me to ask me if I want to have a slightly earlier delivery as they are in the area.  I have to say that I have been very impressed with their service !

Wow - thanks everyone for a really useful set of responses.

We will probably stick with Ocado but use a different day, for though we have had a problem with deliveries, their customer service has been excellent and they have generally kept us posted about any problems.

How about instead of wasting useless hours hanging around, get of the settee and going to the store and pick up your own shopping! it will be good exercise and save you money.  You never know you may also find an alternative to putting your hard earned cash into the bank accounts of multi nationals by discovering a smaller independant store/stall...

You have a point but this is a specific thread on the merits of different deliveries thread. Your post is a bit of a generalisation...people have deliveries for various reasons, not just lazybones types. 

I do support indies too, but I avoid taking 3 kids to big supermarkets as they get obsessed with the unhealthy brands (which are all at low level) and generally run amok. 

I get my staples delivered (at a time I am always in so no hanging around), loo rolls, washing powder etc and do smaller shops for fresh stuff. The OP may have his own reasons why he likes a delivery too.

Well said Catherine W.! I have two very small children who don't even know what junk food is thanks to being able to avoid those impulse buys instore. My three year old has never eaten a sweet or tried orange squash etc. I do my big shops from ocado, veg and other organics through veg box scheme, plus grow my own veg, which the children help with. Top-ups from Sainsburys Local but only if not available at our fantastic local deli. And instead of spending my afternoons driving to and then wandering round Tescos I take my children to the park, by foot... and have a waistline to prove it, thanks very much.

Steve T. you have obviously never tried to navigate your way around a supermarket with two young children!  These delivery services are a godsend for parents, and probably for all the other shoppers too!

I have been using Sainsbury's for years, when living in Southfields & Earlsfield & have rarely had problems. I think they are great. Ifby any chance they're going to be early or late the driver calls. If they forget something they have no problem refunding you. These rarely happen anyway.

Steve T I work full time and I have young children... would love to have the time to walk around small independent stores !!

I have two young children a disability and keep a full time job and keep a house, "you dont know your born"expect you drive the kids to school as well....and wonder why you put on weight......two fior the price of one! support your local small traders before you loose them...

Steve T. - as Catherine W said, this thread is about the merits of various services - NOT a judgement of people about whom you know nothing, or their habits or reasons for doing something. How on earth can you know that people put on weight?? If you think they're lazy/fat/lucky/"don't know you're born" ... well keep it to yourself!

Hi guys, 

As this thread is chatting about the variety of services, I thought I might add my tuppence. I run a local, concierge company based in Balham and I have been helping several people with this exact problem. Many parents find waiting in for the shopping delivery to be very useful, but sometimes things change at the last minute and they are no longer available to sign for the delivery. I have been shopping for those people and more for almost 2 and a half years and have not only shopped for the ingredients myself AND delivered it to their door, I have put their shopping away for them too! Deliveries help in many different ways, but you do still have to wait around for them and if they are late, it can be very frustrating. With my service, however, you needn't do either of those things. The delivery can be catered to your schedule, not the delivery driver. 

For more information, check out our website at www.houseelf.co.uk or give us a call on 020 8720 7392.

Aidan,

We've used ocado for about 8 years now and have noticed the following changes over the last 3 years, which coincidentally started at the time ocado was floated and was in financial trouble:

- packing was random, ie desserts were always squashed as they were packed with inappropriately large and heavy items
- fridge items such as meat would arrive slightly pierced, either due to poor selection or the driver accidentally piercing whilst carrying in
- the drivers stopped calling 15 minutes before arrival as requested on my notes and when I complained about this I was told that they have had a high turnover and the new drivers still require further training
- substitutions were unrelated and stopped being announced at the door
- perishables would arrive with short expiry dates
- my delivery was originally on a Friday 8-9am and on the whole arrived within that time frame, however when I moved it to Friday 4-5pm, it was late at least twice a month and the communication around the lateness was poor. The text announced the lateness and advised logging in for more info, but once logged in there was no more info! Invariably, calling ocado took a 12 minute call wait! This was at the time that the warehouse moved to Wimbledon.
- recently I had to throw away 2 fridge items 1 week before the expiry date as they had gone rotten

Online shopping for a family of 4 is essential for heavy items and we shop for meat and fresh items nearby. I am currently researching new providers and Waitrose might be an option.

Thushara

Thushara

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, we experienced a number of the things you listed - especially the poor packing and although we got refunds it was still a bit of a pain. The excuse given  was that they would give further training to the packers.

We have just switched from Thursday to Friday at the suggestion of one of the drivers and yesterday's delivery was on time - so we'll wait and see.

Thanks to everyone else for their feedback - really useful.
Has anyone used  http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk - I'd be interested how good this it?

Aidan we used to use mysupermarket.co.uk and I would have heartily recommended it but they redesigned the website about 6 months ago and the new version was so difficult to use (at least for us) that after a couple of weeks' of back and forth giving feedback to their customer support people we just gave up and now just shop directly with the supermarket.

Perhaps by now they have remedied some of the issues.  Worth giving them a try?

havent used Ocado but heard good reviews about it . Even Which? magazine have given them the highest rating. 

As for Sainsburys , if you refuse subsitutions, you hardly get half your order . I was really unhappy when they could not deliver the items on promotion as we had ordered them because they were on promo. ASDA  was the same as well ..you spend hours shopping online and then dont get anything  !

Am definitely  on course to try Ocado or shop directly . Mysupermarket has become too unwieldy to use anymore .

We have started using Ocado after using Tesco. We found it head and shoulders above the Tescos. No items substituted, all good dates and the delivery men are very helpful.

has anyone got a leaflet from Waitrose deliveries ??
Yes, they have started delivering in SW11