Mumsnet Talk

He is rather anal when it comes to such things and refuses to try it. He reckons you'd get everything with rubbish use by dates and inferior fresh produce.

I however, have had enough of the hell that is supermarket shopping with my feral three dc!

So...is it worth it? Which company do use/would you recommend?

Wow hubby with ocado, £ 20 off first shop(see website) and everything comes from the depot, its never been near a shop floor. They have been consistently good and do a fab range of american frencg swedish thai etc foods. Ive used all of them and have stuck with ocado as they have been consistently good.

I use Asda and am generally pretty pleased with it. If the use by date is a bit short i call them and they refund straight away.

It also saves me money as I don't impulse buy stuff as I would in the shop. Plus we have two young kids and I don't want to spend free time as family shopping. Would rather do something more pleasant.

Oh and I reserve the slot and start the shop at beginning of the week and add to it as I think of stuff I want or need, then finish and pay the night before the delivery.

Ooh thanks! I was thinking along the lines of ocado. I'm guessing they're not the cheapest though! How do they compare?

Hmm...

I use Ocado too, and for the past three years they have been excellent, but recently I've had a lot of food that does go off quickly. They will allow you to request a refund online for anything that is in bad condition, and the drivers are very friendly and helpful. Customer Services tend to be pretty good too.

It's luck of the draw with regards to fresh food etc. If you've got a fairly flexible meal plan and don't eat everything fresh, you'll probably be okay. I ordered enough meat for 6 meals yesterday and it all goes off tomorrow, but I can freeze some if I have too and it is good quality food.

Definitely worth it. I have used Sainsbury's who are good. Reliable delivery, very fresh produce, easy return/ refund/ exchange. Great customer service call centre if any problems.

However, I switched to Ocado as they have a brilliant app for iPhones and price match to Tesco, but you can still get all the Waitrose products too. They have been brilliant. I get lots of offers through on email too which saves money.

I get a big order every fortnight then do a top-up shop in between for basics. Much less stress with dc in tow.

I have saved a lot of money. Mostly by not visiting supermarkets as often and throwing in stuff that wasn't on the list.

Do it!

Tesco even though shop at Sainsbury's in real life. They're good. Have had one lot of dodgy pears in about 50 shops. Always turn up when they say. You spend less but sometimes put it all away and still find you haven't got anything for supper

I gave up going shopping shortly before DS2 was born. I just get it delivered every week and I've never had dodgy produce. Also I'm spending approx £20 less each time because i'm not chucking stuff in the trolley randomly.

Tell him you'll do it for a month trying different local supermarkets and review it then. Or tell him to do it every week with the kids, just him, not you.

Oh yes I fill the trolley a few days before with staples and checkout then I have til the night before to add/remove stuff.

Ocado have a price promise. They refund the difference if it isn't the cheapest compared with their competitors. You don't have to do anything to claim it, it's automatic. I've had a couple of refunds so far, up to about £6. The drivers are really good too.

I use Ocado (have delivery pass) & Sainsburys occasionally because they're definitely cheaper for eg bulk buying cleaning products / tins. Things are well selected, very, very rarely get eg bananas that are so green I wouldn't have picked them. there are a few minor irritations with them in that you can't eg buy one lemon / one lime, it's a bagfull. Sainsbury's is more flexible in that regard and generally has better special offers. The recipe planners are good on both (better on ocado I think)
Ocado give you a list with the delivery which specifies by day when things should be used by. If you scan over that as it's delivered, you can reject anythign that has a too-short lifespan (or just chuck it straight in the freezer).

You may find you save ££ because you won't be buying junk =- you don't wander past the crisp aisle, you have to actively seek them out. On the flip side, if you end up shopping from your list of favourites, you may find your range gets narrower (which is why the recipe suggestions are good)>

It's a learning curve on quantities. I've had jars of mayonnaise large enough for a catering company to use and bought a £4 box of chocolates that was the size of a doll's house gift.

I cant help you my husband is the same yet moans when we go shopping for food, He wants to do it monthly to get it out the way but doing it weekly online makes much more sense to me because I am usually at the shop getting bread and milk and stuff I run out of would probably be cheaper doing it online weekly, so i let him go to the supermarket on his own I suggested online was pfft at so he can do it himself

I've used Sainsburys for over a year now, never any problem.
I've tried Tesco but they always seem to take out more money than I'm expecting them too plus a couple of items don't turn up that I'm sure I ordered

I Use Waitrose online and I have for several years. I have once had something arriving with a very short sell by date and it was flagged up to me right away by the driver. As It was something I had intended to use that evening it was not a problem.

They list their produce after sell by date too so easy to see what is needed to be used fast. (not that I get short ones as a rule)

Waitrose online is smaller than many of the other online sites as it actually goes to your local Waitrose to get done. However we are very happy with them and delivery is free (I think you have to spend over £50 for that but I always do)

You do spend less as it forces you to meal plan and you tend to under estimate sweets and snacks (a good thing) and if your like me then you think oh we will have some healthy stuff too and even fewer snacks comes in.. Kids have got used to it over the years and rarely have issues with what is about to eat. (I do occationally get asked can we buy someCRRiiissspppsss haha)

Stumbleine - you are absolutley right to want to do online supermarket shopping if you have 3 DCs. I never understand why people take children in supermarkets.

We do all our shopping online except a weeky M&S fresh food top up shop.

You will save money on fuel, save loads of time and have a far less stressful life. Sainsbury deliver free of charge if you book for an off peak delivery time on Tue, wed, Thu and spend over £100.

I would suggest you give it a try with dry goods and maybe try a few fresh things. Then suggest tol DH if he is concerned that he can do a 'fresh food' shop once a week himself.

TBH I do like to do fsome of my fresh food shopping for meat and veg and fruit but really you will not get sent a load of out of date things and you have an absolute right to reject anything you dont like the look of or too close to use by date anyway.

There is no risk in trying it.

I use tesco - every Monday.
The dates are fine and they even alert you if things have a near date or short shelf life.

I ordered my order 9:30 Sunday evening and they were on the doorstep with it 8:30 Monday morning.

We've used Sainsbury's since the New Year and have saved a fortune.

The deliveries have been on time, and a couple have been a few hours early. The drivers have rung us to say they're near our village and would we like our shopping now, which is always appreciated as the time is always during one of the more expensive slots.

Tell your DH that you should at least TRY the delivery services - each supermarket if necessary - rather than ASSUME they'll be shit. Or send him to the supermarket with the kids if he's so keen.

Somebod I knew used Tesco's and they said they kept getting stuff with a sell buy date the next day. So that has put me off. But that was a while ago. I'd rather pay a bit more and get decent fresh food. I might give Ocado a try.

I love it, especially in school hols as if I take DCs all I hear is "can I have this?" And it is cheaper as I don't get drawn into buying other things. Also saves lots of time. You can refuse stuff it you are not happy or if they give an unsuitable substitution. We don't get Ocada here but have used other stores, I tend to vary who I use but certainly give it a go.

I've used asda, tesco and sainsbury's...I had a problem with short dated things from tesco for a while, but they built a new one, deliveries then came from there and it was much better - so I assume it just depends on the staff in that store.

Mostly though - it's so much better than actually going.

I've been doing online shops for about 8 months now and I don't know why I didn't start it sooner.

I flit between Ocado and Asda, depending who's got the best deals on for what I need. I must say that Ocado win by a country mile, though.

DH actually enjoys going to the supermarket whereas I find it unberable. Why would you choose to go into a big, cold shop and queue to pay for your stuff when there's a much nicer option available?!

The Tesco near me send out the most massive veg they can get their hands on, always with a good date but there are only 3 of us so it sometimes goes to waste just because of the size! Can't complain though!

The pickers are told now to make sure of good dates as so many people complain about it - Tesco guarantee 'at least x days' for fresh veg and meat etc on the site so you can tell if you will use it in time or not.

For us it's great, delivery costs the same as petrol to get to the superstore ourselves. Having said that I only do it for BIG shops say once a month or every few months when we need everything.

It's also useful as you can just type in the list and then aren't tempted by all the bad stuff/silly offers.

I've had Ocado the last three weeks and it knocks spots off all other competition imo.

Tell him to try it, also you can budget more easily as you are totting up as you fill your trolley.

Thank you thank you thank you! Very useful tips here. Think I'm just going to place an order and dare him to complain!

To be fair he's usually happy to do the shop himself if necessary, it's just that then eats into our time at weekends.

I'm hoping that this becomes another one to add to the long list entitled 'Things Stumbleine was right all along about.'