Should I buy an Ocado Delivery Pass for free deliveries?

[redridingwolf]

There's an offer for £14.99 for six months mid-week pass

Which seems rather good. Does anyone have a delivery pass? How good is it?
I would probably have 2 deliveries a week. Actually the midweek pass isn't so good for that, now I think about it (it's only Tue-Thu). So the unlimited pass is £69.99 for a year which is less good, though still do-able.

My main questions to anyone who's got one is -

• can you set up a regular delivery (same day/time each week) - ideally two regular deliveries a week?
  
• can you have a 'regular' order that you just set up and then add/delete other items.
  
• is the delivery time reliable, and what happens if they miss it (if you're not paying for the delivery you don't get a refund presumably, is there any other compensation)
  

and anything else you think is useful to know?

[TheSkiingGardener]

At one time they were doing an offer of £3 a month for an unlimited pass so I'd wait and see what offers come round.

I've also seen on here that once you have a delivery pass you stop getting all the x% off offers.

TBH I use Waitrose delivery as its free, I used to love Ocado but the service seems to have really gone downhill.

[ExpatAgain]

ocado are the only delivery company who are utterly reliable in my experience, highly recommend
i didn['t pay extra for delivery pass etc or do regular order as then i always got at least 1 emailed offer each week - 10% off or 20% off which was more worthwhile. I'm not sure they'd have incentivised me had i already set up to place a regular order. the website is fab - you can just add my usual order to your trolley each time, v v user friendly.

[redridingwolf]

What's gone downhill about the service ski-ing?

at the moment I use one of the regular organic delivery box services - I really like it (and you can order a lot of stuff on it) - but you can't get everything you need, plus it's only once a week so bread/fruit/veg etc. is a bit tired by the end of the week.

i really want something that's quick and easy to use, so I don't have to spend time building up an order. my organic order has that - you have a regular order and just fine-tune it each week, so it takes less than 5 mins a week. Waitrose doesn't have that AFAIK.

£3 a month would definitely be worth it for me.

[redridingwolf]

x-post expat. so you think that the money-off vouchers cancels out the delivery charge you're paying?

that 'my usual order' feature sounds ideal.

[CamperFan]

I was paying £9.99 per month as I signed up to it when it first came out, so no special offers. It did work out well for me - I got smaller orders more regularly, so fresher food. However, in the last year or so the service has gone downhill, and I've cancelled it. Have used Waitrose Direct which is free delivery, and Tesco for all my bulk buys, which has been surprisingly efficient (and they're always sending vouchers!).

[ExpatAgain]

but why pay £3 a month not to be offered a couple of %off offers each month which are of far more value than "cheap" delivery?

it is SO quick and easy to use, honestly, I would order to full week's family shop in less than 5 mins flat

we're now overseas, so it could be that actual delivery has gone downhill since(as ski-ing said, or she's just unlucky)

miss Ocado shopping v much, am v sad!

[tooearlymustdache]

ah now, Waitrose and Ocado are different companies, OP

Ocado have a major delivery contract with Ocado, but carry their own brands. These are not as good as Waitrose own brands, by a long stretch.

I vowed never to use Ocado again after they messed up 2 major dels, i mean by broken stuff leaked all over perishables, and i have major issues with their claim that the packaging on raw and cooked meat is strong enough to be packed in the same carrier bag.

Waitrose do free delivery...the delivery slots aren't as regular and the website isn't quite as quick to use though. For me, the customer service and actual deliveries are far better.

[CamperFan]

Oh, and Ocado never sent me any money off vouchers after the first few years, even when I complained about service, despite me using them every week over a decade!

[ExpatAgain]

yes %age off offers definitely worht far more than cheaper delivery!
Say you order £75 shop and get 10% off - £7.50, obvbiously 20% would be £15, well worth it. If it had been a hassle to order like this or i didn't get regular offers, I might have been tempted not to bother. They make much more effort to incentivise you to shop if you haven't yet signed up to something (as obv they want you to)

[takeonboard]

I got one when there was an offer on for £39 for a year. Its great, I used to order once every 2 weeks and now I order smaller amounts twice a week.
I would go for it

[redridingwolf]

Camper, yes your argument makes sense. I am really short of time though, so not very good at using vouchers. I really really want grocery shopping to be quick and regular, so it's always on the same days each week and even if I haven't had time to fine-tune it, the 'regular' order will come. Willing to pay a (little) bit more for that.

[redridingwolf]

Bothered by the service-gone-downhill thing though. And definitely bothered about raw & cooked meat in the same bag!

[pigsinmud]

Well I think Ocado are great. Very reliable service. The trouble with the money off vouchers is that I was only sent them, for example, on a Tuesday for a delivery on Wednesday and I had to spend £90. I usually plan a bit further ahead with my big deliveries.

I have a delivery pass. Paid £9.99 a month for a year (free trial I forgot to cancel!), phoned to cancel and was reduced to £3.99 month for year, now put up to £6.99 month. I have decided to carry on with it as I use it for a small shop of about £40 week and then do large shop with Sainsburys once week (tues-fri free delivery) - I find Ocado too expensive to use all the time. I don't drive and bus would cost me £3.20 to local town, so £6.99 is still cheaper than 4 x £3.20.

Vegetarian so can't comment on cooked/raw meat situation. I have found their service far superior to other supermarkets. I got deliveries in the snow last year, hardly ever have items missing/substituted. Plus they sell the dog food I want and saves me lugging it back from town!

[tooearlymustdache]

I'm vegetarian too schilke but some others in the household aren't

at having sausages split in a bag alongside flour...

[PicaK]

Ocado is fab. In 5 years one missed delivery and they gave me 25 quid vouchers.

I have it set up for one slot a week but you can add more. You set up a list of core items which always appear on your order so it takes just mins to add and delete to this.

It has apps for smartphones too - a huge help.

The ocado own range is really high quality and good value.

I love it.

[zingzillachinchilla]

I have the delivery pass, and love it. Always ultra-reliable with items ordered, less damaged items than others (tesco, sainsburys), drivers lovely, and have never let me down at Christmas!

Waitrose Deliver pick your food from the nearest 'deliver' store so no guarantee you'll get what you want, while Ocado give you online data about stock. Waitrose have always delivered to me late (their sat nav clearly not as good as ocado ). My Christmas order from Waitrose two years ago was 5.5 hours late and arrived at 11:30pm (no snow that year either). Of the ten or so orders I've had from them, each has been late with no communication. Ocado always phone me to say they'll be early, and is that ok? In 300+ orders, Ocado have been late perhaps 5 times.

Having said all that, for Waitrose Entertaining items I like them so much that I factor in that they will likely be late delivered and make allowances! For all my routine waitrose purchases, I get them via Ocado.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Ocado..... but I love 'em

[TheSkiingGardener]

My Waitrose deliver people are lovely, always on time and have even re-routed when my pork roasting joint ended up on the wrong truck. I think it probably depends on your local store.

Waitrose do have lists you can set up so you can just put your regular order through and then tweak it. The website isn't as good as Ocado though.

I've seen lots of stories on here about Ocado going downhill and that has also been my experience so I only use them if they send a 25% off voucher!

[whats4teamum]

I also thinkthey have gone downhill. I had several deliveries with very poorly packed goods. Heavy pet food on top of bread, flour bags pierced by sharper objects, cleaning products leaking over veg and so on. They still send me % off vouchers which I use about once every 6 months.

Why would you tie yourself in to using one delivery service?

[redridingwolf]

For the regular slot factor, whats4tea, without having to faff about setting up multiple lists. Am going to try a few one-off deliveries from Ocado before deciding whether to settle for delivery pass