Asda have fucked up my Christmas food shopping: a rant.

[EwItsAHooman]

Need to rent here so that I don't end up losing my temper with some undeserving person on the customer services helpline.

Booked my online food shop several weeks ago to be delivered tonight. Have gotten an email from Asda now detailing everything that has either been substituted or is not available. Out of 100 items, 28 have been substituted and 5 are unavailable.

Fucks sake.

And the substitutions.... What in the actual fuck!?

40 cocktail sausages, for making pigs in blankets, have been substituted for 12 cocktail sausages. How far do they think 12 will go!?

Frozen party food. A box of mini pizzas has been substituted for one pizza. Selection of Indian snacks has been substituted for spring rolls. Duck rolls have been substituted for spring rolls too. We'll be drowning in spring bloody rolls.

Sausage rolls have been substituted for a pack of Richmond sausages.

A pack of mixed "festive" cheeses has been substituted for a single block of Wensleydale.

Pickled gherkins are now pickled cucumbers.

Extra special fancy flavoured stuffing is now normal Paxo.

Turkey gravy has become chicken gravy granules.

Pretzel stars are now tortilla rolls.

Mint vienetta has become lemon ice cream.

These are just the ones I can remember without going back over the email.

And the kicker, the Birds Eye dippers have been substituted for Asda chicken nuggets. The dippers are for DS because he only eats fucking dippers (ASD) and only Birds Eye fucking dippers.

Unavailable items include cranberry sauce, goose fat, chicken skewers, and a few other things.

So 33% of the shopping is wrong and/or missing.

Customer services have been next to useless and I'm waiting on a manager calling me back (which is why I need to unload so that I can get all my fucks out now and then discuss it calmly when he/she does). Said to give any unwanted items to the driver and they'll refund them, which is all well and good but why have they fucked it up so badly in the first place? When it was ordered weeks ago, why wasn't the stock available? I expected one or two missing or substituted bits but thirty-fucking-three!?

So now I need to get the DC sorted, including one with ASD who hates the supermarket and is going to screech at top volume all the way there and all the way around (enjoy that, fellow shoppers!), will probably the violent somewhere between the checkout and the carpark so I can have a few festive thumps, and might even run off depending on exactly how busy it is. Which is why I shopped online in the first place.

And I can't even pour myself a gin and calm down because I've got to go to the fucking supermarket.

Sorry.

The supermarkets will have to make the deadline earlier next year. So 3 days in advance rather than hours. Lots of people are complaining but I can see why it's difficult for them to manage stock when people's orders can change until hours beforehand.

I wouldn't rely on it for crucial items as have been 'let down' too many times.

Waitrose tried to give me a turkey less than half the size I’d ordered in our order (collection). Rather than feed 12 would have struggled to feed 4/5! As I was about to go into meltdown they checked the shelves that had been restocked and found the size I’d ordered. Panic averted! Even gave me £40 off as a goodwill gesture as think the helper saw the sheer panic in my eyes

My Sainsburys order last night wasn’t too bad. Few subs, but I had shopped and stashed non perishable items a few weeks ago.

The main problem is that it is dependant on what stock is on the shelf when your order is picked not when you order it. ASDA can look at the orders and order extra pigs in blankets etc but if people go into the store and buy them before the online orders are picked there isn’t much that can be done.
This is why I don’t rely on an online order for my xmas shopping!!

For next time there are things you can do to mitigate this

Order with either Morrison’s or Ocado as they pick from a warehouse so generally if they say it will be in stock it will be. I’ve only had the odd occasion it hasn’t been which I can assume either a delivery has been late or stock has had to be disposed of for some reason eg a crate knocked over and smashed etc
Pick up dry and frozen stuff weeks before when doing normal shopping - I know I have the main ‘Christmas would be ruined wirhout’ Items in the pantry or the freezer eg meat, pigs, cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing.
I’m doing my shop tomorrow morning at 6am so as long as I get some varieties of cheese, some veg and salad stuff and some sorts of party picky bits and dips etc we will be fine as they are all things we can do without/have an alternative
Opt for no substitutes- that way you won’t be charged for things you don’t want and have to wait ages for a refund.

Sorry to hear that OP.

I stopped using Asda home delivery because of their substitutions. We're a vegetarian family, and I got sick of ordering items from their vegetarian range, only to be sent meat substitutions. There's only so many times you can contact them and say, "hey Asda, there may be a subtle clue in our shopping habits, that indicate we're vegetarians; vegetarian burgers, sausages, sausage rolls etc. Sending Bird's Eye beefburgers as a sub for your own-brand vegetarian burgers doesn't make sense does it?"

I like using Tesco, as you can add notes for the picker, so I go through and say 'vegetarian subs only please'. However, even they let me down for my big Christmas delivery, by subbing some party food items where I'd clearly asked for 'veggie only subs', with meat ones.

Oh well, I send DH into the store earlier to buy a few replacements, and thankfully he managed to make it out unscathed.

Definitely twitter for this

I don't have Twitter, if anyone wants to tweet them a link though feel free.

The toddler is giving me that wide-eyed look that says "I'm going to fall asleep on the way so good luck getting me to bed later".

Youngest DS can't find his "feet" (shoes) and is popping in and out to tell me all the places they aren't "there are no feets under my bed", "I checked under the table for feets but the feets are gone."

Older DS is on the doorstep, coat on, shoes on, iPad in hand. I've told him we're going in about an hour once I get everyone sorted, lock up, etc and to come inside before the neighbours think I've left him out for the binmen to take.

I've got a case of the stress-giggles

Merry Christmas everyone, I'm going to be eating seven million spring rolls and begging DS to please eat one of the wrong nuggets

A similar thing happened to me last year so this time I did my Christmas shop in November. Froze the Turkey and pigs in blankets. Stored away the alcohol and junk foods. Only have a small fresh shop coming tonight. Could you try doing that instead next year?
I do this ^^. It's just safer than having your shopping delivered and finding that you have to traipse out after all for the essentials because they couldn't find a substitute for a loaf of white bread! I mean seriously - a different brand, wholemeal, brown, artisan, anything bread-like???? I use Ocado now and they're better but I still get the freezable essentials in early.

Some good ideas for next year too, thank you.

This is why i will never use asda for online shopping at any time of the year never mind at christmas time

YADNBU.
Wow thank you for the warning. I won't use them ever.

That is shite. They are offering a service they are clearly not fit to provide and I’d be bloody livid too.

However...

Back down to earth time...nothing bad will come of any of it other than a passing irritation. You’ll know not to rely on Asda for your Christmas food shop again. They are crap.

Sorry...Merry Christmas xxx

aaaaaahh that's bad! Have you got a local co-op? They have almost everything in stock and nice and calm.

The worst substitution I've seen was a bunch of lemons which I needed for a recipe subbed for some lemon scented hand soap. The delivery driver was pissing himself with that one.

You still have an hour of Sunday opening today and all day tomorrow to buy some extra sausages.

My Waitrose order was missing one item (crayfish tails), I don’t think your Christmas is Ruined, but I do feel your anguish, we all want Christmas to be ‘perfect’. I’m sure you’ll still have a lovely Christmas, even with your missing festive cheese selection.

Morrison’s online is quite good, comes from a warehouse instead of a shop and is forfilled by ocado.

You dont really know how supermarket online shopping works do you OP?

You didnt order your shopping weeks ago, you booked your delivery slot. Your order isnt processed until after midnight the day of delivery (thats why you can amend it so late the night before).

Staff can only give you what they have in store. Yesterday there may have been 100 pigs in blankets on the shelf but by the time the picker has got to your order 100 people have been in and bought them.

Also a lot of the time the substitutes are decided by a computer.

Hope you have a good Christmas, EwIts.

YANBU OP, but some good ideas on here for next year so you don't get caught out again.

I always buy frozen stuff the beginning of December, so pigs in blankets, desserts, party food etc as soon as it is available, same with stuffing, gravy, sauces, anything special. It helps to spread the cost a bit as well depending on your credit card cut off date.

Also, doing the shop 24 hours earlier seems to help too, as everybody wants to buy the day before Christmas Eve, so if you get the shop on 21st or 22nd, you are more likely to get the things you want.

I use Ocado for this reason. You still get some mistakes and some substitutions but they are normally reasonable, and you can send them back if they are the wrong ones. The use the same system for Morrisons and for Ocado, in they giant warehouses. Some of them are operated by robots who seem to be more reliable than a super stressed human picker in a shop.
Haven't had my delivery yet, so this could be the first year they get it wrong .

Tom and Barbara Good next door will invite you in to join them for Xmas...

(Reference which may only be understood by posters over at least 50).

Jolly frustrating best laid plans and all that - you have tried to be organised they have let you down

From a fellow ASD parent....you have my absolute sympathy regarding the chicken dippers because our kids know...you cannot fool them.

My advice is go to all local shops with a feeezer section as you may well find them there. Failing that Christmas Eve is usually much quieter on the shops so you’re likely to find them at Tesco or Morrison’s.

I too had 22 subs and 5 unavailable items last night. Ridiculous subs, subbing all my extra special items for smart price or own brand ones and then charging me for the expensive ones! Subbing smaller packets of items instead of sending 2. Eg. 90g applewood cheese subbed for 70g snack pack applewood cheese. Fine, but theyre supposed to send 2 to make up for it.

My poor other half was sent out at 10pm last night after the order arrived to fix all their problems. Including short dated items that wouldn't last til xmas day.

I have everything now, thabk fuck. But last night I was a raging ball of Christmas hormones. I too have an ASD/ADHD child, and there is no way I could take him and his siblings to the supermarket in the days before christmas.

I'm currently composing my own complaint. All they do is give you £10 off your next shop. Seems pointless doesn't it, what your time, inconvenience and stress is worth?!

And many of the shops are open again on the 26th

Not all is lost

Is this you OP?!
www.google.com/amp/s/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/mum-fuming-after-asda-gave-15587783.amp

If you have a co-op nearby OP I would try there rather than brave the main supermarkets. My local co-op has a wonderful selection of Christmas food and there is usually birds eye chicken dippers in the freezer!

Just reject what you don't want from your delivery tonight at the door, I've found I usually get refunded almost immediately when I do that.