Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

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

262 replies

EwItsAHooman · 23/12/2018 14:10

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.

OP posts:
RebootYourEngine · 23/12/2018 15:37

YOU DO NOT ORDER YOUR SHOPPING WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR DELIVERY SLOT.

Asda allow you to amend your order up until about 11.30pm the night before delivery so some people will initially order 10 bottles of champagne just to make it up to the £40 you need to book your slot and then do their proper shopping order the day before delivery. Asda have no way of knowing exactly what has been ordered.

toomanypillows · 23/12/2018 15:38

I don't do online shopping myself, but I work in a school and recently ordered some raffle prizes through Asda.
There were several substitutions (things like quality streets for Cadbury heroes) but the best one was I ordered a bag of mixed fruit jellies - and got a tin of pineapple chunks 😂
It wasn't the most popular prize...
Glad you have a plan B OP

Lifeofsmiley · 23/12/2018 15:38

flower I have to agree. Sending asda links to mn thread, fgs!
Unfortunately it’s a risk you take at the busiest time of year.
If you aren’t happy to accept subs just untick them and be prepared you may not get some stuff.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General food
BikeRunSki · 23/12/2018 15:38

10 years ago Asda took my Christmas shop to “my address” in a different town, about 30 miles away. They realised their mistake and apologised, but did not have any time to redeliver to me, thus forcing me into a supermarket on Christmas Eve with a 3 month old baby.
I have not shopped at Asda since.

GodrestyemerrySchadenfreud · 23/12/2018 15:41

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

This type of shite substitution really pisses me off!

It's so they don't lose money fulfilling their price promise/ substitution thingy! I've had the same in the past with Sainsbury, and rang up and said - if they need to substitute that's fine, I've given the go-ahed, but if I ASK FOR FORTY I NEED FUCKING FORTY - NOT FUCKING TWELVE! (Though like you I swore at the cat (who doesn't give a fuck) for an hour to save the poor person on the end of the phone who has no control over the substitution process at all)

On that occasion they apologise and gave me the item free - but that was ne item, I doubt they'd give you £100 (or whatever).

It's bloody annoying and more so when you go into the shop and the shelves are heaving with what you ordered. Xmas Angry

DeadCertain · 23/12/2018 15:45

It's bloody annoying and more so when you go into the shop and the shelves are heaving with what you ordered.

The problem is, that at the time of picking, the products you wanted may not have yet been replenished.

Ta1kinpeace · 23/12/2018 15:49

I know somebody who had an ordered 6kg Goose substituted with a 750g duck ....

GodrestyemerrySchadenfreud · 23/12/2018 15:49

Some have zero clues and the substitutions are laughable

I've queried this in the past - apparently "computer tells them what to substitute".

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

I hope so Vicky - otherwise I haven't got a clue what to do with the cow we have hidden in the garage.

Xmas Grin

(Yes - I'm well over 50! Xmas Grin)

Teakind · 23/12/2018 15:52

Not a Christmas delivery but we had a ridiculous substitution once. I was talking to the delivery driver about it and he said his most memorable one when they substituted a box of tampons for some chocolate!

Dishevelled09 · 23/12/2018 15:54

I got my Asda order last night, it was fine just a 2 substitutes of cheese and sausages instead of cocktail sausages. I did the order well over a week ago, no idea if that has any bearing on it? Have had some right corners of subs in the past, a birthday cake that was a sub was really damaged, it was for my husband's birthday and the sub was a pink covered in sprinkles concoction.

ChesterGreySideboard · 23/12/2018 15:54

This is what doesn’t make sense to me about online order that come from stores. There is far to much chance of stuff being bought by people in store. This is why I prefer Ocado. Very few missing items or subs.

What I don’t get with the Christmas deliveries is why to they pick the bulk of it directly from the delivery to store. I bet they will have a fresh delivery of pigs in blankets etc every day. Why don’t they have someone saying ‘put 26 of those aside for today’s deliveries and the rest can go out’.

Sizeofalentil · 23/12/2018 15:56

Not to rub it in, but I just had an ASDA delivery which had a few problems (a LOT of short-dated or damaged items) but their customer service team were amazing and the driver was unbelievably nice and helpful. Got refunds on it all no problem.

GodrestyemerrySchadenfreud · 23/12/2018 15:58

I was talking to the delivery driver about it and he said his most memorable one when they substituted a box of tampons for some chocolate!

"Computer says."Stick that up your backside!""

GodrestyemerrySchadenfreud · 23/12/2018 16:00

Lentil

I've almost always found the frontline staff to be really helpful - at least as far as they can be. Sadly, there isn't always much they can do.

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 23/12/2018 16:03

YOU DO NOT ORDER YOUR SHOPPING WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR DELIVERY SLOT.

This really does need to be written everywhere.

The only shop that "holds" items is Ocado; and only if it's not a Waitrose product.

Otherwise you can order what you like; but they don't check it until it's going to be picked (to allow you to make late changes) and then you can only have what they've got.

There was a few trials last year where essentially you could reserve what you ordered but you had to order it all in one go; in October or November. You could not hold a delivery slot with 17 bottles of gin and then amend. A lot of people complained about not being able to make changes and that was that, I think.

It is frustrating and I'm sorry you now have to brave the shops. They were all hell today near me; but they also all close at 4pm on Sundays so everyone shops like it's the end of the world even when it's not two days before Christmas.

RebootYourEngine · 23/12/2018 16:03

@ChesterGreySideboard the problem with that idea is that the days orders start getting picked at 4am but the delivery may not come in until 9 or 10am.

FurryDogMother · 23/12/2018 16:05

Ta1kinpeace - just the one duck? Last year Tesco sent me 3 frozen ducks in place of the 4kg goose I'd ordered. This year, they just didn't send the goose - no suitable substitution available, they said!

Ta1kinpeace · 23/12/2018 16:06

Furry
Yup, just the one Xmas Grin

FlipFlapBat · 23/12/2018 16:13

Having tried all the supermarkets online once, I found Ocado the best. I’ve lost count of how many years I’ve shopped with them but I’ve never had a substitution and only the odd missing item. My Christmas order was spot on. I think ASDA and Tesco are especially bad as they are taking it off the shelf, Ocado is from a warehouse as others have said.

Sympathies as I can imagine it’s stressful; hopefully you can get what you need in a supermarket today or tomorrow. And in future, just don’t shop with Asda.

Soontobe60 · 23/12/2018 16:14

I've stopped doing xmas online shopping for precisely this reason. I find that getting to the supermarket early will guarantee everything you need. I went to Sainsbury's at half ten today and they had everything. And they were relatively quiet. We were in and out in an hour for a full shop. The problem with online supermarket ordering is thT they can only sop from what's already in the shelves, and the person doing the shopping for you may not be as clued up as you. E.g. If I wanted sausGe rolls and they didn't have any, I may well look in the freezers or buy ready made pastry and fresh sausages to make my own. That's why going yourself is much less stressful!
The only thing I ordered online was my meat!

user1471426142 · 23/12/2018 16:15

We’ve abandoned online shopping this year. The supermarkets were hellish today but it is the price of certainty over convenience. We’ve always had something key missing from an online order which then meant having to go back in and one year Waitrose sent us a ton of stuff that expired before Christmas Day. Everything fresh seemed to expire on the 24th despite a delivery on the 23rd so the picker gave us the oldest, mankiest stuff left on shelf. To be fair they did give us a load of vouchers but it was annoying nevertheless.

flowery · 23/12/2018 16:17

”Asda fuck our order up every week.”

Is there a reason you continue to use them then?

LimitIsUp · 23/12/2018 16:20

This sadly won't help you this year I am afraid, but next year book two slots. One a week before and order Christmas food that you can freeze (much of the party food, boxed chocolates and treats with a long shelf life etc), and one a day or two before for the fresh perishable items.

Sympathies - its very shit Flowers

SoleBizzz · 23/12/2018 16:21

Every week of the three I have used them this year.
That sort it out for ya?

JollyAndBright · 23/12/2018 16:21

What do you expect the manager to do?

They can’t give you what they don’t have.

Do what I did, refuse the substitutions, make a list of everything that was missing and nip to a supermarket first thing in the morning to get what you need.

I don’t understand why you are so upset about it, it’s is very common for this time of year.