Ocado charged me for food they didn't deliver

[Fere]

I have Covid and can't go shopping. My PCR came positive etc
On Sunday I had my delivery confirmed as delivered by Ocado, money has been taken from my account but nobody delivered anything.
I contacted Ocado via their chat facility after 2 hours.
Apparently the van came back empty, there was going to be an investigation what happened. I gave them till today to carry on their procedures.
Their adviser was going to follow up with an email to me. No email has been sent (why do they promise service they can't deliver??).
Ocado may be keeping some track of conversations with me. Unfortunately as soon as you finish a chat with them their window closes and there's no track left for customer. No reference number, no contact details.
I chatted with them again today, their adviser couldn't tell me anything.
He said someone, as in the first adviser I spoke to, would call me. I asked when, he wasn't able to tell me.
I was putting away delivery shopping from Sainsbury's which I got this afternoon and they tried to call me. Obviously I missed it.

Am I doomed to spend time typing into their chat the same details to hear that they can't help me?

How does the Ocado driver prove that they delivered to a given address?

I've never had any deliveries gone missing so it isn't a fault with my location etc.

What is my best way to resolve it? Writing a letter to their HQ with a complaint?

Ocado customer services: +44-345-656-1234

Have you actually spoken to them on the phone?

Thanks, No, I only chatted via chat facility.
Will call them now.

Normally Ocado customer services are great at fixing problems. Hopefully your call goes well.

They are allowed to leave food if you are not home so I wonder if the driver got the wrong address (no-one home) and they have left the food outside.

But you have certainly given them long enough to investigate and resolve.

They refunded my money now.
I think they need to improve training of their staff.
Anyway I am unlikely to use them again.

We checked t&c's and you need to give them permission to leaving food outside. I didn't find anything in my account details where I could have given them that permission.

That’s good news.

It’s true their customer services are usually relatively prompt and helpful. I’ve never received anything close to decent service from any company’s online chat facility.

Sorry you had such a frustrating experience! I’ve been using Ocado for more than a decade, with scarcely a hiccup until lockdown. Have diversified my shopping since then, but still prefer them for household / larder stuff - and most of the drivers are excellent.

I feel that my case fell through the cracks and it was my word against the driver's. So few people had to authorise refund. I don't mind things taking time. I do mind promissing something and not following up.
It must be rare occurrence that they misdeliver but surely there should be a procedure to follow. I felt there isn't.
When you call them on that number above they tell you to contact them via chat facility as it is the fastest way.

I know your problem is resolved now but what I have done in the past for these 'chat' things is to type my issue into notepad or similar with what I've done/tried etc. before I call and then copy and paste it into the 'chat window'.

I've had similar things where you are then transferred to someone else and the whole bl**d'y process starts again. At least one can re-paste the problem easily.

Yes that is the best thing to do, I would have done that if I was feeling OK. My Covid gave me high temperature and a wooly head too. I am recovering slowly but was a bit upset that I was left without my food order on Sunday.
Felt quite sorry for myself feeling unwell.

Glad it's sorted now but I must say that Id never bother with an online chat when you can just ring up and get it sorted

Maybe I'm an old fogey but who can be doing with all that typing and waiting

I agree. Lesson learned.

In the old days their customer service phone number was clearly displayed at the top of one’s paper receipt. (#17thcenturygroceryguru) Now, it’s quicker to just google the number rather than search hopelessly through the app / website.

Get well soon, OP.

I think the fastest would have been to contact them via their Twitter

The number is on their website. I phoned them a couple of weeks ago as they had delivered too many of a product. We agreed I would phone them when I next ordered so they could collect the product then. I ordered last minute, called them and arranged for the driver to collect. The driver (very young) hadnt picked up the message but luckily the depot knew! I have no problems calling them.

I hope you give them another go - they (as a company) were not so good over lockdown, but the staff are lovely.