Ocado now it's dropped Waitrose- what's the quality like now?

[JinglingHellsBells]

I know this is old news, but opinions please.

I used to order from Ocado but haven't since very much at all since they dropped Waitrose. Get WR deliveries.

Reason being I cook 90% from scratch and find M&S quite ready-meal heavy.

Having said that, Ocado does have a few things that I'd buy - mainly toiletries and some more unusual ingredients. I'm still paying for a delivery saver so wondering whether to get an occasional order.

BUT how do you find the quality of everyday fruit and veg ?
Are prices pretty much the same as Waitrose (I've done a quick comparison and they seem almost the same.)

Yes, I’m going to do the same.
Nice stuff from Waitrose and basics from Lidl going forwards I think.

Another very long time Ocado customer here. The issue for me is that their range has shrunk massively. One small example - you can't get fresh salad dressing, even though M&S sell it in their shops. Why not, Ocado? I keep submitting product requests, but it makes no difference.

On the plus side, I hardly ever have subs, but that might be because we have a huge Ocado warehouse near us.

Just this week, I did an experiment and tried to place my usual weekly order with Waitrose. No problem with slot availability, but there were still issues with product availability - examples were that there was similarly no fresh salad dressing available, no Tropicana original orange juice.....I also noticed that quite a few prices were higher with Waitrose than Ocado for the same, or very similar, products.

Maybe the availability was a local store issue, but in the end I gave up and placed my usual Ocado order. The jury is still out for me, but I do miss how it used to be.

That's interesting. I went to our nearest Waitrose for a change a couple of weeks ago, but couldn't get everything on my list.

I've used Ocado for 20 years (and have a smartpass). I wish Waitrose and Ocado had stayed together! Ocado don't by any means have the full M&S range. But well before the Waitrose divorce things were deteriorating - the product ranges shrank as a lot of Waitrose stuff gradually became unavailable. So in 2019 I started ordering from Waitrose too.

I now use Ocado around three times a month and Waitrose once. Ocado are more reliable at having everything in stock that I want - my order today has no missing items or subs, whereas Waitrose almost always has unavailable/subbed items.

The M&S/Ocado fresh fruit/veg and chicken/meat is as good as Waitrose, but there is stuff from Waitrose that I like so I stock up on that once a month assuming it's available (Waitrose now have a £3.99 delivery charge).

Fetch is now Paws. And run by a completely different company. I ordered dog food without realising this, and was promised next day delivery. 10 days later it arrived, and their customer service is beyond appalling.

I only started using Ocado six months ago when my local Sainsbury went down hill (when they started price matching Aldi). I was always a shop in person girl but our town has a very small chavsda, morrishites, and the the terrible twins (Aldi and Lidl) - and Sainsbury

I had a choice - Waitrose online or Ocado. I went Ocado as I preferred their model. I’ve only had a handful of subs.

I also cook everything from scratch and have no issues although the proviso for that is I don’t buy meat or fish from them as I have a top quality local butcher and fish monger.

What I have had has been good quality and you can buy some speciality things although I do sometimes make the 32 mile round trip to Waitrose for the odd item.

In terms of price, I can’t say I’ve noticed an issue but I’m fortunate enough that I don’t really pay much attention to that.

@EvaLution

I hate that you can no longer get a Fetch order alongside the Ocado order. It's wasteful and annoying to have to get a separate delivery, and last time I looked, Fetch, or whatever it's called now, was using Hermes, which is a nightmare in our area.

Yes, that is annoying, I used to use Fetch regularly. I have used it a few times though (now called Paws) and it has been absolutely fine, next day delivery, Hermes is okay in our area. However they are out of stock of a LOT of stuff.

I'm still using Ocado but refuse to pay for the expensive pass. I pay for the cheap tue-thursday pass and do some real world shopping and use Amazon fresh at least once every couple of weeks.

Broadly, I find quality is fine. But agree - the 3 for £10 offers aren't nearly as good unless you want prepared food (which I mostly don't). There's also a real lack of variety on some fresh things like types of meat. M&S clearly isn't interested in cheaper cuts so if I want to make a stew I inevitably have to get the meat elsewhere, for example. Similarly, I can struggle to get different types of rice.

I have also noticed an increase in cost, but I can't quite work out if that's OCADO specifically or just the overall increase in food prices generally.

I've not really noticed any difference to ne honest! I miss waitrose naan breads though

I’ve downgraded the smart pass and will chuck them shortly. It’s impossible to cook properly from them. So many missing Ingres if you want to make your own Chinese food rather than get the ready meal version(what supermarket doesn’t stock bamboo shoots and water chestnuts?? In fact their whole ethnic cooking range is godawful now). Cat litter has tripled in price and fetch turning into Paws means I no longer order from them. I am ordering from Waitrose to get duchy / a little less then perfect veg / organic chicken (stop conning us with that Oakham business, it’s cruelty chicken in a dress). The lack of bags is irritating with Waitrose though.

I was with Ocado practically from its formation. Loved it with a passion: so reliable, hardly ever any substitutions, little gifts every now and then etc etc.

Then came M&S…..

Substitutions and out of stock lists as long as your arm, old favourites no longer available.

I switched to Morrisons which uses the same fulfilment warehouse as Ocado, identical App, same shaped vans. I get my full order every week far cheaper and good quality.

I just did a quick comparison of the ocado order I'm waiting for today vs waitrose online. Waitrose was about 10% cheaper. And the deals definitely are better on fresh meat/chicken/fresh (plus I've always liked that Waitrose welfare standards are higher). Most importantly for me, the website has improved 1000%. I see some waitrose online my future.....

I switched to Morrisons which uses the same fulfilment warehouse as Ocado, identical App, same shaped vans. I get my full order every week far cheaper and good quality.

This depends on the area, I think. I used to get warehouse-fulfilled Morrisons deliveries at my old house, but since I moved to a different area it's switched to store-fulfilled and the selection has massively reduced.

I would say that all the online supermarkets have been offering a noticeably reduced range recently. Fewer unusual ingredients and less choice in general.

I think it's a Brexit thing, plus them streamlining operations to service more customers during the pandemic.

Since I moved house (and no longer able to get Ocado because they don't cover my area) I've been flipping between Waitrose, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's and they're all much of a muchness I would say.

Not really noticed any difference at all tbh.
Used Ocado for several years now, both pre and post the Waitrose/M&S switch and throughout covid.
I have the monthly delivery subscription and have dine for years.

Prices have gone up, but only inline with other supermarkets in my experience.

Still have similar availability of products, and not encountered any issues with things not being delivered in the day. Accessing delivery slots seems fine again list covid here too - can usually get next day again.

Not noticed a difference in quality of products,

I haven't noticed a reduction in quality. There is a lack of range for some types of things eg the basic pasta range . And I won't buy chicken breasts from them as ocado is poor quality / m and s don't do what I want.

I've never bothered with a smart pass - I can always find some £0 delivery slots . These tend to be after 10pm but this doesn't bother us and they're often earlier than that anyway.

Substitutions are pretty rare.

If I do order chicken etc I use pack hams or black farmer rather than Ocado own or m and s

Disappointing. Kept finding whatever I wanted from M&S range was out of stock. I gave up and switched to Waitrose, which is more reliable. Still miss Ocado though, but not worth sticking with them until their supply issues are sorted out properly imo.

I gave up after a couple of shops, I found that what I wanted from M&S wasn't stocked and what I wanted from Ocado was out of stock so then needed to sub with the more expensive M&S and both times the total was more expensive than before.

Moved from Waitrose to Ocado. Found Waitrose were subbing quite a lot and a lot of items were short dated, meat quality had gone down. Have had very few subs with Ocado plus better shelf life and quality.
Had shopped with Waitrose online for years but the introduction of the delivery charge per order and no bags was also a factor. At least Ocado take bags back and refund 10p per bag.

@NightmareSlashDelightful

I switched to Morrisons which uses the same fulfilment warehouse as Ocado, identical App, same shaped vans. I get my full order every week far cheaper and good quality.

This depends on the area, I think. I used to get warehouse-fulfilled Morrisons deliveries at my old house, but since I moved to a different area it's switched to store-fulfilled and the selection has massively reduced.

Yes I appreciate I’m lucky in that regard - we don’t have many Morrisons stores Dahn Sarf 😀

Awful. I live in SW London with a big M&S but the list of unavailable items makes it not viable option (warehouse looks big too), plus last two times they were an hour and a half late and one hour late - first time ruining the plans I had for the day. I complained and got no where (at least if Tesco is late - only a handful of times over several years of almost weekly use - they give you a voucher).
Then I needed something specific to M&S and did an order around midnight for the next day . It let me add everything, said I had til X time to check out but would not let me check out (kept on getting 'something went wrong'). I went off the app for a couple minutes went back in my order had vanished. Did whole rigmarole again - booked the slot, added the items and again couldn't check out. I'm thinking it was because it had gone past midnight but it had still let me book. So annoying and really cemented that I never want to use them again.

I cancelled my smart pass because I wanted absolute flexibility. As a wanton consumer, even though I tried, I could not commit to the one supermarket. I may get Riverford one week, Aldi the next. I like using delivery apps for small top ups. There isn't enough supply chain certainty to stay loyal to just the one

I have been with Ocado since it started and I loved it when it was linked with Waitrose. I have been a bit dissatisfied since they switched to M&S, but have hung on because they were fabulous during covid times and got me a largely complete delivery every week without fail so I felt they deserved my loyalty.

The prices are ridiculous now and the quality is very average. So much stuff is out of stock and you don't find that until it does not turn up. If you are reading this Ocado, you need a don't show stuff which is out of stock button!

I have just switched to Morrisons. My grocery bill has almost halved and they do have a don't show out of stock button . Sadly it would take a lot to make me go back. IMO they need a new grocery partner.

@BlingLoving

I just did a quick comparison of the ocado order I'm waiting for today vs waitrose online. Waitrose was about 10% cheaper. And the deals definitely are better on fresh meat/chicken/fresh (plus I've always liked that Waitrose welfare standards are higher). Most importantly for me, the website has improved 1000%. I see some waitrose online my future.....

I've just switched, first Waitrose delivery yesterday. OMG the difference! Everything was carefully packed into boxes. No damaged, squashed leaking items. Fresh meat/fish items were packed in thin plastic bags so if they had leaked it wouldn't have been a problem. Really fresh bakery bread, Ocado bread is always a bit meh. Fruit, veg and salad much fresher. Everything was just better. Price wise some things are slightly more expensive, quite a few are cheaper, and a much wider range of own brand value products at a great price. I'm not switching back.