To think that if you pre order M&S Christmas food you should use the chuffing collection slot that you book?

[Monetbyhimself]

Still traumatised after the horrors of trying to pick up my food order between 8 and 9 am last Christmas Eve before work. Was a bloodbath in there with people queuing all the way round the store, with tempers fraying and tension rising.
I'm not working Christmas Day this year so haven't pre ordered. Was in store today having a bit of a chat with the staff about hos unseasonably quiet it was and wouldn't it be heaven if it was like that on Christmas Eve. The gist of the conversation was that despite all the ore booked slots, a significant number of people just rock up whatever time suits them and expect their order to be produced from the depths of the cool store, where some poor sods have spent all bloody night sorting them in collection slot order. Making the queues unpredictable and huge in some cases!

Unseasonably and irrationally annoyed and wishing that people would stuck to their delivery slots!

At our local one they had someone checking your sheet before you joined the queue to check you were in the right time slot- don't know if they would actually have turned you away if not but tbh the whole Christmas period is just insane. Best just to take a deep breath, accept it will be a total pain and get on with it.

Guy yesterday said they fon't turn prople away cos it causes too much aggravation. We're all MAD

Someone took out a knife trying to get into our M&S SImply Food last year as he felt someone had stolen his car parking space. Why is it almost always men who do these things!

Now they have a security guard on duty at Xmas

I have booked my sainsburys food for delivery on the 23rd December. I will get my turkey from the local butcher which is a lot easier.

I always order my turkey etc from M and S as well. However, in recent years, have been severely tempted to leave all my shopping, unordered, till Christmas Eve and just pick it up off the shelves! Things just don' t seem to run out the way they did in the past, and last Christmas Eve, I walked through an almost empty shop, with laden shelves to queue to collect my Christmas order!

Can't say I have ever had a problem and I do order turkey and a yummy dessert then hide it so no one else can eat it . It would be mightily infuriating though. If you can do the early pick ups much less crowded.

Bettercall, it's a good plan. For the last few years, DH has always bought our turkey off the shelf at M & S or Waitrose in Central London in his lunch break on 23rd Dec. There are always loads.

About 4 years ago, Waitrose had all their turkeys half price on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Taffeta - I think next year I''ll be brave ... (It better not be the year that bucks the trend, or else it might be cheese on toast for Christmas dinner! )

Long rant and saga coming up....

Last year was the last year that I will ever order with them again. Had a scheduled pick up of 7-8am Xmas eve. They phoned me on the 23rd saying that they were expecting to be very busy as had double booked that slot. I could opt to go in at midnight instead.

Thinking that at least I would then get a lay in on Xmas eve morning I rocked up at midnight as told on the phone......

Along with 500 others that they had called.

It was carnage. They ran out of turkey's and crowns as delievries were supposed to be coming in all night. After an hour of queuing the lady behind me held my space in the queue while I went to the regular shelves in the food hall and managed to get my whole order there. I then held her queue place while she did the same and then we went to the regular clothing tills to pay.

Cashier said they it couldn't be done as we had to have paperwork filled out by order collections and she didn't know how to account for our prepaid deposits. We both said that was unacceptable and wouldn't move from the till until a manager came and took our money. Wasn't rude to the poor girl who looked close to tears as she had been getting grief since her shift started at 10pm. Just said that we were not going to move until our payment had been taken and we could leave the store with Xmas dinner.

Honestly it was a complete farce, took over 2 hours and as I left the order collection queue was snaking down the clothing aisles by at least 100 people. At 2am on Xmas eve

Baileys - that is horrendous!

I was in my local Waitrose at 7am last Christmas Eve. It was marvellous; shelves well stocked, loads of staff & the other customers were very organised. Will do the same this year.

Oh gosh M&S has a very high contingent of rude customers. It just seems to attract people with an overinflated sense of entitlement and superiority (except me when I want a walnut whip)

Oh they were really good last year when I got ours. I usually go on the 23rd though, not on Christmas Eve. This year BIL is looking after the DDs whilst I 'nip' in. Hopefully it'll be as quick as last time.

You're all mad. To book all your food for the day before Christmas and cross your fingers that you don't get trampled to death under the rampaging hordes of crazed shoppers or beaten about the head with the last turkey crown, that is.

If it was a frozen Iceland turkey that would be certain death

Death by turkey - foul play, if ever I heard of it.

I'm not sure I get this whole thing about pre-ordering - it just seems such a hassle.

I go to the supermarket about 8am before work on Christmas Eve - never mad busy, get my shopping from the fully stocked shelves and then just sail through at the till. Do this every year and it's really stress free.