Several items on long ago booked leading Supermarket home delivery now unavailable!

[DancingDonkey]

I booked an Xmas delivery slot with one of the leading supermarkets in late November. I'd carefully planned the menu etc.

I've just logged back in today to add some more items to this delivery, when I noticed that several of the items I've asked for are listed as 'No longer available'. I wouldn't mind if it was the odd thing here or there but these Christmas staples, such as chestnuts, breadcrumbs etc. All but one of the ingredients I needed for my pudding are also now unavailable.

I'm now going to have to do an additional shop I didn't want to do, as well as totally reconsider my pudding.

I'm pretty hacked off to be honest as I had booked this specifically because it's hard for me to get to the shops at the best of times. I particularly wanted to avoid it at this time of year.

I thought the whole point of them releasing delivery slots early was so that you could ensure you got a delivery and all your hard to get items! I appreciate they can't guarantee items the rest of the year, but I would have thought they would have made more of an effort at Christmas.

Anyway I posted this as a warning really, if you have a Christmas delivery booked you might want to have a double check in your basket to make sure your items are all available.

Actually that's crap because I've already checked out and gave them my card details, so as far as I'm concerned the onus on supplying the items is on them.

I booked Saintsbury's for the 23rd and I'm fuming already just thinking about it.

Sorry, YANBU.

Which supermarket op?

I've had this happen before. I've got a delivery booked for Tuesday but if got a lot on Friday and any freezable stuff ages ago, mainly to spread the cost.

This is exactly why I don't get a supermarket delivery close to Christmas.

I had an Ocado delivery yesterday (the last day before they started surcharging for Christmas week) with all the heavy/bulky items, and have a number of set-piece staples in the freezer. I'll top up from either the BigName local shop or our corner shop for anything I realise I've forgotten or need more of fresh.

Thats happened to me too, Ive never done a Xmas delivery before. although I use them regularly during the year. All the nice Xmas goodies are unavailable, so I will now need to go to the shops anyway, a fifty mile round trip, I might cancel the delivery.

This is why I never rely on online food deliveries for Christmas. I always plan for a small shop in person, mainly because I like to choose my own veg but also because I just know there will be one substitution or missing item I really need.

There should be a generic email sent to people who have booked deliveries for the week preceding Christmas telling them to double check their order.

I've just had the same with tescos..luckily nothing major but still a lot of stuff they suddenly don't hsve..so annoying!

That's why I don't do the christmas shop online - tried it one year and it was a disaster, including some very dubious substitutes which resulted in a trip out shopping on Christmas Eve.

That is rubbish from a customer service PoV. I would complain to their head office. If it helps, Aldi have tins of vacuum packed chestnuts in this week.

The 'out of stock' items I ordered from Ocado are still in my basket, it just means I can't order more of them but the ones I've already ordered are safe, IYKWIM, they should still be delivered. Are they still showing in your basket when you check out??

If it's tesco then they will show in the basket but say they're unavailable with the price £0. I've got pigs in blankets and stuffing so don't care about anything else

I wouldn't do a Christmas Dinner shop with anyone but Ocado. The others shop direct from your local store so if it's sold out in store you don't get it. Much easier to predict demand for Ocado. I think Morrison's may also do a similar warehouse set up.

It's a few years since I've done it, but with Tesco I always received the items that were listed as no longer available. It means no new shoppers can add the items, because they're effectively reserved for people like you who have already ordered them. I'd call them to check, but I think you will still get those items.

So they should have exactly the same stock in the shop this week, as they had in November? It doesn't work like that OP.

Surely they only pick your shopping just before it is delivered and the stock comes from the local stores stock so if they don't have any then that's that? Just the same as it is the rest of the year.They release the slots early so you have a chance to book a time close to Christmas, they can't guarantee they will have everything in stock.
This is why I wouldn't do an online shop for Christmas food as there will inevitably be substitutions/stuff missing.

I shop online every week of the year except for Christmas because I don't trust this not to happen to me! And I couldn't be arsed with sending things back with the driver and having to go out shopping anyway. So I buy any freezer and non-perishables with every weekly shop from end of Oct onwards, which helps spread the cost too. Then I just have a handful of fresh items instore to buy on the 23rd.

I'm pretty sure that Ocado reserve the item for you once you've checked out your order, because of the items coming from a warehouse it's probably easier to monitor what is and isn't in stock. But with Tesco or Sainsbury's, it's a case of hoping that the instore customers haven't already bought the items you wanted.

It depends on which supermarket it is. Ocado's stuff comes from a giant warehouse so once it's gone, it's gone. Sainsbods come from a large but local store, as do Tesco's. Chances are that other people have pipped you to the post and got there first, but if you've already ordered the items they should be showing in your basket (you just can't order any more as they don't have any).

Same thing has happened to me (bloody tesco). I'm quite annoyed, it's simple things like hovis crackers, finest pate, there were all in all about 20 items I've had to go on and change. I think it's poor customer service as another poster has said I think they should ensure the items you've already technically paid for!

OMG DancingDonkey I nearly started an identical thread this morning for exactly the same reason. I was having a bit of a panic rant at Dh about Tesco.

But Dh said The same as SolomanDaisy about it just meaning that no more of that item is available. But I do think it's confusing. I'll just have to see what arrives tomorrow and send Dh to get anything that doesn't.

Maybe it's because I don't online shop regularly for groceries, but I do find it a faff in that it's unclear as to what it means .

I stayed up till 1am to grab a slot and do my order some weeks ago so I really don't need to try and decipher cryptic messages from them now.

Morrisons does come from the warehouse/DC rather than store.

I really think they should ensure they're honoring an order that was placed weeks ago, that they accepted at the time and that they had fair warning about. Otherwise what's the point of submitting an order weeks in advance?

Don't they take the money after they have actually picked your shopping? That's how Waitrose does it. I'm another who would never trust an online delivery for critical Christmas ingredients - I'd order it to arrive a few days earlier and get all the bulky heavy stuff, and ingredients that I can, and then I have a few days grace to sort bits out.

And you are booking the delivery a lot, not the order weeks in advance

Perhaps they need a tweak on the clearly Festive items: so it says something like 'No more available. If you have this in your checked-out order, we have sufficient supplies to meet demand. But none for new orders. Please take care if editing your order because if you remove it from your basket you will not be able to replace it"

This is why I got 22nd and 23rd, anything that doesn't come tomorrow can get added on the following day, which still leaves Christmas Eve for emergencies