To think Tesco could have substituted my gravy?

[Clevs]

Lighthearted post

We do a weekly shop in Tesco and have it delivered. This week I ordered Bisto onion gravy granules. The shopping got delivered minus the gravy granules and on the receipt it said "no substitution available". What the A F? You're telling me Tesco had no gravy whatsoever they could substitute? If they had genuinely sold out of Bisto onion gravy they could have substituted with Bisto normal gravy, Tesco onion gravy, Tesco normal gravy, fresh (chilled) gravy, vegetable gravy at a push. But to have "no substitutions" at all? I can't believe it.

And yes, I know it's a first world problem and I shouldn't be lazy and should do my own shopping. But I have a 6 month old baby and it's easier and less time consuming to have it delivered. I fail to understand how they cannot have substituted a staple item like gravy granules.

Similarly, in recent weeks I've had a whole bag of carrots instead of three single carrots and a bag of parsnips instead of a single parsnip. Surely they can't have sold out of loose carrots and parsnips?😕

We've done quite well with substitutions recently and even ended up with someone else's shopping a few weeks ago, so maybe they've realised and are getting their own back🤣

Now I’m a smuggy smuggington Ocado shopper and I can’t remember the last time I had a substitute so I am without funny stories, however I do remember someone on here who had a packet of condoms substituted with a pregnancy test.

I once had no substitution for minced beef. Again, I don’t believe there was no mined beef in the entire store.

Damned whatever, you could pick beef bisto for a vegetarian or vegetable bisto for a roast beef dinner. Missing apples lets substitute those crunchy Granny Smiths fir some soft Royal Gala, they are all just apples.

They are rubbish at providing substitutes. I ordered some Cauldren Falafel and Cauldren veggie sausages (which were 2 for £2 or something) they had no veggie sausages so sent me three packs of falafel that went out of date in 3 days 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
Similarly I ordered that new Muller butter, didn’t have any so send me two pots of yoghurt, I think I ended up with four lots of onken that week. Stupid!!

Does anyone also occasionally have duplicates? Sometimes I find an extra jar of sweet corn, or once had an extra big of cat food 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Sometimes OddestSock there is very little on the shelves depending upon what time you're picking at. At 0400 today there weren't any fresh chicken breasts and very few packs of fresh mince as those shelves hadn't yet been replenished. You'd expect that there would be plenty of the very common products - and it's all out for when the store opens to the public - but quite often things aren't available for the early shops.

In Sainsbury’s, the computer offers you a suggestion but you are encouraged to use your common sense. However, if it’s something ‘exotic’ you’ve never heard of, you must pick something regardless as ‘they can always send it back’ so maybe the sub won’t make sense to the receiver.

Reading about other supermarkets, I’d say Sainsburys is by far the best to work as an online shopper. You have a target to meet but you aren’t pressurised. At least, not in the one I worked at.

Also, we had to pick on the shop floor so if it hadn’t been put out we couldn’t pick it even if there were loads ‘out back’ it’s better to get your shop delivered later in the day as it’s more likely to be there

I love food shopping, I've never done it online.
I don't understand why you would pay someone to bring all the wrong stuff to you... although tbf I only have 1 DD so I don't speak from the same standpoint as many of you.

These have made me laugh so much. We always get at least one substitution a week from Asda. Normally sensible alternatives or better but sometimes they get it wrong.

Once had lettuce substituted for cabbage... chicken pie for steak pie (don't eat steak) pineapple instead of melon and 4 tubs of hot chocolate instead of 1 jar of nutella.

I once had "No substitution possible" on a Margarita Pizza. I don't believe there wasn't another possibility.

However that was definitely more possible than the substitution we got once for the pizza which was coconut yoghurt.

I'm a E-Commerce manager for one of the big supermarkets being mentioned so can probably explain a few of these!

You're right in saying the system suggests substitutes to the picker and they are very sensible. Any soap powder for cat food subs are either 1. A complete mistake or 2. A disgruntled staff member!

"No substitutions available" for an item will happen because the picker has told the system we don't have the product on the shelf but hasn't made a substitution. Normally because they think the product might be in the warehouse. But the person through the back running the shift then finalises this before the picker has a chance to find and pick the correct item.

Your shopping gets picked from about 4am so quite often deliveries won't be fully worked or even in the building yet. Especially short life chilled products and bread. That'll be why you will receive substitutions for products you then see on the shelf later that day.

Hope that clears a few things up

I'm just back from hospital (minor surgery, nae bother) and DP was knackered. We did our first ever Tesco online shop and left it all ticked as "sub".

I'm now fascinated to see how many birthday cakes, Daily Heils, and cauliflowers we're going to get!

Thanks @itwascalled :) I haven't been a shelf-stacker since long before online orders - probably before 24 hour opening too - so that was informative

@clevs this whole debarcle may be my fault. A few months ago they substituted my gravy granular with “miso soup” yes I’ve no fuckingbidea why either so they felt the full force of the feuitbatdancer complaints department, especially as this was a week after they sent me bubble bath instead of a plastic jug. I imagine after my rant they are too scared to substitute gravy anymore 😬

"they sent me bubble bath instead of a plastic jug"

Hahaha, love that.

Morrisons could find no substitutions for bread cakes or a 2.5kg bag of potatoes, I haven't shopped with them since. Ocado don't seem as thick.

I've been sent peppercorns instead of ground pepper. Technically, they're the same thing, except I didn't own a pepper grinder.

When I had a toddler, we lived quite remotely for a short while and we didn't have a car and the supermarket was a 40 min walk down hill. I used to struggle walking up hill the whole way back with a pushchair and anything more than two bags of shopping. So I tried online shopping for the first time and thinking I was being clever, I ordered £50 worth of cat food for my very fussy cats. They substituted the whole lot and I didn't realise. I had to get a taxi to the supermarket to take it back.

Those saying that they didnt get products such as bread or veg, it could be because your shopping was picked early in the morning before the delivery was in or the dates on the products are short so not suitable. Also the people who pick dont get paid enough to go searching the shop for a suitable substitute.

I thought the online orders were normally picked from warehouses or "dark stores", not from regular supermarkets?

Tesco in Birmingham are usually sensible with the subs.

safariboot most orders (not Ocado) are actually picked from normal supermarkets; there are some dark stores, but most pickers are working in real shops.

I once ordered cotton wool pads which were substituted for breast pads

I can't remember who it was, but I remember reading a Mumsnetter had her sanitary towels substituted for Tena Ladys