To always request a refund on my substitutions (online shopping)

[HostOffice]

I always do click and collect. On the app it tells me what substitute items I have and it's really easy to request a refund if I don't like the substitution. I'm now beginning to find more and more reasons to request the refund, sometimes genuine and sometimes less so.

Given that I get to keep the items it's a bit of a moral dilemma!

Fair game or immoral?

Whaaaat? You keep the subs you declined and get refunded? How strange who is that with? Here i usually keep the subs, I normally buy own brand and they're usually subbed with branded, and get charged the cheaper price, but i give back what isn't suitable and get refunded

I do this when I don’t think the refund is a fair swap. I.e 1 500g bag of unbranded nuts for a 200g bag of branded nuts, I wanted 500g so they should really provide at least 2 bags of branded.
But from the sounds of it you’re doing it with every single item even if they’re fine, which is not on. You can also substitute at the point of delivery so if you’re that unhappy why not do that? It seems you want the items and money rather than what you paid for.

Providing this service they are really relying on the honesty and integrity of their customers. They will have done some analysis of how many lying thieving selfcentred leeches they are likely to have and raised their prices accordingly so everyone suffers.

How can you think stealing or not stealing is a moral dilemma? What part do you think is not immoral?

I used to shop with Sainsbury's and they put substitutes in a different coloured bag and went through them with you. With Asda they have actually said go online to request a refund if there's anything you're not happy with. I'd only do it with something completely unsuitable.

So basically you are a thief.

Tis people like you that make my grocery bills go up. And no, I don't want to be subsidising you. But I have no doubt that you will continue to do this, and have probably now convinced a few others on MN to do exactly the same.

Bollocks, Lalallama - there’s plenty of time to check and ok substitutions.

Any time we’ve had our shopping delivered the driver can never get away fast enough, so no, not bollocks.

Then again I don’t try to get a refund for items I kept

If their policy is that they’re happy to give refunds for substitutions because customers aren’t satisfied and you’re making the most of that policy I don’t see a problem. So long as you’re not lying (Eg: saying packaging was damaged/ items missing) but are just saying ‘I didn’t like the substitution as much as my usual brand’ and having them refund it then that’s great.

If you refused the substitution at delivery I imagine those products don’t go back from being on the van all day to the shelves and just end up in the bin anyway so I don’t think your complaints are likely to be affecting profits. Even if they do most big supermarkets are making millions of pounds worth of profits a year whilst dodging corporate tax and failing to pay their workers a living wage so I couldn’t get on my moral high horse about somebody trying to cheat them from a few pounds, it’s not likely to make a dent in their profits and it’s not like they’re demonstrating honesty/ moral superiority in their business practices. I’d argue using a refund loophole to get a refund on own-brand beans or whatever is far less dishonest than using a tax loophole to hide money offshore and avoid paying millions in corporate taxes.

Oh God, it’s the it’s going in the bin anyway argument

Um, so you steal stuff, and need to ask whether that's immoral? Well, yes, it's against the law.

🙄

If you refused the substitution at delivery

It's click and collect. Not delivery.

I often have ASDA and they never go through my subs with me, they just rush. I do end up asking for lots of refunds- mouldy sweet clems, bruised bananas, yoghurt split open, cream split open, chicken packet open. Then there’s missing items frequently🤷🏻‍♀️.

The asda driver always asks me if I’m happy with subs, occasionally I’ve sent them back but usually keep them . If you are deliberately keeping them just to claim a refund is a bit shitty

I did request a refund on a substitution yesterday. Didn't realise until order had been delivered and they'd given me spring onions for cucumber..... no idea how they decided that was a good alternative. So yes, in this instance I kept the spring onions and got a refund on the cucumber. I did that mainly to make a point that it was riduculous. Wouldn't do it normally though.

Ok sorry I see it’s click and collect.

YABU, it's wrong. Not really a moral dilemma.

I've had deliveries before where the soup carton seal is broken, or the strawberries are mouldy and requested refunds on those. The difference is I don't go on to use them, they shouldn't have been sold and if I had been shopping in real life I wouldn't have picked them out.

Yeah that's fine. Go ahead and do it. I am sure that all those on a basic state pension (like me) have no problem subsidising your CFery as we struggle to make ends meet with all the prices rising.

Be proud of your ability to defraud a company.. for that is what you are doing. Fraud, plain and simple.

But surely they show you the substitutions as you collect or when they deliver and you can say yes and take the goods and pay or say no and they refund/don’t charge you.

You can’t take it then get a refund surely?

If you can it’s stealing.

Sorry, missed that it was click and collect. But I don’t think it really makes a difference. You’ve found a loophole in their refund policy if they’re happy to accept minor reasons to agree a refund and don’t want proof. Morally it’s definitely a bit iffy but I would say it’s a pretty minor indiscretion as these things go. I would put it in the same box as people streaming American TV shows from dodgy websites because they don’t have the right subscription (which is what most of my professional work colleagues seem to be doing to watch GOT) or similar. On Mumsnet everyone will be horrified at the very idea of it and say it’s definitely stealing but in real life most people would admit to doing similar themselves without even thinking twice.

I think it would be better if the collection and delivery services didnt do substitutions at all. It sounds great on paper but is wasteful all round. I know from Ocado that returned substitutions are thrown away.

But Op - yes yabu to simply accept ALL substitutions and get a refund. But then perhaps ASDA should look at their substitution/missing items data better - I had trouble with their Collect service so wont use it now. And many people on here and facebook have issues.

Loved my substitutions this week, a larger bottle of gin than I ordered and the more expensive meat, all price matched!

People doing it “in real life” without thinking twice doesn’t make it not stealing . Iffy logic there, Totoro

I do have a situation going on that DH calls the prawn scam, it really isn't intended that way. I order 350g loose raw prawns from the supermarket, they had them initially, lovely. The last three times I've ordered them they've subbed for pre packaged ones, but they come in 275g packs, so they give me two, so I pay for 350g and 550g. I did mention it to the driver (weird set up where I collect shopping from a van in the carpark!) and he just said 'yeah they are reducing a lot of lines on the fresh counters not sure why, if they're going to stop doing them loose they should put out of stock on the website'. Thing is I don't want 275g or 550g, which is why I order 350g loose, but DH says I do it on purpose and I get grocery guilt....

When people complain about rising prices in supermarkets, look to the op's actions as one of the reasons this happens. So many cf's actually add up.