People 'reserving' delivery slots

[turquoise50]

I've recently discovered that apparently lots of people are 'reserving' supermarket delivery slots by just putting a bottle or two of booze which they don't really want into their trolley to take it over £40, and leaving it there for weeks! Then when they're ready to order their actual shopping they edit it and take it out.

Thus just strikes me as dishonest and really very selfish when everyone knows that delivery slots are still in very high demand. I tried to book on Saturday and the earliest slot I could get was Monday 27th. Last week there was a two-week wait and I had to order from my second-choice supermarket instead, where the wait was only a week.

I presume people are doing it the minute their order is delivered, to hold their regular spot for next time. Whereas I tend to be more reactive in my shopping habits, besides keeping a rolling list in my notes.

I feel a bit shocked, but at the same time realise that if I (pre-lockdown) would, say, order on a Thursday for delivery on a Sunday, because that happens to be my preferred day, it's effectively the same thing. But there wasn't a shortage of slots then, going to the shops was no big deal, and I was ordering stuff I actually wanted.

YANBU - it's selfish and sneaky and people shouldn't hog slots; in fact the shops should crack down on it by making it so that slots can only be held for up to a week, and/or make the trolley limit a minimum number of items, not a minimum amount of money. (I know some shops did this for a while but not sure if still continuing.)

YABU - it's really no different from ordering your full shop a few days in advance and editing it several times before delivery as you run out of different things.

(As a side question - when these people forget to update their order and 'accidentally' get a delivery of nothing but a £40 bottle of whisky that they don't even like, should I feel a certain amount of schadenfreude, or be even more annoyed by the totally wasted delivery slot? Or a bit of both? )

I have a delivery subscription and have had for years and have always done this. Apparently I have priority slots as a loyal customer. What difference does it make if I half fill my basket today and add things as I go for later this week. People suddenly getting huffy and righteous about online shopping that have not always done it when others have been doing it regularly for years are doing my head in.

Ocado keep sending me emails telling me to book slots weeks in advance, so they obviously don't have a problem with it.

I'm surprised that people are able to book weeks ahead, as my supermarket (Sainsbury) only lets you book a week in advance. However, as I buy pretty much the same stuff on a weekly basis, I have to admit I do book a delivery as soon as I receive one.

I have heard of people booking several weeks worth at once, though, and I agree with you that it is a bit selfish .

I don't see the problem. It's no different to someone reserving the slot by doing a proper shop then changing the order a few days before delivery to items they want to eat that week.

@Michaelbaubles

I guess you’re thinking about it like the ticket touts who scoop up all the tickets for concerts and don’t leave seats for normal punters.

Yes this exactly! Thank you!

I think of it as the fans who get on the phone at 9am and away get a ticket.

I clearly didn't spend enough time buying concert tickets in my youth!

During the height of the pandemic if you were up before midnight waiting for the Tesco slots to be released you had to log in at 11:45 and leave the page open until the site took you to the booking page just after midnight.
You were encouraged to add an item and check out so other customers could be directed to the booking page. If they didn't do this system then the website would crash because it couldn't cope with all the people logging in simultaneously

Luckily we don't have to do that now but it was hairy for a while.

Because, in my world, I'd order 3-4 days before arriving back from holiday and would therefore know what I needed?

But it like anything else where you book in advance. I book an appointment with my hairdresser 8 weeks in advance. I don’t know exactly what cut I will ask for but I know I will need a hair cut of some description so I book in advance to make sure I have an appointment. I wouldn’t expect to be able to just decide I need a haircut and for them to have one available in 3 days time when demand is high.

Re getting slots for the next day or four available in one week, that's certainly not the case where I am at the moment. Is this in London? I suspect it may be a very different picture there to elsewhere.

How dare people reserve delivery slots in advance. It’s not as if that’s what the system is there for. 🙄

I’ve done it ever since I started shopping online years ago. Even before Covid it was rare that the slot I wanted was available a few days in advance.

I have also done this for years - and I actually put in a good single malt whisky on the basis that if a did ever forget to edit the order I get something that will never go to waste in my household!

This is not dishonest or cheeky - I have paid for this service in advance, annually, for years. I have no shortage of slots either - Ocado now offer one every five days, and Sainsburys once a week. Less than it used to be yes, but plenty of choice normally. I have never "reserved" a slot and not used it. And actually the supermarkets are telling me to do this! So yes, you are being very unreasonable.

By the way, some of us have paid for this service for years because we had no other choice - I am too disabled to manage a supermarket shop even before Covid. Perhaps it's very selfish and sneaky of fit and able people who could easily go to a supermarket to hog delivery slots needed by people who don't have that choice? But I don't suppose that might apply to you?

It's easy to be judgy about everyone else, isn't it? Not so much fun when someone does it back?

Posted too soon.

My hairdresser encourages regular customers to book multiple appointments in advance.

What’s the difference? I have ordered a full delivery for the next 3 weeks delivery slots. I am hogging them with my regular order as much as Champagne mum.
If anything the book 2 days before people need it less since they clearly aren’t worried about it.

I live in Buckinghamshire suburbs and get sent emails from all the supermarkets begging me for my business. There's lots of supermarkets in a 5 mile radius of high might explain the excess slots.

@turquoise50

Re getting slots for the next day or four available in one week, that's certainly not the case where I am at the moment. Is this in London? I suspect it may be a very different picture there to elsewhere.

No, not in London. Or any other major city.

I've always done this, 4 wks ahead. Tesco let you copy a previous order's basket so I just do that. If I were to forget to edit it a perfectly sensible order will arrive! I never have though, been doing it for years b

YABU.

YABVU to be shocked about delivery slots though

I book well ahead for a fortnightly slot and my basket changes daily up to the night before. There are generally plenty of slots now but I prefer a certain time and book early to get that one.

I do 4 weeks at a time, so that I can pick the days/times that fit with what else we want to do with our free time. Why wouldn't you plan ahead?
I just add an old order's basket to each booking. Takes 2 clicks. Then 24 hours before the delivery I edit the basket.
I dont understand why you think booking in advance is somehow morally wrong, OP. I'm booking one delivery per week, in blocks of 4 weeks. Hardly hogging all the slots!

You've taken things very well OP

Funnily enough, I just went to book next week's Sainsbury's slot and saw that they've just introduced the ability to book a regular, weekly, reoccurring slot. I think Ocado had this before, but Sainsbury's didn't, so that's useful!

On the Sainbury's site you can add everything from a previous order straight into your trolley, so if you have a lot of regular items it's sometimes easier to delete the things you don't want.

The other thing I would say to people is that you tend to get a lot more functionality on the website (using a web browser) than you do on the app for phones/ ipads etc. I think you can't see reviews on the app?

I tend to always finish and checkout my order on the PC for this reason.

Re getting slots for the next day or four available in one week, that's certainly not the case where I am at the moment. Is this in London? I suspect it may be a very different picture there to elsewhere.

I’m in the North East (town, not a city). As I said in a previous post, slots a relatively easy to get now. I’ve checked my app, a couple of times still available tomorrow, slots also available Thursday & Saturday (Wed&Fri are full) from Sunday there’s loads of slots available every day for the next few weeks, up until August the 10th.

I've always done this. That's the whole point! .

I have heard of people booking several weeks worth at once, though, and I agree with you that it is a bit selfish .

The supermarkets encourage it. Tescos actively promote you can book up to 4 weeks in advance with a delivery saver. They want them booked as vans not carrying many deliveries aren't going to make them money. I can understand your frustration if you only occasionally make an online delivery as a once off with no forward planning but the system is designed and promoted for regular customers hence tescos suspending the delivery saver charge over lockdown as they couldn't fulfil their end. This is a facility that we pay for on top of the shopping cost.

@Letseatgrandma because she is "one of those people" where everything revolves around her. There is no actual reason her or her husband couldn't go to a shop let alone arrange home delivery. Everyone else in there family managed it and we all live in the same area

You can't submit or review products on the Tesco app.