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? )

Ive done this as we are in isolation at the moment, there was nothing at all this week so I booked next WK with milk and will add to it later

YABU OP it's how it's always been for many years pre COVID.

YABU OP it's how it's always been for many years pre COVID.

YABU OP it's how it's always been for many years pre COVID.

It's normal. It just being organised.

I've been doing that for years. Everyone does it!

Seriously, even if you didn’t used to do this before, has it not sunk in that ‘drop of a hat convenience’ has disappeared for the foreseeable, on account of the pesky global pandemic that’s going on which means people need to think about things a bit more 🤔

There is an added bonus when you fill your basket in advance: if an item’s price decreases you can take out the full price one from your basket and replace it with a reduced one. If you put a discounted item in your basket and later on is goes back to full price, the one you have keeps its lower price.
So by booking say 3w in advance you maximize your chances of discounts! Discovered this trick during lockdown

I would just say you have a lack of organisation?

I hold my slot with basics that I will actually order, does that make me better or worse than those who use whiskey? although I tend to use champagne to hold my Christmas order lol

You have to get creative in these times. I have managed to get delivery slots every week since the middle of March ( shielding) but only because I have been online checking for slots at all times of the day and night. If I happen to find a slot in the middle of the night I am hardly likely to spend ages doing my whole shop! I will fill up the basket with a few expensive items and then go and edit it nearer to the time of the delivery. The slots are getting easier to find now but I do tend to line up a few weeks in advance if I see a slot available.

What on Earth is wrong with that?

We add a previous order to the basket and then amend.

YABU- you've just reminded me to book my next four-week-in-advance slot. I don't think it's unfair. I need to collect my shopping at a certain time, on a particular day each week for it to work for me because that is the day that I have nothing else on after work and can collect it and go straight home.

Not sure at all how it is selfish to book the slot you know that you will want and use just in case someone less organised happens to decide that they want it closer to the time!

I've been shopping with Ocado for about 10 years. Pre-Covid was pretty much always able to get a delivery next day or at most 2 days later, except Christmas, so often I didn't reserve that far in advance as it wasn't necessary. We had a midweek delivery pass, so Tue-Thur were always free, but often late evening slots on other days were free too if we spent over £75 (which we usually do).

When lockdown happened, we weren't able to get a slot for about 6 weeks. In fact I could barely log onto the website a lot of the time! Once they got their website sorted out and increased their delivery capacity I was getting e-mails from them encouraging me to book several weeks in advance and then edit nearer the time. They want customers to do this - I guess it makes their planning easier if they know they need a van in x area even if they don't know what will go on it yet. So now I do book a couple of weeks ahead, and edit 2 days before. Has taken a bit of extra organisation to do, but it works well. They have some kind of system in place for prioritising vulnerable customers for delivery, so we shouldn't be depriving anyone more needy of a slot - just people who haven't planned ahead.

I don't see it as any more selfish than reserving a table at a restaurant in advance - if other people try to walk in but it's full, it's not the fault of the people who've booked in advance is it?

I think the shops expect this. One Xmas, I got an email from Ocado saying cooked we check our order (for one bottle of champagne). They said that they wanted to understand how much champagne they actually needed, since they knew customers often used that to reserve a slot.

Pre booking 4 weeks in advance got me and 2 shielding relatives through the first weeks of lockdown before Ocado prioritised

Can’t say I’m for Ocado not using the shielding list like Tesco and co but it worked for me

I’m allocated every 3 days and have a weekly shop till the 14th August

I did book an emergency delivery this morning for delivery tomorrow teatime for a top up delivery. This surprises me if people are still struggling to get deliveries

I do that except not the bottles of booze. I put a few basics in when I book the slot then change the order the night before it is due to be delivered. I book one slot a week and always have three weeks slots booked. It is just being organised if you don't want to visit supermarkets.

YABU - this is how online shopping works but thanks for reminding me to book my slots for when we’re back from holiday in mid-August.

And you don’t have to shove a bottle of whiskey in your basket. There must be stuff you have every week - milk, bread etc.

On Ocado you can add your instant shop which is basically their guess of what you want or you can add regulars that get added weekly fortnightly or monthly. Takes 2 minutes to shop and if you forget to change it the shop that turns up is generally fine if not interesting.

Pre-Covid I had Ocado Reserved - my shopping would turn up every Saturday morning. I never had to book a slot. For the time being though I’m not taking my chances and I will book once a week as far as I can in advance.

And extremely surprised to learn that people reserve slots because I'd never come across this until a matter of days ago, at which point I assumed that it was a small minority of people doing it.

I know I need to buy food regularly so book slots in advance just as I would planning a supermarket visit if I had a car. I currently have two slots booked; one for the 1st Ausust and one for the 14th. Both will be used so are not 'wasted' and I'm not 'hogging' them. Both are filled with items I will more or less buy, I just tweak nearer the time if I want to make a certain dish or am running out of a household product.

I also don't limit myself to one supermarket, I have accounts with three of them.

I e always had to book my slot 2 weeks in advance meaning I have 2 bookings at any one time to allow me to have a weeks worth of food

We've been shopping online with tesco for over 20 years now. At first, we did what you do, but then, as our circumstances changes, we started to do what you are now complaining of.
Both Dh and I are vulnerable but not shielding, so we do not want to visit the supermarket. During lockdown, once our pre-booked slots were used up, we struggled to get slots and usually ended up waiting around ten days between deliveries. Not always easy when we were using our delivery to help out other family members as well. For the last couple of months, we've been booking a weekly slit, four weeks in advance. We still need to eat. I don't see that it makes any difference how far on advance I book my slot. I add a previous order and then edit the day before. Tesco don't order stuff especially for me - I still have to take my chances about whats available when my order is picked, just like everybody else. The only difference between those of us who book in advance and those who don't, is that we don't suddenly realise we need to eat in the coming week and we make arrangements to ensure we can.

@LittleBearPad

YABU - this is how online shopping works but thanks for reminding me to book my slots for when we’re back from holiday in mid-August.

And you don’t have to shove a bottle of whiskey in your basket. There must be stuff you have every week - milk, bread etc.

On Ocado you can add your instant shop which is basically their guess of what you want or you can add regulars that get added weekly fortnightly or monthly. Takes 2 minutes to shop and if you forget to change it the shop that turns up is generally fine if not interesting.

Pre-Covid I had Ocado Reserved - my shopping would turn up every Saturday morning. I never had to book a slot. For the time being though I’m not taking my chances and I will book once a week as far as I can in advance.

My Ocado “instant shop” doesn’t usually come to over £40 though......

YABU. I’ve always done this, even before lockdown. Unfortunately it’s just life @turquoise50 Some people will get the slots and others won’t 😥 For me though, I’ve stopped doing online shopping during lockdown as I like to get out! I can’t believe that a trip to a supermarket would become a ‘day out’ I’ll definitely restart it again at some point and go back to my usual ways.

I do this. I’m not sure what the problem is?I never cancel the slot. I put in some bits I know I’ll definitely need and finalise the list the day before.
I can’t get slots at short notice so do you suggest I come up with a full list of what I need a month in advance and not be able to edit it ?

I don't book more than one at a time (partly because if wasn't possible during the recent overload), but always book the next one (using something expensive) once delivery comes.

We have a running shopping list which makes it easy to complete checkout the night before - don't see its any different to planning for the regular Saturday shop my mum used to do.

I am in official shielding, but told the shielding team when they called that I don't need to be sent shopping-on the basis they were sending it, and I can afford to pay for my own. As a result, I've only been able to get two deliveries the whole lockdown. Odd system.