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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

People 'reserving' delivery slots

895 replies

turquoise50 · 20/07/2020 14:29

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? Grin)

OP posts:
Teateaandmoretea · 24/07/2020 21:51

You just need to do the same. Yabu obviously 🙄

Coronabegone · 25/07/2020 04:21

@FrustratedMess do you honestly think it's just shielders that have started online shopping? Really? You don't think that others have decided they don't want to queue outside, don't want to get too close to others? I don't think it's just shielders.

BlusteryLake · 25/07/2020 04:57

I have had an online supermarket delivery every week for the last 11 years. Pre-covid I used to book my regular slot a week in advance but as soon as lockdown happened I changed my habits to booking three weeks in advance on a rolling basis. So I currently have three open orders. As soon as one arrives I book the next one three weeks off, alongside the two I already have booked. Success in most things in life almost always favours those who adapt and plan ahead and this is no different.

lilylion · 25/07/2020 05:24

@Slimeafterslime we have priority booking with Sainsbury’s and can see a week of slots.

Glittertwins · 25/07/2020 06:35

Come to think of it, I've always booked ahead for the slot as soon as it became available ie 3 weeks previously, now it's 4.

FrustratedMess · 25/07/2020 23:44

@Coronabegone

I didn't say it was just shielders

MadameMeursault · 25/07/2020 23:59

My mum is 84 and has none of the conditions on the shielding list, despite having many other health problems. I don’t live near her and she has no-one to shop for her. I managed to get her delivery slots in the first 3 weeks of lockdown but after that nothing. Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats.

FrustratedMess · 26/07/2020 00:59

@MadameMeursault

My 86 year old grandma is the same.
I rang Tesco direct, they added her to the vulnerable list for priority shopping slots.

Maybe you could add her now, incase we have a 2nd wave

Mothership4two · 26/07/2020 03:49

There are some ridiculous posts (and some quite aggressive) on this thread criticising people for online shopping. What so there are lots of free slots for a handful of people to pick and choose theirs? Everyone is in the same boat and you may have to get your finger out to book ahead. And a lot of people who maybe could go shopping are anxious and do not want to go in and risk their health. They may also be ordering extra for someone who is older or shielding.

My parents (in their 80's) got their head around online shopping which was a totally novel experience for them. Sometimes they had to go out to collect and sometimes they couldn't get a slot when they wanted it. Many of their local businesses started delivering, so they used those too. They are pragmatic about this and wouldn't be calling out people who have as much right as them to shop online.

silentpool · 26/07/2020 06:14

I get shopping delivered once a month. I see no reason why I shouldn't book the slot ahead of time. Not all of us have cars and we need to get heavy things delivered.

KatherineJaneway · 26/07/2020 07:53

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops.

There were other options for food deliveries / food access during lockdown than a major supermarket slot.

lyralalala · 26/07/2020 07:57

@MadameMeursault

My mum is 84 and has none of the conditions on the shielding list, despite having many other health problems. I don’t live near her and she has no-one to shop for her. I managed to get her delivery slots in the first 3 weeks of lockdown but after that nothing. Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats.
You could have rung the priority lines and had her added to the vulnerable lists. None of the supermarkets would have turned down someone in their 80's, in fact you still can.

The Tesco and Sainsbury's numbers have been posted a couple of times through the thread.

YinuCeatleAyru · 26/07/2020 07:59

yabu - generally you can't book a slot for less than 2 or 3 weeks ahead anyway, and who knows exactly what you'll need then? if the supermarket are happy to have edits made the day before then that is fine. if you attempt to do your shopping when you book the slot, you get loads of things that are out of stock at that time but may well be in stock again in the actual week of the slot.

Graciebobcat · 26/07/2020 08:05

Shops should stop customers being able to have more than one current order at a time, that would easily sort it out in the case of reduced slots being available.

I've been buying online for over 20 years now. Sometimes it feels like some people have only just found out it exists.

Coronabegone · 26/07/2020 08:41

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats.

It's the stupid cunts that didn't get their parents on the vulnerable list you need to call out! These twats are so unresourceful !

bruffin · 26/07/2020 08:42

@Graciebobcat

Shops should stop customers being able to have more than one current order at a time, that would easily sort it out in the case of reduced slots being available.

I've been buying online for over 20 years now. Sometimes it feels like some people have only just found out it exists.

Ocado are regularly emailing me to mske more bookings. I have one booking a week for 4 weeks in advance. I have been a weekly customer for about 15 years. Its no different to the reserved spot i had for a while.
Coronabegone · 26/07/2020 09:30

*The newbies???

The shielders?

The ones that can actually die if they catch covid?
Those the ones your angry at?*

@FrustratedMess you are saying the newbies are the shielders actually! I'm not angry at anyone booking slots etc, I go about my own life doing what I can when I can. It's people on here whinging and calling people cunts who seek the angry ones.

whatsthecraic91 · 26/07/2020 09:49

How is it selfish and sneaky to book ahead 😂 I don't give a shit if other people are unorganised! I always have 3/4 slots booked at a time so I am sure to get my Friday delivery between 6-7pm 😁

OP you're just complaining about it because you didn't think of it yourself 😂

SengaStrawberry · 26/07/2020 12:11

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats.

Why didn’t you get a shopping slot organised for your mum before all this or do her shopping for her? Is it only Covid that’s meant you give a shit about your poor mum having to struggle to the shops?

How about you take responsibility for your own family without calling people you know nothing about “cunts”? You don’t know other people’s circumstances and in times when we were told to stay at home why shouldn’t they avail themselves of the shopping service they had used and paid for for years? Since when is your mum their responsibility?

SengaStrawberry · 26/07/2020 12:14

In fact Boris actually said in his lockdown message that people should use food delivery services when they can. He didn’t say that this only applied to the shielded and vulnerable. Bit off to call people “cunts” for complying with the PM’s instructions.

Drivingdownthe101 · 26/07/2020 12:30

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats

My regular shopping slot also kept 2 vulnerable people from having to go to the shops as I ordered for them too, so am I still an utterly selfish cunt and an entitled twat?

JamesArthursEyelashes · 26/07/2020 13:08

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats

Oh dear! Someone needs to chill.

Staplemaple · 26/07/2020 13:08

Everything booked up due to utterly selfish cunts booking slots because they were regulars even though they could easily have gone to the shops. So my poor elderly unhealthy mum had to drag herself off the shops every week endangering herself. Thanks so much, you bunch of entitled twats

Maybe you should have stayed up to book her a slot then, it was obviously possible if others managed to.

FrustratedMess · 26/07/2020 13:14

@Coronabegone

Yes that was a question?!?!?!?
Not a statement

Infullbloom · 26/07/2020 13:17

This thread is bonkers. Of course you have to reserve a slot if you want a food delivery or click and collect, that's how it works Confused. No one would ever get anything delivered if they didn't reserve a slot.
Slots are plentiful where I am, I booked a delivery on Friday night just past for Saturday delivery. I'm a lone parent and just worked a 6 day week, hope that's OK with the slot booking policeHmm.

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