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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:
LastTrainEast · 27/07/2020 15:02

I was just reminded that in addition to 7 or 8 major supermarkets (and boxes) there were also volunteers available to do shopping for those who couldn't.

I didn't have to make use of those, but would have if it had come to it. I'm essentially housebound and all the people I know live too far to help so it was vital I find a a way to get food. Despite that I am NOT on anyone's vulnerable/shielding list.

I'm just glad Tesco stepped up. I did orders with some of the others in the first couple of weeks, but then Tesco got into gear and it was ok again.

I did have to sit there at midnight refreshing for Tescos, at 10pm for Asda, 6pm for Ocado and so on.

rosie39forever · 27/07/2020 15:14

I've shopped like this for years, have a Tesco delivery saver and book the same hour slot every Thursday 4 weeks in advance which I always use because that's when I know I'll be in that's what I pay for. Christ on a bike I didn't realise I was breaking so many rules!

NoWordForFluffy · 27/07/2020 15:23

Where do people get these extra rules from.

Nowhere and at no time has it ever been that you could only buy essential items.

The shopping police have been in action since the pandemic started to affect us with their utterly nonsense 'rules'.

It shows them up as exceptionally ill-informed as well as totally ridiculous.

LittleBearPad · 27/07/2020 17:16

I always wonder what people deem essential items when declaring (wrongly) that people should only order essentials.

Erictheavocado · 27/07/2020 17:45

My mum is also in her 80's and doesn't have any of the shielding conditions. I was able to get her signed up to Asda at the start of lockdown. I have managed to get her a slot every week, even in weeks when I wasn't able to get a Tesco slot for myself. When I get her slot, I bung in the last shopping basket and then refine it with her a day or two before the delivery is due.
As far as my shopping is concerned, I don't care whether you think I'm selfish or not. I got the slots I needed and shared the item limit with my ds and DIL to that they also had food for themselves and their toddler. But maybe that was selfish as well.
FWIW, I also registeredmy mum and us with Morrison's food boxes in case we had needed them as well as sourcing local companies offering deliveries of basics. Luckily, we didn't need them so the deliveries we didn't book were available to people who really needed them.
As pps have said, at the start, the PM told everyone to use online deliveries if possible. You can't call people disgusting names just because they were successful and you weren't.

NoWordForFluffy · 27/07/2020 18:02

@LittleBearPad

I always wonder what people deem essential items when declaring (wrongly) that people should only order essentials.
There was one thread where a batshit post announced that milk and bread weren't essentials!
Norabird · 27/07/2020 18:17

I've always done it for busy times, like Christmas that needed to be booked in advance. I have done my grocery shopping online for years now and pay monthly for it. During lockdown, when I couldn't get slots and I had to go into the shop to get my shopping I hated it so as soon as they started releasing slots again I've gone back to it.

I mostly used to book slots a few days before and fill them, only reserving them at busy times, but now I've had to get into the habit of reserving them a few weeks in advance or I just wouldn't get a slot. It never occurred to me that this would be considered cheating! Would it not be cheating if I actually filled it with all the shopping I need? I tend to fill it with all the regular stuff I buy until I hit the £40 tbh, just in case one time I forget. At least I'll get some useful stuff!

cockroachcrumble12 · 27/07/2020 18:24

YABU some of us have disabilities and its our only way of getting our shopping. It's just a matter of being organised no reason to be envious. You could fo it yourself. There is no law against it.

Mothership4two · 28/07/2020 00:13

The shopping police have been in action since the pandemic started to affect us with their utterly nonsense 'rules'. It shows them up as exceptionally ill-informed as well as totally ridiculous

Absolutely.

Back in April the Government confirmed that shops are allowed to sell whatever they have in stock. This was after some police forces were criticised for incorrectly trying to enforce a ban on "non-essential" shopping. There are no CV 'rules' about what you can and cannot buy from a supermarket.

netflixismysidehustle · 28/07/2020 00:25

At the time there was an appeal to people to only use their regular delivery slots if you really needed them because slots generally were in short supply. People didn’t heed this, because they’re selfish and still wanted their deliveries.

No. The number of supermarket slots are a fraction of those who are over 70 never mind the clinically vulnerable or shielded people.
The supermarkets allowed the shielded and over 70s to see all slots. Everybody else could only see a small fraction of the remaining slots.
The supermarkets could never have expanded so rapidly to serve everyone who wanted a slot and there's many people who need slots eg the blind who aren't on the government list which wasn't sent to the supermarkets until a few weeks after the chaos started.
If people hadn't used online groceries before Corona it would have been even worse as the infrastructure would have to be designed from scratch. Things are not pre-pandemic availability but I could get groceries delivered tomorrow at more than one supermarket.

Mothership4two · 28/07/2020 00:30

Yes, a few days ahead, not a few weeks! And not during a pandemic, when the demand for slots by vulnerable people is high. I said earlier in the thread that other than Christmas, I never had to book ahead when using Sainsburys online shopping, I'd do it a day or two days before I wanted it delivered and would be able to get a slot. Sometimes I'd do my shopping Friday morning for delivery Saturday morning. That is very different to nabbing a slot for three week's time, when you don't need it.

What difference does the time frame make? You might "need" the slot just as much in three weeks time as a few days. Slots aren't only for vulnerable people, but they (usually) have priority. If I (and my 80 yo parents) didn't book weeks ahead, I/we wouldn't get a slot at all. And people aren't "nabbing" slots, they are legitimately booking a slot

netflixismysidehustle · 28/07/2020 00:30

There are no CV 'rules' about what you can and cannot buy from a supermarket.

I saw a post on here saying that going into a shop for sanitary towels wasn't an essential trip. Hmm
We had online grocery shoppers in here explicitly say that they don't care if you order candles or canned food. It's all under the same roof and they don't judge.

netflixismysidehustle · 28/07/2020 00:32

Agree that the time frame is irrelevant.
We are a family of 4 so need groceries every week.

Mothership4two · 28/07/2020 00:42

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

Around here that would mean one shop every three weeks - not sustainable or practical. And not anything to do with popping a bottle of booze in to reserve a slot.

There would be an easy way around this "rule" by setting up different accounts (using different email addresses).

netflixismysidehustle · 28/07/2020 00:48

They wouldn't be able to charge for delivery savers as it take 2 a month to make it worthwhile.

The supermarkets knew that they didn't want their rivals poaching their regulars so tried to balance slots for them and the over 70s/vulnerable and shielding.

KatherineJaneway · 28/07/2020 06:56

There was one thread where a batshit post announced that milk and bread weren't essentials!

I remember that post. Unbelievable.

Yes, a few days ahead, not a few weeks!

Why not? It's hardly a shock you need groceries regularly.

linelgreen · 28/07/2020 07:27

i can totally understand why initially there were delivery restrictions but you just have to make the best of it. Ocado put me on fortnightly but my elderly shielding Mum managed to get a weekly Sainsbury so no problem I just added mine onto hers every fortnight and collected from her house just like click and collect. Think it puzzled the driver slightly when this 85 year old did a 300 pound shop but needs must I do not have time for all the queuing that was required to do a supermarket visit.

IndecentFeminist · 28/07/2020 07:32

Sainsbury's were registering those without any of the conditions @MadameMeursault. You just had to be over 70. My parents registered themselves early on and had a delivery weekly

NewKittyMeow · 28/07/2020 18:19

The best thing about this thread is that every time I notice it in my ‘Threads I’m on’, it reminds me to book my next advanced delivery slot. Thanks OP!

Bakedtreat · 28/07/2020 18:22

@NewKittyMeow

The best thing about this thread is that every time I notice it in my ‘Threads I’m on’, it reminds me to book my next advanced delivery slot. Thanks OP!
Same for me - or to add another item to my last minute shop.
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