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? )

YABU I've always done this I thought everyone did. You don't need to add over £40 worth either I normally put in a bag of apple then go to the checkout.

Sainsburys allow you to do the same thing to the pp who asked.

You can just click through your favourites/instant shop to hold a slot. It takes less than 5 minutes. That way if you do forget to change it you get stuff you’d need anyway. Not that vodka is unwelcome.

YABU. I have a delivery pass that only covers Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so if I leave it until the day before and then all those days are gone, I would have to wait another week. I don't placehold with booze though, I put in some of my basics that I usually need every week and then edit the evening before - some things I might not need anymore, other things I might need to add. We have a blackboard in the kitchen so if we run out of anything it can be written up there as soon as the jar is emptied or the packet thrown away, before we forget.

You’re obviously not an Ocado shopper - they positively bombard me with emails trying to persuade me to be more organised and get a regular slot. My lackadaisical “cupboard’s a bit low, let’s book something for 48 hours time” approach clearly drives them up the wall.

I don’t approve of the bottle of champagne trick though - it’s too much of a hostage to fortune. I’ll always put a bunch of cat food and loo roll and a few boring staple meals in right at the beginning in case something prevents me from updating it, and then edit from there. For Christmas in particular I’ll repeat last year’s order as a starting point so if the zombies cut off my Wi-fi Jesus will still deliver a reasonable batch of food.

How bizarre....i always stick a bottle of champers on the slot and then take time to plan my meals and edit the night before. Its not reserving a slot to then not use it...

@Sunshine1235

I didn’t realise you could do this, so you pay for the £40 worth of stuff and then go back and add more? (I use Sainsbury’s) going to investigate as I’m rubbish at booking a slot (only just started though - don’t seem to be any problems with getting slots around here at the moment)

In your case you'd either above a bottle of say expensive whiskey in the to hold it then edit it closer to the date, or toys put in £40of baud you know you need then add the rest at a later date. But yes you have to go through checkout to secure the slot.

@Sunshine1235

I didn’t realise you could do this, so you pay for the £40 worth of stuff and then go back and add more? (I use Sainsbury’s) going to investigate as I’m rubbish at booking a slot (only just started though - don’t seem to be any problems with getting slots around here at the moment)

You don't pay for anything till they pick your items on the day. I add a champagne to hold the slot, then later take it out and put in what I actually want.

In other news, people book holidays 11 months ahead and haircuts six weeks ahead.

I've never done it. At the moment I think it's wrong because there are elderly people or those who are shielding who need those slots more than me.

I don't know how they manage it anyway. Both Tesco and Sainsburys in my area will only allow me to book a few days in advance. Probably it's to stop the 'organised' people on this thread hogging all the slots.

YABU OP we’ve been doing this for years but then we are an exceptionally organised household.

YABU. I have no idea what I'll need in 2/3 weeks time. I'll have a core list which I always buy but I don't make meal plans that far in advance and frankly my kids will probably have gone off/suddenly like a load of different things in that time! I'm not sure why it matters what is in the basket at the time of shopping to be perfectly honest.

Yes, Ocado remembers your Christmas shops. I do find it quite disturbing that Ocado knows what I ate during Christmas 2016 when I haven’t got a clue

We do this, always have done. Not sure why you see it as a problem. We have deliveries booked for the next 3 weeks but don't fill the basket until a day or so before. We never cancel and always order a lot more than £40 worth, so not sure why you would object.

YABU.

And at 'second choice supermarket'

I've always done this all be it with basic food items that I know we need rather than meals as such.
How would I know exactly what I'd want in 2 or 3 weeks time.
YABVU

@MissTemple

Exactly - I never do get the slot I want! Not now anyway - pre-Covid I did, but I tend to get my deliveries on a Saturday or Sunday evening which aren't popular slots, so it never came up as an issue before.

I feel like such an idiot! 🤦‍♀️ I’m not angry about it as such - just utterly stunned. I do still think shops should be a bit tougher at the moment though because the slots are definitely getting harder to come by. It was ok for a while immediately after lockdown but getting worse.

I know of someone mid pandemic- who had two deliveries in a week. That was annoying- especially as I could not get a delivery at all and we were isolating. I think if yu get tracked and traced you should get a code to get a priority delivery slot.

Apart from that the only way to get a delivery slot when you want one is to book a few weeks ahead.

YABU

@Nikhedonia

I just mean not the one I usually shop at. I have accounts at two but find one of them has more of the things I usually buy (especially for fussy DS) and is a bit better value for money. I had to use the other supermarket last time because couldn't get a slot with the first one. It wasn't a big deal but was slightly irritating.

I also do this. Reserve my slot with what I know we will need (milk, bread, cereal etc) and to reach the £40 put a bottle of booze in. Then edit closer to the time. I shop with Ocado mainly and there seem to be loads of delivery slots now.

At the moment I think it's wrong because there are elderly people or those who are shielding who need those slots more than me.

The delivery services exist because of the people who use them, week after week. I pay for a delivery pass. I never moaned when I couldn’t get a delivery for 3 weeks because they were prioritising those shielding. I didn’t cancel my pass either because they’d have been screwed if everyone did that. I did appreciate the toblerones.

No shortage of slots here now. We reserve ours with the things we buy every week, bread, milk, potatoes etc.... the amend it just before it’s due. Why would you not do that? Is it ok if they reserve it with normal shopping instead?

I’ve done that for years! Currently also shopping for the elderly lady over the road and she doesn’t give me her list until the weekend for a Wednesday delivery. If I waited until I got her list then I wouldnt get the slot! I can currently have two slots booked at a time with a minimum of seven days between them.

I COULD fill the trolley With “ordinary” food and then take things out as I add other things BUT that would then pull foods out of stock for others. Using a bottle of gin is quick AND is not removing an essential item from stock.

I do this but just add regular things like bread, milk, chicken that I know we'll need, then add my full list a couple of days before.

Am I better than somebody who reserves the slot with booze OP?

Eh? Isn't this what you're meant to do? Slots are still pretty spread out where I am and I've just this morning been able to book one for the 8th of August. I'd be pretty daft not to book it now as I know it won't be available closer to the date if I left it. Like others, I usually add milk or cat food, checkout then add to it in the day or so before it's due.