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? )

@SuckingDieselFella

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.

There are seierate doors for the people on the elderly and shielding list that people not in the list do not have access to (I am close to someone who works for Sainsburys in the online shopping department) the ones shown as free to everybody are fair game. So your holier than thou I’m a good egg act is actually just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Hasn't everybody always done this?

It doesn't have to be a bottle of something, you can use a 'favourites' list just as quickly.

Your style of 'wait til you're running out then think about shopping' is suited to immediate 'in person' shopping, not online.

I use Ocado and can’t checkout (thus holding the slot) with less than £40 in the basket. (I have a smart pass so don’t pay any more for delivery)

I usually put in a bottle of gin ... one that I will enjoy if I forget to take it out... I’ve never had a delivery of only the gin but I HAVE forgotten to take it out.... bonus 🤪

@NoParticularPattern I guess if everyone's doing it then it isn't selfish because it affects everyone equally. Not so much at the height of the pandemic though because there were people shopping online then who never had before, or who really needed to (but weren't on the official shielding list).

I just thought it was a few people doing it and hogging the slots so that 'everyone else' couldn't get a slot. Back when I thought everyone was chancing it like me!!

There was a thread back in about May, where people were saying 'Oh, log on at 2am, that's when the slots are released' etc, but I guess that was lockdown-specific. But at the time, I took that as evidence that everyone was doing it the way I do it - order a couple of days before you want it and hope for the best!

In my defence (because I really feel stupid now), I lived overseas for a few years and online supermarket deliveries were not A Thing in the UK before I left. So I guess everyone had a few years to figure out the tricks of the trade while I was thousands of miles away and oblivious, LOL. Where I lived, delivery was either same day or not at all, so it never occurred to me to strategise it! I now consider myself duly educated.

Tesco allows you to have two slots active at a time, I usually have two booked at any time and add/remove items, change slot as needed. I stick on the first few items in my favourites to reserve the slot and can check out with just a pack of bananas and apples (there is a £4 charge for

@Sunshine1235 They do the actual shopping and charging on the day you get your delivery so it doesn't matter what's in your basket when you initially check out.

Iirc, one woman ordered £8,000 of food from Ocado, during the early panic buying - that is selfish!

To be fair if she ordered a lot of Duchy Originals and Natoora stuff that would be easier than you’d think

@netflixismysidehustle I came on to say that too!!

Asking for a friend... how does this work? You pay for a couple of bottles but you can edit your shopping until the last minute, is that right? You have to go through card details right, you can’t just put stuff in the basket and leave it?

Tesco allows you to have two slots active at a time

I have 5 slots all the way up to mid August although I do have the delivery saver.

I pay for a delivery pass and book as far as I can which is currently 4 weeks. What makes you so special that you think you can waltz up on a Thursday and expect a slot for a few days later?! I don’t reserve with alcohol though, I put in the first 5 or so items on my favourites list then amend many, many times before the deadline. Hope that’s ok with you, Your Majesty.

I've never done this - I've never even heard of it! I'm not going to start now either. Why wouldn't you do your shop and check out?

The idea of going back and forth and faffing about with orders over the course of a week makes me itch. That's not organised at all - to me, anyway.

I currently have four weeks worth of slots booked in advance. I’ve always done this but over lockdown I couldn’t - was good for the first few weeks when I was still on pre-booked slots but I hated having to “queue” for slots and go round different supermarket sites. Now my Tesco is pretty much back to normal and I’ve worked my way back round to regular weekend slots. I’ve been having them for years and years and I’m not stopping now just because half the world suddenly wants one.

I don’t put expensive things in to check out though, I use the “usuals” tab and stick in milk, eggs, bread etc to about £20. You can check out with that on Tesco although they’d charge you extra if you never topped it up. At least that way of it came to the worst I’d get a useful delivery.

I wonder if Asda order dozens more bottles of Veuve Clicquot than they need (price £40) or whether they are used to the same one bottle being bought hundreds of times a week?

I don't think you understand online grocery shopping OP

I do this. I book a slot for every Saturday evening. All I can get since lockdown. I stick whisky and nappies in. Then I go online on the Thursday and order what I need.

You have to book in advance and won't always know what you need or want.

It's not a piss take unless you are booking loads of slots weeks in advance. One a week though is fair enough.

YABU

The money does not leave your account When you check out, only when the shopper does your order on the day of the delivery. You just give them permission to charge that card on the day of delivery, HemulenHouse.

Thus just strikes me as dishonest and really very selfish when everyone knows that delivery slots are still in very high demand

You’re a bit highly strung. Around me, we’ve had no issues with delivery slots since the beginning of June. I’ve shopped online for years And will continue to shop online yet struggled to do it during the early weeks of lockdown but had to accept the service was more in demand. I did the 3am shops and the regular checking during the day to get a slot. I have slots booked for this week and next and as soon as the slots are released will reserve one for the week after and so on. In what way am I being dishonest by doing what I’ve always done?!

Where I live I can't get an online slot unless I book weeks in advance and that's only by pure luck/ checking the site regularly. So yes I do this too. You won't know what you'll need in 3 weeks time so yes reserving random stuff then amending it the night before delivery when you have an actual shopping list and can see the offers that week is commonplace and common sense.

Chill out OP.

yeah, it's not a COVID thing. I've had a delivery pass for over a decade and always reserve next week's slot as the current week's is delivered. Although rather less glamorously I use cat food as a place holder rather than whisky, as I know it will get used if I forget to remove it.

I've had no difficulty getting slots locally so refuse to feel bad. In fact out of curiosity I've just checked and there are slots for every day until 27/07.

I still think I'd feel a bit weird about putting in something which I didn't really want, JUST to keep the slot for myself though.

There's something that everybody has on their shopping list every week. My Tesco orders are booked with a bulb of Garlic every week

I do it too for a month in advance usually

bananafish you CAN do your shopping and check out. In fact you must check out once or lose your slot.

I put in all my regular stuff and check it out and then edit it again just before it is due. Since I'm 4 weeks in advance I don't know exactly now what I will need then.

Some people just throw one item in and do it properly later. Either way works.

@netflixismysidehustle

• did you know that some supermarkets allow you to have more than one shop booked?*

I did NOT know that! I assumed that was a no-no as well. But I'll certainly check if mine does that, especially as they've recently given me a free delivery pass for a limited time.

Christmas delivery - I’m not too bad with that, partly because they email you in like October to tell you to book it well in advance! But yeah I have had instances of having to order from a different shop, or do the shopping in person due to no slots - usually between Xmas and New Year. Like I say, I just assumed it was the same for everyone except for a handful of SUPER organised people.