Sainsbury's - ZERO common sense!

[DM1209]

My 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with Covid last weekend.

She has been very, very unwell with 2 hospital admissions and an intensive course of steroids and antibiotics, which she is still taking.
At its peak, her temperature rose to 41.6, she couldn't breathe effectively and she ended up on Oxygen. Her pulse oxygen dropped to 93, at which point I was told that if it dropped to 92, she would be ventilated - we have had the week from hell. She is also Asthmatic.

I'm a lone parent with 2 younger children. My daugter is now home and recovering for which I am very thankful.

Here's my AIBU, I have a Sainsbury's delivery coming. I called their customer service to let them know we have a positive case of Covid (I've even put a sign on the door so delivery people don't knock and wait) and that we are isolating.

I called Sainsbury's customer service and asked them to please ensure that the groceries were put in cardboard boxes or bags and left at the front door, rather than loose and unbagged on the ground. This is because they don't use carrier bags anymore when delivering.
I was then told that it is not the stores responsibility to bag the groceries and unless I left bags from inside my home, at the front door so the driver could bag them when he/she arrived, they would leave the groceries loose on the ground.

It is a £300.00 order, I say that to give you an idea of the size of the order.

Where is the logic!!??

Was I being unreasonable to not want to have my monthly shop piled up on the ground? Or to not want to take bags from my house (I don't have enough anyway!) for their poor driver to handle and to then have to bag my groceries at the front door!?

My mind is well and truly blown.

[Laurendelight]

Switch to Tesco. Can opt to have order put in sacks. So convenient. Not good for environment but hey ho it’s only for now.

[Mummylin]

Stick your washing basket outside

[Nonamesavail]

Use washing baskets to transfer it

[ScribblingPixie]

Amazon Prime is great. I've had two orders - big paper bags and cardboard boxes and good quality fruit & veg, carefully packed.

[Scarlettpixie]

@Mummylin

Stick your washing basket outside

Yeah cos you can fit a £300 shop in a washing basket! 🙄

[poppy1973]

Hi, sorry about your situation. However, I know it is many policies now to not provide plastic carrier bags. What I would do is leave a few plastic large boxes outside your front door and pin a note on your door so that the driver knows you are isolating and to put the food into the boxes. I find most of the drivers pretty good and will help out if they can.

[Pyewhacket]

First and most importantly, your daughter is home and recovering. Nothing else matters, not even the shopping. If they leave it on the door step then just pick it up, it's not important. The only thing that matters is your daughter. I wish her a good recovery. I am a Critical Care Nurse.

[hellsbells99]

I am still getting Sainsbury’s deliveries for my elderly vulnerable mother. She leaves her bags outside and the driver transfers the shopping to them.

[littlefireseverywhere]

i think the issue is with Sainsburys, surely if you leave something outside the door its more for the driver to do. If they're already in bags then they can just drop & go. Less contact for all?

[grapewine]

I simply don't want to leave anything from inside my home, outside for someone else to handle. My daughter is coughing, crying, she's thrown up a few times (steroids taste foul) and I am not confident that I can safely say 'here you go, there's no germs on this'

Totally understandable. Hope Amazon Prime works out instead and, more importantly, your daughter recovers fully and soon.

[LemonadeFromLemons]

@DM1209

We leave empty plastic washing baskets on our porch for this purpose. Have you got some of those?

[OrtamLeevz]

Sainsburys will have hundreds of thousands of used cardboard boxes.

They are just being unhelpful.

[namechangetheworld]

YABU and seem to be making a drama out of nothing. As stated upthread, you're asking for a service they don't provide - it would be nice of them to go the extra mile and help but they're certainly not obligated to. The driver can put the crates on your doorstep and then step a few metres back like they do with everyone else whilst you take them in. All of the drivers we"ve had wear gloves when handling the crates anyway so there's practically zero transmission risk.

[NoSleepInTheHeat]

How stupid of them, surly they have cardboard boxes. Or they could even have added some bags for life to your order and used these to pack!

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

Last time I looked (this morning when I compiled my order) Sainsbury's had a plastic bag option (40p, no matter how many or how few bags).

Go online and amend your order to include plastic bags.
IME Sainsburys can be very *rsehole-ish sometimes.

[Notverygrownup]

Op I am sorry to hear that your dd has been so poorly, and glad to hear that she is home again.

You were very thoughtful trying to protect the driver, whilst managing 3 poorly girls. Glad that you got an alternative sorted.

Hope that venting on here has made you feel better and that you will all soon be fit again, and not having to grapple with online deliveries.

[cyantist]

All of the drivers we"ve had wear gloves when handling the crates anyway so there's practically zero transmission risk.

Apart from the virus will then be on the gloves, and subsequently on anything that the driver touches while wearing those gloves.

It's really no surprise transmission rates are so high!

[SquigglePigs]

Everyone saying the OP is unreasonable - why can every other supermarket delivery groceries in bags (in fact it was impossible to get deliveries without bags a few months ago), but the OP is somehow being completely outrageous for asking Sainsbury's to do it??

[Soubriquet]

@SquigglePigs

Everyone saying the OP is unreasonable - why can every other supermarket delivery groceries in bags (in fact it was impossible to get deliveries without bags a few months ago), but the OP is somehow being completely outrageous for asking Sainsbury's to do it??

When we delivered shopping in bags, we had to shop with bags

Meant we were so much slower, and couldn’t deliver to many people because we were slow.

Without bags, we are a lot quicker and are able to deliver to more people therefore creating more slots

[Rosebel]

Asda don't use bags either as far as I have seen. It's been a couple of months since I ordered from there but no option for bags then.

[Sirzy]

Asda have an option to add bags

[bloodyhairy]

They can leave the shopping in crates with you, then go off to complete their other deliveries, and pick the crates up from you later.
I've had Tesco delivery drivers do this when they're particularly rushed. I'm sure they wouldn't mind you suggesting this.
Plus you could take your time to unpack, and not feel pressured!
Hope your daughter is ok

[MadauntofA]

We ordered with Sainsbury's last week as we are self isolating- I dutifully put a load of our large jute bags outside and the delivery driver ignored them and left our food in many plastic bags

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

You could a roll of bin liners as part of the delivery and use those to bring shopping in?