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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask which supermarkets are the worst for substitutions?

39 replies

isaisaisabel · 28/12/2021 10:25

I use a variety of supermarkets for online shopping to get the best deals. Today I've had an extremely disappointing shop delivered from Waitrose with awful substitutions that have ruined my weeks meal plan and a family lunch.

Which supermarkets do you find don't deliver what you ordered which interferes with your weekly plan and is very annoying.

Mine in order of the worst offending are:
Waitrose and Ocado joint first place
Sainsburys
Tesco

OP posts:
Vanuatu · 28/12/2021 10:28

Asda always missing items and weird subs.
Ocado used to be great but slowly getting worse.

llm24 · 28/12/2021 10:32

Just done by first online order with Asda
Never again awful substitutes
Worst thing was they didn’t tell me till day or delivery I thought they told you at the latest the day before

swampytiggaa · 28/12/2021 10:34

@llm24

Just done by first online order with Asda Never again awful substitutes Worst thing was they didn’t tell me till day or delivery I thought they told you at the latest the day before
The order is picked on day of delivery. It’s impossible to know what will be subbed the day before. Plus you can add amend your order up until midnight before delivery.

We’re good but we’re not mind readers 😂😊

TheCanyon · 28/12/2021 10:35

Asda is hands down the worst.

PinkTonic · 28/12/2021 10:37

Not sure how Ocado are joint worst with a supermarket which picks from the shelves. I boycotted Ocado at one point and used Waitrose but I gave in and went back due to this very thing plus short dates.

falalalalalalablahblah · 28/12/2021 10:39

Short dates for meat / fruit and veg are industry standard now. JIT and other slick ordering systems, alongside other processes & efficiencies means that supermarkets no longer have stock sitting around for ages. This is a Good Thing.

Availability has been poor for several months due to Brexit & Covid. Staff who pick from shelves aren't making substitutions to piss people off, they are trying to find the closest alternative.

Starcaller · 28/12/2021 10:47

Never had any issues with Tesco. Never many subs and when there are, they are sensible. I think a lot of it just depends on your local shop or warehouse where your food is picked though.

slothbyday · 28/12/2021 10:49

Sainsburys never seem to have stock and my shopping has had £20-30 knocked off the initial price

Morrisons go through periods of always missing the same items for weeks on end

Tesco are reliable for us locally, rarely need subs. However, I always log in the night before and confirm the order and it will tell me known missing items then so I can usually update it then or have an idea what is likely to be missing.

FrenchBoule · 28/12/2021 10:50

Depends on location and supply chain. Some supermarkets will be stocked up better than others.

ParadiseLaundry · 28/12/2021 10:52

I wonder if some of this is regional. I've rarely ever had a substitution from Tesco, even during the pandemic and Christmas, and if there was it was always better or made sense. I've used Tesco delivery for years too.

cruffin · 28/12/2021 10:53

Must depend where you live. Asda are amazing for me. Sainsburys terrible.

WorraLiberty · 28/12/2021 10:54

Asda was always the worst for me so I changed to Morrisons about 4 years ago.

I was thinking of changing anyway but the ELEVEN substitutions from Asda made my mind up for me.

friedeggandsauce · 28/12/2021 10:54

@TheCanyon

Asda is hands down the worst.
I ordered two bags of carrots that they subbed for two pieces of broccoli, I had already ordered 2 bits of broccoli so that gave me 4 in total!!!
Bluntness100 · 28/12/2021 10:54

Generally I find Ocado excellent but this morning was bad, pasta salad missing, sandwich spread instead of deli filler and cigarettes following in a seperate van at some undetermined time today.

orderanda · 28/12/2021 10:56

Asda. I'm vegetarian and I had 8 veggie meals subbed with meat. It's just common sense...

Thesearmsofmine · 28/12/2021 11:02

I think it varies. Asda here used to be terrible but these days are very good, I rarely have subs and if I do they are usually ok and you only get charged the price of the item you ordered. Sainsburys annoy me with their subs because you have to pay full price for the subbed item and they do that voucher thing instead.

FawnFrenchieMum · 28/12/2021 11:06

Asda is the worst, hate using Asda. I used Sainsbury’s a couple of times during the first lockdown, they weren’t amazing but given the shortages and the pandemic they were awful and I was just grateful for any form of delivery. I barely get substitutes from Morrison’s so use them most regularly.

llm24 · 28/12/2021 11:06

@swampytiggaa

It was 10pm I could amend my order not too midnight

Do you work for Asda would be ideal to know why

Ordered plain and salt and vinegar crisps - alternative sent Cheese and Onion

Ordered full size Sausages - sent me chipotala sausages

I’m the grand scale of things not a major problem but frustrating 😂 when have a fussy household

WalkingOnSonshine · 28/12/2021 11:06

Asda for me is awful. I am supposed to have a £80 order arriving today - it’s going to be £45 as they have nothing in stock.

Weirdly my neighbour has gone in this morning and bought two of the items that are apparently out of stock.

I find Sainsburys to be brilliant, mostly in stock and sensible subs.

FawnFrenchieMum · 28/12/2021 11:07

Should say Sainsbury’s weren’t awful!

FawnFrenchieMum · 28/12/2021 11:08

[quote llm24]@swampytiggaa

It was 10pm I could amend my order not too midnight

Do you work for Asda would be ideal to know why

Ordered plain and salt and vinegar crisps - alternative sent Cheese and Onion

Ordered full size Sausages - sent me chipotala sausages

I’m the grand scale of things not a major problem but frustrating 😂 when have a fussy household[/quote]
I don’t work for them but my understanding is, Asda pick from the shop floor so don’t really know what they will have in at any times.
Morrison’s pick from a warehouse so are more able to keep track of stock.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 28/12/2021 11:10

@Starcaller

Never had any issues with Tesco. Never many subs and when there are, they are sensible. I think a lot of it just depends on your local shop or warehouse where your food is picked though.
Same for me.
swampytiggaa · 28/12/2021 11:18

[quote llm24]@swampytiggaa

It was 10pm I could amend my order not too midnight

Do you work for Asda would be ideal to know why

Ordered plain and salt and vinegar crisps - alternative sent Cheese and Onion

Ordered full size Sausages - sent me chipotala sausages

I’m the grand scale of things not a major problem but frustrating 😂 when have a fussy household[/quote]
I work for Morrisons. @FawnFrenchieMum not all Morrisons pick from a warehouse we pick from store.

Regarding the subs we get alternatives given on the handset. We aren’t allowed to use our initiative which is frustrating when we can see a better sub on the shelf.

Ours seems to like to keep to the same brand which is probably why you got salt and vinegar crisps 😊

The shop is filled overnight for us to start at 5am so there is no way of seeing what isn’t there until then iyswim. We are working whilst they are still filling.

Thesearmsofmine · 28/12/2021 11:18

@FawnFrenchieMum is correct they do pick from the shop floor so can’t predict the exact stock levels as someone could come in 10 minutes beforehand and buy all of the bananas and there will be none left for your order.
The cut off for changing orders did used to be midnight but changed to 10pm during covid.

Cottonheadedninymuggins · 28/12/2021 11:28

To be fair to them all, the last month isn't really a great time to compare as there'll be stock shortages not just because of hgv delivery delays staff illnesses etc but also because of the time of year and people buying like crazy.

They'd probably gotten a delivery and/or restocked the shelves in between your order being picked and delivered, @WalkingOnSonshine.

I dislike Sainsbury's subs and turn them off purely because I don't shop with them often enough to reuse the voucher "sub refunds" as our Sainsbury's is small compared to the asda and tesco stores and there's not a lot of choice. (ie if you order say champagne on offer for 10, they sub it for a 25 pound bottle. You pay the 25 pound out of your bank but they send you a 15 evoucher to use online for your next shop so if your subs are on its can be a vicious circle.

We don't have a waitrose or ocado so can't comment on them.

Morrisons here pick very early for later on in the day shops. For example if your order is due between 1 and 2 you get the email at around 8am with what's missing.... Generally that's the fresh stuff that wasn't ready at that time but would be later in the day 🤦🏻‍♀️ plus their delivery crates are filthy to the point when they were delivering in bags, a bag bottom picked up so much dirt from the bottom of the trays that it transfered it into my house in the living room floor whilst tubs were emptied and also then into the kitchen where it was noticed. Since found out they store their crates outside overnight and haven't gone back (store on the very edge of town surrounded by countryside and all sorts of creatures about... Even if its just been raining overnight you can bet the literal filth from the bottom of the trays is all over your food.... Quite a few local shoppers reported it to customer services a few times and nothing was done so environmental health were notified at the council.... Fingers crossed things have improved.

Asda here aren't too bad. There's the odd silly 'not available' like a mixed flavour Multipack of crisps.... Really there were no crisps at all in the store? Mostly they're pretty decent.

I asked tesco not to sub certain things on the Christmas shop because we wanted those brands or those particular items only.... They subbed quite a few we'd asked them not to...thst was the first time they'd done that for us.

Iceland have been pretty decent. Barely any subs and when it is its been related stuff.

I'm most amused when they sub something for exactly the same thing. For example a TV mag at Xmas was subbed for the same TV mag/same edition... Just under a different computer generated name 🤣🤣

Forbthe shopper who did their first asda shop and expected to know the day before (sorry forgot username), unfortunately that's not the case with asda. They can only shop what's on the shelves at the time they pick it (usually about 3ish hours before delivery).

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