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AIBU?

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Original poster

What on earth were they thinking?!

259 replies

PissTakeSubstitution · 04/03/2023 19:53

Hardly ever tick ‘allow substitutions’ on my online shop because of past experience, however I didn’t want to risk no wine and I’m not too fussy.

AIBU to think this was a ridiculous substitution? There must have been 20+ different white wines in the price range I’d selected, yet for some unknown reason the person picking this shop decided to an Alcohol Free bottle was the closest match.

Worst still DH didn’t notice it was an alcohol free bottle and accepted the substitute Angry

What on earth were they thinking?!
OP posts:
Milly2022 · 05/03/2023 19:11

If that was ASDA, they would've sent you grapes instead.

piedbeauty · 05/03/2023 19:18

Tesco once sent me a substitute for a wine box - a miniature bottle of wine!!! I took it personally...

Guis23 · 05/03/2023 19:19

Fragglecock74 · 05/03/2023 19:09

@Guis23 The Branch manager wouldn’t give two hoots. They want rid of it as it doesn’t make any money and stops us stacking shelves unlike Deliveroo which brings in thousands upon thousands each week. I feel so rude when I’m racing around doing a Deliveroo as you are timed and customers ask you a question and we are meant to direct them to a colleague to help but it just feels rude and not customer friendly at all. Plus they aren’t replacing people who leave and we are thin on the ground I’m seeing this in a lot of shops now.

Do you mean the store want to get rid of online shopping ?

spanieleyes · 05/03/2023 19:22

Tesco today could offer no alternative to Whiskas cat biscuits for delivery, poor cat is distraught!

bloomtoperish · 05/03/2023 19:26

I'm still annoyed at Tesco for failing to send me my wine and chocolate one time, apparently no wine or chocolate in the whole shop, when isolating with covid

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 19:32

CP191989 · 05/03/2023 19:07

We don’t pick what we sub things with we just scan the thing it tells us and as you go by location (it gives you isle/the side/the mod/the shelf/ the number along the shelf) they probably didn’t even see it was AF or they probably would have had enough brain cells to override it despite people thinking we do the job because we are idiots 😅

If you with for Tesco, it's entirely possible to choose a different sub. I do it all the time. I want going to give someone baby shampoo instead of calpol, for example.

Atsocta · 05/03/2023 19:42

Asda replaced my order for Cesar dog food with cat food 🤪 sure even my dog was annoyed !

zippythepotter · 05/03/2023 19:52

yeh my worst disappointment was ordering three bottles of wine for a pre Christmas social blitz and Tescos delivering three bottles of white wine vinegar-
Ha. At least someone was getting a laugh.😒

RingInTheNew · 05/03/2023 19:55

I used to do consumer research for a grocery store and there were some very amusing substitutes, including a tin of roses instead of a bunch, and an arsenal birthday cake instead of a Man U one.

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 05/03/2023 20:08

Atsocta · 05/03/2023 19:42

Asda replaced my order for Cesar dog food with cat food 🤪 sure even my dog was annoyed !

Mine would have been over the moon!

Fragglecock74 · 05/03/2023 20:11

@Guis23 The managers would like to but it’s not up to them

Rewis · 05/03/2023 20:15

I'm surprised how cheap alcohol free wine was. It costs the same as alcoholic wine in my neck of the woods.

willow236 · 05/03/2023 20:22

illiterato · 04/03/2023 21:00

My mum ordered turkey gravy and got cat food- meaty chunks in a rich turkey gravy. The cat refused to eat it.

Omg!😂😂😅

Atsocta · 05/03/2023 20:23

Ha ha I think he was really, just his pride was hurt.

Atsocta · 05/03/2023 20:24

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 05/03/2023 20:08

Mine would have been over the moon!

Show quote history

Ha ha I think he was really, just his pride was hurt.

BustyLaRoux · 05/03/2023 21:03

Best sub I’ve come across: sanitary towels (requested), aubergine (substitute) !!!!

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 05/03/2023 21:14

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 18:32

'No suitable substitutes' is also the message that appears if you asked for no substitute.
A lot of people don't realise that they selected that option. Maybe that's what happened?

Show quote history

No, had selected to have substitutes.
Got substitute loo roll in the same order.

MarsandVenus · 05/03/2023 21:22

Ooh how frustrating! In my experience, Tesco pickers are notoriously careless and I’ve had some very odd substitutions in the past so I wouldn’t take it personally 😊I made the same mistake the other week. Grabbed bottle off store shelf in a hurry & only noticed it was AF after I’d got home & opened it 😕

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 21:39

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 05/03/2023 21:14

No, had selected to have substitutes.
Got substitute loo roll in the same order.

Show quote history

The fact that you got a substitution in the same order doesn't necessarily mean you chose to accept substitutions.

For one thing, it's possible to accept substitutions for some items and not others. For another, it's possible to override a customers request for no substitutes. And the person picking the toilet rolls might not be the same person picking the pasta, so one might be more inclined to override the customers decision - I would override a no sub request for toilet roll, it's unlikely that someone would be unhappy with that. But customers do refuse pasta subs.

Tillow4ever · 05/03/2023 22:08

For those saying the scanner tells them what to sub… it does BUT the picker can override it (at least, they can for Tesco).

We leave subs on - on the whole we do ok out of it. Today, for example, we had 3 bags of carrots instead of 10 loose carrots for the cheaper price, and (weirdly) they subbed my 750g of 5% fat mince… for 2 x 750g 5% fat mince. Literally gave me 2 of the item I ordered for the price of one!

One piece of advice -always check you receipt BEFORE they come. It gets issued via email, or you can see it on the app/website and it tells you any subs. The delivery driver should tell you too - but sometimes they forget. But if you check the receipt in advance, you know what to look out for the reject!

you can WhatsApp Tesco these days and they are great at sorting out issues with deliveries, so worth messaging them OP!

Angrywife · 05/03/2023 22:59

I've not read all the pages of replies, but it is a computer that indicates the substitute. . .

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 05/03/2023 22:59

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 21:39

The fact that you got a substitution in the same order doesn't necessarily mean you chose to accept substitutions.

For one thing, it's possible to accept substitutions for some items and not others. For another, it's possible to override a customers request for no substitutes. And the person picking the toilet rolls might not be the same person picking the pasta, so one might be more inclined to override the customers decision - I would override a no sub request for toilet roll, it's unlikely that someone would be unhappy with that. But customers do refuse pasta subs.

Show quote history

I did though, have only been using online deliveries for over ten years, I know how it works and what I selected.

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 23:03

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 05/03/2023 22:59

I did though, have only been using online deliveries for over ten years, I know how it works and what I selected.

Show quote history

You'd be surprised how many people don't know that they're selected no subs. It's surprisingly common, even with people that have ordered online many times. And sometimes people say they have asked for subs, but for some reason it hasn't come through on the other.

I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just explaining why I thought it was a possibility.

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 05/03/2023 23:14

CrappyJob · 05/03/2023 23:03

You'd be surprised how many people don't know that they're selected no subs. It's surprisingly common, even with people that have ordered online many times. And sometimes people say they have asked for subs, but for some reason it hasn't come through on the other.

I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just explaining why I thought it was a possibility.

Show quote history

And I'm explaining I did.

Siawouldwannabeya · 06/03/2023 00:11

I worked as a personal shopper, the scanner is indeed loaded with substitute suggestions and the managers expect such speeds to get the orders picked that some PS’s go straight to the sub for fear of being pulled up on their ‘pick rate’ especially the younger ones. But I was one of the other types who was more conscious of what I’d like to see if it was my order so I always tried to match as best as I could 😊