To think grocery substitutions should weigh the same as the original item you ordered?

[Ivylea]

I’m sure there is one supermarket who does substitute for the weight ordered, or, at least, they used to - maybe Waitrose?

But today Asda have substituted a 180g bag of own brand salad with a branded 120g bag of salad. Yes, I pay the ‘original’ cost of £1 (even though the branded salad is more expensive), but I didn’t want to spend £1 for just 120g.

And they’ve also substituted a 240g pack of roast chicken with a 160g one. Both cost £2.95.

Last week, they substituted a 250g pack of butter with a 200g one.

AIBU to think the substitutions should give you the same amount of product, and/or charge you proportionately?

They say they will never charge you more for substitutions, which is true. But you do actually end up paying a lot more per gram or per item.

Asda substituted 3 bottles of own brand lemonade for 1 bottle of Schweppes at 3 times the price, they've done it on other things too. Its the reason I no longer use them.

At least they were substitutions that matched the item

Rather than things that aren't the same.

I think it's down to the assistant who is doing the picking though. And you can always refuse if you don't like what they send.

Agree! Complained recently about being sent a packet of biscuits which was FIVE times the price per of the ones I had ordered! Obvs they (Ocado) blamed the computer, as if humans don’t program them to make decisions

I've rejected substitutions for this exact reason.

I had own brand fake meat replaced by quorn before which weighed half as much. The delivery driver said "you don't like quorn then?" and I replied "I like quorn but I don't like paying £x for only xg." Sorry, I've forgotten the exact weights and price now.

I also had them swap leeks for ready cut leeks which weighed a lot less. My meal planning is based on the number of leeks I've ordered, so getting less of a more expensive leek doesn't help me.

Sainsbury’s do it too. I ordered a £3 family pack of nature valley bars (10 packs) and they substituted it for a five pack at £2.50. I needed ten but only got five for almost the same price. I had to then buy another 5 at £3 locally(they don’t sell the £3 family pack). They should have given me two packs of five, it is annoying.

I could reject them, but, like a PP, I need/want the items I’ve ordered. If I rejected them then the only local option is a small co-op which is £££.

So cheeky!

Tesco constantly substitute the 2 boxes of 12 eggs I order with 2 boxes of 6. Yes I only get charged for 2 boxes of six, but that costs more than 1 box of 12 and I then need to go and buy 12 more.

I agree. What matters is the price per gram, not the overall price. It’s no good subbing a packet that’s half the size but only 50p cheaper! I will reject it for being too expensive, even if technically it costs less than the option I originally selected.

However I do think they used to sub based on weight, and maybe it was costing too much and they were handing out too many expensive items for cheaper prices, so now they don’t.

I tend to reject substitutions. I like Sainsbury’s because you can tick or untick each item to say whether you’d want a substitution or not.

I always leave the substitutions ticked just in case I get something sensible or a bargain, but usually I end up rejecting them. It’s not always due to cost either - often they sub an allergen-free item with another that contains allergens. I write in the subs box “please pick a wheat free substitution” but they just ignore it.

Ocado used to match the product pretty closely and you paid no more than the price of the item you ordered.

Now it doesn't. And I nearly always reject substitutions now as they have almost invariably been more expensive (outright, or price per weight/volume)

It pisses me off as their range of products seems to have narrowed recently - I know they say they have thousands of lines, but stuff I buy frequently seems to be vanishing so I'm noticing it a lot

Sainsburys doesn't do this

Or at least mine doesn't

The thing is that just isn't always going to be possible.

What do you want them to do if there isn't another 180g bag of that type of salad?

2x 120g bags. So you have more salad than you originally ordered.

I have no problem with Tesco. In fact on one occasion when they did not have the packeted wedge of brie I ordered, so they sent an entire huge wheel of brie!

I think this is part and parcel of getting your shopping delivered. Some want the same price, some want the same weight.

You get free choice if you shop yourself. If you get it delivered, these small annoyances are to be expected.

I get a veg box, substitutions happen, I don't mind.

You sub 2x100g bags.

This reminds me of when I worked in a newsagents a very long time ago - if we were out of 20 packs of cigarettes we were told to sell 2x 10 packs for the same price!

It also annoys me when the veg is short dated - those alphanumeric codes aren’t fooling anyone!

I expect substitutions but what I don't expect is to pay extra. I remember ordering 5 boxes of Twinings peppermint tea and it being substituted for 5 boxes of a really posh peppermint tea at £10 a tin! What sort of idiot thinks that's a suitable substitution?!

I used to have a veg box and you had the option to say if there was anything you really didn't want. I said cabbage and mushrooms so what did I get as a substitution? Cabbage!

We had this last week. Ordered a 500g bag of peanuts - it was swapped for 2 x 200g bags of peanuts. Yet I was charged the same price, despite being down 20% on the weight

Also the piss poor sell by dates are annoying. I ordered a roast chicken, the use by date was the same day that it arrived. Luckily I'd planned to put it in the freezer so its OK, but if I'd gone to the shop to buy it, within a few hours it would have had a whoops sticker on it

Tesco always go the other way, if you ordered an own brand item and they only have a more expensive branded one, you get it at the cheaper prices. Our requested own brand organic milk is often replaced by Yeo Valley.

They also match quantities or go higher than you order. I recently ordered 2x 500g packs of mince and they didn’t have 500g packs so sent me 2 x 750g packs at the 500g pack price.

@Ivylea This reminds me of when I worked in a newsagents a very long time ago - if we were out of 20 packs of cigarettes we were told to sell 2x 10 packs for the same price!

I don't understand why any business would willingly do this.

@Kaill yes, this happens to me too. No gluten free pasta so they put normal pasta instead 🙈