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.

I turn off all substitutions for this reason.

I suspect they have algorithms that prompt the store picking staff to select substitutions that are favourable to the store in terms of profitability, stock management etc, rather than the individual making a logical choice based on what the customer needs.

I ordered 2 x200g bags of cashews, they didn't have any available so I got 2 x500g bags instead.. Best day of my life 😂

Wow, I might have to turn substitutions back on! 😁

Tesco gave me dog food instead of cat food 😂

I got Willow instead of butter 😖

Asda's substitutions are based on price.
Thats why you very rarely get more than you ordered because you pay no more than the original item ordered. They won't want to do themselves out of money. Everything is controlled by the system. Very rarely the pickers may override the system and give you something more expensive.

If you don't like the way substitutions are some complain to head office because the store can't do anything about it.

I usually find the Tesco substitutions very good - always get the multiple of smaller sizes to make up to the amount you need. I'd complain if they gave me less and expected me to pay full price for it. (I have never had a problem with getting items refunded via a quick phonecall if there's an issue).

We went back to using Ocado rather than Sainsburys due to the attitude of the driver when we rejected some substitutions. He stood there huffing and puffing while DH found them and acted as though he was doing us a favour by taking them back!

My favourite one was the other way round-I ordered 5 loose pears (I think it was 5 for the price of 4 or something like that, so about £1) and got given 5 packs of 4 pears instead

They used to. Maybe they still do at yours, but they don't at mine. Same bollocks everyone else is talking about - smaller versions of more expensive items but no refund, or less than what you ordered at the same price as what you ordered etc

@CatMattress They definitely still do at mine, we had the milk upgrade I mentioned last week and a small tub of blueberries was replaced with a larger tub for the same price.

Tesco are supposed to give you the quantity you asked for or slightly more. I've had a couple of problems lately though and have had to call to get the refund. If I've ordered a kilo of chicken , I want a kilo of chicken, not 800g priced at the same as a kilo!

The ridiculous substitutions are the reason I stopped shopping online with Asda.

That's the type of thing I write to the supermarket's customer service about in the rare circumstances something like this happens. I usually get refunded to my credit card or get sent a gift card to the same amount. 🌹

Yanbu. This is one reason why I say no subs, unless I know the sub will be acceptable (this week I said they could sub kidney beans as I needed them).
The other reason is I check everything is dairy free so don't want a sub that might not be.

Apologies if already mentioned, but I do wonder if the butter is more a brand fault and not the store as I know a lot of them have gone from 250g to 200g and not reduced the price.

Nobody forces subs on the customer.

You’re very wrong.

The supermarket policy I work for is substitutions must be equal to or greater than what was ordered. And the customer only pays what they were expecting to for their original choice.

Mistakes do happen though, particularly with pick rate pressure. Bur if you rang and complained you'd get some goodwill comp.

I get that a lot too. I think it depends what you are buying, I I buy a lot of tesco value or equivalent, creamfields etc. You do tend to get more bargains in the substitutions as the only way is up!

My Best two subs:

1. cabbage substituted with ONE sprout
2. cheese substituted with orange juice

🤣

We shop with Tesco and 99% of the time, substitutions work in our favour.

I usually get a refund if the item was less

@Kaill

Don't they get thrown away if you reject them?

You’re being a bit disingenuous there - how do you know that there were 2x100g bags available? If they didn’t have what you want, you would make a substitution yourself based on what’s available. . You are under no obligation to accept the substitution chosen for you. You can tick boxes to accept substitutions on some items and not on others and even then, you don’t have to accept what they send. They’re not mind readers who know you would have preferred a slightly different option. They’re people making a choice in a given moment. If you don’t like it, you can always do your shopping yourself?

This is my experience, tesco are pretty good