Online delivery - how often do supermarkets give you substitutes?

[Partyinfrance]

I've not been getting shopping delivered for that long, but I've found that every time I've had 2-3 things substituted, which is fine. However I've just received an email for today's delivery with 2 things substituted for something completely different, not even close to the original.
I just wonder what goes through their mind. I can send them back but I'm not able to choose something else in their place, so I'll have to go out and buy them, which defeats the whole object. Has anyone else had these problems?

Im an online shopper and the subs are suggested. We are on such a tight time frame that we often dont have time to think about the sub too much. But sometimes the system does throw up a ridiculous suggestion that i will override :)

Tesco here. Rarely get a sub and if I do they are usually acceptable.

Asda which I do mainly for toiletries, household bits, nappies etc and then a top up shop I get subs all the time, or now just missing items as some things I uncheck for subs.
Main food shop is Ocado and I almost never get subs, I might get 1 item subbed every 4 orders.

I use Sainsburys and get 2-3 subs per shop, often they’re not that big of a deal (granary bread rather than seeded etc, steak with peppercorn sauce rather than garlic butter) but occasionally it’s something completely different. I once got 2 packs of chicken goujons instead of a chicken crown 😄 - and I’ve had nappies swapped for the size below, or follow on formula rather than stage 1 etc. Annoying but I guess the picker might not know much about babies and those differences!

Ocado and Waitrose almost never. Ocado Zoom never

I've shopped online with Asda for years and never had many substitutes or they have always been good ones, but I've noticed them getting a bit bizarre recently. In fact today's shop I ordered dumpling mix and they substituted it with crumble topping 🤣🤣

Oh you've got no hope if you're ordering the essentials range. You'll have to go shopping yourself after if you want to eat.

Ocado, hardly ever. Sainsbury's, quite a lot. They once substituted a cauliflower with a box of Cornetto? DH was delighted until I pointed out that “cornetto cheese” wouldn’t go that well with dinner 🤣🤣

Asda - around 3 substitutions per order. Often the same original item week after week. I quite often send subs back but then that leaves you having to go out out and buy replacements 😬

We use Tesco or Sainsbury.

Very happy with Tesco. Only the very occasional substitute from Tesco and usually pretty sensible.

Sainsbury are more hit and miss - even "staples" like milk and bread are sometimes allegedly unavailable and they don't even give a substitute which is a real pain. But I'd say 1 or 2 substitutes every time, and the substitutes can be absolutely stupid, i.e. sending a plain chicken when we ordered a pork joint, or the best was a small slab of cheese when we'd ordered a tub of philadelphia.

Rarely here, I use Ocado and Waitrose alternate weeks.

Ocado - not often

I’ve used Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s and they gave a mix of random substitutions and ridiculously short shelf life products or produce that looked like it had been mauled. The best I have found (against my inner snob) was morrisons. It comes from a warehouse not a store so the stuff hasn’t been sat on a shelf for a few day’s before it comes through, and because they have it in warehouse the stock keeping is much more reliable.

Ocado is the same as Morrisons by the way-a warehouse based system so much less in the way of substitutes

We get Ocado and rarely get any substitutes. Their stock system updates in real time so there are things you can't order because they're out of stock but if you log in the next day they may be available again.

Some supermarkets still do their deliveries out of a store so it's hit and miss if other shoppers pick up the stock but Ocado comes out of a warehouse so they're able to track it better.

Ocado and hardly ever. Usually there aren't missing items at all, and sometimes they just don't substitute if something isn't availability.

I also recently used Morrisons through Amazon because they had a good offer on for first orders. They have an option at checkout to choose an alternative or no sub for each item in case it's not available. I thought that was great because sometimes I order something specific and don't want it substituted, but other items I really don't mind if they bring something similar instead.

Probably one every delivery ( Morrison's)
The worst one was willow substituted for butter 😒

I mainly use Ocado and they rarely substitute. Morrisons is the worst in my experience. They deliver from the store here, not a warehouse. Admittedly it is a particularly shitty store - favourite topic of conversation on the local Facebook page.

Weekly delivery with Ocado; almost never.

I use sainsbury's delivery every Monday.. l can tick if l want substitute or not.. but l never mind a substitute because its always something more expensive and they don't charge extra. If l don't want it l just give back to driver. But I've never had a light bulb instead of light mayonnaise for example.
My daughter once had Asda and it was disgusting with the substitutes.

Morrisons - used to be never, since the take over about half the time, one or two at most, and usually sensible, I rarely reject. Get an email on the morning of the delivery with the substitutions listed so I can reject them if I want.

I use Tesco and only ever 3rd shop there is 1 or 2 subs and they are good. I stopped using Asda as they as terrible. There is no Ocado here.

But why? Best case you get a useful substitution, worst case you reject it at the door and it goes straight back to store for a refund.

no fobbing off required

Oh sorry that was aimed at @DaftQuestionForToday who said she ticked no substitutes

I've let my Morrison's delivery pass expire because the number of missing items and substitutes were ridiculous. They pick in store from a particularly poor store now where there were rarely substitutes or missing items when they picked from a warehouse. Notable lows were no milk or potatoes and no substitute on a Saturday delivery. I raerly have subs or missing items from Ocado or Asda and few from Sainsburys as well.

1 or 2 usually a bag of sweet potatoes instead of loose or a different bread from the same type that sort of thing.

The only time I have got annoyed was when I was pregnant during covid lockdowns and they kept substituting my decaf coffee for regular coffee. I had many conversations with their customer relations about how that wasn't a suitable replacement. I gave up in the end

I now buy decaf coffee without issues so I think it was the broader situation

I shop at Sainsbury's and Tesco. One thing I find helpful is to check my basket the night before as some times it does bring up a product that's no long in stock so I can select something else