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?

I use Tesco and probably every other shop at the moment.
They're sensible substitutions though so I don't care.

We use online ordering & delivery from Asda at work (residential children's home). Some of the substitutions really annoy me. For example, one week's menu had spaghetti bolognaise & chilli con carne on it & all the beef mince ordered was substituted with pork mince. When you consider all the different beef mince products (different weights, different provenance, different fat %) a supermarket stocks, I felt this was taking the piss. We cater for several people who are lactose intolerant, so order lactose free cheddar. Grated vegan "cheese" was substituted. No one ate it, because the taste & texture are completely different to cheddar, so it got to its use by date & had to be thrown away. When I accept a delivery, I always ask, "Are there any substitutions?" & get fobbed off with comments like, "None that I'm aware of" and "I don't know, they don't tell me, you have to check your emails." It's not in my emails because it's not me that does the order. If we stipulate no substitutions we could end up with nothing to eat for dinner on the evening of the delivery, so they've got us over a barrel.

I tick ‘no substitutes’ as I don’t want an algorithm choosing random nonsense.

What you can do and what I do with Tescos and Sainsbury’s which I alternate is I click the boxes which say no substitutes. So then you don’t get any pleasant or unpleasant surprises!

Sainsbury’s substituted my puppy treats this week for a Christmas stocking full of Dreamies.
They were handed straight back 🙄

@BashfulClam @GonnaGetGoingReturns why?! If you don’t like it send it back. If it’s sensible (as per most of the replies here) then great, you don’t have to go out again

Because most of the substitutions are useless and I’d probably still need to go out for the actual item I wanted

Waitrose rarely sub me.

When they do, it’s for luxury versions of what I ordered.

don’t mind if I do

I wish Sainsbury's allowed comments on the substitutions, rather than just yes or no.

This week I ordered a 3l bottle of Cravendale semi-skimmed, which was on offer. The substitute was a 2l bottle of Cravendale semi-skimmed for only 20p less. I would have preferred a 3l bottle of Cravendale skimmed or full-fat for the same price - or 2x2l - but I suppose their system didn't think that.

@Pertangyangkipperbang wrote, about Sainsbury's,
"l never mind a substitute because its always something more expensive and they don't charge extra."
That doesn't happen round here, at least not lately. Like the milk, they substitute with one bottle, jar or packet of something smaller. This means I don't get the full amount I ordered and what they do send costs more per gram/ml as well.

I prefer Tesco's system for substitutions, where you can add a note.

The subs are mostly auto generated, some customers are able to list what sub they prefer when ordering, the pickers need to pick faster than the speed of light so won't take much notice if replacement is not similar to original item.

I do a Tesco online shop pretty much every week. Very very rarely get subs. When I do I make sure they are what I want. I am very specific in my notes- I always specify what I will and will not accept-

eg I like the Tesco brown bread but hate the Neville's crap , so always specify " Not Neville's" that way they sub with something decent like hovis or warbrtons. If I like Helmans light mayo- I will specify - any light hellmans .

Takes a bit longer but the notes really seem to work.

Asda, every week. Often for smaller packs that cost just a little less so the unit price is higher.

Now shop with Morrisons who use the same warehousing and picking technology as Ocado, hardly ever at all.

Being a bit of a nerd I actually keep a record of how many subs I get each week. With Asda (155 deliveries) it averaged 7.6%. However, since switching to Tesco (32 deliveries so far), it's a much better 0.7%. I wish I'd changed sooner!

I use Tesco, have for years. I get maybe one or two sub’s every week or two, you need to tick the sub box and you can leave a message for your shopper, like if sr flour not in stock send plain sort of thing, I’ve found this works most of the time. Mind you I only ever put a message on the odd thing, like bananas, I like them under ripe if possible

I’ve also found if you ask for things to be after a date, got a party Sunday so all party food must be dated after Sunday, or girls party, only sub things suitable for girls. Never let me down yet

I stopped using Morrisons because of substitutions which they charge for if they sub for something more expensive and out of stock items. Back to using Tesco, you can tick a box for subs and leave a note for individual items or say that anything can be subbed and they do not charge extra if the subbed item is more expensive. No subs on today's order but three out of stock items.

Weekly Sainsburys online here and usually get between 2-6 substitutions but usually a more expensive version of what I ordered and then I get a voucher for the difference. It's great!

Very rare with Tesco. I do mine the night before though. When I've had a substitute it's always been a more expensive/bigger product. Once it was a different cut of pork, but was a lot bigger.

About half the time I might get a sub for one item or more. But only 10% of the time is it unacceptable.

There was a thread on this years ago that sticks in my mind. One Mumsnetter had ordered a fruit/nut loaf type thing, and it was subbed with a whole octopus.

She posted the delivery note, it was hilarious 😂

I love a substitution!

It depends which shop you use - I think some charge you for what you get. But Taco charges you the cheapest of what you ordered or what you get.

I've scored so many times with getting more or better quality (24 eggs instead of 15, sweet peppers instead of the cheap ones. One time they subbed my strawberries for the same weight of blueberries. I sent the blueberries I had ordered back as I got so much more for the same price with the sub).

I stopped using Tesco after several years of weekly deliveries because of poor stock availability and constant substitutions. I have been using Ocado every week for the last three months and have yet to have an out of stock/substituted item.

I use Morrisons for work and also find that they are very good and rarely have to substitute items.

Asda 2-3 every time. They do this thing where they substitute something of equal value but lower quantity. So if I order 1l of Asda oil they will give me a branded oil but 500ml ands it's the same price! That's not equal I'm getting half my order for the same money.

I've had a lettuce substituted for a cucumber. There was already a cucumber on the order so I got two.
Chia seeds for poppy seeds. I guess they look the same??
Decaf coffee for normal coffee. If I'm buying decaf I don't want the caffeine version.

I find Tesco and Sainsbury's expensive and I can't get the Morrisons app to work so I just suffer it for now.

Morrison’s very rarely have subs (I’d say 3 times a year and we order weekly) or stuff not available. The subs are mostly sensible too.

The exception being when I ordered prawn crackers and got cream crackers instead!

Snap! Or at least i used to be 😂 the customer ordered Quorn 'ham' slices it was not in stock & the suggestion was actual ham! Quickly overrode that and gave them Quorn 'chicken' slices, it was the only suitable option, no way was i going to swap a vegetarian item for an animal product

Yes all the time with asda, I ordered tuna and pasta bake sachets,substituted for chicken chasseur.