to turn supermarket delivery away when they ring on my door bell two hours early?

[BasilParsley]

Sort(ish) question: If the supermarket delivery driver turns up at 9am rather than 11am because he's delivering across the road anyway (with no phone call to ask if I could accept an early delivery which is usual) would I be unreasonable to tell him to go away and come back later?

(Long background) It's played on my mind all week so could do with some advice please.

There is a v. small care home opposite my house that also gets the same supermarket to deliver, generally on the same day, but at different times (sometimes around the same time, sometimes earlier, sometimes later).

The reason I order a slot later in the morning is that I have a reasonably severe disability that means it takes me a while to get going in the morning e.g. the ablutions and the getting dressed, breakfasting etc.

Due to the fact that my disability makes me more prone to infections like covid and it takes a lot longer for me put stuff away , I always ask the driver to unload the crates into bags I supply in my porch. I then take my time, decanting those bags into the kitchen cupboards/fridge/freezer etc.

Driver last week clearly had a 9am-ish delivery at the home across the road so rang on my doorbell around that time. I was still in my dressing gown (and wrapped in a towel underneath because I was drip-drying having not long got out of the bath).

I told him he was too early but maybe he could give me five minutes to get dressed then I can accept the delivery. He said yes I'm early, but I've just delivered over the road so if you get your bags, I'll put your order in them and put them in the porch so I won't need to come back.

I felt so coerced (and still bleary-eyed and getting to grips with the day), I went and hid in my skanky dressing gown in the living room for a bit until I heard him call from the porch that it was all done. Got to the porch and the outer porch door is wide open and the bags are all preventing it from being closed.

So I had to deal with it then and there until I was able to close the outer door which left me in a bit of a state for while.

What would you have done?

Oooh aren't you 'ard. OP has specific health and disability needs and she's set her life up to independently accommodate them. Commendable, in my opinion. But not in yours, presumably, because she's not living the rugged country life, wrangling animals at all hours?

You are not being unreasonable.

As a supermarket delivery driver, I always ring first to see if a customer would be happy to have their shopping earlier. Lots of people don't answer the phone unfortunately (unknown number I assume) and in those cases I'd knock just to see, but always more than happy to return during the time slot if it isn't convenient.

If you put a note on your order asking for no early deliveries, the driver will definitely see it, Tesco use the same system as my company. It will be on her/his hand held device and on the paperwork they should have with them.

There is a lot of waiting around reading in the job!

Well I would have accepted it but I am not severely disabled so totally get why you were put out. If this happens often then I would consider moving to afternoon deliveries as your order would not even be on the van in the morning. Hopefully it is just a one off though.

Do you have a disability and shortness of breath, @Spirallingdownwards? Because @BasilParsley does, and she has explained why this makes it so much harder for her to just accept the early delivery.

I do it on purpose. Ocado delivery is £5.99 for the time I actually want it, so I book the 10pm 99p delivery slot and they come 2 hours early every time. Saves me £20 a month.

They do call and ask though tbf, which didn't happen in this situation.

When I was going to order a day or 3 ago from Ocado all their slots were £6.99 very expensive!

Drives me bonkers, I've stopped using Asda because of it (and I don't even have a disability, just book my slots for when it works for me!) I don't think you're unreasonable at all OP.

I remember once coming back from the school run to see the Asda van driving off despite it not being booked for nearly another hour. He tried to refuse to come back to deliver and I had to spend a lot of the next hour on the phone for Asda to concede and let me have my shopping at the end of his delivery round, so once again not at the time I'd booked. They are absolutely useless.

That's annoying OP. I choose a time for after I've finished work, with about a 30 minute leeway if I can in case they arrive early, but no way would i be ready for an unexpected 2 hr early delivery. Our local Sainsbury's do sometimes deliver early, though they usually ring to ask if it's ok to arrive early. It would be awkward for me if they just turned up as they would see me through the window sitting at my desk in a meeting that can't be interrupted even for gesturing that it can't be interrupted as I would quickly lose my right to work from home.

Yes thats the thing isn't it.
It's fine to interrupt a work call to collect a parcel, but when there is a bunch of people and I'm chairing it, they would be rightly unamused if I disappeared for 15 minutes to unpack the crates. Because it comes in crates not bags, you can't just leave it until you're ready.

]Spirallingdownwards · Today 11:46
"I would have let them in. I frequently answer the door, take supermarket and other deliveries in my dressing gown."

But are you disabled with mobility and breathing problems ?

I think this thread has really highlighted how some non disabled people just don’t get how disability really changes every part of everything for people. I hurt my back badly a month ago and I have had a tiny taste of how hard things suddenly are. It’s shocked me. It’s not just one part of your life it changes, it’s literally everything. I had to use the hospital wheelchairs to get from the car park to the clinic and it was an eye opener.

The stories the Ocado drivers have told me are a source of perpetual astonishment

@BasilParsley I don’t get why you’re so vexed about your delivery driver coming early and doing what you need him to do so that you can then put it away at your leisure.

You were not put out at all, and your delivery driver did everything he could to make it convenient and safe for you.

ocado aren’t allowed to call before 9am, because people who had deliveries before 9am complained that they were called before 9am

bonkers

I’ve had delivery drivers turn up and wait in the lane so as not to arrive early, some come 10mins early, it’s not a problem.

the earliest a delivery was came on the day of that Storm Eunice, again, I was a bit surprised but i was relived tbh.

I get that 2 hours is a lot of time, but the driver will be motivated to make it as convenient for you as possible, it saves on time, which they’re not paid much for, and fuel and needless journeys.

dwelling on this and pondering about it is far too much. Chalk it up to a blip and move on. It ISNT a big deal.

I wouldn’t answer the door to anyone I wasn’t expecting.

I tend to go for the £1.99 slots but even if I can’t, it’s still working out about £25 cheaper than my previous Asda shop. I’ve been very impressed. They always call if early but that’s only happened twice in 5 months. One time I wasn’t home so said give me 15 minutes and I’ll be there - which he did, then added extra bags to my return so I got a £2 extra discount as a thank you.

Usually lucky and the phone but have had this in past tend to move supermarkets soon after.

I once paid more for a specific day clothes delivery from Asda as I'd be in that day - they came day before and caught and delayed me trying to leave the house - and when I complained couldn't understand why I was upset not pleased I got it early.

Then recently family funeral with widowers birthday soon after - as we were traveling I sorted present out before hand with set day the birthday date few days after funeral - 2 parts one company manged correct day other turned up days earlier on day of funeral when house was full of family after the funeral tea which was a tad inappropriate.

This is so annoying isn't it.
I use Asda and the delivery driver told me (when he turned up very early) that they are allowed to deliver up to one hour early - not sure that's been communicated to their customers!
If I wanted the hour earlier slot, I'd have picked it!

What would i have done? I would have accepted the delivery if i was in the house.

I probably wouldn't have opened the door in a towel and dressing gown though and just thought if it was anyone important they would call me on my phone.

He asked you and you could have said 'no, I booked that slot a reason and i cant take in the delivery until then'.

I dont think that he did anything that wrong to make a complaint.

Ocado always call so don’t have that issue. I wouldn’t overthink it too much but maybe I’d opt for a different day to the care home in future if possible so it doesn’t happen again.

I'd have let him deliver, on the provision he took everything through to the kitchen for you.

Win win for both of you then.

If I am in and its convenient I accept the delivery. If not or if I am working from home I simply say a polite no. I had one quite annoyed driver who did not seem able to realise I could not talk to him as I was on a Teams call, but that has been about it. Largely the drivers I have had have been really nice and helpful.

Of course YANBU. You agreed to a specific time. A few minutes either side is normal and often written into the contract. Two hours? I'd have expected them to return later.

I must admit, I've had a completely opposite experience with Tesco. I thought I had booked my slot for 10pm. 10am, when I'm at work, my mobile rings and it's the delivery driver - he's at my front door! I'm horrified because I'm in the City and have no way to get back home in time to see him

'Is there anywhere I can leave it? he asks and I suddenly remember that both the garden and garage gates are unlocked. Could he leave it in the garage?

'It's very warm,' he says, 'and you've got a lot of perishable stuff.'

So, obviously, I ask if he can possibly come back later and unsurprisingly, no. He's fully booked up for the day and then I have my genius (and a bit cheeky?) idea - there's a fridge in the garage. Could he stick it in there?

And bless him, he did. Now, that's service!

I would take it if I could only because I know a driver who works for Ocado and they get too many deliveries within their 10 hour shift, squeezing in so many deliveries not only extends their day which they hardly ever get time to have a break, but they get constant threats of being fired when they are running late through no fault of their own - I know all this has nothing to do with the customer, but if I’m home and the driver knocks or calls asking to deliver early I accept as I know it will help them out.

So this happened only once, right ? And on this one occasion, the driver didn’t call you to ask could he deliver early ?
Is that really what all the fuss is about ? He made a mistake, tell customer service to note no early deliveries and move on.

I get that you were inconvenienced but hardly worth all the haranging on here.

That's the thing. In some ways you are at the mercy of the delivery drivers. If you annoy them or don't do what they want these shenanigans occur.