To Be Annoyed at Sainsbury’s

[Rhodora]

Tried to place an online order from Sainsbury’s for Friday and tried to add 1lt of gin to the order. I tried to place the order for delivery between 10am and 11am as I live in Scotland. A message came up saying I would need to change my delivery slot as they cannot deliver alcohol in Scotland before 10am but as far as I was aware 10am-11am was not before 10am. I have now booked it for 11am-12pm. I have work on Friday which means leaving the house at 12.20pm so now I can only hope they deliver on time as half the time they are late. I get paid on Friday hence getting the shopping delivered then.

For those querying. I can’t drive and DH is in Milton Keynes until Friday. I am working Friday, Saturday and Sunday and spending time with my stepchildren on Saturday and Sunday. My annoyance is down to like most of us trying to fit the shopping in around life. I am not glued to the gin bottle, I do not need it to get through the day.

Would you be happy if Sainsbury's "put it through the tills" then left the products sitting in the back room?

Do you have any curiosity about why other supermarkets don't do this?

What's that got to do with how their sales system works?

When I buy something online, the money goes out when I order it. The sale has happened. The item will be delivered later...

It means they can deliver alcohol in a 10am slot they are choosing not to.

No it was Taste the Difference. 🤣🤣

They physically can't put alcohol through the tills at a time when alcohol cannot be sold. The tills won't allow it. The OP will have to do without her gin.

Online shopping doesn't go through the tills though. It's a completely different system.

Well, it is for Tesco. i can't imagine it's very different for other supermarkets.

I don’t believe it goes through a till at Sainsbury’s either. You often see staff members running around with trolleys which have small boxes and hand scanners on them picking orders which have been placed online.

Which she did!! Your alcohol issue is boring and judgemental!

Oh dear god! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It's not judgemental.
I just don't understand the big deal.

oh give over, you were judging and made that clear….

Anyone have a nice day and don’t eat too many crisps, no one needs crisps, high in fat cause obesity and potential early death, unless of course you manage to eat them in moderation, a bit like drinking gin in moderation is a possibility.

Oh for pity's sake.
That was my point.
I like crisps. But I don't NEED crisps. If for some reason I can't have them on my food delivery then I can't have them.
Annoying - yes.
Disappointing - yes.
Changing the delivery time to one that's actually a big awkward just so I can have some crisps - no. I wouldn't do that.
Because I don't NEED them. I want them. But I can survive without them.
The OP has the perfect right to be a bit annoyed and to come on Mumsnet and have a moan about her lack of gin - but she doesn't NEED gin.
Anyway it's far to early for this argument so I'm going to leave the thread now.
Bye.
Have a nice day.

There's no 'deal'. Those are the hours of trading. We all know that. Most of us cope.

Presumably the different system also has to allow for licensing hours.

Yes argue later on again, see you then!

in the meantime, assuming someone who orders a bottle of gin, can’t live without it or moan about a system is judgemental as has been pointed out to you ms y times.

You need to think about your words, it’s not just me saying it!

Have a think of when you’ve ever seen a home delivery picker going through checkouts with a customers order. I can tell you never because how do they pay for it? The customer has paid online but if it goes through the tills there’s no method of payment. We pick alcohol around the clock in my store because it’s paid for online at the time of placing the order.

Ok one final point.
The OP had a choice to decide her priority.
Choice 1 Delivery at a convenient time with no gin.
Choice 2 Delivery at a non convenient time with gin.
The word "gin" could be replaced with anything (even "crisps 😂) - but the point is still the same - which one is actually more important to the OP. 1 or 2.
She chose 2.
I don't really care one way or another.
I clicked on the thread because I was curious as Sainsbury's (and other supermarkets) annoy me too on occasions.
Maybe my first comment was a bit harsh (and I did apologise to the OP up thread).
Anyway.... I have nothing more to say.
Bye.

Not for picking. The key time is the time of collection/delivery. So collection and delivery can happen from 10am.

I guess it comes down to when legally, the sale is considered to be made for one, is it when the payment is made? When it's picked or when it's put on the van for delivery or when it's actually delivered?

Either way, Sainsbury's aren't going to risk having sanctions imposed on their alcohol licence and the staff picking it aren't going to risk the personal fines that can be issued (presume it's the same in Scotland for the individual as England) because a customer is a bit inconvenienced. They're expensive to get and renew, and sanctions or loss heavily affect the company.

You don't actually have to break the law to break the terms of an alcohol licence, and licences don't all have the same blanket terms. And licencing teams are looking for policies that tell them you're a responsible retailer when they give/renew your licence. This would be a way to show there's absolutely no way the licencing conditions, or the licencing laws, around sale times would be breached.

A bit annoying to some customers? Yes.
Enough of an impact for them to risk it? Clearly not as that's their policy.

It's when it's delivered or collected.

Source: a former Tesco dot-com employee.

But this is Sainsbury's. And that's the PP point. Sainsbury's licence might not be the same as Tesco. Their system might not be the same.

Saying "well at Tesco we did this" is as useful as the fact where I work we can't sell alcohol until 10am but the pub around the corner can serve from earlier and someone posting to complain about where I work and someone saying "well we can serve from 8am". Different licence.

👋

Given that the pop up says the same as the rules that Tesco have to adhere to, that seems very unlikely...

Legal laws and licences can vary

A licence can restrict more than the law can for example.