AIBU to tell you all to avoid Sainsbury's?

[Theresalotgoingon]

I am so frustrated and feel so powerless to do anything about the shocking service I received from Sainsbury's so just want to spread the word and tell you all to avoid Sainsbury's grocery delivery if you have any alternative options!

We have a family party today and I booked a £150 grocery delivery to arrive last night between 10-11pm with all the fresh food and drinks for the weekend. 11pm came and went with no communication and their help lines were closed. I waited up until midnight but no delivery.

This morning I rang at 8am as soon as their lines were open - their automated response line asked for my order number which they then told me had been delivered and I had to route through several options to actually speak to someone. Finally getting through to someone and they offer no explanation or apology for the totally missed order and said they'd refund £146 to my card in 5 working days! The delivery fee would have to be a gift voucher! So not even a full refund! I have pushed back on this but now have to wait 72 hours for another team to call me to process the £4 delivery fee. They have offered me a £5 voucher good will voucher for the poor service.

I know that issues happen - drivers get sick, they may run out of time etc but the total lack of communication and understanding from the store / company makes me so frustrated. Anyway I went out this morning at 7am to go and buy everything else and will just have to put it behind me. Who else should I use going forward because I'll never book with Sainsbury's again!

To be honest, if I were catering for a family party, I wouldn't rely on a delivery instead of physically doing the shopping. I've been let down by Tesco and Asda too. Don't start me on M&S Christmas Collection slots. A mile long queue that takes 30+ minutes when I coukd have walked into the store and walked out with what I wanted via the checkout faster!

That's really poor. I use Sainsburys delivery very regularly, and if they did this to me I would be absolutely furious! Especially the wait for refund and how they have dealt with the delivery charge. Really very unacceptable.
When I had a similar issue years ago with Tesco for my Mum's funeral wake at home, Tesco absolutely bent over backwards to put it right, including an immediate full refund and a full urgent replacement delivery free of charge, plus a huge bouquet sent with the delivery driver. I appreciate mine was for a funeral but they literally couldn't have done more-and quickly- to solve my problem. In your case Sainsburys seem to be taking no real responsibility.

I booked a delivery with Asda recently. Got a message apologising, saying they'd had to cancel.

I needed groceries so went to Iceland and got same day delivery.

You can guess what happened. Asda delivered after all, and I had a nice time playing fridge and freezer Tetris with double the amount of items I had anticipated!

Appreciate what you're saying but many people rely heavily on delivery. Whilst I get what you're saying re catering for a big event, we should be able to have the same standard of delivery as for a regular shop. In my case, my DH severe disability means that we cannot do big shops in person so always use delivery for most groceries including if family are coming.

That's a real disappointment. I'm sure that was just the time you were available but to me I never book slots for 10-11pm if it's super important in case they fail to appear and the call centre is shut for the day.
The phone lines or chat should be manned until at least the last scheduled batch of deliveries have gone out. Or haven't in your case.

I hope you could rush out and get stuff in the morning? I'm not mad on Sains. The quality is meh, not especially good value and sometimes the CS is shite. I've always had really nice drivers when they deliver to my mum though!

They do over 700,000 deliveries a week, so it's hardly surprising a few get messed up, almost certainly due to human error.

I do agree with OP that their customer 'service' has let them down for her, but then like most retailers the number of actual people working for them (& others) is cut to the bone.

Been using them for years, never had any problems. One time a bottle of cleaning fluid leaked out on some other items and the driver refunded everything damaged on the doorstep. Just for balance. Like all companies sometimes they will give a good service, other times you might have issues.

Also organising the delivery for late at night the day before the party was crazy, you should have given yourself more of a buffer.

I used to book a Morrisons delivery slot for 9pm. Without fail we'd get a call asking if they could deliver at 7-8pm. I wasn't home. If I wanted it at 7-8pm I'd have ordered it then.

I always use Morrisons for delivery. They are pretty good and I have a delivery pass. Their refunds are quick and I can usually get a delivery slot even at pretty short notice.

I haven't used delivery in long time. I like to look and pick my loose produce myself, we used to go to Sainsbury's a lot cos I like the clothes and the fruit is better though Morrisons is closer to us. We go to a farm shop now and get the extras that we can't get on the way home.

I also wouldn’t have relied on a delivery, although that doesn’t excuse their giving your order away.

Did someone else get £150 of free food?

I’ve had similar (different supermarket)- v frustrating.

I still use online delivery but if the deadline matters, now I always make sure I book a slot with enough time for a contingency plan!

I've used sainsburys almost weekly for years and rarely had issues. A truck broke down once so I didn't get my delivery, but I 'think' got a £5 voucher! I too wouldn't reply on any delivery for my sole party supplies but I have the option to go elsewhere if needed.

I have noticed their customer service hasn't been the best lately. I used to be able to get a refund online for damaged goods, short date items etc online myself. Lately, I need to go via their customer services person and they don't always give a refund- even though the item goes out of date the next day or say the lettuce was brown. Generally, their items are great and rarely substituted here though.

We left Sainsbury’s years ago for similar reasons - the final straw was a Christmas delivery scheduled for the 23rd where all the fresh produce was best before / use by 24th and they delivered a frozen turkey because they’d run out of fresh ones, despite me ordering 2+ months in advance and we didn’t own a freezer. Have now used Ocado for 10 years and never had a problem.

Why didn’t you just refuse the Asda delivery?

I had a very bad experience with Sainsbury’s. A bottle of bleach leaked everywhere! Including on my carpet as I carried the shopping through to the kitchen. I told the driver who said he’d wait while is sorted through what could be salvaged. The driver didn’t wait and left. I had a HUGE battle with Sainsburys for a refund. They basically denied the whole incident. They refused to help at all with the carpet. When they eventually agreed to give me a refund they insisted it would be a credit note for a future delivery. They eventually (after another huge battle) agreed to issue me a voucher I could use in store. No chance of a cash refund, no help with the damaged carpet and no goodwill gesture. I’ve never used their delivery service again.
ocado customer service is generally great.

I had to stop using Sainsbury’s 2 years ago, I used to get weekly deliveries and 4 times the meat they sent was either out of date, I complained multiple times but it kept happening so I stopped and switched to Asda

@Purpleharlow I didn't refuse it because there were a few things I hadn't been able to get in Iceland that I needed. So I did want part of the Asda order.

And probably felt a bit sorry for the delivery driver who arrived quite stressed as he'd had difficulty finding the place ( new build estate). Which is a ridiculous reason I suppose 😂

I stopped using Sainsbury's during the pandemic. They were always my go to before that. I had so many missing items in my orders and there was no way to contact them or they gave me a voucher. I didn't want a voucher - I wanted a refund. Tesco never let me down, always gave refunds and I managed to get a slot every week (remember how hard that was) so now they get my business.

Oh thats annoying for you OP. I've had Asda, Ocado and Tesco all fail to deliver on late evening slots due to running late and then running out of hours so it's not just a Salisburys problem. I always book a slot before 9 pm now.

It’s disappointing but it happens sometimes

next time; i would book a delivery for earlier in the day. They pretty reliable but ive had similar issues 2-3 times in the last 5 years

Never book the last delivery slot of the evening. I did this once with Asda. The driver was running late and decided that he would take my order back to the depot rather than finish later than he was supposed to. The person at the depot did actually ring me to let me know what had happened and was very apologetic but I've never used them since.

Tescos did this to me once but the difference was that they delivered the order the next day instead and refunded the cost of the whole order so I effectively got it free.

My DD orders Ocado late night slots, I think it's cheaper, but is very happy they often ring to say they can deliver earlier in the evening.

Sorry it's messed up your plans. I've never had a problem with sainsburys. You were being quite risky with a late evening delivery the day before mind you. Makes me wince thinking how close you pushed it. (I'm a planner)