to think supermarkets dump short life food on their on-line customers?

[cerealqueen]

.......or just really cynical? Just opened a large new tub of butter- like- spread and saw it was already out of date and in fact when it was delivered, we only had three days to consume it in. I'd expect a few weeks on the use by date at least.

Rang the supermarket (is it libel to say which?) who asked me what I expected them to do about it? How about apologise and refund me?? They then said that it was policy for the staff picking the food to pick food with a long shelf life and that an email would go to the store concerned. Funnily enough he did not take any of my details to do this.

Do the supermarkets pick food near its sell by date on purpose? You do have to wonder.

I have to say that I also use ocado - I know not an option - but you do get a run down of exactly how long you have on the date, and this is also when you are ordering so you have a basic idea of meal planning before you order with bb dates.

I have a couple of times had the more long life bread (you know the everyday one by a famous make?) that has a day on it, on these occasions I have complained via email and immediately recieved a refud, I also emailed customer services and recieved a lovely response and a promise that they will follow up on it, so far no more nearly out of date bread to me - so maybe the packer has a warning signal that comes up for us, all that being said it has been worth the little bit more that I pay for it in comparison to the other supermarkets. There are no quibbles about refunds but they aren't so good on the good deals - e.g I saw tesco doing super brand ice cream for £1.99 which wouldn't be on there but I can always get it if I am out and near a store.

(if it helps when we moved house I ordered a huge delivery of all sorts of things including cleaning products, I did mysupermarket comparison and Ocado came out cheaper than the others! - this was both on branded and non branded bits and pieces!)

Twice now Ocado have sent potatoes that tho they have a weeks shelf life are already sprouting

Find online is great for non fresh stuff only.

Just go into the supermarket and watch the pickers.

My local Tesco no interest at all, they grab the first item and chuck it one of 6 or 8 trays they have. They really look so disinterested. I watched them many times.

Ocado, they deliver from their central warehouse, which is why you are less likely to get out of date items.

At our local Tesco pickers are told to choose stuff as if they are doing their own shopping - long dates etc.

Sainsburys are terrible for this with milk and don't give a damn when you call them.

Yes you should tell us who it is

Would be suprised if it was Tesco's, not so much delivering a short date as that happens, but they have always been really happy to refund when I have phoned with a problem

They sent me 2 packs of 18 potato skins with use by that day on the 9-11pm slot but refunded instantly when I rang
They also now tell you when they items have short life, like some yoghurts that only had 3 days

update..it was sainsbury's so I emailed them after they were useless on the phone and got refunded. Mollified and less cynical (slightly)

we have used tesco for ages now and I have never had this problem. Also if you are not happy with what you were delivered you should have been able to get the item refunded over the phone - we wer enot happy with a sub for example and got refunded or when one of our eggs was broken also refunded (got to keep the stuff we were refunded for though lol).

suppose it depends on who picks them!

cerealqueen - I know it takes time but I would do a comparison shop at Ocado using their everyday range, just to see if it's as expensive as you think.

I've just swapped from Sainsburys and I am so much happier with Ocado. It's not any more expensive and I find the fruit and veg is so much better quality and lasts longer. So actually I'm saving money as I'm not having to throw away gone off food.

I too have had too many occassions where I have been sent a plethora a blue bags by sainsburys, then having to make the decision whether it's more annoying to have to use a lot of food very quickly or send it back and have to traipse to the store myself rendering online shopping pointless. I will never shop online with sainsburys again.

I have found this with Tesco, in fact I often had to send back a lot of the shop as things ran out of date within a day of getting them.
We stopped getting the on line shop but had to use it again this week as it was a bit of a mad week and guess what..... yep chicken out of date by today, sausages by tomorrow and rocket on the day it arrived....

oh yes, and I always send it back. if I can buy meat in the shop with a good 4-5 days to eat it then I expect the same for on-line.

Yep, had this with Tesco. The last shop I did had mouldy tomatoes, 2 broken eggs and cheese with 1 day left on it. Tis the last time I will be using Tescos.

I would love to think that someone from Tesco might read this and take note, but somehow I doubt it. Sigh.

I have stopped shopping online with Sainsbury's because of their one day short dating of items. It used to be two days but recently changed to one.
Last delivery I got had three items that were dated for the next day and one item already out of date! And my delivery was at 8.30pm! I went to the store the next day to complain and they gave me a £10 voucher. I did one more shop with them to use up the voucher and haven't been back since.
Wish we had ocado here - it's not available in NI.
Have to say that despite these frustrations, I spend less and waste less food by shopping online. My fridge is totally empty just before the delivery comes and I manage to stay within my budget by removing excess items at checkout...it's so much easier to delete those impulse or multiple purchases online. Also easier to compare prices and ensure you are getting the best deal.

I complained twice to Tesco about sending me food that went off the next day. They apologised, refunded me and have never done it again.

Yep. Sainsbury's occasionally does this with fresh fruit, which is one reason we've switched to Waitrose (whose fruit tastes better anyway!).