Talk to me about Christmas food delivery slots

[Partydilemma48293]

I’m looking to have a Christmas grocery delivery this year after always vowing to be more prepared!

Any advice on which are the best for Christmas food shops? I usually use Ocado but I think I need to sign up for a delivery pass to be able to book a Christmas slot as I couldn’t book one this year.

Does Ocado make many substitutions at Christmas time? Do you just reserve the slot and then add your shopping at a later date?

You’d be better asking for this to go in the Christmas section

I use Ocado all the time. I get priority over the delivery slots. I don’t know if that is because I have an annual smart pass or because I spend a lot of money with them. When I get my delivery slot I also reserve a turkey. If you leave it any later they will all be gone. Other than that, I don’t add stuff until a couple of weeks before Christmas. Last year they phoned me up in November and told me they were trying to see how long the deliveries would take. They asked me to try and do most of my order as soon as possible. When I said I would they gave me a £10 voucher to come off my shopping. You pay for a Christmas delivery even if you have a smart pass.

Pigs in blankets also need to be added early too.

It is in the Christmas section.

Glad you asked this OP. I'm currently debating whether to start a delivery pass for Ocado, Sainsbury's or Tesco with one of the reasons being priority Christmas delivery as I will be 39w pregnant I don't plan on going food shopping!

😆😆😆

I had my first one last Christmas with Sainsburys and if I remember correctly it was all ok. I got it for Christmas Eve eve to give me time to get anything not delivered or forgot to add. I did buy the meats in person though

Don't edit the shop too close to Christmas as your stock will no longer be reserved! Anything in stock when you add it, but isn't in stock at the time you edit your order, you lose! Probably fine 2 weeks before Christmas but worth remembering if within the final week.
Personally I use the 'One Click Add' tool on the App. It means you can add stuff without editing 👍🏻

No idea about Ocado but I do one with Tesco every year. I have to wake up at around 5am and get in an online queue for a slot. Never been unsuccessful in getting one so far. Try not to get a Christmas Eve slot because there tends to be a few unavailable items ime and the last thing you need is a dash around the shops on Christmas Eve.

I have a Morrisons delivery pass and have never failed to get the slot I wanted.

If I sign up to the Ocado delivery pass now, does anyone know if I’ll be in time to be offered a Christmas slot?

Thanks for the advice all!

https://help.ocado.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018130331-Are-Christmas-deliveries-included-in-Smart-Pass#:~:text=If%20you%20sign%2Dup%20before,to%20get%20your%20free%20slot.

I think you missed the cut-off!

@SweetPeaPods Morrisons are brilliant for home shopping. They do a mid week delivery pass for £5 a month. That delivers shopping Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They also will take the shopping to a specific place if you ask them. Rarely get substitution either

The earliest Christmas Eve delivery I booked just saw me watching over the following weeks as more and more things got taken off it. DP ended up going out Christmas Eve to buy almost everything except half the soft drinks and a chicken that I'd put in for insurance - I was most miffed by the gluten free panettone, fruit cake slices, fruit cake, mince pies, gravy and pickle being removed as round here isn't interested in stocking anything for coeliacs, but I was pretty sure that the potatoes, bread, sprouts, carrots and oven chips didn't need to be taken off with a 'no substitute' comment when they were still selling all of those in slightly different sizes.

I have a Ocado smart pass on a free offer but will probably go with Waitrose as I will have to pay for delivery anyway, they don't have smart passes and if you have a biggish store they deliver from you can generally get a cancellation slot easily if you miss when the slots go out, I do this each year.

I’ve never had any problem getting a Christmas delivery slot with Ocado, and no problems with substitutions either, but I have had a smart pass for a while so that might influence things?

Morrisons and Ocado use the same infrastructure (the drivers sometimes work for one or the other).

Sainsbury’s has never failed me but Waitrose has. You can buy month and 3 month passes for Sainsbury’s, so cheaper.

@shellyleppard Morrisons are awful! They've much less stock for click & collect than delivery (different warehouses) and when you get your shopping, they hand you trays with it all rolling around loose! Meaning you've to bend over 82 times which if you're disabled, is great! They don't have any special procedures for disabled customers & the staff member will not help (not allowed apparently). If it's click & collect, you're right in the middle of a bloody car park! Potentially in pouring rain, bent right over trying to bag up your Tampax & chocolate with customers walking past like 👀 👀

I always book a slot but try and buy all your non perishable goods beforehand as there's always something missing from my order. Also avoid Xmas Eve and even 23rd or you'll probably end up having to make a last minute dash to the shop to pick up stuffing etc.

I have mine delivered on the 23rd. Sainsbury’s, Ocado and Waitrose have always been fantastic but one year I had almost everything substituted by Asda for really stupid things (think turkey substituted with turkey dinosaurs). I always go out on Christmas Eve to pick up fresh pastries for the morning so anything I’m missing, I get then.

We've used sainsburys for about 9 years, with no real issues. For Christmas I usually get a slot for the 23rd so I have time to get anything that's missing. They seem to work a bit harder in those deliveries to have sensible substitutions and we have never had any major issues. We tend to buy ham and I usually choose that myself so I can choose one I like, but they have such long dates I can usually do this a week or so in advance.

@HauntedbyMagpies really??? I've never had any problems with the home delivery service. Only been late once, it's always bagged up and they will take it straight through to the kitchen if I ask. I have mobility issues and they have always been very very helpful.

Me neither. If there are any issues, they are quick to resolve them too (have used them since their delivery service started).

We use Tesco. Always managed to get a convenient slot. Tend to get delivered 23rd so got time to get any bits that are unavailable.