Ocado smart pass trials, tribulations and tiers

[Milky77]

Background

On March 23, Ocado divided anytime and midweek smartpass members into random groups for access then realised that didn't work so divided us again into most loyal, loyal and near to miscellaneous tiers with having different levels of frequency for order delivery and indeed how many slots you can book in advance.

Certainly the most loyal and probably generally high average spend compared to local populations are the only ones being treated well. They are allowed to still book every seven days, can book 2-3 weeks in advance and are encouraged to book several slots over this time.

The rest of us are being treated with varying levels or service, disappointingly some have not had a single email since March 23 and still don't have access.

Those anytime pass members on the extremely vulnerable list by NHS England should be able to book every 7 days though aren't given the ability to book 2-3 weeks in advance. A few are apparently being called for fortnightly orders.

Ocado has been too greedy. They blame poor service on helping the extremely vulnerable but actually they let too many new and infrequent shoppers place orders putting too much stress on the system.

Complaints on social media are typically met with cut and paste replies. Both the call centre and chat comms have been shut down.

Those with weekly Reserved slots have had their places cancelled. The technology failed, or maybe actually wasn't fit for purpose anyhow

Here was our first thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3862959-Ocado-Anytime-Smart-Pass-holders-have-you-received-priority-access-yet

Let's hope we don't go to a third

Top tip is to try other companies including Morrisons who also deliver from warehouses.

Good luck to all

Prime Now can also be a good shout

Asda and Sainsburys have been good to some extremely vulnerable people registered on the extremely vulnerable list

Normal rules apply here. Be kind to others. Emotions are heightened at the moment. Venting about Ocado certainly allowed.

Stop bashing Ocado based on your spurious analysis of who is and who is not the most deserving of being treated as 'Ocado Royalty'.

The horse has bolted.....

On this type of thread you are preaching to the converted, and winding each other up!

Supermarkets are floundering, they were not set up to cope with this.

I'm managing to secure on average five delivery slots every day across varying supermarkets simply using perseverance and a sprinkling of luck. I secure all these slots on behalf of vulnerable people who struggle with technology.

Found you @Milky77

Scroll past @peoplepleaser1 if you’re not interested. The previous thread was very helpful for some of us.

And ignore the wind up merchants. Life is too short

@peoplepleaser1 also if you’re securing five slots a day why don’t you just do one order, seperate out and drop off yourself. And then leave some
For the rest of us???
Also presumably you don’t live in an area where the deliveries seem to be under higher demand.

Is perseverance something other than logging on every hour of every day to multiple supermarkets? If everyone is doing that then no wonder the systems can't cope.
Anyway I'm assuming pp didn't read the previous thread. We're comparing who's been given what messages and what does or doesn't work on the site when different people go on, in the hope that we can deduce what we are supposed to do to book a slot and order groceries. Obviously it's be easier if Ocado just told us and kept to what they told us, but as that's not the case we have to work out out for ourselves.

It is slightly weird. I couldn’t book anything for a couple of weeks right at the beginning then got a “most loyal” email, couple of days later I got the email I could book and got a slot for the 10th April, at that point it was two weeks away. I then got an email saying I could have a slot every seven days and I was then able to book a slot for Friday 17th and 24th. Not vulnerable or shielding. I am not sure really why some of us have this ability and some don’t, I have been shopping weekly with them for 10 years and probably spend 120ish a week, do the Xmas shop with them but certainly don’t spend anywhere near what others were on the last thread. I do feel lucky though as who wants have the stress of trying to get food at the moment.

I've looked at my Ocado orders for the last 14 months (before corona) and I'm not a high spender. I get at least one delivery a month and spend from £100 to £450 a month. Not anywhere near what others spend.

I was pretty annoyed when it seemed like they were prioritising within the smart pass group on how much they spend. Now that they've said I can have one delivery every 14 days I'm much happier. It was the not knowing that was killing me. I can supplement the in between times with veg boxes and meat deliveries. It gives us a way of managing this without being too risky.

We did an Asda click and collect yesterday and that was fine. However my husband had to pop into Sainsburys for some milk because Asda didn't have any. He said it was incredibly stressful. Just like country roads aren't built for cars, supermarkets aren't made for social distancing. Also some people are idiots.

We will do every thing we can do avoid physical shops. My husband is in the vulnerable group.

If Ocado change their minds again I will be back for another rant.

I’m very grateful to this thread. Things I learned:

1. that I’m being massively overcharged for Smart Pass - paying x 8 others

2. when slots are released - others saying on here they have just got in has helped me get in

3. to click on the calendar itself under book a delivery as the other functions now don’t work

Very cross with Ocado even though we are getting some orders. Will cancel after all this is over.

People has a good point!

Most people seem to have secured at least a couple of delivery slots from Ocado in the last few weeks, including you Milky77 You're loving this!

It's a good idea to have a chat for tips and hints of how to get slots and which alternatives people can use but you just want to host a thread for those that want to bitch and moan and for those few that have had difficulties for reasons unbeknown to most!

Persistence pays off I think- most supermarkets have slots if you have patience to keep checking- Asda had slots for next week when I looked yesterday!

Interestingly, on the back of catching up with this thread I had another look and was also able to book a green van slot.
I’ve got an order already booked for the 22nd but just managed to get one for the 30th as well. This is in spite of my email telling me ten days.
Even managed to check it out with the basics for now.

Few that have had difficulties?? Loads of people have had difficulties. It massively depends what area you are in it seems

So peoplepleaser, you are buying for 35 plus families? That's the only way 35 slots a week would be even remotely justified.

I know I thanked you on another thread, but if you aren't an Ocago customer why do you even care. It seems you have a bee in your bonnet.

I’m not a smart pass holder but have been a regular customer for nine years. I’d been trying to get a slot for about a month to no avail, then suddenly managed to secure one earlier this week. I did a big order as I’m heavily pregnant and because of this I’m scared to keep popping to the shops. I also had no idea when I’d get another slot.

I got my delivery yesterday, but spotted this thread just now and clicked onto the Ocado website to see what the latest situation is. I got straight in and can see there are multiple slots available for next weekend!

I don’t know why it’s gone from being impossible to get onto the site (I was in a queue of about 200,000 the other week ) to suddenly offering me slots, but I’m certainly not complaining. I wonder how long it’ll last...

I’m under the delivery every 14 days category, pay 6.99 for my anytime smartpass and am in London. There’s only two of us so we don’t usually make large orders, typically spending about £250 a month.

I’ve been using my delivery slots for my parents as my dad is high risk, a bit disappointed that I can’t get them one weekly but feeling fortunate to have access to some slots.

I was told 10 days but have a delivery tomorrow, I booked one for next Monday last week and this morning I've been able to book a further one for the 27th.

I'm not sure what the point is in this thread OP, I appreciate that some people are struggling to get slots, perhaps spend the energy on contacting OP directly rather than having a thread to complain about it?

I appreciate that 1000 on the previous thread will be too much for some to bother with.

1. the vulnerable list is hit and miss - regardless of long term custom
2. the communication is appalling

The system is very flawed, it’s lacking any form of internal communication. We are moaning because the below scenarios are actually happening:

Two Anytime Customers of 5 years standing -
Customer 1 - age 79 - in vulnerable category
No delivery, no communication, been in contact and no access to site has had follow up email allowing 14 day deliveries but still has no access - has not left home for 5-6 weeks

Customer 2 - age 40 - able to book slots three weeks in advance, no vulnerabilities or underlying issues, going out every day just doesn’t want to stand in w for shops.

Both paying the same for pass.

(Customer 3 - 12-13 years+ member and regular shopper with anytime pass trying to buy for 1, unable to get on site at all even though original email sent declaring they would 17 days ago - no communication from them since)

That is why people are moaning.

Thanks for new thread.

The first one was extremely helpful. Let's hope by the end of this one everything is clearer and everyone has a reliable source of online deliveries.

I pay £10.99 a month for anytime deliveries! Can anyone top this or am I being fleeced big time?

One interesting thing that's come out of the Ocado threads is the variation in pricing for the smart pass.

I have an anytime SP and am paying £3.99 a month. I used to pay £4.99 but they reduced it mid 2019. I've never moaned to them about what I'm paying or asked for a reduction. I'm surprised that we aren't all paying the same. Supply and demand maybe?

Ha. I thought they'd finally fixed my 'extremely vulnerable' 7 day access. Now I am wondering if its just a fluke 😂

(More important things to worry about, but am really puzzled as to why people who aren't finding the thread useful are posting to say it shouldn't exist ... )

Besides I’m pretty sure @Milky77 will want to know if some of us ever get on the site and how, and it’s been helpful to find out which other supermarkets are opening up delivery slots.

Even though some were led to believe they wouldn’t need to register with other companies by Ocado themselves....

Yes I'm also surprised about the variation in the subscription rates. I'm in the SE but know others are paying much less than me. I'm only on a 6 month anytime pass but at £10 a month that's going to average £5 for both deliveries in April.