Is this just me?!?! (Ocado related)

[hoxtonbabe]

For the last week I’ve been checking my emails and Ocado account to see if they have received my details regarding being on the vulnerable list.

I shot them an email last week and received a reply today basically saying yes they have my details from the government and confirmed I was on the list but because I’m not a regular enough customer they are not going to offer me a priority slot, yet I read other threads on here about regular Ocado customers not getting a slot, as they are being told by Ocado they are too busy with the slots for the vulnerable people.

There isn’t anything on their Covid-19 policy/updates about this, other than you can’t sign up for a new account. I’ve had my account from before this pandemic I just don’t use online shopping in general, very often, but now I don’t really have a choice.

So I’m wondering if it is just me getting this reply, or if other people that are on the list also being turned away (for want of a better word)

Thanks

Might be worth cross referencing this thread. Not specifically about vulnerable list but it is one of the issues being discussed. (Scroll to beginning.)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3878186-Ocado-smart-pass-trials-tribulations-and-tiers

@Perdita

Thanks, I did go skim through it before posting this, that’s how I found out about Ocado telling their regular pass customers they are looking after the vulnerable first but nothing regarding not accepting vulnerable customers.

Are you part of the ‘vulnerable’ group or the ‘extremely vulnerable’ shielded group?
As I understand it they should be giving priority Only to the extremely vulnerable shielded group and then Smart Pass customers.

Having said that and based on what I have been reading, just about everything Ocado says at the moment has been inconsistent and a complete load of lies.

If I were you I would try and get a delivery from one of the other supermarkets instead as they seem to have handles everything a lot better than Ocado.

@yellowbutterfly

I’m on the list that other supermarkets are going off and I have access to those. I also get a weekly food box from the government which has been a lifesaver at times for things like fresh fruit and loo roll.

Although I have priority access to Sainsbury’s and Tesco they don’t necessarily have the products I need at that time iyswim. I get one delivery a week so I go with whom has the most in stock of what I need at that time ( and who has a delivery slot as that’s not guaranteed for the date you may need it)

That’s not to say I will get all the items on the day of delivery but if they don’t have it at the time of shopping, so far so good I’ve found they won’t have it even on the day of my cut off to add on last minute ( I hope I’m making sense) but when I’ve looked on occado they tend to have nearly all of what I need at the time of looking.

Ocado aren’t denying that I should be getting access as a vulnerable person, he said he cross referenced me from the government list and I am a priority he said it was because i I wasn’t a regular enough customer.. not that I wasn’t a customer, just not spending enough money with them in the past, which to be honest I can’t believe someone would be so brazen to admit this but yes you are right, all lies and inconsistent.

I think if you are getting regular slots from two of the major supermarkets, that’s better than most. We are still taking weekly shops around to a neighbour with cystic fibrosis as they have not yet managed to secure a slot.

We are all having to change how we eat and what we consume based on what is available.

I think certain companies are going to end up coming out better than others after this - Ocado isn’t reacting well, Morrison’s is, for example.

You’re doing pretty well to have access to all those slots! Irritating not to be able to get your preferred one, but it’s great that you have other options. I think the stock levels of most things have settled down and there are far fewer substitutes and missing items now.

I have always shopped with Ocado and am a smart pass holder, I commented on a recent thread about our experience.
We are a shielding household as in we can’t leave the house not even for a walk. It has taken me weeks to even get a non bot response from Ocado, I DM’d them our details a few days ago after a twitter rant resulted in an actual response and have still heard nothing.
We are currently getting a priority slot every 14 days having been downgraded from initial offering of every 7. I spend in excess of £100 every week with them sometimes a bit less sometimes more, they have still not responded yet about our shielding status. However other supermarkets have now sorted themselves out and we are getting priority slots with them.
Depending on the others service and food quality (I have heard horror stories on dates on produce / ridiculous substitutes etc.) I may be reconsidering my smart pass and loyalty to Ocado.
Incidentally it is difficult for us to store 2 weeks worth of food and keep it fresh as we just dont have the space which is why we shop weekly and if Ocado looked at our shopping habits with them this would be clear.

Confused to why you're complaining if you have slots with two other supermarkets? How many do you need?

I got emailed from Sainsbury's that they have delivery slots left after vulnerable had taken theirs. There were plenty to choose from. Maybe they all shop at Ocado.

This is such a first world thread 🤭

I'm an annual smartpass customer and I have been able to book weekly slots in advance for a while now. Which I am so thankful for as I have had the virus for 5 weeks now and can barely get out of bed.

It's completely fucking random in my experience. My brother has just been given a weekly slot because he phoned them and ranted about being a loyal customer. He's not shielding. My husband is shielding and we can't get priority from anytime. I'm 😡

This is such a first world thread

Why?

Happy to assure you that my friends and relatives in what you might call third world countries are all resignedly whatsapping about supermarket price hikes pre- and during lockdown.

And I can't see anything particularly 'first world about people with particular vulnerability to this virus worrying about how they're going to manage. Seems a pretty universal concern.

@YahBasic is that because they aren’t on the list or they are on the list but no slots. There are a couple people local to me that I’m surprised aren’t on the list given what is wrong with them so I check in to see if they need anything that I can add for when I get mine, so far they have not taken me up on the offer but it’s there for them.. how they will get it is another matter as they shouldn’t be leaving the house ( in my opinion) and I can’t leave the house.

I have access to the supermarkets I don’t necessarily get the slots. For example I had a delivery last Thursday from Sainsbury’s tesco were offering slots yesterday but I didn’t need a delivery so soon, plus I have a smallish fridge freezer and only one cupboard to put tinned/dried goods ( the cat will rip open the packets if I leave them out) so I can’t pack/stock up. I went online today and there are no slots for the rest of this week on tesco, and some odd reason it’s not showing anything at all but I think this could be a glitch, and the next available slot for Sainsbury’s is the 22nd April.

It’s not just food products, other than celery and coriander I’m not a fussy eater, but it’s also household things like bleach, cat food, cat litter, etc that’s why I go ( or try to) that has as much of what I need, as I can’t order from lots of different places in a week even though I could because that would be a d*ck move.

Yes you are right, I think Ocado will lose many customers.

@PerditaProvokesEnmity

Thank you!

@PepePig, getting access to the supermarket isn’t the Same as getting a slot. Plus the issue isn’t about the slots it’s about Ocado essentially saying despite us acknowledging you are considered vulnerable we are not going to allow you to shop with us because you have not spent enough with us in the past!! That’s not even on their updated Covid policy. There will be areas with better delivery and worse, if you’re in an area where it’s even more limited than mine then I think it’s a bit pants to say to people who don’t have a choice but to stay in that they can’t shop with them
Because of their past spending history..

The thing is and I’m sure people recognise this we all went from having a huge amount of choice of where we shop and an abundance in availability of produce.
To having that choice removed from us and it causes huge anxiety, most people can still leave the house if they chose, they can still shop, they still go for walks etc..
When you are shielding and cannot leave the house and when it takes weeks to secure shopping slots mostly taken up by people who could go to a supermarket still it’s an actual problem.
I feel ok now as we have options but this time last week I genuinely did not know when our next online shop would be as no other supermarkets had recognised our status either.
The main issue has been all the shopping accounts are in my name but it is my partner on the shielding list and getting supermarkets to recognise this has been unbelievably slow.
We have a four year old and as we both work from home anyway we have no need to leave we are shielding as a household and I’m sure for many varied reasons we are not the only household doing this in the uk right now.
We are fortunate we will get by and it is totally a first world problem when you can’t get your preferred supermarket- but it is very stress inducing make no mistake - so maybe forgive people if they want to vent on an anonymous forum.

@79

This really isn’t about wanting to shop at my preferred supermarket. I shop wherever I can get as much of what I need and with a time slot that is between 7-8 days since the last shop.

I think this is where people are reading my post wrong ( not saying you are, I can see you’re being helpful) the post was to ask/highlight that Ocado are saying because I have not spent enough with them but disguising it as I’m not a regular customer over the period of having my account with them they won’t allow me to shop there so was wondering if this was something other people have been told, either way be it me, the lady up the road with cancer or the elderly couple with lung/breathing problems, turning a vulnerable person away from the list they received on the basis of not a regular customer ( not a new customer) just seems quite a cold thing to do.

Completely and given that I do regularly shop with them and not in what I would consider small amounts, and I was still not considered loyal enough to warrant my original 7 day priority as a smart pass holder speaks volumes about how they are dealing with things at the minute.

Because you can access Tesco and Sainsburys food but can’t access Ocado/Waitrose food. I can assure you are doing a hell of a lot better than most people!!!! There are regular threads on here with people desperate to get a home delivery slot for themselves or elderly relatives and can’t access any supermarket at all.

79Fleur I have used Sainsbury's for years and on the whole the subs are fine, I just don't always like them. I think there are lots of urban myths around about subs.

Recent ones have been mature cheddar to replace mild, a slightly different salad bowl, posh organic eggs instead of standard ones.

A lot of the time it is more that I don't like it, they send me ski yoghurts with bits rather than smooth, or diet coke rather than proper.

They do send a voucher for any price difference.

And you won’t get one with Ocado if you don’t shop regularly enough with them.. that is the take away from this not me stamping my feet saying I want to shop at Ocado! I’m not even stamping my feet, I’m asking if others have had this response. FFS!

But thanks for thinking I’m lucky to be high risk, staying at home without no access to a garden or able to go outside for a walk for nearly a month now,with no one to shop for me unless you want my sister who caught Coronavirus from my mum that died from it 3 weeks ago in hospital and stuck in their fucking mortuary to do my shopping!

Yes, im so damn lucky!

@TheGreatWave thanks that’s reassuring re the subs myths
@hoxtonbabe I’m so sorry for your loss and for the total missing of the point by others (including myself somewhat) on this thread.

Yes I'm having to shield and have been totally ignored by Ocado. They haven't even replied to my message! I used to be a weekly customer and smartpass holder but not that recently. They still regularly send me emails with vouchers to try to entice me back, but are currently completely ignoring me and I can't even get onto the website. That's fine as I can get my food elsewhere - but wanted to confirm OP that you're not the only one. and - I'm sorry you're having such a horrific time.

I have quite a few friends who are Ocado customers and still getting slots (and never stopped having them as they book weeks in advance, uber organised). They spend 150 plus per week every week and have done so over many years. One told me she is spending close to 300 at the moment to feed her teenage boys and in-laws too. I think Ocado wasn’t doing so well financially so it has to keep those top paying customers especially with the imminent move to Marks and Spencer’s in the autumn. Otherwise those customers will definitely bounce to Waitrose. Remember supermarkets usually operate on very low margins. So I guess any supermarket will pay lip service to the vulnerable list somewhat but really they want to keep their high spending customers.

My MIL is in the shielded group and Ocado have been exceptionally hopeless. Thank god got Sainsburys who make sure she has a shopping slot weekly if she needs it.