Ocado tips, hacks, Toblerone and Christmas

[GaryUnicorn]

Carrying on from the old thread....

Still no email about the Christmas slots.

I've managed to book deliveries all the way until the end of Dec now, including one on the 30th.

Almost all vaguely "party food" type items are out of stock though and some other items I want/need are not available to add to any of my December orders.

Annnddd... for the 4th week in a row my order has arrived with the cat litter missing. Strangely though it is available on Fetch for me to order for delivery tomorrow to be delivered in an Ocado van (at a £6.99 delivery cost) so I have no idea what is going on with that. I wondered if they were leaving it out of my orders because it's a heavy item and the vans are already overloaded or something.

[quote CoteFolie]Thanks @NotGenerationAlpha. It's never happened before, so I'm a bit about it.

I could handle Monday's order as currently checked out but the 16th is by no means finalised.

For everyone wondering about Christmas** stock, this has been posted on Twitter from a longtime 'whistleblower' or aggrieved employee/customer?

'some xmas items will show from the 19th dec to add into the trolley for the xmas wk order. the downside is if got a slot booked on the 20th cant add any in cause the editing time cuts of on the 18th'

[[https://twitter.com/julieann1818/status/1334363980970790912]][/quote]
I just got the email cutting off edits at 11pm on 18th.
It applies to all orders due 20th-24th (mine is 21st) so nobody can get the alleged new stuff on 19th

Ah - I misread it.
18th is my cutoff - maybe 22nd-24th will get another day or so...?

@viccat have you looked at zooplus for your cat litter? It’s free delivery over £35 & usually arrives within 2 days IME.

Ive had that email as well but my cut off is the 20th for delivery 23rd

@bruffin oh, thank you for clarifying!
I realised (too late! ) I’d misread it that the 18th applied to all. It’s just 3 days ahead instead of current 2 (& normal 1)

The stock situation has become ridiculous but I guess it's good practice for after January 🙄

I just got the email cutting off edits at 11pm on 18th.
It applies to all orders due 20th-24th (mine is 21st) so nobody can get the alleged new stuff on 19th

No that's not quite right. My email says "You’ll now have until 11pm on 19th December to make any changes to your order coming on 22nd December."

So it seems you have to finish editing three days beforehand. So if your order was the 23rd, cut off is the 20th, etc. As far as I remember the Christmas cut off is usually two days beforehand, so this adds an extra day.

My last three Ocado orders have been really early - over an hour today. This order contained my Christmas chocolate gifts and it was all there fortunately!

Is everyonelse getting the new notification system? They ping your mobile when they leave their previous customer, and then again when they are unloading.

I usually get those notifications. It's quite handy.

Interestingly my last order was quite early and I didn't get the usual call and when the driver arrived he said I know I'm early but your account says you're fine with early deliveries.

I've literally never added a note like this to my account because there will be occasions when it's not convenient.

My guess is that as whenever they have called and asked to
Delivery early I have always said yes they're taken it upon themselves to do this

@GiantKitten thank you, yes I use Zooplus for food. It just feels easier to get litter with my Ocado order as then I know exactly when it's arriving rather than have couriers turn up when I'm on work calls etc. I have 4 cats so we get through a fair bit of litter!

I ordered an Oddbox this week, huge amount of fruit and veg. The large box is £20 but firstimers get £10 off. Deliveries are between 7pm and 7am so in the middle of the night,

[quote viccat]@GiantKitten thank you, yes I use Zooplus for food. It just feels easier to get litter with my Ocado order as then I know exactly when it's arriving rather than have couriers turn up when I'm on work calls etc. I have 4 cats so we get through a fair bit of litter![/quote]
@viccat oh right - shame about the timing issue. I’m retired so can just sit around waiting
If you opted for DPD you’d get a pretty reliable 1-hour slot, though of course you can’t choose it.
I have 3 cats & use Cats Best - I find the huge bags last for months so the delivery is really very occasional.

@Shellingbynight

*I just got the email cutting off edits at 11pm on 18th. It applies to all orders due 20th-24th (mine is 21st) so nobody can get the alleged new stuff on 19th*

No that's not quite right. My email says "You’ll now have until 11pm on 19th December to make any changes to your order coming on 22nd December."

So it seems you have to finish editing three days beforehand. So if your order was the 23rd, cut off is the 20th, etc. As far as I remember the Christmas cut off is usually two days beforehand, so this adds an extra day.

My last three Ocado orders have been really early - over an hour today. This order contained my Christmas chocolate gifts and it was all there fortunately!

Is everyonelse getting the new notification system? They ping your mobile when they leave their previous customer, and then again when they are unloading.

@Shellingbynight yes, I realised I’d misread as soon as I’d posted! (Oh for an edit button!)

I don’t get mobile pings. Can you sign up for them?

@GiantKitten I didn't sign up for the notifications, they just turned up about a month ago, maybe it's still being trialled.

(And yes I agree re the edit button!)

@GiantKitten Yes, you can sign up for the text notifications via your account information. I've just done so as I think they will be helpful for me.

@AdaColeman thank you!

I get the “I’m coming” then “I’m here and unpacking” texts. Bloody brilliant - means I can get the dog put away before they knock on the door

Turns out I’m already signed up for SMS reminders.
I do get an early text confirming the delivery time but I don’t get pinged.
Is it an app setting?

I'm still unable to edit my Monday order and I've tried chat several times today but the wait times have been getting progressively longer. Ocado seems to be in meltdown again.

Now over 5hours ...😳

Just had a reminder email that my Smart Pass will automatically renew in January, but no mention of the cost. Had to dig around in my account and then the FAQs to find it.

How difficult would it be for Ocado to just show it in the email? It always puts me off when a company has the option to be transparent and doesn't take it.

I am growing more and more disgruntled with Ocado, lots of small irritations eg the M&S package sizes are smaller than the ones I have been using for ages from Waitrose. Buying 2 is too much and too expensive. I may get used to this. Prices are high eg Holy Moly Guac is £2 in Sains but £2.79 from Ocado. Flash sales are often on Offers where the offer is at least as good as the flash price. Stock and Subs are below the pre March standard. The Christmas stock situation is ridiculous, I have a 23 Dec slot but have in the meantime put my specifically Christmas stuff into a Waitrose order on the 21st, so I may cancel Ocado at £9.99 extra.

My Smart Pass has renewed, from £1.99pm to a random £5.99. Clearly I am happy it isn't the 'normal' £9.99 but why? lurklemurkle I wasn't told what it would be in my first notifying email either.

I am also thinking about ditching my £9.99 Christmas delivery as I have got a Waitrise slot and am getting meat from the local farm shop. However, on a note of caution I went into my Waitrose Christmas order yesterday to add a couple of things, and saw that 5 items I had put in the original order, were showing as now unavailable, please remove from trolley before checking out the order blah blah. So I'm losing confidence in how much will turn up.