Can someone explain Ocado to me? <confused>

[Gauchita]

I've heard some Mnetters (and people in general) rave about their customer service, products, etc. I saw on a thread yesterday something about a monthly cost for deliveries. I went online but I ended up confused.

It says it's £10.99 a month but then in the FAQs it said some deliveries are free and others have a cost How does it work?

Can any charitable soul out there, who also happens to be an Ocado user lover,maybe explain this to me?

Thanks in advance!

10.99 a month allows you to choose as many deliveries over £40 (I think) per month at any available time slot. Otherwise you can choose a 'pay-as-you-go' approach and depending on which timeslot you go for, some cost a lot and some are free...
HTH

Their customer services and professionalism have declined proportionally to the rise in food prices.

playftseforme, thanks for your reply. It's awfully cheap, then... for deliveries, I mean. DH didn't believe me when I told him

So, you spend over £40 on your shop and you can have as many deliveries as you want a month, paying £10.99. OK, I get it.

Off to do some price comparison now.

I only ever pay £2.49 for a delivery, but i can arrange to be in midweek during the day or late evening, so £10.99 is expensive to me!

Cross-posts there.
Really, QuintessentialS? We used to use Tesco delivery service and a week ago I tried Asda, but all the awful stories about their cock-ups with ghost payments and their customer service have really made me think twice about using them again, and their website is a nightmare. Would you still recommend Ocado?

The fact that they have free delivery slots and even £2.49 ones sounds fantastic. The cheapest I get from Tesco here is £4 and Asda £3.50.

Octopus, I haven't registered yet with Ocado but I guess the "free"ones would be during the day as well or late in the evening? In that case £10.99 would also turn out more expensive for us, as we place 1 order a week.

I'd definitely recommend them. I hardly ever pay more than £2 per delivery and we rarely get substitutions or errors. Their drivers always ring if they are delayed as well.

I use them c. once per month when they send me 15-20% off codes.

They are ALWAYS on time, rare subs and the one time i complained i got a £10 voucher. However, i don't usually buy meat or much fruit/veg so i can't comment much on that.

I guess it depends on the area, then, as I much prefer Tesco.

Ocado these days seem to be really low in stock, and I find the food expensive.

Also, their delivery is sloppy, with food dropped on the ground. I have had yoghurt splattered on the drive, on top of a box of rasberries, with refusal to refund rasberries as I could rinse them. I had once ordered cod, and it was packed in two bags, one ripped, and fell on my doorstep, so I had half a meal, and of course they only refunded the one bag. What could I possibly do with two fillets of cod for a family of 4? Had to freeze and re-plan meals.
I have never had those kinds of problems with Tesco, despite ordering bagless.

Free or 0.99p delivery are usually after 10pm at night. I've never seen a day time delivery for less than £2.99 - they are usually more like £5 or £6.

I have never had any of the issues QS describes - maybe it is down to the area you are in.

I use ocado, and pay as you go, normally I can get a slot within a day or so for 99p. Ocado have been better than Sainsbury's, Tesco's and ASDA for us: More immediate deliveries (I've done next day deliveries with them which I've never managed with the others), the correct goods have always arrived, never had any substitutions, the driver is always on time.

If you want to sign up, I would ring them because they will undoubtedly improve that price. I was paying £2.99 and they tried to up it to £10.99, I complained and I now pay £6.99. I get 6-7 deliveries per month, so it is cheaper than the petrol cost fo me and far less stressful!

I would agree with QS though, they are not as good as they were, but I think they are still better than the rest.

I have just looked and i can book a delivery for £1.99 for next Weds/Thurs lunchtime

I gave up on Asda because there were just too many substitutes or 'out-of-stock' items when it came to delivery, although the products were available when I did the shop. I find Tesco pretty good and sometimes alternate between Tesco and Ocado. No service issues with Ocado at all.

I pay a 6 monthly fee of about £26.00 with Ocado which covers the cost of any deliveries on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. I think it's called a delivery pass. Always found them excellent.

watch out if you do sign to £10.99 a month then it is a year sub.....

But I love Ocado, much much better quality food esp fruit & veg.
I spend £80 a week for 4, two kids one in nappies, one in night nappies so come on, if you can cook, they aren't expensive.

ALways on time, hardly ever substitute and good customer service, who I have only ever rung three times in 2 years, compared to fortnightly when I used to use Tesco......

Ocado aren't very consistent with their delivery pass cost. I rang up and got it for £6.99. My plan is to have two £40 deliveries a week (never get round to it!)

Delivery has got a bit shit lately. Mouldy split tomatoes, broken eggs, smashed yogurt (something most week) but very easy to get refunded. But, they do deliver early and do one hour slots.

Waitrose do free delivery over £50. If I didn't have this bloody delivery pass contract I'd probably switch.

Oh, substitutions, yes... Tesco almost always had two or three substitutions. Asda this week brought me oranges as a substitutes for satsumas and they were awful with best-before dates, almost everything expired before our next order.

I knew I had seen something about a monthly cost of £6.99 on a thread a few days ago, Vigglewiggle! I'll definitely give them a ring.

We spent £50 a week with Tesco. Spent £40 with Asda these past two weeks, but that's not counting nappies (for two DC, hopefully 1 as of next Monday when DD starts potty training) We buy them at Costco as they're much cheaper in those huge packs.

Hassle-free refunds are important, IMO, and everything I've heard about Asda delivery service says the opposite. Also, they don't do one hour slots, and don't text you on the day either. I don't think we'll be using Asda again, if I'm honest. I've read too many bad experiences these past few days.

Ohforfoxsake, I don't think I'd get round to two deliveries a week either, I can barely stick to one and avoid changing it all the time!

Lottie, I'll ask about that when I ring them.

I pay £110 per year, and this gives the unlimited deliveries. I get two deliveries a week, which cuts down on those quick expensive dashes to the local supermarket, and means fruit and veg are always fresh.

I never have problems with breakages. If there are any, I have always been reimbursed. Substitutions are rare, as the deliveries come from a delivery centre, not a local supermarket.

There is a really good range of gluten free etc, which we need as DS is gluten, egg and dairy intollerant, DD2 is egg and soy, DH is dairy........ It just goes on.

So all in all, I think it is fabulous.

The one time I used them it was a 99p delivery slot for midday the day after ordering... I only used them as they gave me some ludicrous amount off (20pounds off on a 60 spend I think) and I only ordered a few products that were heavily on offer that week.

Still find it easier to actually visit the supermarket anyway.

We love ocado, though waitrose is starting to deliver in my area and I'm going to try them, I'd rather the money went direct to waitrose rather than via the ocado vehicle. But waitrose will have to match ocado's high standards to keep my custom. I love the ocado ap and do lots of shopping on the train on the way to work.

We've been using Ocado for just over a year and have been really impressed with them. They always have next-day delivery slots (I'm not organised enough to plan any further ahead than that), have rarely had substitutions (any I've had have been sensible ones), nearly always arrive at the start of the timeslot (and often the driver calls me 15 mins or so earlier and asks if it's convenient for him to come now as he's round the corner)! The iPad app is very easy to use and, if I am in the right frame of mind, I can order a delivery in the morning whilst the children are eating their breakfast.

The only times I've had to have refunds is when a box of eggs had one egg cracked (the driver checked the box before he handed it to me, he gave me the eggs but took off the cost of the whole box), a pot of yogurt leaked (refunded straightaway) and a salad leaked (the dressing, that is) - again, refund immdpediately,

They price match Tesco on branded items which is good. I often buy the Waitrose essential or Ocado essential items which are good value. The cheaper meat is far better quality than Tesco or Sainsbury's more expensive stuff.

Fruit has always been good. Never buy veg as have a weekly box delivery, so can't comment on that.

The only thing I would say is keep doing shops every now and again and they'll keep sending you emails for 15 or 20% off your next shop. I do this and save up all the big stuff like nappies toiletries washing powder etc. I signed up for delivery thing once for a trial and the discount emails stopped coming. I guess they know that they've got you if are committed to delivery!

Up until yesterday I thought Ocado and Waitrose were the same!! I went to the Waitrose.com website but they offer £3 deliveries if you spend over £50, otherwise it's £5.