Online supermarket delivery - do I resign myself to food that goes off that day or Ocado prices??

[Cloudhopper]

I used to use Asda, but they kept sending food that was just about to go off. ALthough the customer service centre would always refund the money, it got a bit tedious in the end, so I switched to Tesco last week.

Tesco stuff was worse if anything. Even the milk went off before the sell-by date. All the veg were at least partly off or rotten.

Am I going to have to go for Ocado to guarantee a decent delivery? Is that why people use them despite the eye-watering prices?

Yep I'm afraid Ocado is the only online supermarket which uses a specifically built warehouse where fresh items are delivered....all the others send idiots out shopping for you in your local store. It's worth the slightly more expensive prices as you don't end up throwing it all away after two days, and end up shopping instore anyway! They always have special offers on for delivery etc......esp if your a regular.

I think you're right upsadaisy. I will have to somehow get this past dh. Normally as soon as he sees a Waitrose item in the fridge he will make a comment like:

"Whoah - when did you turn all 'Brewsters millions' on me?"

Cloudhopper, I've had similar experiences to you - got sick to death of receiving fruit and veg from Tesco and Asda that looked as though they'd been hit by a baseball bat. Sainsburys are a bit better but top of the tree is Ocado...yep, they're not the cheapest but the service and quality is fantastic. I try and soften the blow of the expense by persuading myself that I would spend a lot more on unnecessary BOGOFs and 3for2s when I visit the supermarket in person.

My brother works at Ocado, along with BIL and SIL. DH worked there too. It is the best for deliverly as that is all they do daily.

That's it then. I will give Ocado a go next week. I will have to order generic brand names and unpacked veg or something to avoid dh getting antsy about the cost.

thanks for your input.

wouold like to add that I have changed from Tesco to ocado recently. Last time I was compiling an order I originally planned to buy wash powder and andrex from another source thinking that ocado would be way way more expensive but guess what?
Fairy liquid was 1p more
Andrex was the same!!

I don't think Ocado is that expensive - it does sell some more expensive product lines, but I think that things like a jar of marmite aren't any more expensive.

Another vote for Ocado! It is ace - no substitutions, no short-dates - so really you are saving money as nowt wasted and you feel so good it saves you hitting the bottle too early in the day

Ocado are by far the best. One hour delivery slots mean you don't have to wait around all day - do Tesco still do 2 hours? Bah!

And Ocado are quite GREEN! Bio-fuel vans, properly plotted routes and when you choose your delivery slot it shows when the van is in your area so you can choose it to cut down the miles.

And Ocado's website is really fast.

I'm not a rep for them btw!

if you use generic brands you shouldnt find much of a rpice difefrence...

a pack of kelloggs corn flakes and heinz beans and fairy liq etc all cost the same as supermarkets

their own brands may be a little more expensive as another shops own brand equivalent.... except they arnt usually equivalent... waitrose products use better ingrediants and not so many chemical fillers....

also they have expensive own brand things that otehr shops dont even stock! And an extensive organic range!

they dont put aspartane in their fizzy drinks unlike the other big shops!

with ocado you DO get what you pay for IMO

I think Ocado's service is as bad as all the others and that on-line food shopping is the Work of the Devil basically.

Waitrose/Ocado seem to me very good at marketing over-priced crap to the English middle classes.

We don't have Ocado here, although we do have a Waitrose now. Food is more expensive, including like for like brand names - only by a few pence, but it is definitely the case. However their fresh food is superior and worth the extra on the whole.

We use Sainsburys online for our fortnightly shop. But I get my fruit/veg from a weekly organic box service and my meat from either the local farm shop or a local butchers. My fish I have started ordering from the local butchers who goes up to the fish markets in the early hours - just give him a day's notice.

we use asda home delivery but we don't get meat, bread, fruit or veg from there.

When I first came a mum, I tried out Tesco and ASDA for my online delivery. I was then introduced by a friend to www.mysupermarket.co.uk which is a brilliant website that lets you shop through Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's or Ocado and compares the prices between them.

My favourite feature on mySupermarket is Save More that checks your trolley and suggests alternative products that are very similar but at a better price - often special offers that you might have missed. The photos are big and bright - almost like walking down a supermarket aisle! At the end you send your trolley through to the supermarket of your choice. It regularly saves me more than the delivery charge and best of all, it's totally free to use!

cloudhopper try hot uk deals for a £15 money off voucher if its your first delivery with ocardo

Haven't read the rest of the thread..but my solution is to get a fruit and veg box delivered,weekly, milk three times a week from our lovely milkman Wayne, and then only use tescos every fortnight for staples - cheese and yoghurts generally have long dates on them anywya (and could get those for a similar price from the milkman - but less choice).

Oh and we got a big freezer so we can stock up on decent meat, sausages, pies, burgers occasionally.