Home Delivery Food Shop Virgin needs help please.....

[Sparkler1]

Wow never thought I'd call myself one of those again!!

Okay my life is hectic and I have decided to give in an give this online food shopping a go.
I usually shop at Asda or Tesco depending on how I feel, what discount vouchers I have to use up and what bargains they have.
Not sure where to start with this online shopping business.
Could anyone recommend one for me please or point me away from any not so good ones.
I want to get my order done this evening if possible.
Ta muchly!!

We use Tesco and have no problems - used to have a few hitches when they substituted stuff or everything had a short best before date on it, but that was ages ago.

Loads of probs with Tesco and would never use them again. Ocado was the only one who sent what I ordered or a sensible alternative and Sainsburys sent ridiculous things plus 3 lots of meat products all use by the next day.

Sainsburys have been pretty good. I get my milk (and freeze it) and veg weekly through Riverford and buy meat at the butcher so I'm only really buying loo roll, cat food, cartons of juice, tins of tomatoes, etc. Sell buy dates and 'freshness' don't matter then. Heavy larder and household stuff.

I say pretty good as I've been disappointed with their out of stock items (when it's a monthly shop it's a pain if they don't have something and I don't want their substitution) and they sent some razor blades the other day which were still in their security casing. They did offer to come out the next day to remove it though.

I use Tesco's.
I think they're quite good plus you can get money off voucher codes from some websites.
Try to book a morning delivery slot as you're less likely to get substitutions then (I think).

Tesco once brought me yesterdays paper and wouldn't send anyone out with the right one.

Message withdrawn

okay now I'm confused !

i've only used tesco, but generally been very pleased with them.

We've used Tescos for quite a while, and while intially we had loads of problems, they evenntually sirted themselves out and they've been pretty good for the last couple of years.

We've just swapped to Asda (because it's a lot cheaper - saves us about £30 each monthly shop) The first delivery we had was bloody awful, a third of the stuff was out of stock and it was over an hour late. I complained but they really didn't give a stuff. In contrast Tescos customer service is usually good, they'll give you refunds on everything (food too close to use by date, broken eggs, packets etc).

We gave Asda a second chance a couple of months later and they've been OK since, on time and very few out of stocks.

It just depends on how well your local delivery service is run.

Waitrose have the politest service (helpful drivers, phone calls if they're going to be 2 mins late), the best substitution policy (they'll sub you something and if it costs more they only charge you the price of what you ordered - have had double size packets of stuff like this before!)), and the nicest products, but they are more expensive, not available in every area (don't know how ocado compare, who also deliver waitrose products) and don't have quite such a large range.

Sainsbury's are crap - phone you half an hour before your delivery is due and say they can't deliver, but offer you a slot 4 days later - wtf?!

Tesco are reasonably good usually, but the same products are always out of stock, and their substitutions aren't always great. Particularly annoying as they always seem to sub things that are on BOGOF. It's easy to find all special offers on their site, and once you've shopped once to build up your favourites it will be quicker next time (this bit applies to all of them, not just Tesco).

Never used Asda.

Don't buy fruit and veg, they all just shove stuff in rather than carefully picking it as you would.

Hmmmm reading through this I think I shall just leave it and go myself. I've just checked the cupboards and written a list. Doesn't look like I need enough really - Asda have emailed me this evening with a code for free delivery if I spend £75 or more. Don't need that much at the moment.

Sainsburys are good - improved dramatically over the last year. Only had two times when they have phoned to say they will be late (hours usually) but other times they ring early to see if you are in so they can deliver early.

They have come out top in the Which Magazine survey a few months ago too. They help put the bags in the kitchen too - great when you are pregnant

Ocado is Waitrose. They are a separate company who offered to deliver Waitrose's groceries for them. Waitrose don't have their own vans.

the reason you're getting differing views on the same supermarkets is because it really depends on what your local store is like.

i don't know if you know how it works but say you use asda.. an asda staff member goes round the shop the same way you would do and picks up the items you've asked for. it's not like a warehouse jobby. that asda staff member may be 16 years old and not have a clue about very much at all, or they may be a 30something year old mum who may know a little better.

if you get someone crap you may well get crap veg, packed crappily etc. same goes if you say they can give you substitutes. however, at tesco you can tell them what specific substitutes you will take. so if they don't have thick cut brown bread you can tell them if you'd accept medium sliced brown or if you'd rather have thick white.

personally i've used asda and tesco and found them both good.

Sorry but there's no way you can make your mind up by asking for others' opinions. There have been loads of threads like this in the past and there has never been any consensus. The quality of the service depends on the local store and their staff. I personally would never use Tesco again and Sainsbury have never let me down. But others will say exactly the opposite.

You are just going to take a gamble and try one

BTW I've done my weekly shop on-line for about 3 years now and I wouldn't go back to the old way now.

NAB3 - Yes Waitrose do have their own vans actually. There's a service called 'Waitrose Deliver' but it is only available in a very limited number of areas. We can use either Waitrose Deliver or Ocado where I am.

Oh, I didn't know that. How does that work then?

If you go to waitrosedeliver.com and enter your postcode in the groceries section, it tells you which services are available. For my postcode I'm given the option 'Order your groceries online, then we'll deliver to your door or you can collect from selected branches'. If I try, for example, my parents' postcode, I get the option 'Order your groceries online, then collect from selected branches
Alternatively Ocado, our partner company, can deliver to you'.

Then I just shop away exactly as if I were using any other supermarket site.

I have used tesco, sainsbury's and Ocado.
IME the most reliable (and expensive) is Ocado.
Ocado have a sendible stock control system as they deliver form a central wharehouse not pick form the local shop shelves, which means they tell you if something is out of stock when you order. It is extremely rate to not get soemthing or get a substiutuin - but I have found their subsitutions tend to be more sensible. Oh and they do 1 hour delivery slots tooo. The others do 2 hour slots

Sainsburys had the worst record of missing items or rubbish substitutions which was still happening when I last tired again to see if it had improved them about 6-8 mths ago.

Tesco's were sort of inbetween for relaibility.