What's the strangest "substitute" item you've been offered on your home delivery?

juno · 18 October 2009 at 7:03PM

My friend once ordered water biscuits and got watercress (or it might have been the other way round)

sfmedusa · 20 October 2009 at 12:35PM

I've had the fresh lemons in place of a bottle of lemon washing up liquid too, but I think that the strangest one I've ever had was sending a packet of bird seed instead of dog food- like there was no other dog food in the whole of the supermarket to use as a substitute.

I'm so pleased that Tesco have now brought in a price matching policy- we had way too many times when the substitutes cost 3 or 4 times the price of the chosen item. The worst for this was when I ordered a piece of pork which was on offer and would have cost us only £5, but the piece that they sent was possibly the most expensive piece that they had in store at £18. I told the driver that it simply wasn't acceptable that Tesco got the choice of whether I spent so much more money and that I was really annoyed that now I had to reject their choice and go out to buy dinner (defeating the whole point of getting the shopping delivered) and he recorded it as being returned and then 'forgot to take it as he was leaving'. It made a lovely roast dinner though

tazz233 · 20 October 2009 at 8:42PM

i once ordered spring onions (or salad onion's as mr t called them!) and i got a bag of salad leaves!!

The lemons for washing up liquid is bizarre, though!!

Flat_Eric · 6 February 2010 at 11:32PM

how amusing is this thread :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
I have got off very lightly by comparison.

I used to have Asda deliver all the time but every delivery proved a headache so I have Tesco now. Asda have some great deals but each time I think, may be they have improved and try them again (like today) Im let down.

When I first started having asda deliver, I did used to get some odd substitutes but nothing that I can remember that stands out. I also used to get irritated at the short dates on some items. One particular order in very early January proved a complete nightmare. I even took pictures of the short dated yogurts ! and other poor quality fruit/veg thatthey had delivered. I used to make the mistake of having such a huge order that by the time I had sorted everything out and discovered all the mistakes, the driver had long gone :mad:

I know subs are meant to be listed separately but Im sure Ive had the odd order when they haven't and the wrong thing(s) were sent ?!

Since Asda changed its website, I have noticed that you can specify substitues on each individual item which is good. previously it was a blanket yes or no to subs. I started saying no to substitutes because weird or unsuitable items would be delivered. However I was still left fuming because typically I would buy something on offer, one item of the promotion would not be available, nothing would be substituted (despite other items in the offer being available) meaning I would miss out as had not bought enough items to qualify. I gave up in the end and reverted to Tesco. Much better now that they price match subs, previously much more expensive items supplied. one occasion (At xmas) 1 litre baileys £10 but of course not available. so sent in its place 70cl of the same make baileys but cost much more. Sent back with the driver. !!

I had asda today and can report I had something like 17 cans that were damaged and four jars of chutney which were damaged (lids removed on two of them - nice mess in bag and other lids had popped so all unuseable). Phoned the store and redelivery arranged. driver couldn't understand what was wrong with the tins until he saw how dented they were ! Oh and of course as he was pulling away, I discovered that the chick pea dahl (9 tins in all) had been replaced by 9 tins of organic chick peas ! I will use them but am just ever so slightly miffed that they are over 10 pence cheaper than what was ordered... i didn't have the energy to phone them and rearrange yet another delivery so have just stuck them in the cupboard and vowed NEVER AGAIN !

EDIT. thanks for all the laughs:rotfl:

borders_dude · 7 February 2010 at 2:36PM

I used to get my shopping online from sainsburys.

I had it sent so that I didnt get any substitutes.

But every couple of weeks in amongst my shopping (in orange bags) would be a blue bag, which is what substitutes were put in. But yet I had all my shopping! I was getting someone elses subs!

Karrie2129 · 7 February 2010 at 5:22PM

We had a customer who once ordered a brand of panty liners. They weren't available and the system suggested brillo pads as a substitution. Ouch!:eek:

Karrie2129 · 7 February 2010 at 5:34PM

I know! Thankfully the picker didn't make that substitution!

Casati · 7 February 2010 at 5:34PM

At Christmas I ordered a 750g bag of mixed nuts (in their shells)

I got one nut. Luckily it was a walnut. There would have been hell to pay if it was a hazelnut.
I wanted mixed nuts. You cant have a mixture of nuts when there is only one nut.