Tips for Online Deliveries at Xmas/Winter!

k_moor25

yea same here thats I have signed up for 3 months mainly for the early acsess to the christmas slots

pullenuk

Shopping in a supermarket, especially at the last weekend before xmas is madness. I'm surprised the amount of time you wait in queues etc your frozen haven't melted!

Barneysmom

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

the advanced christmas slots was one of the reasons i signed up to delivery saver at tesco. i always get everything i can in advance and get a slot 2 days before christmas in case something on my shop i need doesnt come..i never go in store with 3 kids in the school hols at christmas..its evil in there

I've done that too.
I said I would never go into a supermarket Christmas time again after afew years ago when it took over an hour and half to get out of the car park.

All the weightlifting too

I do seem to get the same driver, probably because I choose much the same slot every weekend, it's a shame I can't tip him.

Edwardia

I'm aiming to get everything that isn't fresh, well before Christmas.

Christmas pudding is being steamed by my mother as I post, OH will make mince pies (organic shortcrust pastry already in freezer). Biscuits are bought/ordered as is ice cream. Stuffing is on order too. I'm making up a list for stuff like pickled onions, piccalilli etc at the moment.

I will use deliveries up to the week before Christmas but this year will be first organic Christmas and cos there's not much locally am really dependent on Ocado and Abel & Cole so not sure what I'll do about fresh veg Christmas week. The weekend before Christmas will be mad I'm sure.

Loubell83

I have always wanted to use online shopping especially at Christmas time, but I am worried that where I live would be very awkward for drivers.

To explain I live on a main, busy high street. You cannot park outside my door due to double yellows, so you need to park in one of the side streets. In the evening it is very hard to get a space and often have a 5 minute walk to get to the flat. I would not want to put a delivery driver out by making him walk this distance with all my groceries, including bottles etc!

Also, I live in a pokey flat above a shop, so you have to bypass the back of the shop. My buzzer is dodgy so I might need the driver to call me before he arrives.

I want to ask the delivery drivers whether these things would be an issue for them?!! If not I may start using online shopping.

Also, for a usual big shop i.e. £80 spent and bottles and frozen stuff included, how many trips would you need back and forward to the van? I know its hard to estimate but a rough guess.

Thanks in advance guys, the advice already is very helpful. I just don't want to annoy the drivers so will go the shop if this would be really hard!

Edwardia

I'd ring customer services of the supermarket/delivery service you wish to use and ask if it's a prob.

Ocado will let ppl start booking Christmas deliveries 27 October. There are conditions ie you can only have one delivery Christmas week per customer.

andrew-the-cat

Loubell83 wrote: »

To explain I live on a main, busy high street. You cannot park outside my door due to double yellows, so you need to park in one of the side streets. In the evening it is very hard to get a space and often have a 5 minute walk to get to the flat. I would not want to put a delivery driver out by making him walk this distance with all my groceries, including bottles etc!

Also, I live in a pokey flat above a shop, so you have to bypass the back of the shop. My buzzer is dodgy so I might need the driver to call me before he arrives.

I want to ask the delivery drivers whether these things would be an issue for them?!! If not I may start using online shopping.

Also, for a usual big shop i.e. £80 spent and bottles and frozen stuff included, how many trips would you need back and forward to the van? I know its hard to estimate but a rough guess.

Thanks in advance guys, the advice already is very helpful. I just don't want to annoy the drivers so will go the shop if this would be really hard!

Providing there is not a "no loading" restriction that road, the driver can legally stop on the double yellow lines to deliver your shopping. That is one of a few advantages of the job, you are exempt from some traffic laws. We can also double park on quieter roads and although this is guaranteed to annoy most drivers, it is sometimes essential. I try not to do it, and thankfully most of the time I don't have to. But I have had cases where I am delivering to the house dead in the middle of an avenue and EVERY single space is taken, and it's a 150 yard walk to each end. Chances are unless it's a huge order you won't be there for more than 5 minutes or so, and if people are in a rush they will just find another way round.

With Sainsbury's you can add additional instructions to the order which will show on the drivers handset. It is perfectly acceptable to put "call me on my mobile when arriving and I will meet you at the front". I have a few customers in hard to find apartment complexes or who live above shops where you have to park in a dodgy back lane to deliver who do that.

£80 is probably the average size of an order that we deliver. A lot of people make big orders because if you spend over a certain amount on certain days the delivery is free and it also saves the customer having to carry the shopping! The biggest order I have delivered was worth almost £2500 and it required 2 trips!

Suewre

If you are signed up to Tesco Delivery Saver, it only includes one delivery between Monday 17th Dec and Christmas Day, if you want more than one delivery in that period, you will be charged for the delivery. Also according to the frequently asked questions on Tesco's site, if you sign up before 19th Nov, you get priority access to the Christmas delivery slots. It doesn't mention when they will release the Christmas slots, but I guess they will let us know.

billywhizz

FAQs now say Priority Access will become available in the last week of November.

Edwardia

Got a Christmas booklet from Abel & Cole with my order this morning. It has a purple cover with ho! ho! ho! in gold and has all the info for Christmas.

There's an organic Christmas Day fruit and veg box to feed 6-8 people for £25, free range/organic turkeys/crowns, ham and gammon joints, cranberry sauce, buffet stuff, gravy, mince pies (yummy), Christmas cake, nut roasts, hampers, Christmas pudding, brandy custard and cream, wine, port, cheese etc even Christmas tree decorations made from olive woo.

If you're going to relies or renting a cottage for a getaway if the address is in their delivery area you can have food/gifts delivered on your account if you email/phone 08452 62 62 62

Abel & Cole doesn't do individual slots. If your postcode reveals a Monday delivery you can have a delivery on Christmas Eve. If normally you order arrives on a Tuesday, last pre-Christmas delivery is Saturday 22nd. Normal Wednesday delivery = Sunday 23rd. Normal Thursday delivery = Thurs 20th and normal Friday delivery = Friday 21st December.

Christmas orders can be booked online now.