ASDA Grocery delivery fiasco

MaShadow

if their short dates. phone them and get it refunded. ie free food

alanq

I have been trying out ASDA deliveries for the first time since they announced a 3-month £15 pass. I bought a 1-month pass and renewed just before the 3-month pass offer ended.

I have no experience of the quality of fresh foods as I prefer to buy meat, fruit and veg in store where I can chose what looks the best rather than risk being given what in-store customers have rejected.

I also opt not to receive substitutions as I am never that desperate that I need to take something other than what I have ordered.

Out of 8 deliveries one came 10 minutes before the 2-hour time slot booked and one 20 minutes after.

With one delivery virtually every can came dented. With others I have had in total one can dented.

For my first delivery the cap on a bottle of soft drink was not screwed down tightly. This was spotted by the driver and he requested a refund for me on the spot and left me with the bottle.

I have never been billed for something that was not delivered but have had one large pot of yoghurt, two tubs of soft cheese and a large packet of bacon delivered that I did not order and was not billed for. I did the decent thing on each occasion and informed customer services. I was thanked and told to keep these items free of charge. On one occasion, having specified no substitutions, a large pack of Andrex toilet tissue was unavailable in the size that I ordered. The driver pointed this out and then attempted to deliver a pack of ASDA brand tissue that was not on the delivery notice/bill. I pointed this out and they took it back.

On one order despite specifying no substitutions a smaller pack of smoked mackerel than what I ordered was substituted but not highlighted. I was charged the lower price but that worked out at at a higher price per gram. I requested that I should be charged the price per gram of the product that I ordered and was granted a pro rata refund without difficulty.

So despite being far from perfect I think that with the current level of service I will stick with it after my pass expires.

alanq

Cocobay71 wrote: »

How do they expect people to budget their grocery bill if they can charge you a completely different price on delivery.
I wouldnt of minded if their site had advised me when placing the order that the product would be a different price on my delivery date but it appears their website does not have this function like Tesco.

I don't know how the Tesco system works but the ASDA site does warn at the time of placing an order and in the confirmation email that the price MAY be different. For my most recent order Spritzers were 2 for £3 when I ordered but just £1 each at the time of delivery and I was charged the lower price. So fixing a price at the time of ordering could work against you.

Also while preparing next week's order a couple of tinned fruits were on "buy 2 get charged less" offers. However when I went to check out having chosen a delivery slot I was immediately warned that the price would be higher. I then took the opportunity to remove the items from my order before finally checking out. So it seems that on at least some occasions ASDA does warn in advance of price changes.

To minimise the chance of surprises the safest thing is to place an order for the minimum £25 (£40 with a pass) well in advance to ensure a delivery date and then the day before delivery is due, check the order and see if any prices have changed and amend the order accordingly.
(Update: Although I have yet to encounter a problem it seems that this strategy has its risks. See http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4805733)

Under distance selling regulations you have a right to reject most things ordered online for any reason or none within 7 days of delivery. (However, with perishables you cannot just change your mind after a week and expect them to be taken back). So my understanding is that although you cannot force ASDA to sell at the lower price it cannot force you to buy at the higher price and you can refuse to accept delivery of anything that has increased in price - though that's not much comfort if it's today's dinner!