Ocado Smart Pass

Fire_Fox

Since I didn't order after signing up I've also been e-mailed £5 off my first £40 shop, but it's not clear if that is off the delivery or the spend as a whole so I can use it with the free trial.

Edwardia

Fire Fox I looked at Ocado website without logging in and there's an ad offering $10 off $50 shop valid to June. What you could do is click on ad get the code and write it down, do the order put the code in during checkout process and voila.

I got free delivery on my first order anyway. I suggest you call, say you're a newbie and ask which codes you can use for delivery.

blobbi

I have/had a mid-week pass. They have changed this to a Smart Pass. Just logged in under my wifes log in and it seems that as she has no pass that every day there are free evening/night slots whilst when I log in with my delivery pass these all seem to change to cost between £1.99 and 3.99. Seems like they are less than transparent on deliver costs.

Spark

I am sure that up to the time I emailed them for a second time yesterday afternoon, about a couple of hours before I got their phone call, it did say anytime quarterly on my smart pass webpage.
I did say this to the caller, who told me they weren't offering a quarterly smart pass. When I got back on the website after his phone call, it had changed to monthly.
On the email received after the call, it says :
"After the free period, your membership will run for a new 3 Month minimum term".
I thought the minimum term was 12 months. That's what it says at the moment on my smart pass webpage.
I'm not sure if they know what they're doing at the moment.
blobbi, I don't know how you can see any delivery fees with your pass, I can't see any fees when I try to book a slot. Unless it's because I am using ocado reserved.
But I know if you don't have a pass there are free slots. Something I suppose they don't want people with a pass to know.
That's why I don't care about getting rid of my membership. But at the moment I am quite happy with the deal I have.

Edwardia

I worked out that even at full price for the pass, because I have an Ocado order every week, over the year the savings I make in not paying 6.99 per week, pay for the pass. I don't think that there would ever be free slots between 9am and 11am on a Saturday morning.

If you were getting shopping delivered at 11pm on a Monday night, it might not be worth having a pass since it's conceivable that you could get free delivery every week.

Getting people to pay in advance for delivery is an income stream for Ocado. The benefits for customers aren't so clear.

I've had better freebies from Abel & Cole - eggs, milk and mince pies From Ocado, just toothpaste samples.

Having said that I lurve Ocado. Great service, wonderful product range, hardly ever get subs. Never been late even in snow.

Spark

I don't take lightly the fact that they have tried in the past to rise my membership fees more than once, especially when I knew that other people were paying less for it. I've never worked out on what basis they were deciding who will pay more and who will pay less.
Another thing I have learned, is that you have far more vouchers and offers if you don't have a delivery pass than if you do. It's feels like they take you for granted if you have a pass.
I did try different days for delivery, and did try saturday morning, and in my case it was dreadful, often 3 or 4 things missing, maybe it was at a time when they had warehouse problems, but I won't ask for delivery at the weekend anymore. I am quite happy with a midweek day.
Saying that, I do lurve Ocado too, mainly for their excellent customer service, and the varied products they offer. And now I rarely have anything missing. But I will not pay more for something when I know someone else pay less for the same product, unless there is a good reason for it.

Edwardia

Ocado has trialled and scrapped a customer loyalty points scheme

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/supermarkets/ocado/ocado-scraps-trial-of-very-helpful-loyalty-points-scheme/236671.article

moneysavinmonkey

after I queried with Ocado the cost with Ocado a second time I received a phone call from a customer service agent who reassured me that the pricing for the smart pass is the same as the delivery pass and they are adding the additional benefits for no extra cost. She confirmed my renewal would be £99 (same as my anytime delivery last year)

So I'm pleased with that, although a bit puzzled why they didn't just say that in the first place. You think if they were giving you something extra for free they'd be shouting it from the rooftops!

Only prob now is for having read this thread I'm aware it's possible to negotiate a better price for the delivery pass so when I do get my renewal notice I will be trying that!

moneysavinmonkey

Ok, I wanted to investigate how much it would cost me to book deliveries individually and how much smart pass was being offered to new customers in my area so I registered a new account on Ocado.

I used my business e-mail address but all the other details were the same (i have a home-based business). I checked that box that I was going to used Ocado for business not personal shopping....

then when i tried to click on smart pass it said sorry smart pass is not available because you have a business account.

Even more curious when I went to look at delivery slots they were all free and also the minimum order £0.00 (not £40.00)

So have I accidentally stumbled across a way to save money here? If you run a business from your home then you can legitimately have a business account with Ocado?

Edwardia

I suggest calling Ocado customer services.

I had a job working from home employed by a foreign non EU company. The tax office told me I had to become self-employed as a sole trader.

Because I was working from home I was able to claim against tax for heating and lighting for the room I worked in. Also for stuff like tea and coffee while I worked, travel expenses, stationery. I had an accountant who knew all the rules and he was tax deductible too.

I don't know what the rules are now, and I may well be working from home again soon so I should find out ! It's so much more common now.

You might be able to get a business account with Ocado, but it's verry unlikely that HMRC would allow you to claim your whole annual food consumption against tax !:D