Ocado is NOT a good supplier

dave0564

OK.  Hadn't used Ocado before but some items I wanted weren't available at my local M&S Foodhall.

Placed an order for 10 items about a month ago; today (due delivery day), I was advised by email that 2 items were "missing" (ie not available), 7 were substituted (and if we'd wanted these we would have ordered them, so they were ALL going back).  However, I could not cancel the order as I was past cut-off, and I risked being charged for perishable items (ie the entire £60 order).  So I had to wait for the delivery driver, esp to return the substitutes.  The driver suggested that I could also cancel the remaining item, so the whole lot was returned to him.  On the understanding that I would be charged nothing.

I received nothing, not even a bag.

I have just received the final receipt for the order, which charges me 10p for a bag - which I did neither need (since there were no goods) nor receive, since the driver didn't even open the bag to see what was what.

I have since had a "chat" with their customer service, who have said that the residual 10p charge will also be refunded to me.

If I wasn't so angry at the aggravation this has caused, I would find it laughable that a company that pretends to be a player in the groceries market can be so stupid.

Happy to hear about other Ocado experience.  

sarah1972

I love Ocado. 

Great customer service, rarely gets subs and never had anything missing. 

The drivers are so polite and the goods are great quality. 

Had an order yesterday with a free box of Lindt truffles and £16 worth of free goodies to review

To be honest, your experience could and does happen at any supermarket and you did order a month ago so it’s likely that things will be unavailable 

easyasonetwothree

All sounds absolutely normal and expected, if not a little annoying.
You made an order a month ago - not surprising that what was in stock at that time wouldn't be now.
Also, once they've picked the items you obviously can't cancel the order, they've already packed it for you, it's in the van ready to go.
I think you'd have this same experience with any grocery delivery.
Annoying about the bag, but now you can spend that 10p with a different supermarket!

beckstar1975

They're my preferred online supermarket too. Ordering that far ahead is the issue, if you edit/amend your order close to the deadline it should show you what is actually in stock and what's not so you can amend it/cancel if you prefer. 

On the odd occasion they do have to provide substitutes they're not only more sensible than I've had from other places but they also don't charge you the newer inflated price, was speechless when Sainsburys did. And love that they still use bags too, the amount we buy it's carnage when I forget and order from somewhere that doesn't do bags - I have marooned myself in the hall more than once!

My only gripe is I miss some of the Waitrose products still, but Waitrose online is not great at all so would rather go to the store to get what I am missing and do the rest online.

dave0564

I see the comments.  I actually confirmed my order last night - not, I admit, by emptying the basket and starting again - but by checking for another item I wanted but which was marked out of stock.  No warning of stock shortage when I then checked out, just the email this morning.  Considering they had an order in place, it does not seem beyond the wit of man to actually ensure that there is stock to fulfil orders in place.

The 10p refund (OK, not breaking the bank) is still not confirmed.

I have had some (irritating) issues in the past with stock shortages with other supermarkets, but NEVER to the extent of 90% of the order.

Ref the respondent who said they had some freebies:  I might have been less annoyed about all this if the driver had left me with the item I actually wanted as a freebie (esp considering this was part of a buy 3, bet 4th free), and was actually charged at Zero on my order.  But that would have been beyond his pay grade.

It remains my view that stupidity is directly proportional to distance from the customer and the director's salary.

For the avoidance of doubt: Ocado is never going to become my preferred supplier of groceries, not after this showing.  

sarah1972

dave0564 said:

I see the comments.  I actually confirmed my order last night - not, I admit, by emptying the basket and starting again - but by checking for another item I wanted but which was marked out of stock.  No warning of stock shortage when I then checked out, just the email this morning.  Considering they had an order in place, it does not seem beyond the wit of man to actually ensure that there is stock to fulfil orders in place.

The 10p refund (OK, not breaking the bank) is still not confirmed.

I have had some (irritating) issues in the past with stock shortages with other supermarkets, but NEVER to the extent of 90% of the order.

Ref the respondent who said they had some freebies:  I might have been less annoyed about all this if the driver had left me with the item I actually wanted as a freebie (esp considering this was part of a buy 3, bet 4th free), and was actually charged at Zero on my order.  But that would have been beyond his pay grade.

It remains my view that stupidity is directly proportional to distance from the customer and the director's salary.

For the avoidance of doubt: Ocado is never going to become my preferred supplier of groceries, not after this showing.  

It doesn’t work like that, having an order in place certainly never ensures that there is stock to fulfil that order. 

All supermarkets are the same, I had Asda last week and the driver actually said to me, do you know that some people have actually ordered their turkey and Xmas meat to be delivered on the 23rd and I said that makes sense being close to the big day and he said well there will be a lot of dissatisfied customers as they definitely won’t be enough left on the shelves for all the deliveries, in fact we will be out of an awful lot of stuff. 

I have had orders that just never turn up, I have had missing items, I have had no bread or milk, I have had huge proportions subbed and/or unavailable, I have had drivers very very late and rude, I have had overcharges, out of date food but not with Ocado. 

Re: the freebies. It’s not up to the driver to do that and by no means his ability to do it either. 

My freebies are always on my account under coupons for the whole amount of the product, including the Lindt truffles that they emailed me about. 

Anyway, you will get your 10p back and you have voted with your feet so that’s it concluded x 

izzitme

Hi. I work for one of the other supermarkets. Until the day for delivery the company does not know what has been ordered (apart from 1 or 2 "special order" items).

This is why there are sometimes goods which are out of stock. With us you can always return any substitutions for a refund if you are not happy with it.

We also price match subs to the lower price of what you ordered or what we send.

GingerTim

Only good things to say here - been shopping with them for about eight years and I can count on my fingers the number of times an item has been substituted. Best selection of any online supermarket in my view and the price is competitive.

On a couple of occasions something has been missing but I was refunded within the day when I reported it. Most recently the packet of a side of salmon was broken when it arrived and rhey refunded the £25, no questions asked.

MattMattMattUK

All grocery delivery companies/supermarkets will have issues at some point, to expect otherwise, especially when you wanted M&S products and knew M&S were having stock issues is a little bit naieve.

Murphybear

beckstar1975 said:

They're my preferred online supermarket too. Ordering that far ahead is the issue, if you edit/amend your order close to the deadline it should show you what is actually in stock and what's not so you can amend it/cancel if you prefer. 

On the odd occasion they do have to provide substitutes they're not only more sensible than I've had from other places but they also don't charge you the newer inflated price, was speechless when Sainsburys did. And love that they still use bags too, the amount we buy it's carnage when I forget and order from somewhere that doesn't do bags - I have marooned myself in the hall more than once!

My only gripe is I miss some of the Waitrose products still, but Waitrose online is not great at all so would rather go to the store to get what I am missing and do the rest online.

I’ve only used online supermarket shopping once as we buy a lot of fresh stuff especially meat and like to see it first.  Unfortunately we both had a flu(ish) bug at the same time and ordered from Tesco.  I know they do substitutes but getting lemon scented washing up liquid instead of fresh lemons?  Lemons were to treat the symptoms using grannies old recipe.  Washing up liquid won’t work 

booneruk

I've used a wide gamut of online supermarkets for two decades now and while substitutions are to be expected occasionally, Ocado has always been by far the most reliable. It does sound as if it was an M&S problem rather than an Ocado one.

The biggest surprise I had with a delivery was purely my fault. I completely confused individual tomatoes with a sack of tomatoes and ended up ordering 5 sacks! That was a very tomato-ey week indeed.