UK - Resources for help getting food during quarantine and other supermarket related problems

I don’t ‘like’ this post at all!

During, and even since, Lockdown I have helped friends on occasions to obtain fresh produce because they live alone, have had problems obtaining a supermarket slot and if they do their normal sized order, that would incur the delivery fees.

Thinking about a PwME who lives solo, but the same applies for an elderly person who lives alone:

limited space for storage
smaller fridge/freezer capacity
big shopping deliveries expends more energy, wiping down and putting away
every search for a slot - and the actual delivery - is time and energy consuming (so therefore needs to be limited to whenever absolutely necessary)
limited income because of living on benefits or a pension

I am sure there is much more.

Tesco should be ashamed.

 

We have been using Tesco deliveries for most of the lockdown and since, and have just changed over to their Delivery Saver for £8 a month, which is saving for us. Once you have that then you get however many deliveries you want for no extra. Minimum charge still applies of course. But apparently they are limiting how many sign ups are available.

 

I wasn’t aware of the price increase till I went to book a delivery slot a couple days ago, and saw that priority slots had jumped from £2 to £4.50. So I checked and it’s across all types of slots and started 1st August. Annoying but nothing to do about it.

As I’ll be shielding due to cancer treatment (recent diagnosis) I don’t have much choice. We are a household of two, with a cat, so I place an order about every 10 days, and probably it’s still less than car use for a 20 mile round trip, certainly less hassle! Small bits we pick up in between locally.

If anyone is wondering, you don’t have to supply evidence for priority booking, and it’s in place from the next day from when you ask.

 

That’s expensive compared to our Ocado wild week delivery pass at 4.99 a month

 

I'm really glad I switched my Tesco saver plan over to a mid week one (£3.99 per month) just before they made this change. It still seems to be valid for existing saver customers but I suspect people can no longer make the switch.

I've had 2 Waitrose deliveries but have been less than impressed with them. The BB dates are poor and several cans have come severely dented.

Asda removed me from their priority list because I haven't used them. So I'm having one order from Sainsburys so they don't do this as well. My daughter has been doing the odd shop in store for me (when she collects my repeat meds from the Llyods pharmacy there) but using her rather than my Sainsburys card, so they won't be able to see I am still shopping with them. I want to keep my options open for the winter as I suspect it will become increasingly hard to get online slots once the weather deteriorates.

Ocado have finally bought their delivery prices down in my area (going down to £2 for a delivery over £75, even £0 if I were to take the 11pm slots), they were £6.99 across the board up until last week. However, it's still impossible to sign up for a smart delivery pass with them.

 

Only if you live within 5 miles of the store, at least in my area.

 

Sainsbury's delivery pass is £60 for a year (anytime delivery) but they had frozen it during Lockdown and refused new customers, the most important thing is to CHECK your expiry date.

If you have not selected continuous payment, they automatically cancelled your delivery pass and you could not even rejoin - something to be aware of before the Winter, I think!

ETA Midweek pass (Tues, Weds, Thurs) is £30 pa. Alternatively you can choose 3 or 6 month pass for both Anytime or Midweek.

 

May I ask how you register please? I have logged in but couldn’t see anything, do you have to ring?

 

Yes, you have to ring. IMO they make the phone number very hard to find on the website, but once I find it, I usually get thru straight away. If you have an invoice from a previous delivery, the number is on that for returns, but it’s the same number.

The delivery charge is the same whether weekend or whatever time of day. For priority you have to choose an 8 hr slot on the day, but they text at the beginning with a one our slot within that frame. As it was intended for people who were shielded, it makes sense, and it’s not hard to work around.

Eg I usually choose the 2-10pm slot, so by 2pm I’ll get a text with the time frame, and so far they’ve always been a bit early. I just don’t count on the delivery items for dinner that day!

 

I've used this ever since they introduced it, I've found it really good. I usually have two deliveries a month, but if I need a small order that doesn't add up to £40 in between, I ask neighbours if they need anything – they often do. If not I stock up on something that will add a few quid to the bill but is easy to store, like laundry detergent, dishwasher tabs or cat food.

I'm not optimistic deliveries will be charged at this rate for long, but to be honest I'd pay quite a bit more not to have to go out three times a week for the single basket of food I can carry on my wheelchair!

The only problem for me is that Tesco have stopped selling store-baked wholemeal rolls, which is the only bread I eat. I used to buy packs and packs of them, and stash them in the freezer. I decided to try Morrisons last week, who do sell nice bread but don't allow you to order exact quantities of fruit & veg like Tesco.

When the delivery arrived I had to ask the driver not to stack my food on top of a filthy, smelly wheelie bin, and there was a £10 pack of chicken fillets missing from the order that I may not be able to reclaim. Until I started making a batch of curry two days later I didn't notice there was only one pack of fillets in the carrier bag, with other stuff underneath that made up the weight. My fault for assuming that fresh meat will be packed separately from anything else (Tesco always do this) and just shoving the whole bag into the fridge, but it meant I had to go to the store anyway to fetch more. I'll give them one more chance, though.

 

Seeing this has reminded me to put a Tesco order in as it’s been a while and I don’t want to be bumped off priority for any reason whatsoever. It’s the only shop I could get on priority and will be needing it again during next lockdown.

 

They stopped charging for the pass when it was difficult to get slots, so overall I saved quite a lot of money whilst still having the full flexibility! I prefer Sainsburys, but in my area the choice of products for delivery is substantially less than offered in the local store. I have found Tesco very good for delivery in my area, but I am trying to eat more organic produce and they are limited in what the offer compared to Waitrose. I'm going to try Ocado over the next few weeks to see how good they are.

 

I use Ocado - prior to Covid they were the only supermarket still delivering in bags, and for me unbagged deliveries require much more energy.

In case you are unaware, Ocado's contract with Waitrose finishes end of August and the new contract is with Marks and Spencers. The M&S products are already in the site, so should be able to see whether they have a reasonable organic range, particularly if considering signing up for a delivery saver.

 

Luckily for me, I have had the prebooked mid-week offer at Tesco for some years, so i have had priority booking at a reasonable price. The only issue I now have is that since my husband died earlier this year, I don't buy enough for £40 free delivery any more on a weekly basis, and yet being mid week only, I am a bit limited on when I can book, and fortnightly is a bit too far apart.

However, I began shopping for an elderly friend down the road who doesn't want to go back into shops at present, so her £20 worth or so each week makes mine up to £40 thankfully.

I might try out Ocado at some point to see what they are like, if they deliver into our area which they may not do, as we are rather far to the west. I did try out Waitrose but they seem very expensive compared to Tesco, though I do like their ranges of foods.

 

On a technical point, have the carrier bag regulations been waived during this time? Otherwise, the delivery in bags may be costing considerably extra.

 

Tesco don't charge for them unless you ask for them when you set your delivery up. To cut down on plastic I've always had my shopping delivered without bags; at the moment it's their choice to use them, so no charge.