Oh borrocks.

[Mike4]

I've just spent 45 minutes compiling a big shopping order with Ocado and find the website says they have no delivery slots available.

None at all, ever.

[swill453]

Do they force you to choose your shopping before selecting a delivery slot? Seems a bizarre way of doing it, especially these days.

Scott.

[Mike4]

Do they force you to choose your shopping before selecting a delivery slot? Seems a bizarre way of doing it, especially these days.

Scott.

I allowed myself to be misdirected by the medium sized shop I did on Friday afternoon, and had delivered on Saturday morning. Thousands of slots were available. which gave me the mistaken impression there would still be lots of slots freely available today.

[sg31]

I allowed myself to be misdirected by the medium sized shop I did on Friday afternoon, and had delivered on Saturday morning. Thousands of slots were available. which gave me the mistaken impression there would still be lots of slots freely available today.

Do they restrict you to one shop per week?

Tesco certainly did although I'm not sure if that is still the case.

[bungeejumper]

Do they restrict you to one shop per week?

Tesco certainly did although I'm not sure if that is still the case.

Doesn't seem to be. I had Tesco orders at fairly random intervals over Xmas/New Year - sometimes only four days apart, sometimes eight or nine days. You just had to grab what slots you could. Although, as a regular (paying a flat £7.99 per month for all deliveries), I was getting offered slots up to six weeks ahead during the festive season, compared with the usual three or four weeks.

Mind you, three or four weeks ahead is how you have to book those Tesco slots these days. Whereas Asda can usually fit me in at two days' notice. Supply and demand, I suppose?

BJ

[unperplex]

Can I put in a good word for Iceland here ?

They were recommended by a friend as having a lot more slots available (where we live, in West Yorkshire, that is) than many others and indeed they do.
Also delivery is free if your order is over £35.
I would not have thought of them myself as I did not shop there pre-Covid .
I suppose I considered them as very limited/downmarket and only selling frozen stuff.
This is certainly not the case.
They have a wide range of fresh fruit and veg (not as wide as Waitrose etc. of course - I have not seen avocados or lemongrass....),and essentials such as loo/kitchen rolls, cleaning materials etc.
They also sell (a relatively limited range of) beers and wines and ready meals (probably better to opt for their “luxury” range), croissants etc.
Yes, they have limitations, but if you choose carefully they are quite good.
Anyway, there is not much point being able to look at a huge range of exotic stuff if you cannot obtain a delivery slot !!!

[Mike4]

I allowed myself to be misdirected by the medium sized shop I did on Friday afternoon, and had delivered on Saturday morning. Thousands of slots were available. which gave me the mistaken impression there would still be lots of slots freely available today.

Do they restrict you to one shop per week?

Tesco certainly did although I'm not sure if that is still the case.

That's an interesting possibility that hadn't occurred to me.

Mind you I went straight to the Tesco site and found the same thing. No slots available at all, no matter how far onto the future I clicked. And I haven't used Tesco for several months - mainly because they never have any slots!

[Rhyd6]

We use Iceland for a lot of things like soap powder, loo rolls, coffee, cheese - they do Boursin one of my favourite soft cheeses. They have some very good wine bargains and they always seem to have slots available. We came across them by accident before covid struck, we were in our nearest town and noticed a sign for a new food hall so went to investigate, it turned out to be Iceland. Like others I tended to think of them as a low budget store but have to admit I was pleasantly suprised.
My biggest disappointment was on holiday a couple of years ago when I discovered that the local supermarket was Waitrose. There isn't one anywhere near us so I was eager to try what I'd always been led to believe was the creme de la creme of shopping experiences. What a disappointment, I thought it would be like the French Carrefour but found there wasn't much to choose between it and Sainsbury. C'est la vie.

R6

[sg31]

That's an interesting possibility that hadn't occurred to me.

Mind you I went straight to the Tesco site and found the same thing. No slots available at all, no matter how far onto the future I clicked. And I haven't used Tesco for several months - mainly because they never have any slots!

I have their 6 month delivery saver and have never failed to get a weekly delivery. On Thursday I book for 4 weeks ahead for Wednesday delivery. It doesn't matter what time of day I make the booking my usual morning slot is available. Quite often there are slots available earlier in the week.

During lock down slots do get booked up quicker obviously. Availability may depend on where you are, I can only speak for this area.

I've never had any luck with obtaining delivery slots with other supermarkets, the best I've managed is click and collect at Sainsbury's which was very efficient and safe. A good friend usually gets click and collect at Morrisons but says there are often a lot of items unavailable although they never have difficulty getting slots.

[richlist]

We shop click & collect at Tesco every few weeks. We never have a problem getting a slot. We live in a very built up area in Essex but are fortunate that there are 3 large Tesco stores within close travelling distance from which we can choose. I guess it may depend on your location and of course a bit of luck.

We also use Iceland for deliveries......what Tesco doesnt have, Iceland does & vice versa. Iceland has free delivery over £35.

[AleisterCrowley]

.
My biggest disappointment was on holiday a couple of years ago when I discovered that the local supermarket was Waitrose. There isn't one anywhere near us so I was eager to try what I'd always been led to believe was the creme de la creme of shopping experiences. What a disappointment, I thought it would be like the French Carrefour but found there wasn't much to choose between it and Sainsbury. C'est la vie.

R6

There was a Carrefour near us -about 7 miles- when I was a lad (1970s) Not sure when they left the UK. I can remember it was big and had a lot of, for the time, exotic food

Windsor Waitrose was my nearest until I moved - I really liked it (good beer and wine selection)
Now I have to trek to Newbury or Wokingham

[Mike4]

.
My biggest disappointment was on holiday a couple of years ago when I discovered that the local supermarket was Waitrose. There isn't one anywhere near us so I was eager to try what I'd always been led to believe was the creme de la creme of shopping experiences. What a disappointment, I thought it would be like the French Carrefour but found there wasn't much to choose between it and Sainsbury. C'est la vie.

R6

There was a Carrefour near us -about 7 miles- when I was a lad (1970s) Not sure when they left the UK. I can remember it was big and had a lot of, for the time, exotic food

Windsor Waitrose was my nearest until I moved - I really liked it (good beer and wine selection)
Now I have to trek to Newbury or Wokingham

There are also decent Waitrose branches in Caversham, north-west Reading (on the road out to Pangbourne), Woodley and Twyford. Any of those nearer you perhaps?

[AleisterCrowley]

There was a Carrefour near us -about 7 miles- when I was a lad (1970s) Not sure when they left the UK. I can remember it was big and had a lot of, for the time, exotic food

Windsor Waitrose was my nearest until I moved - I really liked it (good beer and wine selection)
Now I have to trek to Newbury or Wokingham

There are also decent Waitrose branches in Caversham, north-west Reading (on the road out to Pangbourne), Woodley and Twyford. Any of those nearer you perhaps?

Nearer, but less accessible in the case of the Tilehurst and Woodley ones. From memory the Caversham one is very small -a 'Waitrose Local' sort of thing

Didn't know there was one in Twford, which might be easier than Wokingham

[Mike4]

There was a Carrefour near us -about 7 miles- when I was a lad (1970s) Not sure when they left the UK. I can remember it was big and had a lot of, for the time, exotic food

Windsor Waitrose was my nearest until I moved - I really liked it (good beer and wine selection)
Now I have to trek to Newbury or Wokingham

There are also decent Waitrose branches in Caversham, north-west Reading (on the road out to Pangbourne), Woodley and Twyford. Any of those nearer you perhaps?

Nearer, but less accessible in the case of the Tilehurst and Woodley ones. From memory the Caversham one is very small -a 'Waitrose Local' sort of thing

Didn't know there was one in Twford, which might be easier than Wokingham

Yes the Caversham one is not huge but my impression is it is still a decent sized store with large car park, only seeming small in comparison to the massive stores that get built nowadays. But not having been in there for ten years, I can't clearly remember.

The Twyford one is massive!

[AleisterCrowley]

I must pop to Caversham, I want to try out the Fox and Hounds - when I'm allowed to

[Mike4]

I must pop to Caversham, I want to try out the Fox and Hounds - when I'm allowed to

How odd you should say that. I have a mental note to do exactly the same! It looks like that rarity nowadays, a proper, normal pub.

I have somehow acquired the impression they brew their own beer, is that true?

[AleisterCrowley]

I'm not sure- if they did, they don't now! They did seem to stock a lot of good stuff(Siren etc)

Now I have a sudden urge to go to the Nag's Head...zero visits since Christmas 2019 Damn this virus

[Mike4]

I'm not sure- if they did, they don't now! They did seem to stock a lot of good stuff(Siren etc)

Now I have a sudden urge to go to the Nag's Head...zero visits since Christmas 2019 Damn this virus

Ah yes, I had a tour of the cellars there a few years back after I spotted and correctly identified the vintage Tannoy hifi speakers in there, when idly chatting with the landlord. He too is a 70s vintage hifi enthusiast!