Why I’ll never shop at Asda again

by John Fitzsimons on 26 September 2011  |  40 comments
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A food delivery service where the food isn't delivered?

My weekends with my little boy are precious, so I want to spend as much time with him as possible. That’s a big reason why, since the turn of the year, I’ve tried out the delivery services from a range of different supermarkets. And without question, Asda’s has been the worst.

A couple of weeks ago our order from Asda turned up two hours late, at 11pm on a Friday night (like all the cool kids, I tend to be at home on a Friday night). After complaining, the supermarket offered me a free delivery to make up for it.

Having failed to learn my lesson, I attempted to use that free delivery this past Friday. We got a call from the driver halfway through our two-hour delivery slot asking for directions (a common occurrence whenever we order anything, despite the fact that we live on a main road), and thankfully he was only two roads away.

Sadly, he ignored those directions and drove past our house. And despite trying to call him over the course of the evening, he not only failed to pick up his phone, he also failed to show up at all. So instead, I had to waste an hour of my weekend in my local supermarket shopping for baby milk. Not good.

The first supermarket delivery service we tried was Tesco, and really I had no complaints. The deliveries were almost always on time, and on the one occasion it was late, the driver had the courtesy to call ahead of time to warn us. On the negative side, virtually every time we ordered food, at least one thing we ordered was out of stock and so had to be substituted for something else.

However, the best delivery service we have enjoyed, by a country mile, is that of Ocado. When you order, you get a text message from the firm to not only confirm the time of your delivery, but also to tell you the name of the driver, and even the number plate of the delivery vehicle.

Even better, on the three occasions we’ve ordered from Ocado, the driver has not had to call for directions once. It’s a small thing, but it makes a difference to me!

Of course, the trouble is that shopping at Ocado tends to be more expensive than Tesco and Asda. Indeed, you need to spend at least £40 just for them to deliver.

And the delivery costs can be a little dear. For example, if I wanted to get my shopping delivered this coming Friday night, at first glance it looks like the 9-10pm slot is £4.99. But that’s only if you spend more than £75 – spend less than that and it jumps to £5.99. And slots in prime timeslots can climb as high as £6.99.

Meanwhile, with Asda, the same Friday night slot would set you back £3 (assuming they ever showed up). And Tesco charge £4.50 for the same slot, while peak timeslots will see the cost jump up to £6.

The one service I’m yet to try is Sainsbury’s. Having looked at the site, for the same timeslot on a Friday night, I’d be paying £3.95 (so long as I spent more than £40, otherwise it jumps to £6).

So what have your experiences been of the various supermarket delivery services? Are they worth it, or should you just stick to shopping in store?

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