OT: Problems with online grocery orders...

Gigi22

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 11, 2009
Anyone else experiencing this? This is twice in a row the shopper has substituted an item on my list for another, lower priced item, and charged me for the original item. In the first instance, the price difference was over $10, today’s price difference is probably closer to $2. I am being refunded/credited the money, but my confidence in the shopping portal and whole experience is fraying.
 
Yeah I had a store pretty much delete our entire meat order on Thanksgiving Sunday. I was NOT pleased.
Thankfully the holiday meal was taken care of, but now I have to figure out the meal planning at a different store.
 
I often get some produce that isn’t the greatest with online orders but this last time was the worst. I did a $50 order. The watermelon was soft in spots and rotten inside . It was inedible, both cucumbers were sour tasting ( though they did look fine ), the cauliflower had way more than a few dark spots and the zucchini was rotten on one side . I don‘t even know how the store was selling this stuff let alone packing it into an order.
I called customer service and they ended up sending me a $10 gift card. It was a nice gesture and I appreciate it but its made me hesitant to order all my produce this way. We use a store one town over for grocery pick up so it’s not close by. I really do love the service so I think I’ll just check the produce over before I leave the store now .
 
I've had that happen with Instacart which is why I no longer use them. If I'm not going into the store then I will do click and collect with Independent/Superstore, I have found them much more reliable and more flexible if substitutions have to be made (plus they call me before pick up to go over the order).
 


I've had that happen with Instacart which is why I no longer use them. If I'm not going into the store then I will do click and collect with Independent/Superstore, I have found them much more reliable and more flexible if substitutions have to be made (plus they call me before pick up to go over the order).

Sadly, I don’t drive, so I have to either shop in person or use Instacart or something similar.
 
I won’t use instacart. I find Longo’s (grocery gateway) is best for produce, Walmart best for pantry, Loblaws is not very good at all. I use my little local market for all my meat and also produce. I’ve been doing online grocery shopping since my twins were born. There’s been a definite shift downward with Covid.
 
When it was free, pick up was a great option. Most of my items were okay enough, given I didn't have to do the work. A few times my meat orders were the wrong size or my veggies could have been better or the bananas were too ripe, but I figured that was the trade off. Now that my store is charging for pick up, forget it. I was always going in after pick up to supplement the things they couldn't find on their own shelves anyway. I might as well do my own shopping.

We are at a different place than we were 6 months ago. We all wear masks. We distance if we can and we get on with things. There's not the fear of someone exposing you in the same way there was when we all knew nothing except staying home was the only 'safe' place. Heck, stores aren't even doing line ups any more and while I'm sure they are sanitizing their carts, I never see it.
 


Early on when everything shut down, we only did online grocery orders/curbside pickup. I think I posted here about all the mistakes, omissions and unauthorized substitutions made on my orders (I specified no substitutions - because we have dietary restrictions). After a couple months experiencing so many issues, I gave up and started to go in store myself.

I found when I placed huge biweekly grocery orders (family of 4), more mistakes occurred. But if I placed smaller weekly orders with only a few items, they were able to handle it better, maybe less confusing and overwhelming for the in store grocery picker.
 
I must be the lucky one. I have never had an issue. I do usually add a note asking them to PLEASE choose produce and meat as if they were serving it to their family. One of the delivery people actually commented and said that was a great idea.
 
So far have been very impressed with my local Walmart online order & pick up service. Have only used x2 in the past few weeks but produce top shelf and no dents in cans, etc. $35 min order for no fee. Not hard to hit $35 esp when buying bag of milk, eggs plus produce. The only confusing part was there was no sign in the parking lot and no instructions online where to park to pick up the order. Perhaps everyone but me knew to drive around back to shipping area and park in designated spot and call the pickup number. Walmart produce usually more $ than eg No Frills and less selection but for a few dollars more, don't have to go in the store and can pick up a few over the counter pharmacy items in the same order. As numbers increase this Fall/Winter, will def use every 2 wks or so.
 
I did a Walmart pick up order this week for the first time since this started. They moved the pick up spot to where the Oil and Tires place was so I was a little lost finding it. Everything was in good order and it was quick. I over spent but shouldn't have to shop for two weeks now. Except maybe some fresh produce. I bought some frozen and canned stuff to tide us over. It was easy to get a time to pick up, I dont think as many people are still doing it as were in March/April.
 
I have been using PC Express at our local Fortinos since March. I advise what substitutions I will allow on some items and others I remove that I will accept substitutions. I guess I have been lucky, I have only had 2 issues - 1 time the deli meat package was expired and this past week my 1L milk expired in 4 days (it was a good thing I needed it for a recipe that I was making the next day). I did call customer service with respect to the expired deli meat and I was provided a code for $10 off my next order.
 
I only did one Walmart pick up. I got milk that was expiring the next day.

I was doing Fortinos pick up, but they now charge on all days. Since I always had to go in to find something they couldn't on their shelves, or to pick up something that I remembered after the order closed, I figured I can now just do my own shopping.
 
My home delivery months ago via Instacart Walmart was just plain awful.
All the frozen stuff was thawed and potatoes were bad.


Hugs
Mel
 
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My PC Express order had three separate meat purchases that were expired by two weeks and three weeks. Called the store and was told not to bring the meat back and I would receive a $30 refund. No refund on credit card the next month. Smart me I had put the meat in my freezer, called the 1 800 no customer service and was told some one would call back. No one did. That night took the frozen meat and the original receipt to the store. They tried to say there was a refund paid six weeks ago when I first called. Which was bs. Received a refund and will never buy online from there again. Why would you have 3 week old meat in the case. Is no one checking the dates to throw out!!!! Since then I get weekly emails saying come back with a discount forget it.....
 
My PC Express order had three separate meat purchases that were expired by two weeks and three weeks. Called the store and was told not to bring the meat back and I would receive a $30 refund. No refund on credit card the next month. Smart me I had put the meat in my freezer, called the 1 800 no customer service and was told some one would call back. No one did. That night took the frozen meat and the original receipt to the store. They tried to say there was a refund paid six weeks ago when I first called. Which was bs. Received a refund and will never buy online from there again. Why would you have 3 week old meat in the case. Is no one checking the dates to throw out!!!! Since then I get weekly emails saying come back with a discount forget it.....
I’ve had huge trouble with pc express as well. Getting a credit is like asking for an act of Congress. Walmart pick up is wonderful. I needed a credit last week. Called and received confirmation email within 24 hours along with an apology. Still use pc express sometimes as they offer certain items Walmart doesn’t, but it’s rare.
 
My PC Express order had three separate meat purchases that were expired by two weeks and three weeks. Called the store and was told not to bring the meat back and I would receive a $30 refund. No refund on credit card the next month. Smart me I had put the meat in my freezer, called the 1 800 no customer service and was told some one would call back. No one did. That night took the frozen meat and the original receipt to the store. They tried to say there was a refund paid six weeks ago when I first called. Which was bs. Received a refund and will never buy online from there again. Why would you have 3 week old meat in the case. Is no one checking the dates to throw out!!!! Since then I get weekly emails saying come back with a discount forget it.....

wow that is horrible...yes, why was the meat department not checking expiration dates. When I had my one issue of expired deli meat, I received a credit but it was automatically applied on my next order, so they may have issued the credit but not to your credit card but that should have been advised. I am sorry that you had a very bad experience because we are finding the service works really well at the store we use.
 
I was promised a $10 credit on my next order at PC Express and told to add it to the comments on the order. I did and nope, no credit. I don't use them any more because I was usually going in the store for extra stuff (or stuff they told me was out) and now they are charging on all days, so what's the point?

I guess if you have littles in the car or you know you'll be in a hurry, it's an advantage, but really, that's not me and I'd rather be sure of the freshness of my products.

As for Walmart, I've only ordered once. I got milk that was expiring the next day. I made pudding and we drank it that day, but the brand was Natrel, which is usually dated at least a month away. That means that milk sat in their store for at least a month. I was the sucker who got stuck with it. While I might have chosen it had it been the only one there, that's very different than the store using their shopping service to ensure their products are rotated on the shop floor, which is what it felt like had happened.
 

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