Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Sainsburys delivery service
We are now on our fourth weekly delivery and, after some shortages in the first week, it is now working well. The deliveries arrive on time and without compromising social distancing. Very few of the things we want are not available (for instance flour and yeast) at the moment when we place our order. Then, on the morning of the delivery, a warning e-mail arrives saying that this or that product is no longer available and usually saying they are sending a substitute. This usually makes perfect sense although sometimes the alternative seems a rather odd choice, eg Willow Vegetable Fat Block Spread was sent in place of Sainsbury's Slightly Salted Organic Butter.
This morning though we had the best laugh of the lock down when the warning came. We had ordered something called "Tariq Halal British Lamb Butterfly Leg (approx. 750g)" which I supposed is fresh meat and should be enough to feed three or even four. Sadly, the message announced that this was no longer available and would be substituted by "Sainsbury's Tomato and Basil Spaghetti 400g (Serves 1)". The message went on:
"The next best thing
For any food substitutions please check www.sainsburys.co.uk for product specific allergen information.
We'd like to pick everything that you asked for, but hands up, we're not quite there yet. Our personal shopper has tried to find the closest substitute, but if we've not quite found a perfect match we've popped some helpful tips below."
This certainly lightened our mood while still drinking tea in bed so full marks to Sainsburys for great service and making us laugh.
No harm was done, and I walked down to Baldwins just after 9am where they butterflied a leg of lamb on the spot. Not Halal perhaps but, for us, that was not important.
I have always liked Sainsburys. My one and only uncle worked for them all his life (he died seven years ago aged 95) and one of my earliest memories is of visiting the Norwich branch of pre-self-service Sainsburys in about 1950 where he was carving slices of cooked ham for individual customers. He said that from time to time, one of the Sainsbury family would appear unannounced and would immediately spot if any product was not shelved in its proper place.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Saddic on
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We now, thankfully, get a weekly Sainsbury's delivery slot as we are on their vulnerable list. They are really good and, as you say, pre warn of any substitutions which are usually very reasonable ones.
However, early on, before we were on any list, when food was in short supply and substitutions rife, we secured a Tesco delivery slot. On our order was a bottle of balsamic vinegar. Tesco won our award for substitutions - no balsamic vinegar but 2 (nope, not one but two) bags of salt and cider vinegar crisps, which were actually rather delish but not what we were looking for. Being them-indoors does have it's lighter moments
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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Permalink Reply by McFiji on
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I haven’t managed to organise delivery shopping, and still do my own shopping, so my reply here is on a slightly different tack, but I’d like to share my Sainsbury’s experience.
I’ve always liked Sainsbury’s as a supermarket, finding their produce to be of good quality and staff are consistently friendly and helpful. It has always been my supermarket of choice, but since the pandemic, I have been disappointed with the lack of wipes/gel available as you enter. I bring my own, as I like to wipe down the basket and give items I pick up from the shelves a wipe too. Another area of risk is the self service area; again, there is no provision of wipes to clean it after the previous user, ditto for the checkouts. There is also a lack of bins to place your waste.
I have found Tesco’s to be more generous on the sanitising front, and avoid the smaller Sainsbury’s stores. The big one at the Harringay Green Lanes station is well organised, but the smaller ones not so.
In my mind, in these challenging times, supplying protective materials is evidence of ‘caring for the customer’ and influences where I shop from now on!
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