I love food shopping!!! (Tesco)

Member Name: preciouskdg

Product:	Tesco
Date:	05/01/04 (572 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: saves you time, very convenient

Disadvantages: Delivery charge, cant pick items personally

Just before Christmas, I decided I had had enough of shops. Too busy, no parking spaces, empty shelves and a screaming child. I was sick of it! SO I decided to register with Tescodirect for my Christmas food shopping. It had been snowing for two days and I just couldnt face it. It was 20th December 2003 so I was surprised to be able to get my shopping delivered on 23rd December 2003. It just seemed too easy! It gave me the chance to get on with other things I really needed to do. My mum was disgusted and said I was just lazy! I booked the slot between 11 am and 1 pm.

It took two minutes to register. You just need an email address and to choose a password. You can fill in your Tesco clubcard details too so you can keep adding to your points. To be honest I dont usually use Tesco for my shopping but noone else delivered to where I live so I thought I would give them a try. If you are not very good on websites, it does have a demo to show you what to do.

The site, on entering is pretty busy looking. Ther are sections for Groceries, books, Music, Electricals, Flowers and Insurance. The best way to start your shop is to book your delivery slot. They deliver from nine in the morning till nine at night. The slots are every two hours so are very convenient if you have to pop in and out throughout the day. For slots during the week, the delivery charge is £3.99, for thursdays and fridays it is £4.99 and for weekends it is £5.99. The nearest Tesco to myself is 23 miles so I didnt consider these charges excessive compared to petrol. I have just looked at the site now and if I wanted to place an order I could have it delivered between one and three tommorrow afternoon! Quick eh!

When you have chosen your delivery day and time, it is saved for two hours for you but then you have to rebook. This gives you chance to get your full shopping and add or amend your list.

When you begin your shopping, there are a couple of ways to do it; You can go f
eet first and just go though each department and each shelf but this would take you hours so I would recommend the 'Express Shopper'. This little gadget, allows you to write a shopping list as you would do at home and then they find the options for you. Nine times out of ten they find something suitable.

If you have used the service before, it also saves all the items you bought so you can just go back and reselect your more common items, such as bread, butter, cheese etc.

As you shop you just click 'Add to Basket' and your order is updated. In the top right hand side of the screen, it gives you a total of what your shopping comes to, which is very handy if you are on a budget.

When buying fruit, you can advise how many pieces of a product you want, eg, four apples, six tomatoes. This is very handy. I never know how much a pound of apples is!!

Also, as you choose items, you are given the option to 'Add a Note'. Here I usually write a required Sell by Date or if I want large leeks rather than small etc. A very handy little thing!

It took me approximately two hours to complete my CHristmas shop, but i did have to keep going and looking in cupboards and having a think of what else to have! (Listening to 'Buy sweeties mummy!' in my ear!)

My total bill came to £93.48, this didnot include any reductions for multi buying or the delivery charge. I knew that I had bought a few items Buy one Get one free so I thought I could knock about ten pounds off this price. It does state that this price is a guideline only.

When it comes to check out, you enter your delivery address, which can be saved, if you plan to use them again. You are asked if you would like to accept substitutions for out of stock items. It does not just ask you yes or no but actually allows you to state what you would prefer as a substitute and on what items. Very handy.

Here you are also given the option t
o enter the codes of any vouchers for money off you have, You are asked to hand these to the driver on delivery. The site accepts all of the usual credit and debit cards, Visa, delta, switch, american express, tesco card. I am not sure if it accepts solo because it does not say but I am usre they do. You can save your details for next time if you wish or alternatively you can state 'Do not save'.

Next your order is confirmed and a list is shown of your order. You can now print. You are sent a confirmation email which also shows your full shop. So all you have to do is wait for delivery!

Because of the snow, I did expect problems with my delivery but Tesco rang me at 11.05 am to explain there would be a delay due to snow on the hills so to expect delivery about 3pm. I wasnt bothered as I was nt going out any way but was pleased to been phoned. At 1.15, I had a phone call from the driver, explaining he was entering MAlton and would be with me in 5 minutes! Service or what!! Within minutes he was knocking at my door. Very polite, apologetic and helpful.

When your shopping arrives, it is all in carrier bags. Frozen items have been kept in a freezer and chilled items in a fridge. The delivery man brought all my bags into my kitchen for me and waited whilst I checked off that I had received everything ordered. A couple of my items had been substituted. The driver gave me the option to keep them or to return them with him and receive a refund. I was happy with all the items so kept them. My total cost of shopping including delivery was £79.00 which I was very impressed with. Well worth a day not shopping!!As it was my first delivery, the driver went through the order with me. He explained what to do if I had any complaints. He was very helpful. I have used the service again since and the service was just as good. A definite recommendation!!!!

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