Save time and ( believe it or not ) money (waitrose.com)

Member Name: spaslet

Product:	waitrose.com
Date:	02/03/09 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap ,easy and saves weekends for more interesting things

Disadvantages: The website could do with a bit of tweaking

I am writing about Waitrose.com and Waitrose deliver. That needs to be made clear because in a lot of the UK you can shop on line with Waitrose only by using Ocado.

I also am assuming that anyone interested in using this service wants to shop at Waitrose for whatever reason so shan't be comparing prices, quality etc with other supermarkets.

I live about 20 miles from our nearest store but it offers delivery from that store in our area. ( You can also do ' collect in store ' but I have never tried it )

The first thing to say is there is a delivery charge which has recently changed. If , like me , you can be at home Monday to Wednesday , then the charge is only £3 ( and there are evening deliveries ) which is an absolute bargain. By using this service I save about 2 hours in time and about £6 in petrol. The remainder of the week has a delivery charge of £5 as before.

The site is slightly difficult to enter . If you choose Waitrose Deliver there is a handy feature where you can enter your postcode to see if the service is available. Finding the login when you are registered is not easy and Waitrose should tidy up this part of the website. Having said that , once in , the remainder of the site is dead easy , particularly once you have got your first order out of the way.

You book a delivery slot ( and you do need to think a bit ahead , especially at busy times ) and that is described in a previous review in some detail. Then you have to wade through the various departments filling your trolley. The search facility is pretty good and anyway , your first online shop with any provider is going to take much longer than the subsequent shops. When I log in now I can go either to lists I have saved from previous orders or I can see a list containing all the items I have ordered. I can do my monthly shop ( which usually costs £200 in less than 20 minutes now ).

Special offers are listed on the home page and you can look at these by department. You can have pictures or not as you choose. The trolley totals automatically but 3 for 2 offers and the like are only applied at the check out so it can be difficult to be entirely sure of the final balance.

You can amend orders ( or indeed cancel ) up to 24 hours prior to delivery which is also helpful.

There is a box to check if you are prepared to consider substitute items - these are always packed seperately and the driver draws them to your attention so you can reject them if you want to - provisions over charging are in a previous review.

The time slots are 2 hours which I don't mind and more often than not the van calls early just to see if I am at home.

The groceries are packed in colour coded bags ( fridge, freezer and household ) and the bags have never been overfilled. The driver will take away bags from a previous delivery , which I particularly like. The drivers are always really nice and friendly.

I have always had items well in date and of good quality and the substitions are generally sensible. In addition you get a proper printout ( not just a receipt ) for everything delivered.

The disadvantage of on line shopping is that you don't get to browse but I find I control my expenditure as a result. I use Waitrose Delivery once a month and then top up as necessary and , as a result I think I have cut my food spend by a third.

Online is not for everybody but I think it is an excellent service at a reasonable price.

Checkout is quick and easy and you can leave booking the delivery slot until this point.

Summary: A good modern service