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[renluop]

Thanks, I’ll probably put it to the test.   

I say this in jest, but not sure what would be the substitute for Andrex toilet tissue?     Daily Mail, Guardian, or Telegraph, or does the answer differ depending on Tesco/Asda/Waitrose?

I'd assume it would be another brand, or sufficient free copies of newspapers for you to cut to size.
You'd be getting paper, and and occupational therapy, to boot.

[sevenlayermuddle]

 

[renluop]

As to substitutes, it may depend on the SM's policies, for one, whether localised or centralised(?)
AFAICR, we've never had problems, though we very rarely would order meat joints or vegs.

[Bowdon]

WHO Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Situation page.

Thanks for the link. I have a friend who is following all the stats pages. I'll show her this one.

Substitutions in an order can be a catch-22 situation. If you don't allow for substitutions then you don't get anything. If you do, then at least you get something. Though I think it depends which items you're prepared to substitute. I look for gluten free stuff, so sending non-gluten free isn't much good to me.

I was looking around twitter before and some guy went to the store (in the US) at 2am and one side of the shelves was empty, it was the shelves for toilet paper, while on the other shelve it was full of food. So people are buying up toilet paper and forgetting the food. I think when this is over I'd like to find out who started the fear of being without toilet paper.

[Ronski]

My Wife and daughters are off to the theatre in London tomorrow, travelling by train. The daughters booked late last year, the wife only booked yesterday  I'm glad I'm not going not that it will make any difference, as they may well catch it and infect me anyway 

I'm early fifties and luckily don't have any medical problems apart from being very unfit, the wife on the other hand seems to catch everything going and works in a hospital.

[sevenlayermuddle]

My estimation of home delivery is sinking fast.

Yesterday, I’d picked a slot and started to fill my basket.   I guess there must be a timeout as today, my slot has evaporated along with my basket.    And worse, the Andrex loo paper that I was so proud of finding... is now listed as ‘out of stock’.

I’ve got another slot, next Wednesday, and will  give it a try for validation purposes.  But hard to imagine this is going to be the lifeline we might need if things go badly with the virus.

[Alex Atkin UK]

Mum orders a lot of stuff from Amazon Pantry too.  You basically have to use every avenue possible to rely on deliveries only, it kinda sucks.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Maybe I’ll give Amazon a try then.

Tesco was great for Dad after he lost my Mum.   He wasn’t very confident to begin with so I’d spend an hour on the phone with him, both of us logged to his account and both of us updating/checking the basket at the same time.   I was surprised that worked, but it did.   After a few weeks of course he’d mastered it without needing help.

[kitz]

I have an annual anytime pass because I really do struggle these days.  Like Chrys I can usually place a next day order,  I've even placed orders just  minutes before midnight and can usually get a time slot to within about an hour either way of my preferred choice.
   
I was caught out unexpected for this weeks shopping  because there weren't any and a slot is not available until nearly a week in advance and there were only 3 time slots for that day.   Compared to a normal choices of about every 30mins from ~ 7am till 10/11pm that is a huge decrease.   There wasn't even any click and collect appts until Monday (those you can usually book same day).    Thus I haven't had a shop this week at all.   I was hoping to get out today, but that wasn't to be and I couldn't.  Hoping tomorrow I can at least get to the corner shop but if I can't I cant and I take each day as it comes.

I've no doubt there are many more like me who do rely on deliveries but find themselves not being able to get one this week. Thus also the ones who are beginning to run low on loo roll and don't have a years supply.   I'm not panicking yet,  I've no fresh milk or bread but I do have enough coffee pods and bottled water to last me until next week and I have frozen garlic breads in the freezer so I wont starve and I have a caffeine supply.   I'm not totally housebound every day and am able to get out some days if I can manage on just MorphineCR, but I'm not able to do big trolley load nor able to stock up...  which is why I have a pass in the first place.

[kitz]

The SM we order from, if you've agreed, will deliver substitutes for the same cost, even if larger or dearer.

If that's the same one I use (asda) then that used to be the case and sometimes I got some fantastic bargains.   However for the past year all substitutions are computer generated and not chosen by the 'picker' as used to be the case.
More often than not the subs are ridiculous or they don't bother.   

The most annoying was my Xmas order I'd placed over a month in advance and in the morning of the expected delivery I got email confirmation that there was no turkey or sub.   How can they not reserve something like turkeys for the designated xmas slots. 
I literally dragged myself into the store that day looking a right state - I had to drive there so no Oramorph and it was very obvious I was in pain and struggling to walk only with the aid of a trolley as support.     There on the shelves were plenty of fresh turkey crowns - dozens of them.   I managed to literally grab hold of one of the manager who was walking past who explained they couldn't sub because it was less weight and dearer than the product I'd originally ordered.   

Guess who did eventually get a turkey crown and for free as a gesture of goodwill.  It was a nice co-incidence that my pass would have expired on 15th Jan and I could use the threat of buying an annual anytime pass elsewhere.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I don’t want to start a panic but yesterday, when visiting Tesco, I found myself speculating on what was worth stocking up, apart from beer and wine...?

One was part-baked bread.   It’s pretty horrible, but edible for a month or two.  The shelves were full, so I bought two packs.   Butter lasts well too, so I now have plenty.

Another was Fray Bentos tinned pies, a relic of my childhood.   Embarrassing as it is to say so, I actually quite like them.   Nobody else seemed inclined though, so I bought several tins.

Dried pasta was restricted to 5 packs per customer.   I didn’t need 5, but bought two.  I also bought a big bag of rice, one of red lentils and one of chick peas, that nobody else seemed to be interested in.

Several of jars of pasta sauce and Indian cooking sauce too.  I usually make my own from raw materials, but just in case I’m sick and not inclined, they’re a good fallback.

Plus veg... eg carrots, cabbage and swede keep a long time.

 

[Chrysalis]

Put another way, it sounds like you had a choice of three different slots that same week, and a choice of half of all the slots in the following two weeks.   Doesn’t sound too bad, to me.

Out of 120+ slots 3 were available for entire week.
Normally half of slots are available next day and rest for other 6 days.

Last night I ordered some extra tins.

Morrison's, 6 tins in "total" for entire order limit with about 60-70% of options out of stock.
Tesco entire tinned veg out of stock.
Ocado much higher limits, but still half of products out of stock, ordered from here.  The delivery date the earliest available is 29 march.

That's way different to normal.

Ocado as expected is handling this better as they actually deliver from distribution centres instead of supermarkets.

Also ocada has 1 soap/handwash per order in total not one of each type, morrisons 2.

My local coop which was 3 doors away, closed mid february, talk about awful timing.

The limits for those going in store seem much more relaxed than online which I think is discriminatory against the disabled.

[Chrysalis]

If that's the same one I use (asda) then that used to be the case and sometimes I got some fantastic bargains.   However for the past year all substitutions are computer generated and not chosen by the 'picker' as used to be the case.
More often than not the subs are ridiculous or they don't bother.   

What I have been told is now there is algorithms in play, if stock is "low" then there is a likelihood a product will be "unavailable" on the website as that reduces the risk of the store swapping in a more expensive sub.    It also wouldnt surprise me with this new computer auto sub you mentioned that if the substitute is priced a lot higher it then decides to a "no sub sorry, out of stock" instead.  Sub freebies have dried up hugely for me in the past 1-2 years, which has coincided with larger stock issues.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Yes agreed, despite my initial enthusiasm, home delivery does not look anything like as good as I hoped.

One other aspect that concerns me is Tesco in-store last week, on a weekday morning, was nearly as busy as a Christmas eve.   When you ask yourself who these people might be, it seems more than possible that they include some who might be feeling a tiny bit icky, preparing to lie low for a week or two... so maybe worth persevering with deliveries as long as possible.

Only positive comment was that all these crowds in Tesco were being courteous, polite and friendly.  Everybody sharing a joke and a smile at every opportunity.   No signs yet, that the population are about to start eating one another.

[renluop]

......   No signs yet, that the population are about to start eating one another.

Because no one knows, whether the virus can be spread by ingestion!