According to a new survey, fish steaks instead of cupcakes and sanitary towels instead of sandwiches are among the worst supermarket substitutions.
A survey of more than a thousand online grocery buyers by which? found three out of ten (29%) said they had replaced an article in their last order.
ASDA buyers were most likely to report a replacement product, with 47% signaling something else in their store. The retailer obtains two out of five stars for his choice of substitutions.
Customers said they received bananas instead of pizza, a roasting box instead of roasted potatoes, while one said they had received a type of face cleaner, micellar water, in place of drinking water.
A third of Sainsbury customers (32%) said they had been replaced, but the supermarket received three out of five stars – suggesting that buyers were generally happier from what was sent. But among the most bizarre examples reported to which? were dog treats instead of beef steaks and leeks instead of flowers.
Three out of ten Morrison clients had received a replacement article, but he only managed two stars for the choice. In the appropriate examples, there were sanitary towels instead of sandwich wraps and fish steaks in place of lemon cupcakes.
Meanwhile, an Amazon Fresh client received vitamins with orange flavor instead of an Orange chocolate terry’s, while another who ordered ham received cat food.
Waitrose and Ocado came out in the lead, with only 21% and 19% of buyers receiving substitutions respectively.
And while some customers have seen the funny side, those with food restrictions were far from impressed. Several customers have complained about obtaining meat and dairy products instead of vegetarian and vegan alternatives.
A customer said: “I got a chicken product despite my saying that I was a vegan.” Another received cheese instead of lactose -free cheese and a third party received an article containing gluten when a gluten -free article had been requested.
What can you do if you receive the wrong article?
Reena Sewraz, which one? Money and retail publisher, said you can reject an article on arrival – or sometimes opt to completely receive substitutions, “although your dinner plans can be disrupted if the key ingredients are not arising”.
“Although some substitutions of products in your online food delivery can be welcome, our research has shown that they can also be largely of the brand-ranging from strange to completely inappropriate,” she said.
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A spokesman for ASDA said that his own data showed that the vast majority of substitutions were accepted by customers.
“We do not invoice more for substitutes, even when the element has a higher value, and when the replacement element is less value, we reimburse the difference for the customer,” they added.
And Sainsbury’s said: “If a product that a customer has chosen for their online grocery order is no longer available, our colleagues are trained to choose an alternative as close as possible to the original item.
“We are sorry that, on rare occasions, this is not quite properly, our customer satisfaction scores tell us that our substitutions have improved in recent years.”