Friday, January 02, 2009

Ayeright gets his messages

Ayeright writes again:
Those of a certain age will remember the various vans that used to deliver to your door each week. Lemonade, groceries, milk, bread, and many more, all that is left now in Nairn is the fish van. So the advent of food to your door is nothing new but being unwell before Christmas I decided to try both Tescos and Asda’s home delivery service.
In truth this was prompted by some earlier investigative journalism I had carried out for the Gurn and had registered myself on-line with both companies so I could report what they offered.
Prior to Christmas I with many Nairnites also suffered from the roadworks at Brodie which stretched a 15 minute journey to Forres to more than an hour each way for me on one occasion, it began to look like a trip to Inverness was necessary if I wanted a selection of food outwith Nairn’s offerings of the Co-op and Somerfields.
Within a couple of days of each other both Tescos and Asda sent me an email to the effect ‘we see you haven’t tried our home delivery as yet, as an incentive we will offer your first delivery free’.
Thoughts of heaving checkouts, screaming bairns, finding a parking space soon had me surfing my way through what both stores had to offer. In the main I chose heavy and bulky items as well as the exotic no longer available in Nairn.
The range that both stores offer on-line is limited but more than adequate. Your goods get totted up as you shop so no horrific surprises in terms of cost that you sometimes get once everything has gone through the checkout! You are allowed to tick ‘choose substitute’ which sometimes means you will get a more expensive item for the same price as the one you ordered if they are out of stock, and both allow you to say ‘no thanks’ to the driver if the substitute item is unsuitable.
Tescos are the greener of the two allowing you to tick ‘no carrier bags’ which means everything is delivered in plastic boxes which are unpacked in your kitchen or where ever you choose.
Drivers from both companies were helpful in the extreme and were excellent ambassadors for their respective companies. As a first time customer they explained everything and at one stage I even thought they would have cooked my lunch from the ingredients had I asked!
The delivery scheme costings are a bit like that of Easy Jet with the most popular slots being the most expensive (£6) but shop around and in advance and the price can drop to £3.50 which beats the cost of transport to the stores. Both allow you to start an order and complete it days later.
With the announcement that Pettifer Estates is no longer trading, home delivery is one way Nairnites can get a major supermarket to come to them!
Register now with either store and wait for the free delivery email to give them a try. Both came within the time slot and just for once I cannot find fault with either supermarket!

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