A third of online supermarket shoppers have received food substitutions in their grocery orders in the past 12 months, some of which are beyond bizarre.
Bewliledered Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Iceland, Waitrose and Ocado customers revealed the most unique items they had received in place of staple products, as part of the Which? annual supermarket survey quiz.
More than half of Asda shoppers had experienced this issue, with one person claiming to have received fruit-scented shower gel instead of edible fruit.
The seemingly low-cost supermarket giant garnered a measly two-star rating for its choice of substitutions overall.
Other online grocers fared just as poorly, with similarly comical replacement choices.
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons ranked similarly with the same two-star rating for their grocery order replacements.
Two in five Sainsbury’s customers received a substitution in their most recent shop, some of which were far-fetched.
One perplexed consumer placed an order for an anti-allergy duvet but instead, received allergy tablets. A similar approach was taken when choosing a substitution for another customer, who received flour in place of a fully baked, ready-to-eat loaf of bread.
A sizeable 33 percent of online Morrisons customers reported a similar experience, with one shopper being given raw onions instead of the cheese and onion flavour crisps they had ordered.
Tesco didn’t fare much better, with 32 percent of shoppers admitting to getting strange substitutions, which is perhaps why the retailer received just three stars for its choices.
One shopper received cream crackers instead of Christmas crackers in a festive blunder, while another received a less-than-substantial salad in place of a ready meal.
A similar three-in-10 Aldi customers had the same experience with one online customer being given fruity sweets instead of a healthier fruit salad.
When it came to Waitrose, the up-market brand failed to cater to dietary requirements on one occasion when an unfortunate consumer was given meaty sausages instead of the vegetarian ones they had asked for.
This isn’t an isolated case for online shoppers, as discovered by Which?. A Tesco shopper who needed lactose-free cheese was handed regular cheese, while Sainsbury’s replaced one customer’s two vegetarian ready meals with two meals containing meat..
While a minimal 17 percent of Ocado shoppers told Which? they had received a substituted item in their most recent order, the supermarket made the most illogical replacement of all.
When asked about the strangest substitution they’d received in the last year, one shopper said they ordered tampons but received mushrooms.
Ele Clark, Which? Retail Editor, said: “If the item you’ve ordered is out of stock, well-chosen substitutions can be really handy – but our research has shown that all too often the replacement item is inappropriate or downright bizarre.
“Shoppers have the right to reject substitutions at the point of delivery, or you can sometimes opt out of receiving substitutions altogether. If you end up with an unwanted substitution after the driver has gone, contact the supermarket and ask for a refund – some have handy online tools to make the process easier.”
