Who’s got my eggs?
How a supermarket’s home-delivery service is letting us down. Plus: do radio audiences really want to hear tales of personal woe? And: a $12 latte! Really?
Like many people, I get my groceries delivered. And, for the most part I’m satisfied with the service.
But recently I’ve started to question the actions of one big supermarket chain. I’ve chosen not to name the company because, for now at least, I’m willing to think this is a case of “could do better” rather than it being inefficiency or complacency that borders on something more serious.
Here’s the background to the story …
For the second time in recent weeks, I’ve made my order and then received a notification a few hours later that the eggs I wanted were not available and could not be substituted, so I wouldn’t get them and wouldn’t have to pay for them.
Which seems fair enough, but I really wanted eggs and if I’d known they didn’t have them, it could’ve been a deal breaker.
Yes, I know that there’s an egg shortage at the moment, but I’m still super annoyed about this for reasons I’ll expand on soon.
First though, in fairness to the company I’m not naming here, I complained about the situation on social media and got this response:
thanks for getting in touch. [Name of company and service it provides] orders are picked and packed at our supermarkets the day you request delivery, so if the supermarket is out of stock of a particular product, we may unfortunately be unable to fulfil parts of your order. 1/3
You’re not charged for items you order until we’ve picked and processed your groceries for delivery. 2/3
If a product you have requested is out of stock, you'll be notified via email that it will not be included in your order and you will not be charged, so you don’t need to call and request a refund. We hope this info helps. 3/3
Well, no it doesn’t really help because I knew all that already.
What it doesn’t explain is why the eggs were advertised for sale when they either didn’t exist in the first place, or they were available, but [name of company] wasn’t prepared to put them aside for me when I made the order.
Other types of eggs were clearly marked as being out of stock, but the ones I ordered were said to be available. If no eggs were or would be available, their inventory-control system should’ve flagged that and told me so. So, I made the decision to proceed with the order in the belief that I would be getting eggs.
Then came the bad news, and it made me think...
If the eggs I wanted were in stock at the time I ordered, then [name of supermarket] was clearly not willing to reserve them for me. Instead, it sold my eggs to somebody else on a purely opportunistic basis.
If they didn’t have eggs in the first place, then they lied to me so I would continue the online shopping process rather than risk me cancelling my entire order and dealing with their competitor.
Either way, it’s not a great way to run a business. And if the latter scenario is true, then that sounds a lot like false advertising to me.
Also, I was shopping on the basis of a loyalty-card incentive that would deliver me bonus points if I spent a minimum amount. Too many “out of stock” scenarios emerging after the order was made would’ve tipped me under that bar and presumably mean I didn’t get those points. (Maybe [name of supermarket] can clarify that.)
So, while online shopping is convenient, it’s also a pain in the neck when it literally doesn’t deliver what it promises.
Do you have a story to share. Or maybe there’s something
I’m not getting here. Let me know!
Kip shares his pain
KIIS 97.3 Breakfast co-host Kip Wightman has given a tell-all interview to The Courier-Mail.
He told writer Jane Armitstead about his divorce, his bitter parting of the ways with Nova 106.9, and — as I’ve reported here and elsewhere — the fact that Kyle Sandilands has made no secret of his desire to network the Sydney-based Kyle and Jackie O Show into Brisbane. That would put Wightman and his co-host Robin Bailey out of job. (Full disclosure: I, and others, were led to believe that that would happen this year, and I said as much in this newsletter.)
He said Sandilands had “made it blatantly obvious he wants to come to Brisbane … I think the only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is for us to be in No.1 and if we are winning, they’ll leave us alone and if we’re not, we’re in danger”.
Sharing your personal stories on air has been a staple of FM radio for decades — I remember talking to Jamie Dunn about the toll it can take on family life back when he was undisputed king of the airwaves on the B105 Morning Crew in the early 1990s.
I wonder whether listeners want to know so much about the people who are essentially there to entertain them and give them important news, weather and traffic information. While there’s an element of “oh, they’re just like us”, there’s also the TMI (too much information) factor.
I’m a huge advocate of local radio and I wish Kip and Robin every success in the ratings. But I think the tone of the Courier-Mail article comes across as a little too needy.
P.S. I just saw this blurb on the C-M home page.
A rate cut doesn’t mean much when everyday items like a cup of coffee is forecast to hit the $12 mark, writes Madonna King.
First (direct from the glass house): more evidence that they’ve sacked the sub-editors (items…is). Second: I don’t know where that $12 figure comes from, but it’s twice the amount I’m paying for my weekly latte in the Brisbane CBD. I suggest shopping around. Also: coffee can be made much more cheaply at home or in the office, so while a bought one may be “everyday”, it’s not essential.
Olympia’s last break
Following up on my most recent newsletter, here’s audio of Olympia Kwitowski’s final segment on Weekend Breakfast on 4BC. The show will be replaced by a fishing, boating and camping program hosted by Paul Burt.
Disclaimer: Brett Debritz worked in the warehouse of a major supermarket store one Christmas holidays so long ago it is not relevant to this article. He also worked in newspapers and radio, which may be slightly more relevant.
Bizarre how Nine radio at 2GB, 3AW, 6PR have a dedicated gardening program but Brisbane's 4BC cancelled ours. Brisbane gardeners and listeners overlooked and shunned.
Notes on the Cost of Eggs. https://shorturl.at/xTn1R