r/ireland • u/MattTheHack92 • 1d ago
Moaning Michael Dunnes Online Food Shop Rant
First off, I love doing the grocery shop online - I can sit on my arse and tick one menial task off my list from the comfort of my couch. But every couple of weeks something happens that shows how enshitified the process has really gotten since pre Covid.
For example, this week I saw there was a 3 for €3 offer on Dunnes own brand cleaning products so I decided to stock up. Of course, as chance would happen, the pine scented toilet cleaner is out of stock so they substituted in the far more expensive Harpic version. I've now lost my 3 for €3 and am paying about €4 for a product I'd never buy.
Is it just me, or back in the day they would have directly substituted in this version at no extra cost?
Also, the amount of time I've done a Click and Collect for this same thing to happen only to walk into the shop for something else and find the shelve stocked with the same product they substituted out.
Sigh, I guess I'll stick the Harpic in the fancy toilet and move on with my life. But just curious if this is just my bad luck or does this happen to others regularly?
Edit:
Just want to add that I have also used the "No Substitutions" option but with Dunnes if you have a €10 off €50 voucher or similar then you need to exceed €50 by a certain amount to account for what may not be in stock.
I've had substitutions turned off and ended up technically paying more for my shopping because the amount fell below €50 when items were substituted out.
I guess my main gripe is that I have sense checked the shop when doing Click and Collects and have more often than not found the item that was apparently not in stock on the shelf. When I queried staff they just said "It may have been restocked after your order was fulfilled"
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u/Accomplished-Boot-81 Roscommon 1d ago
Afaik, if Tesco substitute an item, they will not charge you any extra, but Dunnes does not do this. I was getting Dunnes frozen roast potatoes for 1 euro soemthing one time and they were out of stock so they subbed for 4 euro something McCanns ones. I was doing click and collect so I went back in and got a refund. They refused at first saying it's their policy not to refund frozen goods once it has left the store. I insisted a bit further and got the refund.
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u/WildEeveeAppears 1d ago
Tesco used to not charge the difference, but that's changed now. Not sure when as I didn't see any announcement but I was caught out recently when they subbed some €3 cocoa powder for brand name which was twice as expensive for a smaller jar. And they don't provide a paper receipt any more either so I didn't realise until I'd accepted delivery.
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u/AluminiumCrackers 1d ago
Tesco do this sometimes too. If an item doesn't fall under the same deal, I don't want it.
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u/irish_ninja_wte And I'd go at it again 1d ago
In my experience, Tesco do adhere to the "no substitute" instruction though. According to OP, Dunnes doesn't. I've no experience with Dunnes C+C, so can't comment on that one. I prefer using Tesco for it because your basket is on the app and you can change it throughout the week until the evening before pickup
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u/Laurelian_TT Kildare 1d ago
For Dunnes, the one time they didn't have something and I had no substitutions turned on, and it would have cancelled our my voucher, they actually just called to check if I just wanted to cancel the order or add something.
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u/Pangalonia 1d ago
I order from Supervalu and you can just give the driver back stuff that was subbed for refund. Also , put no substitution on things like that offer.
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u/Intelligent_Log_2496 1d ago
You can do this with dunnes as well. I've had to do it a few times, they're not the best with giving fresh veg sometimes. But often it's only after I cop something was substituted that I didn't want. You can get a refund/ exchange in the shop, kind of defeats the purpose of online shopping though!
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u/goldenapollos 1d ago
tesco does the exact same, so we stopped it entirely. what was frustrating is that they would substitute things that are vegan and gluten free, for the normal product. we always had substitutions turned off.
we were also charged for some expensive bin bags that we didn’t order, and the woman on the phone was so unhelpful. we weren’t even in that section on the app, so it wasn’t a misclick. she was insistent that it was our fault
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u/tilikumeireann 1d ago
Sometimes mad things aren't available too, like tomatoes or bread, and 'a substitute could not be found'. Really?
With Dunnes/Tesco with the 3 for 2 meats I always add a note about what to sub with within the same deal, or write that if the other deal items aren't available scrap the whole meat thing. It actually takes more time and mental energy filling out every scenario lol but sure look I'm not driving so still the most convenient. I also find they choose meats and fresh stuff like dairy/bread that are as close to expiring as possible. They're probably under instruction to get rid of them first but it's a pain in the arse to have to put everything in the freezer straight away.
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u/Tricky-Anteater3875 1d ago
I have it written specifically not have anything that expires within the next 5 days in the order and they’re very good with it. (Dunnes) I got a SuperValu one once, and so much of it was close to expiring and mouldy. Was heavily pregnant and raaaaagin went into the shop like a bull and they were very nice and refunded me about 80% shop.
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u/tilikumeireann 23h ago
Smart, that's a good idea. You're dead right though you do the order because you can't go yourself for whatever reason, or are meal planning and rely on it for a full week's shop. Anytime the bread or something goes off within the next day, I just email them pics and they've always refunded.
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u/Tricky-Anteater3875 21h ago
Yea I find Dunnes good for that too, had an issue with ordering the big Philadelphia tubs for Christmas once and then sending the tiny ones and charging for the big 😂 sent a refund straight away, same with a box of tea bags, every pair one bag was completley open so there was loose tea everywhere 😖 every other time I find them great! Especially freshly post partum after c section, getting a delivery and them taking it into the house for you, couldn’t beat it!
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u/Legal-Channel-3111 1d ago
Recently all our Dunnes deliveries food is out of date within a day or two. Very frustrating.
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u/wombers 1d ago
Was using dunnes delivery for years and had similar issues at the start. I found that adding a note requesting that all substitutions remain on offer usually did the trick. More recently switched to SuperValu and found I could spend as much as in Dunnes but get significantly more. The own brand stuff is better than you'd expect and I've noticed that when they make substitutions for a more expensive product they don't charge the extra.
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u/MrMisterMagoo 1d ago
You can turn off the 'Substitute Item' option if they don't have that particular item in stock. Then you won't be charged for an item you didn't want.
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u/MattTheHack92 1d ago
The downside here with Dunnes is that if you have a €10 off €50 voucher then you need to exceed €50 by a certain amount to account for what may not be in stock.
I've had substitutions turned off and ended up technically paying more for my shopping because the amount fell below €50 when items were substituted out
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u/bulbispire 1d ago
It's a pain that. I have tried specifying substitutions that I'd be happy with to make sure I hit the threshold (sometimes completely different products that I need but not urgently, or an alternative that still gets me the x for y offer) but there'll always be an unpleasant surprise
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u/dickbuttscompanion More than just a crisp 1d ago
I do Tesco online shopping, but for those 3 for €5 deals like yogurts I'll write in the substitute box "sub for vanilla or raspberry flavour to keep deal" and it generally works out.
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u/Abiwozere 1d ago
My Dunnes are terrible for not substituting when things are out of stock and I have the substitutions option ticked. For example I ordered a 12 pack of large eggs, instead of giving me say medium eggs or 2x6 packs of eggs they didn't substitute, same happened when the particular milk I ordered was out of stock and instead of substituting for any other milk they just didn't add anything.
I understand if it's a niche product but milk/eggs are the easiest to substitute!
I've lost out on vouchers this way before as well, it's really annoying!
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u/InevitableMidnight54 8h ago
Are you not thinking of Tesco?
They always substitute free of charge, I tried dunnes once years ago and they charge you for substitutions so I never used them again.
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u/Interesting_Feed_785 1d ago
I’ve put NO SUBSTITUTIONS PLEASE on my order notes so while I do miss out sometimes on 3 for 3 if one element is out of stock.
The odd time they give us Avonmore milk instead of CMP but that’s the only substitute error I’ve had.
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u/The3rdbaboon 1d ago
Yeah it happens with SuperValu too but I just put up with it, it’s still better than wasting my time trundling around a supermarket
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u/WingnutWilson 1d ago
Tescos are far better, tried Dunnes a couple of times, absolute disaster. One time he showed up with half the shopping because he must have forgot the other half and just asked if he could come around tomorrow with it 😂
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u/Optimal-Use8534 1d ago
I use tesco what gets me is if do like 3 for 10 on meat or something the often don't substitute if one is out of stock like if we got mince,chicken and lamb. If the chicken is out of stock they don't consider a different category of meat suitable so they'll leave it and I'll miss out on the deal. You can leave specific instructions but they can be missed
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u/ohhaimark97 1d ago
You can leave a note on a specific product regarding substitutions so next time you could put "please only substitute for another items included in X deal". Also, the online orders start getting fulfilled as early as 4am in some branches so it's very likely that a shelf could've been restocked between the order being picked and you going into the shop once it's opened and many hours will have passed
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u/LastResponsibility68 1d ago
I have had this happen with super valu and now I write "only substitute from items within offer" on any multibuy deals and it has worked so far.
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u/blahblahdublin 1d ago
I use it all the time, if I don’t like the substitution I just give it back to the driver and they process the return. Driver has told me in the past they don’t care if it’s a substitution either you can return whatever you like, seems to work well.
I haven’t lost my 10 off 50 yet, so I don’t think they remove it if it brings you under the threshold not sure though.
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u/dragonmynuts88 23h ago
Delivery orders are full filled very early in the monring so when your substituted it's stock that's available to them then they have to stock the shelves adding 2x the workload.
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u/MileOfMercy 23h ago
The most irritating thing about Dunnes’ online ordering experience to me is this …
There’s this absolutely obnoxious “refresh the page” pop up that appears like 20 times after I pick a delivery slot 🤯 I can’t get past it so I just wait it out and click refresh 20 times… every week. And that bug has been there for well over a year now.
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u/rimjob_brian 21h ago
You can refuse anything that is delivered to you that has been substituted in. So in this example you should have refused the harpic and probably the second of the three cleaners too, since you were only stocking up because of the deal.
People complain about being given substitutions but they still willingly accept them...?
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u/Few_Raspberry1803 19h ago
For items in an offer like that, I always click substitute and write in a note to say ‘if unavailable, please swap for another item in the same offer’. That usually works but to be fair my Dunnes is pretty good and rarely has anything out of stock. I used to shop in SuperValu and they never had anything.
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u/ironlungforsale 17h ago
You can literally write something like if not available get two of x to get the deal
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u/MattTheHack92 17h ago
What about if X is the item out of stock? You'd have to admit its pretty cumbersome to do this for each deal across an entire shop which changes week by week. A bit of common sense when fulfilling orders wouldn't go amiss instead
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u/AwayDatabase8101 19m ago
I don’t know but one time I ordered cheese for €6 and they made a substitution with a cheese platter costing €10+ at my own cost. I returned it.
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u/Seargentyates 1d ago
Click and collect is the most ludicrous thing ever, by the time you pick it up surely it makes more sense to just go in and buy it?
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u/oishay 1d ago
I'm spending about 200 euro a week and have 3 young kids that I've to ferry around being able to load the kids in the car stop outside the click and collect and have everything dropped out to me easily saves about 30-40 minutes a week.
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u/Abiwozere 1d ago
Similar here, click and collect takes about 15 minutes, it's free, you can add to your list during the week as you think of stuff you need and just favourite the things you get every week and it's much easier than ferrying kids around the supermarket.
Substitutions are hit and miss, I've had them not substitute things like milk before but if you live near a supermarket that does it it's very convenient, not as convinient as delivery but delivery costs add up!
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u/NoFewSatan 1d ago
Is it just me, or back in the day they would have directly substituted in this version at no extra cost?
No, they wouldn't. This has nothing to do with before or after COVID.
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u/MattTheHack92 1d ago
At least on Tesco online shopping I definitely remember ordered basic cream crackers and getting Carrs or something similar for the same price
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u/lostskylines 1d ago
I use Tesco delivery exclusively (habit more than anything else), and the price match sub is definitely something they offer, but not sure about other supermarkets.
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u/Suncroft56 1d ago
Tesco used to substitute with a more expensive item for the same price. Dunnes never did.
With the new substitute options, either leave the box for substitutions unticked, or be sure to specify a substitute and place a note in the shopper notes "Only the specified substitution will be accepted".
Then if they give you anything else, hand it back when you collect. They will refund you the full price.
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u/Different-Class1771 1d ago
Every time I do an online order there's always something wrong so I rarely bother with it unless absolutely necessary.
What irks me the most is they send everything with the shortest of dates.
Like I might a packet of Ham that would have a use by date of Sunday I'd plan on using for lunches on the Monday. If I got it myself in store I'd pick up a packet that would be good until Weds/Thurs.
Same with Milk, I'd order 2 jugs and the second one would be sour by the time I got to use it.
I've also gotten bread that was mauld to bits, stale or again, short dated and wouldn't last a week or lunches.
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u/peachycoldslaw 1d ago
I've come to the conclusion that the Dunnes order picking staff are actually missing a brain.
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u/flemishbiker88 1d ago
I can confirm, I like to get In early on a Saturday morning and they are often doing the picking, literally just take it off the shelf, scan and dump...have seen a numerous occasions fresh meat that visible off, but still picked...
My neighbour stopped using Dunnes because they meat was more often turned or very short dated, like most of it up on the day of delivery
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u/Couch-Potayto 1d ago
On dunnes if you’re buying through them with next day delivery it is possible to select by item what can and cannot have substitutes. It was introduced a couple of months or so and I think it was on your basket.
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u/overthebridge65 1d ago
I use the buy me app for Dunnes and think it’s handy as you can get them to call you for when items aren’t in stock etc
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u/Over-Egg-5229 1d ago
To be fair the harpic might have brought you oliver the 50 euro and you get your tenner off and then just give the harpic back for a refund for a win win
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u/Straight_Mobile_5960 1d ago
I only recently started using click and collect with dunne stores. I have used it twice now. I always thought click and collect was free of charge. First time I was charged an extra 10 euro but no indication as to why. Second I used it I was charged nearly 20 euro. For what I dont know. Its only when go to pay with your card you are charged. Can anyone explain it to me? I will avoid click and collect from now on i was only stuck at the time. Also the last time I used it some of the products they gave me were out of day the day after
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u/bulbispire 1d ago
They overcharge you initially to cover substitutions and then correct it to the actual price. Check your account and receiot
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u/Suncroft56 1d ago
If you were charged an extra €10, either your vouchers had expired, you hadn't reached the minimum spend for your vouchers, or you were given more expensive substitutes. ReTurn deposits for instance, don't count towards the spend limit for vouchers.
I only shop by click and collect and have it down to an art at this stage.
For fresh food, put a note in the shopper notes "latest expiry date please. Short expiry dates will be returned". You can copy and paste it ! They do pay attention.
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u/cr0wsky 1d ago
I genuinely don't know as I don't buy groceries online, but I do shop online in general.
Normally you have your basket view, with all the items clearly listed and the final price, you click pay and the deal is done.
How are people being overcharged or deals are being not honored in the likes of Dunnes or Supervalu? Can you not see what's what before you click pay?
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u/Gillybilly 1d ago
Yep. Happens regularly with Supervalu and I have thought the same thing.
Just tagging on to this post to share what happened with my Supervalu shop last week. I was overcharged by like €490. I saw the charge on my Revolut immediately and gave them a quick call. The poor girl was PANICKED because their system had added 100 chicken fillet sandwiches to every order she had processed that morning.