Online shopping for groceries has many advantages (you can fill your shopping cart from the comfort of home, choose to have the order delivered to your door, or set a time convenient for pick-up), but there can occasionally be some drawbacks. As I’ve learned to embrace this modern day convenience, I’ve also encountered a few flaws in the system.
An everyday item you might really need might one day not be available. This happened to me recently, when I found a distinct lack of ground coffee.
In the early days there were mix ups with my order. I once got the grocery order of a former student who just happened to also live nearby. Another time five of the 12 eggs in my order arrived smashed – a free replacement was provided in my next order.
However, the worst error was mine entirely and I’m still at a loss to explain it! I was happily tapping in the order, clicking items that would be added to my virtual shopping trolley that would be packed by someone at the store and then transported to my house, when I noticed the total bill increase dramatically.
I checked through the items on my list. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, so I supposed I needed more for this fortnight’s shop.
On the morning of the delivery, a cheerful young man pulled two crates up the 14 steps to my front door. “Hang on, I’ve got more,” he said. “You’ve ordered a lot of milk.”
In the ensuing conversation — panic on my part, bewilderment on his — it turned out I had ordered 73 litres of milk. My mind raced around the local cafe owners I knew well, wondering if I could offload this surplus onto them, while the young man rang the office. I spoke to a young woman who agreed to cancel 72 litres and refund my money. The milk continued on its delivery round.
These days I check what I have ordered and how much I have ordered before pressing the ‘Submit’ button.