Waitrose’s delivery woes have continued as shoppers complained they were being charged extra for a “ridiculous” service.
The supermarket introduced a £3 fee from September 9, which it said reflected “the work that goes into picking, packing and delivering” groceries.
However, customers protested that they were being billed for unpacked orders delivered in crates.
“Waitrose, while now charging £3 per delivery for packing… actually don’t pack anything,” one Twitter user said.
READ MORE: Waitrose rated worst online supermarket for fresh groceries, reveals Which?
He was forced to “decant” shopping into his home instead.
A woman who claimed to have shopped at the retailer for a decade said she would not pay extra for groceries “that I then have to empty out and then re-shelf”.
One Waitrose regular asked simply: “Do you actually want to keep your customers?”
The bolshy git had to come through two doors to be on my doorstep, he was breathing his breath into my vestibule for 4 times longer than needed because @Waitrose, while now charging £3 per delivery for packing they actually dont pack anything and you have to decant into home.
— European, always 🏳️🌈💙🇪🇺😷💉💚 (@AndyEuropean) October 28, 2021
After over a decade of loyal online shopping custom I’m switching from @waitrose to @OcadoGroup. 3 pound delivery charge I could handle. But not for groceries unpacked in bags that I then have to empty out and then re shelf. All for some spurious climate change virtue signalling
— Sabina Reeves (formerly Kalyan) (@Sabina__Reeves) October 17, 2021
Lovely vegan dishes replaced by fake 'meat' at the same time as mandatory delivery charge imposed and a ridiculous policy not to deliver in carrier bags. Seriously? Something very awry at @waitrose. Do you actually want to keep your customers?
— Christie Elan-Cane (@ChristieElanCan) October 3, 2021
The supermarket said it ditched carrier bags to avoid wasting plastic, but others flagged up more sustainable alternatives.
“Why not use strong paper bags?” asked one woman. “Reusable crate liners?”
Although Waitrose said its drivers could carry deliveries into people’s homes, this threw up its own set of problems.
One shopper, who said she had self-isolated for 18 months, was infuriated that the grocer had stopped “providing plastic bags” and that a “£3 Delivery Charge has been added instead”.
She tweeted: “Waitrose expects me to allow a stranger into my house every time I have a home delivery.
“You have not given any thought [to the] disabled.”
Anthony Costello, a former WHO director, recently shared a text that he said was from a concerned Waitrose driver.
“We’re being made to take orders into customers’ homes… this seems extremely dangerous to me,” the employee wrote.
“Surely this is an avoidable way of spreading Covid in key workers and vulnerable groups?”
No problem @Waitrose not using plastic bags but crates bulky to carry to kitchen, emptying crates at door is backbreaking & time consuming, husband CV so don’t want drivers inside – why not use strong paper bags? reusable crate liners? AND you now charge £3 per delivery !
— Alison Winter (@WinterAlison) October 16, 2021
Enquiring where the link for plastic bags has gone off the website, to be told Waitrose will no longer be providing plastic bags on home deliveries and a £3 Delivery Charge has been added instead.
So now disabled ppl will have to carry or try to carry items in from the front door— *=* ANGELA *=* (@angelajgriffin5) October 3, 2021
Speaking yesterday, deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said scientists were concerned about the high number of daily coronavirus cases.
“There are some hard months to come in the winter and it is not over,” he warned.
In a statement, Waitrose noted that its collection service was still free to use on orders over £40.
It continued: “We’ve removed plastic carrier bags from our online orders as part of our commitment to reduce the use of unnecessary plastics.
“Our drivers are on hand to bring our customers’ groceries into their home if they wish, or help to unpack them into our customers’ own reusable bags on the doorstep.”
Of the UK’s major supermarkets, only Iceland will continue to offer free deliveries.
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