But I Smile Anyway…

“A sense of humour is God’s antidote for anger and frustration.” 

Rick Warren

Oh, Spidey, I tell you what. If I didn’t have a sense of humour, I probably would have had an Asda induced breakdown yesterday! Peeps, are you settled for a LONG retelling of my date with disaster, also called Asda’s Online Grocery shopping? Get comfortable. Honestly, I wish I could have written as many words on my WIP as I just have for this retelling!

I am glad I didn’t rush to write my post late last night because it would have been filled with negativity if I had.

Yesterday, I had my morning planned with precision, since the cricket season is upon us, and we live in the back of beyond, nowadays.

I usually receive my Asda grocery delivery on a Saturday morning, so, in order to accommodate the regular matches, too, I opted for an earlier slot of 7-9am for the delivery. This would give me a chance to unpack the items and see if I missed anything important, which I could then pick up from the Sainsburys right next to the cricket pitch.

That gave me at least an hour before we had to leave for cricket.

Obviously, I was up with the larks because a) I am always paranoid that I will miss someone ringing the bell, so I needed to ensure the gate was open, and b) because Sonu Singh kindly spent half an hour musically miaowing in my face, as he was hungry.

It was too early to do anything else on my list for the day, since if I cleaned our ensuite bathroom, and showered, I would be too noisy, and would wake Hubby Dearest, and the same would go for any hoovering and mopping.

I settled down with my book, and read and snoozed, intermittently checking my phone for an update from Asda, who usually message to say when things are on their way, and what might not have been available. That arrived, so I lay back, confident in the knowledge that they were on their way, and I also know what was on my secondary shopping list, with items that were unavailable. (Only two, so that was a good thing!)

It hit 8.30 and nothing had arrived, but that isn’t unusual, in itself. They could be a little late, but that was okay, I had it covered. Lil Man was up and getting prepared. I also had a trip planned to a lovely fresh butcher’s stall, which is set up on a Saturday morning, to pick up some meat for a barbeque we were having on Sunday, so we arranged to leave a little earlier so I could swing by, as things get sold out quickly, there.

Once it hit 9am, and nothing had come, I started to panic a little, as I still hadn’t showered, because I didn’t want to miss the doorbell, and it would be Sods Law that as soon as I stepped into the shower and lathered up my hair, they would turn up. (Yes, I know Lil Man was there, but as a minor still, they wouldn’t have released the shopping to him, and Hubby Dearest was still asleep, and it’s like waking the dead with him on a weekend!)

So, I called them up, and was put on hold, then cut off.

It was nearing 10am now, and I had hoped to leave at 9.45am. I was flustering now. Hubby Dearest woke up and told me not to worry, that he would sort things out, and I could get ready to go.

So, I rushed and showered (cleaning the bathroom at the same time!) and called Asda again as we left. This time the lady said she would call the store and see what was happening and call me back, as the tracking system was down.

I managed to get the barbeque seasoning I needed, but not the specific meat we wanted from the stall, but no bother, as I still had my scheduled trip to the other supermarket to pick up the bits I knew weren’t coming in the Asda shop.

I kept my phone in my hand as I quickly whizzed around Sainsburys, before dropping my son off. As I packed the shopping in the car, my phone showed a missed call, despite it not ringing! Typical!

So, I called Asda back (The third time). This time the lady had a look at the notes and called the store while I was on hold, to find out what was going on. Fifteen minutes in, the call got cut off. I was more than a little frustrated now, as I had reached home. It was nearly 11am, and the delivery was now two hours late.

Fourth call to complain to Asda. The next lady said it was unlikely this delivery would happen, but she could rearrange it for later in the day, between 4-6pm. Not convenient, but fine. So, we went through the rigmarole of reordering, and I noticed a voicemail on my phone once I cut the call.

This was lady two getting back to me to say the shopping should be there by 12pm. Gah!

I called back (fifth time, now!) to confirm that the first order had been cancelled and it was just the second that I would receive. This was confirmed so I finally sat back for a moment to calm down because by now I wasn’t just a little miffed, I was extremely frustrated and annoyed.

The afternoon went by, and I pottered around, doing little jobs, getting updates from Hubby Dearest on the cricket match, and trying not to think of Asda and how I could have just gone and done my whole shop in Sainsbury’s earlier this morning instead of having to wait around. (Hindsight is a great thing.)

At 4pm I checked the order status which should be showing out for delivery, and it still said packing…

At nearly 5 pm it hadn’t changed, so I made call six to Asda and was told by this operative that because I placed this order today, it was past the cut-off, so I probably wouldn’t get it. To say I was fuming, was putting it lightly! I was even in tears by now, not able to word my frustration, and I assured the woman I wasn’t angry at her, but the whole system sucked, and that I hadn’t placed my order late, they had, as it was a replacement for their cock up earlier, and that they had messed up, TWICE, now! She told me to talk to the store. I said no, you talk to the store, they never answer to customers and are quite rude, but that I needed the delivery, now ASAP. So, off she went, leaving me on hold, to find out what was happening.

Fifteen minutes later, guess what happened? They cut me off!

Now we were at call seven. I was almost a blubbering mess as I explained, for the seventh time (why are their notes not updated!) that I had been messed around a lot. It was also nearing 6pm now. The lady was very sympathetic and as we were talking, an email popped in my inbox to say the order was on its way, but that half of the items were now unavailable, and most of the swaps were unacceptable. I told her what I had received and that this morning, had I received the order correctly, I would have had pretty much everything I needed. I just wanted to cancel it. I was totally incensed by now.

Oh, and she also said that they should have my original morning delivery, still packed in their warehouse, and maybe she could get them to find that and send it out instead, as it would have the items I requested. I politely refused because there was fridge and freezer stuff in there, and goodness knows how it had been stored during the twelve hours it had been picked and packed! I know they have refrigerated areas, but still, you can’t be too sure. No thanks, Asda!

She reassured me she would cancel it and was very apologetic. I also told her (politely I promise) that a £5 gesture of compensation would no way cut it. The stress of the day and having to call them so many times had driven me to distraction, and I was now going to have to go out, AGAIN, to do a whole food shop, which I could have done earlier that morning, had I known what a balls up they were going to make of my day!

By now, Hubby Dearest and Lil Man had arrived back (victorious, as they won the match and he got 2 wickets, and a maiden over, too!) Hubby could see I was almost shaking in frustration. He offered to go to the shops with me.

Lil Princess was in a good mood and wanted to get out, so in the end, we both went to Sainsbury’s (again), and as I got there, a message popped up (it was past 6pm, now) to say my Asda shop (which had been cancelled) would be there by 4.30pm! What? And a text to tell me the driver Jerome would be there in three stops. Whatever. I told Hubby Dearest to refuse the delivery if they turned up and we went off to shop.

Dubious that we would get everything we needed so late in the day, we whizzed around Sainsbury’s and miraculously managed to get everything we needed.

I arrived back home and unpacked the shopping when I heard laughs from the living room. (Here’s where my sense of humour finally came into play!) “Ritu,” Hubby Deaerest called out, “Guess who’s turned up? The Asda delivery!”

Now, I am fully aware it wasn’t the driver’s fault, but Asda, seriously?

The guy started carting the baskets of food to us, but I stopped him. Hubby said why not take it, and they can give it for free. (Hasty explanation that they have already taken payment for this, but we don’t want it, and they would refund, plus we had already done our shopping and I did not want everything in duplicate!)

The driver was apologetic and said he had been waiting over an hour at the store for the deliveries he needed to make to be packed as they were running late as the store was short-staffed. All this meant that he was running late for everything, himself. He took the stuff and went on his way.

Another hour later, I got an email to say sorry, we have had to cancel your order. Erm, no, you haven’t. I cancelled it!

Oh, and the one from 7-9am? That is still showing up as out for delivery!

Fast forward to this morning.

I checked the site, and one was ‘cancelled’ and one phantom order (the morning one) was still ‘out for delivery’. Asda has taken around £200 from my account and not begun the refund process.

I called, again.

Just to ask that this other order be cancelled and to reiterate that I either needed to speak to someone or was expecting some sort of compensation for the awful inconvenience and stress that I was caused by Asda’s incompetence, yesterday. The guy has requested everything and apologised profusely.

Through all this, I have to say that the Asda customer service phone operatives were all so polite and helpful, despite cutting me off three times, which I am sure was more about their system than them doing it on purpose (I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, here!) It’s a shame that the ones who answer the phones in-store are so rude… that’s if they ever actually answer the phones!

Right, rant over, I promise!

I’m just hoping the weather gets better now, and our planned barbeque happens!

So, have you had frustrating days like the above? How did you handle it?

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!