Ocado customers bash pureplay over lack of delivery slots

Ocado took to Twitter last week to make the following announcement: “A big Ocado welcome to all our new colleagues. We hired almost 2,000 new drivers and warehouse operatives between 23rd March – 27th April. Thanks for joining us to help feed the nation.”

All very laudable, you would think. But not if you’re an Ocado customer unable to secure a delivery slot during the coronavirus outbreak.

The retailer was bombarded with such comments as: “Are you still sticking to your story that you’ve been told by @DefraGovUK that you can only supply listed shielded people who were previously regular customers? Some folks are making loads a money, ain’t they.”

And: “Does this mean you will be able to allow back in their account all non ‘valuable’ customers, at risk but not on the ‘extreme vulnerable’ list, who have been dropped like hot potatoes, disregarding the ‘anytime pass’... and unable to get a slot at all ... like me? #badlydone”

There was some support for Ocado, however. “We really appreciate being able to get our shopping delivered whilst we're shielding. If it wasn't for Ocado, we'd have had nothing,” said one person.

While another commented: “I know there were problems at first but I’ve been able to get my delivery regularly now - Thank you to all your wonderful staff!”

The bosses speak

During the early stages of the coronavirus crisis, Ocado Chairman, Stuart Rose, called on Brits to stop stockpiling groceries.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “There is no shortage of food. Nobody will starve. There is a £1 billion more food in people’s larders than there was a couple of weeks ago. What are they doing with it? How much do you need to eat? How much do you need to store away?”

Ocado CEO Melanie Smith, meanwhile, commented: “We currently have 10 times more demand for our services now than we did before the outbreak began, and with every announcement, we see a further extraordinary surge of customers to Ocado.com. No matter how hard we work, we will not have enough capacity to serve the unprecedented levels of demand.”

After a bumpy start, the company has slowly recovered in recent weeks. It has also been winning plaudits for its mixed retail model (part third party delivery service, part tech platform, part retailer) that has brought in deals with the likes of Coles and Kroger.