TTMA grocery delivery/ pick up options

[waverly]

Our grocery delivery service (Pea Pod) is shutting down it's Midwest operations which sucks not only for us but because it was founded here.  I've tried Insta Cart, but it doesn't seem like the app, at that time, matched what was in the store since I spent the entire time texting with the person.  Yes it freed up my time because I was able to use that time to take the kids to get a haircut, but then I am spending my entire time at the hair salon trying to watch them, but also text with the Insta Cart shopper, which is why we only used Insta Cart once and then switched to Pea Pod.

I think we might just have to go to our new local grocery store Pete's since DH likes them and then maybe do Amazon Fresh for more specialty items.  

Other options are Target (in our town not a big grocery selection), Meijer- 20 minutes away so not sure on delivery, Kroger also 20 minutes away one way. Whole Foods is 20 minutes away.  I don't think there is a Walmart anywhere nearby.  We have a Jewel, but I don't think they deliver or do pick up.  

What do you use? How does it work? Do you like it? 

Also when do you make your menu/ list and shop?  We used to make our list Sat afternoon/ evening and make sure it was in the app for Sunday morning delivery usually around 8-9 am.  

[mustardseed2007]

We do HEB curbside pick up, but that is a large grocery store chain here and it's not everywhere. They also have delivery, but I don't use that, mostly because of the tipping aspect to delivery. I don't get what is the right tip amount for that kind of thing.


Around here, Instacart is popular, as is Randall's curbside or delivery and Kroger curbside and Walmart curbside. Actually, I've never used Walmart curbside but I've heard a lot of really good things about it.

[mrsGreeko]

I do King Soopers curbside pick up. Owned by Kroger.

Anyway I love it. Super easy to put my order in since everything I’ve ever bought is linked to my shopper card. And anytime I’m looking at something it tells me if there’s a coupon for that thing. It’s totally worth the $4.95. I do click “no substitutions” now because they subbed some really weird things before (turkey when I ordered ham, that’s not even the same animal!!!). Because I click no subs and click they can text me about my order they ask if they can sub something before they actually do it, which is way better. They only do one text and it’s about 3 hours before the pick up time so it’s not like a weird excessive text situation.


I usually place my order either Thursday night or Friday morning when I get to work and then I pick up on my way home on Friday afternoon. It’s changed my meal planning week because I used to plan Saturday-Friday and now I plan Friday-Thursday. And honestly that’s been the most difficult part of it all for me, just changing when I have to make a meal plan or list.

[sdlaura]

I do amazon prime from Whole Foods and Shipt from target. I’ve been pretty happy with the quality on both. Whole Foods is quick to refund if I end up with overripe fruit or something. I wish there was a Trader Joe’s delivery option, but at least my kids like going there for samples and lollipops.

[twinmomma]

I love Walmart grocery pick up. I think ours offers delivery now too, so I need to try that out. I've tried Instacart from a couple grocery stores in our area and I don't love it. The prices are way higher than shopping in person and I always feel like I'm texting a lot too. Instacart is like my last resort, I desperately need food now, option, I don't use it for a full shop ever.

[sandandsea]

We use amazon fresh for everything. We have prime so it’s free other than the tip. The prices are more equal to in store prices as well. I’ve been using them about a year and a half steady.

We also tried Safeway and Instacart and Walmart pick up. Safeway and Instacart were at least 20% higher than in store prices and Safeway always messed up orders or gave gross or expired produce/meat. And they both charge high fees for delivery and you have to tip on top of that.

Walmart pick up took 45 minutes once I got there and they lost a bag so I didn’t get everything I ordered. I gave them a second shot and it took an hour once I arrived. Ridiculous. It would have been faster to do it myself.

[sandandsea]

Oh an I make my list as I run out of something over the course of the week. Then I place the order every week or two when we actually need it. But I keep my shopping list in my amazon fresh cart.

[mustardseed2007]

So if you have your groceries delivered, do you tip on your total price tag of your order? And what percentage?

[sdlaura]

mustardseed2007 Amazon/Whole Foods defaults to 10% and I leave that as is. I never see the person unless I buy beer or wine and then they have to check ID. No delivery fee.

For Shipt/Target I determine based on how much I spend. At least $5 even for a small order, and usually 10%.

[sandandsea]

My amazon fresh defaulted to $7 so I upped it to $10 and leave it there.

[waverly]

Feb 13, 2020 17:04:51 GMT -5 mustardseed2007 said:

So if you have your groceries delivered, do you tip on your total price tag of your order? And what percentage?

Another reason I liked Pea Pod there was no tipping. They charged a delivery fee instead and discouraged tipping. The delivery fee varied if you were a member or not but our was about $6.

[erinshelley21]

I've heard great things about Walmart pick up but have never tried it. I've only done ClickList with a Kroger owned store. I drive 15 minutes to use it. I also drove 15 minutes to shop there before ClickList was a thing so I wouldn't think twice about it now. #smalltownprobs

[campermom]

I used to have no delivery options so when my kids were 5, 3 and newborn I used PeaPod (to my parents house) but then I had to stay there and wait since you had to sign with them. Once they messed up and never came. I waited for hours...never again!

Then amazon fresh delivered to me, but they didn’t have good selection at all. Not long after, they said they were done delivering in my area.

Instacart has started here and they do Aldi and I’ve never been happier. I haven’t had the problems you described, I mean occasionally there are substitutions and I may have to text and let them know a preference. I try to have approved replacements set up and I tend to get the same things every week basically so it gets to know what I like. According to the app I’ve saved 82 hours with Instacart. Plus Aldi is so cheap that even with the price hike of instacart and tip, I’m still way under a regular grocery bill.

I usually tip $7-8.

[waverly]

Pea Pod did have unattended delivery but maybe they set that up after you stopped using them. But if they don’t deliver to your house rather than your parents then I don’t see the point since the point is to not have to drag the kids places.

We might have to trial all these different options and see what we like best.

[twinmomma]

Feb 13, 2020 16:47:10 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Walmart pick up took 45 minutes once I got there and they lost a bag so I didn’t get everything I ordered. I gave them a second shot and it took an hour once I arrived. Ridiculous. It would have been faster to do it myself.

That's crazy! I don't think I've ever waiting more like than 15 minutes or so to get my order, even on the busiest, peak days and times. Usually I'll try to schedule my pick up for either first thing in the morning on a weekend or after work on a weeknight to avoid the mid-day weekend rush. 

[phdmomma]

All of ours have trouble, Woodmans and Hyvee all had weird issues. I do Whole Foods delivery now or just suck it up and go to the store. I’ve started going on Friday mornings right after I drop the kids off and before I head to work.

[mustardseed2007]

Feb 14, 2020 8:29:51 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

Feb 13, 2020 16:47:10 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Walmart pick up took 45 minutes once I got there and they lost a bag so I didn’t get everything I ordered. I gave them a second shot and it took an hour once I arrived. Ridiculous. It would have been faster to do it myself.

That's crazy! I don't think I've ever waiting more like than 15 minutes or so to get my order, even on the busiest, peak days and times. Usually I'll try to schedule my pick up for either first thing in the morning on a weekend or after work on a weeknight to avoid the mid-day weekend rush. 

One time my H was at HEB curbside for almost two hours. (Yes. Two hours. He was also listening to a baseball game). They knew he was there as they kept coming out and apologizing, and it was clear they were having major issues as there were lots of angry people. We ended up getting part of our order comped, 50 dollars in gift cards and we did end up getting the full order as well. 

We haven't been shorted much that I can remember although they did give us a credit for a can of chili that H later found rolling around in his trunk. 

[grover]

We've been using Walmart Grocery pickup for the past month. Not my preferred store, but with winter weather, and a almost 3 year old and 2 almost 1 year olds, it's so much easier for me. First week, great. Wait time under 10 minutes. 2nd time, good. H had some complaints about the apples they gave us, and they refunded the price of those. 3rd time, national outage and my order canceled about an hour before I was supposed to go get it. Last week, great. This week, also fine, except they accidentally gave us part of someone else's order in addition to our order (we didn't pay for those, but ended up in our car/home- 12 pack of tp, 12 pack of diet dr pepper, and popcorn butter).

[madringal]

I use Shipt to have my groceries from Meijer. They charge an annual fee ($99, but lots of promos to get it to $49) and as long as you order at least $35 in groceries there is no delivery fee.

I love it and use it often. I’ve had great experiences with my shoppers picking out produce, choosing substitutes, being on time, friendly, etc.

Shipt also has great and fast customer service so if I message them with an issue it’s resolved in just an hour or so.

Shipt also allows me to connect my mperks so that I can take advantage of Meijer promos.

Let me know if you want a referral link to try them out!

[lexus]

We use Vons curbside pick up. My H set it up but I think he has a reoccurring list that he can add or delete items from and it only cost $5 in a delivery charge. I just call them once I am parked and they bring it out. We have had mostly good experiences and only one awful experience. We like it.

[sunbutter]

When we lived in the city, my favorite was AmazonFresh from Whole Foods. But it is not offered in our new neighborhood :-(.

In my past life, I would place an order the night before to be delivered by 6am the next day. I would just wake up and put the groceries away.

[drjeep]

I use Walmart Grocery pick up here, and I really like the convenience of it because I usually make my pick up time right after I leave school so I can do that on my way home. There are only a couple of things that bother me: 1) You don't know if you are going to get everything in your order until you get the email that your order is ready for pick up less than an hour before you are scheduled to pick it up. That can be a pain if you aren't getting one or two of the main things you were basing your order on or needed for dinner that night. 2) You can only order so much of an item. I mean I understand this to an extent because if someone orders like 20 milks and clears out one of the dairy cases I can see where that would be a problem. My issue with it as a teacher is when I'm trying to order supplies for engineering experiments for five different schools and I want to order like 10 packages of straws or 6 boxes of spaghetti, I am only allowed to order like 4. This is annoying because then it means I have to actually go into the store to get certain things, which is inconvenient. However, I do like that after you place your order they give you some time (usually for me it's about 4-5 hours) to add to the order in case you forget anything, and that is really nice because I usually forget one or two things and think of them in the middle of the night in time to add them to my order.

[xctsclrx]

I use Walmart delivery. It's awesome. I have them come to the house right after the kids go to bed.