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[scrappinginontario]

Ugh so beyond annoyed right now. I made sure I selected no substitutions for every item in my order. I just checked to make sure my order went through at midnight and somehow my order shows substitutions allowed every.single.item in my order. So ridiculous!! Has this happened to anyone else. I guess I have to call them up to fix it or worse, cancel the entire order because I cannot have subs on anything I ordered due to dietary restrictions. So angry right now

If it’s Superstore they will send you an email listing all the items that are not available plus all the ones (with pics) that they substitute. You can decline any that you wish.

We’ve found new things we like that I would not have purchased which ends up being a fun experience.

Finding joy in the little things!

 

[hdrolfe]

Well I realized I needed cat food and my budget was running low and with pet stores closing... I went to Shoppers to use my $50 worth of points (and get $65 off). Got way too much easter chocolate and candy, and blew the budget any way. But I have coffee and cat food again. And kiddo will get to see if the Easter Bunny leaves some eggs. May be the last year he believes? I don't know. I wasn't planning to do anything to be honest, he's 10 and I got him an xbox controller and headset (since he broke his, again). Any way. I also wanted to get some children's tylenol, sometimes kiddo needs it at bed time because he gets leg/foot pains and nothing else seems to help but of course they had none in the store! Got advil instead and hope it will work There were a few empty spots actually, wanted a pizza but none left. Did get him two mac & cheese though. Any way. This was not in the plan, but everything changes I guess. I will hopefully be able to save up again once things are back to normal. And I don't need to get a new laptop for kiddo now since my dad fixed the broken one (taken to him before March break, no idea when we'll be able to get it back). Gave him something to do at home as well. Sorry, I'm rambling. That's it!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I really wish No Frills would give you points for every dollar you spend there, like Shoppers. Spent $278 there yesterday and only got 1700 points from my loaded offers. Our No Frills is a lot better at having less people in the store and controlling things than our Metro, so I do most of my shopping there (and for my mom and sister). I'm still working, but I think going forward I'm going to go shopping on a weekday morning or something because I couldn't believe the amount of people (retired and those off work right now) in the stores.

 

[Disney Addicted]

I must admit i used Google to check the stores to see how busy it was -- and they were bang on!

You can do that? How? I'd love to check that out.

 

[Donald - my hero]

May I ask how you do this? It interests me! So far I have avoided all stores but at some point if I mist go out I’d prefer quieter times.

You can do that? How? I'd love to check that out.

Simply Google the store you want to check out and then within the description of the store, towards the bottom of the information you'll see a graph showing the current number of people in the store. This is generated by all the people who like having their location turned on and agree to share it with google BTW, I don't share my location so I won't affect those number nor will anyone who doesn't carry a phone but it gives a basic idea that tends to be close enough to accurate that i ALWAYS use it before i head to Costco!!
Looks like this online

On my phone i need to click on "More about Metro" and then scroll waaay down to under the pictures

 

[AngelDisney]

You can do that? How? I'd love to check that out.

Probably Jacqueline is busy so I can try to reply to the question.

When you google a store (I googled Superstore near me), you click on the store location of interest and you are brought to a webpage with store info and reviews. If you scroll all the way down, you will see a time vs. crowd level histogram chart and it shows real-time crowd level at the current time of the day in red.

Hope this is helpful!



Updated:
The Duck has beaten me to it!

 

[Donald - my hero]

Probably Jacqueline is busy so I can try to reply to the question.


Updated:
The Duck has beaten me to it!

Not terribly busy, just moving REALLY SLOWLY right now. My level of overwhelmedness (yes i made that word up but it fits ) is sitting around blow up level right now and my dang radio was refusing to cast to the stereo and i was flipping out

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Ugh so beyond annoyed right now. I made sure I selected no substitutions for every item in my order. I just checked to make sure my order went through at midnight and somehow my order shows substitutions allowed every.single.item in my order. So ridiculous!! Has this happened to anyone else. I guess I have to call them up to fix it or worse, cancel the entire order because I cannot have subs on anything I ordered due to dietary restrictions. So angry right now

I can only advise on my experience. I placed my first online order and also selected no substitutions on all my products except my chicken breasts. The picture online showed 2 breasts and I requested 2 packages because I wanted 4 chicken breasts. I entered that I would take a club pack as long as there were minimum of 4 breasts. On my pick up day I too noticed online that everything said "Substitutions allowed" when I specifically said no substitutions. I called my store and was assured that it was okay, they went into my order and said that the only item I would accept substitutions was the chicken breasts. When I received my call I was advised that my pancake mix was not available and that I received club packs instead of individual packs of chicken breasts. I did not realize she said club packS, as in plural. When I unpacked my groceries, I had received 2 club packs of 5 chicken breasts each. I was okay with it and now will watch my meat order.

I had refrigerated items and frozen items and everything was still cold or frozen.

 

[Silvermist999]

I did call the Superstore yesterday and spoke to a really nice employee who explained what I could do about the substitutions, if there were any in my completed order. Basically I could call the store when I get their notification email and decline any substituted products and they would remove that item from my order before bringing it out to me and I wouldn’t be charged. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences, it is a new learning experience now, especially when we can only rely on specific trusted brands to stay allergen safe. Now is not the time for us to try new brands unfortunately.

 

[pigletto]

I realize we all have to bend a little or a lot to make things work right now and I'm doing my best but this grocery order thing is a little tough. I stick to a pretty strict budget and I know when to stock up on things and I don't mind shopping several stores to make it all work. Right now I have an online pick up order for Zehrs and it's so expensive compared to NoFrills, Freshco, or Food Basics. I would normally only go in there for a flyer item or items I can't get elsewhere. So my bill is at least $75 higher for the same stuff and I'm likely going to end up with a cart full of substitutions.
So I keep going back and forth.. is it worth it ? I always land on yes.. that I should just pay more and get a lot of things I don't want. We are entering into the worst two weeks for this thing and its not worth the risk to my family or others to go into that store. I have to keep reminding myself though because it all feels so unreal until I have that conversation in my head again. Strange days indeed.

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

I realize we all have to bend a little or a lot to make things work right now and I'm doing my best but this grocery order thing is a little tough. I stick to a pretty strict budget and I know when to stock up on things and I don't mind shopping several stores to make it all work. Right now I have an online pick up order for Zehrs and it's so expensive compared to NoFrills, Freshco, or Food Basics. I would normally only go in there for a flyer item or items I can't get elsewhere. So my bill is at least $75 higher for the same stuff and I'm likely going to end up with a cart full of substitutions.
So I keep going back and forth.. is it worth it ? I always land on yes.. that I should just pay more and get a lot of things I don't want. We are entering into the worst two weeks for this thing and its not worth the risk to my family or others to go into that store. I have to keep reminding myself though because it all feels so unreal until I have that conversation in my head again. Strange days indeed.

I am the same. I will stop at No Frills or Freshco on my way home from work to pick up a few things but that is no longer possible. I have decided to use our local Fortinos because they have no contact PC Express pick up. There prices are higher than we are used to but it is the safety factor for me that is winning out. I am also spending more because I am buying 2 weeks worth of food instead of one. Also some items I would only buy on sale but right now I am not really looking at prices. For example, would I normally pay $5.99 for a 12 pack of Coca Cola...no, but I am on this grocery order. I know it is strange days ahead...I just keep reminding myself that we will get through this...

 

[scrappinginontario]

I realize we all have to bend a little or a lot to make things work right now and I'm doing my best but this grocery order thing is a little tough. I stick to a pretty strict budget and I know when to stock up on things and I don't mind shopping several stores to make it all work. Right now I have an online pick up order for Zehrs and it's so expensive compared to NoFrills, Freshco, or Food Basics. I would normally only go in there for a flyer item or items I can't get elsewhere. So my bill is at least $75 higher for the same stuff and I'm likely going to end up with a cart full of substitutions.
So I keep going back and forth.. is it worth it ? I always land on yes.. that I should just pay more and get a lot of things I don't want. We are entering into the worst two weeks for this thing and its not worth the risk to my family or others to go into that store. I have to keep reminding myself though because it all feels so unreal until I have that conversation in my head again. Strange days indeed.

I understand as I live in a budget too. When I’m tempted to go to the store to possibly save a little $$ I ask myself if it’s worth risking this lives of myself and my daughter or, being an unnecessary burden on our healthcare workers. The answer is the same every time and I stay home.

I’ve also moved the money in my budget that I would normally be spending on gas to help ease the higher food costs.

 

[pigletto]

Thanks for understanding. It’s funny how many times I have to say to myself “oh but we are in a pandemic” . It just feels so surreal sometimes. And I’ve always budgeted so that more of our money can go where we want it to go like savings or trips . So the extra money is a small price to pay for being safe and keeping others safe. It just really irks the frugal side of my brain .

 

[peanutgirl]

Do you have to check out to hold your spot on pcexpress

 

[damo]

Do you have to check out to hold your spot on pcexpress

yes

 

[peanutgirl]

yes

Thanks. New at this computer shopping thing but love all the help on this thread

 

[damo]

Thanks. New at this computer shopping thing but love all the help on this thread❤

We asked the same thing a few days ago since we didn't know either, lol.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Do you have to check out to hold your spot on pcexpress

Tes, I found out the hard way as I thought I’d secured a spot and then needed to wait 3 more days before I could get another spot.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

So far, I have found a Superstore and day/time that is much less busy and product is stocked: Monday morning right after the senior hour. Everyone has already been there during the weekend, and they have time to restock the shelves Sunday night.

I have been practicing with the online shopping tool, just to get familiar with it.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

It really just depends on what days the receive trucks to have the night crew come in and do the restocking. Sundays and Mondays are probably your best bets along with Wednesday and Fridays as well...as they will be gearing up for all the shopping that happens on weekends. That seems to be the pattern here

On a side note...when we were doing our restocking on the weekend...dh was like...are we going to use points to pay for this ( with a grin on his face ) I looked at him and smiled and said...nope, I want to save them. I asked him if he would use his Canadian Tire points to buy stuff for around the house and the little fix it jobs we have to do. He said " NO " and I said...then NO...my points don't go for groceries when we both are still working and have money to actually pay for them!!! If it comes down to it later down the road that we need to use the points for groceries because our bank account is bare...then I will use the points for that then. If not...HANDS off!!!