You can tell they'll just settle for anything sometimes. Honeycrisp is hardly a substitute for Granny Smith. But you know, most people don't cook from scratch and would never know one is super tart and one is really not. I've gotten to where I will click "no substitutions", and try another chain up the road for anything that lacks.

Last year my friend got parsley for cilantro, and didn't notice until Thanksgiving morning when she went to make her salsa. She was upset and posted on Facebook. Good thing she did. I had cilantro still going strong in my garden!

This is exactly why I cannot imagine ordering groceries on line. Back in the day my mom ordered an Easter dress for me. Chances are it was my first 'store bought' dress. I was sooo excited I LOVED the dress I was expecting, pink, lacy. The company substituted a pink gingham horrid thing! Once you endure a horrible substitute you give no one that authority ever again!!

I needed vinegar and they substituted vinaigrette salad dressing. I declined it....

At least Amy's brand is vegetarian! Regular chicken noodle soup would have been worse!

I'm not troubled by silly substitutions because I'm very clear and specific about what is and what is not acceptable. There are a number of items that I like that lead me to shop at specific stores, or other things I explicitly want to have and not something else instead, and in those cases I'm careful to say so.

Online shopping is such a time saver and so easy, I doubt I'll ever be a regular store visitor again.

If I buy pantry staples I’m checking best by dates. And bread. Grapes, how firm they are. Cauliflower, looking for any spots. Bruises on apples. Pack dates and fat on any meat or poultry. You get the idea. Maybe I should try online shopping as immersion therapy to cure my neurosis. Someday, not today, not ready for that!

Kind of OT, but have you ever tried Amy's Chicken Noodle Soup Without the Chicken. I think that's what it's really called. ugh. Now I like her tomato, lentil, and split pea; but the noodle? Not to my liking at all. In fact tried it for the first time two days ago and could not finish the bowl.

schoolhouse, I was wondering how a chicken noodle soup could be vegetarian. "Okay," to quote a local interviewer, lol.

food, with the stores I use, the employees' selections happen risk free to the customer. If you don't like what you get, you tell them (or Instacart, if a delivery instead of curbside pickup) and a refund is processed no questions asked. No need to return the item, keep or discard as you wish.

One day I was shopping at Walmart and saw an employee that was filling an order and watched her pick up a bag of tomatoes without even looking at it and just put it in the cart. That's how careful they are...HA! She just reached over, grabbed a bag and stuck it in the cart, I was horrified!!!!! :O

There’s a delightful book called The Hockey Sweater, based on the author’s true experience. A Monteal kid outgrows his Canadiens hockey sweater. Maman sends to Eaton’s in Toronto for a bew one, but they send him a Maple Leafs sweater instead. Quel horreur!

The Hockey Sweater

If there's a specific brand or specific item of a brand then I always disallow substitutions. I've always had almost no problems. I remember clearly rotten clementines once. You could smell the rot. Time before last they just never delivered my order. I think I posted about it here. They called me at 9 pm after I had cancelled the order asking me if I wanted to pick it up or cancel and reorder for the next day.

Last Friday I needed some Sudafed and wanted some hot dogs, something quick and easy to make over the weekend that I wouldn't have to cook since I wasn't feeling great at all. So, I put in a very small order of 6 items. I got a notification that it was delivered so I waited a few minutes and went to look. It wasn't, but the woman was walking to my door with a bunch of stuff including toilet paper I hadn't ordered. I told her through a half-closed door because I was sick, that I hadn't ordered that. She also had hash browns and something else that weren't mine.

We tried the online shopping early in the pandemic, and it was so very frustrating. I needed eggs. The website forced me to choose brand and size. OK, house brand large. So I don't get any eggs because they only had extra large. If I am shopping in person, I make my own substitutions. We just found that the system wasn't right for prime time. I will go to the store and then shop sales and specials. I'm retired, I have plenty of time to go shopping, thank goodness.

I started using curbside before Covid. My grocery store has great shoppers and they pick things out like they're buying for themselves. They also let you choose whether a substitute is okay on an item by item basis, along with a note. I've has some things just not available, but so far nothing bizarre has been substituted.

Last year our local Kroger store, Fred Meyer substituted store brand single ply toilet paper for two ply TP. It has been relegated to emergency use only.

It didn't take me very long to learn to check & approve substitutions - or no substitutions - when I'm checking out on a pickup order. IMPE, when you don't is when you might get something you don't want. I sometimes slip up and get notifications of substitutions from Walmart ahead of pickup time and can approve, or just nix it. You can always just tell them you don't want it when you pick up.

Wondering if the stuff they give you that seems weird might be something the store wants to sell...?

I tried Walmart grocery online ordering once several years ago. It was the first and the last time. I didn't like the substitutions. I like going to the store and if they don't have the product I want either I can choose what I want as a substitution or go to another store to get the product. Besides I like looking at the new products and shopping where there are real people.

My daughter started a couple months ago online grocery ordering as a time saver. It last only several orders and she went back to doing her own shopping.

Well, yes and no. Not in the same way as the OP. I do not order groceries. But my sister asked me to cook for a party of hers and gave me the menu, and I gave her my grocery list for her to buy. One of the dishes she wanted me to make was my fried cheese curds. MY fried cheese curds are battered in a beer batter. I could not find the beer to make the batter. I mean, the oil was hot and ready for the cheese curds, and I could not finish my batter. WHERE IS THE BEER? I yelled.

Well, I forgot that she and her husband are strict Southern Baptists, the kind that disapprove of alcohol in any form. So she vetoed the beer and brought me a 7up instead. I guess she thought bubbles are bubbles. I do not drink either, not for religious or moral reasons I just do not care for the taste or the effects. But beer batter is not what I consider alcoholic consumption. And I do NOT consider 7up an appropriate substitute for beer in a batter. I wish she would have expressed her concerns and asked for a sub. I would have told her to get plain seltzer. But she didn't. She took it upon herself to be the morality police and in her righteous indignation thought she was doing good by making that substitution. And I did not make the fried cheese curds. I WON

My parents didn’t do the online ordering, they called the store and a customer service person took the order. The store had been doing that for years, of course. They always had the same ”shopper” who was so sweet, knew what they wanted in terms of brand, style style, size, etc. She would sometimes add something new she thought they might like. She’d call them to ask if a substitution was okay, or to ask if they liked the item she’d added. When Dad placed some strange orders, she asked me about it when I was in the store.

It was like a community, and so much nicer than online ordering with an unknown ”picker”. I really like my neighborhood stores.

I have never done an online order. I am way too picky and hope I never have to. My grocery stores are so close that's not a problem, I self-scan and always mask up.

While I do shop in person in several stores, there a number of things I specificaly get from Walmart and I very much prefer not having to go inside those stores - they make me crazy.

I've had excellent results from the store shoppers, and I'm not about to get overly picky about a case of seltzer or a tube of toothpaste, as long as it's the brand I ordered.

I'm with Elmer. i love using shoppers. i know the ordering game and make it a great partnership for the shoppers. i was the first in my condo to use them.

a horrible storm hit our area and i was sure no one would shop. this is where those who are serious about making money will go to work i was very, very grateful and gave her a $40 tip. she came from maryland to virginia because she knew the best territory and took all the orders she could get. professional, efficient she was able to work till 9pm.

i've been using Instacart and Shipt for 4 years. they know how to pick fresh fruit and vegetables. i live in a highrise. not easy for them during Covid but they became apart of our essential workers. i made masks for them. we still wear them in halls and elevators.

I like grocery shopping and have plenty of time for it, so I don't see ever using a shopping service. But just out of curiosity, is the "no substitutions" by the item or by your entire order?

It can be either, nickel, depending on which app you're using. There's usually a checkbox to select all if you want, or individual items can be checked and unchecked.

Instacart allows subs and refunds almost right until pickup, but with Walmart, you have a deadline for changes, the only exception I've experienced is when an item in your cart is out of stock, which of course can happen more frequently nowadays. That's when I can get a notification after the deadline and can refuse or accept a sub. When I make an order, I can select if I want substitutions or not when I'm checking out.

And I'd like to add that the employees always ask me if I'm aware of/OK with any out-of-stock items or substitutions before they put anything in my car.

thanks carolb :-) I imagine that like anything involving people, you can mark what you want and it's not a 100% absolute certain guarantee your instruction will be followed (that's life!).

I've only used online grocery shopping a few times, last year, at the beginning of the pandemic. And I will say I was VERY pleased with our local HEB store. I honestly don't remember if I could chose to allow substitutions when I made the order, or not. But they did call me while they were filling my order, to ask about it. They were out of 'X', would 'Y' be okay? No? What would I like instead? Nothing? Okay. The produce that I ordered was as good or better than I would have picked out myself. And I have since watched their shoppers any number of times. They always appear to be very conscientious about picking the items.

My son and his wife used the Walmart online grocery ordering while they were sick with COVID. I did the pick up for them. A couple of times the person who brought the groceries to my car told me about a substitution that had been made, asking if it was wanted. My DIL had been notified about it and had let me know she was okay with it when she called to tell me their order was ready for pick up. But obviously it would not have been put in my car if it wasn't wanted. Son and DIL were both very pleased with Walmart's service. And they used it a number of times.

So I guess the quality of the online grocery service depends on the individual store, not on the name of the store.

Rusty

I've never had a selection ignored. The problems I've had were always because I ordered something I hadn't before and forgot to check whether I wanted a substitute or not.

And yes, on Instacart, if I receive something I did not order, all I have to do is 'report an issue' and the amount is refunded - usually in the form of a credit. Walmart is similar. I always give the feedback requested, and it's usually excellent.

I've been ordering regularly from Walmart since the beginning of the pandemic. One thing I like about their substitutions is they will substitute a larger size or a more expensive brand, but charge you only the amount of the item you ordered. I've gotten some bargains that way.

My very first order contained an amusing substitution that was simply a mistake: Instead of ice cream, the person putting together the order gave me string cheese.

I've been a big fan of Walmart curbside pickups throughout, but I still find their new online ordering system flawed. And irritating. I really think they need to go back to separate carts for pickups and shipped items.

I like using Target because they don't make you go in a one-hour window like most of the others. I think you have 48 hours to pick up your order and I enjoy the flexibility.

I order from 2 places, Aldi and Meijers. Usually, curbside. I choose a replacement or allow them to choose.