Prime Now has a new policy: “We are temporarily limiting orders received to once every 4 days. Thank you for helping us serve more customers while we support health and safety measures.”
I will be interested to hear of your experiences if you order from Fresh. I have access to Fresh, but have not used it. I was comparing my Prime Now cart to Fresh over the weekend. I found the prices to be pretty much the same. However, Fresh did not have several items available that were in my Prime cart, though this could work both ways. It looks like you can keep grocery lists in Fresh which is a functionality Prime does not have.
Today, I placed a small order of nonperishables from Costco, via Instacart. Although I specified that they were not to substitute, they did. Fortunately, I was watching the app and was able to jump in and refuse the substitution. The order arrived an hour later, so on the whole, I’m pleased. Fairly hefty delivery charges but I haven’t renewed my Costco membership, so it’s a wash.
Sorry for the delayed response. Not only did e-dogs eat the final assignments of many of my students (“the Internet went down just as I was submitting the assignment”), my daughter’s cat had a stroke. (Genuinely. But, thanks to the fine neurologists at Angell, she is now slowly recovering – with help from our new knowledge of how to “express her bladder”.)
I’ve had two Fresh deliveries so far. Both times I got everything I wanted. Stuff comes in weird, grey, sealed plastic bags, though, and you need to open all the produce right away before it suffocates.
Yes, we have a number of assets in the area, and this whole Covid-19 thing has had me reassess my options. As I’ve mentioned, under normal circumstances I divide my time between Manhattan and Cambridge and there’s been a running discussion between my wife and me on where we should end up if we ever decided to enter our golden years. My wife, born and bred in Queens, pushed for Cambridge. I argued Manhattan. In this crisis, though, there was no question where we were better off. And apart from the lower density of Cambridge, there’s the easy availability of superb medical care in the GBA, for animals and humans.
For what it’s worth, I’m getting occasional pleading emails from Instacart asking me to return, offering $10 off, saying they can now offer same-day delivery, etc.
After some weeks of scrambling for this, that, or the other, I have my supplies down to a reasonably reliable chain. Bread, veggies, herbs, dairy, eggs, fresh mozarella, ice cream, the occasional chocolate croissant from Forge; meat from Savenor’s – plus further veg and herbs – and this week from M.F.Dulock; fish from Cape Ann (although I might also try some of Tim Maslow’s offerings this week); the occasional specialty item – ramps, for example – from BPM, plus herbs; cheese directly from Cato Corner and Jasper Hill; wine from Ball Square; and whatever else I need from a weekly Amazon Fresh dropoff. I still have significant stocks of rice (basmati, jasmine, bomba, wild – although not a rice), lentils, beans, pasta, tunafish, canned tomatoes, etc., from March.
Just an update to report that same and next day delivery availability has returned to Whole Foods/Amazon Prime, and Peapod has more openings as well. Where previously I had to schedule two weeks out, last week’s delivery was just a one-week wait.
This is definitely a good sign from both you and @fooddabbler. I’ve also noticed the last two weeks (I usually try to make a quick trip for fresh vegetables) that it’s been reasonably sane at the stores themselves. Aside from general confusion over the 1-way aisles (I’ve given up on those), people know where to go, where to pay, and generally trying to keep reasonable distance.
I guess the hoarding of foods at least can finally stop. Still waiting for my dairy supply to be consistent though. Less of a problem with milk, since there are multiple brands and suppliers, but I find buying light cream or heavy cream hit or miss.
My latest Fresh order arrived in the morning with several items missing, all produce. I suspect the delivery person simple omitted an entire bag. He was a little odd, in any case: rang the doorbell repeatedly, called my cell, and then tracked down our landline number (it’s not on the account) and called that. He wanted us to come to the door and it took some convincing to tell him he needed to leave first.
Getting a refund was straightforward once I figured out that you use the same mechanism that Amazon uses for, say, books or t-shirts. You say you want to return the item, then under “reason” say the item was missing. It was annoying to have to do this item by item: cauliflower, apples, scallions, parsley…
It’s odd that a tech giant does not have specific software tailored especially to Fresh.
This does not sound great, to say the least. Don’t understand why they don’t offer the contactless delivery option which is now the default on Caviar for food from restaurants. Not getting a bag of produce would be very disappointing to me! I finally took the plunge and joined Mercato. A couple of items missing but they send a receipt day of delivery before delivery to let you know what was unavailable. I got the wrong kind of meat once and I was refunded in full. And once a $16 frozen food item was missing. The store said it was their fault, it was in a separate bag and they didn’t mark the first bag “1 of 2.” A staff member lives near where I do so it was delivered on their way home…a text saying it had been left at the front door, no phone calls. I was very pleased.
To be fair to Fresh, they do offer contactless delivery. It was this particular delivery person who seemed clueless about what that means.
I’ve had good luck with Mercato, too. When I get stuff from Savenor’s or BPM, that’s the service that’s used. (Although I wonder if “Mercato” is simply an interface between the stores and actual delivery. On at least three occasions, the delivery people phoned on drop off and identified themselves “DoorDash.” The first time I even said “Take it away, I’m not expecting anything from DoorDash” and was saved only when the delivery person asked “You did not order from Savenor’s?”)
Yes, I think Mercato delivery is handled by doordash; I got a glimpse of my last deliverer and he was wearing a shirt so labeled. It seems the store staff assembles the orders and bags them, and then the DD shows up to pick up and deliver. So there is no intermediary instacart-like shopper, it seems, and the Mercato merchant is responsible for fulfilling the order correctly.
Anyone still having an issue getting grocery deliveries? I just ordered both Prime and Instacart (Wegmans) with immediate availability. It seems like that is a thing of the past (hopefully). I’m still happy to shop remotely for now.
What about specific items? No more TP shortage. I’ve still yet to find any lysol spray, but hand sanitizer and clorox wipes are appearing more regularly.
Was anyone impacted by the rumored meat shortage? I can’t say there was one instance where I couldn’t get the exact meat I wanted. However I rarely buy meat from the grocery store.
I shop in person, at Market Basket. Most items are in stock again, though not necessarily from the usual name brands or in a wide, pre-pandemic assortment.
Certain high-demand items, such as liquid hand soap, have quantity limits and the selection may be more limited than before. I haven’t been able to get a fragrance-free soap that plays well with my allergies, for instance.
Sanitizing spray cleaners are one item I haven’t seen return yet. Ditto for whole-wheat flour. I was able to buy a bag of whole wheat early on but not again. (AP flour is increasingly on the shelves, even King Arthur.)
I actually saw packets of instant yeast again for the first time two weeks ago. They were in the dairy section where you’d normally find blocks of fresh yeast (when that’s available).
Like you, I don’t buy meat in the grocery store (we eat meat, just not a lot) though I do purchase some for my neighbor. Mainly ground meat and chicken breasts are on her shopping list. Luckily during weeks when supply was short, she already had what she wanted in her freezer. I don’t know if quantity limits are in effect now, because it’s been more than two weeks since she had a meat item on her shopping list.
I don’t let my supplies run down to zero on items for which I can’t make a reasonable substitution. Before I never gave “inventory” a second thought. I have seen enough on-and-off spot shortages of items over the weeks that I keep a modest safety stock for core supplies we depend upon—like unscented dish soap (my darn allergies).
we’ve been putting in a weekly order on Prime or Instacart for a couple weeks now without any availability issues. i’ve also noticed a marked dropoff in the number of people at HMart on my weekly Wednesday morning runs, and there’s no longer ever any lines at Market Basket at the same time anymore. I ventured into MB a couple weeks ago and it was fairly unpopulated at that time.
I generally only buy chicken at the supermarket, but I never had problems getting any. I never really noted any empty beef/pork cases at HMart either, fwiw.
Now that the pressure seems to be off (side note: I have to say our food supply chains have some problems but their resilience is kind of impressive to me), I would like to make a Trader Joe’s run. I wonder what that landscape looks like these days…
I did hit TJ on Memorial Drive last week to pick up some in a pinch read meals that the kids like. Family dinners every night for the past 3 months, but sometimes we want to eat a bit later or have something they don’t prefer. TJ has a lot of easy ready options for them.
There was no line. Distancing in the store wasn’t great but I was in and out very quickly. I drove by the Allston location the other day and there were just a few people waiting so not too bad compared with a month or 2 ago.
I went to the Burlington TJ’s last week. They were definitely limiting the number of people in the store, sanitizing carts, and wearing masks. Everyone was super-friendly and it felt pretty okay. Social distancing isn’t easy anywhere indoors, but it wasn’t too bad. I’ll be ordering delivery again if the number go up, but for now, with caution, I’ll head back to do my own shopping at slow times.
Yeah, I’m still sticking with delivery for the most part. TJ’s is an exception as they don’t participate in any delivery services as far as I know. Fortunately, one TJ’s run will last our family a few months.
Agree that delivery has gotten easier, with most things available. I even got some off-brand disinfectant spray today, and off-brand wipes. With WF, I have had them sub “365” items on occasion (they’ve increased the number of products in that line, and have many 365 things now that they didn’t used to).
I get my fish from Cape Ann and Tim Maslow, and my meat/chicken from Dulock, Savenor’s or Maslow. I get some veggies (onions and the like) from WF, others from Forge, Maslow, etc.
You COULD get TJ’s via TaskRabbit and perhaps Instacart, but the delivery charge would be prohibitive. For me, the constantly changing inventory means TJ’s is a tour ride (I need the ride-on cart) with a lot of souvenirs purchased. There are things I always buy but they comprise no more than a third of what winds up in my cart.
