Tesco (and other supermarkets?) Substitutions

This is fab i didnt know this info thanx ever so much for sharing and what great deals you have achieved and not forgetting the added bonus of clubcard points too every little helps

It is useful, but when you buy products that can't be substituted out easily (eg if you have someone in the household with an allergy and need to buy a specific product) it doesn't always work out well. I ordered rice milk, moo free chocolate and kingsmill bread to go around someone's allergy in my household. They substituted it for regular cows milk, regular chocolate and warburtons bread, making all the products unusable for what I needed. As I refused the substitutions because they weren't able to be used, this meant I then had to go out and get those products anyway. So I might as well have gone to the shop to get my groceries in the first place. And I've found that most times I've ordered online they've sent at least one unusable substitution, even with the "do not send substitutions" box ticked.

I've also had it where they didn't deliver all of my groceries to me, but rather than send the driver back with the two bags he didn't drop off, they just refunded me for the products and again I had to go to the store anyway.

Maybe I just have bad experiences with Tesco doing this, though. It sounds like you've been able to get some great bargains by ordering it that way. I guess the allergies in my household may be what causes some of the issues for me rather than the products they substitute though. I just don't like to pay for something that won't be used.