Grocery Delivery Services

[Yvonne Smith]

Many grocery stores offer delivery service now, unless it is in a very small town that does not have any delivery options. Walmart has their Walmart+ program that includes free grocery delivery, and most stores that do not have their own delivery drivers can use a delivery service, like Instacart. I think that even DoorDash can deliver groceries from some stores, as well as the food from restaurants.

We have had Walmart+ for the last few years, and it works really good for our needs. I can use my Medicare advantage food allowance at Walmart, so that was part of the choice, but it is actually the closest grocery store to where we live anyway.
I can just add food onto my grocery list on the app, and once I have at least a $35 order, I can get free delivery that same day (usually). You can also order online and then pick the food up at the store (they bring it up to the car), but it is easier, especially in bad weather, to just stay home and let Walmart do the driving.

An interesting thing is the orders they bring, and how they decide what order goes to what person. I very seldom have not gotten all of my order, but every now and then, we get extra items that I didn’t order, so I know that the delivery people make mistakes.
They never come back to get it, so we just use anything we like, and share with our neighbors the foods that are more for children . We got two huge bags of some kids berry flavored sweet cereal, so the neighbor kids were happy about that one, and this time, there was extra milk, so they got that, too.
We have been wondering who covers the mistakes , because if something is missing from the order, Walmart refunds your payment, so I do not know if the driver has to help pay for that , or if Walmart just eats the losses ?

I make the orders, and then I let Bobby know when to expect the delivery driver, and he goes out and brings in the groceries from their vehicle, but he never really knows what all I have ordered, so he does not know if we are getting extra or missing anything. Then, it is my job to check out the order, make sure it is all there, and put away the groceries. By that time, the driver is long gone, so there is no giving it back to the driver, and I am not going to make a trip to the store with extra food items we received.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I only had groceries delivered twice, back during lockdowns. They seemed to use random independent drivers. Not Walmart, but a regional chain.

It is still offered today as well as online order pickup, but I don't use either service.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

We have been wondering who covers the mistakes , because if something is missing from the order, Walmart refunds your payment, so I do not know if the driver has to help pay for that , or if Walmart just eats the losses?

Many state laws explicitly prohibit employers from deducting from employee wages for losses due to ordinary negligence. On the other hand, IF the damage or loss is proven to be caused by an employee's dishonest, willful act, or gross negligence, the employer may have the right to pursue recovery for the damages. However, the employer cannot simply deduct the amount from the employee's paycheck; they would need to pursue the claim in court or through arbitration.

Alabama was (or at least it used to be in 1980) one of those states. When my first Daughter was born, my wife talked me into giving up the traveling musican life in favor of getting a "real job". There weren't many jobs there and I started working at a store called Zippy Mart. While working there another employee accidentally broke one of the large windows at the front of the store. The store manager tried to deduct the replacement cost from the employees paycheck. He fought it and won.

I just compared them, and today the state laws in Alabama and California are pretty similar about this.

 

[Don Alaska]

We don't use even the "order online, pick up at the store" option for food. We tried it, and found the store to always push the oldest goods off on the online orders, especially produce. When we allowed substitutions, we though it meant we would get similar items, but at least in one instance, we ordered AA batteries, and the store substituted C batteries...not the same thing. We shop in person twice monthly usually and try to run other errands at the same time.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I used to just run to the store and do all the shopping, and I LOVE grocery shopping. Then , I went through a phase a few years back where I was having really bad dizzy spells, and decided I should stop driving until I got over that happening .
Bobby absolutely hates going shopping, so he just followed me around in the store, so I was always hurrying to get just what we had to have and leave.

Then, we started ordering online and driving down to pick it up; but once I joined Walmart+ and had the free delivery, then Bobby didn’t even need to drive to the store at all; so that is what we always do now.
Walmart is the only store where i can use my Medicare advantage food allowance, so that is where I do almost all my shopping. I even cancelled my Sam’s Club membership this year, because we hardly ever drove to that store, and they stopped most of their free shipping, plus the Healthy Benefits card does not work there, even though Walmart and Sam’s are part of the same company.

You are absolutely right about the shoppers not doing a good job at picking things like good produce, @Don Alaska , and this is one of the really frustrating things about shopping online.
If pineapples are all $2, then I want a nice big pineapple, but they will bring the tiniest one in the bin, it seems like. So, if it is something that comes in a package, and all the same, it is fine, except when they are out of something.

Walmart does not allow substitutions, so if I order one brand of bread, and it is out, they won’t just bring me a different loaf of bread. I usually have to order two different brands of bread to be sure that Bobby has bread for sandwiches.
Hopefully, if the home bread baking works out, we won’t have to worry about that happening anymore, at least with bread.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Many grocery stores offer delivery service now, unless it is in a very small town that does not have any delivery options. Walmart has their Walmart+ program that includes free grocery delivery, and most stores that do not have their own delivery drivers can use a delivery service, like Instacart. I think that even DoorDash can deliver groceries from some stores, as well as the food from restaurants.

We have had Walmart+ for the last few years, and it works really good for our needs. I can use my Medicare advantage food allowance at Walmart, so that was part of the choice, but it is actually the closest grocery store to where we live anyway.
I can just add food onto my grocery list on the app, and once I have at least a $35 order, I can get free delivery that same day (usually). You can also order online and then pick the food up at the store (they bring it up to the car), but it is easier, especially in bad weather, to just stay home and let Walmart do the driving.

An interesting thing is the orders they bring, and how they decide what order goes to what person. I very seldom have not gotten all of my order, but every now and then, we get extra items that I didn’t order, so I know that the delivery people make mistakes.
They never come back to get it, so we just use anything we like, and share with our neighbors the foods that are more for children . We got two huge bags of some kids berry flavored sweet cereal, so the neighbor kids were happy about that one, and this time, there was extra milk, so they got that, too.
We have been wondering who covers the mistakes , because if something is missing from the order, Walmart refunds your payment, so I do not know if the driver has to help pay for that , or if Walmart just eats the losses ?

I make the orders, and then I let Bobby know when to expect the delivery driver, and he goes out and brings in the groceries from their vehicle, but he never really knows what all I have ordered, so he does not know if we are getting extra or missing anything. Then, it is my job to check out the order, make sure it is all there, and put away the groceries. By that time, the driver is long gone, so there is no giving it back to the driver, and I am not going to make a trip to the store with extra food items we received.

We used a delivery service during pandemic, then closed it. We had no problem with it. The women seemed really good at it. Only one grocery store delivered this far out, so we did tip the girls good.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

We looked into Walmart delivery back when the tags for my car were sent to the wrong address, because my daughter failed to change her address when she moved. But even with what little it would cost, with a Walmart "Neighborhood Market" just a couple of minute ride up the freeway, I don't have to deal with any of the problems with it. The head of Maintenance lives in our building and I went to the store with him a few times until I finally got the tags for the car.

 

[Nancy Hart]

I've never used grocery delivery services. I don't mind grocery shopping. In fact I rather enjoy it when the stores are not crowded, as long as the cart moves smoothly with no squeaks. Checkout is often an adventure. I don't even mind loading them in the car. What I DON'T like is taking them from the car to the house/refrigerator. But I wouldn't want a stranger around doing that. I'll pass until/unless I have no other choice.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

What I DON'T like is taking them from the car to the house/refrigerator.

I hate that too.

Once I am parked I feel the car heating up and I start a mad dash to get items inside. I'll grab too many bags at a time, making it harder for myself. At least I can leave paper products and such behind to fool with at my leisure.

It isn't much different in the Winter though. Then I have to get stuff inside so it doesn't freeze.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Remember when I mentioned the wagons idea for moving your solar stuff? The wagon Cindy bought at Costco folds up and fits into the space where the driver's side middle row seat is, but I have it stowed under the floor. When we go all the way across Bakersfield to go to Costco, 26 miles round trip, we have freezer bags, coolers, etc. and we load up the wagon to get cold stuff into the house quickly. Even if I am alone I can take backpack strap and tie the wagon to the front of my wheelchair, then I use one of my spare bike mirrors to see behind me and scoot backwards. I can go 3 or 4 times faster in reverse than I can going forwards.

 

[Don Alaska]

We have a fold-up cooler in the trunk. We use it sometimes in the summer if we are going to be a while until we get home, but we use it a lot in the winter to get produce and such home before it gets damaged by the cold. The car pulls into the heated garage, and we can unload out of the severe cold.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Great ideas. But then my neighbors might have to look up old Harold Lloyd shorts on MeTV or someplace to get their entertainment.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

I went to Walgreens to get our meds one day up in Eureka, and they had these coolers on clearance. Cindy had said she wanted something to keep sodas in, so I bought one of the small six pack sized ones. She loved it and since they were really cheap ($2 for the one I bought) she wanted me to go back and get her another one. So I did. They had one more of the six pack sized ones, and I bought the last larger one for $3. Of course, that was just before Christmas in 2022, and in 2023 I ended up here. Of the many things my daughter actually moved down here while I was in the hospital, were those three little coolers, plus one that I had won in a drawing at the Relay for life in 2019. It's big enough that when their not in use I can stack them like Matryoshka Dolls. Now, with a 20 minute drive in the desert heat to get home from Costco, those coolers come in very handy. So do the half dozen freezer packs I collected from having my insulin delivered.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I don't use insulin, but I have bought things that shipped with freezer packs. Many of these seem to be a pouch made of something soft to the touch, like a papery but tough textile of some sort. I don't throw them out, but instead tend to use them to line my kitchen freezer compartment as "cold ballast" in case of outages. As a result I have some on-hand.

I do have a couple of insulated containers in the roughly 6-pack size range. One was originally a soft-sided lunchbox, another more of a sack with closure.

So I could probably make use of that stuff for meat and such.

When I load up the car after buying groceries I try to put the cold stuff together to help hold the cold already. I just don't want to drive home and defer unloading for an hour or more, thus my rushing around and often overdoing things.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Up in Northern California (not just Humboldt County), PG&E did what they refer to as Public Safety Power Shutoff (aka PSPS) duing times of high winds (almost anytime, actually) after their faulty equipment caused the Camp Fire in November, 2018, which lasted eighteen days, killed 85 people, and destroyed 18,804 structures in the town of Paradise, California. During a PSPS the power could be off for hours or days. You never knew when or how long they would be until they happened.

We have a 9 Cubic Foot stand freezer, and the bottom shelf is about 4" smaller due to location and size of the freezer unit. The is just enough room there for eight gallon jugs with just enough water to allow for displacement when it freezes and end up with a frozen gallon. We put city water in those, however we did boil it first, just in case we needed to drink it. Then on the next shelf up I also put in five gallons of spring water for drinking, and three made into Iced Tea.

When a PSPS happened, we usually had at least a small advance warning, I would pull the gallons of spring water and Iced Tea and put one of each them in the small freezer and the fridge, trading spaces with food if necessary. Those frozen gallons effectively turned the fridge and freezer into ice chests during any kind of power failure, which Humboldt County is famous for. In addition to the frequent PSPSs in 2018 through 2022, plus frequent power failures, we only lost food from having no power the first time. That one was almost four days. The stuff in the freezer was fine because I locked it so we wouldn't open it without thinking, and the stuff that I had to throw away was close to expiration anyway. The fridge didn't have a lock, so I put a bike lock and a six foot cable around it.

Living in an area prone to earthquakes, high winds, electrical storms, wildfires, floods, etc., you learn to be prepared. Even if you never was a Boy Scout...

Edit: Correction, IF my formula for calculating Cubic Feet is correct. (9 feet sounds a little small.)
H x W x D / 1728 = Cubic Feet

 

[Axel Slingerland]

I went to Home Depot last night and they said they could not confirm the accuracy of that formula, but when showed me a slightly smaller freezer that they said was 8 cubic feet, we measured the inside and tried the formula, and it came up 8 cubic feet. So I think my figures are correct.