Shopping, kids, and other unfortunate combinations.

If there is one of these with a dodgy ankle breaking wheel you can bet that's
the one I will grab. Another reason to shop online ;) Image Source.

Apparently some people have children who happily walk next to them through the supermarket and helpfully pop things in the trolley with nary a whinge or demand for junk food.

I am not that person.

In fact, a supermarket shop with my little two can be nothing short of nightmarish, especially when my Little Mate either freaks our over the light/sound/people or spends the entire time reading every single price tag in the place. Do you KNOW how many of them there are? Loads. Hundreds. Thousands even.

So when I was asked if I would like to trial Coles Online delivery service I did not think twice about it. I was kind of surprised that they deliver all the way out where I live to be honest!

I've used a few different grocery delivery companies before, so am well familiar with the upsides of the concept. I can do my shopping at any time (although with Coles I need to plan a few days in advance as I can't book an order for the next day, I assume because I do live out the back of beyond!). I get to shop in my pyjamas and uggies with a vodka in my hand if I so choose and no one can see how much of a bogan I am. And the best thing is that I can leave the shopping to tend to children then come back as I am able, PLUS I tend to spend less even with the delivery charge because I don't have those dangerous confectionary/bakery aisles in my face. I find it much easier to budget than when I do a shop in store.

So the first order I placed was smooth sailing. It arrived within the delivery window and was delivered by about the nicest delivery guy I have ever met. He was extremely helpful, especially as I had two small people hanging off my legs and yelling. He was so courteous and it was an excellent experience.

Unfortunately my second order was not quite as simple. I'd ordered a delivery window for just after I'd dropped all the kids at school and child care. I had a LOT of work to get through and because I work from home thought it would be perfect to be able to get on with it while I waited for my order to arrive.

I got a call just as I was pulling in to the child care centre, letting me know that there had been a breakdown and my order could not be delivered until that evening which did not work for me at all. I did what any grown woman facing the loss of precious child free time would do and threw a massive tantrum.

The woman who called me from Coles Online was lovely, and very understanding. She let me know my credit card would be refunded and because it was a Friday they rushed through the refund and kept in touch with me at each stage so I was aware what was happening. I did appreciate their follow through like that, especially after I had a big hissy fit on Twitter about it all. And of course I realised later that had I elected to pay by EFTPOS upon delivery some of that stress could have been avoided, but then the thing with breakdowns is that they can't be anticipated. I'm married to a Supertrucker, so believe me I know ALL about that frustration.

Anyways, after I did a mad dash around the local supermarket and had a big teary (because I do not cope with last minute changes, I just don't) I got over myself. The company were very helpful and professional and even thought the situation sucked I can't fault the response of Coles Online themselves.

So to my third order. I'd scheduled it to arrive between 3.30 and 5.30, and had ordered stuff for dinner that night having run the pantry and fridge down. It was a big order.

At 5.25 I started getting twitchy. By 5.30 I was having a minor panic. At 5.35 I called the Coles Online customer service centre and spoke to a lovely man who followed up as best he could. The driver for my delivery had not called in to say he was late so we could only assume he would arrive momentarily. He also credited my account for free delivery on my next order with his apologies.

Unfortunately the driver did not arrive momentarily. We had a guest staying, I had hungry grumpy children and anyone who knows what arsenic hour looks like can imagine the state I was in. By ten to 6 I ordered take away from the 'local' place (I live in the country, local here isn't quite like local in the suburbs) and loaded up the grumpy ones to go and pick it up.

Predictably my order arrived while I was out spending too much money I hadn't budgeted for on rubbish food, about 25 minutes after our delivery window. I'd love to tell you that the driver (a different one) was apologetic but according to the people I left here while I was picking up dinner, he wasn't in the best of moods himself. Understandably I was a little nonplussed by this point.

I did however receive an email the following day from Coles Online, apologising and letting me know that they would be reiterating with their drivers the importance of letting them know when they are running late. I appreciated the prompt follow up and have found Coles Online themselves very helpful and concerned. While the situation was far from ideal, the company itself dealt with it appropriately and in a timely manner.

So. Would I order from Coles Online again? Absolutely. For general convenience it is well worth it, and I think I must just have had some very bad luck to have had issues with two out of three orders. In both those cases the Coles Online team have responded promptly and appropriately... although I'll not run ourselves so low on groceries again whilst awaiting an order just to be on the safe side.


Disclosure: I received a credit to my Coles Online account for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own as per our disclosure policy.