grocery delivery service

[Victoria B]

Has anyone used any of the delivery service companies for grocery shopping?
Which would you recommend?
I do not have a car and need to carry shopping plus kids? your feedback would be useful on deciding which to use.
 

[yep i do]

I used to go to Jelita Cold Storage and have everything delivered. Great!

[Cold storage online]

I used cold storage online for delivery as well. They do evening deliveries, so its useful as I have a full-time job. However, some of the household items are out of stock pretty regularly, i.e. washing powder, softener, etc. Cold Storage charges $7 (if I remember correctly) for delivery.

You can also get Carrefour to do grocery delivery. For Carrefour, you can pick up everything you want in the cart, push to the customer service and they will deliver the items to you.

Marketplace at Paragon have the same concept too, whereby you pick up your groceries, pay at the cashier and the cashier can arrange for the items to be delivered at a fee.

In terms of groceries, I think Carrefour is cheaper than Cold Storage while Marketplace is the pricest.

[keep refrigerated/frozen]

For the delivery services that you arrange at the store after you have done your shopping.....What about the items that need to stay refrigerated or frozen? How do they deal with that?

[what happens]

if you can't answer the door when they deliver? For example, you happened to go to the bathroom at that moment, or no one heard the door, or whatever other reason. Assuming it's all prepaid, will they just leave it at your door?

[Cold Storage Online]

delivers items that need to be refrigerated. I believe they store the items separately in the delivery truck and take it out when they are doing the delivery. I ordered milk before and it appear to be packed separately from my other groceries. It is cold when they send it to my place.

I think Carrefour and Marketplace don't deliver refrigerated/frozen items that you picked from the supermarket. I saw a sign somewhere before.

For Cold Storage, they always arrived around 630pm at my place, and I always see the truck waiting for me, as I rushed home around 645-7pm. They will call me till I pick up the phone and nope, they do not leave the items outside the door as they require you to sign an acknowledgement slip, confirming that all goods are delivered in good order before they can go. The same applies for Carrefour. However, if they tried calling you and you don't respond, I believe they will charge you for re-delivery.

I have not tried Marketplace so I cannot comment.

[Tried a few]

1) Cold Storage online ordering and delivery. I started using it during the late stages of pregnancy and just after delivery for convenience sake. It was helpful, you can order fresh items which they will pick for you, delivery is no problem - they have your phone number so will call if they reach the door and there's no answer.

Caveats: When something was out of stock they will sometimes call and ask if you'd like substution, other times the order just arrives without the items, and it seemed like every week there was a number of things out of stock. And, it is more expensive than buying in store - way more expensive. I was overpaying gobs for so many things. Also, found a couple roaches in my kitchen after I started using this service. I can not prove they came from the deliveries, but never had roaches after I stopped.

2) Carrefour - you go to the shop, pick your items, pay for them and then they'll deliver to your house. Better price than Cold Storage by far.

Caveat: I can't stand the way you queue, unload your trolley, and then have to reload your trolley to schlep it up to the delivery office. I always buy an overflowing trolley worth and hate having to load it up once only to unload and load it all back in again. But maybe that's just me.

3) Giant also has the same system as Carrefour but with more local brands. Both have good savings, both must reload your cart and schlep, but both have had good records with delivery. Then again I always seem to have a house full of people, so never have to worry about noone being home.

Carrefour and Giant can also be recommended for having things other than just groceries, as opposed to Cold Storage. You can pick up small appliances, kitchen things, toys, stationery, storage bins etc and have them delivered, too.

One note: Public holidays, especially Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year do your shopping at least one week in advance if you want it to arrive before the holiday. Even one week is pushing it. This past Christmas I went 8 days before Christmas and they told me the earliest delivery date was Christmas Eve in the afternoon. 

[Tried most]

Carrefour, CS and Giant all do the buy it yourself and they'll deliver the non-perishables - the big pain with that is that you still have to lug it all around the supermarket and you can only get one trolley-worth.............I like to bulk buy cans of food and drink and there's only so much you can get in a trolley.  However, at least you know that you can go home carrying just the fresh stuff (I also managed to sneak the heavy potatoes into my Giant delivery so I wouldn't have to carry them home but they didn't say anything when they delivered - I thought they might tell me off      ).

The other option is NTUC Fairprice online who are fairly cheap and you can bulk-buy and they've started doing some fresh/frozen stuff now too (I think it's a trial run - they used to only deliver dry/non-perishable stuff).  The downside to them is that they'll often phone you up the day of your delivery (or the day before) and announce that they've got no stock of several important items - all of which they will have in stock in their stores, just not in their warehouse.  I've complained about this a few times and they do seem to have got better but I've got a delivery from them coming tomorrow so I'll see if I get the call.

CS also do the full-on online order and delivery but I do find them quite expensive.  However, if money is no object then they might be your best bet.  I like to pick my fruit and veg myself though so I don't use this service very often.

[Victoria B]

Thanks so much for your input. This info is certainly very helpful.
Has anyone used the independent grocery delivery services from individual companies not supermarkets?
Your feedback would be useful too

[used to]

When I was pregnant I used the services of Kenny and they were heaven sent for me during the difficult days.  They would call me up daily to check if I needed anything and deliver it during the time specified.  They weren't cheap (probably comparable to Cold Storage /Market place prices or higher) but definitely convenient and I had no issues on quality.

I no longer use them only because I have given birth and I prefer to go to the  grocery myself and choose my own stuff as well as compare brands/prices.

[love Kenny]

I still use them! I am picky about what I order from them (eg you get to know what is going to be expensive through them, like non-local fruit) but I can't beat their price for milk and basics when otherwise I would have to drive, pay for parking and spend an hour shopping.

[Victoria B]

to "Love Kenny", so I take it they have refrigeration in their van for the milk? I was a little worried if I placed an order for milk it may be spoilt by the time I got it.

[Tried most]

I had a look at the Kenny website - where do they shop for you?  I'm a bit confused about that because I couldn't see anything about prices on their site.........is it like one of those posh restaurants with no prices on the menu........if you need to know the price, you can't afford it kind of thing?



BTW, had to complain to NTUC again the other day - my 6pm-9pm delivery turned up at 10.10pm     

[Van Waiting]

I had a look at the Kenny website - where do they shop for you?  I'm a bit confused about that because I couldn't see anything about prices on their site.........is it like one of those posh restaurants with no prices on the menu........if you need to know the price, you can't afford it kind of thing?



BTW, had to complain to NTUC again the other day - my 6pm-9pm delivery turned up at 10.10pm     

Probably due to people like Cold Storage Online who have 6.30 deliveries and don't get in from work until 15-30 minutes later ...  

[busy B]

Do the grocers you mentioned deliver to Sentosa?