Ocado cancels orders as M&S tie-up proves ‘too popular’
THE first day of Ocado’s partnership with Marks & Spencer got off to a bumpy start yesterday after it failed to deliver the goods.
Shoppers complained that orders booked weeks ago were cancelled, sometimes with very little notice, as the launch proved to be ‘too popular’.
Others criticised delays in getting on to the website, apparently caused by high demand, and a long wait for a delivery after slots were snapped up.
M&S paid £750million for a 50 per cent share of Ocado’s retail business, which allowed it to oust Waitrose as the online grocer’s main food partner.
But it seems Ocado was unable to cope with the demand and many customers took to social media to complain. Stuart Marks wrote on Twitter: ‘Big media splash around new partnership but you cancel my delivery slot for this morning, which has been booked for weeks. Totally unacceptable customer service. What a mess!’
Another shopper, Janet, told Ocado it should ‘not have taken more orders than you could deliver’.
Ocado apologised but insisted only very few customers suffered cancellations. It said: ‘The M&S launch has been incredibly popular. We have seen a surge in demand in the run-up to launch, which has impacted a very small number of orders today.’