Stop and Shop Home Delivery

Let me give you a glimpse into my last food shopping experience with my 2 year old 33 lb son. It all started with his refusal to get into the shopping cart seat. That took approximately 25 "NO WAYS!" and a whole lot of kicking and screaming. Did I forget to mention the 10 strangers that walked by and were staring at me??? Well of course I can't leave out a very important piece of the puzzle, ..it was 95 degrees outside. I should have turned around then and went home but I really need ed to get food for the house. So I marched on. What a mistake, HUGE mistake. Let me explain. Usually I could get my son to last about 25 minutes in the store by feeding him as we walk up and down the aisles. For some reason this wasn't working. I rushed through grabbing anything I could find off the shelves. By the time we got to the milk section I lost the battle and let my son hold the half gallon container. I thought ok, we're good until checkout. HAHA...was I wrong. By the time we did get to the checkout he proceeded to drop the half gallon of milk onto the floor, spilling everywhere. At this point I have a screaming child, I am sweating, there is milk all over the floor, I have a full shopping cart and no help in sight. Oh except for the polite man who was standing next to me and smiled. I don't know if he was hitting on me or what because he sure wasn't helping me. Maybe the smile was out of pity and he felt bad for me. Who says you can't cry over spilled milk. Fast forward to me in the car crying that I will never never never take my son to the food store again. No matter what.

So here is my question to all moms and dads, What do you do when you have a toddler at home who absolutely refuses to go food shopping without causing a scene? I will tell you the answer to that million dollar question. Peapod.com. WONDERFUL!!!!!! I don't know who thought of this but what a genius idea. This is how it works. Peapod.com is a service that Stop and Shop offers from their warehouse.

You go on line (the computer) and go to Peapod.com. You sign up after following a few simple steps. It is like shopping from your living room, you can't beat that. You can actually browse up and down the aisles just like in the grocery store. You have so many choices to pick from. The website shows you current prices, sale prices, special offers, coupons, nutrition facts, serving sizes, and so much more. It is also a great way to budget your money. Let's say you only want to spend $50. Well you put your order together and watch the checkout page and see if you go over. If you go over you can remove and delete an item. If you haven't spent your limit then you can go back and shop some more.

The delivery charges are very low. If you spend $50 up to $99 you have to pay a delivery charge of $10.95. If you spend $100 or more you only pay a delivery charge of $6.95. So it was worth it to me to spend the extra money. Another thing that is good about the service is that it is up to you if and how much you want to tip the driver. Since I live in a new community and my house is very hard to find especially at night I would tip the driver $5.00. So it was well worth the money. The driver will come to the house, ring the bell, make sure you are home first and then bring in the groceries. The driver brings the groceries right to your kitchen table. You just stand there and watch. WOW!! What a concept. It's like ordering a pizza but only better. If you ordered beer someone in the house must be 21 or older to sign for it and show proper ID. Just a little FYI for anyone reading this getting any "ideas" about ordering alcohol. Also if they are out of stock on an item you ordered you will not be charged for it. They do offer substitutions if you are interested. I personally don't do the substitutions I am very picky.

Peapod.com offers many coupons. Once you do your first order they come in with 5 coupons. These are for $5.00 off each order for the next 5 orders. You can also do the refer a friend program. You refer a friend and once they place their first order you and your friend receive a coupon code for your next order.

From my experience so far the food has been great. The fruit is fresh with no bruises. We buy a lot of apples for my son and they are in great shape. The bananas are ok. I don't rave about them because they aren't as big as the ones I used to buy at King Kullen. The meat is fresh as well. I always check the dates when they deliver the meat and I haven't had a problem. I also check all the dates on the milk. Nice and fresh. Nothing expired or about to expire. One time they even delivered a 12 pack of beer instead of the 6 pack that I ordered. The delivery man said I could keep it for no extra charge. NICE :)

Payments:
You can pay many different ways. They accept most major credit cards, of course. If you sign up for their Peapod Direct you can save another $1.00 off your total bill. You link your checking account right to your Peapod account and they automatically deduct it like a debit card.

I can't say enough great things about this service. If you don't have children then I would say this service would be a novelty. But if you have children that make it difficult to go food shopping without pulling your hair out of your head than this is the service for you. I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed.