British shop runs out of baby wipes, delivers wildly inappropriate replacement

 By 
Sam Haysom
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

LONDON -- The upside of doing your weekly shop online is you don't have to brave the hectic Sunday supermarket rush; you can do it all from the sofa and get everything delivered right to your door.

The downside is you might not always get exactly what you were expecting.

No one is more aware of this than the Asda customer who called in to tell ITV presenter Ian Axton about a recent order for a £6 ($9) pack of baby wipes.

Viewer just shared his online grocery 'substitute' with me. Asda was out of baby wipes, so they sent him....... pic.twitter.com/egplgMIfgZ— Ian Axton (@IanAxton) November 17, 2015

Instead of a £6 pack of baby wipes Asda sent them an £18.50 bottle of Bell's whisky as their substituted item.

When explaining how substituted items are supposed to work, an Asda spokesperson told Mashable that although they do their best to make sure availability is 100%, they will send out a substitution if an ordered item isn't available and the customer in question has opted in.

"If an item isn’t available colleagues will select a suitable alternative," they said. "For example if Asda rich tea biscuits aren’t available these would be substituted for McVitie's rich tea biscuits."

Some people thought the whisky substitution was the best they'd ever seen.

@IanAxton NICE discount!! only charged £6— anne selley (@cheltenhamlady) November 17, 2015

@IanAxton That sounds like a bloody brilliant swap to me!— Faye Marsh (@faye_marsh) November 17, 2015

And there were other, similarly strange stories.

How about this for an internet shopping headache. Viewer orders paracetamol - substituted with..... pic.twitter.com/Hk0nkjTnSv— Ian Axton (@IanAxton) November 18, 2015

@IanAxton We got paper plates substituted once. They gave us a toaster. @Bigdanyodadog— Mr Bolt (@epic_24) November 17, 2015

@epic_24 @IanAxton I got size 6 nappies substituted for two size 3s. Creative idle minds— Dan (@Bigdanyodadog) November 17, 2015

@IanAxton asda are the worst for substitutes,last week I got cinnamon sticks instead of tortilla chips,what am I to do with a cinnamon stick— Rachel Tattam (@mrstattam) November 17, 2015

@IanAxton I got breaded turkey breasts rather than beef strips, stir fry wasn't quite as planned!— Alena (@alenaf12011) November 17, 2015

@IanAxton @devonwoodsmoke Bargain for £6! We once ordered golden syrup and got golden Virginia rolling tobacco!— Nathan (@KungFuBBQ) November 19, 2015

When we asked about the whisky substitution, Asda told Mashable they'd been in touch with the customer and arranged for the baby wipes to be delivered.

"The customer was happy with this and even happier to keep the whisky," a spokesperson said. "All colleagues in the Home Shopping Team are been re-briefed and further training will be provided with regards to substituted items."

In regards to the Daz Powder substitution they said they were trying to track the customer down so they could speak to the store in question.

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