Peapod - Is it right for you?

Things have changed. The world is crazy: George W. Bush, Terrorism, the cost of oil, natural disasters and the upcoming election. And have you heard of this Peapod thing? What will we think of next? Groceries delivered to your house that you buy on a website by using something called the internet.

OK, so maybe it's not that crazy, after all you can get anything on the internet--anything. Being the somewhat urban citizen I am, I decided to check Peapod out and evaluate it to a degree. I ordered a small amount of groceries that included mostly non-perishables aside from some deli meats. I figure that if you're like me then you'll want to personally inspect your fruits and vegetables and if you're not that intimate with your fruits and vegetables then you should be.

Here's what I received:

Don't get excited--the cat did not come with the delivery. Everything came intact so that's a good thing. I ordered two bottles of Pom, but only one seemed to arrive. Apparently they were out of stock and could only spare me one bottle, which is fine--but did I get refunded? The answer to this was somewhat ambiguous and I'm still not sure if it was ever charged or not. This is also where I am honest with you and tell you I wasn;t too peeved because Peapod paid for my groceries. There, I said it--at least I'm honest.

It came to around $60 for the above items. There are a couple things to think of when ordering from Peapod.

1. Only certain brands are available on Peapod
2. The prices are generally higher, but not always
3. Depending on where you live there may be a varying order minimum ($60 in my case)
4. The delivery times are not exact times, but a large range e.g. noon-6:30 p.m.

These are mostly negatives, but the biggest positive Peapod has is that you don't have to do anything but click some buttons on your computer and wait for it to arrive. For a lot of city-dwellers that's more than just convenient--especially if you don't have a car. Another upside to it is that you can plan out your groceries visually by seeing everything on the screen as opposed to rushing up and down the aisles or succumbing to impulse buying.

In conclusion, there are higher prices and you have to use the internet, but you don't have to move your lazy ass anywhere or buy a car to get your groceries. So maybe Peapod isn't for everyone, but to a lot of people it may be a sweet deal. Live on the tenth floor of a building with elevator? you'll probably want to get Peapod.