First time customer with Ocado. Tried to place what one would think is a straight forward purchase online over the bank holiday only to receive an automated email the following day to say that Ocado have cancelled my order. Attempted the purchase again to receive a message that my account which I had just registered was no longer active and to contact customer service. Customer service was not open due to bank holiday. Spoke to a customer service call handler (very polite and apologetic) the following day to be informed that my identity required verification. I thought this was most strange as I was paying via Paypal which provides that added security matching my name, address and card details to those I provided to Ocado. I was asked to provide an email with one of the following attached: copy of my passport, drivers licence or utility bill for my order to be considered by the finance team. Requesting to speak to a more senior customer service staff member I was offered a call back. Again the same information relayed. I was told the finance team who are not customer facing have the last say whether or not an order is processed. Unless I provide the information by form of email my order will not be taken forward. I stressed that I was not opening an account for finance I am making a payment upfront. I asked if I could make this easier by making a payment directly from my account and not use Paypal, turns out this too was not possible as Ocado is not set up for this service (how very dated) and all calls are recorded therefore my card details may not be secure using this method. Asking how would Ocado ensure the email I forward with my added personal details be secure the response was Ocado have not had any security breaches (just no end of IT issues when googled). Frustrated to say the least at this point of speaking to a supervisor who regurgitated the 'policy' but could not explain the logic and stumbled at my questions. Still not satisfied asking to speak to a manager I was offered another call back. Same old info repeated. Only this time someone who was honest enough to say the current system is dated. The current process is that payments are not processed until the goods have been delivered but Ocado finance team have to verify each new customer and it is their discretion how this happens. Thought about contacting my bank like other companies do or is this too advanced for Ocado?? Never had such a inept experience of online shopping. As a result my order of £300 plus was not processed. Ocado chose to loose a new customer and an order because they could not help me further. The irony is that I was not asked to verify my identity when communicating with customer service. Never have I been asked for a copy of my passport when buying crockery before!