Dustin isn’t a jerk, really. He just feels like one every time he shops at his local Vons, because they’re always pushing him to donate his change to charity. He wants to know whether your local Vons, Safeway, or other grocery stores do this to you, too.
grocery stores
Save Money On Groceries By Buying The Ugly Ones
By 8.7.09
Salvage grocers are stores that stock all the dented, crushed, slightly past their “best by” date products that consumers have been trained to avoid. Because of this, they’re the Dollar General or Big Lots of supermarkets, with prices up to half off regular store prices, says the Associated Press.
Grocery Store Cancels Facebook Coupon Deal, Enrages Customers
By 8.3.09
Marsh, a grocery chain in Indiana and Ohio, made a special coupon available to their fans on Facebook. The coupon was good for $10 off a purchase of $10 or more. Great deal, right? Until the promotion got out of hand, and the store stopped accepting the coupon on Friday, with no warning to customers. Based on past similar experiences, you can guess how well this turns out.
Dear Kroger, Please Make Self Check-Out Suck Less
By 7.6.09
Self check-out is great if, say, you’ve got one of those supermarkets where the teenaged clerks hate you for choosing their lane and spend more time talking to each other than scanning your items. It’s not so great if you force all of your customers to use the system because you’ve decided to close down every other human-powered lane but one.
Kroger Won't Accept Coupons From …Kroger?
By 6.24.09
John printed out some coupons from grocery store Kroger’s Web site. That’s not where he went wrong, though. John had the audacity to try to exchange them for discounts. On Kroger brand products. At Kroger. Experienced coupon users can guess what happens next.
Florida Albertsons Coughs Up Green For False Advertising
By 6.15.09
One effective way to draw customers into your grocery store then piss them off is to put out an ad with good deals, then refuse to honor them.
Big Brother Is Watching You Grocery Shop
By 5.8.09
Star fruit distributed by Melissa’s Produce between April 21 and May 5 is being recalled due to chemical residues. Mmmm. I’m having a hard time finding coverage of the recall itself, but one grocery store’s handling of the situation got my attention.
Jewel-Osco Grocery Stores Implement Price Cuts …I Think
By 5.6.09
Jewel-Osco, a Chicago-area grocery chain, implemented some much-publicized price cuts a few weeks ago. Let’s see how they’re doing with that.
Trader Joe's Salmon Comes With Delectable Organic Free-Range Worm
By 4.24.09
Reader David was eating his dinner of Trader Joe’s Chimichurri salmon when he found an unexpected garnish: a rather dead and fully cooked worm. It was brown and roughly an inch long. He e-mailed the company, then brought the fish (and worm) back to the store for a refund. While the store supervisor’s handling of the situation was stellar, the reaction from Trader Joe’s corporate has been…nonexistent.
A More Helpful Big Brother: Grocery Store Loyalty Programs Used To Notify Customers Of Salmonella Recall
By 2.9.09
According to Consumer Reports, some grocery stores are using their loyalty card registrations to get in touch with customers who bought recalled peanut butter products.
Kroger Apologizes For Calling You A Thief, Banning You From Store For Buying And Eating Their Donuts
By 2.3.09
Every Saturday morning, Beth’s father walks to…
Supermarket Chain Adds 10% At Register, But Only In Some Stores
By 10.10.08
The Nash Finch stores Avanza, Food Bonanza and Wholesale Food Outlets add the 10 percent charge to food at the register and specialize in serving Hispanics, according to store workers.
Whole Foods Seeks To Define Its Prices As Bargains
By 8.11.08
As the economy sours, premium stores like Whole Foods are struggling to keep customers, reports the New York Times. To remain competitive, the pricey natural grocery store is offering guided tours to customers who want to cut costs but can’t stand to set foot in Winn Dixie.
Is Target Intentionally Using Its "Special Deals" To Screw Over Customers?
By 7.25.08
Dan can do math in his head, which is a great skill these days when you’re checking out the n objects for x price! specials at Target. In this case, Dan notes that the “temporary price cut” is so temporary that it doesn’t even exist: you’ll pay 13 cents more per box if you buy three of them. This is the third Target “special” we’ve seen this month that screws the consumer. Are we seeing a new trend? Is it legal to call it a price cut if it’s not?
