Thursday, May 21, 2009

Kroger raincheck fiasco

Hello,

Last Saturday, May 16th, at approximately 5:00 p.m. I went to the local Kroger store in Norwood Ohio. I was interested in stocking up on several items from your "Lowest prices of the season" ad, specifically Oscar Mayer bologna, Kroger frozen potatoes and Kroger brand peanut butter, all listed at 99 cents.

When I got to the store, all 3 of those items were out of stock. I was disappointed but not particularly surprised (it was a Saturday afternoon, I understand). So I went to the customer service desk to get rainchecks. I waited in the extremely long line. There were 2 gentlemen behind the desk, but for whatever reason they were only serving customers one at a time. I did not get to catch their names, but one was a Caucasian gentleman in his 40s or so and a somewhat younger African-American gentleman.

When it finally became my turn (no exaggerating - it was probably at least 10-15 minutes), I asked for my rainchecks. The older gentleman said that these were "summer specials" and would be good through the whole summer, so (his words) they didn't need to write me a raincheck. I was somewhat skeptical, but had no way to doubt him and plus my family was waiting in the car.

So this week I went to Kroger to verify the prices and what do you know - the manager's comments were NOT true, and everything was back to its regular price!

So whereas, it was my intention to stock up (similar to your 10 for $10 sales) with 10 bologna, 10 frozen potatoes and 10 peanut butter, for a total of $29.70, now to buy those same products, I must pay $26.90 for 10 Oscar Mayer bolognas, $16.90 for 10 frozen potatoes, and $17.90 for 10 peanut butters, for a total of $61.70. So I am out $32.

And even if somehow I am able to make it down to that Kroger to try and explain, I have to a) spend the gas to drive down to that Kroger (it's not my regular Kroger - we were just in the area eating at a nearby restaurant), b) hope that particular manager is working when I stop in, c) hope he remembers our conversation from a week ago and d) hope that he is willing to honor the raincheck.

All in all, an extremely frustrating and disappointing situation

Thank you for your time in reading these comments

Dan Miller

No comments: