November 13, 2004
Whine, whine, whine.
Okay, I'm going to devote an entire post to whining about something that torqued me off yesterday. I can only hope that someone from the Kroger home office gets wind of this, because I don't generally get angry enough to pitch one, but yesterday's experience was just the last straw.
You know, once a store honks me off bad enough, I'll generally leave and never go back. I believe that if they don't want my patronage enough to treat me decently, they certainly don't need my hard earned money. Many are the stores and restaurants where a bad attitude or lousy service has pushed me out the door, never to darken their cashier stand again. And I do mean never for the vast majority of these poor attempts at running a business.
Once in a great while, however, generally because I'm short of time or need something specific, I will go back to one of those previously written-off stores. And for the most part, during the interim they never have gotten it together and most have actually gotten worse. Such is the case yesterday with the Kroger store at 86th Street and Township Line Road in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Anna stayed home sick yesterday with a bad cold. Apparently the teacher had tried to get her to come back home on Thursday but she refused, and by the time she woke up Friday she had developed a very croupy cough and a mild fever. One of her requests as I left for work was that I stop at the store and get her some Vernors, her favorite "I'm sick and need fluids" beverage.
Well, on the way home I decided to stop at the Kroger store at 86th Street and Township Line Road, in Indianapolis, Indiana, since it is close to the hospital. Because there had been a Shopping Trip From Hell in that store about a year earlier, I had foresworn ever going in there again in protest over the complete lack of customer service. But I'll give them another chance, I thought. They were having a good sale, and I thought I'd pick up a few sale items in addition to the Vernors.
I wandered through the store, looking for tags on the shelves that denote Plus Card savings, picking up a can of this, a jar of that, a box of something else. When I walked by the meat case, I saw that they had a good price on Cumberland Gap "Flat Hams", those long, loaf-like boneless hams that slice nicely for sandwiches or to serve with eggs for breakfast. A big orange sticker affixed to each ham promises that if I decide to purchase a ham, I can have it "Sliced free to [my] Specifications." What a great idea, I think to myself. With winter almost here, I can mince a few slices for making beans, or pea soup. And hash some up with potatoes and onions. Yes, I will just have to get one of these hams. I'll put some of the other stuff back to get one.
Looking into the case, I select my ham and take it to the meat counter. No one is there. I walk over to the other meat counter, the one with the poultry and beef on it. No one is there either. I looked at the wall clock and noted the time was 4:10.
Looking down the length of the meat aisle, I see a guy in a white coat and puffy head cover, pushing a cart loaded with hamburger packages. I look at him. He looks at me. He finishes putting out the packages on his cart, and begins to make his way in my direction. I feel a small thrill at the prospect of getting my ham sliced, and I prepare to hand off the ham as he passes by. But there isn't enough room for him to pass by me unless I scoot my shopping cart closer to the case, so I put the ham in the kidseat and proceed to do just that. Just before he reaches me, he says "I can get by you," steers the cart around me, parks it behind me, and leaves it there while he walks over into Condiments to
chat up some guy-pal who's shopping.
So there I stand. And stand. And stand. And on they talk. I turn to watch as he converses, and he turns his back so he doesn't see me any longer. I watch the clock behind the counter. 4:12... 4:15... 4:20... He's still standing there, yakking it up with his friend. And like some flashback, it all comes back to me why I haven't been in this store for a year. Frustration escalates to anger, and I walk back to the display of hams to very unceremoniously pitch the ham back with a distinct "thud." As I walk away from the meat counter, the two buddies are still standing near condiments, just talking away like they were in one
or the other's living room.
I still have to get the Vernors, so I go to that aisle, pick up a 12-pack, walk over to get a $1.99 gallon of milk and the 4/$3.00 mini frozenpizzas so no one goes hungry next week, and I make my way to the cashier.
My first thought as I unload my cart (and ring my own groceries and sack my own groceries and then place my own groceries back into my cart) is that I should ask the cashier to get the manager when I've completed my unloading, checking, sacking, paying, and reloading. So of course, when I've completed my "job" of checking out, I look for my cashier. She is gone.
I go to the customer service desk and find a guy trying to buy a money order, a chick buying one of every scratch-off ticket in the place, and some guy who's just got his cart shoved under the little rope to prevent anyone from getting into line, but he's obviously not in line himself. The guy behind the counter is some over-nourished, pasty-faced guy with a mustache and bigger breasts than I have, and he can barely handle the money order guy and the scratch-off ticket lady without flaking out. And no manager in sight. And my cashier is finally back at her station, but I'm several lanes away now, and my anger has further distilled into just plain contrariness.
So I leave. I vow once again never to go back into the Kroger store at the corner of 86th Street and Township Line Road in Indianapolis, Indiana to shop for anything. The little bit of convenience just is not worth being ignored, not getting an acceptable level of customer service, or being unable to get a manager when I want or need one.
You could have been describing many supermarkets in New Jersey that I have been to. I always marvel at the difference between the supermarkets up here and the Publix supermarket in Florida (Fort Myers Beach) when we visit there annually. The place is spotless, well stocked, and most importantly, the store employees could not be more courteous, helpful and friendly.
Fortunately, all the supermarkets here are not horrible. In fact, Wegman's has opened several stores, and they are terrific. They have a huge selection, a gigantic bakery and produce section and super-nice employees. The store management is even literate. The sign in the Express Lane says, "10 or FEWER items."
Posted by: Jim - PRS at November 13, 2004 06:08 PMThe idiot in the meat department needs to be outright fired. If you want to really stir things up contact the main offices for Krogers and tell them what happened. My Brother was a meat cutter, at a local group of grocery stores, for over 10 years and when some other snot didn't act right and the bosses heard about it heads would roll. Maybe it would help in your case. Hope Anna feels better, hon.
Posted by: ElizabethM at November 13, 2004 08:09 PMI feel the same way you do about lousy service, the same attitude exists at our local Kroger affilliate, since it's 13 miles from my home and they think they have a monopoly, it's one mile further in a different direction into the next county, where I do shop. What you have done that's unusual is put your complaint on the internet for all to see, this is more effective than a complaint to some anonymous twerp that calls himself a manager. You have visibility.
Posted by: Jack at November 13, 2004 10:20 PMI like the idea of getting in touch with the headquarters. Perhaps you should e-mail this post there.
http://www.kroger.com/contactus.htm
Try this:
http://www.planetfeedback.com/homepage/0,2585,,00.html
I'm just waiting for something like this to torque me off so I can try it myself. I'm sure I won't have to wait long.
Posted by: Pammy at November 14, 2004 03:40 PMWell, I attempted to take your suggestion, Jim, and contact Kroger directly at their website. Oddly, the feeback area was "down for maintenance" and unavailable. Why on earth any IT department would take down a site function like this during normal business hours is beyond me. This is the sort of thing most normal IT groups do in the wee hours of the morning so as not impact their customers any more than necessary.
So I took Pammy's suggestion. Planet Feedback took my complaint and it has been emailed to the CEO. I'll be interested to see if I receive any feedback or acknowledgment of the complaint. I did direct the CEO to this post, so that, too could prove interesting. Hopefully he will see from your comments that this is not isolated.
Thanks for the suggestions, Jim and Pammy.
Posted by: Mamamontezz at November 15, 2004 12:22 PMGood for you. Go get 'em, Mamma.
Posted by: Jim - PRS at November 15, 2004 08:55 PMUmmm, why didn't you just ASK the person putting the hamburger out for help? Gee, what a novel idea.
Posted by: Me at November 17, 2004 05:36 PMOkay, you pathetic little snark, I'll answer your decidedly snide little question. Some of us were raised in such a way as to not act-out or throw temper trantrums in public, such as perhaps in a Grocery Store. A person waited their turn patiently, and the hired help was supposed to be responsible enough about their jobs to actually DO their jobs. To do otherwise was uncivil and unacceptable.
Now, since the free and easy 60's, vast numbers of people just do not give a damn about personal behavior. Nor do they care a wit about their work. And when the twain meet, woe be to those forced to endure having to see or here the nonsense that ensues.
At the time when he acknowledged me by speaking to me, he should have stepped up to his work responsibilities, and I should have had no need to force him to perform them.
Sure, your trite little suggestion would work, but the fact remains, I should never have had to ask this man to do what he is being paid for. Crappy service is crappy service, however you cut it.
Now, put on your little polyester smock of a color not found in nature and get back to work. You know, the one with your name over the left breast and the tag with no indication whatsoever that you've ever been singled out by a customer for anything above mediocre service. And don't forget the paper hat this time.
Posted by: Mamamontezz at November 17, 2004 06:11 PMWOW, getting a little testy in here..
Posted by: dc95 at November 18, 2004 02:02 PM