Saturday - Fry's Food Stores Piss Poor Customer Service

Well, sometimes I get to neglecting this blog and it's just the way it goes.
I figured to start labelling my blogs when I write about a company's bad service so people from all over the place can read about it : )

I wrote about this in the other blog, but I didn't title it this way and I want an entry that has it in the title.

So, I was at Fry's yesterday. That's Fry's Food Stores for the consumer. I didn't really buy that much stuff - wandering around the store, looking at all the police officers that were there because of a shoplifter who was tackled to the floor by three guys - BUSTED!!! The guy was already gone, the officers were taking statements from witnesses and from the people that were involved in detaining the dude, who was attempting to non-chalantly walk out of the store with a big bottle of Jim Beam (alcohol, whiskey I believe).

I get to the checkout and my purchases are rung up. One item comes up at $9.99 - when it should have run up at the sale price of $8.49. I noted this to the cashier, who said that was the correct price. Okay, I'll pay for it then, cause' if it IS the wrong price, then I'm going to invoke Fry's policy on scanning errors.

I go back to check the price and sure enough, there's a sale-price tag that gives the sale price below the normal price. I head for the customer service desk. The woman goes back there and looks at the tag, yup, you were right.

Back to the customer service desk, she gives me 50 cents back. ???? Scuse' me ma'am, I want the free item policy of Fry's - the product mis-scans I either get the item for free or I get $5 back/gift card if the price of the item is over $5. No, sir, this time doesn't count for the scanning error. Ohhh? Why not? No good answer, management please. Always, always, always have to get managment. Very rarely does it end up that I don't need management to get involved.

At Fry's, I have found that many of their associates do not know their own store's policies, especially concerning the scanning error policy. I have had associates arguing with me that I am incorrect and they are right - they in saying that there IS no such policy. Of course I am always proven right - I mean - it IS their policy!!

She calls for a manager and then I bring up to her that even without that freebie, you have given me back incorrect change. If the product normally sells for $9.99 and it is on sale for $8.49, that's $1.50 difference, not 50 cents. She as attempting to do the math in her head instead of letting the computer software do it for her - why I have no idea. I will say that it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out the difference between $9.99 and $8.49. It's a buck fifty. So, she is going to make up the difference by giving me another buck back. Nope, ma'am, wrong again. There is more tax on $9.99 than there is on $8.49, I want the extra tax back, too.

I know, I can be cheap. Just me. If she would have done this through the register, it would have instantly given her the correct amount without all the nonsense in writing numbers down on paper and attempting to do math that she apparently is incapable of doing. She ends up giving me a total of a buck seventy-five, which was too much.

The manager finally shows up after all of this. She tells him about the scanning error and that "the policy only applies to items under $5". The man looks at me and tells me store policy - free if the item is under 5 bucks, a $5 gift card if it's over. Yup, I replied, I know that. He took a step back and then realized she hadn't given me anything. "You mean you didn't get a gift card yet?" No sir, I did not. It was that simple. He just told the woman to give me a $5 gift card and he left, and none too happy from the look on his face. He had to walk all the way from the back from whatever he was doing to deal with this - if this woman had known their store's own policy, management would never had to have been involved with this. He was also limping badly, I imagine this is the reason he was none-too-happy to walk all the way up there for - something very simple, really.

The woman didn't apologize for her snappy tudenoidal with me, but I got my freebies so I didn't care. She was a know-it-all out to prove that I was wrong, the only problem is that in the end, SHE was proven wrong and that's that. This is an endless situation with Fry's and their associates not knowing their own store's policies. I occasionally get an item scanned wrong, and yes when that happens, I do get my freebie and I don't feel bad about it - AT ALL. If they don't want to give that kind of freebie, then don't have the policy! Yet when you go to "invoke" it, they trudge through the process as if you're some kind of bad person because you want something that they are allegedly giving away freely whenever THEY make the error! lol

Probably one problem is that most people probably don't know about that policy and if you don't say something, it's just about GUARANTEED that they won't say anything. So, when some dude like me comes along and I insist on getting it, well, it doesn't always go over too well. In fact, most times it doesn't go over too well. That's the state of customer service to be found in many types of stores nowadays - people who want to give you attitude. People who don't give a damn about the customers. People who know everything and, of course - you the customer don't know ANYTHING.

Changing the subject (so if you came here from a Google search looking for the Fry's input, that is the end of it, the rest of this is just my personal junk - you are welcomed to read it but it has nothing to do with Fry's), I've been thinking about Christmas this year. I'm guessing it's going to be slim pickings. I'm thinking about buying Christmas presents now so that I have them and won't have to worry about it when Christmas actually gets here. My mother only wants a hummingbird feeder - I think she realizes the financial situation going on with lost hours and dealing with tenants coming and going - so that will not set me back too much even if I get a really nice one. Plus, I bought her a very nice present last year in the form of a digital camera and she LOVES that thing!

I figure to find one online here in the next couple of days and order one. I have no idea what Caleb wants - he usually doesn't ask for much. I would offer to pay for insurance for him to learn how to drive - but it's too expensive. I was quoted between $100 and $125 extra PER MONTH for him. I guessed before I called them yesterday that it would be at least $100 per month. That's out of my budget right now and anyway, I'm not exactly excited about him learning how to drive on Phoenix roads at his age. Drivers in these parts are just plain stupid with all the texting and talking on cellphones and reading magazines and all kinds of stuff while they are supposed to be driving their vehicles. I'm not exactly thrilled about the propsect of being in the passenger's seat while he is at the controls of the car.

I'll have to ask him what he has in mind for Christmas. I also want to buy my dad something - nothing fancy just something. Actually, maybe something for him and his wife - have to think about that one for a while. The rest of my family? You know, my 2 older brothers I never see? Lol. Not going to sweat that, get them something if we are all going to come together this year, if not, then I won't bother. My budget for gifts is basically going to be very low and I'm not looking to spend huge amounts of money on anything.

Well, I didn't get enough sleep last night and I'm tired. I'm going to go lay down for a while and laze around for a bit - these guys working out back should be done in an hour or so, they are cranking right along. I put up a Craigslist ad for someone to come over and dig a trench so I can get this drip watering system moving right along, 2 people showed up this morning, a guy and his dad. I simply informed him that the ad says ONE person and then I had to say it to him twice: ONE person is going to get paid for the hourly wage, NOT two. Only if they get it done faster than one person would have - which may or may not happen - will I give them the equivalent of whatever it would have taken for one person to do it.

Have a great day!
ben