I love Krogers, and so does the majority of my friends and co-workers. We shop there not just for their good deals; we like the store for convenience - you're never more than a mile or two away from a Krogers store. And most of us pass by one going to and from work. While we agree that it's a good grocery store, on the flipside we all have our own Kroger customer service horror stories. The following is a true story.
My co-worker Becky is a regular Kroger shopper, dropping at least $200 a week at the store on State Street in New Albany (Indiana, for those not in-the-know). She frequently stops there on her way home from work to pick up their awesome fried chicken for supper. Like other Super Krogers, this one has a deli and a gourmet shop side by side, separated only by a cash register. Becky was there the other day to get her chicken and could not get anyone to wait on her. They were scurrying around helping people in front of the deli and in front of the gourmet shop, but nobody would wait on her. Becky finally asked someone in the gourmet section for help, and they told her she would have to ask the deli. She then asked someone in the deli. They were put out, and snapped at her "Do you need something?" but they did get her chicken. This is similar to when we were kids, and asked our Mom if we could do something and she would say "go ask your father" who would then say "go ask your mother." How much trouble would it be for one of the gourmet department workers to reach in the case and pull out a plastic box of chicken for her? I hear this all the time in our company, the dreaded "that's not my area/product/department." Not having confirmed this with Becky, but I'd be willing to bet that the people working in the deli and gourmet shops are PATs (Punk Ass Teenagers, in case you've forgotten).
Things went from bad to worse for Becky this week. She's having hand surgery the day before Thanksgiving, so she won't be able to cook dinner. But she's having family up for the holiday, so her only thought was Krogers; she's come to depend on them, you know. So yesterday she called the store to order the complete Thanksgiving dinner - turkey and all the trimmings (by the way, does anyone know why they call it "...trimmings?"). She was on hold a ridiculous amount of time but the deli finally answered. She simply asked if they were making the turkey dinners this year, and the runaround started again. They told her she would have to talk to the gourmet shop. She asked them for the number of the gourmet shop so she could call, not wanting to put them out, and lo and behold, they transferred her instead. She then asks the gourmet shop if they are cooking the dinners and they said allt hey are cooking is the turkey, and that she'll have to call the deli for the trimmings. By this point, Becky was over it, and hung up. She thought about it some more, and decided to call back and talk to the manager. As before, she was put on hold, only to have the manager tell her she would have to talk to the "big manager." Once again she was put out by being jacked around and hung up.
She's still hacked off about it today, and I can't blame her a bit. But she still needs the dinner, and there aren't any other big groceries close to them, so she said she'll just suck it up and order her turkey from the gourmet shop and the trimmings from the deli. If I cooked, I would offer to make the dinner for her. But it's the thought that counts. Good luck, Becky. I hope you, Larry, and Max have a happy Thanksgiving, no thanks to Krogers.
2 comments:
I have my own Kroger Observation. Like Becky, I too drop about $200 per week at Kroger and most of the time it's a good experience. But start noticing...it's rare you will EVER be in the checkout line and not hear the checkers talking with the baggers or other checkers about their hours. "If she thinks I'm going to work until 7:00, she's crazy!!" It rarely fails. Of course, these are almost always PAT's.
Let's go Krogering!
It never dawned on me but you are absolutely right, Stacy - they are constantly talking about their hours. And you always hear them talking about going on break,too. Yes, I know the cashiers stand on their feet all day, but so do 99.9% of factory workers, and they just get two breaks and their lunch.
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