This is just a rant. The MSC is not involved, and the issue has been resolved with the grocery store.

I ordered listerine breath strips. 3 little packs with those melt on your tongue breath fresheners on a card. They are always in the dental hygiene aisle, and they aren't usually tough to find. I also know for a fact that they are in stock in the store I was at. The employee came out with my order, and told me that they substituted thin sliced boneless pork chops for the thick sliced bone in pork chops that I had picked an acceptable substitution for in my order. I refused the pork chops because they were not even close to what I ordered and not my chosen substitution. I asked about getting a rain check for the pork chops that I wanted and he said it's not his department, he's only on loan helping out. And then, he says nothing about any other items in my order at all, I saw a green package in the bag and didn't think twice that it might not be my Listerine product. He then took my coupons for the listerine product and the neosporin products that didn't post to my order, scanned them and told me that they did.

We were all done shopping, and I wasn't in the mood to stay out until it got dark. So we headed home. My son was putting away the groceries and he asked me what I wanted to do with the store brand "glide" style dental floss I got (something I wouldn't use on my most desperate day). After several phone calls to the store, and being hung up on by the manager. I called the corporate customer service folks. I explained everything, including that the store felt that it was acceptable to make me drive 2 hours round trip to return to the store to get the thing that I actually ordered.

The nice lady at corporate customer service after listening to me rant about crappy customer service and explaining everything at least twice, offered a refund for the dental floss and a $20 store credit so that I could buy the product I actually ordered the next time I'm at their store.

I don't understand the attraction of this new pickup craze. I guess I'm too much of a control freak. I have to make my own selections personally. You know what they say, "If you want something done right..." I just know a minimum wage store employee would select the moldiest strawberries, greenest meat, yesterday's expired milk and a whole bunch of other random stuff I don't want. Waaay too stressful for me. TRUST NO ONE!

For me, the pick-ups are 3 thumbs down.

Ses, I don't like letting them pick my produce, I almost always end up getting a refund for my avocados because they are always overripe or so bruised they aren't edible. I don't have a problem with them picking canned goods or the stupid pre-packaged meat. What I really hate is that they don't have real butchers in the stores anymore. They don't even have folks that can cut a steak correctly in the stores now. You have no idea how much I miss the meat markets in the Mexican grocery stores in CA.

So you didn't stay on site for the required time or check your order? If you finished the report before your son unloaded the groceries you must have answered yes to the question, Did you receive everything you ordered, thus turning in an incorrect report.
You also strong-armed Kroger out of 20 bucks for merchandise that you were reimbursed for and it seems the conversation with the Manager wasn't cordial. I bet you sign up for the pick up and your son signed up for in store and fuel , breaking the spirit of the rules concerning no in store and P/U on the same day. Sounds like you also physically did the in store since you know for a fact that listerine strips were in stock at a store an hour away from your home. You say you do these shops at base pay because you need food on the table. If i were you you i would delete this post ASAP because i know how easy it would be for you and your son to be identified by some of the schedulers who read this forum. I also know your going to blast me but thats fine by me. I would just hate to see you removed from this project because it sounds like you really need these shops for your family.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2024 08:02AM by NM1962.

@Morledzep wrote:

The employee came out with my order, and told me that they substituted thin sliced boneless pork chops for the thick sliced bone in pork chops that I had picked an acceptable substitution for in my order. I refused the pork chops because they were not even close to what I ordered and not my chosen substitution.

I dont understand this. At first you said you picked them for your acceptable substitution then later you say they were not your chosen substitution?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2024 12:26PM by JSuing.

@JSuing wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

The employee came out with my order, and told me that they substituted thin sliced boneless pork chops for the thick sliced bone in pork chops that I had picked an acceptable substitution for in my order. I refused the pork chops because they were not even close to what I ordered and not my chosen substitution.

I dont understand this. At first you said you picked them for your acceptable substitution then later you say they were not your chosen substitution?

Thin sliced boneless is not an acceptable substituion for thick cut bone in. I believe the OP is saying that they selected "acceptable substitution," however, this does not qualify for that and I would agree. An acceptable substituion would be a different brand of thick bone in pork chops. On that note, while shopping at Kroger last week, someone who was picking an order asked me if whole milk vanilla yogurt was a substitution for carb master low fat yogurt. I was dumbfounded.

@gigishopper wrote:

@JSuing wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

The employee came out with my order, and told me that they substituted thin sliced boneless pork chops for the thick sliced bone in pork chops that I had picked an acceptable substitution for in my order. I refused the pork chops because they were not even close to what I ordered and not my chosen substitution.

I dont understand this. At first you said you picked them for your acceptable substitution then later you say they were not your chosen substitution?

Thin sliced boneless is not an acceptable substituion for thick cut bone in. I believe the OP is saying that they selected "acceptable substitution," however, this does not qualify for that and I would agree. An acceptable substituion would be a different brand of thick bone in pork chops. On that note, while shopping at Kroger last week, someone who was picking an order asked me if whole milk vanilla yogurt was a substitution for carb master low fat yogurt. I was dumbfounded.

I agree thin are not an acceptable placement for thick - for people that know better. If it's a young kid who doesn't cook he probably didnt know.
I'm curious what specific product was selected for a substitution. If they didn't pick a specific substitution I feel like they can't fault the uncook for trying to choose what he thinks is the next best thing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2024 01:01PM by JSuing.

@Morledzep wrote:

I explained everything, including that the store felt that it was acceptable to make me drive 2 hours round trip to return to the store to get the thing that I actually ordered.

The nice lady at corporate customer service after listening to me rant about crappy customer service and explaining everything at least twice, offered a refund for the dental floss and a $20 store credit so that I could buy the product I actually ordered the next time I'm at their store.

It's standard procedure to return an item for a refund. It's not the store's fault you shopped two hours away. 

Also...

Just so I understand, you got reimbursed for the shop, which included the wrong dental floss that you checked was correct, and then wanted the store to reimburse you again separately for something you already got reimbursed for through the MSC,  +$20?

That is no more acceptable than the thinly sliced pork chops that were chosen for you.

I like doing the pickups because it allows me to buy non food essentials like TP, cleaning needs, kitchen gadgets, plus canned goods and boxed pasta and the like. I'd never buy store packaged meats or produce, as I want to choose those items myself, and I can get those with in store shops. I have noticed a trend lately with the big box store competitor pickup shops, in that I have been receiving more dented cans and out of date items. I wonder if they purposely use pickup orders to get rid of these items, thinking the customer wouldn't take the time to return them. After I check my order, if I find an out of date item, right back inside I go for a replacement.

I did stay on site for the required 10 minutes, and it doesn't have to be 10 minutes after I receive my order, it has to be 10 minutes total. When I check my order, I don't always open all of the bags, I saw green card stock, in a bag with other things that were easily identified (mouthwash, and other dental hygiene items) , so I made the mistake of assuming that the picker could read and put the right thing in the bag. And dental floss is not even close to Listerine Breath Strips. And it wasn't a substitution, they scanned the wrong item as the thing that I purchased. And they took and scanned all of my coupons for the Listerine Breath Strips.

I have no choice but to shop an hour from my house, because that is where the nearest national chain grocery stores are. I did NOT strongarm anyone for money, the customer service representative volunteered that, I accepted.

The substitution I requested was regular thickness bone-in pork chops, still too thin for what I wanted them for, but I could have made something different than what I had planned. And when I go inside this store there are almost always 2 - 4 packs of the thick cut pork chops in the meat case, and they didn't say "low stock" on the order page. The thick cut pork chops were probably there and the picker, who obviously can't read, couldn't tell the difference between thick and thin, or bone in and boneless.

For the record. I have NOT mentioned any store names.

@NM1962 wrote:

So you didn't stay on site for the required time or check your order? If you finished the report before your son unloaded the groceries you must have answered yes to the question, Did you receive everything you ordered, thus turning in an incorrect report.
You also strong-armed Kroger out of 20 bucks for merchandise that you were reimbursed for and it seems the conversation with the Manager wasn't cordial. I bet you sign up for the pick up and your son signed up for in store and fuel , breaking the spirit of the rules concerning no in store and P/U on the same day. Sounds like you also physically did the in store since you know for a fact that listerine strips were in stock at a store an hour away from your home. You say you do these shops at base pay because you need food on the table. If i were you you i would delete this post ASAP because i know how easy it would be for you and your son to be identified by some of the schedulers who read this forum. I also know your going to blast me but thats fine by me. I would just hate to see you removed from this project because it sounds like you really need these shops for your family.

I know my memory sucks, but I don't remember doing anything to you to instill this type of hostility, But I'll address your accusations one at a time just the same. My son does NOT do grocery shops. I'm not you, obviously, because I would not "break the spirit of the rules" like you obviously would because you suggested it. I did the in-store shop for this location on Sunday.

I did stay on site for the required 10 minutes. I did NOT do the report on site like I normally do, because I wasn't feeling well and wanted to go home. My report was NOT incorrect. All of the correct information is in my report.

I called the store, and talked to someone who said they were in the pick up department, who then shoveled me off to someone else who didn't identify themselves or their department (but I suspect they were at the front desk), and they said they would get the manager. The manager picked up the phone, I could hear them talking to the person who had put me on hold, then they hung up the phone without speaking to me. Which might have been a good thing, because I was fuming at that point.

After that I called corporate, I explained the situation to the customer service representative, and I told her about them taking and scanning my coupons for the item that I didn't get. So I have no more coupons for the Listerine breath strips, she refunded the $0.99 they charged me for the "Listerine Breath Strips" that were indeed the cheapest version of their store brand dental floss and not Listerine Breath Strips at all. I asked how I could get my coupons back so that I can use them to purchase the thing that I actually wanted and not have to pay full price. She said she can't help with that, but she can put $20 store credit on my store card. And I accepted her offer.

I don't think I need to delete my post. I've not mentioned a store name nor have I mentioned the MSC. And everything that I've said in this post is the truth, and IF the MSC contacts me for more information about my shop I'll tell them the exact same thing I ranted about to begin with.

I also don't accuse folks of lying or cheating randomly.

Well, it seems that you have nothing to worry about with the store and /or the MSC. Happy shopping!

This is why I don't do pick up anymore.

Pickup shops are a known entity.
You have to be prepared for out of stock items, and you must allow substitutions.
When not Mystery Shopping, you can specify which items, if any, that you allow subs for.

I am sure things they have in stock get marked out of stock by mistake or laziness.

I know for a fact that some client associates lack product knowledge. I have gotten parsley instead of cilantro. But they can remedy that on the spot if you catch it, or later as mentioned above.

@jgardn02 wrote:

Pickup shops are a known entity.
You have to be prepared for out of stock items, and you must allow substitutions.
When not Mystery Shopping, you can specify which items, if any, that you allow subs for.

If you read what I wrote, I said clearly that I had selected an acceptable substitute on the website when I made my order. To date, including this shop, I have NEVER received the substitute item I've chosen when something needed to be substituted. And that is also reflected in my reports, EVERY time it happens.