Safeway’s “Just for You” and “Deal Match” promotions for regular shoppers can deliver signifant savings, but Safeway’s check-out computers tend to miss promised discounts, leading to overcharges. To get the full value of these promotions requires careful checking of receipts to be sure items rang up with the promised discounts.
Safeway supermarkets in California have been accused of widespread overcharging customers and failing to comply with a court order stemming from an earlier lawsuit brought by state regulators, according to published accounts.
Although the allegations do not involve consumers in Hawaii, stores in the two states depend on the same corporate computer system for pricing and processing sales, meaning similar problems could be occuring here.
According to CBS 5 in San Francisco, the company was sued by state regulators twice in 2003, and again in 2008.
As a result of the most recent judgment against the supermarket chain (.pdf), if an item under $5 scans at the register for more than the lowest advertise price, Safeway and Vons must give the customer the item for free (limit 1 item – the other items must be given at the lowest advertised price). If an item is over $5, Safeway is supposed to give the customer a $5 gift card. The judgment excludes dairy, alcohol, tobacco, fuel and pharmacy products.
“In all the years I’ve called them this I’ve never gotten the item for free,” complained John Mortimer of San Francisco who says he is regularly overcharged at Safeway.
The station then sent undercover shoppers into five Safeway stores in three different counties, and racked up five overcharges. None of the stores complied by offering the court-ordered consumer discounts when pricing errors were discovered.
According to an article this week on the Personal Money Network:
State inspectors in various states have reported transaction errors in varying percentages; California estimated in 2010 that 3 percent of all transactions result in the wrong price being scanned. North Carolina estimated 5 percent of store transactions in that state are erroneous. New York state found more than 500 of 1,000 transaction in a study of supermarkets were erroneously rung up in a 2010 investigation.
And DailyFinance.com this week reviewed Safeway Inc.’s shaky financial position.
In our own experience, two shopping trips to the Safeway in the Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center in recent weeks resulted in substantial overcharges at the cash register, which we quickly discovered. The charges were refunded at the store’s customer service desk, although that required waiting until someone came to see what we wanted. In one case, the overcharge was about $10, and the other about $6. So it definitely pays to shop carefully and monitor prices as they ring up.
This happens to me on a regular basis at the Manoa Safeway. If I catch it, the Customer Service Rep. is friendly, but keeps no record of the mistake. She double checks my receipts, confirms the mistake, then opens the register and hands me cash. The process seems designed to make me happy and leave no paper trail.
When working on Maui I had to shop at the Kihei Safeway quite often (rumored to be the busiest Safeway store in existence) and I don’t believe I ever got out of there without being overcharged for at least one item. Luckily I live near Tamura’s. In 15 years of shopping there I have NEVER been overcharged.
ps. Gotta watch Kmart too, they overcharge quite often.
Agreed that vigilence is necessary.
Once Just4U/Deal Match was up and running, I found the errors tapered off. I have had only one problem since then, which the cashier acknowledged as widespread on that particular item.
Similar to others’ experience, there was no indication they intended to fix the problem and were content to make refunds to those who caught it while seeming to be untroubled by collecting overcharges from those who didn’t.
PS: altho’ the number and quality of Just4U/DealMatch offerings to me has recently decreased noticeably, on balance I have by far gotten the better end of the deal, even with the errors. I can’t remember the last time I bought a “regular-priced” item at Safeway. So, I guess I’ve “only” been paying what would otherwise be a regular markup instead of an exorbitant one!
“. . . monitor prices as they ring up. ” I’ve found this extremely difficult to do if not impossible in some cases. And it doesn’t help that they keep changing the way items and discounts show up on the screen and in the receipts.
I check our receipt every time we go to Safeway. I estimate that about 1/3 of the time there is an error. Sometimes the same error is still there the following week.
My better half is like a hawk on matters of price and even audits grocery receipts. She often shops at that new Safeway on Beretania and Piikoi. According to her she has never had a problem. Only one data point but it makes me wonder how much of the problem is store specific rather than corporate in nature.
My understanding from an earlier go-round with Safeway is that the stores all use a common computer system. The most common problems we have encountered involve the “just for u” personalized discounts, which are usually different from posted specials and have a higher rate of errors at check-out.
Another problem is the way Safeway displays prices at checkout. You often can’t tell whether the proper discount was applied until you receive the written receipt, and by that point the transaction has been processed.
Anyway, it wouldn’t matter so much if Safeway wasn’t the most convenient store for us to get in and out of on our evening commute back to Kaaawa.
In the last sentence you wrote the word “carefully” as “carefullyl “.
Was that meant in irony?
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
What does the law say about advertised prices and the requirement to offer the advertised price to customers?
As you probably know, the “Just for U” program is tailored to the purchasing habits of individual customers. Therefore, what is offered to you may not be offered to me.
In some cases, the “Just for U” price is advertised below the regular purchase price. Does that mean that Safeway has to offer that price to all customers? I’ve checked a couple of those types of advertisements, and they weren’t included in our offers.
Sounds to me the second time a police complaint for theft should be made by the victim/consumer.
Safeway has had a notorious record for defective checking out for at least 50 years or more.
Besides they have suspected baby and pregnant moms arrested as shoplifters.
I don’t usually blog; however, I have been increasingly frustrated with the Safeway Just for U program and the errors. Safeway is the closest market to me and I have been marketing there for 20+ years.
This Just for U program is very difficult for seniors. I do not own an iphone or an ipad, so I am unable to email the specials to my phone to verify the prices. The end date for the Just for U specials is different than the end date for the weekly specials, so it’s either carry around a printed list or try to remember. As I said, it is difficult for seniors, especially if I am in a hurry.
After trying to assiduously download the specials to my account, Safeway is frequently out of the “Deal Match” items. When asked, the response is that they did not get the shipment. I feel it’s a come-on. After doing all of this checking and printing, errors are still made by the computer and I am overcharged, necessitating careful checking of receipts.
As I told a cashier just this week, it is becoming increasingly difficult to shop at Safeway. It’s easier to shop at a store where I know the prices and so do the computers and the cashiers.
I don’t like the Just for U program either. The next time you’re in the store, you might want to check to see if they have a computer and printer available for you to use. I usually just print out the specials at the store.
Some legislation could be put in place that would quickly change their attitudes. Required logs, daily audits, daily return of all money associated with a price errors to a victim fund.
I suppose if somebody started an “oppressive” regulatory bill at the legislature, it would be fun to watch their lobbyists come out to cry foul.
Just last week at Kailua Safeway, I experienced an over charge on a sale item. Isn’t that fraud? It has happened numerous times at this store. Shall we call for a boycott? Investigation by the Attorney General? Groceries are high enough!