Safeway was, it seems, technically correct.
On closer inspection, these signs detailing “Safeway’s promise to you” are posted in our Kaneohe store, as the company’s director of public and government affairs said yesterday in an email.
But it turns out the photo provided as evidence, taken by the district manager, is not at a regular checkout line. It’s at the customer service desk in the front of the store.
How did I miss it in my now numerous trips to customer service seeking refunds? Well, if that headline said something more descriptive, something along the lines of “Safeway’s price guarantee,” it might have attracted my attention. “Safeway’s promise to you” sounds like more advertising fluff. No one pays attention to it.
Oh, one other thing. This sign at customer service is the only one on a horizontal surface that can be seen by an adult standing in front of it.
Meanwhile, back at the regular checkout registers, it’s a different story. On closer inspection, it is true that the signs were placed at each one.
And if my navel were an eye, I might have noticed one of them on our many visits to the store.
Yup, they are posted vertically on the side of the counter where customers stand while transferring your purchases from the shopping cart and then paying your bill. It’s at or below waist level, even for Meda. In this somewhat blurry iPhone photo, she has stepped back to get a picture of the sign, but in normal circumstances it would be invisible because you’re standing immediately in front of it.
It might have made a difference if just once, while we were requesting refunds, any Safeway employee had smiled and pointed out their “promise” while cheerfully making the appropriate price adjustment. It’s never happened.
Even yesterday afternoon, the person staffing the customer service desk began by offering a refund of the difference between what I paid and the price I should have been charged. When I stopped and, with my new knowledge, pointed to the “Safeway’s promise to you” sign, she stopped and had to call a manager. Perhaps managers are the only ones authorized to give out those $5 bonuses or free items in addition to refunding the amount of the overcharge. I don’t know. But what is clear is that many (most?) store employees are either not familiar with the price guarantee or are not trained and empowered to fulfill the promise.
For the record, here’s Safeway’s policy, as posted. You can click for a better view.
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Link to sign broken
Fixed now. Thanks.
I was going to comment but could not figure out whether whining or whinging was the better word.
Their “Deal Match” deals can be hard to find, too.
Yup, it disappeared from the Safeway.com entry page.
To get to the Deal Match specials, we choose the “choose another store” link. It’s on the upper right, just below the “Weekly Specials”.
It will then give you a list of stores with links to Deal Match.
Have you found another way to get to them?
This has gotten to the point where it is no longer simple mistakes. It is fraud at the highest corporate level. Where’s the federal indictment (it is interstate so federal court would be appropriate)? Do we have RICO laws or not? Or at least a smart enterprising attorney could make a nice tidy sum from a civil suit in federal district court….
I agree with Andy that this is fraud and should be reported federally (and also to the appropriate state agency). You may have noticed the discrepancy in what you’ve been charged, but few people actually look at their sales slip, so Safeway makes out by routinely overcharging customers, as you have discovered.
Also, looking at their “Promise”, it appears that if they overcharge for several items in one transaction, that you only get one of the items free (and I imagine they get to choose), with only a return of the difference for the others.
Please follow up to report this–your blog is not enough. (I would do it, but I haven’t shopped at Safeway for years!)
I’ve been overcharged numerous times at various Safeway stores. Combine that with the fact that they’re the most expensive store around, and their appeal gets diminished considerably.
And I must admit I’m mystified by the “deal match” appeal. Safeway’s asking us to go to the effort to find lower prices elsewhere; then they’ll give us the “deal” after we do the work. It seems simpler just to go to the less expensive store.
And finally, the fact that they give their Safeway-brand coupons INSTEAD of bag credit of 3 cents/5 cents/10 cents, depending on where you shop, means there are now exactly TWO items I buy at Safeway. I like their spicy pickles and their low-fat Ranch dressing.
So for me at least, their dishonesty and greed has effectively sent me elsewhere to shop. That seems fair, eh?
FYI, Johnson, that’s not how “Deal Match” works. Safeway identifies on their Safeway/Just4U website the products/prices they’ll match. You load the “deals” directly onto your card ; no comparison shopping is involved.
“if my navel were an eye . . . ” I don’t know how tall you are, Ian, but the sign at the Hawaii Kai store was not even navel height. I’ve been going to that store for a very long time and never noticed the sign until I looked down to see if it was there.
I was all excited to get $5 back tonight, but there were no errors.
I have quit shopping at Safeway, every time you go it’s a fight for the specials, they either charge you wrong or it’s not on the shelves. The employees at the Kapolei store are always rude and unhelpful when you ask about pricing and if they have what you looking for!
I haven’t shopped at Safeway for years. It’s just not worth it to try and find parking in Hawai’i Kai for a 2 cent sale.