rant on (kosher) supermarkets
We now have no fewer than 5 area kosher supermarkets in the 5 Towns and Far Rockaway. You would think that the competition will keep them all on their toes. Sadly, that is not quite the case. This week I shopped at 3 different ones -- and more than once at two of them. So here are my complaints. One is more minor but it took up quite a bit of time. I was looking for crockpot liners and couldn't find any. Logic would dictate they should be in aisle 9 of that store, but I remember from previous times that they were actually located one aisle over, so I scoured, 7,8,and 9 a few times, literally looking high and low. Finally, I gave up and went to check out. When I spotted one of the people who work there, I asked him about the liners. He said that they have not been able to obtain any more. OK.
Complaint number 2 --this store keeps changing its prices on milk, which is somewhat disconcerting because most groceries keep that pretty standard. So this week, they advertised Elmhurst 1% (right, you would have a higher price for full, 2% and skim) on sale for $1.49. I checked the dates and picked one carton which allowed about a week according to the NYC date. I have found that the more extended date is some fiction like the MSRPs you find printed on some clothing tags beneath the "our price" amount. Anyway, at checkout, the milk rang up as $1.79. I questioned this based on their sale price which appeared in a sign in the milk section. The cashier, backed up by another cashier, said that only applies to the Elmhurst milk in the plastic containers not to the milk in the waxed paper carton and would not yield even though I pointed out that the sign says no such restriction other than the brand and 1% -- nothing about carton type. In case, you're wondering why I didn't merely substitute the plastic container for the one I had chosen, it is because all the plastic container milks were stamped with the date of Dec. 14, and this was already Dec. 10. I look for a week's freshness as a minimum for milk. I told the cashiers that they are going to lose customers this way and really do not intend to return to that store in the near future.
Episode 3 (BTW these are not written in chronological order) one store advertised flour on sale for 99 cents with additional $30 purchase. I usually walk to this store and so don't buy very large quantities in a single purchase. But I needed flour for this week's Shabbos baking, so I put more than enough together to qualify. The flour I had selected was unbleached, my usual preference. At checkout, the flour did not ring up at the sale price. The cashier, just like the one in the other store, was backed by another cashier in insisting that only the bleached variety was on sale. So I switched the flour But they were wrong and I was right! Today when I passed outside the store, I saw that the sign that advertises the flour on sale says explicitly both bleached and unbleached. But I do not have time to go home, get the flour, and exchange it. And I do not want to risk getting it wet in the rain. Instead I am complaining here.
Complaint number 2 --this store keeps changing its prices on milk, which is somewhat disconcerting because most groceries keep that pretty standard. So this week, they advertised Elmhurst 1% (right, you would have a higher price for full, 2% and skim) on sale for $1.49. I checked the dates and picked one carton which allowed about a week according to the NYC date. I have found that the more extended date is some fiction like the MSRPs you find printed on some clothing tags beneath the "our price" amount. Anyway, at checkout, the milk rang up as $1.79. I questioned this based on their sale price which appeared in a sign in the milk section. The cashier, backed up by another cashier, said that only applies to the Elmhurst milk in the plastic containers not to the milk in the waxed paper carton and would not yield even though I pointed out that the sign says no such restriction other than the brand and 1% -- nothing about carton type. In case, you're wondering why I didn't merely substitute the plastic container for the one I had chosen, it is because all the plastic container milks were stamped with the date of Dec. 14, and this was already Dec. 10. I look for a week's freshness as a minimum for milk. I told the cashiers that they are going to lose customers this way and really do not intend to return to that store in the near future.
Episode 3 (BTW these are not written in chronological order) one store advertised flour on sale for 99 cents with additional $30 purchase. I usually walk to this store and so don't buy very large quantities in a single purchase. But I needed flour for this week's Shabbos baking, so I put more than enough together to qualify. The flour I had selected was unbleached, my usual preference. At checkout, the flour did not ring up at the sale price. The cashier, just like the one in the other store, was backed by another cashier in insisting that only the bleached variety was on sale. So I switched the flour But they were wrong and I was right! Today when I passed outside the store, I saw that the sign that advertises the flour on sale says explicitly both bleached and unbleached. But I do not have time to go home, get the flour, and exchange it. And I do not want to risk getting it wet in the rain. Instead I am complaining here.
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