I shop at this Fred Meyer weekly. I also shop at the Stadium Fred Meyer weekly. This Fred Meyer is strategically located and I really like the laid back feeling of not having to rush through the store. I guess that is the good part about shopping a little bit outside of town. But, oh my, trying to make a special order for a product that is specific, and one that you are willing to do all the leg work on, is just not something that works at this store. I don't know why. I took a picture of the UPC and was buying the last four of them on the shelf the day I wanted to make the special order. And, I kind of wanted to get it established as a regular special order because a good friend of mine uses this product like crazy in her cooking. And she is a really good cook. So, if I give her more of this, I might get more good home cooked food in return. I have motives here. So, I get in the ridiculously long customer service line (seriously, have you seen it lately? I was 19th in line, I think....) and left after 3 minutes of realizing that it would probably take me two hours LITERALLY to make it to the counter. Then, once I got there, I had no assurance of what type of mood the employee was going to be in. Probably not a good one, after dealing with 19 people who didn't look happy. So, I skipped that day and a few days later came back. It must have been Manna from Heaven because there was only two people in line at the customer service counter. Whoo Hoo!!! So, as I approached, the young man working behind the counter heard what I wanted to do, and could see I had all the information, but he told me he honestly didn't know if they even did special orders for anything. But, he was going to check. So, he did. He listened to instructions on the other end of the phone and I heard him say: " Oh wow, we do do special orders!" - Anyway, he got the information he needed to finish the order. Basically, all he had to do was scan the item (or enter the UPC from the picture I took) and print out the receipt that shows that item on it. He then writes down the name and number of the person who is special ordering, along with the name of the product and exactly how much the person wants. He then staples the two pieces of paper together and ensures me it will be in the Grocery Manager's In-Box for him to special order it. Awesome.
So, it's been about a week and a few days. So, I called earlier today to check on the order. I didn't want my friend to spend time and money going over there to get it if it wasn't in. Plus, this was part of the leg work and I wanted to make sure the whole thing went smoothly. So, I listened to the prompts and picked grocery. No one answered. I hung up after 20 rings or so. I then tried the customer service extension. This was answered relatively quickly. I inquired about a special item I had ordered in the grocery department. The guy on the other end of the line told me he could transfer me to grocery, because he really has no idea of what comes in when- okay, no problem. I figured and internal transfer was better than me doing it on my own. After about another 20 rings it was pretty obvious that no one was doing to answer. So, I hung up. I gave it a few hours and called back. Got through to customer service again, but l asked if they could 'overhead' page the grocery manager since they didn't answer the telephone ringing. Sure, no problem. I was put on hold again and again - after about two minutes, decided that no one was going to come on the line. So, I hung up. I called back to customer service and l asked the guy who answered if I could talk to the Grocery Manager. He didn't know if they had one, and if they did, who it would be. I believed him. It sounded like utter chaos in the background. He told me he would page for PIC. Okay, that sounded like something. So, I waited on hold. No one ever came on. After about three minutes of holding, I hung up. Determined to get somewhere with this issue, I called back and picked the grocery department directly. A nice woman answered, but she didn't work in grocery and she told me she was new and had absolutely no idea who the Store Director was. (By this time, I figured I'd better move up the chain a bit....) But, she said, I'm gonna find out! I asked her if she was going to put me on hold and she said "No, I'm taking you with me!" I thought to myself, finally. Someone with some common sense and some sense of wanting to do something 'job like' while at work. So, we walked together. Her busting through doors and me jangling on the other end of the line. She was reading off of something and she found the Store Directors' name and number. I took it. I thanked her over and over again. I feel like I finally have a way to get somewhere with this. Of course, I'm sure Store Director hours are like, what 8 to 5pm - or so. I will call tomorrow. I'll update this review. One star to be shared by the two employees who have helped so far. read more