I've been shopping at the Kroger on Loveland Madiera Rd. for several years now, and always use a debit card to save on check-writing. This morning, I had the unfortunate experience of having my debit card stolen, and I had to have my financial institution block the card. I knew that I would not be able to use my card when shopping at Kroger, so I asked the CSR at the store if I could write a check, and I was told that would be fine. I then proceeded to do my shopping, and 45 to 50 minutes later, I reached the check-out line. When it came time to write out the check for an amount of $187, I found out the Kroger uses a program called Certegy Check, and Certegy rejected my check. I do not have any history of overdrafts on my checking account, and I've never bounced a check. The store told me I would have to call Certegy to get "things cleared up". When I called and spoke with Certegy, they told me that probably the reason the check was rejected was because I had not yet written a check at Kroger - it was my first check to them, therefore, it was not surprising that my check was rejected. I was also told by the Certegy rep that there is no way to tell if my next check will be accepted or declined until I actually try to write one out again at Kroger. This is not good news for me, as I will not have my new debit card from my financial institution for at least two weeks.
I must say that after wasting an entire hour of my time shopping, bagging, and then on the phone with Certegy, that I am very disappointed in the Loveland Kroger, and I will have to consider whether or not I ever want to shop there again. This form of check clearing is very impersonal, and is NOT excellent customer service, especially for someone who has shopped there numerous times as a loyal customer for several years. Even knowing that my debit card was stolen and that was the reason I needed to write out a check "for the first time" (it was check #1058, and I've had the account for 5 years with no overdrafts), it surprised me that the CSR at Kroger couldn't even get a manager to come override the Certegy outcome. Even the rep at Certegy told me that she couldn't override the outcome. Kroger truly needs to personalize its customer approach and reconsider the methods it is using to decide who can and who cannot write checks. What do I do for food between now and when my new card arrives in the mail from the bank? If I had a history of bouncing checks, especially at Kroger, then I could understand why they rejected my check. Who is the manager at this store, and what has Kroger taught its managers about personalized customer service? read more