i walked into this store in a relatively good mood, which was made even better when I was given a gift card by Star-Telegram representatives simply for entering a raffle. However, by the time that I left, nearly all of my good vibes were gone.
I recently moved back to this area from Austin, and while no stores in Cedar Hill can compete with H-E-B, I am determined to make the best of what is available here.
This was my first time shopping at Kroger in years, and I was really happy with the deals that I found. I found natural peanut butter for less than $2, and it didn't have any of the additives that more expensive brands sneak into their nut butters. The salmon I'd gone there for specifically was on sale. I was one happy shopper, and repeatedly wondered why I hadn't liked this store when I lived here previously.
The good feelings kept coming as I found Halo Top on sale for $3. In order to take advantage of the sale, I had to have the digital coupons app, which I hurriedly downloaded. The app also gave me the option to sign up for what I thought was the Kroger Plus card, only the digital version of it.
I was short on time at this point, so I took my purchases to self-checkout, where everything immediately went to crap.
The kiosk didn't prompt me to scan the app's barcode, nor did it request my phone number, so I just started scanning my items, thinking I would have the opportunity to do so at the end. However, I didn't have that opportunity, and to add insult to injury, several sale items had rung up at their regular prices.
An assistant manager huffed over, and I told her that I wasn't getting any of the discounts I should have received. I didn't even get a chance to tell her about the coupons app, because she condescendingly asked me if I had a "Kroger card". Shocker of shockers, having the card told her that I had just signed up for it on the app, and she rudely told me that I should have scanned it when I first got started. When I told her that I didn't see it in the app, she said that it meant that I didn't have one, and insinuated that I was SOL.
I offered to look through the app's features, and told her I would find the card I had just signed up for. As I did this, she impatiently stared (more like glared) at me and repeated her refrain about me not actually having a card.
The manner in which this woman spoke me to was absolutely ridiculous, and ridiculously unnecessary. She was supposed to help me, but instead went out of her way to belittle me and speak to me as though I were the dumbest person she had ever encountered in her life. Given that this woman was easily pushing sixty, that says a lot.
It wasn't until that I said that I wouldn't buy anything and started to walk away that she changed her tune. Suddenly, there was a physical Kroger Plus card that she could use to solve got from another register. She scanned it, and the discounts started rolling in. You know how a couple treats their toddler who just learned how to walk? All happy, and speaking in exaggerated tones to celebrate and encourage their child's progress? That's how this woman spoke to me when the total changed. I told her about my gift card, and she put on the same "I'm so happy for you, you big dummy" tone as she told me to swipe it. It was passive-aggressive as hell. She then asked me how I would handle the remaining balance as though I had absolutely no money at all, and I sarcastically responded with, "with my own funds". She then clarified that she was referring to cash or debit, and when I said produced my card, she told me to put my chip in. Who does that?
I have never had anyone in customer service treat me this way. This woman stopped short of asking me how I was able to dress myself everyday, and spoke to me the way most adults would speak to a three year-old.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that she didn't have to subject me to any of it. She could have explained that I was mistaken about what I'd signed up for, and offered me a Kroger Plus card from the outset. There would have been no disrespect, no belittling comments, and no condescending attitude from her at all.
I am at a complete loss as to why she did this. I suppose that I could have told her that I didn't appreciate her behavior, but I think she knew, and telling her wouldn't have helped.
I will let store leadership know that their assistant managers have no concept of what good customer service should be. read more