I was recently at Safeway in Marana and was going to purchase a value package of country style pork ribs on sale at $1.77/lb. Some packages of the same cut (value packs) were marked in error at $1.99/lb. I took the package I selected to the butcher and verified it should be $1.77/lb instead of the marked $1.99/lb. I asked if he could change it and he informed me that when it is rung up at the cashier register it would be corrected. I have never worked in a grocery store, but when this has happened in the past, the butcher has always, remeasured and relabelled and I have never had the cashier have to recalculate. I went to the register and the package rang up at the $1.99/lb rate. I brought it to the attention of the cashier and told him I thought it odd the butcher said the cashier would ring it at $1.77, but that's what he said. The cashier then calculated the overage and looked at me and said, "It's only 57 cents difference." I just looked back at the cashier and said, "Yes." But, it was clear the cashier was telling me that it was only a 57 cents difference and that I should accept it as is. Because I didn't say, 'never mind' or 'don't worry about it' the cashier knew that my expectation was to remove the overage from the total. I find it ridiculous that the butcher was not willing to correct the error and then the cashier looks at me like I cheap. After I left, I felt I should have asked the cashier to give me the 57 cents out of his own pocket since it was no big deal.
Although this 57cents was not really a big deal, it brought to mind another shopping trip at this same Safeway a while back. I had asked the butcher (different individual) if he could grind a beef roast for me. He pleasantly said yes and took the roast from me and went to the room behind a door and few minutes later brought out a package of grinded beef. Little did I know until after I got home to begin cooking, the center was a brownish color, different from the outter edges. It was clear to me he went back and grabbed a package of meat of lesser grade (likely a mixture of regular ground beef), not grind the roast I handed him, and gave it to me with a smile. I was very upset when this happened and wasn't going to make a trip back to the store since I was now in the middle of preparing dinner. I have been very skeptical about the ethics of some of the butchers at this Safeway.
I do hope this will spark someone's interest at Safeway to correct these type of issues. Prior to this, I always thought Safeway was a higher class grocery store than many of the others.
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