Kroger, you've done me wrong...

This may be the last time you see a  Kroger logo on my blog. I think I have finally had it up to "here" with trying to shop at Kroger.

I have continued to shop at Kroger, even after it stopped doubling/tripling coupons. Why, you may ask? Well, mostly out of habit, I guess. We started shopping at our Kroger right after Hubby and I got married. Prior to that, I shopped at a different Kroger. We were  happy that the place we found to move to was close to a Kroger. We both liked it and have always been satisfied with our shopping experience there.

When our kids came to live with us, money got a little tight, so I relearned how to bargain shop and started using coupons....a lot of coupons. And Kroger was the perfect store to do it. I got great deals and kept our family well fed on a reasonable budget.

Then Kroger stopped doubling/tripling coupons, so I no longer got the deals I used to. But all our kids had moved out, and out money was not as tight, so we just kept shopping there. But Kroger's prices keep going up. I know....I know....everything is going up. But we have some healthy grocery store competition in our area and Kroger is just not competitive. But we still kept going to Kroger pretty much every weekend. And sometimes, Hubby makes trips in between.

We can also shop for groceries at WalMart, SuperTarget, HEB and a couple of local chain grocery stores. But we haven't been...until lately. Oh, I am still not a fan of WalMart and we haven't been to Target in a long time. But, lately, local grocery stores have been getting some of our dollars that Kroger used to get exclusively.

And after today, that percentage will go even higher. This was an insignificant incident in my life, but it was just the final straw, I guess.

A while back, I had bought a box of Ball canning lids and rings. When I was using them, one of the rings had a defect and was unusable, so I emailed the company regarding the defect and was sent a coupon for a replacement box of rings. (I thought that was very nice, since only one ring had the defect.) So, yesterday, even though I didn't need the lids, I saw them as I walked down the aisle and decided to go ahead and get them and put them in the closet with my other canning stuff.

I got to the checkout and all went well until the cashier scanned the coupon for the canning lids. It wouldn't go through...he looked confused. Then he tells me that it is for $5 and the canning lids are only $4.69. So I told him just to put it in for $4.69. I just wanted the lids.

HE COULD NOT GET IT TO WORK.

After a few minutes. I told him to give me back the coupon, take the lids off and I would get them at WalMart where they can get a coupon to work. He handed back the coupon, totalled my order and I paid. Then I decided it was time for a well placed complaint, so went to the temporary customer service desk. (Oh, yeah, my store is being remodelled so it is a mess.) After waiting for a few minutes and not being assisted by the girl that was taking forever to do something else, I went to the closest checkout where the cashier was standing around and asked if she would call a manager.

She did and while I was waiting for a manager, I glanced down into my cart and saw the BOX OF CANNING LIDS that I had given to the cashier to remove from my order. Checked my receipt and they had been removed. So, yes, I was stealing a box of lids from Kroger.

Now, I was irritated!

When the manager finally came, I introduced myself, told him how long I had been a customer of his store and about my frustration. His response, "Okay"...to everything I said. He DID offer to take care of the canning lid coupon and I told him forget it. I was going to Walmart with the coupon. I imagine that as soon as I walked away, he forgot I even talked to him. But I won't.

I don't need to work so hard just to buy groceries. Not get deals, just get groceries.

I would say, "Sorry, Kroger.", but it is not my fault I am leaving you. You just don't want my business.

Rant over.