The Rotten Banana Award goes to Albertson’s.com
Warning: Boycott Albertsons.com
Normally, I’m of the belief that if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all; however, I view this as a public service announcement: if you are up here at Snowbird or Alta, do not use Albertsons.com to buy or deliver your groceries.
The website is difficult to navigate, bug-ridden, frequently hangs and is extremely slow to load. I’m willing to put up with that because I need groceries. They throw soft pears into the bottom of the bag so you get pear mush and have to throw out the pears. You order 4 limes and get 1, 2 lemons you get 1. I’m willing to put up with that because…stuff happens. I’m willing to get on the phone to explain that yes, there is a difference between parsley and cilantro and that carbonated and flat water are not the same. It’s not easy to get groceries, so I put up with the nonsense.
However, when the website is down, customer service is down, you finally (5 phone calls later) get through to someone, they assure you that they will make it right, tell me to order what I need and that no delivery charge will be applied and give me a case number to reference the problem, I assume that Customer Service is actually doing its job.
Today I learned that Customer Service is actually a misnomer, it should be called the Bait and Switch Dept. I was informed that they would not honor my case number, that in fact, I was being double charged for editing an order and that the agent who originally gave me the case number would be ‘coached’ instead of reimbursing me. Needless to say, I’m not so happy with Colleen V, the Customer Service Supervisor. I’m out $25 and they only delivered about 1/3 of my order. I did offer to return everything, but even that was refused. Apparently it’s a take-take situation.
These are tough times, and I’ll be honest with you, it’s times like these where loyalties are cemented. The guys who come through for you are the ones you will remember and reward. The $25 of ill will that Albertson’s just purchased, well that will last a lifetime. We’ve been coming to Snowbird for years, and we will continue to come, but Albertson’s has lost a customer forever.
When we were recently in Paris, and I was explaining to our dining partner that I didn’t like to write about bad meals or bad restaurants, he told me that it was important to warn other people off. You did a good service, Jude – and it sounds like Albertson’s is a bunch of mutts, who have a captive audience and don’t think they need to service it well, if at all.
Not knowing the diff between cilantro and parsley is almost forgivable; pears at the bottom of the bag, rotten bananas, et. al. are not.
I guess you’ll have to make Manhattans or Martinis and forgo the citrus.