My sister and I was planning a trip to the grocery store this morning and before we left we looked at their weekly ad. They had two things that we really wanted. One was whole chickens for 69 cents a pound and the other thing was two packages of bacon (I forgot the brand) for $5.00. We went to the store and couldn't find the bacon that was on sale. We then went to look for the chicken and the only whole chickens they had were more expensive, and they were in the slot above the sign for the sale chickens. We finally seen a meat department employee and asked him about the chickens that were on sale. He said they were in the back and he would go get some. When he came back, we asked him about the bacon that was on sale. He said they didn't have any and then remarked that the ad for the bacon was on the front page of the weekly ad and shrugged his shoulders. Here is my rant: This was the first day of the sale. A person would think that they would have these items in stock. This same thing happened a few weeks ago with cat litter. The item was listed in the weekly ad and they didn't have any on the shelf. When I asked an employee, they said more would be in on Saturday. Well, I wasn't going to be in town on Saturday, so that didn't help me one bit. I live about 20 miles from the grocery store and I only go to town about every two weeks. I was wondering if this happens a lot in other stores or is it just poor management at this location.
Well it sounds to me that you need to find a different grocery store. I mean you are essentially describing a bait and switch type scheme. I mean if they are sold out because the item has been on sale for several days is one thing, but to just arbitrarily advertise and then not have the items is unfair and stinks to high heaven.
I think that is just false advertising if they intentionally know that they don't have the product in stock, yet they still advertise that it's available. Or maybe it was an innocent mistake on their part, and if that's the case then they should be more efficient in checking their inventory before advertising.
I absolutely detest it when this happens, and you'd be surprised how often it happens in big stores too, not just shady lone trader setups. There is little you can do in these situations, and I wish Advertising authorities had more power to punish such blatant scams.
I hate when that happens! Sadly, it is quite common for most stores to do the bait and switch. It isn't the store's fault. It is their corporate ad team. Sometimes they will only give the stores 10 sales items and just put a tiny disclaimer at the bottom saying that "sales items are limited. No rain checks" to cover themselves legally. Call corporate and complain that you will no longer be shopping there because of their shady ads.
Yes, Ke Gordon, I probably do need to find a different grocery store. Unfortunately, I live in a small town and there's not much to choose from around here. When I'm going to buy a large amount of groceries, I usually go to a different town which is a little farther away, but I can get them much cheaper. If I only need a few things or if I have other business to take care of in town, I'll go to this store. It's very frustrating, but I'm sure it does happen in a lot of different stores. I remember years ago when store owners and employees tried to do everything they could to help the customer. Now it seems like a lot of them just don't care about their customers. I guess it's just a sign of the times, and it's sad.
I think it's mighty deceitful for people to put up the "SALE" sign and when stocks run out, they don't even restock. Also, they might as well tell you in advance that those are the last items available that's why they're putting up a sale. Unfortunately, they know that you'd feel you've wasted time going out of your way to get to the store but end up not buying anything so you might as well buy something so your efforts won't be wasted.
They could be more to it than poor management. Ads attract customers and if you get to the store and they tell you that just missed out on the deal because everything has been sold, you could still opt to buy something and hope that the next time you'll be luckier. This is why if it's possible one should buy their groceries online because if there's a deal, it will be real not something that is used to lure customers into the stores.
Often, many shops go down to the level of false advertising to hook customers. Without taking the shop owners accountable for their lying or, simply, ignorant mistakes-- as shoppers, we would not realise how much money we spend on things we don't need but buy them because they're on "sale". At our local grocery, bold SALE signs are displayed on the WAS price. But when I check the difference, the prices stay the same. "Never shop when hungry," as the saying goes. And "stick to the list" is a lot safer to do when shopping days are on.
This is one of my pet peeves. I also sometimes question why a store is out of something they've advertised, especially at the beginning of the sale period. This is something that needs to be investigated by the local press and/or the governing authorities. Bait and switch tactics are usually overseen by the state attorney general, although there may be a local office that governs it initially. If it's an ongoing concern, it may be worth your while to contact those parties, to get to the bottom of the matter. There are investigative reporters here who will look into things of this nature.
Miss Libby, I can relate because it is kind of the same way here. We do have one alternative grocery store plus a market, that is an alternative to the Food Lion which seems to have a monopoly here. The problem is that you never know what you will find at the other stores, and Food Lion carries most things, although stores like Kroger or Aldis, or even Walmart are much cheaper on most items.
When I lived further from town, this kind of thing really frustrated me. It still does, but it's not quite as bad as it was when I traveled a long way only to find that they didn't have the sale item. Keep in mind that you can ask for a rain check as well. Many stores will issue one, and then the next time you do go to town, you can get that product at the price that was advertised when they were out of it. It's still a bit of a hassle, but I've done it more than once. It may be the only way that we can hold them to their word and make them honor the offer.
I don't blame you for being upset, I would of been too. But I think this happens almost every where. For me it's the walmart in my town, they are always out of not just sale items but even normal every day items they should have. There has been plenty of times I have gone to walmart for a sale just to get there and realize their isn't any left and usually the same day as it comes in. Also they take their sweet time restocking, sometimes it takes up to weeks for them to restock an item. It can get quite frustrating at times.
I dislike when it happens and it happens here in Hawaii too on the first day of the sale too! Items go out so fast that it's sold out when I finally find a clerk I ask if I can get a rain check and they say sure and just ask the cashier or however it's done in the particular store. Some stores like Don Quiote you have to go to the customer service to get the rain check...read the rain check for every store has different specs for it and you can get the item on sale at the sale price too! CVS is really good about it for the raincheck lasts forever...other stores last usually for a month. But some items on ad says no rainchecks too, so be careful of it. Good luck shopping!
I have had it happen before, but I cannot say it is anything regular, but if it were to get to that I point I would get very frustrated at the money that I was not saving and really wasting trips. I agree with @Ke Gordon and would say you might to switch stores, but sometimes that is not as easy as it seems for certain places, and I have been there before.
A lot of times you can get an IOU from them if they mess it up. For example, there's a grocery store here that was selling an acai drink for .50 cents a pop when it's usually 2.50. I put like 20 in my basket, lol, I woulda bought them all out. They rang up as 2.49 though, they gave me 5 of them for 50 cents but that was all lol
The concept of a "rain check" is unfortunately becoming less and less common. Most grocery stores around here don't issue them anymore and mark all sale items, particularly those that will get to come to a store specifically, as "while supplies last" or "limited quantities available." There are a few discount chain grocery stores around here that put out a generic ad and then don't stock that sale item ever which I feel is completely false advertisement. Also, sometimes they literally put sale items like this not in the place or department you would ordinarily find them to make it harder for people to locate the item since there are so many people that literally won't ask a clerk or stock person where it is at. I try with all my might not to deal with stores that have a habit of practicing shady behavior like this. It's unethical to me and not fair to loyal customers in particular.
Yep, there are some that will pull the old "bait and switch" and other tactics, just to get you through the doors. You can actually report them for it, but most people don't bother. Some will just avoid the store in the future. I would avoid those too. If they start out saying limited supply or while supplies last, at least that gives people fair warning. I wouldn't go out of my way to try to get there in that case. I have no problem asking where the item is, but yeah, I'm sure they count on some people avoiding that. It is kind of sketchy to try to hide the stuff. I don't like shady dealings either. If you're having a sale then honor it or don't bother at all.
It is disingenuous to say the least. It is bad enough that stores like Best Buy do this with TVs to draw people in for Black Friday. It is even worse when grocery stores do it. There is a big difference between not being able to buy a big TV on sale and food on sale. A lot of people depend on weekly sales to just be able to put food on the table. With that said, shortages do happen, so I don't think it is an issue when stores offer rainchecks for another day.
Yes. It is frustrating. Whether the store didn't expect such a run on that product or if they were intentionally being dishonest, it is still difficult. Especially if it is a product that you or your family really enjoys. Then, if you had to drive a ways to the store just to get that product puts salt in the wound.
