I Will not Shop at the ShopRite at Ark Rd. and Rt. 38 Again

Well,  the Ark Road ShopRite has finally lost my business.

I have put up with the out of date milk, the moldy cheese and muffins, but my experience at the fish counter today put me over the top.

I politely waited at the fish counter while the employee behind the counter finished getting the crab legs ready for the steamer.  During that time a couple also joined me at the counter, and it appeared they may have been friends of the employee behind the counter.

I had a distinct feeling, he preferred to serve them first, however, he did ask me what I wanted and I asked for some of the seafood salad.  He looked a little dismayed at my request and suggested I buy it from the prepacked cased.  I looked at the container and it was full of white liquid and the date was only for the next day.  In addition, it was less than the amount that I requested.

I told him I didn't care to take that because of all the liquid and he said it was just separated.  It truly did not look like something I would want to take home.

At that point he started to help the other customer, and I indicated I wanted the salad fresh from behind the counter.  He said, oh he didn't realized that.  I told him to forget it and I left the counter.

This person was in charge of sales prevention and has his behavior has made me decide that I will go to the next closest Shop Rite, which has different ownership or to Wegmans where they go out of their way to provide an enjoyable customer experience.

Difficulty At the Lowe's Check Out

While Lowe's is trying to stream line their check out, I think they have made it more difficult to get out of the store quickly and efficiently.

Last week I needed to buy two ceiling fans and a new doorbell.  I could not find a standard check out -- only self service.  I had two big ceiling fan boxes which I was unable to lift so I could self scan.  After asking a couple of sales people they directed me to a  lane with a person with a scanner wand.  There was no sign indicating that this was a non self serve line or one with assistance.

Unfortunately, I had to return one of the fans for a different size.  The return was completed easily near the store entrance.  However, once again, I could not find a non self service check-out.  Someone suggested there was a person at the end of self scan 4.  Sure enough, there she was with the portable scanner, however there were two other people in front of me who were also seeking assistance for complicated purchases.

I tried the checkout at the end of the store where the lumber is, and that is a standard check-out, but the person in front of me whas purchasing so many items, it looked like a 15 minute wait for one person.

I went back to aisle 4 where there was only one other person remaining in the line to assistance.

I don't mind checking myself out (although I think I should get a discount for accepting less than full service).  However, I would appreciate a lane that is clearly marked full service (or the like) so I am able to use it easily when I have packages that do not lend themselves to self serve.

I will check out Home Depot the next time.

Good Experience at J. Jill

I had a very good experience shopping at J. Jill.

The sales person was attentive and spent significant time finding me an alternate size or coordinated piece of clothing.

When they did not have my size in something I wanted to buy, we went to the computer, placed the order and I should receive it at my home without shipping charges.

Besides, having affordable, wearable clothes, J. Jill is easy to do business with.

Mixed Experience with HP

Out of the blue, I was getting a pop up box telling me my HP Media TV was not working.

I tried to chat with the on-line rep, but the chat feature wasn't working so I sent and email and ran some errands.

When I turned on my computer a couple of hours later, there was an email from HP, expressing their regrets about the situation, and providing me with step by step instructions on how to fix it.

Outside of not telling me to go to the control panel, the instructions were excellent.

I sent back an email thanking them for their help and they returned a thankful response.

All in all, a pretty good experience.

Shop Rite has Out of Date Chocolate Milk Again

I was at the Shop Rite again on September 8, 2009 and looked for the Over the Moon Chocolate milk again.

The three cartons they had were out of date as of August 31, 2009.

I again showed the carton to an employee who was not too concerned, and did not offer to see if they had any fresher milk.

This milk is on the botton shelf of the milk fridge.  Do you think no one looks down there?

Great Customer Experience at J. Jill in Marlton, NJ

What a nice place to shop.

McDonalds Doesnt' Hear No Cheese

I have started an experiment with McDonald's.

I occasionally eat at McDonald's when I am on the go and always ask for my meal without cheese.

Three out of the last four times, I got cheese. This happened again last week.

Most of the time I eat at different locations, so I can't pin point the error to one location.

What do you think it will take to get my sandwich without cheese? Do they not listen, do the sandwich prep folks not notice the exception?