Grocery Shopping

[Aerides]

even costco is limiting TP - not selling online! (and out at my store)

I'm well stocked as we never really dented our SHTF stash from March.

 

[Amethyst]

One has to wonder what people have been eating. I mean, didn't everyone have enough TP from the last hoarding to last 2 years?

 

[timo2]

One has to wonder what people have been eating. I mean, didn't everyone have enough TP from the last hoarding to last 2 years?

One would think. But working or schooling from home is fueling all kinds of shopping distortions. It turns out that employer and school provided TP is one of the great benefits of life and probably company overhead costs. Everyone has now realized that working and schooling from home shifts costs from the employers to the workers. At home, the workers pay for the TP; they can not turn their heat down while they are gone for the day; require an enhanced wifi package from their provider; and eat different food than at work or school.

 

[brett]

I do not understand the TP issue.

Have been at our local Costco this week. Skads of TP. Piled sky high as per normal at Costco. Nor did I see anyone at the checkout with abnormal amounts.

Was in our local supermarket yesterday. Exact same story. Lots and lots of paper products. No shortages of anything that we were looking to buy.

 

[TrvlBug]

They had a blurb on the news last night about Costco's shortages of TP and PT. Seems our local shortages are only at Costco and maybe other big box stores and not at the local grocery stores

 

[Telly]

Was at Kroger this Sunday morning ~8 AM. Plenty of TP and PT, looked normal. There were more people in the store for that day and time, though.

Shopping Carts - Kid collecting carts from the parking lot just pushed them into the side that people take carts from when they come into the store. Sanitizing? Nope. Same kid I saw two weeks ago doing the same thing, phone still glued to ear. The cart pickup area is dead-end, there is no other end like many Walmarts have that easily lends itself to segregating carts till sanitized. Krogers by us used to have carts lined up inside the stores that were sanitized, kept separate from the returned carts in the vestibule. Haven't seen that for many months.

At Walmart a couple months ago a teenager (least looked that way to me) was minimally dusting the top of cart handles quickly with a garden sprayer, till one of the store personnel told him he needed to also spray the underside of the handles, and use the paper towels to work the spray in. We always come prepared with a large paper towel and a strip of tape to tape it closed, to wrap the handle under many layers of paper. Stays on till we empty the cart at car, put it in the cart return outside, then rip off towel and into trash can there. We also always avoid touching the fold-down seat or its straps, as all sorts of expo's have shown that they are usually contaminated with fecal bacteria. Sometimes door person at Walmart sees us wrapping the handle, and tells us that they are all disinfected. We thank them, and carry on regardless. We see more than they do!

 

[Sunset]

I bring a tiny (from glasses store) spray bottle that I dump out the eye glass cleaner, and fill with 70% alcohol.
It fits in my pocket, and I can spray the shopping cart handle and wipe it with a papper towel.
After shopping I spray my hands at the car. I stopped wearing the blue gloves in stores.

 

[Badger]

I bring a tiny (from glasses store) spray bottle that I dump out the eye glass cleaner, and fill with 70% alcohol.
It fits in my pocket, and I can spray the shopping cart handle and wipe it with a papper towel.
After shopping I spray my hands at the car. I stopped wearing the blue gloves in stores.

My wife and I carry small spray bottle with alcohol too. Gave up gloves after the first time. Now it is the alcohol spray before and after handling the groceries. Then followed by hand washing after storing the groceries at home.


Cheers!

 

[fh2000]

I do curbside pickup from Ralph's (a Kroger company). Almost once a month, after I get home, DW would find a bag missing. I have to call and go there a 2nd time. My order is not particularly large each time. Mostly 6 or 7 bags.

This would still happen when the picker is the same person loading the bags into my car, and even after I ask if they loaded every bag.

 

[harllee]

I am having trouble with Walmart grocery both pick up and delivery. I have used Walmart pick up with good success until recently. Last week I tried Walmart delivery and it was a disaster--I was charged for 20 items I did not receive and had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund. Today I went back to Walmart curbside and was charged for five items I did not receive ($34 worth), again I had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund.

Anyone else having trouble with Walmart charging for things you don't receive?

I guess I am going to have to find a different grocery for pick up or delivery ( I do not want to go inside a grocery). Any suggestions? (We don't have a Publix).

 

[Jerry1]

I bring a tiny (from glasses store) spray bottle that I dump out the eye glass cleaner, and fill with 70% alcohol.
It fits in my pocket, and I can spray the shopping cart handle and wipe it with a papper towel.
After shopping I spray my hands at the car. I stopped wearing the blue gloves in stores.

I just take a small bottle of hand sanitizer and put a good amount on my hands and then rub down the handle with the sanitizer. Also, having the sanitizer is good for opening those small produce bags. Now that I can’t lick a finger (because my mask is on), I put a drop of sanitizer on my finger and that gives me the tackiness I need to get those bags open.

 

[Gumby]

I just take a small bottle of hand sanitizer and put a good amount on my hands and then rub down the handle with the sanitizer. Also, having the sanitizer is good for opening those small produce bags. Now that I can’t lick a finger (because my mask is on), I put a drop of sanitizer on my finger and that gives me the tackiness I need to get those bags open.

I have a tub of wipes in the car. When I go to the grocery, I take one in with me. I use it to wipe the cart handle and to open the doors on the refrigerator cases.

 

[fh2000]

I am having trouble with Walmart grocery both pick up and delivery. I have used Walmart pick up with good success until recently. Last week I tried Walmart delivery and it was a disaster--I was charged for 20 items I did not receive and had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund. Today I went back to Walmart curbside and was charged for five items I did not receive ($34 worth), again I had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund.

Anyone else having trouble with Walmart charging for things you don't receive?

I guess I am going to have to find a different grocery for pick up or delivery ( I do not want to go inside a grocery). Any suggestions? (We don't have a Publix).

I know. Large orders tend to get them confused. Walmart has $35 limit for free delivery, so I tend not to go over too much for each order. I had to call their call center a couple of times too. They are in Asia, but refund / reship is not a problem for them.

 

[REWahoo]

Anyone else having trouble with Walmart charging for things you don't receive?

Sounds like a problem at the local level. We've been using Walmart for grocery pickup since early April and only once were we charged for an item we did not get, and once for substitutions we declined at pick up, but were still charged for.

FWIW, this is one of their Neighborhood Markets, not a "regular" Walmart store. Overall their service has been and remains very good.

(Hope I didn't jinx myself by paying them a compliment. DW discovered this am that we were out of dog food. I submitted an online order for pick up at 2pm today - the first time we've tried same day service.)

EDIT: Our orders usually range between $100 and $150.

 

[audreyh1]

Looks like the panic buying is starting again ...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-with-new-pandemic-restrictions-idUSKBN2802W3

All out a week ago in our area Costco whereas two weeks prior they had plenty. Fortunately I had ordered a case each of TP and PT late summer in GA when they came available online again. But we didn’t have room to take the cases back home to TX. Our home supplies of TP in TX were pretty low.

Now we are back in GA, reconciled with our paper stash, and we got a minivan (for transporting a large oil painting), so we have oodles of room to carry paper products back to TX.

 

[Calico]

All out a week ago in our area Costco whereas two weeks prior they had plenty. Fortunately I had ordered a case each of TP and PT late summer in GA when they came available online again. But we didn’t have room to take the cases back home to TX. Our home supplies of TP in TX were pretty low.

Now we are back in GA, reconciled with our paper stash, and we got a minivan (for transporting a large oil painting), so we have oodles of room to carry paper products back to TX.

Hmmm....interstate transport of toilet paper? I suggest you go under cover of darkness to avoid the TP Police!

 

[obsessed]

Hmmm....interstate transport of toilet paper? I suggest you go under cover of darkness to avoid the TP Police!

Proof that life is stranger than fiction. The TP Police are real! (sort of)

https://komonews.com/news/local/sheriff-prolific-oregon-toilet-paper-thief-busted-in-walla-walla-co

 

[ivinsfan]

Sounds like a problem at the local level. We've been using Walmart for grocery pickup since early April and only once were we charged for an item we did not get, and once for substitutions we declined at pick up, but were still charged for.

FWIW, this is one of their Neighborhood Markets, not a "regular" Walmart store. Overall their service has been and remains very good.

(Hope I didn't jinx myself by paying them a compliment. DW discovered this am that we were out of dog food. I submitted an online order for pick up at 2pm today - the first time we've tried same day service.)

EDIT: Our orders usually range between $100 and $150.

Just got home from a 115 dollar WalMart pickup.. I have never had one single mistake on the WalMart end. Today I thought I was missing one item . I pulled up the order and the problem was ME..I only thought about ordering it I didn't actually add it to my order....

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Harris teeter and/or wegmans?

I am having trouble with Walmart grocery both pick up and delivery. I have used Walmart pick up with good success until recently. Last week I tried Walmart delivery and it was a disaster--I was charged for 20 items I did not receive and had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund. Today I went back to Walmart curbside and was charged for five items I did not receive ($34 worth), again I had to spend a long time on the phone to get a refund.

Anyone else having trouble with Walmart charging for things you don't receive?

I guess I am going to have to find a different grocery for pick up or delivery ( I do not want to go inside a grocery). Any suggestions? (We don't have a Publix).

 

[harllee]

Sounds like a problem at the local level. We've been using Walmart for grocery pickup since early April and only once were we charged for an item we did not get, and once for substitutions we declined at pick up, but were still charged for.

FWIW, this is one of their Neighborhood Markets, not a "regular" Walmart store. Overall their service has been and remains very good.

(Hope I didn't jinx myself by paying them a compliment. DW discovered this am that we were out of dog food. I submitted an online order for pick up at 2pm today - the first time we've tried same day service.)

EDIT: Our orders usually range between $100 and $150.

Yes it is probably a problem with my local Walmart. I can change the WM I use for pick up --there is another one I can go to (but it is further away) so I might give that a try. Today my order was around $200, the missing items totaled $35. Last week my order (which was a delivery order) was also around $200, the missing items totaled $50 (and another $50 worth was out of stock so I only got $100 worth of groceries when I ordered $200). I guess because the amount of refund was large I could not use online refunding for the missing items--I had to call customer service which was a long drown out affair. First the customer service person suggested I drive back to WM and look for my missing items and I said no I will not do that.

 

[harllee]

Harris teeter and/or wegmans?

We don't have a Wegmans yet (one is under construction) but we do have a Harris Teeter. Have you had a good experience with Harris Teeter curbside or pick up?

 

[audreyh1]

Hmmm....interstate transport of toilet paper? I suggest you go under cover of darkness to avoid the TP Police!

Well, on our first trip out in March when we realized we had to go by car and stay awhile, I threw jackets over the case of TP at our hotel stops because I didn't want someone breaking into our car at night to steal TP!!!

Proof that life is stranger than fiction. The TP Police are real! (sort of)

https://komonews.com/news/local/sheriff-prolific-oregon-toilet-paper-thief-busted-in-walla-walla-co

Well there you go - I may have thwarted a thief after all!!!

 

[JoeWras]

On the other side of the Triangle region, we've had no problems with Walmart. DW's only complaint is sometimes they are a bit slow on bringing out the groceries, with a little wait involved. The orders have been 100% perfect, sometimes with upgraded substitutions and intentional little surprise items.

DW has had a few issues with Harris Teeter accuracy. She kind of read them the riot act once after getting charged for all the stuff they said they could not fulfill. Ever since, they've been OK and call her with a nice greeting. She thinks she's on a "trouble list" of sorts. But here's the thing, DW paid a yearly fee for this, so I don't think it is wrong to expect good service.

We have a Wegmans, but the place is a crowded zoo and we don't like traveling there. Sometimes they have to have traffic cops. Too crowded, even by car.

 

[Chuckanut]

I picked up yesterday and it was still free.

I see that the latest version of the Fred Meyer website now says pickup is free with a minimum $35 order.

 

[Calico]

Proof that life is stranger than fiction. The TP Police are real! (sort of)

https://komonews.com/news/local/sheriff-prolific-oregon-toilet-paper-thief-busted-in-walla-walla-co