Happy Veterans' Day! Thanks to all who have served.

As a veteran, I make a practice of patronizing stores that offer a discount for veterans (figuring this encourages them to do so). Once again, Albertsons was offering a 10% discount for active duty and veterans (as per their ad). Unfortunately, when it came time to check out, the checker told me such a thing did not exist and never had (implying that I was lying because I said I had used it in the past). Another employee was called over and verified it was in the ad. She said they would give it to me. The checker had a bit of an attitude asking for my military ID (which I always provide for these things when requested)--almost as if she didn't believe I had one. In short, it was not a pleasant experience and checkout took about as much time as my shopping did. Thankfully, I'm rather tough and tend to stand my ground. I hate to think what the experience would do to an older veteran. Of course, I did send a message to corporate after I got back to the house, although I haven't heard back from them.

To any other veterans that might plan to shop at Albertsons today, just remember "Lock and load. Ready. Aim. Fire." Stand your ground and get what was promised to you. You earned it.

Fabulous! I confess I enjoyed the commercials almost as much as the program! Thank you!

I haven't seen my military I.D. for about sixty years. I'm surprised they'd ask for proof.

Many places simply trust you. When I was discharged in 1979, we received laminated wallet cards for both our Honorable Discharge and our DD-214. Since the SSN was our ID number back then, it's preferable not to pass those around too much. I am signed up with the VA (they expanded benefits available to veterans) and they issued an ID card (got the photo done by the VA locally a couple of years ago and the card was mailed to me). That's the one I usually use.

As for the full sized originals, I "think" I know where they are; however, one can never be too sure after a certain amount of time has passed (things sometimes move around when you aren't watching them).

In the interest of being fair and full disclosure, I received a reply from Corporate this evening at approximately 7:24 (I wasn't at the computer so didn't open it then). Here is the reply:

Greetings Karen,

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the unsatisfactory experience you encountered with our employee at your local Albertsons store. Your time and effort of notifying us of your concerns is highly appreciated.

Sincere apologies for the unsatisfactory customer service you received as this is certainly not consistent with our standards. Please know that your complaint is of the utmost importance to us as it allows us the opportunity to improve our customers’ shopping experiences. As such, your comments will be directed to the Store Director for review.

As for the customer survey, I will be forwading your comments to the appropriate department for their review and consideration.

Meanwhile, please reply with the following information so that I can locate your Club Card account and document the issue under your account for easy tracking on the escalation updates:


Telephone number associated with your Club Card:

Club Card Number:


Thank you for shopping with us.

Amone
Customer Support Center


I don't have a Club Card Number because I have a dumb phone and elected not to get one. I have responded to that effect. I will admit it crossed my mind that the first thing they would check is your purchase history to see how big of a customer you are (one reason I don't have a Club Card Number--I have nothing to hide; however, I do value my privacy). I can only hope they do well when they are "forwading" [sic] my comments. I will keep you posted.

Beautiful boilerplate b.s.

But they forgot to say, "This is not who we are".

I think you have their number, Dick! They did write back to let me know that email was fine. I'm sure you're not completely taken aback to learn that the local store has not contacted me. Perhaps I should follow up with corporate on Monday if they still haven't. "Chain of command" and that sort of thing . . .

Karen,

I've spoken several times with people at Albertsons corporate, (800)723-3929, about defective products. They all read from the same script.

Sadly, "real" customer service is rare at many places now. In all honesty, I don't really anticipate there will be a change because of my actions. I am, however, pleased to note to myself that having written communication diminishes their comfort zone a bit because there is a record that cannot be disputed . . . Kudos to you for having tilted at a few windmills, too. One never knows . . . there can only be a "victory" if you do battle and there are times that it is the honorable thing to do regardless of whether you win.

I wonder how many veterans were denied the advertised discount at Albertsons before you came in to the store? Maybe just one or two, so that's okay, isn't it?

Sometimes I complain about things that even I consider petty nit-picking. It's the "broken windows" theory: visible signs of disorder and misbehavior in any environment encourage escalation to more serious disorder and misbehavior. The principle was developed to explain the decay of neighborhoods, but it can be applied to other environments.

Let your kids say damn or hell in the house and pretty soon they'll be saying s--- and f--- at the dinner table.

Accept milk two or three days past the pull date and pretty soon you'll be buying it a week or ten days past the pull date.

Conditions always get either worse or better. Nothing stays the same.

Very well said, Dick. I, too, operate under the same premise.

As part of my "fairness doctrine", one more update.

I've now had additional contacts with customer service and finally, as of this morning, received an email from the local store manager which acknowledged that their new associates may not have had adequate training. (I have noted there appears to have been a fair amount of turnover and many of the long time employees are not there now.) Further, the assurance is that training will be given. I can only hope that is true because of the theory that no one likes having to admit to a less than stellar performance--particularly to a link higher on the chain of command (which I admit I wasn't always good about following). Time will tell . . . Regardless, I still think bringing the issue to the fore was the right thing to do.

I just got off the phone with Albertsons customer service regarding a jar of their Signature brand mayonnaise that went bad after about three or four weeks. The rep was not reading from a script, so I apologize for that accusation I made earlier. He told me a $6.00 customer service credit will apply on my next shopping trip and answered a few other questions as well.

Thanks, Albertsons!

Sometimes it works, Dick. Kudos to you for sharing the success with us. I suspect that it will work more often if people realize it can and are willing to pursue a remedy when something doesn't work . . . rather a motivating item for businesses!