I recently moved into a state where Kroger is one of the primary grocery stores. I quickly took advantage of the store’s Kroger Plus Card, a shopper loyalty program which entitles you to discounts on select grocery items each week. Basically, you need the card to get the store’s sale prices, so the considerable savings it entitles me to is worth the hassle of carrying it. Plus, it also allows you to accumulate points you can redeem for fuel discounts at the store’s on-site gas station. You must give your card to the cashier on each shopping trip in order for the discounts to be applied to your bill.
After shopping one week, I got home and looked over my receipt, then realized I forgot to give my Kroger Plus Card to the cashier. My receipt noted that I could have saved more than $22, meaning I’d overpaid by that much because I failed to use the card. The next week, I took the receipt and my card to the customer service desk at the store and explained what happened. I am delighted to report the store gave me back (in cash) all the money I would have saved if I had used the card the previous week. I consider this to be an excellent example of a store showing that it cares about customers.
Kroger proved itself again the following week during a sale in which you got $5 off your bill by purchasing any 10 items highlighted in the week’s promotion. I thought I had all 10 items and assumed the $5 savings (50 cents per item) came off my bill. When I got home, however, the receipt showed I’d only purchased nine of the items, so I had been charged the full price for each one. It turned out I grabbed an item that appeared to be part of the promotion but had been put in the wrong place on the store’s shelves. The next time I went to Kroger, I explained the mishap, and the customer service staff allowed me to exchange that item for the one that was part of the promotion, then gave me the $5 I’d intended to save on my previous bill.
In both examples, Kroger could easily have refused to refund my money, pointing out that I didn’t meet the stated conditions to earn the savings on each trip. Instead, it honored the spirit of its promotions and respected its customer.
Lessons learned:
It never hurts to ask for a refund if you fail to meet the conditions of a store’s loyalty program or promotion due to a mistake you made. The worst the clerk can say is “no.” Hand your loyalty card to the clerk at the start of your transaction so you don’t get distracted and forget to use it. Check your receipt before leaving the store to ensure you got all the savings to which you were entitled. If you notice an error on your receipt related to a weekly sale, return to the store before the sale ends so you can point out signage errors or incorrect pricing while the clerk can easily verify your claims. When the sale is over, it may be hard for the clerk to tell how much you should have been charged for the item in question.
For more tips on customer service and saving money, visit my blog: www.whocaresaboutcustomers.com.