Kroger — Local services in Hot Springs

Pick-up Service is a Disaster

Monday 8/10/2020 makes two separate occasions that our order was not ready. We've shopped at this Kroger for years, and while the experience doesn't rival the Central location, I prefer it to the other giant, run-mom-and-pop-outta-town option because the meat and produce are superior. Since the pandemic and my wife's cancer diagnosis, we've been trying to use pickup service to avoid exposure. The entire purpose of the pickup service is to avoid having to go in to the store--the convenience of the order being ready at or around the time I selected.

About two weeks ago, we placed an order and arrived at the time we selected. We followed the procedure and waited for about half an hour before calling to check again. A young man came to the car and gave us a disjointed narrative about spilled milk and said, "we can cancel the order or you can continue to wait." I asked for an estimate, which he could not provide, so I asked him to cancel the order and went inside and did the shopping myself. A mistake is irritating but understandable. A couple days later our bank statement showed we had actually paid for the groceries that we didn't pickup. The money was refunded within 10 days; thank God we're currently not living paycheck-paycheck.

Yesterday we arrived at 6:05 pm, having selected the 6-7 time slot. Again we followed the procedure. This time we didn't have to wait half an hour. He told us on the phone that our order would not be ready for "at least another hour." A delay is understandable. Okay, the order won't be ready on time? Call me and tell me. We weren't contacted though. No phone call. No text message. No email that we overlooked. Nothing.

I was fed up. Once is a mistake; twice is indicative of a pattern. The chances of this happening twice to the same customer and only that customer are pretty low. I went all Karen and went inside to speak to a manager. After waiting about 10 minutes, he came and apologized and made excuses. He was polite, and I can't say there was much he could do (other than say "I'm getting your order together right this minute" which he did not say), but it was clear that he didn't have a handle on the situation. I didn't leave the conversation thinking, by any means, that I could trust Kroger to have my order ready the next time I make the half hour drive to get groceries through a service that I thought would decrease the chance of exposure for my toddler and at-risk wife.

A pick-up service is an incredibly, almost absurdly convenient aspect of modern living. When a company doesn't get it right, it becomes the opposite of that. We spent more time and were exposed more as a result of trying to use Kroger's service than we would've been if we'd just decided to shop in-person from the beginning. I wouldn't recommend using this service, and it'll be a long time before I spend any money with Kroger at all.

UPDATE Turns out that Harps on Thornton Ferry actually delivers to address (most places don't because of our rural location). They were prompt, accurate, polite, and the business is...

Always have had a good experience with this Krogers due to their friendly and helpful employees. The gas point reward system they offer is the biggest and main reason for this to be my family's "home" grocery store. Who wouldn't like $.03 - $1.00 off per gallon of gas for what you need to purchase anyways. The only thing I would suggest is for whomever takes inventory and/or stalks the shelves to have them double check the expiration dates before pricing and placing items out. If they need to move produce that much then possibly consider putting it at a MAJOR price reduction as well as making a warning sign for customers to know that the food will soon expire. The last 3 times or so that I've been to this Krogers, I've bought something that was nearly or already expired and by the time I noticed the expiration, it was too late to take back and prove that it had been old before I could even use it. However, the customer service was kind enough refund a Kroger gift card and not give me any hassle regarding the 2 unopened condiments and 1 bag of tortillas that I luckily hadn't opened up like the other items I did have to unfortunately throw away wasting food and money. I'll admit it's a hassle to always look at expiration dates on EVERY item of food I put in my buggy and sometimes I do forget and miss checking the expiration dates especially when I have a 5 year old throwing in some of her typical foods of choice and just yesterday I got by with almost everything not already expired except for the applesauce she threw in which expired 6 months ago. Thank goodness I checked it before letting her eat it. This shouldn't be our duty but instead Krogers to make sure we're getting nothing but the freshest of produce and products they sale to the family's that put our trust into these companies to allow us to have a stress-free and fast paced experience that is an inevitable item of consumption,...

Been sitting outside of Kroger for an hour and 15 minutes waiting for them to correct a mistake on a digital coupon that was not my fault. They have had me call customer service, which I have gotten hung up on and have been on the phone now for an hour. Kroger on Central honored this coupon within five minutes The store on Albert Pike has given me nothing but problems. I am here for over an hour and 20 minutes on their customer service line which they made me call to solve this problem. Which the problem I have - I have been told it was a misprint of their digital coupon which has absolutely nothing to do with me. I am stuck in their parking lot with 100° temperature, high humidity and a dog in the car. 2 and a half hrs.

Wanted to give an update. After 2 and ahalf hours there. An employee by the name of Kenny, who just walked out" told me to stop crying over my frustration and leave the premises if I could not stop. Ashley the "manager" said she was not over Kenny even though she heard him say that to me. He then stated when asked by me for his name. If I needed his social as well. I was dumbfounded. When I asked Ashley again why she would let him speak to me that way. She just kept repeating I'm not over him. I asked if there was another manager, Ashley said no. Someone came over the walkie and told Kenny to come inside. I thankfully was on the phone with corporate by this time. Ashley then calls who I assume is the store manager. Ashley was instructed to call the COPS on an irate customer. Again thankfully corporate heard all this. They where as shocked as I was. By the way corporate told me Ashley was NOT a manager. I will keep everyone updated. For your time " 2 and ahalf hours wasted " and to be belittled by employees. "Kenny and Ashley" I recommend somewhere else to shop. Trust me your health and peace of mind will be happier. I hope this treatment does not happen to...