Kroger — Local services in Paducah

On Friday, October 7th, 2016, at approximately 11:30 p.m. my mom and I were going to check out at Kroger located in Paducah, Kentucky, 3141 Park Avenue. During our shopping experience, I utilized a motorized cart due to a physical disability. When approaching the check out, rather than the cashier greet us, or ask how our night was, or even if we found everything okay, he immediately asked if something was wrong with me. The cashier's name was Robert H., and not one my mom or I will either one will soon forgot, as he treated us so brashly and very quickly ruined our Kroger experience. When he asked me if something was wrong with me, I was immediately taken aback, as I'm sure anyone would be, disability or not, therefore, I asked if that was his business. He then quickly stated that it was. I asked if he owned the Kroger store, which he said that he worked there and that he's TRAINED to ask people if they are riding motorized carts. First and foremost, millions of people suffer from physical disabilities on a daily basis, many of which are not visible to the human eye, and I'm certain that this wouldn't be part of any "training" Kroger has to offer their employees. My mom and I both had rather large purchases to make, but after seeing his condescending attitude, we decided to leave all of our merchandise behind. When he realized this, he said that we could speak to his manager. While my mom went to the car to get my crutches, since I was leaving the motorized cart and merchandise behind, I told him that not all physical disabilities are visible. Of course, he had a response and stated he had worked in a facility, to which I stated if he had, he would know more about customer service skills. He still continued to argue, stating that he gets high marks for customer service. However, I know well enough that "marks" are not offered to Kroger employees. I asked multiple times to speak to the manager, and he ignored me several times. Eventually, he responded by telling me there wasn't a manager and wouldn't be until tomorrow. When I asked for the store number, he was also unable to provide it for me. At that time, I asked him for his name, so that I could contact corporate, which he provided as Robert. I'm sure he doesn't think this is a serious matter, however, I hope that your company sees that it is. While I realize that people use motorized carts when it's not necessary or drive them throughout the store for fun, this was not the case. Not only were we not greeted, I was greeted by your employee pointing out that there was or was not something different about me, which is clearly not within his job description. My mom and I usually look forward to visiting the store in Paducah, Kentucky, on Park Avenue, however, this was our last visit, which is precisely why we left our merchandise behind with your employee's lack of...

This is not about the store cleanliness or service. I'm just disappointed that several employees watched and heard a dog barking at customers in the store. A sweet older lady brought her dog in unleashed, no muzzle, jumping around in the cart, and barking at folks for some amount of time. I'm not sure why associates and managers don't understand their rights to protect their store and customers? ADA does not allow pets and emotional support animals in stores. It only allows Service Animals. They think they are going to get introuble for saying something, often. That's not exactly true. There are questions you are legally allowed to ask people when they bring animals in the store. Instead, they just avoid them out of fear and some have told me managers have not told them what to do. Meanwhile, this women just allowed her dog to run wild in a cart, barking at people, and the dog was big enough to jump out. Not to mention, there was a nasty dog pillow in the cart. For those folks who have severe animal allergies like myself, pet dander, saliva, pet urine, etc could lead to a severe reaction or even death if a cart is not properly cleaned. Furthermore, why do we subject animals to being put down because owners are negligent and bring animals in stores? Why does the animal have to pay if the hurt someone and the owner just allowed them to come in without considering consequences. I have no issues with real Service Animals, they are trained well, they don't leave their owner, and they don't run wild to potentially hurt others. But, a dog in a cart jumping around and barking at folks is not my idea of a pleasant shopping experience. It is also not a trained Service Animal. It is not performing a service for an owner if if relaxing on a pillow or barking at folks. An just for education, Emotional Support animals fall under Fair Housing laws, not ADA. They are not allowed in most public places. It might seem minor to some. But, when you carry an epi-pen or have been dealing with severe allergies to pets like myself, its hard to shop not knowing when someone is going to walk up behind you with a pet running wild that could hurt you. So, it would be helpful if the Kroger (and others) company would at least exercise the rights they do have and require pets to be leashed, muzzled, and not in carts if folks do bring...

Update 5/24/25: This is ridiculous but I won't downgrade my rating because it's kind of trivial. A stocker had packed the buddig black forest meat so tightly that I had to use both hands to pull them out. This occurred at about 5:30 p.m. today.

So you know that I'm not all about negative reviews for this particular Kroger store, I want to give a shout out to a wonderful employee named Josh. I don't know his last name, but he has been more than helpful. More helpful than I can write in a review. Thank you Josh. You are an asset and I hope your superiors don't underappreciate you.

Update St. Pat's Day, 2025 Actual conversation I had with a Kroger's "associate" yesterday:

Me: "Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Hollandaise sauce is?"

Them: "I don't know what that is."

Me: "It's similar to a flavored mayo."

Them: "Then aisle 3."

Me: "I check aisle 3 every time I come here and it isn't there."

Them: "Then I don't know where it is".

Before my nasty experience with a particular pharmacy tech there last week and an aisle stocker twice before then, I was going to give the store a 4-star rating. I dropped my pending rating to 4 stars because there are a few annoyances, like some of the aisle stockers expecting us customers to accommodate them and not the other way around. I dropped another star for this review because of these two: The aisle stocker with neon-colored hair who twice didn't answer me when I asked for help. I had to shock her back into reality by raising my voice both times. I don't know if she's rude or oblivious, but I don't care. The pharmacy tech named Amy who tried to embarrass me when I asked why there was only one med ready instead of two as their app had said before I left home. I have an eidetic memory so I know it did.

But while checking the app in front of her, it now read one was available and one was pending. THE APP CHANGED IT, yet she acted like I:m a stupid old fart who doesn't know how to use smart phones. I am very tech savvy and have been using computing devices since 1981. The picture is of the medication I did pick up placed next to the Seagate Barracuda HDD I'm putting into my Lenovo Thinkcentre PC.

I'm seriously considering switching to the online Medicare pharmacy. These two employees should be sent to Disney's customer service...