If you follow my Facebook page you'll know I have been on and off the fence about Fairway in recent weeks. Where I live, in Stamford, we've only got one real neighborhood supermarket - Grade A/Shop Rite. We have been going there since we moved here over 10 years ago. There are good and bad things about Grade A. The good? Well, they always have a ton of cashiers working, you rarely have to wait long to get checked out. They also don't use pink slime in their beef, another good. I can walk there, that's good. And... well, maybe that's it. The bad about Grade A? Dishonesty in the prices. When something scans at the wrong price you're supposed to get it for free...not the case at Grade A unless you start yelling. My husband figured that out. According to state law there should be a sign telling customers about this law...but theirs is missing. My gut tells me the FILTHY RICH family that owns it likes to take advantage of the clientele - lots of immigrants, WIC folks and people who just may not know what their rights are. And there's always a stray woman from Shippan (the FILTHY RICH section of the town) in her fur coat and Mercedes wandering among the WIC folks at the top of the month with their carts full of crap...that they load into an Escalade... Yeah, not a fun place to shop.
So Fairway opened last year some time...it's only a few minutes further away than Grade A. At first it seemed like a great store, then as time went on it seemed the prices snuck up. I don't know. I have trouble processing the prices of things sometimes. It hasn't quite taken the place of Grade A in my life. What's good about Fairway? Number one - The liquor store is RIGHT THERE! If you plan your parking spot right you can walk out of the store, into the liquor store and out to your car without any hassle. Fairway, of course, has a fancier selection than Grade A - you can buy British candy, any kind of cheese you can imagine, they have a thousand or so types of olive oil (some of them horrendously bitter, you can taste them all) and they have house made peanut butter. That is my current addiction.
They also have Wallaby yogurt, which I have learned to love. They have neat flavors like maple and pear. So when I drop my husband and Apollo off at the beach for a walk I rush down to Fairway and fill my basket with peanut butter, Wallaby yogurt and whatever else strikes my fancy. Imagine my surprise when I went in this week to discover the price on my yogurt had risen 20 cents! And was on sale 10 cents off! This immediately got my goat, so to speak. I actually ripped the sale sticker off the display to check the price. I was floored. Over twenty cents. Silly, I guess. But I had rationalised my trip with this yogurt. I was paying 75 cents a piece at Grade A for La Yogurt - 79 cents for organic yogurt at Fairway seemed like a good idea. But when it was 99 or 89 - suddenly I felt I was being played. And when I found I still had the receipts to prove the price difference I fired off an angry e-mail to Fairway. And I mentioned the cashiers there suck. They do. If there's any reason not to raise the minimum wage in Connecticut it's them. Slow as hell, they talk too much to the baggers...it's just not the right way to end the Fairway shopping experience.
Well, kudos to Fairway! They e-mailed me regarding the pricing - it seems I paid 79 cents during a special promotion, the usual price is 99 cents and the 89 cents was the on sale price. I give big props to anyone who answers my snotty e-mails. LOL. I'll admit it, I get snotty when I'm pissed. But the guy who answered me was very professional and he said he'd forward the e-mail to the store manager and that the problem with the cashiers was unacceptable. Truth be told I'd still pay the higher price for the yogurt, it's that good. And the peanut butter is my addiction, so I have no choice but to go to Fairway at least once a week.
So, what's the moral of this story? Speak up, I guess.
-HH
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
I hate Grade A. There's another one closer to my neighborhood, and I just despise it. The produce is generally awful and don't get me started on the music. One exception: the super Grade A (is it even called a Grade A? Still owned by the same family) near exit 6. Good butcher, more extensive organics, pretty decent seafood.
Give me Fairway over any Grade A, any day.
I prefer Whole Foods because of the butcher, seafood, the produce, and the deli. Best of all is the lack of tempting junk food. I just don't buy as much when it's not right in my face.
Post a Comment