Fry's

I’ve been doing pick up options since the pandemic. For high risk people who still require precautions regardless of what the “current guidelines” are, this is the most economical way to get groceries. The substitutes portion is horrible though. Often the suggested items are not the same food but the same brand. Using the search doesn’t result in anything populating. I have to select “do not substitute” then write in comments to “you PLEASE SUBSTITUTE” and type in the item specific details. Then it’s up to the store to determine if they “want” to provide the substitution you requested. That varies depending on how often you use that store and know the staff. It’s been a constant glitch. By not providing a workable search tool, it limits the purchase options and causes more frequent trips or delays. It’s difficult for people who are disabled and/or still struggling with pandemic issues. There’s a huge population of customers who have to do a work around. I’m not the only one, and hopefully I’m speaking for others, that this is has a simple solution if you would put in the time to broaden the database offered. Improve the substitution choices please!

The app for pickup orders is difficult to use, and you can’t add discounts that are on your shoppers card to pickup orders. You also can’t use paper coupons at the time of order on the app. Additionally, you have to either select to allow substitutions or not and won’t THAT be a surprise because you don’t get notified of substitutions ahead of time, they just make them. That worries me because if I’ve selected substitutions are okay for Turkey sausage, if they’re out of stock does that mean I’ll suddenly receive and be charged for beef sausage? I’ve also found that if you don’t allow substitutions and they delete something from your order and it causes you to go below $35 then they charge you the pickup fee of $5, which is unfair and then you have to go through the customer service rigmarole. Other stores have these issues sorted out so there’s no reason that a huge chain like Kroger shouldn’t be able to handle this by now. There’s no excuse for this being new as it’s something that’s been in the works for two years. It’s not that difficult to notify customers of substitutions and issues so that we can cancel our order if needed. I really don’t want to end up with a bunch of groceries I don’t really want and I’m not able to go into a grocery store right now because I’m not able to walk. I’m at their mercy and they’re not doing a very good job.

So I walk into my local Fry’s Food in order to buy some items on sale. I find out that I now have to download their app and register my card to get the digital coupons and the advertised sale price. I put in my email address and phone number that’s associated with it and it says my info is incorrect. I go to the customer service counter who says I have the correct information and it should be working. After she cannot figure it out either, I figure I’ll just register for a new card. So I follow that link to get a new card set up and put in my only phone number, and guess what!? I can’t use my only phone number because it’s already linked to my other card! So I try to call their customer service line since the store employee was no help and get a message that there’s a long wait due to high call volume. Rather than wait, I put back my groceries on the shelves where I got them and left the store. Congratulations Fry’s, you’ve just lost a loyal shopper all because someone had the bright idea that you can’t get the sale price without your digital coupons! It’s not enough that we’ve already registered our personal info on your shopping card, but now you’re making it near impossible to actually get the items you advertise as being on sale. Luckily Walmart does price matching without having to use your poorly designed app. You may want to reconsider this decision as there are many older people who would have given up long ago at trying to figure out your app.