HOW SHOPRITE BECAME SHOP WRONG!

     I have had to let my temper rest for more than a week before posting this blog post. I also reinjuried my back and have not been able to sit down comfortably for more than a couple of minutes as well.

    I have been trying to improve and step up my couponing. Jonathan has been nagging me to start going to ShopRite/Grade A for two and half years. It is out of my way and on the other side of town. But supposedly it has the best deals around. People swear by this store and how much cheaper it is and for the most part they are right. You save a couple of cents at ShopRite but it does not make sense for me to ever return to the West Main Street location ever again.

   I have been feeling like I need to work harder at saving more. I only work part time plus where I work is too far away to make a profit with extreme gas prices to go full time (if I was ever offered that option). Often I feel that my job is a vanity job. It is a vanity job that does not let me be to be vain with ugly ill fitting scrubs, scrub hats, and the fact I see a lot of poop/blood. 


   But to clarify it is not really a vanity job and in these times I am grateful for my job. However, I need to work full time in a closer to home job because I need to work. I am not some Manhattan Upper East Side Lady who lunches and when she is not shopping volunteers at the chic $10,000 a table charities. My husband does not get as much overtime like he used to and I pick up occasional extra shifts. If I picked up 16 more hours the gas price increase to money earned would not make it worth the drive. I also was out of work with a back injury which actually reared it's ugly head recently. That is the reason I have not been blogging or working again. So last week I wanted to see if I could save on the house money and so I could help out with the bare essential bills. Then there would be money left over to save for emergencies, then for a home where we could have a covered fire pit, grill and a yard for Penny to run around.

   I knew that I would not be like the Extreme Coupon women. First of all: I do not want to buy a lot of the highly processed foods and two: location, location people! $0.55 off of an item when they double the coupon and the prices are lower goes further in other states where the item might only be $1.25 but here in Stamford is $2.50.  But I was excited even in high priced land without double couponing.

  I loaded up my coupon arsenal and I went to a store that I have only gone into, including this time, twice. I went once before with my friend Donna but couldn't find my way back and it was easier to go across the street to Stop and Shop. I might have mentioned it but besides the fact that I save a lot in gas money, the Stop and Shop across the street has a better  layout, and it is so convenient-- it also has that personal stop and shop scanner. I love that scanner, you can scan your item, bag your item. Next when you check out you hand over your coupon, get a $0.05 discount for using reusable bags, and then you are out after the credit card goes through. It is just a beautiful thing, is so quick and it helps you keep on budget as well because it keeps a running total of items purchased. reusable bags

   I took my husband on a mutual day off and I warned him to eat before he left because it was going to be a long shop. It was the middle of the day after lunch on a Friday when we did most of the shopping and I figured that people would be at work or someplace else. I guess because this location is near Greenwich I should have though again. At the local stop and shop anytime after 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm is a time you do not go to the store. I have to say I did not notice that ShopRite was busy because the aisles were not full. I had no problems moving around but finding things not so much.

   We had to do some pantry shopping, get cleaning supplies and get some personal hygiene items with some really good coupons. Was I TLC Extreme Couponing good coupons? no because nowhere in the North do they double the coupons and I pay high taxes on my goods. I pay NY city prices without actually getting the NY privileges (except bums going through my trash outside my condo). This shop was just after I started clipping from the Internet, websites of my favorite products and from one Sunday paper.

   The Layout of the West Main Street Stamford Shop Rite is horrible. They have body soap on aisle 3 and on aisle 13 which I did not know going in. I had a coupon that if I bought Olay body wash I would get  an Ivory body wash $1.00 off or free. I was upset! I was scanning up and down the aisles looking for a Ivory body soap. I saw Ivory facial bars and some other Ivory products but no body wash. It was as if they knew I wanted to get it and were trying their best to Aston Kutcher punk me! I looked for over 20 minutes for the Ivory body wash and I had to ask someone to tell me the location of that body wash. The Ivory body wash was 10 aisles over in the hand soap/ hand sanitizer aisle while the rest of the Body washes are in aisle 3.  I could see if it was in aisle 4 but really? The selection also just was not there and no clear reason for product location. It was like some high guy designed it. For an example I would not be surprised if there was an aisle with tuna cans, wonder bread, miracle whip, Doritos, Funions, Oreo cookies, little Debbie snack cakes and a six pack of beer because that is a meal plan for that stoned someone. It makes sense only to that one high person that designed the layout.

  So I was in the Land of Confusion for a total of two hours. I had no idea where anything was and to compound the situation Jonathan was so tired/cranky so we had to go!

   Jon and I split up the coupons and the carts so I was no longer as organized as I wanted. Jonathan did not understand that I was stocking up our pantry while the prices were low and we had coupons. He has yet to learn but he does not run the household so he does not know how much pasta he goes through in a week.


     I had shown from the beginning to the cashier that I had coupons. As we get half way through the running total I get attitude from the cashier because I had coupons. First of all I understood some of the Spanish that she was cursing me at in and I just wish that I was not such a gringa. I wish I could have answered her back and said something witty. But instead I was such a gringa so it did not work out like my fantasy. She REFUSED to even scan the coupons because I had at the most 35. She was like "oh and do you have any free coupons" with a roll in her eye that I thought only teenagers could do. Well I did but when I first presented the neatly organized coupons she did not inform me of her preference. She was not in the mood that I was going to have her give me customer service for more than  three minutes. Apparently her training only allowed bare minimum customer service for all of 4 minutes then she did not know what to do.

   Then there was a woman behind the woman behind me and she had a total of maybe $76.00 worth of groceries while I was making a once a year wise money saving splurge on beauty and etc products that were with some pretty good coupons/sales like buy one get one coupons. She got upset as if I was using welfare checks and they were bouncing and you know what? so what! If you see someone with a big cart or if someone is using welfare coupons that take longer and you got to motor so that your son Zack can go to soccer practice in 15 minutes then you know what? Maybe your Nanny can take over your only motherly duty-- I mean come on! Or maybe go to another line. I had $700.00 worth of items and I paid a little under $490.00 for the items. The Cashier kept being rude. But that is management's fault for hiring rude people. To tell the truth the cashier being rude to me that is something I can handle.

     But no the rudeness did not end with the cashier and the stupid customer that saw big carts and was like I am in a rush let me not go to a different line with my $75.00 worth of groceries. I was still in the middle of a transaction which was putting money into the store while the other woman was not yet in a transaction and her transaction is less. Who in their right mind says hey I have this person spending more money and is in the middle of a transaction-- you know what lets favor the person that is spending less and is being rude?

  The Customers service woman came over and was like "that person is complaining and you know this is not a good time to come." She was extremely rude! She was talking about how a lady was complaining (a good customer service rep would have opened more lines cashier to have that woman go through while the service rep with a nice attitude put my valid coupons through). Then she kept saying that "I should know better than to come into this store at this time." I should know better than come into the store I have never been in? I should know better than be so stupid to buy things from this location.


     I wanted to be rude, I wanted to yell, I wanted to go Clint Eastwood alla Dirty Harry on her and I wanted to get the hell out of there. Perhaps do a little Rushmore where I do juvenile acts to an older [wo]man for payback but I just turned 30. I am a mature woman who has a pearl necklace and pearl earrings that I sometimes like to wear with a short sleeve knit sweater with a matching cardigans. So I did not do any of those things!

  I just played it nice and honey. I killed her with kindness. I said in my sweet just turned 30 voice "Oh I am so sorry I came at this hour. You know this is my only day off with my husband and we have never shopped here before. You know next time I will spend my $500.00 some place else. In fact I will make it easy on you all and I will never come back to this store again. Stop and Shop is actually easier and more convenient."

  I now will never go to that location for Shoprite. My husband went three days ago to the Shippan Ave location which is closer to his job. We killed on coupons and we reused their bags if Jon would have used two coupons we would have saved over $54.00 and we only spent like $48.00 on items. I refused to let Jonathan get anything that was not on sale and that was not with a coupon. We got land o lake butter after coupons for $1.23 (at Stop and shop on sale it was $3), 2 liter Diet coke (my dad is visiting and love diet coke) for $1.00 and some cracker barrel cheese as well. I was so mad I wanted Jonathan when he shopped there to REALLY stick it to them. I was so happy when he went to the location closer to his work than that West Main Street location.

   I know the Shop Rites of Stamford is owned by the same person but I will never go back to the one on West Main Street.  As an adult who paid in full, was polite, using good/valid coupons and was giving good business to a store I have never been so poorly treated. I could understand the poor treatment if I did not have the money to pay for the items, if my coupons were expired/not valid or if I was just rude. But I was just a woman who had rare moment she could shop with her husband for great deals with great coupons. Coupons still are money to the Grocery store especially ones that do not double the coupons. It was not like I was paying with monopoly money or made a scene I just took it and was very adult about it. However I am fuming!

   I had never really shopped there because the first time I went with Donna it was not really for pantry or really for anything but just to check it out. I could have honestly started driving to that location and give them my  weekly main shop purchases. If this trip had gone well it could have been my new grocery store but instead it was just such a nightmare and it was never convenient. I knew it was not going to be as convenient as my Stop and Shop but I was thinking to myself "well as long as I save in the long run it will be worth it because cents add up to dollars add up to a better way of life, blah, blah." But that was not the case. I was honestly so upset for days.

                               That is how ShopRite became Shop Wrong!