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Has anyone else noticed what I think is an increasing trend of deceptive advertising by Safeway? Two examples: Today they advertised a "today only, while supplies last" sale of spiral sliced half hams at $1.49 - but when I got there at noon, they were all out, and had been for several hours according to the meat department employees I spoke with. Do I have to start lining up at dawn to get sale prices as Safeway now? And they also advertise Pepsi as "buy two, get two free" -- but they have jacked up the price of 12-packs to $7.98 each if you buy less than four (while all other stores routinely sell Pepsi in the $4-5 per 12-pack range). So the sale isn't really a sale, it's just a way to gouge small volume shoppers and move more quantities of 12-packs to unsuspecting large-volume shoppers (and no, I am not referring to the volume of the shoppers, I'm referring to the volume of their purchases...).
I'm not a Harvard MBA, but I gotta wonder: if you sell groceries at higher prices than other stores on a routine basis, why would you want to tick off whatever customers you do have by doing deceptive advertising?
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There are people who watch the sale items like a hawk and I will often find some sale items gone when I arrive. Safeway tells me they often limit purchases per customer but have no way to tell if someone comes into the store several times. So shelf items get cleared out early sometimes.
Safeway will always give you a "rain check" on that sale item so you can get the sale price later.
I don't buy soda pop but for those who do, hey, check the prices and find your best buy. The Safeway brands of soda are always much, much cheaper than the name brands. But if Pepsi is what you want you will have to pay more I guess.
I don't think Safeway is deceptive.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
I really hate to take the side of a large corp., but typical retail markup is 35 - 40%. A supermarket's markup is about 1 - 2%. They have to do "loss leaders" to survive. They did say, "while supplies last" so no deception.
Sorry to be contrary.
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I guess where we disagree is on what is an acceptable number of items to have in stock for a "one-day only, while supplies last, no rain check" sale. Seems to me that if almost the entire front page of your Sunday ad is a featured item, you should at least stock enough of the item to get through a good part of the day, not just through mid-morning. By your logic, they could have two of the item in stock, sell out 5 minutes after the store is open, and still not be deceptive.
Actually, in retail it's not uncommon to do what actually is deceptive and advertise a crazy price on an item either not in or where there is only one for sale. This is often done on car lots and large electronic stores.
I'm really not a fan of Safeway although I do shop there sometimes due to their hours and convenience. Some prices are higher than my local health food store (Keaau) by quite a bit but some prices are great if you have their Safeway card. Ex. Organic canned chickpeas at the health food store: $1.75 and $2.25 at Safeway. Safeway also has a computer program that scans all their competitors so they can adjust pricing up and down regularly.
I guess the bottom line is if they are pissing off customers, maybe it's not such a great idea to do these sales. But I bet you bought something while there.
We were in there Friday and bought some ham on special. Asked my son, and he said he saw an entire freezer case full of the spiral hams at an incredible price. They were too big for our freezer space, so we went with a different special.
So I can testify they had these. The only problem was (I think) that it was such an insane value that people went nuts over it and cleared it out.) Now if they got you in there for a crappy value, most likely the item would still be there.
Apparently the times are so tough that yes you do have to go right away once the ad is out. In this case, the item had been there for customers to see before the ad came out, so I guess the ad responders were behind the curve compared to people who are regular Safeway shoppers and stumbled on to it.
ETA re pricing with the club card ... why would anyone NOT have the club card? It's free and all you do is input your phone number to get the sale pricing. It's not like it's a true members' club.
Safeway has a new thing where they track your purchases and spit out coupons and internet coupons that actually relate to what you buy instead of junk food. The other day I was shocked to see I'd gotten register coupons equal to $9 of free stuff. It was signature soup (which I've never bought) and Dreyer's ice cream, half gallon, absolutely free, and a third thing I forget. Did I mention they were FREE and not spend to get the savings?
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bummed i miss out on the ham. but i will admit i got 80lbs of turkey when they were 5 bucks a bird. if your trying to feed a family working the sales is a matter of survival here.
oh right, they were almost giving away turkeys after Thanksgiving.
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They were almost giving away turkeys before Thanksgiving also. Wish I had a bigger freezer 
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A friend of mine used to collect coupons and visit several stores for the best deals. She probably saved some money, but this doesn't work for me. I have a whole lot to do besides shop and I find safeway the most comfortable and reasonably priced store around. My time is worth more than the amount I would save doing the research and multiple store shopping.
Here's why I like Safeway; They always have something on sale in each food group. Pasta, sauce, cereal, produce, dairy, frozen, etc. I don't automatically buy the cheapest thing, but if they don't have what I want on sale I do without until they do.
I know the store's layout and can be in and out quickly. Safeway is clean, the staff helpful, the lines are seldom too long. They have a good pharmacy and deli. The mall with Sears, Macy's and my bank is 200 feet away.
The exceptions to my one store rule is Cost-U-Less; where I get San Francisco organic whole bean coffee($17.00/3lbs), Adams natural peanut butter, and Marionberry jam (no High Fructose).
Shopping shouldn't be stressful.
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