Contactless pickup usually requires you to click on a link to tell them you’ve arrived. My old phone freezes up when I do that, so I end up having to go into the store to pick up my order anyway. And the customer service people are always confused. But at least my order is there. At Sam’s Club, they pulled my order days early. First time I did pickup at Sam’s Club, they gave me a goodie bag as a thank you. Thank me for letting you get my groceries and bring them to me? Sure!
@katbyter My daughter works online grocery pickup for Walmart. They seem to have about 1 week a month with ‘sample’ bags to give out. Of course once they run out they are out.
The grocery stores don’t take the time to pick out the best fruit and vegetables, and you can’t ask them to judge the best cut of meat. Fast food joints don’t know how to to make sugar-free suicides.
@hchavers I find that my grocery store always picks out the best of everything in my order. And when they substitute, they substitute with something better.
@hchavers I ended up with a pile of dented cat food cans with a couple missing the label. Nope. I had to return them and then pick them out myself. What a waste of my time. It would have been faster to just do it myself to begin with. Good thing curbside pickup was free.
I have watched people doing the order filling of groceries toss things into the bins like bananas that won’t survive that well, pick fresh food off the floor that fell when they missed when they tossed and then put it in the bins… I have also seen people be more careful but I have never seen anyone take the time to really pick through the fresh stuff that was out to pick out the “best” or actually look carefully at cans or other things for expiration dates. It is more like which ever one is closest to them is the one that goes in.
Now buying something non-breakable online and having it shipped to the store to pick up, or it was in the store already to pick up - that has worked out OK most of the time. Once a bag of cat litter had a hole in it and was losing litter left and right. At least they were the ones who went inside to get another bag - but I had to be the one to notice that when they picked it up.
As a result I am leery about having others pick out a many items for me. The “quality” of that job being done is all over the map.
@jmoor783 diet root beer with vanilla and diet dr. pepper with cherry makes the best combo, if you fast food place has those new touch screen machines.
Bought something before Christmas at a bigbox electronics store. I paid online and chose curbside pickup. They were limiting the number of people in the store and there must have been a hundred in line outside. As I got into the parking lot I checked the app and chose the option to use one of the numbered spaces. I entered the space I was in into the app and in probably 15 seconds a dude was at my window with my new modem/router. I had to feel a little sorry for all those people standing out in the cold who still had shopping and checking out ahead of them.
Walmart has been pretty good. They will also give you a free “upgrade” to a bigger item if the one that you ordered isn’t in stock, and there is a bigger item available. I have gotten some expired food though; fruit cups that expired a year prior.
Kroger has been ok; I’ve had them mess up on orders by not including a few items they charged me for, or giving me the wrong item entirely. It depends on the picker you get.
My local Panera Bread has completely given up. You order through the app and hit a notification button when you get there so they can bring your order out to the car. For some reason they haven’t been doing this for months, even though they still have special parking spaces for contactless pickup. They just toss your order on a table inside the restaurant and won’t go out to your car.
@djslack It’s not just your town. I’ve noticed that Paneras, in general, are all circling the drain.
I travel a lot and Panera used to be my go-to, but much less so nowadays.
They’ve 86’ed some of my old bagel favorite flavors (Where’s my jalepeño cheddar?)
Most times after about 10am they have run out of many flavors
The size of the bread loaves is going down while the prices seem to be going up
Their prices, in general, are way too high for a bit of fermented flour that’s been passed through an oven.
Also, I’ve had the same experience @jmoor783 has with curbside pickup. Parked in the designated spot. Tapped the app. got an error message “can’t contact the store”. (Maybe that’s what they mean by “contactless” pickup?) I go inside and they have my order on the pickup table, but obviously wrong. Have to wait for someone to go fetch the the manager (who’s out in the parking lot flirting with her boyfriend). Finally get my bagel order. Get home and discover they’ve left out the cream cheese.
A typical Panera experience, in other words.
Looking back it seems like about the time the “Unlimited Coffee Club” thing started, the whole enterprise shit the bed.
I have been more using delivery. My local pizza place has a bad habit of sticking around instead of leaving the pizza on the porch as requested, and one of the regular delivery drivers has a bad habit of leaving bags right outside the storm door making it very difficult to open and get the food, but otherwise my experience has been pretty good.
I’ve been alternating between Kroger and Walmart and have had very good luck. I do give them some directions. Example, bananas, under “options” I put “slightly green.” I always put “no substitutions.” I tried Meijer once and it was a total fubar.
@pooflady Speaking of bananas, I just picked up an order from Walmart and there were six bananas in the order that I didn’t order and didn’t pay for. Bonus!
I’ve never had issues with curbside pickup. I did recently transition to door delivery with Wal-Mart + Only 2 complaints.
Damaged food like broken eggs, stale bakery bread, broken French bread loaves, or my favorite last week was LEAKING 12 pk of soda. Also, soda was taped shut and missing a can. I will say Walmart is fast to issue refunds, but does not seem to do anything to correct the issues
Biggest issue is delivery drivers putting groceries in front of the screen so I cannot open it, forcing me to walk around the house to get to them. My favorite was a few weeks ago. The driver was walking to her car when I opened the front door. She turned and waved. I attempted to open the screen and could not b/c everything was stacked in front of the door. I smiled and motioned down showing her the issue. She shrugged her shoulders, smiled, got in the car and left.
I usually use it for groceries. I have a few wtf moments. One time I ordered 3 packets of yeast. The I only wanted 2, but it said the regular was out of stock so I added instant yeast and then it showed they had all of it. So I just left it all in the order just in case. They are like $1.49 for the little 3 packs. I get home with my order and see these boxes. Wtf? I look and they gave me all 3 open boxes from the shelf. I bring them in and yell at my daughter. She works there, in this Dept. But it’s her day off. We laugh and laugh. She notifies her manager and asks what to do with them. Any food returns are being thrown out due to COVID. I only paid $1.49 x 3 plus tax. Walmart won’t take them back. She ended up talking to the store manager, he just shook his head and said keep them. This is why I had 46 (I think) 3-packs of yeast. Unfortunately they didn’t oops and give me a pallet of flour to go with it. The box barcode and packet barcodes are different, so the employee had to take the packet out, scan it, put it back in the box, then put the whole box in their tote. Apparently the dept manager was able to see who picked the order and give them some extra training. I have until 2022 before they expire. I have not made a loaf a week like I need to to use them all. But I’m trying.
@remo28 Well…you could be the opportunist that is selling 3 packets of yeast on ebay for $9 early in the pandemic. (I say this tongue in cheek lol) My heart went out to anyone desperate enough to have to buy yeast like that. It’s like beanie babies. Not worth that much now the time has passed. lol I will mention that it doesn’t last past the expiration in those packets although they might freeze ok. You might want to consider donating them to a food pantry.
Biggest rant: I leave my window up for a reason. I show you the info through the window for a reason! You show in your app that you put it in the trunk. Don’t motion towards the rear of my car like you are putting it in the trunk and then open the freaking door behind me and stick the stuff on the seat!!! Every darn time I forget to lock the doors they do this!
My daughter is the one that hits the way too many jackpot all the time. 4 bananas she gets home with 20 bananas. The other day she ordered eggs from Target and got home with the dozen plus 36 more eggs …she lives by herself.
People need to be cautious but seriously stop being so scared. Wear a mask, stay home if you feel ill, and don’t wipe your snot on stuff, otherwise stay normal.
Also, clearly we all have different preferences, so to assume that others should know exactly what to do based on your silent, mouthed words through your rolled up window (seriously, you might be crazy) or your hand signals is arrogant and entitled.
Have some patience and be reasonable. My wife is an ER nurse and is literally around COVID patients and in their rooms MULTIPLE TIMES A NIGHT EVERY SHIFT. She wears a mask washes her hands and she’s fine. Stop being ridiculous and being overly cautious at the expense of your own temper and attitude. I don’t know what you’re thinking and if you’re getting mad at people not knowing where you want things placed you’re probably overdoing it. Also, I don’t know, maybe show some grace and forgive someone that forgets and gets something wrong. Try saying it nicely and gently and maybe they’ll appreciate it and apologize.
@zinimusprime I don’t think it is too much to ask for people to check for expiration dates, not to throw around bananas and other items that can be easily damaged, check cans for dents and be able to count. I would think those are requirements of the job (AKA job duties). Attitude problems are out of place - although if things are really screwed up, the employee doesn’t fix it or cops an attitude about that then complaining to management isn’t.
@zinimusprime Hopefully you don’t get backed over by the karma bus. Masks help, however, most people don’t wear them correctly and touch the outside. They sanitize their hands, remove mask and shove it in pocket or purse. And they wear masks that are not effective. FWIW After several hours at the oncologist I found out I have a blood disorder. If I happen to roll the dice and have issues related to Covid it will kill me. Thing is, with Covid nobody knows how it will affect them until they get it. How many are walking around with a disorder and don’t know they have a risk.
Judge much? Im glad your wife has had the good fortune of not getting seriously ill from Covid. I don’t understand how you are not aware of the pressures placed on the healthcare workers caring for covid patients being married to a worker. You of all people should be on the rooftops shouting advice on how not to get covid. Not telling people they shouldn’t be careful cause your wife hasn’t been bothered by all of this. I would bet if they checked she has a titer to covid which means she was exposed. So many in the healthcare field have not been so fortunate and lost their lives or have serious long term health complications. Why take the chance just to get groceries.
Also, if the company policy is to put them in the trunk why aren’t they putting them in the trunk. It says " keep your window up, we will place your items in the trunk". Yes I am justified in this bothering me. As far as dates and food quality. I am thankful for the service and have never had an issue getting it made right with little or no effort on my part. Yes it would really be nice if the instacart shoppers knew that we don’t get the discount on reduced price produce and meats. I don’t want to pay full price for pork that expires the day I get it.
Also, when my daughter had covid. BTW she wore masks, washed hands and even wiped down her items, didn’t eat in any restaurants and didn’t hang out with friends. She got it from a coworker. The precautions also help to protect pickup workers from getting covid. While she was sick she needed meds and groceries and did pickup. One of the places she went wouldn’t give her her order until she rolled down her window. She had to write on a note that she had covid. The store has a code they input that is clearly visible through the window. Had they opened her door and put them inside on the seat the worker with the nose hanging over the top of the mask could have gotten a nose full. Her main symptom was sneezing so you know it was thick in the air in her vehicle.
@sallynarwahl Given those specific conditions that you mentioned, you should absolutely be following the rules to a ‘T’. I’m just saddened by the fear that has grappled people to the point that their lives and social interactions are given to an equal and opposite reaction to the nimrods that say masks don’t work and an infringement of our rights.
I guess I’m just advocating for people to be graceful in either direction. In the case of your daughter, a gracious employee/company would have understood that she wasn’t comfortable opening the window and conversely the mask police won’t be Karens about everything. I mean, I would be shouting it from the rooftops if I thought people would listen, but they don’t. Though, that’s probably because the more I talk, the further my foot finds its way into my mouth.
More importantly, what’s the deal with your blood condition? Outside of it putting you at additional risk for COVID, are there other things to worry about?
If I came off as insensitive, I apologize. That was not my intention.
@zinimusprime Everyone should be careful. It really is a roll of the dice. Nobody knows how its going to effect them until they get it.
I am not afraid of death. I am afraid of having it bad enough to be stuck in a bed in a hospital garage, gift shop or hallway. You name it, they will put people there because they have nowhere else for them. Everyone should be afraid of the potential for long term damage to their body. Or to recover only to die from a covid related blood clot. What about the people that have non covid related emergencies? No room for them either.
It really is a shame they downplayed the effectiveness of masks. In my house we started wearing P100 masks and gloves in February. I worked in a virology research lab in the 80s. This is a virus type that belongs to animals. I knew it was going to be bad. The last time I entered a retail location was March. I miss shopping but there is nothing I need that bad. I live in the rural south. Too many anti-maskers including employees to take the risk.
As far as my blood disorder it is essential thrombocythemia. Ive had it for many many years just never knew it. I had bloodwork going back at least 15 years and not one doctor had any concern. In 2017 a NP sent me to make sure it wasn’t cancer. Really its never been a health concern until covid and the potential for covid to cause blood clots. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Nobody knows how their body is going to react to Covid. Even in asymptomatic people they are finding long term effects on organs and I believe there have been cases of clotting. It isn’t a get out of jail free card.
And back OT lol… I had a grocery pickup today. A package of uncured hot dogs was expired over a month. Its not the grocery pickers fault. It would take 9 times longer to check the dates on everything. some dates are almost impossible to find. The stockers aren’t rotating product and checking dates. Also, I haven’t had a good steak in forever. Ive tried, they just don’t know how to pick a good steak. lol
@sallynarwahl@zinimusprime not sure how particular you are, but Texas Roadhouse is selling Ready To Go (RTG)steaks. Raw cuts with all the seasoning. I’ve done it a few times, better cut than I can get at the grocery store and I feel good about helping a restaurant.
@tinamarie1974 Thank you so much for that info! I called the one in town and the 8oz sirloin is $5.99 and the smaller NY strip is $9.99. The one here is always packed so I don’t think they are hurting too much. At least they will be fresh. lol I can open flame grill it on my pit boss pellet grill.
@sallynarwahl hou are welcome!! The local restaurant told me to load the steak up on the seasoning, then to add some butter to a skillet and sear it on both sides to lock in the moisture before putting it on the grill. I’ve done it and the steak turns out amazing!!
Mine also will sell a 12 pk of rolls (raw dough) for $4.99. Just take the frozen pieces out of the bag and place them on greased cookie sheet to rise. Takes 3-4 hrs. Bake them and cover w melted butter when they come out of the oven. Ssoooooooo good!!
I’m a big fan so far with my experiences of contactless pick-up. The issue is I drive a pick-up truck with a little bitch of a tailgate that likes to be shoved and pulled and tickled just so in order to open. Usually I have to get out and lower the tailgate for them before I say I’ve arrived and it isn’t an issue except for one store where the parking lot is too narrow for cars to pass with my long-ass truck and the tailgate down. Then I try to time the jump-out as they start walking to my truck. It’s not perfect but nothing about 2020 has been.
Regional grocery store franchise: the web site isn’t bad. There’s a decent wait sitting in the car outside, maybe 5-10 minutes. I don’t think I’m really saving myself any time, as much as creating more work for somebody with a less efficient process.
There are usually a bunch of substitutions. I had good luck with them earlier on, but more recently, some of them haven’t made much sense, or have been things I’ll accept, but would have left on the shelf and skipped entirely. Don’t know if it’s the shopper or bad luck with what’s in stock. And they read them off one at a time, so you have to keep acknowledging them… could really go for like a bulk approval option.
Mainly I sometimes like interacting with a web page more than wandering a giant store, so it’ll get me to bother shopping a few days earlier, fewer ramen meals.
Then, I don’t like having people wait on me, especially when they’re standing out in the cold. I mean, sure, germs, but what am I, some impotent aristocrat? Overall it’s kind of a wash.
I am doing Walmart+ grocery delivery for a couple months now and loving it. There have been about 2 or 3 item mistakes like getting an onion when ordering bananas but I was refunded anything very quickly.
The site is pretty good with only a few bugs. The biggest problem is that during the holidays they have not hired enough shoppers or drivers! Getting a delivery today so will be asking if that issue has be fixed from the drivers point of view.
I did order a delivery of Thanksgiving Dinner from Bob Evans which was a total disaster! A huge order was delivered and with the driver driving off I inspected the contents seeing lots of omelets, sandwiches, salads. It took about an hour to get things straightened out with my TD getting delivered and me having a week of bonus food!
My Dad’s 1974 GMC pickup was the first one with electronic ignition that I dealt with (no points, so contactless). It was innovative. The later pickups were all electronic too, but that GMC was the first.
I’m a browser at heart so I don’t normally like contactless shopping but considering current conditions it comes in handy here and there. I do like it for takeout orders though. What I really don’t like are the grocery delivery services. They use too much liberty even when given specifics.
I love online shopping
But not for groceries. I see no problem with cough pasta or canned goods (usually - I ordered a can of something you can’t get in California for shipping with other items and it came so dented I threw it away, and got refunded of course). I won’t pay for instacart or anyone else’s same day delivery. If I order it online, it can come when it comes.
But I pick out my own produce my own meat. Dairy if I did same day would probably be okay, but since I don’t…
I shop the farmer’s market for groceries. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I pay attention on meat on size of packaging and price and how it looks. I’ll pay a little more if its what I want. Contactless pick up is not. They touch your car they touch your groceries and who knows what else. Not that I mind 100%. but people should not assume good hygiene on any one - any where.
I hit the farmer’s market first, then the ‘grocery store’ (no big box for this gal) and hit the meat department first to help me determine if there is something else I need to buy for what floats my boat that day.
I’ve never tried it.
Contactless pickup usually requires you to click on a link to tell them you’ve arrived. My old phone freezes up when I do that, so I end up having to go into the store to pick up my order anyway. And the customer service people are always confused. But at least my order is there. At Sam’s Club, they pulled my order days early. First time I did pickup at Sam’s Club, they gave me a goodie bag as a thank you. Thank me for letting you get my groceries and bring them to me? Sure!
@katbyter I think they mean “Thanks for not coming in here and spreading germs”
@katbyter My daughter works online grocery pickup for Walmart. They seem to have about 1 week a month with ‘sample’ bags to give out. Of course once they run out they are out.
I always just go inside – I get exactly what I want and it is quicker in the long run, anyway.
The grocery stores don’t take the time to pick out the best fruit and vegetables, and you can’t ask them to judge the best cut of meat. Fast food joints don’t know how to to make sugar-free suicides.
TLDR: pretend you are ordering from Amazon.
@hchavers I find that my grocery store always picks out the best of everything in my order. And when they substitute, they substitute with something better.
@hchavers Do restaurants even offer more than 1 sugar free drink option? It’s almost always just diet coke or diet pepsi.
@hchavers I ended up with a pile of dented cat food cans with a couple missing the label. Nope. I had to return them and then pick them out myself. What a waste of my time. It would have been faster to just do it myself to begin with. Good thing curbside pickup was free.
I have watched people doing the order filling of groceries toss things into the bins like bananas that won’t survive that well, pick fresh food off the floor that fell when they missed when they tossed and then put it in the bins… I have also seen people be more careful but I have never seen anyone take the time to really pick through the fresh stuff that was out to pick out the “best” or actually look carefully at cans or other things for expiration dates. It is more like which ever one is closest to them is the one that goes in.
Now buying something non-breakable online and having it shipped to the store to pick up, or it was in the store already to pick up - that has worked out OK most of the time. Once a bag of cat litter had a hole in it and was losing litter left and right. At least they were the ones who went inside to get another bag - but I had to be the one to notice that when they picked it up.
As a result I am leery about having others pick out a many items for me. The “quality” of that job being done is all over the map.
@gjrupert what grocery store is that?
@jmoor783 diet root beer with vanilla and diet dr. pepper with cherry makes the best combo, if you fast food place has those new touch screen machines.
@hchavers @Kidsandliz Totally agree. I have had some beat up bananas when having groceries delivered. I’d rather shop myself.
Bought something before Christmas at a bigbox electronics store. I paid online and chose curbside pickup. They were limiting the number of people in the store and there must have been a hundred in line outside. As I got into the parking lot I checked the app and chose the option to use one of the numbered spaces. I entered the space I was in into the app and in probably 15 seconds a dude was at my window with my new modem/router. I had to feel a little sorry for all those people standing out in the cold who still had shopping and checking out ahead of them.
I’ve only done it once, at a Michael’s store - it went fine.
Walmart has been pretty good. They will also give you a free “upgrade” to a bigger item if the one that you ordered isn’t in stock, and there is a bigger item available. I have gotten some expired food though; fruit cups that expired a year prior.
Kroger has been ok; I’ve had them mess up on orders by not including a few items they charged me for, or giving me the wrong item entirely. It depends on the picker you get.
My local Panera Bread has completely given up. You order through the app and hit a notification button when you get there so they can bring your order out to the car. For some reason they haven’t been doing this for months, even though they still have special parking spaces for contactless pickup. They just toss your order on a table inside the restaurant and won’t go out to your car.
@jmoor783 I’ve been to a couple Paneras and they still do curbside here. I wonder if you just have bad luck with the staff or something.
@DoctorOW maybe @jmoor783 lives in my town. The Panera bread here sucks terribly in general.
@djslack It’s not just your town. I’ve noticed that Paneras, in general, are all circling the drain.
I travel a lot and Panera used to be my go-to, but much less so nowadays.
Also, I’ve had the same experience @jmoor783 has with curbside pickup. Parked in the designated spot. Tapped the app. got an error message “can’t contact the store”. (Maybe that’s what they mean by “contactless” pickup?) I go inside and they have my order on the pickup table, but obviously wrong. Have to wait for someone to go fetch the the manager (who’s out in the parking lot flirting with her boyfriend). Finally get my bagel order. Get home and discover they’ve left out the cream cheese.
A typical Panera experience, in other words.
Looking back it seems like about the time the “Unlimited Coffee Club” thing started, the whole enterprise shit the bed.
Yeah, I’m just about over Panera bread.
@djslack @jmoor783 @TrophyHusband IMO Panera has been going down hill since they went from a STL bakery to a national/international (Canada) storefront.
I have been more using delivery. My local pizza place has a bad habit of sticking around instead of leaving the pizza on the porch as requested, and one of the regular delivery drivers has a bad habit of leaving bags right outside the storm door making it very difficult to open and get the food, but otherwise my experience has been pretty good.
I’ve been alternating between Kroger and Walmart and have had very good luck. I do give them some directions. Example, bananas, under “options” I put “slightly green.” I always put “no substitutions.” I tried Meijer once and it was a total fubar.
@pooflady Speaking of bananas, I just picked up an order from Walmart and there were six bananas in the order that I didn’t order and didn’t pay for. Bonus!
I’ve never had issues with curbside pickup. I did recently transition to door delivery with Wal-Mart + Only 2 complaints.
Damaged food like broken eggs, stale bakery bread, broken French bread loaves, or my favorite last week was LEAKING 12 pk of soda. Also, soda was taped shut and missing a can. I will say Walmart is fast to issue refunds, but does not seem to do anything to correct the issues
Biggest issue is delivery drivers putting groceries in front of the screen so I cannot open it, forcing me to walk around the house to get to them. My favorite was a few weeks ago. The driver was walking to her car when I opened the front door. She turned and waved. I attempted to open the screen and could not b/c everything was stacked in front of the door. I smiled and motioned down showing her the issue. She shrugged her shoulders, smiled, got in the car and left.
I usually use it for groceries. I have a few wtf moments. One time I ordered 3 packets of yeast. The I only wanted 2, but it said the regular was out of stock so I added instant yeast and then it showed they had all of it. So I just left it all in the order just in case. They are like $1.49 for the little 3 packs. I get home with my order and see these boxes. Wtf? I look and they gave me all 3 open boxes from the shelf. I bring them in and yell at my daughter. She works there, in this Dept. But it’s her day off. We laugh and laugh. She notifies her manager and asks what to do with them. Any food returns are being thrown out due to COVID. I only paid $1.49 x 3 plus tax. Walmart won’t take them back. She ended up talking to the store manager, he just shook his head and said keep them. This is why I had 46 (I think) 3-packs of yeast. Unfortunately they didn’t oops and give me a pallet of flour to go with it. The box barcode and packet barcodes are different, so the employee had to take the packet out, scan it, put it back in the box, then put the whole box in their tote. Apparently the dept manager was able to see who picked the order and give them some extra training. I have until 2022 before they expire. I have not made a loaf a week like I need to to use them all. But I’m trying.
@remo28 Of course if meh does a flour drop you’d be in luck… (grin)
@remo28 Well…you could be the opportunist that is selling 3 packets of yeast on ebay for $9 early in the pandemic. (I say this tongue in cheek lol) My heart went out to anyone desperate enough to have to buy yeast like that. It’s like beanie babies. Not worth that much now the time has passed. lol I will mention that it doesn’t last past the expiration in those packets although they might freeze ok. You might want to consider donating them to a food pantry.
Biggest rant: I leave my window up for a reason. I show you the info through the window for a reason! You show in your app that you put it in the trunk. Don’t motion towards the rear of my car like you are putting it in the trunk and then open the freaking door behind me and stick the stuff on the seat!!! Every darn time I forget to lock the doors they do this!
My daughter is the one that hits the way too many jackpot all the time. 4 bananas she gets home with 20 bananas. The other day she ordered eggs from Target and got home with the dozen plus 36 more eggs …she lives by herself.
All 3 times at Best Buy went fine. No other experience from other stores, however.
Lots of shipments, though!
People need to be cautious but seriously stop being so scared. Wear a mask, stay home if you feel ill, and don’t wipe your snot on stuff, otherwise stay normal.
Also, clearly we all have different preferences, so to assume that others should know exactly what to do based on your silent, mouthed words through your rolled up window (seriously, you might be crazy) or your hand signals is arrogant and entitled.
Have some patience and be reasonable. My wife is an ER nurse and is literally around COVID patients and in their rooms MULTIPLE TIMES A NIGHT EVERY SHIFT. She wears a mask washes her hands and she’s fine. Stop being ridiculous and being overly cautious at the expense of your own temper and attitude. I don’t know what you’re thinking and if you’re getting mad at people not knowing where you want things placed you’re probably overdoing it. Also, I don’t know, maybe show some grace and forgive someone that forgets and gets something wrong. Try saying it nicely and gently and maybe they’ll appreciate it and apologize.
@zinimusprime I don’t think it is too much to ask for people to check for expiration dates, not to throw around bananas and other items that can be easily damaged, check cans for dents and be able to count. I would think those are requirements of the job (AKA job duties). Attitude problems are out of place - although if things are really screwed up, the employee doesn’t fix it or cops an attitude about that then complaining to management isn’t.
@zinimusprime Hopefully you don’t get backed over by the karma bus. Masks help, however, most people don’t wear them correctly and touch the outside. They sanitize their hands, remove mask and shove it in pocket or purse. And they wear masks that are not effective. FWIW After several hours at the oncologist I found out I have a blood disorder. If I happen to roll the dice and have issues related to Covid it will kill me. Thing is, with Covid nobody knows how it will affect them until they get it. How many are walking around with a disorder and don’t know they have a risk.
Judge much? Im glad your wife has had the good fortune of not getting seriously ill from Covid. I don’t understand how you are not aware of the pressures placed on the healthcare workers caring for covid patients being married to a worker. You of all people should be on the rooftops shouting advice on how not to get covid. Not telling people they shouldn’t be careful cause your wife hasn’t been bothered by all of this. I would bet if they checked she has a titer to covid which means she was exposed. So many in the healthcare field have not been so fortunate and lost their lives or have serious long term health complications. Why take the chance just to get groceries.
Also, if the company policy is to put them in the trunk why aren’t they putting them in the trunk. It says " keep your window up, we will place your items in the trunk". Yes I am justified in this bothering me. As far as dates and food quality. I am thankful for the service and have never had an issue getting it made right with little or no effort on my part. Yes it would really be nice if the instacart shoppers knew that we don’t get the discount on reduced price produce and meats. I don’t want to pay full price for pork that expires the day I get it.
Also, when my daughter had covid. BTW she wore masks, washed hands and even wiped down her items, didn’t eat in any restaurants and didn’t hang out with friends. She got it from a coworker. The precautions also help to protect pickup workers from getting covid. While she was sick she needed meds and groceries and did pickup. One of the places she went wouldn’t give her her order until she rolled down her window. She had to write on a note that she had covid. The store has a code they input that is clearly visible through the window. Had they opened her door and put them inside on the seat the worker with the nose hanging over the top of the mask could have gotten a nose full. Her main symptom was sneezing so you know it was thick in the air in her vehicle.
@Kidsandliz Lol those are not unreasonable asks. Those people are the ones that need to be yelled at.
@sallynarwahl Given those specific conditions that you mentioned, you should absolutely be following the rules to a ‘T’. I’m just saddened by the fear that has grappled people to the point that their lives and social interactions are given to an equal and opposite reaction to the nimrods that say masks don’t work and an infringement of our rights.
I guess I’m just advocating for people to be graceful in either direction. In the case of your daughter, a gracious employee/company would have understood that she wasn’t comfortable opening the window and conversely the mask police won’t be Karens about everything. I mean, I would be shouting it from the rooftops if I thought people would listen, but they don’t. Though, that’s probably because the more I talk, the further my foot finds its way into my mouth.
More importantly, what’s the deal with your blood condition? Outside of it putting you at additional risk for COVID, are there other things to worry about?
If I came off as insensitive, I apologize. That was not my intention.
@zinimusprime Everyone should be careful. It really is a roll of the dice. Nobody knows how its going to effect them until they get it.
I am not afraid of death. I am afraid of having it bad enough to be stuck in a bed in a hospital garage, gift shop or hallway. You name it, they will put people there because they have nowhere else for them. Everyone should be afraid of the potential for long term damage to their body. Or to recover only to die from a covid related blood clot. What about the people that have non covid related emergencies? No room for them either.
It really is a shame they downplayed the effectiveness of masks. In my house we started wearing P100 masks and gloves in February. I worked in a virology research lab in the 80s. This is a virus type that belongs to animals. I knew it was going to be bad. The last time I entered a retail location was March. I miss shopping but there is nothing I need that bad. I live in the rural south. Too many anti-maskers including employees to take the risk.
As far as my blood disorder it is essential thrombocythemia. Ive had it for many many years just never knew it. I had bloodwork going back at least 15 years and not one doctor had any concern. In 2017 a NP sent me to make sure it wasn’t cancer. Really its never been a health concern until covid and the potential for covid to cause blood clots. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Nobody knows how their body is going to react to Covid. Even in asymptomatic people they are finding long term effects on organs and I believe there have been cases of clotting. It isn’t a get out of jail free card.
And back OT lol… I had a grocery pickup today. A package of uncured hot dogs was expired over a month. Its not the grocery pickers fault. It would take 9 times longer to check the dates on everything. some dates are almost impossible to find. The stockers aren’t rotating product and checking dates. Also, I haven’t had a good steak in forever. Ive tried, they just don’t know how to pick a good steak. lol
This too shall pass…eventually.
@sallynarwahl @zinimusprime
I sure fucking hope so.
I am so weary of it all
@sallynarwahl @zinimusprime not sure how particular you are, but Texas Roadhouse is selling Ready To Go (RTG)steaks. Raw cuts with all the seasoning. I’ve done it a few times, better cut than I can get at the grocery store and I feel good about helping a restaurant.
@tinamarie1974 Thank you so much for that info! I called the one in town and the 8oz sirloin is $5.99 and the smaller NY strip is $9.99. The one here is always packed so I don’t think they are hurting too much. At least they will be fresh. lol I can open flame grill it on my pit boss pellet grill.
@sallynarwahl hou are welcome!! The local restaurant told me to load the steak up on the seasoning, then to add some butter to a skillet and sear it on both sides to lock in the moisture before putting it on the grill. I’ve done it and the steak turns out amazing!!
Mine also will sell a 12 pk of rolls (raw dough) for $4.99. Just take the frozen pieces out of the bag and place them on greased cookie sheet to rise. Takes 3-4 hrs. Bake them and cover w melted butter when they come out of the oven. Ssoooooooo good!!
I’m a big fan so far with my experiences of contactless pick-up. The issue is I drive a pick-up truck with a little bitch of a tailgate that likes to be shoved and pulled and tickled just so in order to open. Usually I have to get out and lower the tailgate for them before I say I’ve arrived and it isn’t an issue except for one store where the parking lot is too narrow for cars to pass with my long-ass truck and the tailgate down. Then I try to time the jump-out as they start walking to my truck. It’s not perfect but nothing about 2020 has been.
Regional grocery store franchise: the web site isn’t bad. There’s a decent wait sitting in the car outside, maybe 5-10 minutes. I don’t think I’m really saving myself any time, as much as creating more work for somebody with a less efficient process.
There are usually a bunch of substitutions. I had good luck with them earlier on, but more recently, some of them haven’t made much sense, or have been things I’ll accept, but would have left on the shelf and skipped entirely. Don’t know if it’s the shopper or bad luck with what’s in stock. And they read them off one at a time, so you have to keep acknowledging them… could really go for like a bulk approval option.
Mainly I sometimes like interacting with a web page more than wandering a giant store, so it’ll get me to bother shopping a few days earlier, fewer ramen meals.
Then, I don’t like having people wait on me, especially when they’re standing out in the cold. I mean, sure, germs, but what am I, some impotent aristocrat? Overall it’s kind of a wash.
I’ll take ‘first world problems’ for 500, Alex.
I am doing Walmart+ grocery delivery for a couple months now and loving it. There have been about 2 or 3 item mistakes like getting an onion when ordering bananas but I was refunded anything very quickly.
The site is pretty good with only a few bugs. The biggest problem is that during the holidays they have not hired enough shoppers or drivers! Getting a delivery today so will be asking if that issue has be fixed from the drivers point of view.
I did order a delivery of Thanksgiving Dinner from Bob Evans which was a total disaster! A huge order was delivered and with the driver driving off I inspected the contents seeing lots of omelets, sandwiches, salads. It took about an hour to get things straightened out with my TD getting delivered and me having a week of bonus food!
My Dad’s 1974 GMC pickup was the first one with electronic ignition that I dealt with (no points, so contactless). It was innovative. The later pickups were all electronic too, but that GMC was the first.
I’m a browser at heart so I don’t normally like contactless shopping but considering current conditions it comes in handy here and there. I do like it for takeout orders though. What I really don’t like are the grocery delivery services. They use too much liberty even when given specifics.
I love online shopping
But not for groceries. I see no problem with cough pasta or canned goods (usually - I ordered a can of something you can’t get in California for shipping with other items and it came so dented I threw it away, and got refunded of course). I won’t pay for instacart or anyone else’s same day delivery. If I order it online, it can come when it comes.
But I pick out my own produce my own meat. Dairy if I did same day would probably be okay, but since I don’t…
I shop the farmer’s market for groceries. Wouldn’t have it any other way. I pay attention on meat on size of packaging and price and how it looks. I’ll pay a little more if its what I want. Contactless pick up is not. They touch your car they touch your groceries and who knows what else. Not that I mind 100%. but people should not assume good hygiene on any one - any where.
I hit the farmer’s market first, then the ‘grocery store’ (no big box for this gal) and hit the meat department first to help me determine if there is something else I need to buy for what floats my boat that day.