They played with my cart. I lost just the same. They're not. That. Innocent.
Sweet Gummi Mary! The executives who run Country Mart might just as well show up to work every day with an eye patch and a hook-arm, parrot on the shoulder, calling each other Matey, and stopping the music on the store PA system every five minutes to say, "Argh!" while flying the Jolly Roger on the roof.
They are not honest people.
Two weeks ago I bought some Ritz Crackers. We like them with salads. With The Pony's soft cheeses. With regular cheese for Farmer H. I get the big square box that has multiple sleeves of 12-14 crackers. You never know how many are going to be in a sleeve, but that's a Ritz issue, not the executives of Country Mart.
Anyhoo... I didn't have them on my list, but they were on the aisle I walked down to get to the bread. I figured now was as good a time as any to pick some up. We only had two sleeves left in the old box. I saw the box of multi packs, and put it in my cart. It said 16 packs, which I didn't remember as being the count in our current box, and I waffled on getting a bigger box, but went with the 16.
I put it on the kitchen counter. We used the two other sleeves left. Then I opened the new box. Huh. They sure looked different! They weren't in sleeves at all! But in a flat pack, like you get cookies in. AND there were only SIX in a pack! Ain't THAT a fine how-do-you-do? I was not happy about it, but hey, it's only 16 packs. I guess I could have two at a time if I had a big salad and wanted more than six crackers with it.
Huh. I guess they updated their packaging. This seems quite wasteful, all that wrapping for six individual crackers, when previously they could put 12-14 crackers in a single opaque waxed-paper sleeve. I was even less pleased when I opened my crackers, and saw their condition:
I rarely got a crushed cracker when they came in a sleeve, unless I did it myself while trying to open it. These crackers were virtually unprotected by their packaging! They had room to slide around all willy-nilly, and some were packed upside down, and the top of the package offered no resistance to something that might press down and break them.
Oh, well. You live and learn. I would read the package carefully next time, and make sure I got my sleevy crackers.
I was eating them with some extra-sharp cheddar that I had sliced off a small block left from our Thanksgiving meal, when I had not used it for the 7 Layer Salad. Huh. That's funny. My Ritz tasted different than the Ritz in the sleeve. Kind of like cardboard. I guess that was another drawback of packaging it on a cardboard tray. Huh. This was not very tasty at all. Even though I KNEW the next bite would have a little cardboardy tang to it.
The next time I had Ritz was a few days later, with a salad of romaine and shredded cheddar. Still the same cardboardy flavor. Almost as if... you don't think... I picked up the package to have a look at the date.
22 JUN 2021
Those B@ST@RDS! They had sold me expired foodstuffs AGAIN!
Yes. I DO hear the sing-songy voice of my 2nd best old ex-teaching buddy Karen, asking the eternal question: "When will she EVER learn?" just like when she'd beat me at poker.
I am now checking every gosh-darn date on every product I pick up in that store! I feel like taking the expired ones up front, and announcing loudly, after it's been rung up,
"OH, I DON'T WANT THAT! IT'S EXPIRED!"
But I don't really want to punish the cashiers. It WOULD get the attention of the higher-up who has to come over with a thumbprint and void the transaction.
I'm pretty sure it's their store policy just to quietly put those expired items back on the shelf once I'm gone.
I guess I'll finish eating those Ritz before buying more. They haven't killed me yet. I didn't tell The Pony or Farmer H. Just asked if they'd had any crackers yet. They hadn't. They may not even notice... Says Mrs. HM, adjusting her eye patch.
Farmer H is quite a gourmet, isn't he? His discriminating taste buds will certainly determine that something's amiss...
ReplyDeleteThere has to be some group that takes complaints about grocers selling expired food.
ReplyDeleteYou're mad as not-heaven and you're not gonna take it any more. Let somebody know.
I may have mentioned this before, but here in Australia stores that sell expired goods can be reported and then THEY GET FINED!! and after that there are regular checkups within the store by workers sent around to collect close-to-expiry-date goods which get the price marked down "for quick sale" still within the expiry date.
ReplyDeletedoes your store have a "service desk" manned by a "front end manager" where you can take the expired goods and let them know they shouldn't be selling them?
Sioux,
ReplyDeleteYes, Farmer H is like a truffle pig. He can seek out moldy bread and know from the smell a few days before it turns green.
Sioux 2,
I don't like to be the face of EXPIRED-FOOD-GATE! I told Farmer H and The Pony, when they said that about the HAND-LABELED ALFREDO SAUCE show on my not-so-secret blog:
"Sure. I'll call them up. 'Hello? This is KAREN. I'd like to report you for selling expired food on your shelves, with homemade labels.'"
The Pony said, "Mom. You're not a KAREN if what you report is TRUE!"
***
River,
I still think the higher-ups at the service desk are the ones behind the selling of the expired goods! I mentioned their Kraft Mayonnaise on sale a couple months ago to a cashier. Told her I would have bought some, but they were all three months past date.
She was shocked and apologetic. She said she'd talk to someone about that. Said she'd spent the morning removing expired Kool-Aid from the shelves. AS IF that powdered drink mix can go bad. Heh, heh. If she did mention it, it must have given them the idea to sell even MORE expired goods!
Save A Lot used to do that and I learned to check the dates. They are gone now. Guess their reputation made folks stop shopping ....
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI love my Hillmomba Save A Lot. Never had a problem. I get all of my meat there. They have their own butcher. I'm not so fond of the Sis-Town Save A Lot. They cheated my mom on the 2-for-1 slaw sale many years ago! And their store doesn't look clean.