Complaint Review: Kroger Kroger Fuel

Kroger advertises a discount on gasoline purchases based on the amount of money you spend the month prior. Several times I have spent over $750 in one month to qualify for the 50 cents off per gallon of gas. As had happened in the past, I experienced a fillup where my receipt showed a 3 cent discount instead of the 50 cent discount.

I asked the customer service desk at my local Krogers what I should do about not receiving the discount and was told that the machine must've been down ("It does that a lot lately") and that all I had to do was call the 800 number for the credit.

Cool. I call the 800 number and my information is taken and a promise is given that I'll get a phone call back.

Note that I gave both a daytime and evening phone number. I receive a message on Friday EVENING (February 1st) on my work phone from Chad at Krogers, who leaves a message that I'd only used 3 of the 4 fuel fillups, that I should be "all set" as I had until the 3rd to use another fillup. Huh? One, if I didn't regularly check my voicemail, I would not have received his message until AFTER my time allotment, and two, I didn't need another fillup.

This irritated me, so I tried to call Chad back at the number he left and got ringy-ringy-ringy off the hook. NO answer, NO voice mail, nada. So I just get blown off? Not my style.

So I called the 800 number, left a message containing all of the pertinent information and followed up with an email on their website.

I get another message on my office phone AT NIGHT, mind you, from Stephanie, who says she needs more information. I call her back, and another girl says "Stephanie doesn't get into work until noon. I can have her call you back." Cool. Please do.

Get home, and guess what? Yup. Stephanie called me back - AT MY HOME NUMBER. And, better yet, she leaves me a message that she's looked at the 3 fuel fillups and she sees I received the discount on all three, so issue's resolved.

Now I'm feeling righteously agitated. Call me a liar after blowing me off initially? NOT acceptable. So I just left a rambling message (at least SHE has voicemail) asking for a fax number so I can fax the receipt that clearly shows the 3 cent (instead of 50 cent) discount.

I've probably spent more that I would have received in the credit I was looking for, but Krogers has just lost my $500-900/month grocery money. PLUS, I will go out of my way to tell everybody how *I* got ripped off at Kroger.

Anybody else miss the day when the customer was appreciated? I work with several hundred fellow employees and if any of us treated our customers the way I was treated, we'd be looking for a job elsewhere.

I suppose Michigan beats Ohio State for a reason. Go blue.

Mari
Flint, Michigan
U.S.A.