Thumbing my Nose at Tom Thumb
Written: Jul 03 '02 (Updated Jul 03 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Frequent Flyer Miles Through American Airlines
Cons: Narrow aisles, constantly discontinuing the products I buy!
The Bottom Line: Tom Thumb does not have enough respect for its customers to continue stocking products they request
|
|
|
| miselainis's Full Review: Grocery Stores |
When I first moved to Dallas, I was an avid Kroger shopper. A new superstore had opened near (well, relatively near...it is Dallas after all...you have to drive to EVERYTHING!)
The brand spanking Kroger near me had everything I needed and more. The aisles were nice and wide, it was organized well. I had that sucker mapped out like the back of my hand. It called itself the Dr. Pepper flagship store--with Dr. Pepper memorabilia all over.
After a few years, I moved. Because there was a Tom Thumb closer to my new place, I began shopping there. I didn't like it as much at first because it was more crowded, the aisles were tiny as far as passing, and during peak hours (evenings after work, Sunday after church), they looked like Central Expressway at rush hour! Plus, the only fish they had was cut fresh from the fish counter. Because I never know when I might use the fish I buy, I like buying frozen. Fresh fish always seems to me to carry a time limit on usage. I don't like that.
They also do not carry bags of frozen fruit. I enjoy buying these because of my fondness for smoothies. Of course, when I can I buy fresh fruit, but I don't always know if I'll be using all of it, and I don't want it to go to waste.
About 2 to 3 years ago, one of my friends at work told me that Tom Thumb offered Frequent Flyer miles with its reward card. Before this I had never even considered getting a Reward card to any of the stores. It just seemed ridiculous to me. But at the time I had a fiance in Canada, and Frequent Flyer miles on American (which flies directly into Calgary) seemed like a big incentive.
I'm now sorry I ever sold Kroger out for a couple of air miles that I still have never used. Fortunately, I'm still near my old Kroger. And I've found myself going back there more and more.
It started innocuously enough at Tom Thumb. They used to have a really decent selection of fat-free cheeses. Because I enjoy watching my fat intake, I really enjoyed the variety. One day, I go in, nothing. I think they had one brand of fat-free cheese, and that brand was sold out from its little hook. I was livid. That put me in a bad enough mood.
Then, I got to the butter/margarine. Where before, I'd been a regular purchaser of Promise low-fat margarine, there was a vacant area where it had been before. The label had been removed from the shelf. My blood pressure rose even more.
THEN, I got to the area where the bottled waters were kept, and I went to reach for my favorite, Perrier with natural lime flavor. Zilch. Its label had also had been removed from the shelf.
My Haagen Dazs orange sorbet? The same. Gone without a trace.
Four of my favorite, regularly-purchased items gone in one trip??! I could not believe they had all been zapped like THAT. I found the first manager I could, and complained vehemently about the deletions from the inventory.
He took note of the problem, wrote down my complaint AND the items I requested to be put back, and soothed the situation over. I thought everything had been taken care of.
The next trip, I discovered to my delight, that the Perrier was back. So too was the Promise. However, the other items remained missing in action.
The next visit after that, the Perrier and Promise had once again been removed from the shelves. That was that. If Tom Thumb does not even care enough about its regular customers to stock the items that they are buying, I do not have enough respect for them to continue shopping there.
Tom Thumb is affiliated with the Safeway/Randalls family. And after watching what happened to Safeway in my hometown of Austin, Texas in the late 80s/early 90s, I can only imagine what the experience working there must be. It must all boil down to the bottom dollar. Always. Safeway was bought out by a company called Appletree, which abused its employees until they began striking in waves. Finally, Appletree went bankrupt and all its stores in Texas closed. Safeway retreated out of Texas, but has been going strong in Canada for years. Now they have begun buying back American stores again.
Tom Thumb has lost my business. My Frequent Flyer miles at American will probably expire. But you know what? I don't care.
Welcome back Kroger!
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
miselainis
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Laini
Location: Rowlett, Texas, USA
Reviews written: 60
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
"Chagrinned and Bewildered"
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.