Safeway tigtens the screws

I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out. Today,
we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once in
the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said
discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway storedroid,
I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.

Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
extortion sales gambit?

nb

"notbob" <notbob@nothome.com> wrote in message
news:slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com...
> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out.
> Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once
> in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get
> said
> discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway
> storedroid,
> I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.
>
> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered
> this
> extortion sales gambit?
>
> nb

The two large chains here in the Upstate NY area are both offering frozen
turkeys at 49 cents/lb. Can't find one that's under 15 lbs or so, tho.

No other purchase requirements.

Just for comparison. . .

Van


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notbob wrote:
> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for
> over 30 yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey,
> go out. Today, we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised
> turkey sale of $5/$7 turkeys, as we/I have done some many times
> before. Low and behold. once in the store, we were confronted with a
> disclaimer sign above each frozen turkey bin informing us that we
> must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said discount! This was not
> in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway storedroid, I was informed
> this was policy for whole Denver district stores.

I guess they find people are just buying the loss leader turkey
and none of the trimmings at their store. And they don't like it.
Their choice, of course.

There's a store near me that has that minimum purchase
with things like that. However, you know before you go, it's
in the circular.

nancy

On 2008-11-19, Nancy Young <rjynlyord@comcast.net> wrote:

> with things like that. However, you know before you go, it's
> in the circular.

Would that it was! This after driving 20 miles (hello ...price of gas!)
miles to take advantage of fraudulently advertised sale.

nb

"notbob" <notbob@nothome.com> wrote in message
news:slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com...
> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out.
> Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once
> in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get
> said
> discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway
> storedroid,
> I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.
>
> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered
> this
> extortion sales gambit?
>
> nb

As long as they have signs posted and/or print a retraction in the papers
they are covered.
IIRC the minimum purchase has always been a requirement.

Dimitri

notbob wrote:
>
> On 2008-11-19, Nancy Young <rjynlyord@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > with things like that. However, you know before you go, it's
> > in the circular.
>
> Would that it was! This after driving 20 miles (hello ...price of gas!)
> miles to take advantage of fraudulently advertised sale.
>
> nb

I'm used to seeing "Free with $20 purchase" or similar.

On 2008-11-19, Pete C. <aux3.DOH.4@snet.net> wrote:
>
> I'm used to seeing "Free with $20 purchase" or similar.

At Safeway?

nb

On 2008-11-19, Dimitri <Dimitri_C@prodigy.net> wrote:

> IIRC the minimum purchase has always been a requirement.

Maybe for U

I've been taking advantage of this sale for 30+ yrs. Never seen it. I'd
go into Safeway, get sale turkey only, walk out. EOS (end of story).

nb

In article <slrngi6qee.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com>,
notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

> On 2008-11-19, Nancy Young <rjynlyord@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > with things like that. However, you know before you go, it's
> > in the circular.
>
> Would that it was! This after driving 20 miles (hello ...price of gas!)
> miles to take advantage of fraudulently advertised sale.
>
> nb

The price of gas is 1/2 what it was 2 months ago. About what it was
before all that BS started. It's down to $1.91 here locally.
--
Peace! Om

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." -- Dalai Lama

In article <slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com>,
notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out.

That was the *old* Safeway.

> Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said
> discount! This was not in the flyer.

We live in Northern California. They had a 3-day sale last week.
My wife was aware of the $25 in groceries before she went.
When she asked about it, they didn't insist on it.

> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
> extortion sales gambit?

Whenever I read all the fine print in one of those flyers, they always
say they aren't responsible for errors. I'm guessing they wanted that
$25 all along, but it didn't make it into the flyer.

Makes sense, though. With the old Safeway, you could afford to buy
stuff that wasn't on sale. Now you can't. Since the turkey is a loss
leader, they've got to get their money somewhere else. If people come
in and just get the turkey, Safeway loses.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
dabel@sonic.net

"notbob" <notbob@nothome.com> wrote in message
news:slrngi6r62.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com...
> On 2008-11-19, Dimitri <Dimitri_C@prodigy.net> wrote:
>
>> IIRC the minimum purchase has always been a requirement.
>
> Maybe for U
>
> I've been taking advantage of this sale for 30+ yrs. Never seen it. I'd
> go into Safeway, get sale turkey only, walk out. EOS (end of story).
>
> nb

Why buy one of those horribly raised, hormone laden, tasteless turkeys
anyway? Safeway did you a favor. Contact your local farmer.

On Nov 18, 6:58*pm, notbob <not...@nothome.com> wrote:
> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. *Never have I encountered a problem. *Go in, buy turkey, go out.Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. *Low and behold. once in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said
> discount! *This was not in the flyer. *Upon questioning Safeway storedroid,
> I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.
>
> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
> extortion sales gambit?
>
> nb
==============================================
Yeah, but here we're used to getting way discounted prices (or free
merchandise) on all kinds of stuff when we make a $25 (sometimes less)
purchase. CashWise ( a division of Coburn's) does it all the time.
Hornbacher's (a division of SuperValu) has something new this year.
For every $25 purchase you make you get $1 in "Holiday Bucks" Last
week I got $4, today I got another $1. ("Food stamp" purchases count.
Holiday Bucks can be used to purchase almost anything except tobacco,
and they're good thru at least the end of January. Hornbacher's (5 BIG
stores, 1 medium) also has the most wonderful service and all their
stores are sparkling clean.

Lynn in Fargo
Disclaimer: I have done voice overs for Coburn's radio ads but I
don't shop at CashWise very often (except for bulk and organic spices
- faster turnover = fresher spices)

notbob wrote:

> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
> extortion sales gambit?

I've just returned from Safeway. My sole intent was to get a couple of
the smaller $5.99 turkeys. We aren't haven't turkey for Thanksgiving,
but cheap meat is cheap meat. All they had were the HUGE turkeys at
$7.99 left. There were no purchase restrictions other than a limit of
two per person. I skipped on the bigger birds because that would take up
too much room in our freezers, and also because when I read all the
stuff they'd been injected with (which of course inflates the weight) I
decided to pass. When the all natural, fresh birds go on sale right
after Thanksgiving, that's when I will snag one.

Talking to my butcher about the smaller turkeys being sold out, she said
her store got over 2,000 of those and they were gone in less than two
days -- and they couldn't get anymore.

UPDATE:

Ahhhh ... just now looking at this next week's sale circular (which
starts tomorrow) they show the same birds on sale again. This time it
says "with $25 purchase." I wonder if they will even get them in after
what I saw and heard today.

The Grade A Honeysuckles are $7.99 and $9.99 with $25 purchase as well.

--Lin

notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out. Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said
> discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway storedroid,
> I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.

Our chain of HEB's here in TX usually offer $.19/lb turkeys with
additional purchase of $25, or $.09/lb for additional $50 purchase.
Every year it's different, but it's always a deal. I usually end of
up with 2 or 3 depending on how much room is in the fridge/freezer.

-sw

notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

> On 2008-11-19, Nancy Young <rjynlyord@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> with things like that. However, you know before you go, it's
>> in the circular.
>
> Would that it was! This after driving 20 miles (hello ...price of gas!)
> miles to take advantage of fraudulently advertised sale.

You should have just demanded the advertised price. Are you sure
there wasn't any fine print?

$.59/lb for generic turkey isn't that great of a deal this time of
year anyway. That's regular, non-sale price around here.

-sw

In article <slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com>,
notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

> I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out. Today,
> we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once in
> the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get said
> discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway storedroid,
> I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.
>
> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
> extortion sales gambit?
>
> nb

I always thought it was SOP.


--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kilikini
(Send her a note!)

BD <noone@verizon.net> wrote:

> Why buy one of those horribly raised, hormone laden, tasteless turkeys
> anyway? Safeway did you a favor. Contact your local farmer.

It's always nice to hear from somebody who has all their facts
straight. Unfortunately, you're not one of them.

Hormone use in poultry production has been illegal for over 40
years.

-sw

In article <1227056593_6997@pro-front01.com>,
"Van" <avssi@hotmail.spam.com> wrote:

> "notbob" <notbob@nothome.com> wrote in message
> news:slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com...
> > I've been going to Safeway to buy their great turkey bargains for over 30
> > yrs. Never have I encountered a problem. Go in, buy turkey, go out.
> > Today,
> > we went to our local Safeway to buy the advertised turkey sale of $5/$7
> > turkeys, as we/I have done some many times before. Low and behold. once
> > in
> > the store, we were confronted with a disclaimer sign above each frozen
> > turkey bin informing us that we must buy $25 worth of groceries to get
> > said
> > discount! This was not in the flyer. Upon questioning Safeway
> > storedroid,
> > I was informed this was policy for whole Denver district stores.
> >
> > Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered
> > this
> > extortion sales gambit?
> >
> > nb
>
> The two large chains here in the Upstate NY area are both offering frozen
> turkeys at 49 cents/lb. Can't find one that's under 15 lbs or so, tho.

I think they use those for parts.
Typical to find 13-15#, or 18-20#.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kilikini
(Send her a note!)

Lin <grafixbunny2007@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Ahhhh ... just now looking at this next week's sale circular (which
> starts tomorrow) they show the same birds on sale again. This time it
> says "with $25 purchase." I wonder if they will even get them in after
> what I saw and heard today.

Ask for a rain check on the advertised $6 birds today (which are out
of stock) and get the birds next week without any additional
purchase requirement.

-sw

On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:02:02 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
<barbschaller@earthlink.net> wrote:

>In article <slrngi6p6f.33c.notbob@bb.nothome.com>,
> notbob <notbob@nothome.com> wrote:

>> Have any other of you rfc regulars... about the country.... encountered this
>> extortion sales gambit?
>>
>> nb
>
>I always thought it was SOP.

It is here in ABQ, NM.

However, the store circulars for this coming week haven't come out
yet... I will see if there are any special deals coming up, when I
check them out later tonight. The only store so far to have such an
ad, is the Albertsons here. There, the ad was for turkeys at
$0.34/pound with $20 purchase. Albertsons here, removed themselves
from the national chain, and don't require cards anymore.

Christine