Might be a while before I shop at J3W3L again. OK, maybe it was just this location. But my experience fell far short of stellar.
Having not been in a J3W3L store in years (because of geography), I stopping in recently to pick up a few things while passing through that town.
First, grocery shopping on a Monday morning might not have been a great idea. Several shelves were empty, and the aisle were cluttered with cartons, as busy employees restocked the shelves. Maybe they were hit hard over the weekend, which featured a Wild Card Playoff game between the two rival NFL teams in this state borderland. But the story felt a little like a war zone – with lots of missing basic items. (OK, maybe the “war zone” analogy fits.)
I started in the produce section, hunting for a couple of lunch-sized Caesar salads. I picked up the last one after pecking my way through an overflow of Cobb and Southwest bowls. The “best by” date was 10 days away. A produce clerk was restocking nearby items, plucking items from a tall tower of cardboard cartons. I asked him about the Caesar salads, and he said that was all he had.
è The next day, I pulled the Caesar salad from my fridge, only to find the lettuce brown, gooey and limp. I had to toss the whole thing in the trash – all $4.99 of it.
Craving a bit of convenience for a particularly busy week, I hit the deli counter next and selected a few prepared items. The deli clerk was very pleasant and efficient – easily the highlight of my trip to the store.
è Digging into the $3.26 cup of macaroni-cheddar salad that evening, I found it pretty dried out and crunchy around the edges. It was bland and boring, without much hint of cheddar. This Wisconsin customer was less than enthused.
è The next noon, I dug into the tomato and arugula balsamic pasta salad. It was supposed to be filled with nutritious color. Alas, it was a $4.39 cup of soggy spaghetti noodles, drowning in dressing, with just two tiny tomato wedges and three tiny wilted arugula leaves. Cue the cheering section – not.
è The salmon I’d purchased was tasty, although a bit tough, for dinner. And I had to cut off about 1/6 of it, because that section was dried and curled and hard as a rock. But it wasn’t a terrible deal for $3.99 (on sale).
è The cheese ravioli ($8.54 for six 2” squares) was barely edible. I had to trim off all four edges of each square … or risk breaking a tooth.
Overall, the prices at J3W3L was dramatically higher than I find at Costco, Festival, Meijers, Pick /n Save, Piggly Wiggly, Target, WalMart, or other grocery stores I frequent. (Who pays $2.50 for Campbell’s Condensed soup or a can of Lays Stax potato chips or $3 for a cup of pre-cut grapefruit? OK, I just did, but I likely won’t do that again anytime soon.) Sure, they may be comparable to Heinen’s, Mariano’s, or Sunset Foods. But the quality isn’t exactly on par with those.
The pinwheel turkey cheddar roll-ups were OK, although they rang up at $6 for 9 little wheels. I think I like the Costco version better, although they make you buy enough for a small army.
On the plus side, this particular J3W3L store had my favorite Tate’s Ginger Zinger Cookies, which is hard to find. I shelled out almost $7, which is way more than they normally cost, simply because they piqued my long-time craving. (I’ll probably have to start buying those in quantity on Amazon. Somebody just try and stop me!)
Here’s the real deal, tarnishing my J3W3L experience.
By the time I reached the check-out area, I was surprised to find just one lane open. My turn came quickly enough, but things got worse from there. None of the special offers I’d noticed along the way were open to me, because I did not belong to their J3W3L app/customer loyalty program. Oh, well.
Ringing up my order, the cashier called out my total. I paid, picked up my bags, and headed for my car.
In the parking lot, the bagging clerk chased me down, beckoning me back into the store. I followed him back through the exit, dragging my half-full shopping cart along.
The cashier sheepishly informed me that she had not included several of the items I had brought to her station. Apparently, the customer behind me pointed out that those things were not his. (OK, I probably should have glanced back to make sure everything was included. But the tape total was high enough that I’d assumed it was all there.)
After finishing the follow-up transaction, the cashier urged me to sign up for the J3W3L app/customer loyalty program. I was only too happy to assure her that I was from another state and decline the offer.
That’s right. This J3W3L was no gem.
Related Items:
- 6 easy ways to open stuck jar lids
- Easy way to protect stacked dishes
- Foods of many hues banish midwinter blues
- Microwaving regular rice in a pinch
- Recipe: Savory Simple Split Pea Soup
- Snow day magic: 21 ways to bring on a school snow day
- Souper easy crockpot potato chowder
Image/s: Adapted from public domain image
Like this blog? Check out Practically at Home on Facebook. You are invited to visit my author page on Amazon.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment