Ralphs

Mar 26th, 2024

Mar 16th, 2024

Mar 16th, 2024

I come here multiple times a week and generally buy the same stuff, always in self-checkout. Today, after waiting forever in the self-checkout line, an employee told me that the stuff I buy every week cannot be bought in the self-checkout line because they are too big. Even though I've done it hundreds of times. Now I'm waiting in the regular line for twenty minutes because you won't hire any more employees because nobody wants to work here for pennies.
Mar 15th, 2024

Misleading pricing Patrons of this Ralphs have long grown accustomed to the Third World conditions of the premises and surrounding environment. The stores parking lot and sidewalks resemble a sad and dirty homeless shelter. Vagrants in different stages of undress and sobriety menacingly lurk about - morning, noon, and night. As one might expect, the store is dirty, and the exterior is absolutely filthy. Such is life in this area. Of even greater concern, I recently noticed multiple instances of deceptive pricing. Here are just two clear examples. Tags on the shelf indicated that bottles of 40oz Pinesol cleaner were priced at $2.64, part of a clearance sale. I carefully checked the product, sizing, and price displayed on the shelf, as the advertised price was significantly below what I am accustomed to paying for this product (usually around $4.99). Upon checking out, the cash register charged a price of $7.99, a massive difference. I brought this to the attention of the check-out person, who then went to inspect the price on the shelf where the Pinesol was stocked. After several minutes, she returned and attempted to explain that while the price displayed on the shelf was indeed $2.64, that price applied to a batch of Pinesol same product, same size that had completely sold out. The $7.99 price charged at the register applied to the batch that was currently stocked on the shelf same product, same size. Only by comparing the 12-digit serial numbers on the shelf tag and the product label could one ascertain that there was any difference (despite the fact that the higher and lower prices both pertained to the same product, same size with the only difference being their respective product codes). On a different date, I sought to purchase Power Crunch protein bars. In this instance, the shelf tags, printed in bold red ink and yellow highlighting, depicted a price of 2 for $3.00 (equating to $1.50 per bar). I grabbed a box of 12 bars, expecting a total price of $18. However, the total price for the box of 12 came to $23.88 (which works out to $1.99 per unit). When I mentioned the discrepancy to the checkout person, I was asked whether I had photographed the price shown on the shelf. Not aware of the need to prove my case, I had not accumulated any such evidence. I made a point of doing so the next time I visited and encountered the identical situation the shelf tag stating a price of $1.50 per bar and the register charging a price of $1.99 per bar. This time, when presented with the photo on my iPhone, the cashier smoothly explained that the $1.50 price applied to individual bars. The collection of 12 bars in a box commanded a different, higher price per unit of $1.99. The matter was easy to fix I simply removed the 12 bars from the cardboard box and was charged the lower price of $1.50 per unit. The point is that nowhere on the shelf - where the cost of this product was displayed - was this sneaky, underhanded pricing trick disclosed. One should be able to trust that the prices shown on the grocery store shelves are accurate and not be required to painstakingly audit whether the prices charged at the checkout register are different than advertised on the shelves.
Mar 1st, 2024