I have Aldi and Trader Joe in store competition shops. Our local Aldi and Trader Joes do not have store made chicken nor 8 piece chicken. They also do not have a bakery in store so all of the sweets and the artisan breads will be simply prepacked by other companies. Yet there is NO place on the form to say no such items in the store. As for the name of the deli and meat clerks, which must be provided on both Kroger and comp. shops the clerk's name tag is often obscured by the meat counter. The counter is about as high as where their name tag is- yet there is no place on the form to say tag obscured by the counter containing the product. Has anyone else noticed these issues? I have had a few Kroger in sore where I could not see the name tag at all- luckily I later saw the person come out behind the counter- but to try and see the name tag in a normal situation is quite difficult.

You've always been able to put "unknown" for the name and there is a place to choose what the issue was preventing you from getting the information. And, "N/A" if there isn't a counter and therefore no employee. I haven't done one since the newest update but you should be reaching out to your contact for that shop for guidance if there are problems with the newly updated forms.

If I try my best and cannot read the name completely, I mark it, "Covered". IF I can see some of the letters, I put that in the name.

Please read the questionaire. it says to put N/A if there is no attendant. And to put Unknown if the attendant is there, but you can't read the name tag for whatever reason. I looked at all of the departments, all of them have an N/A option for no service counter in the department. I didn't go far enough for the fully cooked chickens, but I'm sure there is an N/A option there too. Even all of the Krogers don't do all of the things.

I could not snag a competitor in store this cycle..congrats for getting those two!

I do my first in store later today, It's not a competitor but there is no Service Deli or Meat. Typically the questionnaire will guide you to N/A a department. I would just evaluate the packaged bakery and sweets.

If clearly no name tag worn, get the description (see the questionnaire which you can view in advance) enter "Unknown" and Use N/A Badge Not Worn.

They have changed the specific badge obscured for the Meat Department to "badge obscured by coat".

There are more instructions on how to deal with a partially or unreadable name badge for the Cashiers, I'd review those and follow that guidance, entering a comment after Unknown.

Not sure if the schedulers have all of the answers yet. If you are filling out the questionnaire and it is unclear email your scheduler, describe what you found and how you will submit. They may not care much for competitors, but if you get a reply before finalizing your report you can edit it. Sometimes the scheduler will send a note to the editor.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2025 03:56PM by melg.

@Morledzep wrote:

Please read the questionaire. it says to put N/A if there is no attendant.

Exactly.

This is what causes schedulers to be snarky.

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

Please read the questionaire. it says to put N/A if there is no attendant.

Exactly.

This is what causes schedulers to be snarky.

No Attendant is not quite the same as No Department. And what if there is Part of the Category? I.e. No Service Deli but there is a Service Bakery?

Probably moot for TJs and Aldi. In my area there are no service departments at all, but there is an artisan bread display.

PS My scheduler Amy is never snarky!! No matter how often I bug her when there are new requirements.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2025 05:50PM by melg.

@melg wrote:

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@Morledzep wrote:

Please read the questionaire. it says to put N/A if there is no attendant.

Exactly.

This is what causes schedulers to be snarky.

PS My scheduler Amy is never snarky!! No matter how often I bug her when there are new requirements.

Sorry. I meant “in general”. Amy is not snarky to me either. I try to be respectful of her time.

I did my first instore today at the store with no service meat or deli.. When you fill out the form online there is a little more guidance. It wasn't terrible. Tomorrow I have a full-service store so that will be harder.

I really wish the forms could be more simplified. For example, did they: greet you, make eye contact, smile. Check which they did, rather than writing out all the different combinations.

I ran into issues with other staff greeting me. The options didn't really seem to fit my situation. For the most part, people are they stores I visit are just stocking the shelves.

This deli twist has been weird. The first one I did there was a staff member helping herself to onion rings and no one greeted me. I ended up going back to talk to someone because that would have just been too strange to write up. The second one, two staff members were busy chatting with each other. They actually walked away from the counter as I was standing there waiting with no other customer around. One eventually walked back over and greeted me.

I guess I wish we could report more of what was happening. I feel like it would be more helpful that staring whether or not they greeted, smiled etc. Also, as everyone else notes, the badges are often at the height of the counter so it can be really difficult to note.

I encountered the same problem as fatlady. The report form was definitely not geared for Aldi's. There were several areas where my only options were YES or NO, but needed N/A.

This past round, I don't think there were competitor shops available in my area. I'll have to look more closely during a future round. I'm very picky when it comes to in-store competitor shops.

Okie, we didn't get competitors this round.

Olympia, why did you stand around and wait? If they are by the counter, they see me, and they turn and walk away, I'm gone. I say that they did not greet, make eye contact, or smile at me and I pick one of them to describe, and if I didn't get a peek at the name tag, then they are Unknown, and the badge is unreadable, or no name tag. Unless you actually want to buy something from the deli counter, I don't see any reason to stand and wait if they walked away.

Olympia, 3 thumbs up in agreement with the post of Morled on the deli worker subject; I follow her suggestion to a "T."

I agree with the above posts about the deli counter. I really have no idea why Kroger wants to know about all this eye contact, greeting and smiling. It seems a bit foolish to plant yourself within 6 feet of someone whether in produce, the meat counter or deli. and stand there like a fool waiting to assess their smile, eye contact and greeting. These things mean little to me as a consumer. What I would like is to be able to have questions concerned the lack of availability of full check lines as well as an area to report issues relating to the website being a pain to deal with when making on line orders. Those are issues that are relevant to me as a consumer both on shops as well as personal non shop related visits. One day when I had an issue with a pick up shop where the store was unable to provide me with a receipt for some reason- I waited for hours and no receipt on mine - I called and they said no one knew how print the receipt or load it to my shopper page??? So I went down to the store to speak with someone and lo and behold there in the area they told me to wait there was a shop report hanging up that I done on an instore a few days earlier with a heading concerning friendliness of employees- despite good service in general the store received a not so great score based on the produce man not greeting me or smiling or looking up as I stood there looking at him- he was busy stocking produce and totally engrossed with his job of refilling the case. So, the guy did not look at me smile or greet me and the store was dinged. I find him being 100% focused on his job to be a plus not a minus. Mr. Personality who smiles, makes eye contact and greets me but who does not have full shelves is not on my list of great workers. What annoys me is that there is no place to write something- I have done Aldi shops and most categories do not apply. I did a Target comp. shop and the store was not a "Target superstore" so it was lacking areas which super stores have. I wish the form was adjusted to reflect the differences in the competitor stores- OR at least have a place for comments other than N/A/ and 100 characters.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2025 07:59PM by Fatlady.

Evaluating an employees greet has been there for over a year in Produce and Meat Service. Only the Deli is new. My approach at the deli is to order x slices of something. Tuesday is $6/lb Turkey Day so I'll be planning my instore dates around that day. It reads to me like you need to wait for 5 minutes at any counter. (Meat sometimes has a buzzer or a bell to ring).

Are you a new shopper Fatlady? It doesn't really matter whether you agree with the survey questions,it is Kroger's choice. I'm sure more narrative is more expensive as it requires a lot more editor time. Same with customizing surveys.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2025 10:21PM by melg.

I agree with much fatlady said. If Kroger wants true evaluations providing for a space for comments may be worthwhile.na check the box form often does not provide a full picture. I have done a pick up about 6 times same store in the past year. The same clerk comes out there every visit. On one shop she wore a name tag no vest. Last 5 times she came out with no tag and no vest. Despite the reports of this nothing changed. She is still out of compliance. I wonder why Kroger pays for shops when they obviously do nothing in terms of compliance with company guidelines,

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2025 01:26AM by OldmanJames.

@Morledzep wrote:

Okie, we didn't get competitors this round.

Olympia, why did you stand around and wait? If they are by the counter, they see me, and they turn and walk away, I'm gone. I say that they did not greet, make eye contact, or smile at me and I pick one of them to describe, and if I didn't get a peek at the name tag, then they are Unknown, and the badge is unreadable, or no name tag. Unless you actually want to buy something from the deli counter, I don't see any reason to stand and wait if they walked away.

I have received emails asking me to describe what was happening before. Like when I said I was not greeted, etc. what was the produce person doing. I find that to be kind of odd but I think I'm concerned that if I don't give them a moment to do their job that I'll somehow get called out for it. I'm also sometimes taking a moment to take a look at them and then also look for a name tag, etc.

Getting asked follow up questions makes me a little more paranoid about gathering information.

I've been doing Kroger shops almost since I first started shopping. I have NEVER had an editor ask me what an associate was doing when they didn't respond or acknowledge me. Sometimes I put in the 100 character blurb that they actively turned their back to me when I got close, because that happens often. I'm either invisible or they turn away when I get close and don't respond when I try to ask a question.

For me, when I used to do these shops more frequently, in total, I might've received around five follow-up emails from a client manager. I want to say most of them were from one store, where nametags were an issue for the longest time. Another store, it was regarding the cashier/self-checkout associate. But beyond that, no issues.

For one store, the feedback was taken more seriously, where there were other issues going on, which led to improvements.

Edited to add: To clarify, this was not for competitor shops.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2025 12:33PM by Okie.

Also, this reminded me of an old Reddit thread where Kroger employees would complain about mystery shoppers. I found it hysterical, but I have a dark sense of humor.

This was before I visited the forums, but I did run into this one similar thread, if anyone is interested:
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

The first few times I found it fairly annoying to be asked what was going on when I wasn't greeted. I definitely wish I wasn't asked about it. I've also been asked for photos when I've stated that I received something that wasn't fresh.

I keep wondering if there are going to be any repercussions for saying the name is unknown for deli and meat often. I can rarely see the tags of the people behind the counters unless they are very short or very tall.

While I'm sharing my opinions with the world, I don't like the new description options where the descriptors are all grouped together. I wish that the appearance sections were uniform throughout the surveys for in store and pickup.

At least for me, it's more common for the meat associate to not be wearing a nametag or have it covered with a coat or apron. I don't think I've ever gotten an additional request about that particular element.

At some smaller stores I visit, there's not much turnover with the employees, but I always try to base the description off the visit. It's rare, but some employees can appear different that day, very subtle.

But I agree about the descriptions on the report. It also looks like some of the description items have been removed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2025 02:02PM by Okie.

The guy at pickup who colored in the letters on his tag so you couldn't read his name? I only saw that tag once. They *do* read the reports. It's just that some managers are unwilling to do whatever is required to correct.things. The day I saw clean milk cases I wanted to dance with joy. But, I don't believe it will last, it's because they had to give the stockers something to do when the trucks were delayed by weather. They aren't going to consistently have enough staffing to keep the store clean. But hey, if they want to keep buying my groceries so I can keep telling them what is dirty when I check, ok by me.