Buying food at the store vs. online ~ One Woman's Experience

[Two Barking Dogs]

I usually buy my dog food online (chewy.com), however, I am looking for a new food for Auggie and wanted to get a small bag of Earthborne (Bison).

So, off I go to one of the local chain stores (after checking online to see if they carry the brand). I walked up and down the aisle twice and couldn't find it, and noticed one of the employees standing there watching me. I walked over and asked the young woman if she could help me find what I was looking for:

Me: Can you help me find the Earthborne food?

Her: It should be down here on this aisle somewhere.

Me: Well, if it is, I can't find it. Can you check to see if you are still carrying the brand?

Her: I guess I could. But, did you really look?

Me: You watched me look up and down the aisle twice, didn't you?

Her: Yeah.

Me: [steam starting to shoot out of my ears] Maybe a manager could help me.

Her: [with a shrug and a roll of her eyes] Well, let me look and see if I can find it.

Off we go down the aisle, and back up the aisle ...

Her: Oh, there it is [pointing to the small selection]. Do you need anything else?

Me: Just one question ... Why are so many of the foods marked down? Are they close to expiration?

Her: Yeah. They're all expired that's why they're marked down.

Me: They're already expired? I'm pretty sure its illegal to sell expired dog food!!

Her: Oh, really? Huh? I didn't know that. Well, if you don't need anything else ... [she walks away toward the front of the store where her colleagues have gathered to stand around and talk, text on their phones, etc.]

The food was not expired. I took the bag and headed to the front of the store. I'm not going to go into how rude the guy at the front was when I asked the price of the pill pockets. I had intended to say something to the manager about my conversation about the "expired" food, but they were all too busy talking to each other to answer any of my questions. I would have just left without the bag of food, but I really needed to start Auggie on something new right away.

Ack!!

NOT going back there again!!!

Online? Look it up, see the price, order it, it arrives at the front door within a couple of days.

[3ChocMom]

You should call and ask to speak to a manager, then tell them about this. Or try to find an email address for the store and send a note. It may not make a difference, but these little stores are going out of business left and right in my area, so they should care about losing customers like this. The little store I sometimes go to for my dog food just recently changed ownership and I'm hoping the new owners are nicer than the old one. She was a real bitch. I go in there when I get those special Fromm coupons because you can't use them online. The first time I did that, she acted like I was defrauding her because she hadn't seen that particular coupon before and knew nothing about it. I didn't back down, I just said, it came in my email. She took it begrudgingly. If I could use those coupons online, I'd never go back. But I want the free bag of treats. LOL

[BaconsMom]

I would speak to a manager.....

Also, I only buy Bacon's food at Chuck and Dons. For me, it is cheaper than online, and you get a great experience there. They answer lots of questions and many of them are experts on certain brands. At my local store there is a woman who feeds fromm and has been helping me in choosing formulas and guiding me through the formula rotation process. If there is one in your area, go there!!!

[JenC]

Is it really illegal to sell expired dog food? Isn't it just a "best by" date?

[Georgia]

Have you ever gone to Weber's Pet Supermarket? They have an excellent selection of foods and great customer service. There is a Fairfax and Chantilly location. I buy Sam's food at Pet Supplies Plus on Stone Road. We get his nails done there and use their self serve dog wash too. I have always had good experiences there but from your description of all the young people at the store, that may be where you just had a bad experience...

[POPTOP]

I go to a local feed store. They know their products and sell so much their stuff is always in date. If I need help they walk to the section, show me the options, and if one does not know, they call in another person.

I can't stand poor service and will not tolerate it.

The local Pet Supplies Plus has way too much stuff out of date.

[Two Barking Dogs]

Have you ever gone to Weber's Pet Supermarket? They have an excellent selection of foods and great customer service. There is a Fairfax and Chantilly location. I buy Sam's food at Pet Supplies Plus on Stone Road. We get his nails done there and use their self serve dog wash too. I have always had good experiences there but from your description of all the young people at the store, that may be where you just had a bad experience...

Georgia, the store was the one over in your neighborhood. I have shopped at Weber's quite a bit, and find the people at the FFX location extremely knowledgeable. I usually shop there or at the PetValu. It was just more convenient on Saturday to drop into the other store.

I was going to give the self serve dog wash a try Saturday or Sunday, but had great success giving Auggie a bath in the backyard. I couldn't believe how easy it was.

[Two Barking Dogs]

Is it really illegal to sell expired dog food? Isn't it just a "best by" date?

I actually had looked this up once before and found some references on line, so I had that Jeopardy fact in the back of my brain. As I recall, it is illegal for stores to sell food past its USE By date. But, it is ok to sell food after the BEST UNTIL, BEST BEFORE, SELL BY or DISPLAY UNTIL dates."

[Two Barking Dogs]

I'm lucky to have so many options for purchasing the dog food nearby, but for regular purchases of large bags of food, I buy online simply because I have a great deal of difficulty hefting and carrying a large bag of food. It is much much easier for me to order online, get the item delivered to my front door, and all I have to do is open the door and shove the box into the house.

[Kain's Mommy]

That's terrible, all of our small pet stores pretty much will dote on you until your good and ready to make a decision. I'd call in, I'd be furious if someone spoke to me like I was dumb. I'm the complete opposite, if I can't find the food in a store close by I won't buy it. I just can't get over how bad their customer service was.